It's Way Too Late To Stay Locked Up Inside Ourselves

Thursday

"What do they talk about in your ear anyway?"

Jeong-hyeok's eyes flicked over in Se-ri's direction despite still facing forward. He pressed his lips together as her perfume filled his head. Jasmine now meant the scent of her skin.

Focus. Jeong-hyeok flexed his fingers as he widened his stance and cleared his throat. There was no one else in the elevator at Se-ri's Choice headquarters and the CEO was taking full advantage.

"We update one another on what we observe from our posts."

"Can I get one?"

He finally looked at her, fighting a smile. "Why?"

"Because then I could whisper in your ear even when I'm not in the room." Se-ri leaned in close. "And still make you look like that."

He felt his cheeks reddening. Her warm breath was now on his neck. "Imagine the things I could say, Ri Jeong-hyeok."

He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.

"Yoon Se-ri." He said it as sternly as he could manage. She laughed and hit his shoulder. This was a favorite game. Se-ri pushed the boundaries and he pretended not to be delighted.

The elevator stopped on the twentieth floor and a member of the interiors department stepped in. Se-ri nodded politely and moved closer to Jeong-hyeok to make room. She glanced up at him with the slightest of smiles.

It had been five days of living in their own world and Jeong-hyeok could not remember ever being so happy. Five days? Has it really been only that? An odd normalcy had settled over their routine of living on high alert: they had coffee in the morning; left for work together; he shadowed her everywhere that she went; and then they went "home." It's like I'm her boyfriend. Except I'm here to make sure that she isn't kidnapped and no one can know that we are together. 

After this morning's briefing, Jeong-hyeok had a feeling that things were going to come to a head soon. Cho Cheol-gang's movements had become more erratic. Five more muggings this week had been confirmed by forensics and two informants had reported being contacted by him to arrange for a fake passport. Cho Cheol-gang seemed desperate and that scared the hell out of him. With all of his bank accounts frozen, Yoon Se-ri was still by far the most valuable recourse to finance an escape.

In contrast, his father had grown eerily silent. Jeong-hyeok had not heard from the chief prosecutor since Saturday. His mother continued to send frantic text messages, pleading with him to stay out of the Cho investigation. It pained Jeong-hyeok that his actions were worrying his mother when she had already endured so much. But his father's conspicuous withdrawal concerned him even more.

The outside world was pressing in on the cocoon that they had created for themselves. Jeong-hyeok wanted to savor each moment with this woman before the storm came. They spent the evenings cooking and talking late into the night. Then, inevitably, they would lose themselves in one another; kissing on the couch until their lips were swollen and they couldn't bear it any longer. Jeong-hyeok and Se-ri teetered on a knife's edge every night — between giving into what they both wanted and exercising restraint in the face of so much uncertainty. As much as their feelings were clear, the depth still remained largely unspoken. Their happiness was premised on a mutually silent pact to put off the difficult choices for now. And Jeong-hyeok had promised himself that he would not cross that line until he knew what the future would be.

As they stood side by side in the elevator, Se-ri moved the back of her hand against his. Her touch was light but it became his sole focus. Then her fingers curled around and teased the inside of his palm. The lights of the elevator floors ticked by in agony. Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five ... Jeong-hyeok closed his eyes and savored the last seconds of feeling her skin against his.