Waterfalls || Yeonbin

chapter 33: debris

September 24, 1940

Yeonjun made breakfast for the four of us, quietly sitting at the table and eating. They've been here for a month, and I'm just thankful that they're safe and eating well. Sunghoon's ankle has gotten a lot better, nothing more than a slight limp now. Yeonjun keeps calling them our kids, which is pretty adorable. I mean, we did sort of nurse Sunghoon back to health. And we are buying them food and clothing, so I guess they're sort of our children. But they're only a few years younger than us, and they're so madly in love. They've been together for way longer than Yeonjun and I have, sneaking around for years before they had to escape. We've also been trying to teach Sunghoon English, but it's not going super well.

I gave Yeonjun a little smile as he took my plate, leaning down to softly kiss my forehead before grabbing everyone's dish. Jake went with him to help clean the pans Yeonjun used to cook, so I turned to Sunghoon, saying, "I'll try and find some English books at the library today. I don't think they're going to have any in Korean, I'm afraid."

He gave me a soft smile, "I'll manage." He simply said. He's been shy since we brought them back here. Always not responding much to things I talk to him about. He kind of reminds me of myself, too shy and anxious to ever begin a conversation.

I stood up, gesturing for him to follow me, "I think I might have Korean books in the parlor."

He quietly nodded and followed me without saying a word, hearing his uneven steps since he was limping. I made my way over to the bookshelves, going on my tiptoes to see if I had any book in Korean lying around. I know everything that's in my small library and I know exactly where each book is, but sometimes I surprise myself.

"I-I'm not much of a reader, Soobin-ssi." He quietly spoke, seeming anxious to speak up in general.

I turned to him, giving him my little dimple smile to make sure he was comfortable, "You can just call me hyung, alright? No need to be so formal."

"Oh, sorry... Soobinnie-hyung." He replied, laughing out a bit from the awkwardness.

I smiled wider a bit, never hearing someone in my life call me 'hyung' from the lack of siblings. Even my cousins wouldn't really call me that, only when they were forced to during family gatherings. I was quiet as I looked back at the self, not seeing any books that I could give to him. I turned to him again after a moment quietly saying, "Sorry, I don't seem to have any Korean books."

Sunghoon scrunched his eyebrows, pointing to the other bookshelf, "What about all those?"

I giggled, "Trust me, there won't be any Korean books over there. I'm like the librarian of my private library."

He chuckled a bit, nodding in response. Yeonjun came around the corner, smiling at me as he said, "Jake said he'll do the rest of the dishes. Ready to head out, darling?"

"Wait, wait..." I said, grabbing Sunghoon's wrist out of giddiness. He seemed a bit flustered, as I smiled wide at him, "Call me again."

He chuckled a bit as he replied, "Soobinnie-hyung."

"Ah, Sunghoon-ah..." I said, wrapping my arms around him for a hug, "We're close now, aren't we?"

"Yeah." He simply replied, making me laugh out loud at his shyness. I just wanted him to be a bit more comfortable around us.

Yeonjun chuckled as I pulled away, shaking his head as he smiled, "I'll get our coats. It's a bit chilly this morning."