saving grace || Hyomin & Yuri
hyomin had been in possession of kwan for a week and a bit — and with each day, she grew more accustomed to having a child around. perhaps it had her busy on top of her brotherhood duties, but getting away from the base during the free time that used to be on her schedule was refreshing. sure, looking after a nine year old boy wasn’t exactly her cup of tea, but it had been something she was unable to refuse. the continuous when’s grandma coming back? sliced through her heart like a knife. hyomin knew what it was like to lose family.
so, her cousin was taken in — temporarily, of course. and was to stay with her until she could find a proper place for him. she wasn’t ready to take on the responsibility of being a mother figure — a lone one, at that. kwan was her friend. and that was that — at least what she had planned it to be from the very beginning.
maybe by then she wasn’t so sure.
“yah, can you — please don’t.” she sighed, shaking out her hair as her steps grew faster in order to keep up with the energy-filled boy. hyomin lurched forward and grabbed him by the pocket of his knapsack, a stifled laugh forcing it’s way out of her mouth. he giggled too, causing her to stride forward to meet his side. “you’re gonna get me in lots of trouble, you know?”
looking after another person was incredulously tiring, especially when hyomin often had trouble taking care of herself. once the tiny fingers of the boy to her side had forced their way into hers, hyomin pressed her lips together, truly not ready to take on the role he had given to her without permission. kwan was detached in every way possible; hyomin didn’t want to take on the position of the mom that he didn’t have, but there was nobody another position for her to grasp other than that, seeing as how he was left with no one but hyomin. for that, she felt sorry for him. at his age, she would have been absolutely distraught to find herself stuck with someone so uninterested. though the boy was desperate in his own juvenile way. hyomin knew he wanted his grandmother back — he knew that she had fallen into line with what the elder had been. then it had become her responsibility to fill the empty space that she’d inherited.
“her name was kwon yuri, right?” he looked up to the older girl — she nodded, not bothering to turn her gaze. she hadn’t been able to forcefully glimpse at his expression and how broken it had become since the doctor had bluntly bared the news of his deceased guardian. it was like a shadowed mirror, one she wasn’t yet ready to face. “she can get really emotional, so make sure you’re good, okay?” hyomin snickered, thankful that the other woman had swiftly agreed to her babysitting request.
upon arrival at the girl’s door, hyomin twisted the nob and showed them inside herself, gently tossing the bag of goodies kwan had packed onto the edge of yuri’s bed. “he’s here.” she eyed the time on her wrist watch. “i’ll be back at eleven-ish.” with a sigh, her power was let down — having been using it for the walk through the halls of the base to conceal them both. “remember to keep this between us, okay?”