Yeo Ri woke up especially early. Since Gun offered to take her to her school, she didn't want him to be late to his.
When they left the house, the sun was still not up.
"Isn't it too early? Are you okay? Still sleepy?" Gun blew a breath into his hands. It was beginning to grow so cold that he could see his breath.
"Mm... I'm fine." Yeo Ri nodded, rubbing her hands together. "Let's hurry, or you'll miss the bus."
"Okay."
Gun took his baby sister's hands after warming up, transferring heat to her cold hands. Together, they power-walked hand-in-hand.
"If you're scared, stay at the teacher's office, okay?" He reminded her. He pressed a banknote into her hand, "buy something to eat. Something warm. Got it?"
Yeo Ri smiled, feeling touched. They didn't have much money to begin with, yet Gun readily gave her his money straight out of his pockets. Unlike her who received an allowance from time to time from their father, Gun had to completely rely on his scholarship money and award prizes to support himself and make up for the differences in their household expenses if necessary.
"No, use the money yourself," Yeo Ri returned the money, "I... I received some allowance a while back."
Yeo Ri struggled to smile.
The memory was not a fond one. It made her feel worse knowing that that man gave her money only because he slept with her.
It was dirty money—she had no intentions of using it, but they needed it to survive.
Yeo Ri took out the bills from her bag with trembling hands. She gave Gun the biggest bill. "I received some extra. I guess he was in a good mood? Anyways, Oppa, you can have this."
"Yeo Ri..."
Gun pushed it back to her, but after seeing her insistent gaze, he could only accept reluctantly.
After seeing Gun take the money, Yeo Ri nudged him, "Oppa, you should hurry. The bus will leave any minute now," she smiled. Though, Yeo Ri was wearing a mask to hide her bruise, so he couldn't actually see her expression.
"Okay."
Gun patted her head one more time before leaving. He kept turning back every once in a while, motioning Yeo Ri to get into the school building. Yeo Ri stubbornly stood in front of the school gate, waving at Gun until he was out of sight. Then, when she could no longer see his shadow, she finally stepped into the school grounds and made a beeline towards her classroom.
The school was empty and quiet. It was so eerie that she could not help but feel goosebumps raising on her skin. Her mind flashed to all those times the girls in class gossiped about ghost stories.
"Ghosts don't exist, ghosts don't exist, ghosts don't exist..." she chanted loudly. People were much scarier than myths and urban legends, she reminded herself.
Unfortunately, it was too early and the classrooms were still locked.
The hallways were dimly-lit, adding to the creepy effect. Yeo Ri cautiously made her way to the teacher's office. However, it seemed like her luck was bad. The teacher's office was also still locked since it was too early.
"Student, what are you doing here?"
"Eeek—!"
Yeo Ri shrieked at the sudden sound of someone else's voice.
She turned around to face the 'ghost', only to be met with a security guard carrying a torchlight and a keyring full of keys.
"U-uncle Guard!" Seeing the somewhat familiar face, Yeo Ri patted her chest, trying to calm her thundering heartbeat.
"Oh? If it isn't Lee Cheonsa!" The security guard uncle widened his eyes in recognition. She wore a face mask but other than that, her appearance matched with the girl in his memories.
"What brings you here so early? Had your phone taken away during class or something?" The uncle joked around. He was familiar with Yeo Ri, seeing as she was one of the relatively famous students of the school. He remembered her quite well since a bunch of boys liked to gather around at the gates whenever she passed by.
"Uncle..." Yeo Ri glowered at his joke. However, he was the elder so she still politely greeted him. "I arrived at school a bit too early today so I was thinking about waiting at the teacher's office until the classrooms open. But it seems like the office is still locked too."
"Oh, the office? Just wait a bit. Uncle'll open it right now,"
The security guard raised his keys to show the girl. After fumbling for the right one, he unlocked the door to the teacher's office easily. He had just started making his morning rounds when he stumbled upon Yeo Ri. Usually, he was the one in charge of unlocking the rooms before everybody arrives.
"Thank you, Uncle," Yeo Ri properly thanked the man with a bow.
"Don't mention it," the security guard smiled, thinking that Yeo Ri was raised well. She was so polite.
The security guard switched on the power and cranked up the heater. "You can go and sit at the lounge over there," the security guard says, pointing at the lounging area for the teachers.
"Is that fine...?" Yeo Ri hesitantly headed towards the area. She had never ventured this deep into the teacher's office so she was nervous.
"Yeah, it's fine. I'm sure the teachers wouldn't mind it!" the guard laughed. Seeing her nervous appearance made her seem so lovely and cute that he couldn't help but want to tease her.
"Then, thank you, uncle," Yeo Ri bobbed her head again, expressing her thanks.
The security guard bade her farewell, excusing himself to continue with his job.
Yeo Ri was left alone in the lounge, just waiting for the sky to brighten.