Behind your Mask is a Beautiful Smile 26 Chapter 26- Ya Nuo's flashback

After Nana took the cab, Huan Hei cleared his throat, "May I get an explanation now?"

Ya Nuo felt a headache coming, "Hei, I saw a group of girls chasing after her with baseball bats. I had to help her."

Huan Hei frowned, "Nuo, I'm not saying that helping others is wrong. Did you know how scared I was to lose you in the middle of nowhere? It reminded me of the time when you got injured from getting chased by someone dangerous. If there is a next time, please let me know where you are going or call for help. This time you were lucky that these girls are weaklings and easy to deal with. What if next time you see a group of gangsters? I was screaming your name out loud and walking through the hidden alleys hoping that you are alright."

Ya Nuo lowered her head, "I'm sorry for making you worried about me. It's my instinct to take action first because those girls had baseball bats with them and Nana was in absolute danger. if those girls used bats to beat her up, she might have been dead by now. Besides..."

Ya Nuo paused on her sentence and let out a depressive sigh, "Never mind. this time was my fault for making you worry about me. I promise, there will be no next time like today. Let's go."

Huan Hei: 'Was I too harsh on her? No, if I don't put my foot down and have this conversation with her, she won't understand how important it is to put her safety first. But.. she looked sad just now. Did I go overboard? Hmm... I'll get some of her favorite fruit cakes from the bakery she loves to cheer her up.'

Ya Nuo was walking the opposite direction from school and he followed behind her, "Nuo, we still have two classes left. Where are you going?"

"Sorry Hei, I'm not feeling too well. You can go back to class. I want to be alone for a bit." her voice sounded brittle.

'Shit! Did I accidentally touch a sensitive topic?'

"Nuo! I'm sorry if I went overboard just now. I was only -"

She smiled slightly, "I know. You're caring for me and I appreciate that. I suddenly thought of something that I needed to do. I'll go first. I'll see you tomorrow."

He sighed and watched her figure walking away. 'How can I leave you alone when you look like you need someone to hug? I'll follow you from a distance and won't bother you.'

Ya Nuo walked continuously for 2 hours and stopped at the beach. The beach was empty today and it was perfect for her because she wanted a quiet place to release her emotions. After taking a deep breath she sat down and watched the waves as it hit the sand. Her eyes became blurred and her face flushed.

/Flashback/

Back when I was a kid, my father and his second wife abused me. While kids were happily waiting for their parents to pick them up from school, I walked home alone. I wasn't allowed to walk in through the front door. There was a specially made door for servants and I had to enter through there. Whenever stepmother saw my face, she becomes angry at me because it reminds her of my mom. Instead of hitting me, she set up incidents and framed me so that I'll get punished. She purposely broke my father's favorite antique vases and blamed it on me so that I would be starved or physically abused. I remember having a high fever and sleeping on an old dirty mattress with a thin blanket covering me. I was cold and hungry in a locked attic. If it weren't for the housemaids and butlers who treated me like family, I would've died long ago. I'm technically living on borrowed time. I miss them dearly, but can't go back to that house. They sacrificed themselves to help me escape from that house.

I didn't do anything that deserved this. One time, father was drunk and went enraged when he saw my face. He whipped me plentiful times and poured alcohol on my bleeding wounds. I screamed from the excruciating pain and cried for my mom. He burned a needle and sewed the wound while I was still conscious. My father told me that I was paying for my mother's evil deeds for cheating on him and giving birth to me. I never believed in his words. I never saw my mother and the servants always described her as someone who is kind and elegant. They told me that my mother is very beautiful and treats everyone with respect. She never saw them as workers, instead they were her family. I snuck into father's room once and found a picture of a woman who looked very familiar. Her smile was very warm and eyes were shining from happiness. That was the first and last time I ever saw her face in a photo because stepmother burnt everything that belonged to my mother afterwards.

I felt helpless, but had no ability to run away. I loved running around the tracks because it made me feel free of worries and for once, I could be happy for myself.

/End of flashback/

'Thinking about it, Hei is really my lucky man. After meeting him, I lived better and smiled more. These tears are my weakness and I can't show these emotions to anyone. When I saw those girls chasing after Nana, it reminded me of my abusive father. I couldn't help myself when that bastard was venting his anger out on me, but I can help Nana from those girls.'

Huan Hei frowned, 'Ya Nuo, I don't know what you are thinking about or what you went through in the past, but I won't let you cry alone anymore. I won't let anyone hurt you, including myself."

Ding

Ya Nuo checked her messages and smiled, "Idiot"

The text message was from Huan Hei: "My lord, please forgive me. I will present you your favorite fruit cakes and a private dance service to cheer you up~ I'll let you wax my legs and do whatever you want to do to me. You can take my body if you want as well. Take everything of mine. (wink emoticon, kiss emoticon, heart emoticon).

Ya Nuo texted back: "You said anything, don't regret it."

Huan Hei: "Anything that'll make you happy again. ;)"

Ya Nuo smirked, "Since I made you worried, I'll compensate you when I get back later. Heh, I'll surprise you." she brushed excess sand that was stuck to her uniform off and headed back to Taekwondo house.

Chapter end