When Home is Not the Safest Place on Earth

Yeo Ri and Gun spent the weekends at the hospital.

It was uncomfortable, but at least it was better than going back to that hellhole. Yeo Ri was too afraid to go back, and Hyuk and Gun wouldn't let her go back without either of them even if she wanted to.

But, all good things must come to an end.

Both Yeo Ri and Gun had school and they couldn't afford to skip. Especially Yeo Ri, since she had been absent too frequently.

Yeo Ri stepped into the house, holding Gun's shirt tightly. Noticing her grip, Gun pulled her hand and tucked it into his, holding her hand firmly. Gun gave a reassuring nod towards the girl, and made sure she was behind him.

Together, they crept into the house, looking around cautiously.

"...!" Yeo Ri stifled a gasp.

The living room was a mess. It looked as if a robber had raided the place. Or perhaps, someone had thrown a fit of anger.

"Don't bother," Gun told Yeo Ri, who was about to let go of his hand in order to start cleaning up. The man who caused the mess might still be around, and it was pointless to clean things up when they might have to leave soon... for good, hopefully.

Yeo Ri looked back at the mess hesitantly, then looked at Gun's sharp eyes.

"...Okay," Yeo Ri nodded, following him.

Gun brought Yeo Ri back to their room. It was only when they locked themselves in the room that he finally lets go of Yeo Ri's hand, heaving a sigh of relief. Now that they were in the safe space of their room, he could finally relax.

However, the room was also messed up.

Gun sighed, noticing the mess. His jaw locked as he silently picked up his books and placed the desks back into their proper positions.

Yeo Ri folded up the beddings and blankets that had crumpled haphazardly on the floor.

"!!!"

Gone! The knife she hid under her beddings was gone!

Yeo Ri suppressed her panic.

She rummaged the whole floor and looked around the room, but it was nowhere to be found.

"What's wrong?" Gun asked. "Did you lose something?"

Yeo Ri flinched, "N-no. I was just... just..." Yeo Ri bit her lips. It wasn't like she could tell Gun that she lost her knife. It was too weird for a girl to even keep a knife under her pillow. "It's nothing," she quietly replied.

Yeo Ri gave up looking for the knife and went back to her task.  She silently wondered if that man had found her knife. What would he think...? What would he do...?

Yeo Ri was afraid.

He must definitely have found the knife! Else, why would it be missing? Will he punish her? Will he... kill her? Or worse, would he kill Hyuk, or Gun, or both of them?

Yeo Ri's body trembled as she thought of the worst case scenario.

Gun eyed Yeo Ri's actions suspiciously. He had an inkling of what was going on in her mind, and it solidified his hypothesis. Yeo Ri must've saw something that that man threatened her to keep hidden.

"I'll send you to school tomorrow. When school's over, wait for me to pick you up." Gun kneeled beside her, patting her head.

"No, Oppa," Yeo Ri shook her head worriedly. "You have to attend your after-school lessons."

Gun gave her a smile, "It's fine. I can just revise at home."

"But, Oppa... your grades..." Yeo Ri bit her lips. She knew that while Gun was smart, it was mostly thanks to his hard work that he was able to maintain his top grades. He had already slacked off so much thanks to her matters; if she continued to become his burden, then he might lose his number one spot, and even his scholarship. It was risky.

"O-oppa, how about this? I'll stay with Hyuk-oppa until you finish your lessons. Then, we can go home together. Okay?" Yeo Ri suggested.

Gun scrunched his eyebrows. It kind of hurt his pride that she thought his grades might drop just because he missed a few classes. Though, he also understood that missing his after-school lessons would impact his grades. But he thought he could just make it up with more self-studying. Clearly, Yeo Ri didn't think the same. Her worries were evident on her face.

"...If you're fine with it." He was worried about Yeo Ri going to the hospital alone, but after giving it some thought, he could just talk to Min Chae to accompany the girl.

Finally, he conceded.