black cloud ¦ lee haechan

ch ; 43

- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶༒ 43 ༒ ˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -

You Can Feel It In The Silence

The scalding water did little to soothe the turmoil within Kory. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped herself in a towel, the silence of the safehouse pressing in on her. Every corner seemed to echo with the revelations of the day.

Hayez's story, a raw and painful confession, had fractured her carefully constructed world view. The lines between good and evil, once so clear, now blurred into a confusing mess of shades of grey.

Was she becoming like them, the very people she once swore to put away?

A pang of longing struck her. Back at the precinct, surrounded by her colleagues, the world had a clear order. The lines were black and white, the villains easily identifiable. Now, staring at her reflection in the grimy mirror, she wasn't so sure who the villain was anymore.

"Even if I have to break the very vow I made for myself."

Hayez's words, particularly the cryptic reference to breaking a vow, continued to haunt her. What kind of oath could a man like him have sworn?

The mafia, she knew, operated on a code of honor, a twisted loyalty that demanded absolute obedience. What vow had Hayez made, and what lengths would he go to in order to protect it, even if it meant defying his own self-made principles?

Curiosity battled with apprehension within her. A part of her yearned to understand Hayez, to see the man beneath the hardened exterior. Another part, the cautious cop she was at her core, screamed at her to run, to get as far away from this dangerous world as possible.

Rest was a distant dream. Tossing and turning on the thin air mattress, Kory replayed the day's events in her mind, searching for clues. Hayez's guarded demeanor, the unspoken bond with his brother, the fierce loyalty he displayed towards NCTECH – all pieces of a puzzle she desperately wanted to solve.

Sleep finally claimed her in the pre-dawn hours, but it was a troubled sleep, filled with fractured images of Hayez, Jinwook, and the dark alleys where her world had been turned upside down. Kory woke with a start, the weight of responsibility pressing down on her.

She was in too deep now, entangled in a web of corruption and secrets. But there was no turning back. She had a choice to make – confront the darkness head-on, or succumb to the confusion and become another casualty in this dangerous game.

-

Kory awoke to a sliver of pale light slicing through the grimy window of her room.

She moved through her morning routine with a mechanical efficiency, the familiar motions seeming hollow and devoid of meaning. As she dressed, a knot of unease tightened in her gut, a constant reminder of the precariousness of her situation.

Descending to the headquarters' kitchen, she found herself lost in thought as she poured a cup of coffee. Could she truly work alongside people whose moral compass pointed so far north of her own? The question hung heavy in the air, unanswered and unsettling.

Lost in contemplation, she didn't hear Joaquin enter until his voice startled her. "Morning," he greeted, his voice laced with a hint of cheer as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Kory offered a weak nod in response, her mind still wrestling with the implications of the previous day. A question burned on her tongue, one she wasn't sure she was ready for the answer to. Hayez's past, the cryptic vows he'd mentioned – a Pandora's Box she hesitated to open.