Angel Smile

"—The suspect, Mr . Lee, was found guilty of second-degree murder as well as a.s.sault and battery . He will be sentence to 6 years of imprisonment without parole . Back to you, HQ," the news reporter of the channel Yeo Ri was watching concluded as she stood outside the courthouse among many other reporters . A scene of Hyuk in disguise flashed on the screen, showing him entering a black van .

Yeo Ri stared at the television, hands tightly gripping the blanket . After trying to hold back her tears for so long, she finally broke down .

"Hic—" she sobbed . "Oppa! Hyuk-oppa!" She called out to the empty air .

She was all alone in the hospital room, and there was no way that Hyuk who was on his way to a correctional facility could hear her . She could only cry out her grievances as her heart bled for Hyuk .

What did he do to deserve it? Hyuk didn"t do anything wrong . She firmly believed that he was innocent .

"Six years . . . !" She sobbed . She wouldn"t be able to see him for six years . By the time he came out, he would be twenty-six . A whole chunk of his life would be gone, just like that .

She couldn"t bear it .

It had only been a few weeks and she already missed him so much, but six years? She"d die from heartbreak . How could she wait for six years? She felt so frustrated and stifled . She couldn"t imagine living six years of her life without him . He"d miss the most important years in her life . By the time he"d be released, she"d be an old woman in her twenties already!

"Oppa! No!" She cried .

Her voice was so loud that it startled the nurses into checking up on her .

"Yeo Ri-ah?!" Gun who had just came back from the courthouse was surprised when he saw that several nurses had gathered around Yeo Ri"s bed .

"No!" She sobbed . "Oppa—!"

"Oppa, don"t leave me!"

Yeo Ri"s voice was so sorrowful that some of the more soft-hearted nurses could not help but tear up along with her .

"Patient, please calm down! Please!" Begged a nurse as she held the girl"s flailing arms down .

"No! Oppa, I can"t—I can"t—!"

"Yeo Ri-ah!" Gun rushed into the horde of people and pushed his way to Yeo Ri . He forgot about her aversion to touching and simply hugged her tightly without letting go, soothing her with a gentle voice . "Yeo Ri-ah, everything will be fine . It"s going to be alright . Don"t worry, Oppa is right here . "

He stroked her back, coaxing her to calm down .

"It"s alright, Yeo Ri-ah . I won"t go anywhere . "

When Yeo Ri"s sobs died down, he nodded towards the nurses, signalling that he had the situation under control .

The nurses heaved a sigh of relief as they got up, bowed, then left the room .

After Yeo Ri had calmed down, Gun asked her, "What"s wrong, Yeo Ri-ah? Why are you so sad?"

"Oppa . . . I miss Hyuk-oppa so much," she said between sniffles . She wrapped her arms around Gun tightly, returning his hug . "Six years is so long," she complained with a serious look but trembling lips .

Gun felt dumbfounded over her reason for crying, but still patted her head comfortingly, "Don"t worry . Six years will pa.s.s by in a flash . Besides, I heard that if they do well in prison, the prisoners might get a chance to get parole . If Hyung does well, who knows, maybe he"ll come back sooner than expected?" He said, coaxing the younger girl .

He pulled away from the girl and wiped away her tears . "There, there, don"t cry . You"ll look ugly if you cry," he teased .

Hearing those words, Yeo Ri began to cry again .

"W-what"s wrong?" Gun frantically rubbed her wet cheeks . His eyes trembled worriedly .

"Uu—Hyuk-oppa used to say the same thing, too!"

Waaaa—!

Yeo Ri sobbed louder as she remembered Hyuk"s face .

"Y-Yeo Ri-ah, don"t cry anymore!" He helplessly wiped away her never-ending flow of tears . In the end, he gave up trying to coax her to stop crying and simply allowed her to borrow his shoulders to cry to her heart"s content .

"It"s okay, Yeo Ri-ah . Once he"s allowed to have visitors, we can go and visit him . "

"—hic, o-okay—hic—" Yeo Ri nodded in-between sobs .

Gun sighed .