39 The Man in the Gray Hoodie

June 23, 2021

Jung's Residence

With a tired body, Young Dae has just arrived at his house when the clock strikes eight at night. The man raised one eyebrow when he faintly heard the sound of male laughter between the laughter of his mother and sister. At first he thought it was possible that the male voice was coming from the television, but the male voice was too real. He soon entered his house.

"Kang Tae Oh!" yells Young Dae excitedly when he recognizes the owner of the laughter is Kang Tae Oh.

"Young Dae!" Tae Oh is no less excited when he meets Young Dae again. He was also very close to the eldest boys in the Jung family.

"Woah, you haven't changed at all," Young Dae said as he approached Tae Oh and ruffled the young man's black mane.

"He's changed, Young Dae," Hae Ran babbles as she serves three glasses of fruit juice to the table. "He used to be fat, but now he is athletic and more handsome."

"Well, then I'm the only one who doesn't recognize this child right away?" Yoon Hee inquired as to who had finally opened her mouth.

"You didn't recognize him right away?" Young Dae asked, looking surprised. "Even though his face hasn't changed, why can't you recognize him right away?"

"She seems to have trouble recognizing faces." Tae Oh teases, making Yoon Hee purse her lips.

"By the way, when did you come from Daegu?" Young Dae asked to change the subject.

"Two weeks ago."

"Tomorrow he will start working at mom's flower shop," Yoon Hee babbles.

"Really?" Young Dae looks a little surprised by the news, but he's also happy that his mother finally hired someone to help her flower shop. "Thank God that mom finally decided to hire someone else. This way you won't get too tired."

"I feel a headache because someone keeps urging me to open a job," Hae Ran explained to her eldest son.

In the past, Young Dae often urged his mother to hire one or two employees so that she would not get too tired. Relying only on Yoon Hee and sometimes Yoo Eun is not enough, because both will help if holiday. Now Young Dae is relieved that her mother hired someone, and that person is Kang Tae Oh.

"It's for your good, Mom," Young Dae replied hugging her mother warmly.

"By the way, it's already late at night. I'm sorry to say goodbye," Tae Oh said.

"All right, be careful. Thanks for stopping by, Tae Oh," Hae Ran said with a smile on her face.

"You're welcome. Thank you for accepting me as a store clerk," Tae Oh responded. "Then I say goodbye. See you."

"Bye, I'm not taking you," Yoon Hee said.

"No problem. I'll take him to the lobby."

~"~

"So, why did you move to Seoul again?" Young Dae asks as he and Tae Oh are waiting for the elevator that will take them downstairs.

"I want to live independently," Tae Oh replied. "That's why I came back to Seoul alone."

Young Dae nodded his head. "By the way, you want to help me?" The man turned to face Tae Oh, who only turned his head.

"If it's not a difficult thing, I'll do it," Tae Oh replied, ending with a smile on his face.

Young Dae laughed a little at Tae Oh's words. "Don't worry, it's an easy thing. But don't tell my mother about this before."

"Ok."

"I just want to ask you to take care of Yoon Hee." Young Dae replied with a slight smile. "She said that lately she often feels supervised. So, if you have free time at the store, please pick up Yoon Hee when you get home. It doesn't have to be every day, just when I'm busy."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of Yoon Hee," Tae Oh replied.

"Thank you in advance, Tae Oh."

Young Dae is relieved because he knows he can rely on Kang Tae Oh to look after and pick up Yoon Hee if he is busy. He will also find out who has been watching his sister secretly.

***

While twirling his chair and enjoying a packet of bread, someone noticed a collection of photos of Jung Yoon Hee that he had pasted on the wall. Not only Yoon Hee's photo is there, but there are several photos of Ian and Emma, although not as many as Yoon Hee's photos. The man then turned his attention away from the photos, and apparently it was L.

Since seven days ago, he has been living in the human world because of orders from Seungho. The man asked him to keep an eye on Jung Yoon Hee in private. And apparently a few days after he lived in the human world, he met Emma at the gumiho woman's cake shop. Fortunately, Emma didn't recognize him because they'd never met before. When she came as an angel, Emma was no longer living in the upper world.

"Instead of watching like a criminal, maybe I should just be around Yoon Hee," he thought and ate the last piece of bread.

The angel then stopped twisting his chair, got out of it, and approached the wall. His hand stretched out to take a few photos that were not photos of the three people at all. The photo is a photo of a person wearing a black hoodie that he took while watching Ian or Emma. He looked at the photo carefully.

"Who exactly is this person? Why does he keep watching Ian and Lee Myeong?" he asked, tapping the photo with his index finger.

***

June 25, 2021

Miho Bakery and Pastry

A smile expands on Emma's face, who is currently watching Ian gather with his friends at one of the tables. She was relieved because apparently the child's friends did not remember anything about the incident experienced by Ian some time ago. She doesn't care who has done it, the most important thing is that Ian has not lost his friends, who have accompanied the child all this time.

Ian's friends sometimes gather in her shop, chatting while enjoying the orders they buy. Actually, she didn't want to make them pay for his order, but they all paid for it anyway. Ian is very lucky to have good friends like them, unlike herself, who does not even have a single friend. Ian always appears happy with his friends, just like Little Ian before the incident.

"Excuse me, I want to pay."

The words of a visitor who wanted to pay were diverting Emma's attention. The woman's Gumiho smiled as she received a tray containing the loaves of bread purchased by the customer.

"By the way, Emma is getting prettier," Soo Bin said suddenly while watching Emma, who was serving customers.

Ian who doesn't like his mother to be noticed like that, immediately shifts Soo Bin's face so as not to see Emma again. To be honest, he did not want to have a new father, even though his father would later become his brother-in-law. "Don't pay attention to her. I don't want a brother-in-law like you."

"Hey, it hasn't been a month since Soo Young died, but you've started paying attention to other women," Min Hyung teased. "And what you notice is the sister of your own best friend."

"It turns out that Soo Bin is very easy to fall in love with, huh?" Now Min Jee is commenting.

"Not really," Soo Bin replied, sipping his iced Americano.

There was no more conversation going on at the table after Soo Bin gave his response. While his friends were engrossed alone with a mobile phone or enjoying the cake and bread available, Ian actually noticed a suspicious person standing outside the store.

The man in the gray hoodie and black mask kept staring at Emma, who was standing behind the cashier; the man even took out his cellphone and pointed it at Emma. He had thought, could it be that the figure was the stalker who had been watching Emma lately?