The Brothers Kim

Chapter 13- Woman in White

"Oh, no!" Gulnar shouted. "The ball!"

"Someone get it before it goes to the river—" Taehyung stopped midway his sentence as soon as he witnessed the ball fall into the water. "Too late" he muttered.

Gyuri, Taehyung and the orphans gathered around the edge of the river bank as they eyed the worn leather ball that was slowly drifting farther and farther away from them.

"What do we do now?" Taehyung heard Chun Chun say.

"I'm sorry, Papa" Gulnar murmured guiltily. "It's my fault we lost the ball."

Taehyung looked down at the small child whose eyes looked mournful. "Worry not, Gulnar. It is just a ball."

"But it's the only one we got, Tae!" Chun Chun protested. She furrowed her brows at her brother as she scolded him. "Thanks a lot, Gulnar! Now, we have nothing to play with."

Taehyung felt Gulnar hold onto his sleeve tightly as he cowered away from a furious Chun Chun.

"That is enough" Taehyung ordered. "You must not fight over something like this, it is just a ball—"

"But it's not just a ball!" Chun Chun shouted exasperatingly. Taehyung was startled by Chun Chun's sudden outburst. She eyed him with tears welling up in her brown eyes. "We don't have many things, Tae. That ball was given to me by an old friend before he—" she averted her gaze as she wiped her tear away hastily.

Seeing his sister start sobbing, Gulnar too, started tearing up. "I'm-I'm sorry, Chun Chun..."

The sound of sniffling filled the silence amongst the group. Taehyung exchanged looks with Gyuri who was also unsure on what to do to cheer the orphans up. He shifted his gaze from Gyuri and stared intently at the ball. It had floated a little further away from them again and was approaching deeper waters. Currently, it was wedged in between two rocks.

What if I reached in and grabbed the ball quickly? He inspected the murky, green river water, trying to gauge how deep the river was. It does not appear to be that deep, he thought. And the ball is not too far away. As long as I am careful, I can reach for it and—

"No."

Taehyung turned to face Gyuri who was shaking her head at him. "Don't you dare do what I think you're planning to do."

"What are you, psychic? How do you even know what I am thinking—?"

"I can see it in your eyes" Gyuri answered sternly. "And it's a bad idea." She pointed to the ball which was still caught in between two rocks but had shifted slightly further away. "It's too far out now and the current is quite strong. You should just leave it be."

Gyuri turned her attention to the orphans who she attempted to cheer up by distracting them with another game. While she did this, Taehyung resumed observing the ball. The sound of snivelling could still be heard as the orphans reluctantly let Gyuri lead them away. Seeing the orphans so visibly upset made Taehyung regretful that he couldn't prevent the ball from escaping. And perhaps it was his paternal instincts but, suddenly, he felt the urge to do something to alleviate their woes.

Taehyung set his eyes on the ball again.

I can do it, he thought. I will get the ball and the orphans will be cheerful again.

With Gyuri distracted by the orphans, Taehyung sneakily crept away as he searched for a long branch. He will use it to try and steer the ball towards his direction so that he wouldn't have to go too deep in the water. When Taehyung finally found one he could use, he proceeded with his plan.