Befriending the Gangster // S.W.H (#21)

Fifty-seven

Wonho

"Come on, he is not going to bite," I said to the two cousins who are refusing to budge from their seats, I swear that they are the most stubborn people that I know. "Things are not the same as before and he is not the same as well."

It has been 3 weeks ever since I told them about my stepbrother getting released from prison, things haven't exactly been that great. The Yoo cousins are glaring at me at every chance they get and they always looked like they are going to kill me off, I almost died on the night where I told the both of them about Hyunwoo, I swear that I had my food doused in poison and Yoo Kihyun even gave it to me with an evil smile on his face.

To be honest, they have a reason to act like that when Son Hyunwoo is the most horrible person to them and he has done horrible things to them and they were glad when he went to jail, he served his time and he is going to come out into society again after 3 years of being in prison.

"How do you even know about that? Are you Son Hyunwoo himself? You are just his stepbrother and you don't live his life, how do you know that he is not going to be that horrible person again?" Yoo Kihyun said to me crossing his arms.

"It has been 3 years and he has changed in the past, he longer harbours the evil look in his eyes and he looked so innocent," I said to him.

"Are you even sure about that? What if that is just him trying to make you think that he is a changed person? You are just too gullible in short, Lee Wonho." Yoo Yiseul rolled her eyes at me. "Why did you even want us here anyways? We are not going to welcome that guy making his way into society with big, open arms."

I have decided to bring them to meet Hyunwoo and I begged them to come along with me, I know that it was a tough decision for them and now they are debating hard if they could still stay on or they would just call it a day and make their way back home. It is hard for someone to accept someone who has given them so much trauma that accepting the person would just make them want to hide from everyone again.

And I know that Yoo Yiseul is the first person to kill me if that happens, I would not want to accept Son Hyunwoo back as my stepbrother but he is part of my new family and he has been the stepbrother that I thought that I never had. My parents have been longing for the day that he would be back and we would be a family again, and they will finally have the wedding ceremony that they wanted to have if not for my stepbrother who got arrested weeks before the wedding.

"He is a human being as well and he has atoned for his wrongdoings, it is not like he has done any time in jail. He is in there for the past 3 years and he has been isolated from society for the last few years, he doesn't know much about society and he would be afraid of the world that he would be approaching and what we should be doing as his friends, we are supposed to make him feel welcomed into society. That is something a person with a big heart would do, Yoo Yiseul." I looked at both of them who is still looking like they are forced to be here. "You can avoid talking to him if you don't want to, he would be very happy that you are here to see him."

"You better treat me to a whole month of Korean BBQ after this, I am not going to let you take advantage of the fact that you forced me to be there against my will and I will get back my revenge." I turned towards Yoo Kihyun. "You are to pay for your meals for the next one year and you know how expensive my food is, I hope that you have the money to eat with us."

I sighed. "Fine, at least we are still friends with each other." I looked towards the gate and then back at my phone, he is getting out any minute and I hope that he will be happy to see all of us.

My parents wanted to come along but they had a meeting at the last minute, they are still workaholics who work all the time but at least I get to see them more often and they are willing to make time for me as well. But they are still going to have a welcoming party for Hyunwoo later at night, he is the favourite child in the family even though he is the one who disappointed them by going to jail even before he became an adult.

The gates finally opened and I see a guy walking out of the gates slowly, he is still the same guy from before but he doesn't have the killing spirit in him anymore, he is just Son Hyunwoo that I know as a stepbrother. He looks up and he sees the three of us, he makes his way towards us and I am praying hard that the Yoo cousins don't decide to beat him up as soon as he is within distance.

And they don't beat him up, it is such a fascinating thing to see and the Yoo cousins are just standing still not looking at him in the eye and he stands a few meters away from me, his eyes telling me that he is glad to see me again, not behind the clear panel that we always see each other for the past few years but with the distance that we can hug each other without any issues at all.

"I am back." He said to me and he hugged me, I am so overwhelmed that I burst into tears as I hugged him back.

"Welcome back, Son Hyunwoo..." I said to him.