Hello lovelies! Once again a week has passed and I can present a new chapter! Thank you SO SO much for the encouraging reviews! You are awesome!
Chapter 3 – Who Goes Knocking on My Door?
Surprisingly, life went back to being more or less normal. They kept working, spending days solving cases and looking for clues. Five months later the absence of Dr. Jo still lingered strongly and Yoo felt sad. She didn't know the details behind his last days and the madness that had seemed to overcome him. On some days she wondered, if she really wanted to know. But in the end she always arrived at the same conclusion. She was a prosecutor. She needed mysteries and lived for solving seemingly unsolvable riddles. Truth is what matters, no matter how gruesome.
It was getting late, but Yoo was still sitting behind her desk, typing away a report on the latest case. At times she glanced at the office of her superior. He was still there as well, head bowed over whatever document he was studying. Sighing wistfully, she wondered if a day would ever come, when prosecutor Min would actually ask for help. Not likely. She only had one paragraph to go, when two hands landed on the chair next to her.
Yoo ignored him and kept typing.
She heard him huff in amusement, but he stayed silent. After a finishing dot, she turned around to face him. "Can I help you?" His expression was amused and it annoyed her. She started to rise, but a cup of coffee was thrust before her. "You've worked hard." Yoo peered at him suspiciously and sniffed the coffee. Min laughed. Her eyes shot upwards to meet his. Not often did it happen that he voluntarily offered any kind of conversation besides stiff pleasantries. Once again he had remembered the sugar. She nodded in approval and took another sip.
Together they locked the building down and slowly strolled through the empty park. Even though lit with streetlamps, it still gave Yoo the chills. The walked in silence. At times, he would do that. Walk her home and leave without a word. Yoo was reluctant to admit, but it felt safer with him by her side. She was still nervous, when walking alone and she hated herself for that. Just one guy had managed to turn her into a scaredy-cat, jumping at every sound.
Without noticing, they had arrived. Surprised, she looked around and gave him an absentminded nod. She was fumbling with her keys when his voice stopped her.
"It will be over soon. You will never have to be afraid again." Their gazes met for moment, before he turned and made his way back. She was still standing there, when he disappeared around a corner.
That night she just couldn't fall asleep and her treacherous mind kept repeating and analysing his words. What had he meant? Why now? She whirled and turned, upset with herself for letting herself be affected so easily. The clock on her nightstand read 2:52 when she finally fell into restless sleep.
She dreamt of red eyes. It was almost always the same. Everywhere she looked, she only saw red eyes. Her breath quickened when she tried to turn and run, but couldn't. Desperately she was stumbling in the darkness and fell. She cried out loud, when the eyes appeared right before her. Screaming and kicking she tried to back away when a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed at her.
Her eyes opened and she screamed. The grip on her shoulder tightened and she blindly reached out for something. Her fingers landed on her old alarm clock and without a thought she hurled it at her attackers head. With a dull ding the grip loosened and she scrabbled across her bed towards the door. Her feet got tangled in the sheets and she fell to the floor with a scream.
"YOO!" A voice called out and she froze on the floor. Slowly she picked herself up and stood. The light was suddenly switched on and she shielded her eyes from a sudden light. When she opened them again, she was faced with a rumpled looking prosecutor Min standing next to her bed, a trail of blood trickling from his brow. Yoo gaped mouth opened. Finally she managed a choked "What the hell Min?" The man had even a nerve to smirk.
The shock wore off and gave way to fury, "What the HELL!" she yelled.
Her outburst echoed shallowly as she stood there panting, staring at the intruder. Only then did she finally notice the state he was in. His usually faultless appearance was ruined by the messy hair, mud-caked shoes and pants. The worst was the slowly growing red splotch, contrasting painfully with his white shirt and a tiny hole in the middle of it. "Oh my god, did you get shot again?"
His eyes widened as she marched over and unceremoniously yanked his shirt-tails from his pants. He grabbed her wrist, mouth agape and stared at her. "What?" her voice was sharp. "You came here, keep your mouth shut." It sure looked like had indeed been shot. How he had made his way here or why, were questions she was afraid she would never hear the answer to.
Blood was slowly trickling to her carpet and her arms were soon covered in his blood. Wordlessly she took him to the kitchen and sat him next to the table. Systematically she took out her first-aid kit and bandages. She was no stranger to wounds and patching up oneself, but a bullet wound… By all means, he should be in a hospital. She ground her teeth together.
"Take off your jacked," she ordered without turning and heard a faint rustling. He looked very pale when he sat there, rolling up his shirt sleeves, she noticed. He surely has lost a lot of blood... She froze. Blood. Her eyes widened and she almost ran form the room. At that moment he looked up, shadows of tiredness under his eyes. She chided herself for her foolishness, of course not. He would never. Hopefully, her treacherous mind added.
She knelt before him, and gently wiped the blood. "Is the bullet still in?" she asked without looking up. He felt him shake his head and sighed in relief. Patching up she could do, but chasing a piece of metal in an open wound would be a bit too much. The wound wasn't big and she remembered how he had been absolutely fine in two days after being shot. "Do you need stiches?" Once again he shook his head. She had thought as much.
She cleaned the wound and did her best to stop the bleeding. She felt his eyes on her, but refused to be distracted. When she finished bandaging him up the best she could, she gave a loud sigh and sat on the floor right before him, too tired to move. It was quiet for a while and she had almost nodded off, when he nudged her shoulder gently. She jumped, head snapping upwards.
"I left the door opened."
Yoo gave him an odd look, before standing and making her way to the door of her apartment. She gave a surprised shout when she saw the state it was in. The lock and half of the door were completely smashed in and destroyed.
She turned when she heard rustling and saw Min leaning against the wall. He shrugged nonchalantly, "You were screaming and I didn't have a key."
"That's it?" She couldn't believe her ears. "How about ringing a doorbell like a normal person, instead on breaking in and scaring me half dead? "She sounded incredulous. Startled, Yoo discovered she wasn't even that angry anymore. He only shrugged again and went back to the kitchen. She stared at her destroyed door a minute longer, before placing a chair under the lock, keeping it from opening.
His eyes were closed when she entered. A trail of dried blood was still on his brow and she gave a disbelieving laugh. When his eyes opened, they glowed blue. Yoo stopped breathing. The colour was as mesmerising as she remembered. Shaking off the stupor she grabbed a clean towel. When she walked closer and put her hand on his shoulder, she could swear his eyes got even brighter.
"You've got some blood here," she wiped away the dried trail. There was no wound. Stepping back, she started to clean the mess of blood and bandages. "You owe me a new door." He smirked. "And an alarmclock."
When she finally laid down on her bed again she could already see the glow of the rising sun.
What felt like only minutes later, she woke at the sound of loud knocking, followed by a low murmuring. Groggily she stumbled out of the bed, rubbing her blurry eyes as she made her way to the door. Min stood there. Shirtless. She shook her head and did a double take. His short hair was wet and in one hand he had a towel. And currently he was happily chatting with her neighbours from the apartment across.
As she approached, Min turned. "Ah, you're awake." She gaped at the spectacle and the atrocious man had the nerve to actually wink at her. She felt a blush spread across her cheeks and suddenly felt very uncomfortable, dressed only in her tiny shorts and a tank top. "Your lovely neighbours were worried about you," he indicated at the smashed in door, "and I was just explaining, that you are completely fine and it was all a big misunderstanding."
Yoo nodded dumbly, as Min said his goodbyes and shut the door. "Misunderstandings?" Min shrugged, "I told them I forgot my keys," and walked to the kitchen.
And they bought that? Yoo followed incredulous and still not completely awake. He didn't have a key. Her mind was slowly catching up and she hurried to the living room where Min had spent the night. He was just about to put on his shirt, when Yoo grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around. The bandage was gone and so was the wound.
He didn't pull away, only waited quietly for her reaction. Refusing to be shocked, she nodded seemingly happy with the outcome and stepped back. "I'll have some breakfast. When you're finished here, join me in the kitchen."
She had put on her dressing gown and was nibbling at her toast, when Min stepped into the kitchen and sat across from her. She didn't offer him any and he didn't ask. She was swallowing the last bite when her cell rang. Two pair of eyes stared at the name "Hwang Soon Bum" flashing on the screen. Clearing her throat, she answered.
"Yoo! Thank god, have you heard from him?" enquired the detective. She frowned. "What? Who?" "Tae Yeon of course!" Her eyes shot up, staring at Min.
"I wasn't there when I promised. What if he's dead, what if…"
"Hwang!" She cut out his growing pity-parade, "His here." There was a pause. "His fine and all", she continued. "Umm, do you want to talk to him or…" she continued awkwardly.
A whole minute passed in silence, before Hwang finally replied. "It's okay, khm. Tell him I'm sorry."
She stared at her phone, before closing the lid and settling it on the table. Waiting, she looked up at him. Min was staring out of the window.
"So. Are you going to tell me what all of this was about?"
He still didn't look at her.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," he started and Yoo huffed. Inconvenience? How about being the bane of her existence? He frowned, like he had heard her venomous reply, but continued. "I usually go to Soon Bum, when something happens, but he seems to be out of the city and…" he stopped, when Yoo slammed her palm down onto the table. "Usually? So being shot is a regular occurrence?"
He kneaded his chin, looking thoughtful. "No, not really." "Thank god for small miracles," she muttered darkly. He almost smiled, but she could sense, that he was already far away.
She stood and busied herself with making coffee.
"I found him, you know," he said, when she sat down again, steaming cup in one hand.
And she knew. Her eyes widened and she carefully sat her mug down.
"How long?" she swallowed. "How long have you been looking for him?"
Their eyes met again and this time Yoo felt something shift inside her.
"I never stopped."
For the first time that night she dreamt of blue eyes instead of red.
A/N: And that's that for this time again. Next week look forward to Chapter 4 – Things That Go Bump in the Night. An old friend shows up for a visit and Min just can't relax.
