In Between the Lines | Completed

Chapter Twenty-Seven | A Mother's Love

Xiao Mei Cheng

Three Days Earlier...

The elevator doors open and I watch Vivian enter the hospital room I assume Lee Young-min is staying in. Du Shin-Il watches after the door like a gargoyle, his eyes scanning up and down the hall for potential threats as though he was the last man standing in the way of a targeted assassin.

I take in his haggard appearance, eyeing the striped pajamas the hospital had provided when they had taken his and Vivian's clothes for the decontamination shower. The pants are a little short on him and his shirt is probably a size too small as the fabric is clinging to him like a second skin. He wears flimsy slippers on his feet which look more akin to socks than shoes given the thickness of them. He closes his eyes and I watch as his hand goes up to his eyebrow and feels the groove in the skin. The action is like second nature, and I wince as I see his nails dig in and pluck at non-existent hairs there.

Deciding my observations were enough for the day, I exit the elevator and walk the short distance to Du Shin-Il. My heels clacking against the floor give me away and his dark brown eyes pop open to look over at me.

He stays expressionless as I draw closer until I stop right in front of him and hand him a small bag. He accepts it without hesitation, staring at it without speaking.

"Go and change. There's a fresh set of clothes and sneakers in there."

He doesn't make an effort to move despite my words.

"Go on."

"I'm fine."

"Go and change."

"I'm fine, Miss Xiao."

"I'll keep guard. You go and change in that room right there. You can even keep the door open if you need to keep an eye on me to make sure I don't leave my post," the sarcasm drips from my voice as I point at the empty hospital room next to us.

"I'm fine."

"Just go."

I place my hands on his muscular chest and shove him in the direction of the room.

"Miss Xiao..."

"Du Shin-Il, you probably don't realize it, but those clothes are so tight you're one clenched fist away from bursting out of them. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't want to scar the nurses with your 6-pack. Go and change."

"How do you know these will fit me any better?"

I let out a snort and look him head to toe and back up, "My parents run an international clothing company; I think I can pick out men's clothes well enough. I got your shoe size from your brother."

He doesn't argue any further as he goes into the empty room and quickly changes.

I stand at Lee Young-min's hospital door and hear a sniffle. I look around and realize that the noise is coming from his room, so I decide to use Du Shin-Il's temporary absence to peek through the window and see what Vivian and Lee Young-min are doing.

Whether the architect had planned it on purpose or not, the small rectangle window on the door provided the perfect glance into the room and the small prop in the door allowed me to listen in on my best friend as she talks with Lee Young-min.

"Miss Jones, it wasn't your fault."

Lee Young-min stares at Vivian with an indescribable look on his face as I watch her bow down in apology to him. I can hear her sniffles and watch as she wipes the tears from her face as she stares at him.