What I Feared the Most

Chapter 10 {Finale}

"So, am I forgiven now?" Julia asked.

Wonho smiled. "I already told you. I forgave you even before you took a bullet for me."

"Yeah, but now I feel better. I feel like we're even now," Julia replied.

"How does your leg feel today?" Wonho asked, lifting up her thin hospital blanket.

"It's not too bad. The medicine helps. The doctor said the bullet didn't hit bone. It went right through my calf and came out the other side," she answered. "I was lucky."

"I still don't know why you insisted on getting in between us," Wonho groused. "I had it under control."

"Right," Julia scoffed. "You had it all in hand, but my job was to protect you. So, that's what I had to do."

"Well, not anymore. It's my turn to take care of you now. You don't have to work. You can just stay home from now on," Wonho declared proudly.

"So, you want me to be a kept woman?" Julia protested. "I don't think so. I would die of boredom just sitting around in your house."

"But I don't want you to go back into security. It's too dangerous," Wonho contended.

"Okay, do you want me to teach Taekwondo to preschoolers?" Julia joked.

"Yeah, that would be perfect," Wonho replied in all seriousness.

"We'll see," Julia replied with a laugh.

Just then Officer Kim entered the room. He gave Julia and Wonho a slight bow.

"Any news information from Chul-Moo?" Wonho asked.

"No, he's not talking. Seems like he's gotten advice of council not to say anything. So, we're just wasting our time with him. The woman, however, is singing like a bird," Officer Kim replied.

"It turns out that they both grew up in the same orphanage. Chul-Moo had some kind of power over her that she did whatever he said. The plan was for her to pose as the cleaning lady and sedate Wonho. Then Chul-Moo was to come in and take him away from the hotel, but she went rogue. She told us that she and Chul-Moo shared everything. She figured they could share Wonho too. They're a sick pair; I'll tell you that much," Officer Kim concluded.

"That's scary as hell," Wonho said. "I'm glad they will be put away for a good long time," he added.

Officer Kim nodded. "It seems like Chul-Moo was the mastermind. He was the one with the song lyrics and the notes. Like I said, he's not talking, but we have pieced together the story pretty well without him. It's obvious that he was obsessed with you ever since you had a very short interaction about his demo CD. There will be a psychiatric evaluation for both of them, which I imagine they will fail. But whether behind bars or in a mental institution, they will be off the streets," Officer Kim assured them.

"That's a relief," Julia said. "So, would you say the threat has been neutralized?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we've got this threat figured out," Officer Kim replied. "Well, I have to get back to the station. I just wanted to stop by to see how you were and to let you know that you've got the all-clear to go back to your life again."

Three days later, when Julia was released from the hospital, Wonho came to pick her up. She walked with crutches to the car. Wonho didn't invite his driver. He was driving this time. When he made a wrong turn, Julia tapped him on the shoulder.

"You went the wrong way," she observed.

"Nope," he answered.

"Baby, not to start a fight, but I'm sure you took the wrong turn back there," she insisted.

"Just relax," Wonho assured her. "I know what I'm doing."

They drove along for another 20 minutes until they were deep in a wooded area. "Where the hell are we going?" Julia questioned.

Wonho laughed. "Nothing gets past you, does it?"

He turned in at a long driveway that led to a modern house with huge glass walls. Wonho stopped in front of the house. He helped Julia out and she hobbled on her crutches to the front door. He opened the door with a key and picked Julia up and carried her over the threshold.

She started giggling. "What's all this about?" she asked as he gently put her feet down on the floor again.

He made a gesture with his arm. "All of this is yours. This is your kingdom. You are the queen of this house and the queen of my heart," he said.

Julia choked up a bit at his words. "I've never owned a house before," she whispered in awe as she saw the spiral staircase that led to the top floor.

"Well, you earned it. It's yours. You can do with it whatever you want. You're in charge. You can fill it with kids if you want to," Wonho joked.

"Whose kids?" Julia asked, as she winked at Wonho.

"Mine, I hope," he answered.

"You know, if I have daughters, they are bound to turn out just like me, as hard-assed and belligerent as I am," she warned him.

"That's okay," Wonho said. "I like my girls sassy like that. A girl has to be tough these days to protect herself."

"That's the truth," Julia agreed. "I'll teach all my kids Taekwondo, not just the boys," she vowed.

"Well, if you've taught me anything, it's that women are just as tough as men," Wonho conceded.

"Tougher, I would say," Julia countered. "Women are the most badass creatures on Earth. We have to squeeze something the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of a plum. If that's not badass, I don't know what is."

"Dang!" Wonho said. "That could scare a man off of sex forever," he added.

"Really?" Julia asked, limping toward him. She wound her fingers through his hair and pulled him into a passionate kiss. He lost himself in her open mouth. His tongue darted in and out of her mouth, tasting its depths.

"Are you still scared off?" Julia asked.

"No," Wonho answered emphatically. "Are you?"

"Hell, no!" Julia replied. "I'm not scared anymore. What I was most afraid of happened to me and I found out it wasn't that bad after all."

"Right?" Wonho agreed.

"It makes me wonder what I was so afraid of," Julia pondered.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe you should be afraid," Wonho teased as he let out a growl against her neck. He bit at her neck playfully.

"Come on," Julia replied. "We both know who the scary one is in this relationship. Don't fool yourself."

Wonho let out a hearty laugh. "I can't fight with you on that. You are definitely way scarier than I am."

Julia smiled. "First order of business, as the queen of this house, I decree that we get someone else to clean it. I'm going to be way to busy doing badass things to be home cleaning the house," she informed him.

Wonho put up both of his hands in surrender. "I hear that!" he agreed.