In the corner of an empty road, three guys and a young girl were huffing and puffing heavily, some of them already sitting on the ground from the exercise that they had just undergone.
"What's going on, Yeo Ri? Why are you with them?" Hyuk pointedly asked his sister. He glared at the two guys as if they were the criminals instead of him.
Yeo Ri grimaced and looked down. She was too afraid to answer him.
"Hey, don't be so harsh to her. Yeo Ri-ah didn't do anything wrong," In Guk defended the girl in-between heavy breaths.
"Shut up, I didn't ask you," Hyuk threw a glare at his classmate. Then, he turned to look at Yeo Ri. "What did they do to you?"
"I-I—" She stuttered, her head lowered. "They bought me ice cream, but it dropped..."
"What?"
Thinking about her ice cream again, Yeo Ri's eyes reddened. "My ice cream... it fell..."
"...Was that... why you cried?" Hyuk said, asking for confirmation with a bizarre look on his face. It couldn't be... because of ice cream? Was Yeo Ri always this childish? Now that he thought about it, the answer was yes. She was only eleven years old, after all. Although she was tall and mature for her age, she was still a kid. He had forgotten about this rather glaring fact since he was too caught up in his feelings.
Hyuk cleared his throat and scratched his neck awkwardly. It turns out that In Guk and the guy next to him didn't have any part to play in Yeo Ri's crying episode. He had one-sidedly misunderstood the two guys and had actually beaten them up for no reason.
'...Wait.'
Hyuk paused his train of thoughts suspiciously. 'What was Yeo Ri doing with the two of them in the first place?' His eyes swivelled to the two guys briefly.
"Lee Yeo Ri, you better tell me the truth. What were you doing with these b*stards?" He asked with a strict tone. Warning was laced behind his words, insinuating that his anger would spike the moment he notices something was off.
Yeo Ri flinched, then glanced at In Guk worriedly. She wondered if it was alright to tell Hyuk about their deal. Will In Guk take his words back because of this?
In Guk nodded in response. He opened his mouth to reply in her stead: "I invited her on a date."
"You motherf*cker—" Hyuk glared at In Guk angrily. What? He asked Yeo Ri out? Was this b*tch crazy? Was he a pedo? Anger and jealousy swirled in his mind. 'He asked Yeo Ri out and she agreed! She f*cking agreed!' His fists balled up at the thought. He didn't like the feeling but he couldn't stop himself.
In Guk noticed his brewing fury and quickly added, "She only came because I said I'd drop your charges if she did."
"...What?" Hyuk's balled-up fists slackened as he immediately cooled down. In Guk's words took him by surprise. A complex feeling invaded him. He was happy yet sad. Guilt and self-mockery was also mixed in inside his chest; it felt heavy and stuffy as if he had eaten one-too-many sweet potatoes.
Of course... how could he forget? In Yeo Ri's world, family mattered the most. And he was her brother. Naturally, she would do anything for his sake... Hyuk's ears reddened and he looked away. His emotions were a mess and he needed some time to sort things out.
"Let's go home," he finally said after a long silence. "Yeo Ri, come on. I'll take you home." His voice was still rigid but it no longer contained any anger or hostility.
"Okay," Yeo Ri obediently got up and grabbed the hem of his sleeve. She turned back to the duo, "In Guk-oppa, Jin Goo-oppa, thank you for today. It was fun," she said with a small smile.
"Ah... it's no problem, Yeo Ri-ah." In Guk smiled foolishly at Yeo Ri, smitten by her demure expression. "Take care."
Hyuk's face darkened. Oppa? Oppa?! When did they became so close?! Hyuk felt as if he had eaten vinegar, even though Yeo Ri also calls him that. But the nuance was different; Hyuk thought that when Yeo Ri called him 'Oppa', she meant it platonically since they were family. He wondered if it was possible for him to hear her call him 'Oppa' with a romantic connotation. That would be a dream-come-true.
He tugged his arm that Yeo Ri was holding with an unhappy frown on his face, "Let's go!"
"Ah, wait, Oppa," Yeo Ri suddenly halted.
"What now?!"
"W-we need to go to the store and buy soy sauce first before going home," she squeaked. The part about running out of soy sauce at home was true, alright? She really planned to go out and get some... after the date.
"..."
When they got home, Hyuk shouted out some profanities and insults at Gun for not looking after Yeo Ri properly, then stormed off elsewhere.