Chapter 203 - The Reliable Friend Tattles

An hour later.

Yeo Ri wanted to avoid the public eye so Jin Goo offered to go out and buy ice cream for her while she waited in the car. After he parked at a safe space and returned with two cups of gelato, the two sat in the car silently while finishing their respective treats.

"..."

"..."

Jin Goo watched the girl sitting next to him cautiously, examining her face to see if he could gauge what was wrong with her.

He observed her as she continued destroying the gelato in her cup with her spoon which was now looking more like mush than tasty ice cream.

Ever since they came back from visiting Yeo Ri's self-proclaimed grandparents, Yeo Ri's mood had soured considerably. He could not help but wonder what happened back in the house. He wanted to ask, but afraid of further aggravating the irate girl, he kept his mouth shut.

"Is it tasty?" He asked slowly as she shoved another spoonful of gelato into her mouth somewhat angrily. He doubted she could taste the flavour with the speed and force she was using to eat the frozen dessert, but small talk seemed like a good idea to ease the subtle tense atmosphere she was creating.

"Mm," Yeo Ri replied half-heartedly.

"Eat slowly, or you'll get a brain freeze," he advised, half-grimacing.

"Mm," she repeated before proceeding to ignore his advice.

It was only when she ran out of ice cream to torture that her mood seemed to lighten.

"Done?" He asked, picking up the empty cup from her hands. He exited the car to throw it away.

Yeo Ri muttered a small thanks to him when he came back.

Now that both of them had finished eating, he got ready to take her home.

"Yeo Ri-ah?" 

Jin Goo called out to the girl just as he parked in front of the Lee siblings' apartment building.

"Hm?"

"..." He wanted to ask about what happened, but he also felt he was being too intrusive. Her business was her business, he thought. Jin Goo mulled over his thoughts for a moment longer before finally saying, "...nothing." 

"Call me again if you need any help," he said instead of voicing his concern. 

"Mm. Thanks for everything, Jin Goo-oppa." Yeo Ri flashed him a brief smile. "Ah, right. Remember to keep today a secret, okay?"

Jin Goo offered what he hoped to be a sincere smile towards the girl. "Of course," he nodded, lying through his teeth. After witnessing her sudden moodiness, Jin Goo had already made up his mind to tattle to his best friend, Hyuk, about the girl's weird behaviour. In the end, he had promised the guy that he'd look out for his sister, and he intended to follow through with his promise. 

Jin Goo waved his hand while keeping his facial expression normal. 

He watched the young girl enter the building, and only when she disappeared within the walls did he drive away. Instead of going home, he entered a different destination into his car's navigation system and set off according to the directions given by the GPS.

Almost an hour later, he arrived. He parked his car at the visitor's parking lot and walked purposefully into the building to his right. As if he had been there before, Jin Goo went through the necessary procedures smoothly.

A couple of minutes later, the person he wanted to meet appeared in front of him.

"Hyuk." He got up briefly to greet the man, and sat down as Hyuk reached his seat.

Hyuk, who had entered the booth somewhat excitedly, looked visibly disappointed once he realised that his visitor was not the person he had been expecting. He sat down and picked up the phone on the side, grumbling silently to himself.

"Oi, can't you act like you're at least a little happy to see me?" Jin Goo complained, rolling his eyes. He knew that Hyuk was probably expecting Yeo Ri, but too f*cking bad. He paid no mind to the other man's disappointment. Instead, he felt a sense of schadenfreude after seeing the other man's forlorn expression.

"Whatever," Hyuk sullenly replied. "So? What do you want?" 

"This better be important; you just wasted my visitation quota for this month," he added, making an annoyed face. He was only allowed two visits every month—biweekly—and Yeo Ri had used the first one, while Jin Goo had stolen this one from her. All his efforts in trying to look presentable earlier had been wasted. If he knew it was Jin Goo who was coming, he wouldn't have spent so much time trying to fix the wrinkles on his drabby prison clothes.

"It's about Yeo Ri," Jin Goo simply stated. He made a face as if he was saying, 'Yes, you idiot, this is important.'

Hearing his beloved's name being brought up, Hyuk straightened his spine. "What? Did something happen? Is she okay?" Countless worst-case-scenarios flashed in his mind. 

"She's fine."

"Then? What's wrong?" He glared at his friend restlessly, prompting him to hurry up and explain his words.

"It's just... the other day, somebody contacted Yeo Ri saying that they're her grandparents. Today, she asked me to drive her to their house. When she came back from the meeting, she looked angry. I don't know what happened, but I feel like you should know about this. She told me to keep it a secret, so don't go around interrogating her later. She'll hate me if she finds out that I told you." Jin Goo quickly summarised the recent happenings to his friend.

"What?!" Hearing Jin Goo's words, Hyuk's heart skipped a beat. He felt a mix of feelings rising inside him; fear, anger, anxiousness, worry, and insecurity brewed inside his heart, sending his mind into a tangled mess.

"Did she tell you what happened? Did you ask her?" Hyuk pressed, despite Jin Goo having already stated earlier that he hadn't a clue of what had transpired between Yeo Ri and the suspicious strangers. "Why did nobody stop her? What if they were bad people?!" He burst out. "What was that sh*tty idiot, Gun, doing, letting her go and meet strangers so easily like that!"

Jin Goo shot him an annoyed glare. "She didn't look like she wanted to talk about it, so I didn't ask. Also, didn't I tell you that she told me to keep it a secret? Naturally, Gun doesn't know."

"F*ck!" Hyuk slammed the counter in front of him. He breathed heavily as he tried to restrain the fire burning inside him. 

Hyuk was afraid. Her safety was one thing, but if what Jin Goo said was true—that those strangers were really her real grandparents—then, what would happen? Wouldn't they get separated? 

He knew that their paternal grandparents were dead, and that his stepmother had come from an affluent family. She used to tell him, on those days when the old b*stard wasn't home, about her childhood and about her strict but loving parents. Although the details were lost in his sea of memories, he could still recall the fondness that coloured her face as she talked about her family. Though, he had probably blocked the memory of those stories because he did not want to plant false hope—hope that he could have a normal, happy family—in himself.

Thinking about Han Yeoreum and those people, Hyuk felt as if he had tripped into a blackhole of misery. Negative thoughts began to cloud his mind. What if Yeo Ri decided to go to them, and once she found out that life was better with them, she'd ditch him? 

It was not that he did not trust the girl, but it was because of his insecurity. He could not help but think that since her grandparents were obviously a better choice than a man who was stuck in prison for god-knows-how-many-more years, she would most probably choose to go to them. Perhaps, they were Yeo Ri's only chance of having a normal life.

Hyuk clenched his fist tightly at the depressing thoughts.

"Hey, snap out of it!" Jin Goo exasperatedly sighed. He knew immediately that his friend was beating himself up over some stupid reason or another.

"I don't have time to look at your pity party," Jin Goo narrowed his eyes at Hyuk. "You think Yeo Ri is going to leave you or something?" He asked, accurately reading his best friend's biggest worry.

"..." Hyuk flinched at Jin Goo's question. He looked away, frowning.

"Oi, are you stupid?" Jin Goo heartlessly dissed his friend. "If Yeo Ri wanted to leave you, she wouldn't have looked so angry when she left earlier. Her 'grandparents' must've said something that she didn't like. You know how Yeo Ri is—the only time she gets defensive is when someone mentions her family—and by family, I mean you, *sshole. As if someone like that would ditch her family for some strangers she barely knows."

Although Jin Goo's tone was mean, his words meant well. It was clear that he was trying to cheer his friend up.

"..." Hyuk's jaw locked but he loosened his tightened fist. His shoulders sagged as if Jin Goo's words lifted some of his burdens. "I hope you're right, sh*thead," he grumbled softly.

"Of course I'm right," Jin Goo arrogantly raised his chin. "I'm always right."

Hyuk's face changed. Just as he was about to retort the smug b*stard's claims, the timer beeped, signifying the end of the visit. 

"Ah, sh*t!" He cursed, though the man on the other side could not hear it. The phone line had been blocked the moment the timer made its first beep.

Hyuk angrily slammed the phone back on the receiver before banging on the glass wall to get Jin Goo's attention.

"Take care of her for me," he mouthed to his friend.

"I will," Jin Goo responded with a firm nod. He watched his friend get dragged out of the booth by a prison guard. Just before he exited the booth, he turned back for one last time.

The two friends exchanged glances for two seconds, then parted ways.