Soo Emi (Na Hyejin)

J-Hope and I stayed with the intruders, making sure they were kept still until the police cars arrived.

"They didn't have any weapons on them." He comments, looking through the duffel bags. "Probably didn't think they would need any."

"Probably underestimated me." I glare at one of the thieves. "Don't drop the soap in jail, pal!"

"They most likely didn't think they would run into a crazy maniac woman with heels are her weapon." J-Hope scoffs. "I could not believe that was you fighting."

"I had to save your butt, didn't I? Besides, I get this insane adrenaline that takes all fear out of me." I shrug. "It happened before when I was attacked by the foreigners."

He shakes his head, still in disbelief.

Sirens are heard outside and the lights from the police cars shined through the front windows.

"Let's go." J-Hope tugs on my arm.

"What?"

"It's best to not let us get even more involved in this. Let's just go now. The cops can handle it from here."

We leave through an emergency exit and out to the side of the building.

"My car is parked out in the back." He says, pulling out his keys. "We'll go to my house."

"You have a house here?"

"You don't?"

°

As we were walking up the steps to J-Hope's front door, I notice him limping on the way.

He must've gotten hurt really bad.

I didn't see everything, but he had two big guys on him and his helpless self couldn't fight back. Plus, they tackled him down pretty hard.

Psh.

Yet, he's acting like he's alright.

He opens the front door and allows me inside first. He closes it behind us and wobbles forward.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" I hold my arm out in front of him.

"Um, to get water from the kitchen."

"Not so fast. Where's your bedroom?"

J-Hope leads me up the stairs and to his room. I force him to lay on the bed and I check his wounds.

"You really got beaten up back there." I sigh, sitting besides him on the bed. "You couldn't defend yourself at all."

"I was caught off guard." He purses his lips, turning away. "I'm not even that hurt."

"I saw you limping on the stairs. Come on, don't act so tough with me." I glance at his ankle and reached over to poke it. "Does that hurt?"

"With your little finger? No-"

"Shall I give it a good sucker punch then?" I raise my fist above his foot.

"No, no, no, no!"

I laugh out loud before standing up. "I'll go get ice."

After a couple minutes, I come back with a handful of ice wrapped in a paper towel. I pull a chair over next to the bed and sat down.

He was facing away from me with his hands resting on his stomach.

"I know you're not sleeping, J-Hope." I roll my eyes. "Come on, just let me help you."

"Call me by my real name. We're safe inside my house." He turns his head and looks at me with his sparkly eyes. "I miss hearing you say my name."

I roughly set the ice on his face.

"Ow, that's not my ankle!"

"Oops, sorry!"

I carefully balance the ice on top of his ankle.

"Thanks." He mumbles.

"Look at me." I order.

"Huh?"

I gently lay a hand on his jawline and made him face me. His eyes stared straight at me, but I was more focused on the small bruise he had on his cheek.

"Did the guy punch you?" I ask, frowning.

"Yeah, but it wasn't a hard one." He looks away again. "Seriously, Emi, I'm alright. It's just my ankle that hurts."

"Just your ankle? Ok. Could you sit up for me then?" I request, crossing my arms.

He sucks on the inside of his cheek as he attempts to sit up, but he only quietly gasps and lays back down.

"That's what I thought. Lay on your stomach." I stand up from the chair.

"I love how commanding you are-"

"Hoseok."

"Ok."

He slowly rolls on his stomach.

I lift up his shirt and found a huge bruise on the middle of his toned back. He softly whimpers as I trace my finger near the spot.

I quickly retract my finger. "How did you get this?"

"Before the punk tackled me, the other one kicked me from the back. It didn't hurt earlier, so I think you're making it worse for me."

"You want me to make it hurt more?"

"I was just joking, baby girl." He weakly chuckles, spinning around to lay on his back. "Your harsh words hurt more than any bruise."

"Once we get back home, you should take some defensive classes." I mutter, placing the ice back on his ankle.

"You can teach me."

"Don't want to."

°

The next day at work, J-Hope and I were called to Mr. Shanghai's office.

You can already imagine my reaction when I heard him call our names over the phone.

The walk there felt like a walk of shame.

"It was nice knowing you, J-Hope. I know we got off on the wrong foot-well, you're the one that got off on the wrong foot because you had some attitude-"

"We are not dying, Hyejin."

We enter Mr. Shanghai's office and just the sight of the door handle gave me shivers down my spine.

"Have a seat, you two." He motions to the chairs in front of his desk. "I have something to show you and I want answers."

"I'M SO SOR-"

J-Hope swiftly covers my mouth with his hand. "We'll give you all the answers you need, sir."

I sit down with my shaky hands gripping my skirt.

"Last night, I was informed about a break in." Mr. Shanghai leans against his desk. "And you two were involved."

I'm going to combust.

J-Hope reaches over and grabs my hand, holding it tightly to keep it from shaking so much.

"Let's watch the security footage from last night, shall we?" Mr. Shanghai turns his monitor around and presses on his keyboard.

The screen shows a dark video of me fighting with the intruders from last night and J-Hope on the ground, getting attacked.

"Would you like to explain?" Mr. Shanghai pauses the video.

I gulp. "W-Well, we-"

"We came in last night to fetch some paperwork I forgot in my office." J-Hope answers, nodding towards me. "Hyejin, here, forgot her phone. We ran into the intruders while we were coming down and Hyejin was able to protect the company by fighting them off."

I nod along.

"Then, I'd like to thank you, Hyejin. Your bravery is very appreciated and...unexpected." Mr. Shanghai smiles, then looks to J-Hope. "And how are your wounds? You were getting beaten up there until Hyejin saved you."

I tighten my grip on J-Hope's hand, teasing him with a grin.

"My wounds are healing fine." He responds through gritted teeth.

We spend another moment explaining to him more about the break in last night before he dismisses us.

"You're a good liar." I whisper to J-Hope.

He smugly shrugs. "Just one of my many skills."

"Um, J-Hope?"

"Hm?"

"You can let go of my hand now."

°

My heart feels a little lighter knowing we didn't get caught last night. Now, I'm even more determined to find more information on my father.

For my lunch break, I explored building, hoping to investigate the janitors.

So far, our only clue is that Mr. Shanghai gave my father "dirty work", which could mean many different things.

But I'll investigate this first.

I sneak into a janitor's closet and scanned the room.

As I was looking at the stacks of soap, two people come crashing in.....making out.

"Occupied!" I scream out and covered my eyes.

The couple screams too and they immediately pull apart from each other.

"Oh, my goodness! Please, please, please, do not spread this around the company." The woman holds her hands together, begging. "We don't want our coworkers knowing."

"U-Uh, I wouldn't." I stammer.

The man besides her sighs in relief.

"Thank you so much!" The woman bows, then forces her man to bow down too.

"It's ok! You don't have to..." I shake my hands around, blushing from secondhand embarrassment.

They turn around to leave, but I stop them.

"Wait! Can I ask you two some questions?" I reach my hand out. "Uh, I'm just curious since I'm new around here."

"Oh, sure! What do you wanna know?" The woman smiles.

"Have you two worked here for awhile?"

"We both worked here for about 2 years. Why?" The man tilts his head.

"Do you happen to know anything about a man named Soo Jae?" I narrow my eyes, getting hopeful.

They look at each other, then back at me.

"Soo Jae? The poor Korean man who lost everything to Mr. Shanghai." The man scratches his head. "Him?"

"Yes! Do you, by any chance at all, know where he is? I-I just want to know the...gossip...since everyone is talking about it." I clench my hands.

"I don't know much, but I know that he works way under Mr. Shanghai now. He's also trying to earn back his wealth." The woman says.

"He's not here at the company, though. I'm sure he's working at one of Mr. Shanghai's other owned businesses." The man adds. "Not sure where."

I hold back a smile.

"Thanks for the information!" I quickly shake both of their hands and headed for the door. "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

°

"J-Hope! J-Hope!" I shout, running into the office. "I have amazing news!"

He stays at his desk, focused on his computer.

"I found another clue!" I exclaim, clapping my hands. "These two people crashed into the janitor's closet to make out, but I accidentally caught them."

He rests his chin on his hands as he continues staring at his monitor.

Hm. I was certain that would grab his attention.

"I called your name, J-Hope." I walk over to his desk. "Hello? Why aren't you listening to me?"

He doesn't say anything.

I tap his desk, then his shoulder, then his head.

No reaction.

He wouldn't look away from his screen.

Ok, fine.

I went over to his side and sat up against his desk, blocking his view of the computer.

"J-Hope! I am trying to speak to you!" I wave my hand in front of his face. "Hello? Are you there? Are you alive?"

His eyes finally meet mine and he smirks.

"I do whatever is put on my desk, you know." He said, laughing a bit lower than usual.

"Why are you ignoring me?" I pout. "I have another clue."

"I'm listening now." He leans back on his chair, putting his hands behind his head.

I hop off his desk. "Ok, so, I met these two people who have been working here for 2 years and I asked them about my father-HEY!"

He went back to his computer.

"J-Hope!" I whine, smacking his shoulder. "Can you stop ignoring me? Seriously, it's getting annoying!"

Again, he says nothing.

"You're making me angry, J-Hope!" I shout.

"Keep it down." He mumbles.

I let out a weary sigh. "What will it take for me to get your attention? I just want to share with you what I found."

"Hmm...." He taps his chin.

"We don't have all the time in the world, you know."

"Sit on my lap."

My eyes widen. "Huh?"

"Perfect way to keep my attention on you." He smiles. "Sit on my lap and that way, you will be all I see."

"I just want-"

"Seduce me."

"5 seconds!" I jab his chest with a finger. "Then your annoying attitude will end immediately!"

"Sure."

I look at him as he held his arms out, welcoming me to take my seat on his lap.

What has my life become?