The Girl’s Time Moves Once More

"—The suspect, Mr. Lee, was found guilty of second-degree murder as well as assault and battery. He will be sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment without parole. Back to you, HQ," the news reporter of the channel Yeo Ri was watching concluded as she stood outside the courthouse among many other reporters. A scene of Hyuk in disguise flashed on the screen, showing him entering a black van.

Yeo Ri stared at the television, hands tightly gripping the blanket. After trying to hold back her tears for so long, she finally broke down.

"Hic—" she sobbed. "Oppa! Hyuk-oppa!" She called out to the empty air.

She was all alone in the hospital room, and there was no way that Hyuk who was on his way to a correctional facility could hear her. She could only cry out her grievances as her heart bled for Hyuk.

What did he do to deserve it? Hyuk didn't do anything wrong. She firmly believed that he was innocent.

"Six years...!" She sobbed. She wouldn't be able to see him for six years. By the time he came out, he would be twenty-six. A whole chunk of his life would be gone, just like that.

She couldn't bear it.

It had only been a few weeks and she already missed him so much, but six years? She'd die from heartbreak. How could she wait for six years? She felt so frustrated and stifled. She couldn't imagine living six years of her life without him. He'd miss the most important years in her life. By the time he'd be released, she'd be an old woman in her twenties already!

"Oppa! No!" She cried.

Her voice was so loud that it startled the nurses into checking up on her.

"Yeo Ri-ah?!" Gun who had just came back from the courthouse was surprised when he saw that several nurses had gathered around Yeo Ri's bed.

"No!" She sobbed. "Oppa—!"

"Oppa, don't leave me!"

Yeo Ri's voice was so sorrowful that some of the more soft-hearted nurses could not help but tear up along with her.

"Patient, please calm down! Please!" Begged a nurse as she held the girl's flailing arms down.

"No! Oppa, I can't—I can't—!"

"Yeo Ri-ah!" Gun rushed into the horde of people and pushed his way to Yeo Ri. He forgot about her aversion to touching and simply hugged her tightly without letting go, soothing her with a gentle voice. "Yeo Ri-ah, everything will be fine. It's going to be alright. Don't worry, Oppa is right here."

He stroked her back, coaxing her to calm down.

"It's alright, Yeo Ri-ah. I won't go anywhere."

When Yeo Ri's sobs died down, he nodded towards the nurses, signalling that he had the situation under control.

The nurses heaved a sigh of relief as they got up, bowed, then left the room.

After Yeo Ri had calmed down, Gun asked her, "What's wrong, Yeo Ri-ah? Why are you so sad?"

"Oppa... I miss Hyuk-oppa so much," she said between sniffles. She wrapped her arms around Gun tightly, returning his hug. "Six years is so long," she complained with a serious look but trembling lips.

Gun felt dumbfounded over her reason for crying, but still patted her head comfortingly, "Don't worry. Six years will pass by in a flash. Besides, I heard that if they do well in prison, the prisoners might get a chance to reduce their sentence. If Hyung does well, who knows, maybe he'll come back sooner than expected?" He said, coaxing the younger girl.

He pulled away from the girl and wiped away her tears. "There, there, don't cry. You'll look ugly if you cry," he teased.

Hearing those words, Yeo Ri began to cry again.

"W-what's wrong?" Gun frantically rubbed her wet cheeks. His eyes trembled worriedly.

"Uu—Hyuk-oppa used to say the same thing, too!"

Waaaa—!

Yeo Ri sobbed louder as she remembered Hyuk's face.

"Y-Yeo Ri-ah, don't cry anymore!" He helplessly wiped away her never-ending flow of tears. In the end, he gave up trying to coax her to stop crying and simply allowed her to borrow his shoulders to cry to her heart's content.

"It's okay, Yeo Ri-ah. Once he's allowed to have visitors, we can go and visit him."

"—hic, o-okay—hic—" Yeo Ri nodded in-between sobs.

Gun sighed.