Stay With Me - Hwang Inyeop

Chapter 25: The Mission

Soomi felt In-yeop stirred under her and with her heavy eyes, she looked up at him to see him awake.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Soomi asked in her husky voice. She once again leaned her cheek and placed her hand on In-yeop's bare chest, liking the warmth she feels from the guy's body.

"Sleep more," In-yeop said and kissed the girl lying on top of him on her forehead. In-yeop carefully pulled away from Soomi and sat up.

"Where are you going?" Soomi was alarmed and propped her elbow on the soft bed. In-yeop smiled at her and made her lie on the bed again. He placed a soft chaste kiss on her lips and leaned his forehead on hers.

"I'll just get myself a glass of water. I'll be back," he whispered in his low thick voice and kissed her cheek. Soomi smiled and went back to sleep again. In-yeop requested for her to sleep beside him and even though she is shy that others might learn they slept together, the urge to sleep beside the guy is stronger than feeling embarrassed. And so she did. Nothing happened though, after making out, they just slept beside each other.

In-yeop stood up from the bed and grabbed the shirt he tossed on the floor. He puts on his shirt as he walks to the door. The reason why he woke up is that he heard something and felt that someone is outside. His speculations were right and saw the members of Yumi's organization are gathered at the dining table. Chorong is with them who is just standing by the kitchen sink. He closed the door behind him and crossed his arm over his chest. He leaned his back on the frame of the door and gave everyone his deadpan expression.

"I'm sorry we woke you up," Yumi apologized and looked at the door he is guarding so hard when he saw other people in the house. "Is she still asleep?"

"She? Who? Soomi?" Chorong asked, confusion can be seen on his face. He looked at In-yeop as his eyes widen. "You're sleeping with Soomi? Since when?"

In-yeop did not answer Chorong's confusions and stared at the members of the organization. "Why are they here?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"We are sorry to disturb you at this hour," the bulky guy who In-yeop punched sincerely apologized. "We have already identified who caused the fire. The bandits caused it and we have a strong feeling that the reason behind it is that they tried getting some of the kids and sell them to Mr. Han again."

Upon hearing the news, In-yeop's jaw immediately clenched and his hands balled to fists. When everyone fell silent, the bulky guy continued. "We have also learned that they got more kids. Before, they tried buying kids from poor families but they are more brutal this time. Since they want all the money for themselves, they kidnap kids instead of buying them."

"What does this have to do with us?" Chorong asked.

"We need your help. We heard from Yumi that you guys are trained to fight. We need you to help us fight to save the children," the bulky guy stared at In-yeop with his eyes full of determination. They are determined to get the children away from danger whatever risk they may face.

All of them stared at In-yeop and their eyes scream for help. In-yeop looked at Chorong who is also staring at him. All of them are waiting for his decision.

"I'll go with you instead," Yumi said when In-yeop remained silent.

"We need more guys as much as possible. And the fact that your friends are trained to fight may give us the higher possibility of saving these children," the bulky guy explained. "Besides, you are our leader and we need you to stay here to give orders to the caretakers. They are lost and confused right now."

Yumi once again glanced at In-yeop and saw the guy in deep thoughts. She knows the guy so well. She knows he will say no to this request because this is not the line of job that he had. He was used to accepting missions to kill people instead of saving them.

"I'll just ask one of the guys to be in charge of the organization. I'll go with you," Yumi said but all heads turned when In-yeop spoke.

"No. You'll stay," In-yeop said and looked at all of them. "We'll go."

Sighs of relief were heard from everyone at the dining table. They are all happy to hear that In-yeop agrees to their request. Yumi and Chorong looked at their leader quizzically. They are both amazed that he agreed to save people he doesn't know. He is a guy who cared less about everyone around him. What he only cares for is to finish the missions given to him.

Yumi looked at Chorong and smiled but the latter remained serious. His leader really changed. That is what he is thinking right now.

They were about to plan and talk about their strategies on how to save the children when they saw Soomi went out of the door wearing a loose shirt which everyone believes is In-yeop's. In-yeop's back was blocking her view which is why she did not see the people gathered in the house.

In-yeop turned to the girl who is rubbing the sleepiness in her eyes. She smiled upon seeing the guy in front of her and wrapped her arms around his waist. She leaned her cheek on his chest and smiled when she felt him kiss her hair.

"I told you to get some more sleep," In-yeop whispered in her ear and placed his hands on her waist.

"What's taking you so long?" Soomi whined when she felt that In-yeop has not yet returned to the room after telling her that he'll just get himself a glass of water.

"No wonder you went crazy last night," the bulky guy chuckled pertaining to how In-yeop reacted when he learned Soomi saved the kids. Upon hearing the voice, Soomi pulled away from In-yeop and her eyes turned to saucers seeing all the people staring at them. Her face turned red when she realized that everyone saw how touchy In-yeop and she is with each other. In-yeop just stared at everyone, not minding if they are giving them malicious stares.

"Sorry to disturb your sleep, pretty girl," Yumi chuckled upon seeing the girl's flushed face. Even though Soomi feels embarrassed, she bowed at everyone with a respect.

"Did something happen? Are the kids safe?" Soomi asked with worry laced in her voice upon remembering about the fire last night.

"They are safe," the bulky guy answered. "However, we need to save more kids from the bandits. That is why we are here. We asked for help from Mr. Hwang and we are so glad he agreed to help us fight to save the children."

Soomi looked at In-yeop and she saw him tensed up. She doesn't know if she'll be happy with his decision. She wants him to help them save the kids but a part of her wants him to just stay because she doesn't want him to be in danger.

"We have to plan our attack," the bulky guy said and all of them started to be serious.

"You can go back to sleep. You don't have to listen to this," In-yeop told Soomi but the girl insisted that she'll listen to their plan. She walked towards the others and sat on one of the chairs. In-yeop followed and sat beside her.

They started talking about routes they will take and their positions in attack. They also tried to come up with plan B in case their first plan did not work. Soomi felt the heaviness of the mission as they continued talking. She is sure that some of them will be injured and she silently prays that what she fears won't happen. She is so immersed and nervous with all the plans she's hearing that she did not notice that she's biting her thumbnail.

In-yeop noticed that Soomi's been fidgety throughout the planning. He knows how soft the girl is and that she worries about the outcome of the mission. He's listening to what the group is saying but his focus is on the girl sitting next to him and observes how nervous she looks. He reached for her thigh and lightly squeeze it.

Soomi stopped bouncing her legs when she felt In-yeop's hand on her thigh. She discreetly looked at him and saw him staring at the person talking, still wearing that deadpan expression. She slightly smiles because she knows this is his way to tell her not to worry. So she reached for his hand and clasped it with hers. As if In-yeop was not contented, he laced their fingers and Soomi felt assurance just from these little gestures from the guy.