This Love ~ Sunwoo | The Boyz

Chapter 3: Help

Over the next few weeks, Sunwoo began experiencing more auditory illusions. He would run off to the bathrooms and submerge his face into cold water, hoping that something would cause the noises to stop. It was anything from internal regret for failing to control the situation, all the way up to seeing her face in random strangers.

He had never experienced anything quite like it, and it terrified him.

...

"Wow, you look a sight for sore eyes, have you been getting any sleep?"

Sunwoo's eyes were dark underneath; they were red and irritated. He looked exhausted.

"I've been struggling to fall asleep recently, that's all."

"Right...but hey, can I talk to you? In private?"

"Sure." He looked quizzical at first, but followed his colleague into one of the hallways.

"So, I contacted a post-traumatic stress therapist, I think-"

"No, no..." he sighed. "No, I don't need that bullshit."

"It's not bullshit. You're clearly affected by something...and if it's what happened on the roof-"

"Don't talk about that!" He yelled, and Y/n flinched a little. It was so sudden, and so aggressive that it inspired fear in her heart.

"...It's okay to still be thinking about it."

"Shut up, Y/n...please." he pinched the bridge of his nose, before pulling at his tie and loosening it. "Forget it, I'm taking the rest of the day off."

"What? You can't, we have a meeting about the Choi boat case at 3:00-"

"I don't have anything to say about it." He walked off.

"But you still need to be there!" She shouted back, watching his figure storm off back into the office.

In the Chief's office...

"If Detective Kim is distressed about the situation, maybe we should lay him off for a few weeks, or months."

"Come on, you can't do that!"

"What else is there to do? He's spent cumulative hours in the bathroom, he's more volatile and aggressive, we can't risk staff being hurt."

"Hurt? H-he's not a threat! He's the one who's hurt. He just needs some sort of therapy, I really think you're jumping the gun on this one, ma'am."

"Look. If he doesn't clean up his act within the next two months, we'll have to lay him off. I understand that he's troubled by what he saw, but he can't let that interfere with his work."

"You're insane..."

"Don't talk to me like that, detective, or I'll have you fired as well."

She huffed. "Right, fine. Two months. Deal?"

"Deal. Now go, prepare for the meeting..." she waved Y/n away...