Stay With Me - Hwang Inyeop

Chapter 23: His Rage

A lot of hands tried to stop In-yeop from entering the building. However In-yeop tried resisting, he can't get away from their grip.

"Get your fucking hands off of me!" In-yeop shouted at them as he clawed and kicked his feet in an attempt to escape from their hands.

"It's dangerous to get in, sir. The fire is spreading too fast," the bulky guy told him as he tried his best to hold In-yeop in his position.

"Get your hands off of me right now," In-yeop glower at the bulky guy but he remained unfazed. That made In-yeop furious and punched the guy so hard on the face.

"That's enough, In-yeop!" Yumi shouted but only to receive a threatening stare from the raging guy.

"The remaining kids are here!" One of the caretakers shouted which made all of them look at the entrance of the building. The kids were immediately taken care of.

When In-yeop saw Soomi going out of the building together with one kid, he pushed everyone holding him and dashed towards the girl. Soomi was shocked at the strong impact of their bodies as In-yeop tightly wrapped her with his sturdy arms.

"In-yeop?" Soomi muffled on In-yeop's shoulder. She was baffled to see the guy who was giving her the cold shoulder this morning and is now hugging her.

"Are you alright? Were you hurt?" In-yeop asked as he cupped her cheeks and inspected her face, checking if she is wounded.

"I'm alright," Soomi answered as she stares at the worried expression of In-yeop which she had not yet seen before. She doesn't know if the tears forming in his eyes are because of the thick smoke created by the fire or because the guy was worried sick of her.

"Come here," In-yeop escorted Soomi to sit on a bench. He removed his jacket and draped it over her shoulder.

"I still need to help them," Soomi said and was about to stand but In-yeop stopped her with a scowl on his face.

"You think I'll let you do that?" In-yeop said and knelt in front of her to inspect her face again. His eyebrows mushed upon seeing some cuts in her lips and jaws.

"Fuck!" He cursed under his breath and stood up. "Stay here."

"But I need to---" Soomi was not able to finish her sentence when In-yeop raised his voice.

"I said stay!" He said and looked at the children staring at them. "Look after her. Don't let her out of your sight," he instructed the kids and run towards the others to help. The children went near Soomi and sat beside her. Soomi wrapped her arms around the kids' shoulders and stared at the building that is still on fire.

It took everyone hours before they put out the fire completely and luckily no one was heavily injured. No one knows how it started. Everything happened so fast. Everyone looks exhausted as they sat on the ground, thinking how they could fix the building. Soomi stood up from her seat and helped others distribute bottles of water to everyone.

"Where will the kids sleep tonight?" One of the caretakers asked.

"We'll have to camp out here tonight. Once the sun is up, we'll identify what caused the fire and we'll try to fix what's left of the building," the bulky guy said who is in charge of the organization. He looked at Yumi who is staring at the still-smoking building. "What do you think, boss?" He asked the lady.

"Let's do that," Yumi said and looked at everyone. "We'll make sure to arise from this incident. If we won't be able to restore the building anymore then we will look for another place suitable for the children. Rest assured that the kids will have a place to sleep in again."

Soomi smiled at the determination displayed by Yumi. Everyone felt assured by her speech and it made her proud of the girl. Soomi continued distributing bottles of water and when she reached In-yeop, she noticed that the guy is staring at her.

With hesitation, she outstretched her hand and offered her a bottle of water. To her shock, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her to his motorcycle. That caught everyone's attention and stared at them. He gave her the helmet he tossed and fell on the ground and started his engine.

"Hop on," he said in his low voice. When Soomi just stood beside the motorcycle, he looked at her and his eyes show too much irritation. "Don't argue with me on this because I will make you sit on this motorcycle no matter how you protest."

Soomi swallowed her saliva from what In-yeop said. She wore the helmet and sat at the back, clasping her hands on his stomach. Yumi gaze at them and promised others she will come back tomorrow before she went to her motorcycle.

When they arrived home, Chorong was baffled at the slamming of the door caused by In-yeop. He immediately sensed that something happened and he knew it was not good based on how all of them look. They are all covered with dust and mud.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" In-yeop shouted at Soomi as soon as they got in the house. He's been raging inside since earlier. He still feels his stomach churning upon recalling Soomi in danger.

"Throwing yourself in the fire? Are you insane?!" In-yeop shouted more. Letting all his anger out for he cannot keep his cool anymore. Soomi trembles seeing how mad In-yeop is right now.

"What do you want me to do? Do you want me to just stare at the situation knowing that I could help?" She raised her voice as well.

"Do you want yourself killed?" In-yeop's eyes turned to slits. "You are not a fucking hero, Soomi! People who try being a hero end up dying!"

"In-yeop, that's enough!" Yumi shouted. In-yeop's chest rises and falls in a fast rhythm and stared at Soomi. Soomi stared at In-yeop as well and she was not able to stop the tears from falling. She's hurt at what In-yeop said.

"I was just trying to help the kids," she said almost like a whisper as she roughly wiped her tears with her fingers. In-yeop turned around and took fistfuls of his hair and breathed out an audible sigh as he tries to pacify his anger.

"Shit!" He went inside his room and slammed the door shut.

"What happened?" Chorong asked Yumi.

"I'll explain later," Yumi told Chorong and approached Soomi.

"You have to wash up so you could rest," she softly told Soomi who is still staring at the door of In-yeop's room.