In Between the Lines | Completed

Chapter Twenty-Four | Interruption from Hell

Lee Young-Min

"I'll drop her off once she's discharged. I have to go now; the police are here to get my statement. I'm hanging up now."

Vivian is brought back into the room, escorted by a female officer who seems starstruck as she enters the room.

"Sorry to drag you into this," Miss Jones murmurs. The officer is wide eyed as she stares at us. "And I'm sorry—"

"It's alright, I'm used to it." I say, acknowledging the officer.

"Do you want an autograph?"

"REALLY?!"

Miss Jones and I flinch at the young female's sudden increase in volume. The police officer pulls a notebook out of nowhere and thrusts it at Miss Jones, shocking us both.

Miss Jones eyes me with a confused look before taking the notebook.

"Can you sign it to Park Shin, Miss Jones? I love your books! They were so much fun to read and now I get to watch them performed in my own country..."

Vivian shoots me a questioning gaze and I grin, translating Park Shin's words for her.

"Can you tell her I appreciate the support?"

I nod and parrot their words back and forth.

"Let Miss Jones that I support her fully on her choice to bench Lee Hoon's character. What he did was completely unacceptable, and she showed real strength to stand up to him with his actions."

After a few more exchanges, we're given permission to leave the hospital, I escort Miss Jones to the car my driver had left for me and offer to take her home.

She is quiet in the car, typing away on her phone, mumbling random things under her breath.

"Everything okay, Miss Jones?"

She mutters once again, her fingers absentmindedly twitching on the console next to me. I poke her hand and she flinches.

"What?!"

"Are you alright?"

We pull to a stop at a light, and I look over at her, her exclamation a surprise.

"Oh!" She bats her eyes and looks down at my hand touching hers. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you."

I remove my hand and repeat my question, "Are you alright?"

"Sorry, I was lost in thought thinking about something and I kind of blanked. What do you need?"

"Nothing, just making sure you're okay. Today was a lot for me, so I can't imagine how you're handling the situation."

She sighs and blows out her lips, "It was a long day. I was kind of surprised to end it in the hospital for mere bruised knuckles, but I've had worse days."

"Mere? You defended yourself from a man twice your size. Getting checked out at the hospital was the least you could do to calm my worried heart." I joke.

The light changes color and I continue driving forward.

She lets out a chuckle, "Bu Seok once reminded me that we include pieces of our personal lives in our writing. Tonight was just an example of that for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I wrote that So-Yong's character was a Martial Arts champion and—"

"Wow...trying to impress me with your resume even more?"