Fatal Trouble | Y.Jw

| 2.16 |

The silence in the house didn't seem to bother Jungwon. It still felt warm and the light in Mrs Mae's kitchen shone through the house. He quickly just shrugged off his coat after having locked the door and checked it twice.

"Mrs Mae, could you make me a cup of your tea blend?" he called out, sternly awaiting an answer before turning around to look into her kitchen.

"Water's in the kettle," Mrs Mae's voice returned and he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Jungwon had barely even turned around and stepped closer to Mrs Mae's kitchen before noticing the red puffy eyes staring over at him. At the tiny table in Mrs Mae's kitchen, Jiyeon was curled up on one chair, wearing her sleep shorts and some old stretched-out t-shirt. Her hair was in her usual bun, but her eyes were bright red and her lips were all dry and cracked. In front of her was a cup of tea and Mrs Mae sitting across from her with a gentle hand continuously patting Jiyeon's arm.

"What's happened?" Jungwon murmured and quickly glanced at Mrs Mae before looking back at Jiyeon. Before he even got an answer he had rushed over and crouched down, "What's wrong?"

"Nightmare," Mrs Mae murmured as Jiyeon kept on staring at Jungwon, "heard something breaking upstairs and went to check. She was fumbling her way through the apartment, hysterical and crying."

"I broke your vase," Jiyeon murmured and Jungwon looked back at her.

"No, no, no. Don't think about it," Jungwon murmured, "I have no idea what vase you're talking about," he smiled gently and placed a hand on her knee, "a nightmare?" she nodded quietly, "must've been a mighty scary one then, huh?"

"I was in the forest," she whispered and he slowly nodded.

"How long have you been sitting here?"

Jiyeon turned her head to look at Mrs Mae, clearly unsure of what to answer.

"Half an hour," Mrs Mae sighed and Jungwon nodded.

With that short bit of math that meant whatever pictures he had been shown in the warehouse, those pictures were from earlier that night. Somehow it calmed him down. He had left the warehouse half an hour ago, and just then had Jiyeon woken up from a nightmare, meaning she must've been asleep the majority of the time he was in the warehouse. After all, he did stop by the police station before going to the warehouse.

"You can go to bed Mrs Mae, I'll take care of her," Jungwon murmured and Mrs Mae glanced down at Jungwon, "I've got it," he murmured gently when he noticed how unsure Mrs Mae looked.

He waited and watched as the older lady got up from her seat and sent Jiyeon a last glance before disappearing into her bedroom. Quickly he grabbed the teacup from the table and checked how much was in it. Nothing.

"Come on... let's get you up and into bed again," Jungwon whispered and she nodded slowly.

Even though the staircase usually wasn't wide enough he somehow managed to walk by her side and up to their floor. They were barely into the living room before he sent a look to the living room windows. The blinds were pulled.

"I was in the forest," Jiyeon repeated as Jungwon closed their door and locked it as well.

"I know," Jungwon murmured and nodded.

"I was in the car," Jiyeon pointed out and Jungwon nodded, "he was in the car."

"I know," he repeated.

"The warehouseman was in the car," Jiyeon repeated quietly and Jungwon raised his head to look at her, "he's the mayor."

"I know," Jungwon repeated, "let's get you to bed Jiyeon."