The Veil: Unveiled

Chapter 18

Ji-Hyuk tried to open his eyes for a short moment but closed them again when he felt the sun burning in his face. How could the sun have so much intensity in winter? He didn't know when and how he fell asleep or for how long but it was the first time in ages that he actually felt rested. His body felt stiff, his muscles and bones felt like they haven't been moved for hours. Which might be the case. He blinked a few times before adjusting his eyes to the brightness and opened them fully. Je-Yi was still lying by his side though she wasn't hugging him anymore, she had somehow managed to turn onto her back slightly, she probably wasn't able to turn more because Ji-Hyuk still had his arm wrapped around her middle. Her one arm was loosely hanging over his side, her head still turned towards him. Her eyes looked swollen, she cried a lot in his arms and he yet had to ask her about that dream because it felt like it was a dream about a memory of her and not just a simple nightmare. He knew that feeling too well. He also was suffering from insomnia a long time due to his memories of the murder of his parents. If he didn't think about it during the day, they came flooding his mind during night preventing him from sleeping soundly. It was the first time though that he saw her like that. Back at the hotel she didn't seem to have any problems with sleeping, maybe it had been to close to the incident. Maybe now that a day had passed and with the new revelation of director Kang it fully sank in to her mind and the mind could play dirty sometimes. When he lifted his he felt how tensed up his whole body was. He carefully took her arm and placed it over her stomach, making her stir a bit. He only realized that they didn't put the covers over them when he took her arm and noticed how cold her skin was. Je-Yi turned her head to the other side with a deep sigh and Ji-Hyuk feared that he woke her up now which was the last thing he wanted to do. She should take all the time she needed to rest up and get her energy back. He on the other side wasn't the type to turn around once more after waking up and trying to sleep again. Especially with her next to him like this. He was quite surprised himself that he simply did what he did a few hours ago and even took the step to actually sleep with her in one bed in this close proximity. It had been a bit different in the hotel where they were facing each other's backs but now they actually hugged each other while falling asleep. He didn't understand that much about relationships and women but he thought that normally only couples would do stuff like that. It was Je-Yi though who just took the initiative and snuggled up to him like that but he let it happen. With as much caution as possible he tried to pull his arm that Je-Yi's head was resting on away resulting in her rolling over to her other side completely. He completely forgot how heavy a head can be, his arm felt numb and he had to foist his hand a few times for the feeling to return. When he took he al look around the small room he noticed the small clock on the cupboard. It was already 4 p.m. He remembered that they arrived at Do Jin-Sook's house roughly at 5 a.m. and after treating his wounds and speaking with Jin-Sook, they must have almost slept for 10 hours. Ji-Hyuk titled his head a bit, he couldn't remember when he slept this long and good. Still he felt tired and worn out, his rhythm was completely destroyed so even after sleeping this long he was exhausted. He silently stood up and turned around towards the bed again. He took the side of the blanket that Je-Yi wasn't lying on and softly put it over her so she would be covered at least a bit. This became a habit for both of them.
When he opened the door he came across a seemingly confused Do Jin-Sook who just came upstairs. She looked at Ji-Hyuk with pensive eyes and raised a brow.
''Why are you coming out of there?''
Her hand was pointing at Je-Yi's door that he just pulled close behind him. His eyes didn't meet Jin-Sook's for a moment and when she didn't say anything else he simply walked over to the stairs.
''Where are you going?''
''Workout.''
''In those clothes?''
He didn't know if he stopped on the stairs like that because he knew how ridiculous it sounded to go jogging in a suit or because of Jin-Sook's voice that sounded quite amused. He never held anything against her, he wasn't a fan of her methods back then but he always respected her as his superior but also as a friend. She was a competent agent and a competent woman. And although she often acted cold and unapproachable she had a huge heart and always had a helping hand. She also walked down the stairs and flashed him a small smile when she stood next to him.
''Come with me.''