Let Me Protect You (Sahyo)

Chapter 17.1

The study was always locked, and Sana understood not to pry. It was where Jihyo had confidential files of her clients, past and present, information that would be dangerous in the wrong hands. In a neat stack on the desk was everything related to Sana's case, and now she had to add that parcel to it. 

She shoved aside some loose papers, grabbing the pen knife off the stand and cut into the box. In it, were several rocks, wrapped together in a bundle of newspapers, clearly added for faux weight. What she was more interested in was the printed photographs that laid at the bottom of the box in a red envelope, addressed to Sana in black calligraphy ink. 

The photographs looked like any fansite’s ordinary shots, professionally taken, candid pictures of Sana at events or filming venues. There didn’t seem to be anything odd about these photographs at all, until she flipped them around.

There were messages written on the back of each print, headed by the date it was taken and ended off with “ Your love ”. The messages varied, some of them were innocent, sounding like a fan’s heartfelt letter to their idol.

But then she picked up the fifth one, and with every word she read, she could feel her skin get colder and colder with unease. 

I tried to let you see me today, but things didn’t go as planned, Sorry, my love, I will try again next time. I hope you get to go home soon, it hurts me to know that you’re in pain, but I hope you understand, it was necessary. We’ll see each other soon, I promise.

She flipped the print back again, and stared at the picture. Sana standing on the red carpet, in a tuxedo dress, her wavy hair pulled over one shoulder. It was that fateful event that started it all. What did this message mean? Try again next time? Go home soon?

The hospitalisation wasn’t public knowledge. And now, every bit of evidence she had just pointed to the fact that Sana was poisoned, by the person who handed her that box of candy.

Jihyo dropped the photographs back onto the table, searching through her stack of papers again until she found what she was looking for. 

She combed through every word in her logbook, every picture attached to its pages, looking for that moment that box was put into Sana's hands. Nothing. There wasn’t a single lead in all the investigating she did on that event, as to who gave Sana that gift. There were just too many people in that crowd of fans, and every photo and video she could find of that short twenty minutes of fan interaction had the camera angled at the celebrity and not her fans. 

Jihyo groaned in frustration, clutching that logbook too tightly in her hands. How was this person so good at slipping past them? Her investigations were as thorough as they could be, with resources afforded by her academy to help her, but still, this man was making the boldest moves and getting away with it.

She scrubbed her fingers at her face, steeling herself with a long inhale, before clicking on her phone. The CEO’s face flashed on her screen a minute later.

He listened with a grave look on his face, as she detailed everything that happened to him, leaving out the fact that Sana now knew about the rest of the threats. She figured that that was Sana's conversation to have, whether or not she wanted to or not.

“I was going to ask Momo about this later, but Sana doesn’t have any schedules for the next week right?” Jihyo asked, watching the CEO click through a few tabs on his computer.

He shook his head, looking to her expectantly to continue. “I’m planning to go back to the academy for a few days, probably the day after tomorrow. I believe my superiors informed you about our intelligence and investigation branch back when your company and mine signed that contract. I’ve been using the resources allocated to me so far, but I will need to go back to do everything properly. I think this… this incident calls for that.”

“Sure, I’m glad you are able to do that, but then who is going to be in charge of Sana's security while you’re gone?”

“I have plans for that, don’t worry. I just need two or three days, and during these few days, I hope that you would help to turn down any impromptu events that might crop up for Sana and Momo.” 

They ended the call shortly after, and right after she hung up, she dialled Momo's number.

“Ji?” The older girl’s voice was rough with exhaustion.

“Something happened, Momo-ah.” Jihyo said simply, although she was truly contemplating telling her now that she heard how tired the manager seemed to be.

“I know. Sana told me everything.” So that’s why. “You got the same lecture by her too?”

Jihyo wouldn’t term it a lecture , seeing as how the space in the house felt like a warzone after a ceasefire. She hummed into the phone anyway, hearing Momo chuckle sadly as a reply.

“momo-ah, I need you to do something for me.” She told her about her plans for the next few days, and switched to a video call to show her the photos and messages, and that piece of paper that was left in the stairwell. Momo was deathly quiet throughout, as the realisation slowly crept up on her about how serious the situation had been, and how much information Sana left out in their phone call earlier.

“So I need you to take Saba in while I’m gone, let her stay with you. You live a good distance away from here, so it should be safe. Can you do that?” Jihyo let her take a breather before asking. There was distress all over her features, as she struggled to stay calm through her worry. 

“Sana already told me she’s coming over tonight, don’t worry.”

Oh. That hurt more than Jihyo expected it to. She had thought that their fight would just last an hour, before either of them break and apologise, but then this was how Sana was planning to deal with it. Literally running away. Perhaps she had fucked up more than she thought she had.

“Ji?” Momo's voice brought her back.

“Okay, that’s convenient. I’ll send her over later in a cab then, in case that stalker recognises my car or anything. Keep her home for the next three days, I’m leaving the day after.” There was a pregnant pause after that, and she could almost hear Momo's mind racing.

“She didn’t tell you she was planning to come over?” 

“No.” 

“Jihyo-ah, what actually happened between you two?”

For some reason, that question alone made Jihyo's eyes fill with tears again. 

“It’s fine, Momo. Just help me out by keeping the both of you safe okay? I’m telling Chae too, in case. See you later.” She ended the call before Momo could ask any more questions, letting her head drop into her hands on the table next to the phone.

She arranged all the files she needed into a thick binder, leaving it in a bag next to the study room door. She touched the handle of the door like it was burning her, like she was going to open it to see raging fires on the other side. 

It wasn’t so much raging fires as it was an eerie, abandoned stillness. Sana wasn’t in the living room, but Jihyo knew no matter how far spite could carry them, she wouldn’t risk going out of the safety of the house alone. 

The bedroom door was closed. Part of her wanted to leave the older girl alone, let her stew in her anger. But with less than half a day left with her to spend, she gave in, entering the bedroom where Sana was curled up on her side of the bed, back turned to her. 

Jihyo tiptoed over, hovering by the bedside but not sure what to do with herself. She wanted to get in bed, assume her usual position of being Sana's big spoon, and just sleep away the anxiety and exhaustion. With how they left things, with the things still left unspoken between them, she couldn’t be sure that Sana wouldn’t flinch away from her touch, but she knew that if that happened, she would shatter completely. 

So she didn’t. She left a world of a space between them, as she crawled under her side of the covers, listening to Sana's breathing and figured that she wasn’t asleep. Her back was also turned, as she stared at the white wall in front of her. Even in the same house, same room, curled up in the same bed, Sana was so far away. 

The white wall blurred into black, and she fell asleep.

👉👉