He looked at the wailing child at his feet and sighed, he didn't know how to console children since he'd never really interacted with them. He panicked as the girls wailing grew louder and louder so he tried his luck and picked her up and the moment he did it seemed that luck was on his side because she immediately stopped crying and instead hid her face from him.
He sat back down on the chair and placed the girl besides him, she kept on glancing at him from time to time while playing with her hair in a shy manner which looked cute, he would have been shocked if he heard what the little girl was thinking
''Why is this handsome big brother here, is he here for me?"
He suddenly remembered that he had a lollipop with him, though he was initially hesitant about giving out his precious sweets, in the end he just gave up and handed her the lollipop in the ''I hope you like strawberry just like this big brother?" He said with a smile and the little girl looked at him and blushed then she turned her attention to the sweets and grabbed the lollipop from him, happily putting it in her mouth after removing the wrapper. Looking at the little girl made him laugh, he could tell that she was fond of sweets as it was evident in her humming and swinging her legs, while happily sucking on the lollipop. He was happy to know that she had calmed down, and now that he offered his offering and showed the little girl that he was harmless it was time to gather some information, of course he knew that the little girl didn't know about Mr Baek but atleast he could know why she was in that office and where the owner had gone to.
''Do you like sweets?" He asked semmingky innocent and that immediately got the girls full attention '' Yes! Nari likes them!" She replied enthusiastically
'Oh so this little squirrels name is Nari?'
He smiled ''then what is Nari's favourite flavour?"
The little squirrel paused seemingky thinking then perked up ''Chocolate! Nari likes chocolate!"
His smile faltered for a bit when he heard her answer, he had never liked chocolate, though he couldn't remeber why but whenever he tried it, it would taste bitter instead of tasting sweet.
''Does big brother like sweets aswell?" Nari suddenly spoke up
''Yes this big brother loves sweets, but he prefers strawberry flavoured sweets '' He replied with a smile making little Nari smile
''Nari?" A female voice was heard and when he looked up he saw a woman mostly in her late fifties dressed smartly with a concerned look on her face
''Grandma!" Little Nari called out while crossing arms and pouting her face '' Grandma left Nari all alone!" She added while clinging to ethan ''So Nari will stay with this handsome big brother!" She said
The lady was taken aback but softened her expression a little ''Sorry, I made sure to come back faster but it seems I was late'' She sighed while looking sad ''will Nari forgive this old lady"
''Grandma is not old!" Nari responded but didn't let go of ethan's arm ''But still Nari called for Grandma so many times but Grandma didn't show up! Nari was so scared" She said while looking at her Grandma sulking. The woman just sighed and looked at the young man besides her grand daughter, he looked so familiar. Where had she seen him before? she felt that she knew him but couldn't remember him but just brushed it off and just concentrated on her little Nari. She had left the girl napping in her office and just stepped out to grab them some snacks but it took longer than she expected and thus resulting in this whole mess. Truthfully she felt sad imagining how scared little Nari was.
She sighed and just opened her office door and turned to the boy ''Young man you can come in, I presumed you were looking for me?" She asked but truthfully she was using him to get her little stubborn Nari inside.
Ethan knew this and just decided to go with the flow ''Ah yes…'' he then turned to Nari ''…Nari this big brother needs to go see your Grandma, shall we?" He asked her then when he saw her node, they both stode up hand in hand and walked inside the office. The office was big and softly decorated with picture frames on her table, most likely family members judging by how Nari was in them.
The woman offered them the snacks she had gotten and as of on cue Nari totally forgot about her earlier stubbornness and began to stuff herself with with the snacks, ethan didn't eat any because he knew that the snacks weren't meant for him but for this little squirrel. Seeing this the woman was pleased and chose to finally give her his attention
''Yes how may I help you?" She asked in a professional voice
''Well, I'm actually looking for someone'' he started ''He worked here about five years ago, Maybe you might know–"
''And who might you be to ask for our former employees whereabouts, Are you a relative?" She cut him off looking stern
He flinched, he had anticipated this since things wouldn't be as easy to get information about a former employee even if the company wasn't doing well. ''Well I wouldn't say we are family but rather that we are simply familiar with each other'' He smiled at her. When she heard his response she frowned and narrowed her eyes in suspicion at him ''Then I'm sorry, I can't give out such information to strangers as it may endanger our people even if they no longer work for us'' She said in an assertive voice and focused all her attention back to little Nari as she passed her a packet of sweets.
Ethan knew that he wouldn't get any information out of her like this and decided to change tactics
''Oh I understand but please let Mr Baek know that I was here and that I'm looking for him'' He said intentionally mentioning Mr Baek's name to grab the woman's attention and it seemed to work as the woman snapped her head back to him with even more cautiosness but she was interrupted before she could speak
''Big brother here!'' Nari offered ethan a strawberry flavoured sweet that she found ''I found it for you'' She said with a proud smile on her face
Ethan looked at her and at the woman before finally accepting the sweet ''Thank you'' he said while smiling then turned back to the woman ''I would like you to atleast pass on a message to Mr Baek" he added ''And why would I?" The woman asked and ethan simply smiled and placed a letter on her table ''That's the message I'd like you to pass on'' he answered
He then turned to the little girl ''Welll Nari I have to go now'' he said but Nari looked at him with a sad expression ''But Nari doesn't even know the name of this handsome big brother '' She said innocently He just smiled at her and replied ''Well you can call me big brother Han'' He said with a smile
''Han Is that really big brother's name?" She asked
''Yes, it's a special nickname only those close to me can use'' he answered honestly
''Will brother Han come see me again?" Nari said and ethan just chuckled ''Yes I'll come back in a few days to follow up my request'' he stood up and tooke one final glance at the woman and bowed ''Thank you for your time, I'll be leaving now'' He said then walked out.