Jin's Mistake • KSJ

Thirty Eight

The ride home had been quiet, Ji Hoon either not willing to comfort you, or unable to find the words to do it. It didn't surprise you that someone who regarded your husband highly would feel you'd let them both down. You'd leaned against the passenger door, no longer interested in beating yourself up over it.

Hadn't everyone made their choices at every juncture in the road? Seungho to marry you and not walk away from his family, Jin to leave you at the altar, Ji Hoon to become embroiled in whatever the two of you were doing and calling justice, you and your inability to let Jin go?

You were tired of being the only one that felt guilty, all the endless men in your life pushing narrative to desire being remorseful onto you constantly. If it wasn't fair to feel that way, then it just wasn't fair. You watched the blurs of light as the car moved through downtown, wondering if life wasn't kind of like that too. Only clear to see when you were stopped, the images less sharp as you catapulted through time.

At home you stood at the kitchen counter pouring a glass of wine, Ji Hoon scrolling through his phone. You'd not bothered to check your own, doubting Seungho had reached out, and praying that Jin wouldn't. Could you keep your resolve to avoid him in the face of your husband's rejection?

"Don't drink too much tonight, I need you focused tomorrow." Ji Hoon lowered his phone gazing at you over the top, brow raised as you downed half the glass. These were the first words he'd found for you since dragging you from Seungho's bedroom door.

"Why? I plan on laying in bed until ten, getting a massage at noon, and then maybe finding a tall building to plummet from at two. Although if I really think about it, what's the point of the massage?" Your voice teetered on ill placed humor but you shrugged at his glare and finished the shimmering red contents in a satisfying gulp.

"We have another truck picking up cargo from a welding factory across town, it's owned by your cousin's new husband and it appears to be one of the vehicles you've applied for a permit to move to Hong Kong this week." You perked up at his words, work always got your mind off of what bothered you.

Consistently tracking down the real bad guys had been the only thing that had kept you sane the last years. Watching bad men pay, and innocent people being rescued was worth more than worrying about your sham of a marriage and disastrous relationship with Kim Seokjin.

"What information do you have? Pics? Names?" You slid around the huge counter and pressed close to Ji Hoon's tall form to glance at his screen.

He angled the phone toward you and then scrolled slowly through pictures of two guys shoving several women through a metal doorway. They were barefoot crossing the dirt caked floor, probably covered in all kinds of metal shavings, you winced thinking about it. Each of them appeared to be early twenties and were dressed scantily, threadbare t shirts and ripped pants standard amongst the group. You briefly wondered where they'd come from, but in reality that didn't matter, stopping whatever was about to happen was the important part.

~

At eight the next morning you were waiting in the long hallway off the main warehouse, the van arriving just like they all did. You'd listened to the driver getting out, confused seeing Ji Hoon and not his anticipated contacts. How they always fell for the scheme of re-routing them was a wonder to you, you'd have thought men who worked for your family would be smarter.

The exchange had been quieter than normal, no shouting or cursing, no sounds of Ji Hoon's fist striking the unsuspecting driver. It also seemed to be taking longer than usual, by now he'd have secured the driver and his friend would have picked up the van, the hostages heading to freedom. You leaned closer to the open doorway just the edge of your ear cresting the wall, listening for the sound of the van's engine or even talking but were met with silence.