The Virgin & The Tattoo Artist

Part 18

Meanwhile, Taehyung POV
"Prisoner 5031. You have a visitor."
The officer calls out as he opens the metal gate to my cell.
Visitor?
Pushing against the hard mattress, I sluggishly open my eyes & sits up.
"Me?" I croak, my dry throat in desperate need of some moisture.
"Yes, you. Hurry up before I lose my patience."
Who is it? I wonder.
This is the first time in two months that I've ever gotten a visitor.
Y/n? My eyes light up at the possibility.
"Ya, are you coming or not?!" He barks.
"Yes! I'm coming. Sorry." I wear my slippers & walk hurriedly towards the gate.
My pulse races as we get closer & closer to the visiting room. I nervously brush my long messy hair with my fingers & straighten my grey baggy uniform.
"Nervous, huh? It's your first visitor since you came here, right?" He asks.
"Yeah. I'm a little nervous." I chuckle, embarrassed.
"You're lucky that your girl friend still wants to-"
"Girl friend?" I widen my eyes.
"Well, she isn't old enough to be your mother & she doesn't resemble you at all to be your sister. So I'm guessing she's your girl friend." He shrugs.
Y/n. She really comes to see me. Maybe she has found out the truth & is willing to forgive me.
My smile grows wider at the thought.
"Here you go. You have 15 minutes." He opens the door for me.
I take a deep breath & step into the room excitedly. However, my smile freezes as soon as I see the person sitting behind the thick glass pane.

Hana.
She abruptly stands up & places her palm on the glass separator when I come in, looking like she's about to cry.
Dread clouds overcome the ray of joy I had moments ago. I want to turn around & go back to my cramped cell, but I force myself to smile & sit down on the chair.
She takes a seat as well & readily picks up the phone hanging on the wall beside her. A slim gold bangle dangles from her wrist, its shiny surface glinting under the white fluorescent light.
"You lost weight." She says, a slight tremble lacing her voice.
"Well, I don't have much appetite these days. But it's actually good though, I needed to lose some weight anw. What are you up to these days? How is your mother?" I divert the topic away from myself.
"I've resigned from Kang sajangnim's company & am looking for a job right now. As for my mom, she's deteriorating fast. I think this time she won't make it. Am I evil for feeing relieved?" She scoffs bitterly.
Not knowing what to say, I stay silent.
"How are you doing? Do you know how long you'll be in here?" She asks.
"I'm still awaiting trial. They're charging me with unlawful trespassing & theft, but they're dragging the process. I believe Kang sajang is manipulating the prosecutor & detective so that I'll stay in here longer. That old bastard."
My blood boils as soon as his smug face surfaces in my mind.
"I'm sorry.. But actually none of this would have happened if you hadn't planned to run away with Y/n." The bitterness in her tone doesn't escape me.
Wait.. Something isn't right.
"How do you know that I was planning to run away with Y/n? I've never told you that." I frown as I look straight at her.
She stares back at me, panic written all over her face like a deer in headlights.
"I- I heard someone talking about it." She stutters & avoids my gaze.
"Who?"
"J-Just someone at the mansion. A maid. Anw, let's talk about something else-"
"Don't lie to me." I clutch the phone tighter as I move my face closer to the glass pane.
"Ok fine. I saw your backpacks that day when I came to your house & then Yongsan called me asking why you took all the money from the shop. He told me that it felt like you were going to leave this town forever. So I made a guess that you were probably going to run away with Y/n." She mutters with head lowered.
"Did you tell Kang sajang about our plan?" I ask, my tone dangerously low.
"No! Of course, no-" She gasps as her eyes shoot up at me, but I can see through the thin veil of lie covering them.
"Tell me the fucking truth!" I exclaim & bang my fist on the glass separator, making her jump in surprise.
"5031! Watch your behavior or I'll have to cut your time short." The officer yells at me.
"I'm sorry, Officer Lee. I won't do it again." I turn to him & nod apologetically.
"Now, tell me the truth." I hiss at Hana who looks as frightened as a cornered mouse.
She stares at me for a long moment before breaking into a loud sob.
"I'm so sorry. I was blinded by jealousy. I didn't want to lose you so I told Kang sajangnim about your plan to escape with Y/n.."

Flashback to two months ago, Hana POV
"Miss! Miss, you can't go in!" Kang sajangnim's secretary tried to stop me, but I shoved her away & barged through his office door.
All the heads in the room turned to me, surprised by my noisy entrance.
"What are you doing here? Get out." Kang sajangnim glared at me, his brows knitted together in anger.
Usually, such expression would make me cower in fear, but not this time. I needed to tell him about Taehyung's plan.
"I need to talk to you, Sir."
"Can't you see that I'm busy at the moment? Now get out." He waved his hand, signaling his secretary to escort me out, & focused back on the papers in his hand.
"It's about Kim Taehyung!" I exclaim as I shook off his secretary's grip.
His hand stopped mid air & he slowly turned to face me again.
"Everybody out. I need to have a word with Miss Jang." He tidied up the documents on his table & said.
Obeying his command, everyone instantly got up & exited the office.
"How do you know Kim Taehyung?" He asked right away when there were only the two of us left in the room.
"H-He's my boy friend." I answered while thinking about where to start.
"Ahh, so my suspicion was right. You were the one who's been helping him from inside. No wonder he could disarm the alarm so easily. Why are you here now? To confess your sin?" He snorted sarcastically.
"Y-You knew? You knew about them?" I had thought that he would be shocked by what I was going to tell him, turned out I was the one who was surprised instead.
"Of course! Do you think I'm that dumb? Now answer my question. Why are you here? To extort money from me like your boyfriend did?" He scoffed.
It looks like he's clueless about Taehyung's real reason for approaching Y/n. Then I better keep it that way.
"No, I'm coming to tell you that Taehyung is planning to run away with your daughter soon. Maybe today or tomorrow." I firmly said.
"What? Hahaha. Is this some kind of a trick? You're his ally! Why would you expose his plan to me?" He laughed incredulously.
"Because I don't want to lose him. Actually, he didn't tell me about his plan. I figured it out by myself."
"Ahh, I get it now. He has a change of heart & you're expecting me to stop him from leaving you, is that correct?" He smiled in amusement.
"Yes. You get to keep Y/n by your side & I can continue to be with him. It's a win-win situation." I nodded.
"What if he still comes back looking for my daughter even after that?"
"He won't. I'll make sure of that." I tried to convince him, although I wasn't sure that I could do what I promised.
I could see the gears in his brain turning through his eagle-sharp eyes. Suddenly, I doubted my decision.
What if he say no & put both Taehyung & me in jail? How could I be so reckless?
"Fine. I'll keep an eye on them & disrupt their escape plan." He finally said.
"Promise me that you wouldn't hurt him though."
"Alright, but you have to keep him away from my daughter forever."
"Deal." I offered him my hand & he shook it once.
"I have a hunch that they're going to execute their plan tonight. I told him how to disarm the alarm from outside of the house, but this time I think he will ask her to do it from the control panel near your office & wait for her outside. I might be wrong though." I suggested.
"I'll take care of it. But if this is only a trick to fool me, you know what will happen, right?" He raised his brow.
"I do, Sir. I swear on my mother's life that I'm not lying to you." I put a palm over my heart.
"Like it's worth anything," he scoffed, "Now go. I need to get everything ready."
"Yes, Sajangnim." I bowed at him & walked out the door.
Omg.. Did I just strike a deal with Kang sajangnim to entrap Taehyung?
Unease overwhelmed me once the magnanimity of my action dawned on me.
No. I did the right thing. He's mine & I can't let him go with Y/n.

Present, Taehyung POV
"I didn't know that he would put you in jail. He promised me that he would not harm you." Hana cries.
"And you believed him? Didn't you know how manipulative & conniving that bastard is? Or did he actually pay you to do it? It seems like you're doing very well now." I glance at the gold bangle around her right wrist.
"H-He transferred some money to my account so I- But I swear I didn't do it for money." She hides her right hand behind her back & mutters in shame.
"Ahh.. I see." I scoff sarcastically.
"I'm sorry, ok? I didn't think it through. I was so scared of losing you, so I-"
"And you ended up losing me anw. Don't ever come see me again. Officer, I'm done." I hang up the phone & turn away from her.
"Wait! Taehyung ah! Taehyung ah! I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I did it because I love you!" Her muffled shouts boom through the thick glass pane as she knocks on it repeatedly.
"You ready?" The officer steals a glance at Hana's flushed face but keeps his composure.
"Oh, give me a second Officer. I forgot to say something." I rush back to the cubicle & pick up the phone.
She quickly grabs the phone as well & places the receiver on her ear.
"You know what, you didn't lose me. Because I never loved you so I was never yours to begin with."
With that, I slam the phone back onto the cradle & turn my back on her.