After Dark (Prompts)

Confidential Assignment - 11

Note: Chapter warnings from part 10 still apply.

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Something was off.

Min Tae Gu received a message that Baek Jang-mi would be meeting with the agents and that he didn't need to pick her up from the office. When he suggested he fetch her after her meeting, she shot that idea down as well.

She said that she was home but when he arrived, the house was still dark.

When he entered their place, he noticed that her room was open and he could hear the shower running. Perhaps it was because he listening so hard, he heard a whimper. Knocking on her bathroom door, he called out, "Jang-mi-ah?"

"Stay away!" she ordered.

He frowned. "Alright. Are you hungry? I bought your favorite tteokbokki."

"No."

Min Tae Gu took a deep breath. Patience wasn't really one of his virtues and he didn't like Baek Jang-mi yelling at him. "I see. Are we sleeping in your room or mine?"

"Go away!"

His wanted to yell back at this point, annoyed that she seemed mad at him for reasons that were beyond him. But, concern became the first thing he thought of. She was obviously upset. "I'll be here when you're ready to talk, alright?"

He didn't see her for the rest of the night. When he retreated to his room, he peaked inside hers and discovered that she was still in the bathroom. He was now certain that something was wrong but he couldn't imagine what it was. Feeling helpless, he headed to his own space,  closed his eyes  and hoped that sleep would eventually claim him.

Close to midnight, he felt his door open. Not wanting to scare her, he tried to keep still. He smelled her magnolia scent waft through the room, before he felt her kneeling beside his bed. "I'm sorry," she said, quietly.

Slowly, he turned. Her hair was still dripping and she was only wearing a thick robe. When he held out a hand to pull her into his bed, he frowned because her hands felt different.

"How long were you in the shower?"

She was quiet for a moment before saying, "I was trying to wash his touch off me."

Hearing that, Min Tae Gu quickly sat up and turned on a bedside lamp. In the dim light, he saw her puffy eyes, wrinkled hands and feet. She turned her face and he saw crescent shaped bruises on her jaw.

Clenching his jaw, he asked, "Who did this?"

"Cho --"

He bolted out of the bed to grab the pistol by his bedside but Baek Jang-mi stopped him. "Don't leave. Don't leave. Please? Please? Don't leave!" she pleaded, hanging on to his wrists.

Min Tae Gu took deep breaths to calm himself down. Joining her again in bed, he asked, "What happened?"

She was obviously trying to state everything matter-of-factly but she was shaken. Her hands and lips visibly shook when she reached the part where Cho Cheol Gang held her against the wall.  "I'm sorry, Tae Gu. I didn't push him away because I was afraid he'd see through our plans too soon. I didn't want him to touch me. Please believe me."

"I know. I know," he assured, stroking her face.

"I can still smell him on me. I can't seem to get it off," she whimpered, still trying to put up a brave face.

That's why she spent so much time in the shower, he thought. This broke Min Tae Gu's heart and made him want to cut off Cho Cheol Gang's fingers one at a time. But, right now, his priority was making Jang-mi feel better.