Angel Smile

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"What a beautiful dream . "

A thought flashed in Yeo Ri"s mind as she woke up . However, she soon forgot what she had dreamt about . No matter how hard she tried to recall it, she could not seem to remember it save for the thought that it had been a pleasant dream .

"Yeo Ri . . . ?" Gun"s voice called out . His tone was tired; he had stayed up for a long time, spending his nights sleeplessly, waiting for her to open her eyes .

Yeo Ri slowly moved her gaze towards him .

" . . . Oppa, where are we?" She asked pa.s.sively .

Gun beamed, feeling relieved, then reached out to hold her cold hands, but she instinctively pulled away . A sense of discomfort sparked inside her the moment Gun"s hand touched hers; it felt as if spiders were crawling at the spot which she had been touched . Yeo Ri hurriedly wiped her hand without thinking . She simply could not stand the feeling of being touched .

Sensing her discomfort, Gun lowered his head sorrowfully . Then, after taking a deep breath, he raised his head and smiled at her apologetically . "Sorry, Yeo Ri-ah . "

" . . . " Yeo Ri looked away without acknowledging his apology . It was not his fault, but hers . Her actions must have hurt him deeply . Yet, she found it difficult to apologise to him .

Gun continued to smile, as if he wanted to show her that everything was fine . "We"re at the hospital . It"s been three days since you were brought here . "

He stood up from his seat and gestured around the room, "Look, Yeo Ri-ah . Isn"t this room very nice? Heo Woo Seung-ssi pulled some strings and transferred you to this VIP room . Apparently, the director of this hospital is his younger sister . "

" . . . " Yeo Ri watched him display his fake-excitement with dull eyes . Sighing softly, she mumbled, "That man is doing something unnecessary again . "

"Yeo Ri-ah? Did you say something?" Gun paused, looking at his baby sister . He thought he had heard her say something .

" . . . " Yeo Ri shook her head, then turned away . She stared at the curtained wall quietly .

Gun"s smile faltered at her indifference . His heart felt as if it was being p.r.i.c.ked; Yeo Ri had never been this quiet . From the moment she woke up until now, the girl had not display even an ounce of her previous cheerfulness . It was like she became a totally different person, and it scared him .

"Yeo Ri-ah, do you want to see the scenery? It"s really beautiful . " Nevertheless, he still kept trying . He forced himself to put on a brave front and continued to fool himself into thinking that everything will be alright .

Gun did not wait for her reply and directly pulled the curtains to the side, revealing a gla.s.s panel that overlooked the view of the hospital"s park and parts of the town beyond .

The sky was slightly darkened due to the weather, so it was not too bright for her rather unused eyes .

Yeo Ri continued to stare, as if she was unaware of the beautiful scenery . Her gaze was somewhat glazed and empty; the scenery was clearly not entering her sight .

Gun pushed down the stuffy feeling in his heart and continued to attend to her .

"Do you want something to eat?" He asked .

Yeo Ri shook her head again .

"What about something to drink?" He persisted .

Yeo Ri was about to shake her head, but then paused . Her throat was feeling dry, so perhaps a drink would be nice . Slowly, she nodded .

Gun, receiving her a.s.sent, brightened up .

"What do you want? There"s water, and juice in the fridge, but if you want something else, Oppa will go buy it for you . "

"Water," Yeo Ri simply replied .

"Okay," Gun jumped, gleefully pouring her a cup of warm water, "here . "

Yeo Ri accepted the cup with both hands, then took small, continuous sips until she emptied the whole cup . The warm water helped reduce the scratchy feeling in her throat, making her feel more comfortable . Soon enough, her eyelids began to droop .

"Yeo Ri-ah, go to sleep first . Oppa will go and talk to the doctor for a bit, okay?" Gun smiled genuinely at her . He reached out to stroke her head, but gave up on the idea . He didn"t want to make her feel uncomfortable .

He flashed another smile at her, then exited the room, leaving her all by herself .