Jiwoo skipped towards him happily, oblivious to the turmoil she was causing Jungsu.
She grabbed onto his hand and dragged him towards a group of girls who were staring at him with wide eyes.
Jungsu's eyes connected with what must have been Jiwoo's teacher, a young woman who looked to be quite concerned at the moment.
"See! I told you I wasn't lying!" Jiwoo shouted at them while grinning.
"Well, how do we know that he's not just your Oppa? You're a liar Jiwoo!" One of the girls retaliated in anger, folding her arms over her chest.
"Yeah! I bet he's ugly too!" Another girl said as they glared at Jiwoo.
"No! He's not ugly! My fiance is very handsome! He's the most handsome man in Korea!" Jiwoo shouted back at them, her voice wobbling a little as her breaths came out unevenly.
Jungsu felt his shoulders rise upwards as he tried avoiding the concerned eyes of the parents and the teacher.
"Oppa, tell them!" Jiwoo looked at him with teary eyes, her mouth wobbling in place.
Jungsu blinked as he looked down at her, not knowing what to say.
"Excuse me sir, who are you to her?" The teacher stepped forward to ask, stepping closer to Jiwoo in an attempt to block Jungsu from her.
Jungsu looked down once again as Jiwoo glanced up at him with her teary eyes.
Taking in a deep breath, he exhaled slowly as he looked into the teacher's eyes.
"I am her fiance." He said silently, pressing his lips together.
They looked at him in shock and silence.
Jungsu removed his mask and knelt down to the level of the girls looking up at him in admiration.
He placed a finger on his lips.
"I want you to keep this a secret though. Can you girls do that for me?" He smiled then at them, watching as they smiled back in giddy.
"Yes!" They shouted back at him, jumping up and down.
He looked over at Jiwoo to see the content look on her face and shook his head. Getting up, he glanced at the teacher who seemed to be looking at him in shock and recognition.
Nodding at her in greeting, he put his mask back on, keeping his back to the parents as he felt Jiwoo tugging his arm. She was standing there with her arms held upwards, smiling at him expectantly.
Jungsu reached down, picking her up in his arms as he walked away with her. Though Jungsu wouldn't see it, Jiwoo was sticking her tongue out at the girls who watched with jealousy as she was carried away in Jungsu's arms.
Jungsu walked along the sidewalk, watching as a group of pigeons made their way towards them. Jiwoo let out a scream then, holding onto him tighter as she flailed her arms around. Jungsu narrowed his eyes at the pigeons as they had caused Jiwoo to cry. Jungsu had never liked pigeons. They served no other purpose than to eat garbage, sh*t, and then sh*t some more on people's heads.
On more than one occasion, they had caused him quite a lot of trouble, even in his missions. His disguise had been ruined on more than one occasion by them. He'd remembered wiping their white sh*t from his black blazer right before he'd been required to escort someone into an auction. He remembered how disturbed he had felt later when the woman he escorted placed her hand on his shoulder, right where the pigeon's waste had been. He'd never been able to get that out of his mind.
Stomping his foot hard, the pigeons flew away from them and Jungsu rubbed his hand on Jiwoo's small head to comfort her. Glancing up, she smiled at him as if he had done something magical.
As he started walking once more, Jiwoo glanced around impatiently.
"Oppa, I want to eat something!" Jiwoo tugged on the hair sticking out the back of his hat.
"What do you want to eat?" He asked, feeling his own interest piqued as he looked around at the small stalls.
"That! I want that!" She pointed at a stall selling mochis on a stick.
Walking towards it, Jungsu pulled out his wallet as he looked down at the options. Jungsu's eyes of course fell directly onto the strawberry mochi. As he bought two strawberry mochis for the both of them, he started munching immediately on it, holding Jiwoo in one arm and his mochi stick in the other.
"Oppa! I want to go to that place!" Jiwoo pointed at a coin karaoke across the street.
Jungsu raised his brows beneath his hat as he considered whether or not they would have enough time for that. Though, he knew that Grandma was not one to come back until early from a department sale.
"Okay, but only for an hour." Jungsu said as Jiwoo started giggling in his arms.
As they walked inside, Jungsu made eye contact with the attendants at the front desk and nodded his head in greeting. Walking towards the kiosk, he made the payment for one hour and walked them towards their room, Jiwoo still in his arms.
Closing the door behind her, he sat her down on the sofa and took off his mask and hat. For a moment, Jungsu wondered if he would appear suspicious in a coin karaoke with a five year old. He had entered with a black hat and mask on with a child in his arms.
Jungsu was now rethinking his choices. He would have to make it a point to sing as loudly as possible so that nobody misunderstood what was happening inside. He was not a pervert. Or a pedophile.
Jungsu scrolled through the songs as Jiwoo told him which song she wanted to sing.
She started singing a girl group song as he sat back and read the lyrics. After the first verse had played, he joined in with her for the chorus.
He was singing quite loudly, and Jiwoo giggled as she screamed even louder, practically shouting into the mic.
"I LOVE YOU MORE THAN YOU COULD KNOW!" They shouted, and Jungsu laughed as he watched Jiwoo jump up and down.
"Oppa, you sing now!" She said as the song ended.
Jungsu pursed his lips in thought as he sorted through the songs. There were only a few songs he actually knew from the list, and all of them were English.
Jungsu was weirded out by the fact that they had such an old and odd selection of English songs.
Shaking his head, he selected the popular classic, Fly me to the Moon.
As he waited for the lyrics on screen, he looked at Jiwoo who was eagerly awaiting for him to start singing.
This was a song that reminded Jungsu of quite a lot. There were so many instances that he had gotten to hear this song. And though it did not always come with many happy memories, it still made him feel nostalgic.
The lyrics showed up on the screen and Jungsu opened his mouth to sing.
"Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars..." Jiwoo looked at Jungsu with admiration in her eyes, clapping her hands as she heard Jungsu's smooth and deep voice.
Jungsu kept singing, recalling the memories that came with the words he sang. It reminded him of the days when he would constantly have a gun by the side of his head, and couldn't seem to get rid of the dried blood from under his nails. But then he was also in a different country at the time. It was quite a different environment from London and Korea. Those were the days in Italy. He'd been assigned to handle the drug distribution there, however, he had ended up staying there for longer than he had predicted.
That had led to him swearing his fidelity to the mafia. And also to him getting a tattoo. That was the first and last one he would ever get. He had thought about removing it, however, while there were also many risks that came with keeping it, there were also many benefits as well. The benefits to him outweighed the cons. If he ever needed to fall back on anything, he knew that he could settle in Italy. Though he'd have to live a life of crime, Jungsu knew that the Italian mafia was not one to be messed with. If ever he did have to run away from the authorities, he knew they would allow him back in. He had proved a very useful fighter to them after all.
Jungsu was brought back to the present the moment he heard some whispering on the other side of the door. He paused in his singing as he heard the slight click of the door opening, several pairs of eyes peeking inside to connect with his own.
Jungsu looked down at them in shock as the door opened wider and their mouths fell open as they dragged their eyes up Jungsu's form onto his shocked face.
"Oh my-" Jungsu pulled them all in before they could say a word, holding his hand over the lady's mouth to quiet her shout.
He glanced down at them with a reprimanding look as they looked up at him with starstruck eyes.