Love is Stronger than Blood (Snowdrop Oneshots)

21- I missed you (yeongho)

Haha you'd think with a title like that it would be all Hanmu... but nope!

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Eun Yeong-ro took a deep breath as she reached out for the door. After a lot of persuading from Jang Han-na, she'd finally agreed to go out for lunch with Han-na, Lee Gang-mu, and one of their friends at a corner café. Han-na had told Yeong-ro a lot about how that friend had played an instrumental role in finally getting her and Gang-mu back together. He and Gang-mu had met through work, and according to Han-na, the rest was a long story. Yeong-ro had consistently asked for details, even as generic as the guy's name, but Han-na had always told her that she'd find out eventually. She'd also made a point to make sure Yeong-ro knew the man was single.

Yeong-ro wasn't interested in dating anyone at the moment. She was too busy studying to graduate from Hosu University. Plus, and Han-na knew this too, her heart was still hurting from the last time she'd dared to love a man. Her first love had ended as abruptly as it had started, and not a day went by where Yeong-ro didn't daydream about what she and Lim Soo-ho could have been if he was just someone else, an ordinary young man like he talked about being in the cassette tape he'd given her as he lay dying on the floor of the school attic.

"Come on, Yeong-ro-ya," Han-na said gently, prodding the girl in the shoulder. "It's not like this is the room to your final exam. Just a quick lunch, okay? It's not even a date. You don't have to think it is."

"Okay..." Yeong-ro mumbled, pulling the door open. Gang-mu waved the two of them over to a table by the window.

"Annyeong, Gang-mu-oppa," Yeong-ro said as she sat down opposite him. Han-na slid into the seat next to her fiancé, pecking him on the cheek as she did.

"Where's-"

"He's probably on his way," Gang-mu said, cutting Han-na off. "Traffic from headquarters was a bit heavy on the way here."

The door to the café opened. Yeong-ro's back was to the entrance, so she couldn't see who had just entered. She picked up one of the yellow paper menus on the table, her brown eyes scanning the elegant writing.

This was a bad idea, she told herself, her mind running wild. What was I thinking, going on another blind date?

Han-na had said it wasn't a date, but it certainly felt like one to Yeong-ro.

I never should have agreed to this...

"Annyeong, hyung, noona," a male voice said behind her.

Yeong-ro's head jerked up. She knew that voice. She'd heard it multiple times in her dreams.

She whipped around in her chair, seeing a tall young man standing behind her. If she hadn't been sitting down, she might've fallen over.

"Soo-ho-ssi?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper.

The man she'd believed to be dead for three years smiled down at her. "Annyeong, Eun Yeong-ro."

Yeong-ro's mouth hung open as she stared at him. "How... what... are you real?"

Soo-ho chuckled and pulled out the chair next to her, sitting down. "I think so. You can pinch me, if you're unsure."

He offered her his hand. Hesitantly, Yeong-ro touched it with her own. His skin was warm and smooth and definitely real, not holographic.

"Soo-ho-ssi... but how?" Yeong-ro turned to Han-na and Gang-mu. Han-na was hiding a grin behind her hand, while Gang-mu watched with a faint smile on his lips.

He's the one who got Gang-mu and me back together, Han-na's words echoed in Yeong-ro's mind.

"Is that what you meant, unnie?" Yeong-ro asked, her mind still reeling. "I thought he was one of oppa's coworkers!"

Gang-mu shook his head. "The opposite, actually. But it's true we met through our work."

"That's one way of putting it," Soo-ho agreed, turning his hand to envelop Yeong-ro's smaller one. Yeong-ro made no attempt to pull her hand away. Han-na noted this with a smirk.

Yeong-ro still wasn't entirely sure this wasn't a dream. The four ordered their food and spent five minutes chatting and eating, until Gang-mu excused himself to use the restroom. Soon after, Han-na's radio in her bag started beeping, and she quickly stepped outside to take the call, from what Yeong-ro assumed was the agency. Soo-ho and Yeong-ro were left alone at the table.

Yeong-ro didn't know what to do or say, alone with Soo-ho. She constantly rubbed her eyes, half-expecting Soo-ho to melt into dust like a severe hallucination. He didn't.

"Yeong-ro-ya..." he said quietly. "I... um... how have you been?"

It was a simple question, but Yeong-ro didn't know how to answer simply. If it had been anyone else asking, she would've just smiled and said 'fine', but Soo-ho wasn't just anyone.

"It's been a long few years," she admitted, looking down to her hand still in his. "How about you? How are you... really here?"

He smiled at her, and she felt her heart beginning to melt. "The ANSP hauled me off to a hospital somewhere outside the city. Comrade Kang Cheong-ya somehow came back and smuggled me out as soon as I was strong enough to stand. We stowed away on a ship to Japan, and lived there under assumed names until I managed to get in contact with Gang-mu-hyung, and now... here I am."

"I thought you were dead," Yeong-ro said. "Why did you let me think you were dead for three years? Why didn't you send a message?"

"I wanted to, Yeong-ro-ya, believe me," he said, squeezing her hand. "But Kang told me it was dangerous to contact anyone besides Gang-mu-hyung and Han-na-noona. She said if word got out that I was alive, I'd be hunted down again."

Yeong-ro frowned, but she understood. She was just grateful that Lim Soo-ho was alive and well and in one piece, sitting next to her and giving her that same warm smile he used to.

"Mianhae, Eun Yeong-ro," Soo-ho said. "After I was shot, I kept myself alive by imagining your face. I wanted to see you again, so badly. I would've waited forever, but I'm glad I only had to wait three years."

She gave a small laugh. "If only it had been less than three years."

"It hasn't been more than three years," he pointed out. Yeong-ro stared as he gently brushed a lock of dark hair from her face. His hand remained on her cheek instead of dropping back to his lap. Her breath involuntarily hitched as his brown eyes made her feel like drowning in them. They really haven't changed at all.

"Soo-ho-ssi..." Yeong-ro mumbled, unable to look away.

"I missed you," he whispered, before leaning in and brushing his lips to hers.

Yeong-ro gave a tiny gasp before she returned the kiss, bringing their clasped hands to her chest. She felt Soo-ho smile against her soft lips.

"Mission accomplished," Han-na said into her radio, peeking through the window of the café at the younger couple. They were too distracted to notice her watching.

Gang-mu's familiar laugh came through the little black box. He'd been the one radioing her from the back of the café near the restrooms, framing the call as from the agency to give her an excuse to leave Yeong-ro and Soo-ho alone. "Good job, jagiya. Now, can I stop hiding back here? It's getting a bit cramped."

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Annyeong: hi

Mianhae: I'm sorry