Chapter 9 C W T C H 2

"A-ah, I think I-I have to go-"

"Don't leave, Nana, Riri sad," the little girl cut her off, placing her little fingers above his hand, seemingly sealing it for her not to leave.

Conflicted, Eunae subtly nibbled her lower lip and internally contemplated. She surely wanted to run away and never see them again, but at the same time, she did not want to leave the little girl who stayed by her side, while pain engulfed her whole.

She did not want to be an ass by leaving them abruptly after benefiting from their kind acts. She was not the kind of person Jaehyun had always thought of-she was not, and she did not want to be the manipulative bitch he had tagged her as.

Slumping back on the sand, Eunae finally made her choice. She sat comfortably beside the two strangers, who were having triumphant smiles painting their lips.

"Yehey! Nana stay!"

Eunae failed to stifle the chuckles that left her lips, watching how the little girl jabbed her fists in the air as if she had won the lottery, "If it won't make Riri cry, then you'll have to deal with me for the rest of day."

"Mmm, Riri happy!"

"You're really a gleeful child, aren't you?"

"Your ice cream is melting," was the words that had Eunae gaze abruptly at the man who was pointing at the cone in her hand. She loudly gasped seeing how the sweet delicacy turned into liquid and began drenching her hand. "Maybe you should start eating up."

Barely hearing him any longer, Eunae immediately stuck out her tongue and traced the little drops from her hand. The sinful sugary flavor she missed having a taste made her moan with content. Though she was a grown ass woman, Eunae was still an ice cream slave like how she had always been. It was her comfort food, although she barely got to have them comfort her for the past years.

The cunning saccharine still made her happy though, but this time, it did not take away the pain lingering in her body like how it usually did when she was younger.

Eunae was too caught up with the ice cream that she missed the unwavering soft gaze he was giving her. The only time she casted her eyes away from the sweet foodstuff was when the little girl spoke.

"Why Baba, Nana look?" The little girl seemed to ask. Pointing her tiny finger at Eunae, while looking at the man whose face screamed tremendous shock almost as if like a criminal caught in the act.

Eunae furrowed her brows even more hearing the little girl giggle, while the man looked away seemingly abashed.

Not really knowing what was happening, she finally took a second glance at the strangers she just met before scrambling to hold the cone in her hands.

"I-I'm sorry! I took your ice cream!" She stuttered, wincing as he looked at her with sheer amusement. "I-I'll buy you one when we-"

"That's for you," he said, with a shake of his head. "It looks like you need it more than I do."

Giving her a smile, he hugged the sleepy little girl and took the melting ice cream from her hand. He shifted from his seat and allowed her to doze off on his lap.

"Thank you," Eunae nodded, still embarrassed.

She unconsciously glared at her ice cream, feeling betrayed with how cunning the sweet stuff was. Her cheeks quickly burning, realizing how shameless she was to easily accept his offer without even thinking twice.

She did not even ask whether it was really for her and just headed over devouring it like a child. Now, she finally understood why Jaehyun was so protective of her when they were younger-she just wished they had stayed the same.

"I saw you with my sister a while ago," he started, cutting off her train of thoughts. "I was thinking of approaching you both, but when I saw how she hugged you, I knew it was better to stay put. I hope my sister didn't bother you too much."

"Oh, no-no. Absolutely not!" Eunae dismissed, waving her hands before looking away. "Actually, I was the one who bothered her. I might've even taken away her playtime."

The man hummed before silence hung in the air.

Eunae did not know what else to speak of. She was torn between telling him what happened or simply keeping their talk at bay.

For the past two years, she had always been used to keeping her thoughts to herself, and suddenly having someone to confide just felt foreign. It felt terribly awkward, as a matter of fact. The utter confusion was giving her anxiety that she barely felt how her ice cream began melting.

"You don't have to tell me anything," his gaze transfixed at the vast sea.

Stuttering, Eunae blurted out indecipherable sounds as she tried her best to politely respond. Coming up of a mere statement to lengthen their conversation became surprisingly difficult that by the time she was able to choose the right words to say, she could already hear him chuckling.

"Don't think too much. I don't mind hearing nothing, while you eat," he stopped before pointing at her hand. "It's already dripping, by the way."

"Oh!" Gasping loudly, Eunae looked at her melted ice cream that was already drenching her hand. Rattled, she could hardly notice how he laughed loudly, while she was busy licking the vanilla all the way down to the very tip of the cone.

"I was actually crying, and your cute little sister comforted me with that hug," she eventually confessed, looking down on her hand.

He hummed for the second time, seemingly trying to find the right words to say.

"Family...love...I heard you asking what she meant."

"Oh."

"You looked baffled when you heard her," he looked at her carefully before gazing back at the little girl. "Would you mind if I'd ask why?"

"I-I was curious why those two words made her look so happy," she honestly admitted, her hands fidgeting the hem of her tank top. "I-I don't know, but I just find it too hard to comprehend. Weird isn't it? I'm probably quite the odd type."

From the corner of her eyes, Eunae noticed how he stiffened, before swiftly looking at her, ultimately making her look flushed. It felt like she was fully undressing herself in front of someone she did not know-not even his name.

The fact that she was opening to a stranger felt weird, yet somehow unusually comforting to say the least.

"Family is love, and love is family," he said softly, dragging his fingers along the sand and creating a figure that resembled like those of a heart.

"Having someone to love is family. That's what Yeri possibly meant," he shrugged. "Though I can't possibly vouch for this, I'm just guessing."

"Can you tell me what love is?" She asked suddenly, taking him a back.

Focusing her gaze on the horizon, Eunae wondered how beautiful the sunset would be in a few hours. It had been long since she watched it dance without any tears on her eyes.

"Tell me what you know about love," and not even after a heartbeat, her attention got fully captured by the man beside her. "Let's start with what you know, then we'll get to what I know."

Biting her lower lip and looking down at sand underneath her, Eunae tried to remember what she thought love was-what she felt about it. And as she walked down memory lane, it only boiled down to one definite yet seemingly vague meaning.

"Frankly, I don't know much about it. Shouldn't it be a deep affection you feel towards someone?" She truthfully relayed, scratching the back of her head as he hummed. "But I do have lots of questions about it though, can you answer them for me?"

The man looked at her briefly before curling his mouth into a seemingly small smile,

"Shoot."