Stay With Me - Hwang Inyeop

Chapter 47: Pieces back together (End)

"Surprise!" Soomi was startled when she got inside the restaurant. Yumi suggested they should have dinner out to celebrate the success of putting Mr. Han in jail and Soomi's pregnancy.

All her workmates in JTBSVN Broadcasting Station are inside the restaurant and all of them are happy to see her again. Soomi looked at Yumi with a questioning look and the latter grinned at her, making it obvious that she was the one who set this up.

"I thought you would like to see them again and it turns out they also want to see you," Yumi explained and Soomi smiled warmly, thankful at how she is being treated by the people she had spent time with unexpectedly. She had abruptly barged into their lives and even though they were total strangers, they made sure to show her that they care a lot for her.

"Thank you," she whispered and her eyes start to fill with warm tears.

"Don't cry on me now, pretty girl," Yumi chuckled, trying to hide the tears that are also about to fall from her eyes. "Go and greet them."

Soomi looked at them, Chorong, Yumi, then to In-yeop who is staring at her and never letting go of her hand since they arrived. Soomi looked down at their intertwined hands and smiled at the guy as she looked up at him. She sternly looked at him with a smile still on her face and tilted her head to show him that he needs to let go of her hand for her to greet her workmates.

"For Christ's sakes, In-yeop!" Yumi exclaimed in frustration and pulled their hands apart. "She will be in the same space as we are and you can still see her. You are also going to sit beside each other later. You keep on sticking your hand on pretty girl! Let her go just this once!"

In-yeop glared at Yumi but the girl did not back down, matching the deathly stares the guy is giving her. Soomi chuckled at how they always bicker with one another.

"I'll come back to you, I promise," Soomi told In-yeop and the guy had nothing to do but sigh and nodded once in agreement. Soomi walked near her workmates and they all crowded her immediately.

"We thought we'd never see you again, Soomi!" One of her colleagues said as the middle-aged lady clasped her hand in between hers.

"We were so worried about you, sunbae!" The guy she trained before to be a news reporter said with worry. They all are saying concerning words at a time and it made Soomi chuckle seeing them worrying for her.

"I'm okay now. Why don't we all take a seat and have a conversation over dinner?" Soomi suggested and they all agreed. They all sat at a long table prepared for them and Soomi smiled at In-yeop seeing the guy staring at her as if waiting for her to sit beside him. So she walked over to him and pulled a chair next to him. She saw Yumi rolled her eyes at In-yeop and that was not noticed by the guy whose eyes are fixated on her.

"So, sunbae, can we know what really happened to you?" One of them started asking. "We only heard from the police that you were kidnapped and you were almost killed."

In-yeop felt uneasy with the question and that went noticed by Soomi immediately. He drank the beer from his glass and poured himself another one. Soomi reached for his hand and squeezed it. In-yeop looked at her and he gave her an assuring smile, a gesture to say that he is okay and that she doesn't have to worry.

"I was kidnapped, yes," Soomi said still staring at In-yeop. She then faced her colleagues who are waiting for her to finish her response. "But I was saved which is why I am still alive. If it weren't for this guy, you probably are all talking to my grave right now."

Soomi once again looked at In-yeop when she felt him squeeze her hand. He laced his hand with hers and if only no others are looking at them, he had already kissed it. The people sitting with them exchange their glances to Soomi and In-yeop who seem to be in their own bubble. They are all wondering if the person Soomi mentioned is the guy sitting next to her. Yumi finds their reaction funny and shook her head with a quiet chuckle that escaped her mouth.