traded my life [TWD]

『115』

Woojin sat on Rick's foot, clinging to his leg. Rick hardly paid any attention and just dragged him along.

"Stop," Woojin pleads.

"We have to go inside," Rick argues.

"Stop."

"You have to be a normal kid. All of you."

"Bite," Woojin threatens.

"If you bite me, I'll bite you back," Rick warns.

Carl shakes his head and nods to where Ron and Mikey are. I pat his back with my free hand, urging him to go on and hang out with his friends.

"Ahjussi better than Sam," Woojin decides.

"You want to go hang out with Daryl instead? He's looking for food. Be my guest."

Woojin sighs and rests his head on Rick's leg, allowing himself to be dragged.

"I think he's defeated," Carol jokes.

"K.O.," I tease, resituation Judith on my hip.

"No K.O.. Woojin no bad man. Woojin no bam," Woojin argues.

"Woojin gonna get bam if he doesn't act like a good boy," I warn.

Woojin looks up and squints at me. I quirk my eyebrow, testing him right back.

Carol, Rick, and Sophia watch the exchange for a moment, waiting to see who breaks first. Finally, Woojin sighs and stands up straight, though he still keeps a grip on Rick's pant leg.

"Just wait until the teen years," Carol jokes, nudging my arm with hers.

I sigh heavily and hang my head. "You telling me the attitude gets worse?"

"I really hope he puts you through what you put us through when you were growing up," Rick adds.

My eyes widen in fear. "Oh, God."

--

Carol hums. "There's Olivia. The armory is clear."

I glance at the door to see Olivia walking in. She glances around awkwardly like she also wasn't used to these parties.

"Sure you don't want backup?" Rick asks.

"We got it," Sophia assures. "Mom's getting the guns while I keep watch."

"We're invisible, remember?" Carol adds as she and Sophia slip through the crowd undetected.

"Head ow," Woojin complains, climbing under a stand to sit on the floor out of sight.

"You're too young to have headaches," Rick scoffs.

"Woojin ow," he continues and sits with his back against the wall.

"Hey, Rick!" a woman greets. "Hyejin! I can't believe we haven't all properly met."

A woman walks over with Pete- my coworker and the doctor here.

"Rick, this is my husband, Pete," the woman introduces.

"Hyejin, this is Jessie," Rick introduced. "Jessie, this is my niece, Hyejin."

Handshakes are traded around. I recall Jessie and Pete are the parents of Carl's friend, Ron.

I give a nod to Pete. "Nice having a night off, huh?"

"Great time off," he jokes, though the smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Really.. wanted to thank you for joining me. And I wanted to thank Rick for being our new constable. If we keep growing at this rate, we'll need more."