Stay With Me - Hwang Inyeop

Chapter 14: Bonfire

"That's cheating! You were counting so fast!" Soomi whined when Chorong made a time's up sound when she answered the question a tad bit late. They were playing di bi di bi dip game in the living room after they ate their dinner. It's a game where you have to answer the multiplication result of 2 numbers from 1 to 10. The first person says 2 numbers and the next person needs to multiply those 2 numbers and answer it.

They felt bored so they decided to play that game. Yumi is playing with them while In-yeop is sitting beside Soomi who did not participate in the game and is just watching television. The guy seems to have the habit to be near Soomi now even though sometimes he is not aware of it.

"I answered on time!" Soomi whined more but it has fallen into deaf ears. Chorong and Yumi stretched their arms, readying themselves to flick Soomi on her forehead.

"You did not," Chorong said and blew her hands as if warming up. Soomi frowned at them then tried to give them her puppy eyes so that they could spare her this time.

"Those puppy eyes won't work on us, pretty girl," Yumi chuckled and outstretched her hand with her fingers ready to flick. "Come on, a game is a game!"

"Alright!" She said with irritation. She's sure their flick will hurt so she closed her eyes and mushed her eyebrows, waiting for the pain on her forehead. A loud flick on the skin was heard which made Soomi hold her forehead and wince from the pain.

"Waaaah! That hurts!" She whined at Yumi who just shrugged her shoulders.

"My turn!" Chorong said with excitement. Soomi closed her eyes again to ready herself for much more pain. Another loud flick on the skin was heard again and now Soomi stood up holding her forehead and wincing from the pain.

"That freaking hurts a lot!" She shouted which made Chorong stick his tongue out at her. That made Soomi furious and sat on the couch again.

"So that's how it will be, huh!" She said and stretched her arms as if warming up. She readied herself to get her revenge. She'll make sure to win this time. "You're all so dead!"

In-yeop chuckled at how Soomi reacted. A smile of genuine happiness was brought by Soomi's silliness. All of them looked at him upon hearing his laugh. They were all baffled to see that smile on his lips which they rarely see from him. In-yeop felt their stares so he put on his straight face again and focused his eyes on the television.

"Did you just laugh, boss?" Chorong said, blinking his eyes several times as if what he saw was not true.

"I guess we'll be seeing that smile more often now," Yumi commented as she looks at Soomi who is just looking at In-yeop with her warm smile. She's happy to see that In-yeop is starting to show his emotions.

"Let's not play anymore," Yumi said and stood up.

"But I was just warming up!" Soomi whined.

"I have a better idea instead," Yumi said and went to the kitchen and opened a cabinet. She got out a pack of marshmallows and turned to them again to show what she got. "Let's have these in a bonfire."

Soomi's eyes sparkled upon hearing Yumi's idea. "I like that!"

"That's childish," Chorong said. "But since it involves food then I'm in. I'll help set up the fire." He stood up and faced In-yeop. "Will you help me, boss?"

Soomi looked at In-yeop and the latter did the same. Soomi smiled at him as she waits for his answer. In-yeop did not say anything and just stood up after shutting the television off. He walked to the door and Chorong followed. Soomi then excitedly stood up as well and help Yumi prepare the marshmallows.

When everything is settled, they all sat around the bonfire. Yumi and Chorong sat on the ground while Soomi sat on a log. In-yeop is standing, playing with a stick with his small knife. He cuts the stick into pieces, tossing them to the fire.

"Here," Yumi handed Soomi a stick with a marshmallow. Soomi gladly accepted it and brought the marshmallow near the fire to melt it a little. She took a bite of it when it's ready and her face lit up as the sweetness burst in her mouth. In-yeop was looking at her and a secret smile formed his lips seeing the girl enjoying simple things like this.

A cold breeze made Soomi shiver but she did not make it look obvious that she's somehow feeling cold. She doesn't want to look like a person who is not used to these kinds of situations but her shivering did not escape In-yeop's eyes. Without hesitation, he removed his jacket and sat beside Soomi. He draped his jacket over Soomi's shoulder which amused the girl. He did it nonchalantly and fixed his eyes on the fire in front of them.

"Thank you," Soomi said and smiled. She held the jacket and fixed it on her shoulders so that it won't fall. She smiled more upon smelling In-yep's scent on the jacket.

"I hope they are okay," Yumi said which made all of them look at her. "Jib and Minwoo."

In-yeop tensed up upon hearing the names of his men. There are moments when he regrets his decision of letting them go. They have been together for a lot of years and they have already built a brotherhood. However, his decision of making Soomi safe was never an argument because if they could turn back time, he will still choose to protect Soomi.

"I already have an idea why they were not with you when you arrived. I know a part of this happened because of Minwoo's temper," Yumi chuckled as she recalls the fights she had with Minwoo because of the guy's temper.

She then looks at Soomi who is staring at the fire. She knows that the main reason why the team split up is because of her but she decided not to say anything about it. One, she doesn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. Two, she knows In-yeop will not like to hear that she's insinuating something especially if Soomi has got something to do with it.

That thought made her look at In-yeop who is also staring at the fire. His jaws are tensed meaning that he is thinking deeply about what happened. She knows she told him that he did the right decision of saving the girl but she wished that it did not cost his relationship with his trusted men.

"I'm sure they are alright," Chorong assured them. "Boss trained them to be a fighter so I'm sure they'll be alright."

What Chorong said gave them hope that everything will be okay.