4.

She pouted her lips, but the boy just shook his head and then lightly pushed her back.

"It's not that. I like you, but it's.......it's my mom and dad. They're coming and you need to go. Please."

Young-mi didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave him, but she knew that she should listen to him.

"I don't want to leave you."

She rushed over to the boy and hugged him tight around his chest. They were almost the same height, she was just a little smaller than he was.

The boy was startled by this sudden hug, but eventually hugged her back, but out of instinct buried his face into the crook of her neck to inhale her scent.

He wants to remember her scent, he wants to try and find her again after this. Jung-ho stood up after seeing what his daughter just did, but hid behind a tree.

He's thankful that somehow the little boy hasn't realized that he has been watching this whole time, but makes him wonder why he hasn't.

The boy continued to smell the girl hugging him in her tiny arms. To him, she smelled sweet, so sweet that he wanted to stand here and smell her all day.

"I don't want to leave you either. I like you, but you need to go! I'll try to find you again."

Her eyes lit up with happiness as they parted from their hug.

"Do you mean it ? Do promise?"

"Yes, I mean it. Yes I promise! Now go!"

She nodded with a giggle and took off running back towards the stream in pure hope and trust that the boy will find her again, and they can finally play and be friends.

Even the idea of having him meet her sisters also brought joy and happiness to her. The boy was relieved that she listened to him, but yet found himself really upset, even more so than before watching her run off like that.

He heard his parent's voices nearby and didn't want them to find her. As far as he was aware, she is his and no one else's. His own little secret that he didn't want anyone to know about.

The boy sighed sadly and was about to turn to leave when he heard a twig break. Now on full alert, he turned around to the sound with a little growl in warning. Now he questioned himself to why he didn't do this with the girl.

But pushed that thought away when he saw a tall man appear from behind a tree. His hands up in surrender and carrying a familiar scent of damp water and soil, just like the little girl, but she had a sweeter scent to her than this man.

However, the man also shared a resemblance to the girl, the same lips and dark hair color.

"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you?"

"About what?"

The boy didn't care that he was human, just that this man was a stranger and his instincts told him to do what he needed to protect himself.

Jung-ho smiled and lowered his hands as he now stands before the boy. An idea popped into his mind when he heard that the boy was moving into a new built house not too far away.

Jung-ho knew all about hybrids and how they worked. He knew why this boy, after lots of thinking, took such a

liking to his daughter so easily and wanted to have a chat with him.

"I'm not going to harm you, but I wanted to talk about that little girl you just spoke to. She's my daughter."

The boy relaxed straight away now that it's confirmed he is the father of the little girl that he still can't stop thinking about.

"What about her? I'm sorry if you didn't like me talking to her."

Jung-ho smiled to see how quickly the boy turned all sweet and polite spoken. Something he isn't used to when it comes to hybrids.

"It's okay, but I think the two of us need to have a quick chat before you go back to your parents, if you don't mind?"

"Sure okay. I can talk."

Jung-ho smiled widely and squatted back down to the boy's level.

"I need to ask you a big favor and promise me that you would keep it."

The boy was unsure how to respond to this stranger, but because he liked Young-mi and this is her father, he already feels like he could trust this human.

"I promise I would keep what ever it is you want."

Jung-ho sighs in relief and begins to explain a few things to the boy. The boy listened to everything that was said

from Jung-ho, listening very carefully now that he knew his parents had gone in a different direction than when Young-mi was there with him.

Shocked, anger, pity, all these emotions hit the nine-year-old boy shocked, but one thing he was so sure of is that he was going to keep his promise to the man.

And that one promise will be forever kept a secret between the two.

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