Bleeding Darkness

Chapter 9

When I woke up, it looked like it was late evening. Which meant I had been passed out for a long time. I realized that I was lying on my couch and Vincenzo was sleeping in the armchair. As I sat up, wincing at the pain I felt, Vincenzo stirred and then rushed over when he saw me awake. 

Vincenzo sat next to me and said, panicked, "Are you okay? You've been out for a day and a half." I said, "I feel better. Thanks for coming for me, Vincenzo. Have I really been out that long?". Vincenzo nodded and said, "Miri treated your wounds. She said they were quite bad." 

Then, there was a knock on the door. He left to answer it. It was Miri and Youngho. They rushed over as soon as they saw me. Youngho said, "Noona, you're awake! Thank god. We bought you some jajangmyeon. How are you?". I said, "I'm all patched up, thanks to Miri here." 

Miri lowered her voice and said, "Unnie, your injuries were very bad. They were worse than what I told Mr. Vincenzo. I had to because of how much he worried over you. He hasn't left your side since he brought you back." I nodded, hiding my surprise.

Miri started to feed me the jajangmyeon while Youngho told me what had happened while I was out. Vincenzo called, "I'm going to go take a shower. We'll talk about the case tomorrow." He left. After I ate, they left and I went to take a shower.

When I got back, Vincenzo was in the kitchen, cooking something while listening to opera. I slowly walked to him and said, "What are you making?". Vincenzo replied, "Soup. You'll need it."

Instinctively, I hugged Vincenzo from behind and hid my face in his shoulder. He stiffened immediately but he eventually relaxed. I sighed deeply, trying to suppress the sudden wave of stress-fueled emotions. 

Vincenzo said, alarmed, "Why? Are you okay?". I whimpered, tearing up. Vincenzo turned around and said, "Lee Jiyoung, what's wrong? Tell me." I hugged him again and let the tears well up and gush miserably down my cheeks. 

He immediately hugged back and asked, worried, "Perché piangi, Bella?(Why are you crying, Bella?)". I said in between sobs, "I'm scared that they'll hurt the tenants. Or they might find out about where Chayoung is. What if they hurt you?!". Vincenzo patted my head and said, "They won't. I forgot to tell you, but I burnt down the warehouse before you woke. They're in chaos now, they won't do anything."

After a few minutes of Vincenzo soothing me, I calmed down and wiped away my tears. I asked, "Really? Are you sure?". Vincenzo said, "Yes. Yoo Sijin was right, you can be quite sensitive. Now let's go have some soup."

As we drank the soup, I made up my mind and said, 'Vincenzo, I think it's about time I tell the tenants who I really am. Tomorrow." Vincenzo nodded. And I relaxed for the first time in weeks.