Stay With Me - Hwang Inyeop

Chapter 12: His Smile

They were immediately greeted by the children as they arrived. The organization is located in the secluded part of the village and every child in this place was saved from the bandits from almost being sold to the different smugglers and from Mr. Han's people.

"You came," one of the caretakers who are in charge of the place approached Yumi and gave her a tight hug.

"I promised I'd visit even once a month," Yumi said with a smile. She introduced Soomi and In-yeop to the tall bulky guy. Soomi bowed with respect while In-yeop just looks around the area.

"He is our provider," Yumi said as he introduced In-yeop. "Every cent I spent in this organization came from him."

The bulky guy outstretched his hand for him to shake with In-yeop but the latter just stared at him with a frown on his face. Feeling embarrassed, the bulky guy let out an awkward laugh and dropped his hand.

"We thank you for providing for this organization. You are a very great help for these poor children," he told In-yeop sincerely. In-yeop just walked away from them and explored the area.

"That's so like him," Yumi chuckled and faced the bulky guy. "Don't worry about him. He's not used to socializing with other people. Where are the others?"

The bulky guy escorted them to the others so that Yumi could introduce Soomi to them. As they walk towards the building, Soomi glanced back at In-yeop who is just leisurely walking around.

Yumi introduced her to the other members of the organization. After that, she started playing with the kids who are in the playground. Soomi loves kids so much maybe because she was not able to experience having a brother nor a sister. She envies siblings who spend their time together and she wishes she could also experience that.

"Play catch with me," one of the kids cutely approached her. She bent down to level the height of the child.

"I'd love to," she said with a bright smile. "Where's your ball?"

The kid ran towards where his ball is and ran back to Soomi. He tossed the ball to Soomi and the girl caught it making exaggerated sounds.

"Nice throw. Now, here it comes," she said and tossed the ball to the kid. Since the kid has small hands, he was not able to catch it and the ball rolled on the dusty ground.

The little boy chased the ball and a foot of a man stopped it from rolling. He looked up at the tall man and curiously stared at him. It was In-yeop.

"Do you want to play with me?" The kid cutely asked. In-yeop hid his cigarette behind him so that the kid won't see it. But being a curious child, he asked, "What's that behind you?"

"It's nothing," In-yeop simply answered in his usual monotone voice. The little kid tilted his head like he is not satisfied with In-yeop's answer.

"I think uncle wants to be alone right now," Soomi told the little boy as she reached them. The boy reached for his ball on the ground and run towards his friends.

"Kids shouldn't see that," Soomi said pertaining to In-yeop's cigarette.

"That's why I hid it," he said and is about to bring the stick in his mouth again but Soomi held his wrist. She snatched the cigarette from his fingers and threw it on the floor, stomping on it. She held In-yeop's hand and spread his palm open. She then got something from her pocket and placed a lollipop on his opened hand.

"I got that from the organization's office," she told him and smiled. She then started walking backward so she is still facing him. "You can have that instead of the cigarette. It's better for your lungs." She then turned around and run towards the kids to play with them.

In-yeop was dumbfounded at what Soomi did. Never did anyone tried to stop him from what he does because no one dared to. He stared at the lollipop on his hands then looked at Soomi who started running around with the kids.

"She's something else." In-yeop looked back and saw Yumi approaching him. He placed the candy Soomi gave him in his back pocket. "She's pretty, nice, and most of all brave."

Both of them looked at Soomi who is now half-sitting to level her height with a kid who is putting a flower on her ear. She gave the kid a huge smile and pinched the kid's nose lightly.

"I have no idea what made you save her," Yumi said and looked at In-yeop who eyes are glued to Soomi. "But you made the right choice."

A group of small girls suddenly surrounded In-yeop and pulled him towards where they were playing with Soomi. They made him sit on the blanket which is spread on the grassy part of the field and sat together with him. Soomi sat on the bench near them and suppressed her laugh when the little girls started to open their make-up kit toys.

"We'll make you pretty, uncle," one of the little girls cutely said and tried putting some blush on In-yeop's cheeks but the guy raised his arm in front of his face to shield himself from the dreadful scene.

The little girl's shoulder dropped from disappointment and pouted. Her eyes start to water. In-yeop looked at Soomi with his eyes pleading to help him get out of the situation. Soomi just shrugged at him while suppressing her smile. In-yeop looked at the kid again and sighed. He dropped his hand and let the girl do what she wants to his face. The little kid squealed with joy and started putting make-up on him. The others followed and now a lot of hands are in front of his face while the others are doing his hair.

All the kids laugh while staring at In-yeop whose hair is tied into two pigtails and his face painted with different colors. "You look ugly, uncle," one of the girls said and they all laughed. In-yeop took the mirror from the kids' toys and was shocked to see his reflection.

Soomi was not able to suppress her laughter anymore. In-yeop glared at her but she continued laughing.

"I think she wants to have a make-over, too," In-yeop told the little girls as he pointed at Soomi. Soomi stopped laughing and stood up from her seat.

"No no no, I'm good," she said as she walked backward, readying herself to run. In-yeop stood up and looked at the girls. He crossed his arms over his chest and the little girls did the same.

"Chase her," In-yeop said and the kids started running. Soomi runs away from them and when In-yeop saw that the little girls cannot catch up to her, he started chasing Soomi, too.

When he got near her, his strong arms wrapped around her waist and slightly lifted her to stop her from running. The little girls giggled when In-yeop finally caught Soomi.

"It's time for lunch, kids," one of the caretakers shouted which called their attention. The kids excitedly run towards the building to have their lunch and now In-yeop and Soomi were left on the field under a huge tree.

Noticing the position they have, In-yeop slowly put Soomi down but his hand stayed on her waist. Soomi can hear his breath, probably panting from running. She turned around and saw him staring at her. She then started laughing upon seeing his painted face.

"You look horrible," she snorted. She removed the rubbers from his hair which made his soft hair flow down again.

"Well, it is your fault," he said as he shook his head and combed his hair up using his fingers. Soomi stared at the guy standing close to her and there goes the fast thump of her heart again.

"You should smile often," she commented upon seeing the smile on his face when they were chasing each other earlier. "It suits you."

In-yeop looked down at the girl with his blank expression. He likes the feeling of being this close to her but he knows that he shouldn't feel that way. So he started walking away from her and made his way towards the building where the kids are having their lunch. Soomi followed him with a smile on her lips.