“ you what? jiyeon, you can't be serious ” ilsong said with his eyebrows furrowed. you only mum before ilsong sighed and ruffled his hair in clear frustration.
after another month of being away from the girls, you decided to call up ilsong to see if you could talk to him. you were grateful that he was done with his shift. he already knew by looking, that you weren't in the best state possible.
“ you literally didn't say anything? what about the girls? ” he asked again as you kept staring at the drink in front of you.
“ i can't see them anymore. mom doesn't let me ”
“ are you serious,, what the heck is wrong with her now? ” he mumbled and rested his forehead on his palm.
you snort, “ don't ask me. she acted as if we don't matter anymore ” you ranted as ilsong listens.
“ and what is with that old man? why is he appearing now? ” ilsong questioned again and you were starting to get dizzy from all of his questions. but you just swallowed and stayed slumped on the table.
“ i don't know. but that worse thing is that he told me to call him dad when he clearly knows i won't. the guy thinks he has all the power just because he's the girl's legal parent ” you replied and coughed. ilsong slapped your back a few times before you gestured him to stop.
“ i don't know how many women he fucked to have 12 kids because they all have different surname except for hyunjin, jungeun, and jiwoo. well, they don't even look related. it's not the girl's fault but it's surely is his ” you rolled over to your left side.
a cold breath left ilsong's mouth as he gathers his thoughts. “ wait. how do you know mr. kim before i found out? ” he asked in realization.
you shrugged, “ he worked with dad before. talked to him a few times but that's all ”
“ he worked with dad? i thought dad worked alone ” ilsong knitted his eyebrows.
you turned to him, “ dad needed him as a part-timer. i think at that time, he worked for like three months after that he stops working. and it was six months just before dad died ” you reminded, and ilsong nod.
“ what is he working as now? i mean like, i have seen the big ass house you and the girls lived in ” ilsong wondered. you stopped for a second to think. now that he mentioned, you never knew what mr. kim work as and where he got those money from.
“ actually, ” you paused. “ i don't know either ” you looked at him as ilsong stared back.
you two stared at each other dead in the eyes before you coughed up and ilsong proceed to pat your back while laughing.
“ have you heard? ”
“ what? ” you scrunched your face as you swallowed the drink. “ seonghwa is coming back from the military ” ilsong told as your face lights up immediately. the youngest of the family was finally coming back.
“ oh wait, seriously?! ” you half-yelled, eyes wide.
ilsong gave a cheeky smile as you leaned against your seat. “ park ilsong don't you play with me. seriously? are you serious? he's coming back? from the military? ” you leaned closer to him.
“ can't you just ask all in one sentence? ” he joked before wincing when you smacked him. he nod aggressively, “ yeah, yeah he's coming back. can you stop hitting me? ” you clapped as your jaw dropped slightly.
“ when?! ” you yelled as ilsong covered his ears to prevent it from dying. he rolled his eyes. “ next two weeks” he told, trying to pry open a candy wrapper.
you feel thrilled that seonghwa was finally coming back but watching ilsong struggling trying to open the candy wrapper suddenly got to you.
you snatched it from him, “ let me open it. i can't help but get annoyed at you not being able to open this ” you finished talking at the same time the wrapper was torn open before handing it to ilsong who pouts.
he stared at the candy. “ that's so like you ” he muttered with a snickered. you raised an eyebrow, “ you mean? ”
“ you being you. helping everyone. taking care of everyone. kind to everyone. but you never help nor take care nor be kind to yourself. i just hope you don't break yourself ” you froze at ilsong's words. you noticed how his eyes were directly focused on the candy.
“ you know you can rely on others when a certain time comes, right? you do everything yourself to the point i was always scared that you would go beyond what you can hold. you're not alone, you know? ” you looked up to see ilsong was peering at you.
the lumps in your throat stayed put as you wait for him to continue. cold sweats runs down your whole body. your mouth dried out. your brain freeze for the whole moment. your eyes locked on his and ears not willing to take his words.
“ i'm literally right here, jiyeon. me, seonghwa and the girls. where else are you searching at? ”
you kept remembering your talk with ilsong while the coconut remained unbothered in your hand. you furrowed your eyebrow and looked back at the coconut before placing it back in its place.
you continued venturing through the market after paying for the groceries. you were about to leave when a small commotion by the milk shelf caught your eyes and ears.
a girl was talking to a man beyond her height. it was like they were arguing about something. you looked closely and saw the guy holding a carton of milk.
are they seriously fighting over a carton of milk? you thought and shakes your head. but when you step closer to only realized who the girl actually was. concerns boiled in you as you sprint in their direction.
“ kid, i know you stole this. just admit it ” you overheard him saying. she would never do that. you thought before stepping between them.
both were startled and flustered that someone interrupts them. but the girl's face immediately changed when she recognized it was you.
“ what is the problem here? ” you asked, eyes piercing through him as you hold yeojin's hand and pushed her to hide behind you. yeojin tugged on your hoodie from behind as a feeling of protected overwhelmed her. the man's expression changed.
“ that girl was trying to steal this milk,” he said, holding up the milk. you raised an eyebrow in suspicion and looked back at yeojin. however, the girl just shakes her head and you know that yeojin wouldn't such a thing.
“ i don't think that's true ” you retorted as the man grew more annoyed as you see his face turning red.
“ i'm fucking telling you, it's her! i saw her. i'm gonna call the damn security ” he said with his teeth gritted.
yeojin's face fell when she realized she was going to get you in trouble. she tried to step out but you held your grip and signaled her not to.
you watched as he called for the security and a few moments later, two men and a woman in full black attire walked over. they stop as the man with a slight gentle feature stops to look at the situation before speaking up.
“ what's the problem? ” his voice was gentle and you know he's the kind to look before leaping.
“ that girl behind her was trying to steal his milk! do something! ” he told. the securities glanced at each other. “ where is the proof? how'd you know she was trying to steal? ” the woman questioned.
the guy's face turned redder. while he was trying to convince them, you noticed how tight was yeojin gripping on your hoodie.
you could tell she wants to get out this badly. so you decided to look around. see any witnesses nearby. but then you saw something that could definitely prove yeojin's innocent.
“ excuse me, ” you called out and interrupted their argument. the second security guy turned to you. “ yes? ” you pointed at something small between the pole that was beside the fruit stand. “ is that security camera working? ” you asked as they all turn to look.
he slowly nods, “ i think so. that's camera number 18 ” he pointed and turned to his co-workers for confirmation. “ yeah, that one is working ” the woman confirmed. yeojin saw how the guy who was convicting her turned paled.
“ u-uh, i-i think i n-need to go n-now ” he stuttered before running away. you rolled your eyes as you knew he was just lying and tried to blame yeojin.
“ pfft, what an act ” the security woman cackled and stuffed her hands in her pocket. the two men laughed. “ actually, that security camera was in repairment. so i was just saying to see if he was lying or not ” the woman told.
“ anyway, good thing you defend her. poor kid would've got in trouble. we have to go now, have a nice day ladies ” the woman told and winked. you can't help but blush as they walk away. once they were gone, you let a sigh out.
“ uh, thanks unnie. for helping me ” yeojin smiled brightly before you ruffled her hair and yeojin loves the feeling. “ no biggie. glad you're safe. why are you doing here alone tho? ” you asked, looking around if the other girls were there.
“ sooyoung told me to get some stuff ”
“ i'm gonna kill her. she should've come by herself ” you growled. yeojin grinned as a warm feeling erupted in her. “ jinsol unnie did offer to come but i wanted to come by myself. it's my fault ” yeojin shrugged as if the event earlier was nothing big.
you gave her a ridiculous look. “ but still—
“ unnie ” she cut you off with her most perfect glare and pout combo. you stood your ground for a few seconds before sighing. “ fine. but next, please come with someone else. i'm not gonna be there for you ” you advised as yeojin stared at you.
“ but you're here now. you came searching for me. why would you leave? ” her words did something to you.