After the concert was over and Yeo Ri parted ways with her costars, she stood outside the concert venue with Gun.
Kwon Tae Yang had disappeared somewhere, and him being their designated driver, the two Lees had no choice but to wait for him.
The crowd was beginning to thin, but there was still no sight of the man.
Yeo Ri's phone buzzed thrice.
She tugged Gun's sleeve, "Oppa, I want to go to bathroom."
"Okay. Let's go then," Gun took a step forward nonchalantly after scanning the area for the toilet sign.
"...Can't I go alone?"
"But why? I'll go with you, okay? Oppa will worry."
"I'm just going to the bathroom..." Yeo Ri pouted, her tone embarrassed. She wasn't a child who was too scared to go to the washroom alone anymore, geez! There were no limits to how much Gun babied her.
Gun didn't say anything. He merely blinked at his baby sister with an innocent and expectant gaze, his hand holding hers firmly.
Yeo Ri glowered at him but did not shake him off. Defeated, she dragged him to the nearest loo and joined the line to the women's toilet with him.
When her turn arrived, Gun tactfully broke away from her and leaned on the wall opposite of the toilet.
Yeo Ri picked a random open stall, locked the door, and sat down on the toilet seat.
She pulled out her phone, tapping on the 'return missed call' icon and letting it ring thrice before ending the call.
It was the method that Secretary Kwon had decided with her for when they needed to communicate secretly.
Instead of talking to him over the phone inside the crowded bathroom, where people would have a chance to eavesdrop, she began texting him.
"What happened?" she asked.
"It's all clear now," he concisely replied.
Yeo Ri frowned. "They're still at it?"
"They saw a chance when you came to this place."
"How did you even recognise them?"
"Experience," he simply responded, "and they've been following us since at the cafe."
Yeo Ri rolled her eyes, "Then why didn't you deal with them earlier?"
"I'm sorry. I couldn't risk leaving you alone. I called backup when I noticed them at the cinema, but it turns out there were more of them hiding in plain sight."
"I wasn't alone," she quickly typed, clearly frustrated, "I was with three other guys."
"And none of them are strong enough to go against these gangsters," Kwon Tae Yang shot back.
"..." Yeo Ri pursed her lips.
He was right—two of them might be celebrities but they were still civilians. And her brother... If it came down to it, she would rather let them take her instead of watching him get hurt.
"I know you don't want your brother to get hurt, miss," he followed up.
"Hmph," Yeo Ri grumbled. Sometimes it was annoying that Secretary Kwon knew too much about her. It was a weakness open to exploitation.
"Miss... These people are getting bold. The person targeting you seems to have deep connections. Perhaps it would be good to have more people in your security detail?"
Yeo Ri glared at the screen as soon as she read the words. "Don't you f*cking dare," she typed angrily. She already had one guy watching her every move like a hawk; adding more would be a nightmare. Did her privacy mean so little to these people? She never asked for this!
"It's for your own good, miss," he coaxed.
Yeo Ri switched her phone off in annoyance.
Shoving her phone inside her bag, Yeo Ri got up and flushed the toilet. She exited the stall, spending several minutes washing her hands as she schooled her expression. It wouldn't do her any good if Gun saw something wrong with her, after all.
Once the coldness faded from her gaze, Yeo Ri finally wiped her hands dry and left the bathroom.
The two siblings naturally held hands again once they reunited. They walked over to the drop off area, where Secretary Kwon was finally sighted.
He stood at attention, ready to hold the car door open for them. For the first time in a long while, the man was not wearing his gloves.
Gun glanced at him surreptitiously, a trace of uneasyness crossing his mind. There was something going on between them, and it irked him that he was out of the loop. Yeo Ri was not telling him something again, even though she promised him that she wouldn't keep any secrets anymore.
But Gun didn't dare to voice his thoughts. He wouldn't be able to take it if Yeo Ri started hating him for being too clingy.
Gun stared out the window sulkily. He swore to himself, that one day he'll figure out just what their secret was.