As I have nothing to give you, I give you my heart (IU Verse Book#1)

Chapter 36

     The first rays of sunlight lit up Jieun's room. The dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in as she slowly got up in a sitting position, rubbing her head to get rid of the sleepiness. She looked at her surroundings, much like she did the day before, and just like the day before, the space on the bed beside her was empty. She heaved a sigh as she forced herself to get out of bed, the blanket that was draped over her fell to the floor. She didn't pick it up like she normally would. 

      She went to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Dark circles were forming around her eyes. Her face was paler than usual, her hair tangled. She looked just like this whenever she prepared for her albums. Just overwork and overstress. Yet this time, she wasn't overworking; she was overthinking and over worrying about Lee Jihyuk.

     He hadn't been contacting her, and she hadn't contacted him because she didn't want to distract him from whatever he was doing. She would never know how he was doing or if he was in danger. Sometimes, the thought of him in danger drove her insane, but she had to trust him. "Wait for me." She recalled his words over and over again, hoping to god he would come back to her safely.

     She began brushing her teeth absentmindedly. After she rinsed her mouth, she hopped in the shower and let the cold water splashed down her bare skin. 15 minutes later she was out of the bathroom and began getting ready. Hanteo was in the dining room sipping coffee, reading the news on his tablet. When Jieun joined him, Hanteo pushed a plate of bacon and toast to her direction gently. She thanked him as she picked up the fork. Hanteo watched her for a moment, before he said, "The producer of "Dream" send in your script last night. You should look over them today." Jieun nodded, glad that she had something to do to distract herself because otherwise, she would just be sulking all day. She picked up a piece of bacon, looked at it, and addressed Hanteo as nonchalantly as she could. "Any news from the NPA?" To her disappointment, Hanteo shook his head.

     She dropped her fork, the piece of bacon forgotten. Suddenly she had no more appetite. She deliberately sighed and got up to pour herself a glass of water. Hanteo watched her without a word, the atmosphere in the room suddenly feeling heavy. "What would you do if they happen to catch the one who's behind all this?" Jieun stopped mid-drink and turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

      "I mean," Hanteo put the tablet on the table, choosing his words carefully. "How would you feel if that person is someone that is close to you?" Jieun was looking ahead, lost in thought as she pondered over his question. A while later, she replied, "I don't know." Hanteo nodded in understanding and didn't say anything else. Jieun took a deep breath as if trying to lift the heavy air around them as she turned to smile brightly at him. "We should head to the office. It's better to rehearse my lines there." Hanteo nodded and they cleared the table together. 

 Hanteo's phone rang. He went to pick it up as Jieun went to wash their dishes. She didn't see that his expression had morphed into surprise and shock, then turned to solemn. When Jieun turned around to face him, he ended the call, and looked at her, his face filled with distress. "They caught the perpetrator, Jieun-nah. They caught the person who's behind everything."

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     If there was one thing that Park Sujin hated, it was confrontation. The thought of being in a situation where one has to meet face to face with the other, truths and lies being spilled from each mouth, filled with emotions that could destroy either or both, was something that Sujin couldn't really handle. Now she was sitting in the interrogation room after being arrested the night before. She was given food and water which she didn't touch. She didn't know if she was going on a hunger strike, or that she had no appetite. Right at this moment she just wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and never exist, because from this moment on she knew that her career was basically over.