Echo || NCTau ||

28 - About decisions

"What the hell were you thinking when you invited him to our house?" Yeowoon started shouting as soon as the car doors were closed. Instead of walking to the closest convenience store, he had told Yeoreum to get into his car so that he could yell at her in peace.

Yeoreum rolled her eyes. "Haechan is my friend and mom wanted to invite him over. Why are you so upset about it?" She had no intention to tell him how many times she had already cursed herself for the moment of weakness that had led her to asking him to have dinner at their place. It would've been easy to cut him off – she had made it clear that whatever had happened between them wouldn't lead to anything – yet she had behaved like a dumb little kid who could only think about the warmth of Haechan's hand and the look in his eyes.

Her fingers kept going back to the piece of sea glass she had hidden in her coat pocket.

"Haechan?" Yeowoon repeated and scoffed. "Yeoreum, don't try to trick me with that – he told me that his real name is Lee Donghyuck. And yes, I have read Park Jisung's file and I know that he's one of his roommates."

Yeoreum's stomach dropped.

It had taken her so long to learn Haechan's real name that she hadn't even considered that he would be so quick to mention it to her brother.

She tried to laugh sarcastically but the noise came out as a strained, little wheeze.

"Don't overthink it! Donghyuck is a very common name." It was a lame attempt and she knew immediately that it wouldn't fool Yeowoon.

Yeowoon's fingers tapped on the steering wheel, and Yeoreum hoped that Haechan wouldn't peek through the curtains because he might be confused that, instead of walking to the convenience store behind the corner, the siblings were sitting in the car.

"Did you hit your head and lose your mind?" Yeowoon asked after a heavy silence. He no longer was shouting but that didn't lessen his anger. "Don't you understand that Dr. An's people could be keeping an eye on our house as we speak and see that you have invited our target's friend to our home?"

"Mom wanted to make dinner for him." Yeoreum didn't care that she sounded like a child. "And Haechan isn't our target, his friend is."

"Oh yeah, the friend you're teaching self-defense to!" Yeowoon snapped. "What happened to your favorite rule of never interacting with your targets or those around them? You seem to have befriended them all."

"I needed a way to get closer to him", Yeoreum defended herself. "He and his friends are so cautious and it was impossible for me to get him anywhere alone without making contact with him."

Yeowoon closed his eyes. He was even more tired and stressed than the last time Yeoreum saw him, and he looked like he hadn't had a proper meal in a long time.

She didn't want her brother to live like that but causing Haechan pain and hurting Jisung, who hadn't wronged anyone, didn't feel right either.

She shook her head, frustrated to realize how emotional she was.

'Didn't feel right' wasn't something Echo was supposed to think about her target.

"You don't seem to understand how serious the situation is", Yeowoon's voice had become quiet.

Yeoreum's hand searched her pocket and found the smooth surface of the sea glass. It felt cold against her fingers but it calmed down her nerves slightly. "I do understand, it's just that – "

Yeowoon lifted his hand to make her stop talking and she stopped mid-sentence, her voice fading away.

"Dr. An wants to get in contact with Daniel."