touch of nature ＊ JIYOO

27. "More Than One"

"Be careful, okay?" She caressed his cheek, earning a nod from the man.

"I'll be back soon."

Minjoon made his way out in a rush, waving to the group. Bora smiled while looking at his silhouette walk away, feeling piercing glares coming from the outcast group. Bora slowly looked back at them, noticing Namhyuk's raised eyebrows and Jeongyun's opened mouth of shock.

"Don't tell me.." Namhyuk lowly said by pointing at the man that just left, earning an awkward chuckle from Bora. "H-He's my boyfriend.." The small woman scratched her neck, hearing a facepalm from the two outcasts. "What is it with you and Yoohyeon falling head over heels for damn Icebreakers!" Namhyuk fell backwards on the ground, earning an awkward chuckle from Yoohyeon.

"Actually, I never fell for-"

"Excuse me?"

Yoohyeon's defensive speech got interrupted by scoffs coming from the two Icebreakers on her front, them being none other than Hayoung and Yoobin.

"We're not as bad as we seem to be.. The Icebreakers aren't that bad sometimes!" Yoobin scoffed, looking at Hayoung who was scratching her neck. She seemed too hesitant to agree with her subordinate's statement.

"Yeah, but.. I can't lie now, the punishments that we're given are inhumane. I'll never forget what happened to Minji.." Hayoung looked down, getting curious looks from everyone, mostly by Yoohyeon.

"What punishment are you talking about?" Yoohyeon asked, seeing the frown on the woman's face. It was something that Hayoung was too worried to say, mainly because it would make the girl feel bad the mist.

"You know the story of Minjoon's deceased best friend, right?" Hayoung said, earning a nod from those who knew of it. "When we found out that he got killed by Icebreakers, Minjoon was so furious that he attacked the ones that killed his best friend and left them in a critical state.. so close to death.." Hayoung shook her head, trying to forget about the way how terrifying Minjoon was then.

"But when the supreme leaders found out about his actions, they almost punished Minjoon out of the settlement. But, Minji took the blame and was sent to do re-training in an underground bunker for three years instead.." Hayoung said sadly, looking at the shocked expressions of the others.

"But those Icebreakers killed an innocent person for the stupidest reason ever! How could have the leaders let that go? Didn't Leader Kang do anything about it?" Bora exclaimed, getting a head-shake in return.

"He.. He was the one that chose the punishment.. It was all mainly because every Icebreaker there was fond of Minji and no one wanted her to be hurt badly, so he acted out of kindness and gave her a lighter punishment." Hayoung answered, glancing at Yoohyeon's expression. The girl seemed to have realized something.

"Is that why Minji said she hasn't seen the sunrise nor sunset in three years ..?"

Yoohyeon rubbed her temple, sighing in frustration now that she knew the truth. "Gosh, this is so messed up.." The girl shook her head, switching her attention back to the package. The more she continued thinking about Minji, the more she missed her. She had to change back to their old topic before she accidentally did something without thinking.

"Let's just.. Let's see what's inside this before I get mad.."

No one opposed of her suggestion and followed her lead. If it was hard for the outcasts to hear the story, then it must've been even worse for the short haired one. Not a single person blamed her.

Yoohyeon carefully opened the package, seeing many documents and small notes of information.

"What are all of these dates and hours about?" Jiwon pointed at the list, making Yoohyeon widen her eyes.