He watched silently as she played with a little girl who couldn't be older than five. A small smile lit across her face and for once her beautiful eyes were drained of that awful dreading look they always had. There was a light in her that shined.

JiAh, who was surrounded by children, was oblivious to his stares. She couldn't see how he had followed her every move. She was different in this light, she was lighter, kinder, happier. She wasn't trapped in some apartment doomed to watch the days pass by, she wasn't stuck at some fancy gala or crazy party. She looked like she fit here.

She looked happy and Hoya felt a pit of jealously emerge. He was freaking jealous of a little girl who had pulled JiAh's attention. He was jealous of little kids who manage to put a smile on his wife's face.

"Howon." His mother called to him breaking his attention from JiAh. His mother glanced from him to JiAh, who was still oblivious to them.

"She looks happy doesn't she. I thought maybe bringing her back here might lighten things up for her." Hoya's brows narrowed,

"Back?" He questioned.

He didn't take his eyes off of JiAh but from the corner of his eyes he could see his mother nod. "JiAh was raised here for a few years. Her and her younger brother. After she turned 18 she decided to stay and work here. The children love her and the caretaker was getting old, that's how I met her. I first met her when she was 16. She was different from all the others. The older kids wanted to be anywhere but here, an orphanage was no place where they wanted to be, they wanted to escape, be free, and the younger ones were totally oblivious to the universe. Their whole world was here. There was something about her. She seemed...like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. She looked like she could break down at any moment, but no matter how hard you push, she never fell. She's as strong as steel, but sadly she's also as cold as steel." His mother revealed.

He turned his attention to his mother and for once in his life he saw something in his mother's eyes he had never seen from his mother. Admiration.

"You really like her don't you?" He asked, but the answer, he already knew.

"She's different from most people. I think that's what I like the most about her, that and she scares me at times." His mother replied. She hadn't answered his question, but both knew the answer.

"Yeah, she scares me too." He mumbled.

--

JiAh hadn't realized that he was there until she saw Chairwoman Lee 's descending figure leave. He was standing by the doorway staring, at her. She didn't dare to look up to his eyes, she didn't even look toward his direction. It wasn't like it mattered.

She wondered if he liked kids? Did he? Yes, he did, she had come to that confirmation on her own. Hoya adored kids, but he was completely clueless on how to handle kids. She could read that from his personality.

"Noona. I missed you, when will you visit again." A little boy with short black hair and deep brown almond eyes asked. He was taller than the rest of the boys his age, and smarter as well. Whilst the others played he silently watched over making sure nothing went wrong. Making sure no one was being bully or being cruel. He reminded her of her little brother. That thought made her heart ache and she brushed it aside.

"I don't know sweetie. I don't know." She answered honestly. She didn't lie to the children when they asked her questions. Though there were times she wanted to. But she knew that someday they were going to walk out into the world where people would lie, cheat and steal. She didn't want to be one of those people. She wanted to be better. But she knew she had already failed at doing that.

"Noona, why are you sad?" He asked innocently with a tilt of his small head. His soft eyes stared at her, how she wished he would never grow up. How she wished none of them would ever grow up. She didn't want them to grow up into a world like this. She gave him a small smile and stoke his hair.

"Noona's sad because she misses you." She replied. That was the truth, but it wasn't the whole truth. In fact there were many reasons why she was sad.

"But noona, I'm right here. I'm never leaving you." He replied with a laugh as he pointed his index finger to himself and gave her an innocent pout.

"I know sweetie. And I wish you would always be here. Here to protect the others." She stated.

"But noona's here too. She protects all of us." He stated and she felt a lump grow in the pit of her stomach. The child was so transparent, so simple minded. How she wished everyone was like that. The world would be a better-off place.

"I'm sorry sweetie." She whispered. "For not being here." She added.

The little boy's pout turned into a frown. "Its okay noona. We understand." He said to her, his small voice was filled with blind hope.

"You do?"

"Yeah. Noona grew up. That's why noona needs to leave." He replied and she felt hot tears emerge in the corners of her eyes at the child's clueless words.

"Noona. Don't cry." He cried which only caused a single wet tear to spill from her eyes and down her cheek which she quickly wiped away. She was so weak, so pathetic, crying like this. She quickly wiped away the liquid using the sleeves of her sweater, which were meant to cover the scars on her arm. She looked at the boy and noticed fat teardrops falling from his almond eyes.

"Oh sweetie, why are you crying. Sshh, don't cry." She exclaimed pulling him into a gently hug.

"I'm crying for noona, so noona doesn't have to cry... because I'm crying for you." He whispered and her heart broke at that really moment. She didn't deserve this little boy's tears, she didn't deserve anyone's tears.

"JiAh." Hoya's deep and musky voice called to her. He was standing directly behind her, she could feel his strong presence behind her. She pulled away from the children and turned around. She was kneeling on the ground which meant she had to look up to see his face. She met with hard, cold eyes which revealed no emotions of any sort.

"My mother wants us to give this to the caretaker." He told her, his voice was dry as usual as he held out a small package wrapped in brown wrapping paper. She gave him a small nod before turning around to face the boy whose eyes were now dried of tears.

She pulled him closed and whispered, "Promise me something, don't cry for noona sweetie. Cry for the hyung right here." She told him. He innocent child stared at her, confused by her requested. He shifted his eyes to Hoya before he shifted them back to her. He gave her a determined look and nodded.

She gave him a small smile, someone had to cry for her husband. He needed it more than she did.

--

The two of them walked side by side, a large gap was placed between them like an invisible wall of fire neither had the guts to jump over. There were no words being exchange, but a few wary glances now and then.

"Its this room." JiAh mumbled softly coming to a stop. Hoya stopped beside her as she knocked on the door softly. A voice called out which signaled for them to come in. JiAh turned the doorknob stepping inside. The room was the same as she remembered. It was warm and comforting. The scent of pine wood and maple filled her senses, the windows were wide open allowing for sunlight to soak in, lighting the room up.

"Granny?" JiAh called to the woman sitting behind the desk. Stacks of paperwork lined her small desk which now looked rather torn and old. The wood was clipped, the coat of paint was fading and peeled off at certain places. The woman sitting behind the desk looked up. Her eyes looked tired, but her orbs were full of hope when she laid eyes on JiAh.

Her hair was thin and grey, her body was now weak, but mentally it was stronger than most, her smile was still as bright as anyone’s, if not brighter.

"JiAh." She called out the woman's name and JiAh felt a smile come across her face. She had missed her name being called in that tone. A tone which wasn't filled with odium and detestation. A tone that wasn't laced in misery and disgust.

"We have something for you." JiAh stated as Hoya walked forward and put the package on the woman's desk. He watched her warily, knowing she was examining every inch of him. He felt like this woman could only see the good in people, which was good in his case, she couldn’t see the evil there really was.

"You must be Lee Howon. Your mother has told me a lot about you young man." She said to Hoya. Her voice wasn't dry or cold, quite the opposite. Hoya felt as if he had known the woman for years just hearing her speak directly to him.

"Take care of my JiAh for me." She added and Hoya felt JiAh step back and shrug. She couldn’t see the fear that fell across JiAh’s face. The look of sorrow, how her eyes blinked fast, hiding the wild wind of emotions behind her eyes so no one dare notice. Hoya knew the caretaker was waiting for him to reply. But how? He didn't know. He treated JiAh like trash, he was horrible to her.

“He is granny. He is.” JiAh responded answering for Hoya in his place.

Hoya looked back to JiAh who had somehow managed to make her way to the doorway. She wasn’t looking at him, but at the caretaker, but the look in her eyes told him that she wasn’t lying about what she had just stated. But Hoya knew she was. She was lying. But why were her eyes so honest?

“That’s good to hear. Take good care of my JiAh. She’s quite difficult to understand, she’s much different from most people. But she’s beautiful.” The woman said. Hoya felt like the whole world had decided to get up this morning and personally make it their goal to punished him.

“I will.” he replied to her.
--

“When will noona come back?” The same little boy from earlier asked JiAh. He watched silently from the car. His mother and the staff had left earlier, leaving just the two of them. Luckily one of the staff members came in one of the company cars which was now their ride back home.

He could see JiAh kneel down to the child and pat his back, she gave him a little smile, it was more than she had ever given him, but then again, he didn’t deserve a smile from her. He wasn’t worth her smiles.

“I don’t know sweetie. Noona doesn’t know.” She mumbled softly.

“Okay.” He whispered looking down. He was clearly disappointed by her answer and Hoya thought for a moment, why didn’t she was lie to the boy? It would had been easier. What shock him was when the young child looked back up meeting JiAh’s eyes.

“Remembered what you promised me earlier. About hyung?” She asked softly, but Hoya heard. Hyung? Who was she talking about?

He didn’t understand, but somehow this managed to bring a smile onto the child’s face. “I remember.” He stated. She pinched his cheeks before she stood back up. He hugged her around the waist before running back inside.

A group of children stood outside on the old dusty doorsteps of the porch waving good bye to her. Hoya almost felt guilty for taking her away from these children. He could tell she didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to leave either. Not if it meant never having to see her smile again.

JiAh slowly got into the car, avoiding eye contract with him at all costs. He groaned stepping inside and shutting the driver’s side door. He glanced over and saw her staring out through the passage side window to the children.

“W-We can come back to visit….If you want to.” He mumbled. She turned her head towards the front watching the road change from the quiet rural neighborhood. They were outside of the downtown area. This area here was much more quiet, there was less people. It was calmer, quieter, it seemed safer. But truly no place was ever safe.

“I would like that.” She replied back softly after a few minutes. Hoya felt something in his chest beat faster just hearing her talk. It was a odd feeling filled with anxiety and comfort.

“Why’d you lie?” He questioned, knowing she was fully aware of what he was speaking of. The lie she had told the caretaker. About him taking good care of her.

“I didn’t.” She replied.

This was another one of those moments where he was totally confused by her statements. He turned his eyes away from the road for a second to glance at her. What he saw broke his heart. His insides felt like they were robbed of all their oxygen and concern suddenly built up inside him. She was crying. Drops of tears were falling from her eyes like raindrops in July.

He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to react. He had seen her cry before, he had seen her hurt with pain, both physically and emotionally. He didn’t know how to handle a situation like this. So he did what he would do if she was his mother.

“Don’t cry. I don’t like seeing people cry.” He muttered as he pulled his eyes away from her and onto the road. Sadly though, he always managed to steal a glance or two at her.

“I like crying through.” She acknowledged.  

“It doesn’t suit you.”

“Yes it does. We both know that.”

And this time he didn’t answer back. He didn’t reply. He didn’t speak. Because he knew she was correct.