The click of the lock sliding out of place startled MC out of the half-asleep dreamless state she had hovering in all night, and she bolted upright, clutching the sheets to her chest. Jumin stood in the doorway, balancing a covered tray in one hand and holding a paper bag in the other.
"I didn't mean to disturb you," he said apologetically as he set the tray on the dresser. "Unfortunately, I was unable to get out of work today. I've brought you breakfast and a change of clothes. I will try to bring you lunch, but I'll be home for an early dinner for sure."
A glimmer of hope rose in MC's chest. "We can talk tonight?"
Jumin only set the bag down and shook his head. "I don't like keeping in you in here, but you've given me no choice. I'll come up with a better solution today."
Her heart sank as the door shut and the lock clicked back into place once more. As she ate, she thought about how badly she wanted to contact Saeyoung. He must have been up all night worrying, just as she had. She wanted to contact the other RFA members as well. They had all grown accustomed to daily contact with each other. She wondered how long it would take for them to start to worry.
She showered quickly and put on the outfit Jumin had brought her; a casual skirt and a sweater. His behavior was concerning. She wanted to believe that he couldn't keep her trapped in the penthouse forever, but with his power and connections, she knew he had ways to pull it off. She could become a prisoner in her own home, and the thought made her shudder.
She was sitting on the floor, knees drawn to her chest and resting her back against the mattress when the security camera mounted in the corner suddenly moved. The quick movement nearly made her jump, alarmed. The cameras were installed all throughout the penthouse, but they were never turned on when someone was home. They were only activated when she and Jumin were away for long periods of time.
She bit her lip, looking up at the camera with a confused expression. Jumin must really not trust her if he was watching her on the security camera while she was trapped in a locked room. It was, however, her own fault that he was compelled to do this. But the camera moved jerkily again, and she thought that if Jumin really were watching her he wouldn't be making it so obvious.
She squinted as the camera jerked again; up and down, then left and right, as if it was trying to get her attention. Standing slowly, she leaned forward to get a closer look, as if she could see whoever was doing this through the lens.
Suddenly, it clicked. "Saeyoung?" she whispered.
The camera moved up and down in confirmation and she couldn't help but break into a smile. It jerked to the side, pointing to a spot behind her shoulder. She wrinkled her brow as she watched it move back to point directly at her, and then jerk to point behind her once more. Confused, she turned around. There was nothing outside of the bright, sunny windows and the only things sitting on the nightstand behind her were a plain lamp and the clock radio.
She paused. The radio! She grabbed for it and turned back to the camera. When it bobbed up and down in approval she turned the radio on and began to sweep the stations. Blasts of various genres of music pulsed into the room as she adjusted the frequency, searching. All she could find were music stations in between occasional bursts of static and she began turning the dial more quickly in her frustration.
"…hear me…?" There! She turned the dial back slowly. "Can you hear me?" Saeyoung's voice came through clearly and the air escaped her lungs in a long sigh of relief.
She sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. "Yes, I can hear you."
"I hacked the radio frequency since the security camera didn't have two-way audio. Pretty neat, huh?" She could hear the pride in his voice, and she almost wanted to laugh at how giddy he sounded, but he quickly turned serious and said, "I didn't hear from you. I got worried."
"I'm sorry." She looked up at the camera, trying to pretend she was talking to him face-to-face. "I don't have my phone. I'm…stuck."
"He locked you in there, didn't he?"
She glanced down at her feet. "Yeah."
"I'll get you out. I'll-."
She shook her head quickly to stop him. "It's my fault, Saeyoung. He's not going to keep me in here forever, but he's not done punishing me either. Whatever he does, I deserve it. I could have stopped what was going on between us anytime, but I didn't. I didn't want to. I had to tell him. I hope you understand that."
He sighed quietly, a strange sound to come through the radio speakers. "I do. But it's not your fault, you know. I'm the one to blame here."
"That's not true." She bit her lip, chewing it thoughtfully. "I rushed into marriage so quickly. I was so caught up in everything that happened, so caught up in being in love…or what I thought was love. I never gave myself a chance to stop and really think things through. I should never have-."
"I know," he interrupted. "I shouldn't have started this with you. Don't blame yourself. It really is my fault. I kissed you first."
She didn't know if that was entirely true, and she shook her head. "No, I should never have gotten married," she finished.
The silence between them grew palpable. Finally, Saeyoung broke it. "Are you okay in there? Do you need anything? I could figure out a way to get you out."
"I'm all right," she said, and she knew she didn't sound very convincing. "From what he said this morning, it sounds like he'll be letting me out tonight."
"Okay," he said hesitantly. "I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on you. Make sure you're okay."
"Thank you," she whispered gratefully.
"The Defender of Justice is here for you," he declared, cracking a smirk.
She paused and glanced up at the camera. "Saeyoung?"
"Yeah?"
She looked down at her knees, gripping them lightly. "When did this start? I mean really start? How long have you wanted to be with me?"
His silence told her everything.
Late morning bloomed into a hazy afternoon as clouds began to drift lazily across the sky. The room began to grow dark as rain threatened to spill over the penthouse, but MC couldn't bring herself to get up and turn on a light. Saeyoung was still keeping an eye on her, she could practically feel him, but the radio remained silent. Her question had brought an end to their conversation, but that was all right. She needed to think, and she thought he might know that.
She had always thought Saeyoung was funny. She laughed at the goofy things he would say in the chat room when she first became an RFA member, and she always looked forward to talking to him. So then, she wondered now, why had she fallen for Jumin first?
He was charming, of course. He was well-mannered and respectful and she had always liked that in a man. He was elegant and poised, and always kept a level head. He never tried to sweet-talk her, or compliment her on her looks as Zen had done. He simply talked to her; straight-forward, joke free, and easy. Yes, that was it. It had been easy to talk to Jumin, which in turn made it easy to get close to him. Conversation was effortless, and it flowed in a way that was so uncomplicated. With Saeyoung, he had constantly joked around or changed the subject. He couldn't be taken seriously. Of course, they all later discovered it was due to him hiding his past. It was after she had become engaged to Jumin that the real Saeyoung showed himself.
She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. A burning tear trailed down her cheek before she even realized she was crying, and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand. She wished she had never agreed to marry Jumin so quickly. Eleven days was certainly not enough to make any rational decisions, and Jumin of all people should have known that. She wished she had never kissed Saeyoung, and that he would have just left her alone to enjoy her marriage. She wished she could rewind and fix everything. But above all, she wished she had chosen Saeyoung from the very beginning, so they all could be spared from this.
She recalled the time Jumin had gone on an international business trip. She had decided not to accompany him as he had warned her he would be working nonstop and there would be no time to spend with her. Of course, that only meant she had ended up in Saeyoung's bed. They were always careful, but that time they had both ended up falling into a peaceful, comfortable sleep. She had awoken first, when the first dull rays of sunlight began to stream into the room. His chest was pressed gently against her back, lips just barely hovering over her shoulder as his warm breath ghosted over her bare skin. His left arm was beneath the pillow she had been sleeping on, supporting her neck, and his right arm was draped loosely around her chest. She had slept with her hand near her face, and his fingers traced her open palm in tender, fluttering motions even as he slept. It was then, as she watched his sleepy movements that her heart swelled so much she felt it might burst.
She had closed her fingers over his, stirring him from his sleep. His lips brushed against her shoulder as took in a long, wakeful breath. He had raised his head, taken in the sunlight coming through the window, and panicked, shattering the tranquility she had been relishing in.
"We have to get you home," he had muttered, his voice still thick with sleep. He pulled on his clothes haphazardly as she stood and dressed herself without protest. He was right, after all. Jumin may not have been there, but the guards were.
He had given her a lingering kiss goodbye at his front door. Neither of them wanted to break it, but eventually she pushed him away gently and got into her car.
Jumin's security guards eyed her wearily as she made her way to the elevator that would take her to the penthouse. She kept her eyes on the ground and mumbled, unprompted, about drinking too much with her friends and being unable to drive home. It was a weak excuse, considering Driver Kim was always at her disposal, but it was the best she could come up with. She was certain the guards had their suspicions, and she was grateful that none of them questioned her about it or brought it up to her husband.
She savored the way Saeyoung held her when they were together, but that didn't mean she disliked being with Jumin. Their styles were just so different. Jumin always preferred her to rest her head against his chest, and he would wrap both arms protectively around her as they slept. If they were lying side by side, he wanted her to face him so he could admire her as she slept. He would stroke her cheek with the faintest of touches and brush her hair behind her ear as they both fell into individual dreams. She enjoyed it well enough, and she liked the way he made her feel so safe, but it didn't change the fact that something had been missing and she had found it when she lay with Saeyoung.
Intimacy with Jumin didn't change much, even after the guilt had begun to consume her alive. He loved her with an intensity that only Jumin Han could manage. He filled her to the hilt and drew hard, ragged breaths from her trembling body. His love was rough and exciting, and he was fully capable of taking her gently and sweetly when the mood was right, but he was still unable to grasp that deep, dark place that only Saeyoung could reach.
She did her best to avoid being intimate with Jumin on the days she had been with Saeyoung, but occasionally Jumin would initiate and she didn't want to stop her husband. After all, she still loved him. Part of her still wanted to be with him, for a while at least. She felt so horrible allowing this to continue. Over and over again, she told herself that Jumin deserved to know that he wasn't the only one burying himself deep inside of her and holding her close. Of course, now that she had told him, she didn't really feel any better.
"Don't cry."
The words yanked her from her thoughts and forced her back into reality. She realized as she had been lost in her mind, fresh tears made trails along her stained cheeks. She wiped them away with the hem of her skirt.
"I'm sorry," she said thickly, casting a quick glance at the camera. "I was just thinking."
"Yeah, me too," Saeyoung agreed dejectedly. "Want me to leave you alone?"
She bit her lip, mulling it over for a moment before nodding. "Just for a little while."
"All right," he agreed, and shut the camera off to give her some privacy. The hacker leaned his head back against his computer chair and closed his eyes. The opened bag of Honey Buddha Chips shifted in his lap, but he couldn't bring himself to eat them. For the first time in his short life, Honey Buddha Chips were the last thing he wanted, and even the overpowering sweetness of Ph. D. Pepper couldn't wash away the bad taste that had been forming in his mouth.
She was crying because of him. She was locked up in that room because of him. If he had only been honest with her from the very beginning, they could be living happily by now. He shook the thought away. No, if he had just kept his damn feelings to himself she wouldn't be in this mess and he could have just kept up a healthy, albeit painful, friendship with her. It would have been better that way.
He clicked a few keys on his keyboard and suddenly Jumin's office at C&R's main building flashed onto his monitor. Of course, what he was doing was totally illegal, but old habits die hard.
Jumin was sitting at his desk, fiddling with something small that Saeyoung couldn't quite make out. His face remained as passive as ever, and he watched as Jaehee came in, delivered a few papers, and walked back out. Jumin appeared to ignore them, casting them off to the side as he examined that object in his hands.
The hacker groaned and massaged his temples as a headache began to form. He hadn't just hurt her; he had hurt Jumin as well. They weren't exactly the best of friends, but they were still friends, and they were all part of what was supposed to be an organization dedicated to doing good and helping others in need. He was a hypocrite, and he alone was going to be the one responsible for the decline of the RFA. There was no way things could continue normally after all of this. There was a million ways the organization could come crashing down around all of them like glass, and he was the one holding the hammer.
Jumin got up from his desk and began to gather his things, bringing Saeyoung back to reality. With a frown, he switched the camera back over to the spare room in the penthouse and turned his microphone back on.
He cringed when he saw that MC had not moved from her spot. He wanted nothing more than to hold her against him and protect her from the consequences of his actions. But he couldn't do that. All he could do was pull the microphone to his lips and say, "He just left the office. He'll be there soon."
By the time Jumin returned to the penthouse, the murky skies above had burst open, releasing a hard, pounding rain that distorted the view of the city through the spotless windows. MC heard him set his briefcase down in the hall, greet Elizabeth, and make his way towards the room she occupied. She moved to sit up on the bed as she waited for him, wanting so badly to talk things out, explain what happened, place all the blame on herself, and gently ask for a divorce. Normally, Jumin was a rational being. Normally, he would calmly listen to her reasoning. However, Jumin was no longer in a normal state, and the fact that he was capable of so much frightened her.
He opened the door, carrying what appeared to be a large jewelry box, and stepped inside. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," he began before she could even open her mouth. "You must be hungry. We'll eat together in a moment. I have something for you first."
"Jumin," MC started, rising from the mattress. "Can we talk? Please? There's so much I need to say to you. Will you listen?"
"Sit down," he instructed with a curtness that was so startling she immediately sat back down. She watched as he opened the jewelry box and removed a black, chunky bracelet from it. "This is the latest model," he explained as he approached her. "I'll have the key put in a safe location. It's more of a chip, really, that unlocks it. But it seemed the most comfortable option. I wouldn't want to hurt you."
MC felt a panic rising in her chest as her heart began to pound deep in her throat. "Jumin, what is that?"
"The parameters cover the entire penthouse. This floor only. You'll be able to reach the front door, but you can go no further without it alerting me to your whereabouts."
As he spoke, he reached out for her, and, thinking he was going to grasp her wrist, MC quickly turned her body away to keep her arms out of his way. She gasped loudly in shock when instead he reached down and grasped her ankle tightly. Before she had a chance to even try to kick his hand away, he had snapped the tracking bracelet in place in one swift motion.
With the job done, he straightened and wiped his hands on the front of his slacks as if he had touched something dirty. "I apologize, it's not exactly stylish, but I didn't want to keep you in here. You can now move about the penthouse freely."
The panic she had felt suddenly burst into an eruption of fury. "How could you do this to me?" she shrieked, her voice rising with anger. She hated that her body's natural reaction was to send hot, bitter tears to well up in her eyes, and she did her best not to let them fall. "I want to talk to you, Jumin! I want to tell you what happened, but you won't give me the chance! You're not even hearing me. Listen to me, damn it!"
He shook his head slowly. "I understand that I've upset you, but I can't allow those atrocious men out there to have any more chances to charm you away from me. It's unacceptable. You are my wife. You devoted yourself to me, and those men – Luciel in particular – can't seem to respect that. You poor thing, so easily swayed. But you must remember you are mine."
MC watched him, her eyes widening, her jaw falling slack. "You're crazy," she whispered under her breath. She had never known Jumin to be delusional. Passionate, yes. Overwhelming, yes. But he always saw reality for what it was. Even when Elizabeth had run away, he had felt guilty, but he never behaved like this.
He took her wrist and pulled her up to stand. The weight of the tracking bracelet shifted heavily over her ankle and she grimaced. "I had the chef leave dinner for us," he said as he led her from the room. "Let's eat."
With no choice but to obey, MC followed.
/What I wouldn't give for someone to hold me the way Saeyoung holds MC. Oops, my bias is showing. I'll just retreat to my lonely little corner... Hope you all enjoyed! I really appreciate the reviews, guys. They always make me smile.