"Hello? Jieun ssi?" Jihyuk frantically said to the phone. All that was met was silence. Just then, he heard a motion from the other side and a loud bang, as if her phone had dropped. He heard the sound of a muffled voice, and a sound of someone struggling, and his heart nearly dropped when he realized it was her voice. He stood up abruptly from the table, causing his mother to look up at him in confusion. "What's wrong, son?"
"I - I need to go. I'm sorry mom." He was breathing heavily, with the same rhythm as Jieun who was also breathing heavily on the other side. He rushed out of the restaurant, ignoring his mother's calls. He rushed into his car and drove out of the parking lot, and ended the call. He began dialing Sangin's number. "Come on, pick up." He murmured frantically. After what seemed like hours, Sangin finally picked up. "Hello?" The older man said on the other side.
"Hyung, listen, where is Jieun ssi right now?"
"She's at a restaurant nearby eating lunch with her costars, why? What's wrong? You sound frantic."
"She called me just now. I think... she might be in danger." That was enough for Sangin to understand what's going on as he told Jihyuk the address. Jihyuk slammed the accelerator and was driving at a great speed, moving past the cars on the street. He needed to get to Jieun as fast as possible. God help him if something were to happen to her.
Jieun fell silent, trying to control her breathing as the gun was pointed at her throat. Sujin had come out of the bathroom and had yelped in shock at the sight. The gunman pointed to the exit door and told Sujin to leave, to which she scrambled to the exit, not before casting a glance to Jieun, silently telling her that she was going to find help. Jieun got the message and gave her the slightest nod that she hoped wouldn't go noticed by the gunman. As Sujin left, it was only her and the gunman. The gunman continued to point the gun at Jieun's throat, not making any move to pull the trigger, as if he was waiting for some sort of signal.
Even in a midst of panic and her scared state, Jieun mentally noted it down and just stood silently against the figure. "Don't try to move, don't make a sound. Or else I'll shoot this pretty face of yours." She could feel his breath on her ear as she cringed away slightly.
Just then, the door to the bathroom swung open, revealing Sangin. He was breathing heavily as if he had run here, and as his gaze fell upon them, there was a lump in his throat at the sight of the gun pointing at Jieun.
"Stay away." The figure warned. Sangin put up his hand. "Take it easy, let's talk this out, okay?" He tried to reason with the gunman.
"There is nothing to talk about. Stay away." The figure warned again. He pressed the gun firmly against her throat as if to show that he would dare shoot her at the moment. Jieun was beginning to feel a bruise on her neck, but she ignored the pain, trying to think of what she should do to get out of the situation. It's risky to try to escape from his grasp with the gun so close to her throat. Sangin was also there. If she moves and tries to escape, Sangin could also get hurt. She needed to wait for the right opportunity.
"I know you want something in return. Otherwise, you would have pulled the trigger already. Tell me. What do you want? I'll give you anything. Just let her go." Sangin spoke up.
"I'm warning you. I will shoot her if you move." Sangin dropped his hand and froze, his feet standing firmly on the ground. He knew that if he tried to trigger the gunman even a little bit more, Jieun would get hurt as she was at gunpoint. He tried to think about how he could somehow distract the gunman until help arrived.
"You don't know her personally, and you don't want anything in return. Who ordered you to do this?" Sangin asked. "That's none of your business." The figure replied. Sangin could see that he was getting agitated. From the looks of it, he was planning to shoot Jieun right then and there, but something stopped him. Just like Jieun, Sangin noticed that the gunman looked like he was waiting for some signal.
Sangin knew that he need to stall some time before help arrived, but he also knew that sooner or later the gunman was going to receive that signal. So he tried the last alternative. "Look, I don't know who ordered you to do this, and I don't know what you're trying to do, but I can assure you, it's not going to work. You're not going to walk out of here unharmed. Everyone is in a commotion right now, just outside this door. Some are phoning the police as we speak." Sangin could see that even under the mask, the gunman seemed more agitated after hearing his remark. "Is the person ordering you really worth to the point you are willing to get caught by the police?" Sangin tried again.
The gunman seemed to be perplexed by the statement as Jieun felt the gun drop from her throat. Jieun took this opportunity to elbow him in the ribs and kicked him in the shins, making him screamed painfully as he released her. She dove out of the way until her back was on one of the stalls. The gunman was quick to realize what happened as he looked to Jieun, a murderous look displaced in his eyes.
Sangin took it as a cue to dive in and attempt to wrestle the gunman before he got to her, causing the two to stumble to the ground. Jieun scrambled out of the way and glanced back at Sangin who was now wrestling the gunman on the ground. She looked around for anything that she could to help Sangin. Anything that she could use as a weapon.
Just then, she felt a pair of hands grab her frail body from behind. She looked over her shoulder to find Jihyuk beside her, breathing heavily as if he had run here. He helped her up and they both scrambled to get out of the bathroom, Jieun reluctantly as she glanced back at Sangin who was still wrestling with the gunman.
Upon reaching the exit, Jihyuk heard the sound of a gun clicking. He whipped his head around to find that Sangin had been beaten to the ground and the gunman was pointing the gun directly at Jieun.
He didn't think; he simply reacted. He covered her body with hers just in time as the bullet went through him instead. Jieun let out a yelp as she scrambled to hold his body as she covered his head from hitting the ground.
There was a lump forming in her throat when he lay in her arms, motionless. There was blood everywhere, on his shirt and eventually on to hers. But she didn't care as she tried to shake him awake, calling out his name desperately. Silence.
Sangin had managed to get up and wrestle the gunman to the ground again, and that moment was when the police arrived on the scene.
Seri and Hanteo were right behind the police as they arrested the gunman. Hanteo had to use an immense amount of strength to pull Jieun away from jihyuk's limped body. Sangin used all his strength left to gather Jihyuk's limped body in his arms and carried him out of the bathroom. Seri had her arms around Jieun to support her shaking figure as they exited after Sangin. Once they were out of the restaurant, a couple of paramedics rushed towards them with a stretcher as Sangin placed Jihyuk gently onto it.
Jieun watched as the paramedics rolled the stretcher onto an ambulance as she went limp against Seri, who had tried to support her to keep her from falling. Sangin was getting treated by a nearby paramedic. Hanteo offered to drive Jieun to the hospital, all the while telling Sangin to handle the situation behind, and asked him to phone Jihyuk's mother, to which the older man nodded.
The three of them reached the hospital in no time. Jieun had regained her energy and rushed out of the car, following the paramedics who were wheeling Jihyuk into the building. She caught sight of his pale face and the blood bathing on his body. She felt stabs of pain everywhere in her whole being as if she felt the same pain that he was feeling. She watched them wheeled him into the emergency room.
She dropped to the ground as the emergency door closed and cried silently.
YOU ARE READING
As I have nothing to give you, I give you my heart (IU Verse Book#1)
RomanceIn her light, he found her darkness. In his darkness, she found his light.
