Hate You, Love You. | Jenlisa

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"Is that a dead rat?"

"The head of a dead rat," he corrects.

"Who would send this?"

"My guess is the people out for your boyfriend's blood, and by extension your blood," he answers bluntly. Leaning towards the side, he grabs a paper which I hadn't seen earlier and opens it.

"What does it say?"

His expression goes hard again and he doesn't respond so I grab the paper from his hand. In bold letters, written in red blood ink or actual blood (I'm not entirely sure) are the words: YOU ARE NEXT.

For a minute or two, I'm frozen, white as the sheet of paper I'm holding. The paper is trembling in my hands as I resist the urge to scream. I feel like my life is being sucked out of me with those three words.

Whoever is trying to kill me has me on their radar. For fuck sake they know my house address and they could attack me or my family at any time.

"Jen, say something," I hear Hyejun's voice say in my panicked state, but I can't say something because my next words may come out as a choked sob.

I point to the door. "My sister, Ella is in there. I need to see if she's alright." I whisper. She's always home before I am. Usually, we'd come home together but nowadays, she had taken a liking to getting a ride from Kristina's mom. Kristina's her best friend so I can see why she'd want to ride with them.

If anything happens to her because of my indiscretions, I'd never forgive myself.

"Give me your keys," he instructs. Mindlessly, and still in shock, I hand him the keys and he unlocks the apartment. Reaching into his pocket, Hyejun brings out a gun. "Step back a bit, we don't know who's in here other than your sister."

I do as he says and he moves forward fully. Turning on the lights I see that nothing is out of place. The living room is still as neat as I left it, the laundry is still folded in the basket near the washing machine and I spot Ella's school bag on the center table in the living room.

"Ella, it's Jennie!" I yell. "Are you home?"

No response.

Hyejun, gun in hand, moves to the kitchen and I start to panic. I call her cell phone and put in on speaker. I listen intently and hear her ringtone coming from upstairs. "Ella!" I yell again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I hear her voice say and I visibly relax. She's okay, she's fine. "Sheesh, you're so loud. I heard you the first time."

She trudges down the stairs in a black sweater and pattern leggings looking completely confused. "Unnie, are you okay? You're crying."

Oh.

I wipe the stray tears from my eyes and hug her feeling relieved. My sister is okay. Releasing her, I touch her cheeks, then her forehead, and then her hands. I don't even know what I'm looking for, but I think I'm trying to convince myself that nothing happened to her.

"You're acting strange. What's going on?" She asks.

"Nothing, I–"

"Who's the guy in our house?" She points to Hyejun who emerges from the kitchen and stands next to me. Luckily, he had put the gun back in his pocket. God knows I wouldn't be able to explain why a guy who's wearing the same uniform as I am is holding a gun and is in our apartment.

"Ella, this is Hyejun. He's a friend from school." I introduce and he stretches out his hand. Ella looks at him skeptically, before taking his hand in a firm hold. "Se Hyejun. Jen, has told me so much about you."

No, I haven't. You probably read my case file.

"Ella Kim, although I can't say the same about you. She hasn't mentioned you before."

I give a small smile and she turns her focus back on me. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Why do people think he's my boyfriend?

"I don't date."

"Liar."

"Believe what you want."

"Believe what you want," she mimics. "Anywho, back on topic. Why were you looking all frantic like somebody died?"

I take a quick glance at Hyejun and plead with him via my eyes to help me because I don't think I can formulate a lie in my state of mind. Luckily, he gets the message. "Did anyone knock on the door or ring the doorbell?"

"Nope. I didn't hear anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Did something happen?"

A death threat happened but I can't tell her that. Instead, I offer her my biggest fake smile. "Nope, nothing happened." I answer quickly. Hyejun motions that he's going outside and I nod. "The neighborhood kids decided to prank us again."

She groans and stomps her feet. "What'd they do this time? Ducktape our front door?"

"Yep," I respond tightly. "Luckily, I had it removed."

"Those kids never learn. If I catch anyone of them, I'm going to report them to their moms." She declares.

I'm just glad you're okay.

"I'm going upstairs to do homework." Her back turns to me and my stare lingers. I don't even want to think about the possibility of anything bad happening to her.

"And I wouldn't tell mom a cute guy dropped you home," she winks before closing her door.

Smiling a little, I join Hyejun who is outside, making a phone call. He paces back and forth, running his fingers through his blonde hair. His lips are moving but I can't hear a word he's saying. You know, if Hyejun was my age, not a cop and I didn't like Lisa, I may have actually dated him.

He hangs up and puts the phone in his pocket. "I made a few phone calls. I called Detective Seonho and Officer Bohyun and they're on their way. I've taken a few pictures and sent it to them so they'd know what we're dealing with. I've also requested the names of the officers who were on surveillance duty. How did they not see this?" He questions, more to himself than to me.

The box has been placed to the side, no longer blocking the entrance. "Are you okay?" He asks. The concern in his tone is warm and comforting, in a sibling sort of way.

"None of this is okay," I admit. "It's not every day you get the decapitated head of a dead rat as a present," I joke, trying to make light of the situation. That earns me a smile from him, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"You'll be fine. You're my responsibility and I swore to protect you," he reassures me, but I'm feeling less than reassured. Once he leaves for the night, what next? For all I know, the killer could be watching me right now and waiting for the right moment to attack.

"I've requested for an extra layer of surveillance and they'd be here when I can't be." He says, again trying to reassure me. I try to put on a smile, even a fake one, but I can't.

"Yeah," I answer, exhausted and deflated.

"We're going to find who's trying to kill you. You have my word."

Without warning, I hug him, basking in the warmth of his leather jacket. This surprises him, but he nonetheless reciprocates and even pats my back. "Thank you for everything. Really, I know I say thank you a lot, but thank you."

I release him and he shows me his pearly whites. "No problem, kiddo."

"Don't call me that," I groan and he sticks his tongue out. How mature. "You're like old enough to be my brother, not my dad."

"It annoys you?"

"Duh."

"Cool. I'll be using it more often then."

And just like that, my mood lightens a little bit but I can't shake the unnerving feeling in the pit of my stomach.