183 Flirting Between the Glass Partition (1/2)

Yeo Ri made her way to the correctional facility Hyuk was placed in with familiarity. She had been there a couple of times before with Gun so she knew the directions well enough.

She skipped and hummed happily along the way, excited over the prospect of finally seeing Hyuk after such a long time.

It was a weekday so there was not many people waiting to visit their incarcerated loved ones. After waiting for her turn for ten or so minutes, she was finally able to meet Hyuk.

She was assigned to a booth with a counter and a glass panel in-between. A telephone on her side of the booth was connected to the one on the prisoner's side. Both sides were soundproofed from the other one, so they could only communicate from that pair of telephones.

She waited for several minutes before the barred door on the other side opens to reveal Hyuk, accompanied by a prison guard. Yeo Ri stood up, keeping a smile constant on her face.

When Hyuk turned around to look at her, he was greeted by the smiling cute girl. He looked visibly delighted, and as soon as the handcuffs came off, he immediately sat himself down and picked up the phone. Yeo Ri copied him.

The clock was set to fifteen minutes. They now had fifteen minutes to speak and catch up.

”Oppa, how are you?” Yeo Ri started.

”I'm fine. What about you, Yeo Ri-ah? Did anyone bully you while I'm gone?”

Yeo Ri laughed, ”Who would dare? You're here, and Gun-oppa's here, so no one would dare to bully me.”

”I-I read your letters,” he stuttered, his ears growing red. ”I hope you're not overworking.”

Yeo Ri stared at him for a moment, slightly tilting her head. ”You're not mad? I thought you wouldn't like it if I joined the agency.”

Hyuk kept mum. After several seconds of silence, he finally said, ”As long as you're happy, Yeo Ri-ah.”

It had taken him three days to come to terms with the fact that his Yeo Ri might be well-known one day. Given her looks, he was 100% sure that she would make it big. In the beginning, after he had read the letter she sent him, he was impossibly pissed. He was angry, but mostly jealous. It was selfish, but he would rather keep Yeo Ri to himself than share her with the rest of the world.

But nevertheless, since that was what Yeo Ri wanted to do, who was he to stop her? He could only support her from behind the bars.

”You've changed, Oppa,” Yeo Ri sighed, a smile playing on her lips. After being in prison for so long, Hyuk looked more mature and calm compared to before. Perhaps being away from home was what he needed to curb his temper and impulsiveness. ”I like it.”

”You think so?” Hyuk mumbled, scratching his neck in embarrassment. Did he really change? He thought. Perhaps he did. If someone had told the him from several years back that he'd end up serving jail time for murder and that he was secretly dating Yeo Ri, he'd probably laugh in their face before giving them a solid knuckle sandwich.

Hyuk cracked a small smile, thinking, 'I've come a long way.'

”Now, if only you'd stop causing trouble so I can see you more frequently,” Yeo Ri added. ”I really missed you, Oppa.”

”I missed you too, Yeo Ri,” he mumbled apologetically. Again, he thought about how much things have changed. The old him would have never expected to be so close and intimate with this impossibly perfect girl in front of him.

Hyuk stared at the girl for some time, quietly admiring her beautiful visage. The soft and silky hair framing her face that was only as big as his fist, her big, doe-like eyes, her full, petal-like lips, her narrow shoulders and her slender neck—she was a masterpiece. It was like God envisioned perfection and thus Yeo Ri was created. Every part of her was perfect. 'And too good for me,' he ruefully thought. Too bad she was wasted on him.