The Innocent: A Sequel to Hwarang: The Saga of the Sooks Book #3

Chapter 28: Dangerous Territory

"Unnie Jung Sook?" Bo A's voice sounded later that day as the two were walking home.

"Hmm?" The young teacher smiled down at her tiny charge. She had found the girl to be as delightful as she had first anticipated.

"Why don't you like Oppa Soo Ho?"

Jung Sook froze. And Bo A came to a stop too.

The woman glanced down at the girl. "What makes you think that I don't like him?"

"You weren't very nice to him this morning. Your voice was cold when you spoke to him," Bo A pointed out sheepishly. Her voice had dropped almost to a whisper, and she spoke the words haltingly.

Jung Sook sighed. "Bo A, you needn't be afraid to share your opinions openly with me. I'm not going to punish you for telling me what you think. But...you're wrong. I do like Soo Ho."

"Then, what's the problem?"

"What problem?"

"He said that he had made a mistake. And that you don't trust him now."

Jung Sook's eyes widened. "He told you that?"

The child bobbed her head. "Mm-hmm. But I think Oppa Soo Ho is wonderful! Would you please tell him you forgive him? Whatever he did, it couldn't have been that bad, right?" She stared up at Jung Sook out of wide, innocent eyes.

And Jung Sook sighed. She couldn't possibly explain her concerns to a ten-year-old. "Bo A, have you ever liked someone in a different way than they liked you?"

The tiny girl scrunched up her face as she thought hard. "I haven't really ever had any friends," she spoke in a quiet voice. "So, no, I don't think so."

"Well, Soo Ho and I don't quite feel the same way about each other."

"So...you don't love him?" Bo A asked artlessly.

Jung Sook's eyes drifted shut as she grasped for patience. She could well understand that Bo A idolized the gallant young man. But, for her part, Jung Sook just couldn't bring herself to trust him fully. At the same time, she didn't want to destroy the child's faith in him.

"Truthfully, Bo A, I don't know him all that well. We have only been friends for about a month."

"Whaaa! That long!? I've never had a friend for that long. I've never really had a friend at all," she uttered mournfully. "It seems to me that if you find a true friend, you should never let him go." She blinked guilelessly up at Jung Sook.

Who sighed again. "I suppose you are right, Bo A. When you find a true friend." Then she let the subject drop. "What should we make for dinner tonight?"

"So...are you going to give him another chance then?" the child picked the former thread of their conversation right back up, ignoring her teacher's question to respond to her earlier comment.

"I never said that he wasn't my friend. Only that he doesn't feel for me what I feel for him."

Bo A crumpled her tiny brow. "What do you feel for him?"

Apparently, Jung Sook had just jumped out of the pot and into the fire. That was a very dangerous question. And one that she was not about to answer.

Jung Sook reached up to rub her forehead. It seemed to her that a headache was threatening. She really did not want to think of Soo Ho, his tenderness, or the way that he'd made her feel for several fleeting yet wonderful moments the other night. "Bo A, would you mind if we talk about something else?"

The child studied her for several long seconds while they continued on their way to her teacher's house. "I suppose," she finally agreed. "But I really like Oppa Soo Ho. And I hope that pretty soon you both decide to like each other equally."

Jung Sook's lips twitched at her ingenuous response. "I hope so too, Bo A."

Completely unsatisfied, Bo A gazed up at her teacher. Wondering how on earth she could bring these two together.