to be loved | huh yunjin ✔

09) 언니, 사랑해

HA WOORYEONG POV.

Yunjin stood up, unfazed.

Sakura kicked Ilsung's dead body before turning to me. She helped me stand up, and then wrapped her arms around me. Chaewon and Kazuha followed suit. As expected, Yunjin stayed put, so I wriggled my hand free and held it out. Much to my liking, she placed her hand in mine and held it tightly, making my heart flutter.

"What's the hug for, guys?"

"We're just glad that you're okay, Wooryeong. Even though we haven't been together long, your safety is important to us, especially since you've only been training for a week," Chaewon said. My heart warmed at her words, and a few tears fell from my eyes.

After a few minutes passed, we all separated and decided to clean up. Just as we began, though, Eunchae burst through the door, followed by a woman and a man, two members of the special handling and cleanup crew. As soon as the youngest entered the room, Yunjin let go of my hand and was immediately by her side, pulling the maknae in for a side hug as they both exchanged hushed words. Eunchae looked pretty shaken up, causing my heart to beat with worry.

Eventually, after the SHC crew took away Ilsung's body, the girls and I began to clean up. At some point, the crew came back to help, and with their assistance, the cleanup went by quickly.

Now, an hour or so later, the crew has left, and we were all in the kitchen, surrounded by a strange silence as we waited for Kazuha to finish the noodles she decided to make. Chaewon, Sakura, and Eunchae were sitting at the table, with the youngest curled up in Chaewon's lap, while Yunjin and I were sitting at the bar, side by side as the older treated my minor injuries.

Yunjin had her lips pursed as she concentrated on disinfecting all of the cuts I acquired. As she was cleaning them, I couldn't help but hiss in pain.

"I'm sorry," Yunjin mumbled under her breath.

I inhaled deeply. "It's okay. The p-pain isn't even that bad, I promise," I whispered.

When she was done, she did something that surprised me-she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on each bandaged injury, tenderly rubbing my arm. The amount of care I felt in her touch caused tears to well up in my eyes, which she noticed when she sat up straight. Her eyes softened, and she moved forward to kiss my forehead, which is when I started crying louder, catching the sympathetic attention of the girls.

Yunjin said nothing and only pulled me into her arms.

Moments like these, when she shows her warmer sides, are always rare to see-the other girls know this-so they all felt proud as they watched the scene, glad that Yunjin was slowly letting down her walls, thanks to me.

"I know it was scary, but everything's okay now, Ryeong, I promise. You're safe here with us, and we won't let anyone hurt you on our watch. You did so well back there, so well."

Her words comforted me enough to reduce my cries to sniffles. She then led me to the table.

Just then, Kazuha entered the room holding a pot of noodles. Once she set it down, everyone picked up their bowls, grabbed their chopsticks, and dug in.

Everyone except for me.

This time, it wasn't because of uncertainty, it was because of everything I saw this morning. I couldn't get the little girl out of my head.

The silence was broken when I spoke up, my gaze cast down at the table. "So... Who exactly is Jung Ilsung? He said he was an old friend of yours, but that he wanted you dead, for some reason."

All of the girls frowned, and Eunchae sighed heavily.

"Jung Ilsung was an old member of Hybe." Sakura looked into my eyes as she signed. "But that was until our Eunchae thankfully got him kicked out for unprovoked and wrongful murder. Here at Hybe, although we do kills and things like that, we would never take the lives of innocent people, and we take matters like that very seriously. It doesn't fly. He got what he deserved." There was a strong look in the eldest's eyes, one that made me feel intimidated.

Eunchae bit her lip before speaking. "I assume he was here to kill me, right?" She asked quietly.

I nodded. "He was. But I wouldn't ever let that happen."

Eunchae smiled at my words. "Thank you, Unnie. I love you."