Seriously Yours

Chapter 27 - Reminiscent

"Ssshh..."

Jeong Hyeok instructs me to stay down while he prepares to move in the direction of the bush.

"No, I'm not staying here!" I complain in a hushed tone, giving him a glare.

Knowing that he can't subdue me just like what happened last time, he sighs defeatedly and points to my left. He gestures to me to go on the other side while him on the other.

Crawling slowly towards the bush where the sound came from, I tighten my hold on the stick just in case.

The bush moves more aggressively this time and by a snap from the other side, I instinctively jump to the bush, the same time as Jeong Hyeok. I raise the hand holding the stick and am ready to hit the person behind it, only to stop abruptly mid-air, after seeing the guy Jeong Hyeok has successfully pinned on the ground.

He is anything but the lewd exhibitionist we are looking for.

"My goodness! What are you doing here? Are you a thief? A run-away?" I am frustrated. It would have been better if he is the reason why we are outside instead of in the comfort of our beds. It would have ended today.

Jeong Hyeok loosens his hold on the boy who is still in his uniform and sighs. I am about to speak again when we hear a woman's voice from a distance. Calling out for someone.

"So Hyun-ah! You dumb boy! Come out!" she yells while slapping the stick on her other palm. Foreshadowing what she will do once she finds the person she is looking for.

Who is most likely the boy in front of us.

I put my hand down and stare at the boy who is now rubbing his hands, begging not to spare his life but not to turn him in to the woman- who I believe is his mother.

"Kim So Hyun! Are you behind that bush?! Get out there or I'll hit you once I get my hands on you!"

I glance at Jeong Hyeok for instruction and find him looking remote. Sensing that I need to do something, I show up to the woman. She looks at me with a probing expression on her face and then turns her attention beside me, which I follow. Jeong Hyeok has stood up just as well.

We give the woman a very awkward smile as she gives us a suspicious look in return as if she caught us doing something detestable.

"Patrolling," I clarify although she isn't asking, raising my stick and flashlight as proof.

"Did you see a boy around here? My son."

Her tone is snobbish for someone asking.

"Hm- no. We are the only people here," Jeong Hyeok says, which took me by surprise. I didn't expect him to say that, not that I would spill it either.

The woman stares at us reluctantly. Her eyes linger a little in the surrounding, not fully trusting what Jeong Hyeok said.

She clears her throat before stepping back.

"Anyway, I hope you go patrolling... Instead of doing something under the bushes."

She said, almost murmuring in her last words before leaving us a judgmental look as she goes away. Just what did she think we were doing? Aigoo!

When the woman disappears from our view, we turn to the teenager who is now sitting on the ground.

"Hey, stand up!" I say.

If he thinks he's lucky that his mother didn't find him, he's totally wrong. He'll have a good beating from me.

"We are letting you off the hook tonight, but there will be no next time. It's dangerous outside, you shouldn't be lingering around!" I say with a hand on my waist and the stick pointing at him.