Chapter 66: Meeting with friend

Soobin's dad looked at Beomgyu with a pitiful gaze. He knew he was wrong and he should be punished. But he was a bit selfish in this matter. He always bailed himself out whenever he had to go to jail. But now that he thought about it, he felt guilty. He took a long breath and caressed Beomgyu's hair slowly.

"I know I'm a jerk. But what could I do? I wanted to survive. And I wanted to be happy. In the end, I survived but not happily. I promise I'll treat you as my son from now on. So, please don't take my sons away." He said in a very soft voice.

Beomgyu was surprised by his sudden behavior. He forgot the last time when he was adored by his own dad like this. For a moment he wanted to forgive this man and hugged him. He wished he was his own father. He didn't know why but he couldn't stop his tears anymore.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Soobin knelt in front of him and moved his father's hand from Beomgyu. He thought Beomgyu was so terrified by his father that he began to cry. His father was also astonished by Beomgyu's tear as he never expected it. Soobin held Beomgyu's one hand and tried to wipe his tears though his eyes were fully covered by his long bangs.

"Should I tell him to leave?" Soobin asked but there was no reply from the boy so he looked at his father and said.

"Dad, Please leave for now. I'll handle him." Saying that he touched Beomgyu's cheek and tried to make him look at Soobin. His dad stood up slowly but right then, Beomgyu held his shirt just like a two years old kid.

"Don't leave!" Beomgyu mumbled slowly.

"Eh? You don't want him to go away?" Soobin asked to be sure.

"Um." Beomgyu replied while sniffling. Soobin and his dad looked at each other confusedly.

"I'm sorry. I ruined the mood." Beomgyu said slowly while wiping his tears.

"Uh! It doesn't matter! You can cry all you want!" Soobin's dad replied. Soobin looked at him and said,

"Dad! You're too bad at consoling!" He helped Beomgyu wipe his tears and squatted down in front of him.

"I already know what type of guy you are. Though I feared you before, and I hated you because I lost my friend because of you, I still wanna forgive you for whatever you did to me. Because coincidentally, you gave me another life. I am living happily now because of you. But I can't forgive you for what you did to my friend. She was the only one I cared for. I don't know if she's alive or not. But she also experienced the same as me." Beomgyu replied and finally he looked at Soobin's dad. His pitiful gaze melted Soobin's dad's heart as if he wanted to shower him with love.

"Do you wanna meet her?" He asked. Because he knew whom Beomgyu was talking about.

"C-can I?" Beomgyu was shocked as he never expected he could meet her again.

"Yes! You can also talk with her if you want!" He replied.

Beomgyu was stunned for a moment but when he realized, he looked at Soobin's dad with his surprised and doable eyes.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" thanking him, Beomgyu hugged Soobin's dad tightly.

Though Soobin's dad was very happy, Soobin couldn't be happy about this matter. He felt insecure all of a sudden. He stood up and looked at how happy Beomgyu was looking. So, he faked a smile at them even though they didn't notice him.

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Beomgyu, Soobin and his dad went to a restaurant. The restaurant was in a small alley at the edge of the city. It wasn't quite big but the nice smell of food would make anyone hungry.

They took a seat inside. There were many customers eating or gossiping all over the place. Though their seat was right under the air conditioner, Beomgyu was sweating because he was very nervous as he thought Karina would be there at any moment. Soobin sat on the opposite side of him, with his father. And Beomgyu's next seat was blank. He acted as if he was fine but his expressions were telling something else.

"Take a look at the menu and choose whatever you want to eat." Breaking the silence, Mr. Won said and put the menu in front of Beomgyu.

"Eh? Me?" Beomgyu asked surprisingly. In reply, Mr. Won gave a big smile, making Beomgyu feel more nervous. He quickly set his eyes on the menu after taking a glance at Soobin who was looking outside of the window as if he was totally inattentive to the circumstance there.

"Waiter!" Mr. Won called.

"W-wait! I haven't decided yet!" Beomgyu suddenly shouted in a low voice and focused on the menu. He kept reading every item in it and the price. In the meantime, the waiter came near them.

"Hello, sir! May I take your order?" She asked very politely. Beomgyu was astonished by hearing the voice because it was familiar, very familiar. He was afraid to look at the waiter but as he was also very curious, he slowly looked at her. As he thought, it was really Karina. But what was she doing there? Why was she working there? He had so many questions at a time but he couldn't speak out loudly since he knew she wouldn't recognize him anymore.

"One spaghetti with braised chicken for me." Saying that Soobin's dad looked at Beomgyu with a smile as he knew how cute the boy would look while being surprised.

"Okay, what about you, sir?" She noted the order from one person and looked at Beomgyu hoping for another order.

"K-karina?" Beomgyu blurted out though he didn't want to talk with her as he didn't know what he should say.

"Eh?" She was astonished for a moment because nobody knows her nickname except from her close friends and family members.

"Why are you working as a waiter?" Mr. Won asked her because it wasn't her job. Soobin was watching everything silently and understood what was going on there. He looked at Beomgyu who was staring at her without blinking. Suddenly his chest started aching as if someone pierced his heart with something very sharp.

"Uh! There's too many customers today, so I'm helping them!" She smiled and said, looking at Soobin's dad but she peeked at Beomgyu for a moment because he was looking very familiar to her. But she didn't know who he was and it would be very rude and awkward if she kept staring at him like he was doing to her.

"Sir! Would you like to order?" She asked Soobin.

"Oh, yes!" Soobin replied and ordered what he would like to have though he didn't have an appetite right then.

"Are you alright?" Soobin asked Beomgyu when she left.

"Um." Beomgyu looked down and replied. Soobin stood up and went to sit next to Beomgyu. He noticed Beomgyu was trembling. So, he held his hand and consoled him.

"It's okay. It's gonna be alright." Soobin rubbed his hand while saying. But his dad could see neither of them were alright.

"S-she's alive! S-she was i-in front of me! S-she couldn't recognize me!" Beomgyu said falteringly.

"You silly! How would she recognize you?" Soobin said with a big and fake smile.

"I know! But still….." Beomgyu stopped. After their meal, Soobin's dad left as he had something to do. But Beomgyu waited there because he wanted to talk with the girl and Soobin waited there for Beomgyu.

After a while, when Karina stopped working, came to the table where Beomgyu and Soobin were waiting for her.