Love is Stronger than Blood (Snowdrop Oneshots)

58- stay

Good old fashioned soft fluff.

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Everything was over. The hostage situation, the election, and the year of 1987. It was all over.

Maybe that should've called for celebration. To the majority of the hostages who were now free and reunited with their families, it did. Many tears of joy were shed by the students and their relieved parents alike.

But for Eun Yeongro, the tears she'd shed upon being released from the dorm were tears of mourning and incomprehensible grief. She'd fallen in love with Lim Sooho, the man who'd caused the whole hostage crisis in the first place, but ultimately, he'd saved her life and the lives of all the hostages. Yeongro would have been dead from a dozen bullets had Sooho not thrown himself in front of her like a human shield. The scene played in her head every time she closed her eyes— crimson blood spouting from Sooho's back with every bullet he took to protect her.

Not many people mourned Sooho's death. Besides Yeongro, there was Lee Kangmu, an ANSP agent who'd wanted the elimination of the Northern spy the most, until the final day of the hostage crisis. Sooho had sacrificed himself for Kangmu's safety as well, and Kangmu mourned him as a fallen comrade-in-arms and little brother.

Jang Hanna observed all this from her relatively distanced perspective. Despite having often been in the dorm, she hadn't been a hostage. She'd assisted Sooho in his mission to get out alive, but only because Kangmu had asked her to do so. Without the man she loved trapped inside the dorm, she would've left them to the mercy of the ANSP, who often showed no mercy. She became a double agent, with Kangmu holding her true loyalty through it all. Because of him, she turned her back on her superiors and had almost died, but she held no regrets about her actions. If it was for Kangmu, she'd do anything, no matter how foolish or reckless it was.

All that flowed through Hanna's mind as Kangmu drove her home that night, dropping her off at her apartment. Every time he stole a glance at her, all he could think about was how he didn't deserve all that she'd done to help him. Not after how he'd treated her in the past. They'd never talked about it. Kangmu doubted she even knew why he'd left her. He knew he had to tell her, as straightforwardly and as honestly as he could. He just didn't know how.

He pulled into the parking lot behind Hanna's apartment building, waiting for her to get out. When she made no attempt to move, he looked over at her. It was very late. Maybe she'd fallen asleep.

But her eyes were wide open, and she was looking at him, illuminated by the soft light of the street lamp outside the car.

"Hanna..." he said, but didn't know how to continue the sentence. The air had suddenly become heavy.

"'But it's true,'" Hanna said quietly. "'We were engaged.'"

Those six words knocked the breath out of Kangmu. He stared at her, dumbfounded.

"I thought you'd forgotten about me," Hanna said, tearing her gaze away from him. "You treated me so coldly at first. I thought there was no way—"

"I remembered," Kangmu said. "But that was the problem... I remembered you too much. I was terrified."

"Terrified?" She echoed. "Of me?"

Kangmu smiled, although it was painful for him. "Of you. I couldn't stop my emotions around you. I couldn't make myself not feel. And in a place like the ANSP... feelings can get you killed."

Hanna knew that. Her own father had ordered her beaten for it. Her ribs still ached from where the metal baseball bats wrapped in bloodstained towels had smashed into her body not very long ago.

She turned her eyes back to him, studying his face. His eyes were abnormally bright in the reflection of the street lamp.

"Are... are you okay?" She asked, voice lowered to a whisper.

All Kangmu could do was turn his head away, facing the window opposite her. "I'm fine."

Hanna didn't buy that for a second. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to the driver's seat. Her hand gently cupped the side of his face, and she pulled him to look back at her.

Kangmu couldn't decide on one thing that was making him so sensitive. Maybe it was Sooho's death and the fact that he hadn't been able to save him. Maybe it was built-up frustration at himself for not keeping a tight control over his thoughts and feelings. Maybe it was Hanna herself, and how she was showing none of the hate he knew he deserved. No one had treated him this delicately before. He swallowed hard, feeling like his throat was closing up.

Hanna's soft hand cupped his jaw, and her other one brushed hair away from his eyes. Her face was so close to his. He struggled to keep his breathing steady.

"I finally know why you left me," she whispered. "It wasn't your fault. Even though it's been six years, the way I feel hasn't changed. I hope the way you do hasn't, either. I hope you're not terrified of me anymore."

Kangmu could barely speak, but he managed two frail words.

"You know?"

She nodded, and he blinked, trying to get rid of his watering tears, but they fell down his cheeks instead. Hanna gingerly wiped them away with her sleeve, then pulled him into a tight hug. It was a bit awkward, as she had to lean over the gear lever and box it was attached to, but she practically climbed over it to get closer to him. Kangmu hugged her back, burying his face into her shoulder and letting his tears soak into her sweater. Neither wanted to pull away from the second hug they'd shared in six years, even if the first one didn't really count since his hands had been tied and he was unable to hug her back.

So he didn't pull away, instead just turning his head so he could speak clearly.

"I'm so sorry, Hanna-ya. I hated being apart from you."

"It wasn't your fault," she reminded him.

"Yes, it was," Kangmu insisted, wrapping his arms around her a bit tighter. "But you're right. Nothing about the way I feel has changed. I'm still in love with you, Jang Hanna."

"I never stopped loving you, Lee Kangmu," Hanna whispered back, her lips moving against his cheek as she spoke.

"You must be exhausted," Hanna said, finally releasing him from the hug, though her hand just went back to cupping his face. "I bet you haven't had a good night's sleep since you've been in the dorm."

Kangmu had to agree. He wasn't sure if he'd even had a good night's sleep since coming back to Korea over six months ago.

"Stay," Hanna implored. "Stay here tonight."

"Hanna..." he tried to protest halfheartedly, but was cut off by her lips gently brushing against his.

"Stay," she repeated before going in for a full-on kiss, her hands pulling him in closer and threading through his messy hair. Her lips pressed against his desperately, and he was both unable and unwilling to not return the kiss. Kangmu kissed her back with as much energy and love as she was giving him, his arms wrapping around her and almost pulling her into his lap. His eyes were closed, but he felt a cool tear on both of their faces. Whether it was from himself or Hanna, he didn't know, but he wiped it away from her cheek when they ended the kiss a few long seconds later.

But the kiss was a new drug, or rather an old drug rediscovered, and Kangmu was immediately hooked on it. He quickly pulled Hanna in for another kiss, but before he did, he mumbled five last words.

"Okay. I'll stay here tonight."