"I heard that man's footsteps. He's back already?"
Gun's voice could be heard from behind her. Even without looking she knew that his mood was not good.
"Mm. He's been out drinking so Oppa, you should be careful. I'll leave a note for Hyuk-oppa too so he'll watch out."
"Not that he'd listen to it, though," Gun muttered.
Yeo Ri smiled helplessly, agreeing with his words. "Still, we should at least warn him."
"What are you making?" Gun placed down his toiletries, walking up to her to see if he could help with anything.
"Hangover soup," she replied simply.
Gun frowned, thinking why she would even bother. "You're too considerate, Yeo Ri."
"There's hot water over there, so take it to the bathroom and go wash up," she pointed to the metal bucket on the stove. The fire had already been put out so it was not as hot.
"You're really too nice," Gun gave her a brief hug and kissed the crown of her head. "You don't have to do this, you know?"
"I know, Oppa. I wanted to." Yeo Ri closed the pot's lid as soon as she finished making the soup, letting it simmer on low heat. She turned to Gun and bumped her head on his shoulder lightly, "It'll hurt my heart if any of you got sick because of the cold water."
Gun placed a hand on her shoulder worriedly, his brows scrunched. "Did you at least heat some up for yourself?"
Yeo Ri did not miss a beat and smiled at him, replying, "Of course!"
Gun stared intently at her face, looking for a telltale sign in case she was lying. However, nothing seemed wrong other than the fact that her lips were a little pale. "If you say so," he finally wrung out. "Your lips are pale. It's getting colder these days so make sure to bundle up before you go to school, okay?"
"Mm, I know." Yeo Ri nodded happily, amused by how she was able to trick him into believing her white lie.
"Next time, let me do the work, okay? Then, I'm going."
"Yeah~"
Gun went off to the bathroom. The bucket which she had struggled to carry earlier seemed so light when Gun picked it up with one hand. Yeo Ri glowered at the sight, cursing her lack of strength.
Yeo Ri glanced at the clock on the wall.
There was still some time left before she needed to get going.
Yeo Ri took her wash bucket and walked back to their room. After coming back to the room, she picked up her schoolbag and searched for a post-it note from Gun's desk.
As expected of a model student; he had varying types of post-it notes. She chose the pink-coloured one which seemed to have not been used much and rummaged for a pen.
'Dad's home, be careful. -Yeo Ri,' she wrote.
Yeo Ri looked over to the sleeping man, wondering where she should put the note. It had to be somewhere visible to him, she thought.
"Hm, maybe if I can put this on his phone..." Yeo Ri knew that he was always playing with his phone doing god-knows-what, so she decided it was best if she stuck the note on his phone.
Yeo Ri looked around the vicinity, searching for his smartphone. "It's not here," she muttered. She inched closer to him, her hands wandering around on the floor and petting the bedding.
'Found it!' Her eyes lit up, spotting the phone sandwiched underneath his arm, seeming almost hidden. If she had not come closer, she would have easily missed it. Stealthily, she pulled it out, slightly raising his hand to get it out more easily.
Yeo Ri placed the note on the screen, then returned the phone back to its owner. Softly, she pulled at his fingers to make enough room in his hand to place the phone.
Her fingertips lingered on his. Yeo Ri glanced towards Hyuk. Noticing that he was still asleep, she allowed herself to touch him for a little while longer. After all, it wasn't every day that he was tame enough to be affectionate with her like Gun was.
Pretending that the phone was not in the right position, she took it out and ran her hand across his palm, as if smoothing it. Ever-so-slowly, her thumbs brushed over his open palm, feeling every inch of its surface. She could tell how different their hands were; his was much more firm and calloused than hers. And much bigger, as well. It was easy to tell that his palm would immediately dwarf hers if they were to be compared side-by-side.
Just a small touch, and it was already enough to make her day.
A brilliant smile bloomed on Yeo Ri's face, highlighted by a light blush.
Finally, she had her fill and placed the phone back in his palm, making sure that the note was facing upwards so he could see it the moment he woke up.
Yeo Ri left, not wanting to bother Hyuk any longer. Since he was back so late the night before, she wanted him to sleep a bit more, though he would still wake up soon to go to work.
Yeo Ri paused, then hurried back to Gun's desk to scribble another note. 'Breakfast is on the table, heat it up if it gets cold,' she added. She slapped the extra note underneath the previous one, then finally headed out.
As the sliding door closed, Hyuk's fingers twitched slightly.
His eyes opened.
He stared dazedly at his hand, wondering if that had been a dream.