Chapter 24: CH 24

A cool breeze blew into the room as he spent time with her. He liked it. It made him want to fall asleep.

“Then, I won’t reject your offer. I’ll keep this a secret, so how about $50?”

‘Just $50?’ he thought.

“Is it too much?” she asked when he didn’t respond.

Muyeol turned toward her and leaned his head against her palm. “No, I’ll pay it.”

Yiyoung let out a cheer at his promise.

‘She is excited by just $50? That much is nothing,’ he wondered.

Muyeol was finally able to breathe peacefully. Yiyoung didn’t leave his side even after he fell asleep. She was going to get paid for this! 

She listened to his calm breaths and touched the towel. It was growing lukewarm. She moved, and Muyeol opened his eyes with a start. 

“I’ll bring a new towel,” she said, patting him gently.

Muyeol closed his eyes again. Yiyoung wet another towel and returned. But as she placed the cloth on his forehead, Muyeol grasped her hand firmly.

Yiyoung looked at the hand holding onto her, her eyes opened wide in shock. Oddly enough, she didn’t feel like pushing him away. 

Like a little kid holding his mother’s hand for comfort, Muyeol wrapped his hand around Yiyoung’s pinky and ring finger. 

* * *

They had already visited her mother at the nursing home. Yiyoung looked at her father as he checked the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator. He was going to leave soon.

“Do you need anything else?” Joongho asked.

“No,” Yiyoung replied.

“Don’t eat ramen all the time. What if you get acne all over your pretty face? Dad bought some vegetables and fruits. They’re healthy, so finish eating them first,” her father fussed like always.

Without meaning to, Yiyoung snapped at him, “I can take care of myself!”

Joongho looked at his daughter after closing the fridge. Yet again, she didn’t seem happy. Every time they came back from a visit to the nursing home, Yiyoung looked like she would burst into tears.

Her words sounded mean, but Joongho understood. No matter how mature she usually was, his daughter was still a 14-year-old, one who had been through a lot.

“What’s wrong? Mom might not be getting better, but at least she’s not getting worse either,” Joongho tried to comfort her.

Yiyoung frowned fiercely. She hated the fact that she couldn’t do anything to help her mother. She wanted to grow up as soon as possible.

“Don’t make that face,” her dad teased.

“You should worry about yourself, Dad. Your face is so tanned,” she whined.

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Joongho touched his face with a smile. “Yeah, I’m so tanned, right? Working at the construction sites tans my skin so much. So you don’t like it?”

It wasn’t as if she hated it. But every time she looked at his tanned skin, it reminded her of the merciless situation they were stuck in. She couldn’t wait to be an adult. She wished she could grow older each time she closed her eyes. She wanted to earn a lot of money, so that her father didn’t have to work so hard.

“Yes! I hate it!” She pouted.

“Oh no, so you want to act like a baby, huh?” Joongho said, and Yiyoung glared at him. There was never a time when she acted like a baby. She didn’t even know how to.

“But doesn’t your mother still look pretty?” he asked.

“She… does,” Yiyoung muttered.

“There will be better days soon.” Joongho patted her head, then put a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for always supporting Dad.”

Joongho recalled the call he had received back when he was fretting over Yiyoung’s safety. When he saw the caller ID of a man named Park Sangsu, Joongho turned pale, nervous and anxious about the call.

“My name is Park Sangsu. I’m the director of Y Security Company,” the man had said.

“W-what? Why? Did something happen to Yiyoung?” Joongho started jumping to conclusions.

“Please calm down and listen.”

Sangsu had calmly explained what Yiyoung was going through.

“You’re fortunate to have a supporter like this. I will protect Yiyoung. Don’t worry. I will take care of her if she is my niece,” Sangsu reassured.

“I will return to Seoul right away,” Joongho boldly declared.

“Mr. Yoon, there’s nothing you would be able to do even if you came. You can’t be around her all the time, and if something happens… you do not have the ability to take care of it.”

“Yiyoung is precious to me!”

“That’s why I’m here. Mr. Yoon, please introduce me to Yiyoung—” 

Joongho had not been able to hear anything Sangsu said. His mind was frantically thinking of all the violent juvenile crimes he had heard of in the news. He was only thinking about being by Yiyoung’s side, even if… even if it meant losing his job.

“Mr. Yoon, you need to think realistically. In times like these, you have to decide what’s best for Yiyoung. Having a guard by her side doesn’t necessarily mean something serious will happen to her. It’s just a precaution in case something does happen,” Sangsu tried to convince him.

Joongho snapped out of his trance and looked at Yiyoung sadly. His precious daughter could possibly be targeted by another student. But… someone was willing to protect her. And all he could do was accept it; he couldn’t afford to lose his job now. He needed to work everyday to keep the family afloat. Rest wasn’t an option.

Reality had hit him hard, and showed him that there were no other options. It was a good thing that Sangsu was protecting Yiyoung. He sent her pictures to Joongho everyday, and it relieved him. He could finally see her grow up everyday through the pictures.

He wanted to know who was behind this whole arrangement. He met Sangsu behind Yiyoung’s back. He had already seen his pictures, the man looked even more threatening in person.

But Sangsu was a friendly, delicate person. Before Joongho even had to ask for his details, Sangsu had produced all the documents certifying his company as well as his license. He seemed confident at his job, and was extremely professional whenever Joongho asked questions about Yiyoung. 

Sangsu had answered every question patiently until he earned Joongho’s trust. Well, every question but one: who was behind all this? Sangsu said the company had been paid a large amount of money for this request, but he couldn’t disclose who the requestor was.

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