Angel Smile

Yeo Ri and Gun spent the weekends at the hospital . It was uncomfortable, but at least it was better than going back to that h.e.l.lhole . Yeo Ri was too afraid to go back, and Hyuk and Gun wouldn"t let her go back without either of them even if she wanted to .

But, all good things must come to an end .

Both Yeo Ri and Gun had school and they couldn"t afford to skip . Especially Yeo Ri, since she had been absent too frequently .

Yeo Ri stepped into the house, holding Gun"s shirt tightly . Noticing her grip, Gun pulled her hand and tucked it into his, holding her hand firmly . Gun gave a rea.s.suring nod towards the girl, and made sure she was behind him .

Together, they crept into the house, looking around cautiously .

" . . . !" Yeo Ri stifled a gasp .

The living room was a mess . It looked as if a robber had raided the place . Or perhaps, someone had thrown a fit of anger .

"Do it later," Gun told Yeo Ri, who was about to let go of his hand in order to start cleaning up . The man who caused the mess might still be around .

Yeo Ri looked back at the mess hesitantly, then looked at Gun"s sharp eyes .

" . . . Okay," Yeo Ri nodded, following him .

Gun brought Yeo Ri back to their room . It was only when they locked themselves in the room that he finally lets go of Yeo Ri"s hand, heaving a sigh of relief . Now that they were in the safe s.p.a.ce of their room, he could finally relax .

However, the room was also messed up .

Gun sighed, noticing the mess . His jaw locked as he silently picked up his books and placed the desks back into their proper positions .

Yeo Ri folded up the beddings and blankets that had crumpled haphazardly on the floor .

"!!!"

Gone! The knife she hid under her beddings were gone!

Yeo Ri suppressed her panic .

She rummaged the whole floor and looked around the room, but it was nowhere to be found .

"What"s wrong, Yeo Ri-ah?" Gun asked . "Did you lose something?"

Yeo Ri flinched, "N-no . I was just . . . just . . . " Yeo Ri bit her lips . It wasn"t like she could tell Gun that she lost her knife . It was too weird for a girl to even keep a knife under her pillow . "It"s nothing," she quietly replied .

Yeo Ri gave up looking for the knife and went back to her task .   She silently wondered if that man had found her knife . What would he think . . . ? What would he do . . . ? Yeo Ri was afraid . He must definitely have found the knife! Else, why would it be missing? Will he punish her? Will he . . . kill her? Or worse, would he kill Hyuk, or Gun, or both of them?

Yeo Ri"s body trembled as she thought of the worst case scenario .

Gun eyed Yeo Ri"s actions suspiciously . He had an inkling of what was going on in her mind, and it solidified his hypothesis . Yeo Ri must"ve saw something that that man threatened her to keep hidden .

"Yeo Ri-ah, I"ll send you to school tomorrow . When school"s over, wait for me to pick you up . " Gun kneeled beside her, patting her head .

"No, Oppa," Yeo Ri shook her head worriedly . "You have to attend your after-school lessons . "

Gun gave her a smile, "It"s fine . I can just revise at home . "

"But, Oppa . . . your grades . . . " Yeo Ri bit her lips . She knew that while Gun was smart, it was mostly thanks to his hard work that he was able to maintain his top grades . He had already slacked off so much thanks to her matters; if she continued to become his burden, then he might lose his number one spot, and even his scholarship . It was risky .

"O-oppa, how about this? I"ll stay with Hyuk-oppa until you finish your lessons . Then, we can go home together . Okay?" Yeo Ri suggested .

Gun scrunched his eyebrows . It kind of hurt his pride that she thought his grades might drop just because he missed a few cla.s.ses . Though, he also understood that missing his after-school lessons would impact his grades . But he thought he could just make it up with more self-studying . Clearly, Yeo Ri didn"t think the same . Her worries were evident on her face .

" . . . If you"re fine with it . " He was worried about Yeo Ri going to the hospital alone, but after giving it some thought, he could just talk to Min Chae to accompany the girl . Finally, he conceded .