Several minutes before Yeong Gi had taken Yeo Ri away, Hyuk was still brooding over his loss for the nth time against In Guk. He kicked the machine rudely, not caring about the damage he might have caused on the old and rare arcade machine.
Then, his phone rang. He ignored the glare from the manager and answered his phone angrily. But before he could say anything, a vaguely familiar male voice started speaking.
"Lee Hyuk, look who we've got? That's right, it's your little sister." The man on the phone had said.
Hyuk didn't have the time to process the words when a highly familiar voice screamed out, "O-oppa!"
Yeo Ri sounded frightened, her voice teary. Hyuk's pupils shrunk and his stomach dropped as he realised what was going on.
"Who the f*ck are you?!" Hyuk demanded. They better not have laid their hands on Yeo Ri, or else, all hells may break loose. Hyuk was beginning to grow anxious. Hopefully, Yeo Ri was safe.
"You'll know when you come. Or else, say goodbye to your little sister," the b*stard said.
"Don't you f*cking d—!" Hyuk roared at the man, but he merely stated the name of the meeting place in an unperturbed manner before hanging up.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The sound of the disconnected call rang in his ears loudly, each beeping sound feeling as if it was squeezing his heart tightly.
Yeo Ri was captured. And if he was not mistaken, it was probably by some gang he had unwittingly offended due to his unstable and violent tendencies. He had no idea how they found out about his little sister, but he was sure as hell that he would not let them get away for it.
Hyuk did not utter any explanations to In Guk or Jin Goo before he started running, heading to the location by foot.
"Hey! Lee Hyuk, where are you going?!" In Guk shouted after the fleeing figure. The two best friends exchanged glances before picking up their things and running after the man. Clearly, something bad had happened.
"Hey! Hyuk!" Jin Goo was the first to reach Hyuk. He forcefully stopped the hasty guy by grabbing his arm. "What's wrong with you? What happened?" He did not hear anything from the conversation Hyuk had on the phone, but it was easy to tell that the phone call had been the cause of his franticness.
"Let go!" Hyuk pushed Jin Goo away, his eyes red. He could not stop thinking about Yeo Ri who was in grave danger, and it was all because of him. Somebody had nabbed his sister due to his actions. This was karma.
"D*mn it, just tell us what happened!" In Guk followed up, breathing heavily as he caught up with the two.
"Yeo Ri needs me! Move!" He glared at the two and continued running.
"Wait!" The two did not know the gist of what was going on, but it seemed serious so they followed him. In any case, the moment Yeo Ri was mentioned, In Guk had already decided to go along with the worried older brother.
And so, the trio went to go save Yeo Ri.
Reaching at the destination, Hyuk and the two were completely surrounded by thugs. Some of them wielded weapons such as crowbars and baseball bats, eyeing the trio dangerously. Seeing this scene, Hyuk knew he had came to the right place. The mastermind seemed to hold such a large grudge on him, god-knows-why.
"I'm here; let my sister go!" Hyuk yelled as he entered the abandoned building through its doors that was wide open.
In the center of the abandoned building, a group of men was gathered.
There she was, his precious little sister, standing among those b*stards. She looked utterly uncomfortable and scared, her body shrinking away from a man who kept poking her at various points on her body. The man laughed lewdly as she squirmed from his teasing.
"Yeo Ri-ah!" He called out, bringing everyone's attention onto him.
"Oppa!" Yeo Ri looked at him with relief in her eyes. Her shoulders sagged as though she finally had nothing to worry about anymore. Her glassy eyes brightened as his figure was reflected in her gaze.
Yeo Ri tried to run towards her brother who had come to save her, but someone immediately held her back.
Hyuk, seeing her wincing in pain, did not think twice and launched himself between the two, separating her from the d*mned b*tch. Pushing her behind him, he threw a punch at the guy, sending him flying to the ground.
Sensing Hyuk's hostility, the other guys surrounded him and began attacking.
"Be careful, Hyuk!" In a timely manner, In Guk and Jin Goo slammed their bodies against the group, breaking the ring of thugs. With an additional two pairs of fists, going against the large group was not impossible for Hyuk anymore.
"Lee Hyuk, you b*stard, I'll make sure you regret everything today!" Said the leader as he emerged from behind the thugs. He grinned ferociously before aiming a hit at Hyuk.
Hyuk took the punch head-on, then threw out a kick of his own.
With Jin Goo and In Guk backing him up, he single-handedly confronted the guy who seemed to be the leader.
Both Jin Goo and In Guk had experience in Taekwondo, and they easily made quick work out of the amateur thugs who only knew streetfighting.
Fuelled with fury for having his precious little sister involved in the whole farce, Hyuk poured his entire being into pummelling his opponent. Soon enough, he gradually gained the upper hand.
"What the f*ck are you?!" The leader yelled, his eyes flashing with fright at the sight of Hyuk. No matter how many times he hit the boy, he would get up again, acting as if the bone-breaking punches barely affected him.
What the leader didn't know was—Hyuk was just too used to being a punching bag that his whole body toughened up. Perhaps, this was the one good thing that came out of the domestic abuse he had went through practically his whole life.
After fighting for some time, it was clear that these third-rate steet thugs were no match for the three students.
Once Hyuk knocked out the leader, most of the lackeys had already fled.
Finally, it was over.
Hyuk turned around to look at Yeo Ri. He ran towards her just as she collapsed on her knees, her whole body trembling. "Oppa, Oppa!" The tears she had been trying to hold back finally fell out.
Hyuk knelt in front of her and wrapped his arms around her. He took a deep breath, finally allowing himself to relax. He hugged her tightly. Being so close to her, he could feel his heart drumming loudly.
This experience was too frightening.
"Are you okay, Yeo Ri-ah?" He asked softly, as if afraid to scare her away.
"Mm." Yeo Ri mumbled through her hiccupping sobs. "I was so scared, Oppa...!" She buried her head on the crook of his neck, reciprocating his hug with just as much strength.
Hyuk could feel her hot tears falling on his bare skin, making him tremble.
"Sorry," Hyuk's eyes reddened as the guilt burst out. "Sorry, it was all my—it was all Oppa's fault...!"
"No, Oppa...!" Yeo Ri shook her head furiously. Hyuk was not in the wrong. It was her fault for being so stupid to have followed strangers despite her brothers' constant warnings. She shouldn't have fallen for those bad people's tricks. A stifling feeling wrapped around her heart, making her feel like it was hard to breath. Unable to speak her thoughts out loud, she cried even harder.
After her tears died down, Hyuk finally—reluctantly—pried himself away from her. He stared into her bright and glittering eyes, still glassy from leftover tears. Unable to stand the purity in her gaze, he looked away.
Hyuk felt impossibly sh*tty.
The look on Yeo Ri's face earlier was etched in his mind. The trust she had in him was irrefutable. It was as if all was well with the world as long as Hyuk was there to protect her.
And yet, he still held such disgusting thoughts towards her and even treated her cruelly before. His entire being shook with regret. The feeling washed over him like a tidal wave and he barely held himself back from crying. He felt so, so sorry to Yeo Ri.
Yeo Ri was so sweet; so kind and selfless. Even towards him who was akin to human trash, she would still offer him a warm smile. And yet, he had pushed her away just because he could not come to terms with his morbid feelings.
Softly patting the girl's head, he told himself: 'Lee Hyuk, don't you dare screw this up again.'
This would be the last time he made her cry, he decided.
No more fights.
No more running away.
Just... stay by her side, quietly... and protect that beautiful smile.
"Let's go home," he cracked a small smile. "Can you walk? Come, Oppa will give you a piggyback."
Just like this.
As her brother.
Nothing more, nothing less.