Belligerent

15 - Dami // Taerin

"You better have good information for me," I said. I was already in a terrible mood due to the lack of intel and negotiations for information, the last thing I wanted to do was do something I could regret in the future.

"O-our team speculated that Jun had connections with the hospital he was admitted to 7 years ago," they said, handing files labeled as confidential records to one of my assistants. I gave her a go-signal to open them up as such. "Well?" I said to their leader while waiting for my assistant's findings.
He looked at his subordinate, "It was challenging for us to access their records sir, let alone Detective Kim's,"
I sighed in frustration.
"Fine. You are dismissed," I said as I watched them hurriedly leave my office. "Dami?"
I looked over to Taerin, who disguised herself as my assistant for the time being. I could tell she wanted to look into the neatly tossed files on my desk. I motioned the other assistant in the room to the door and she hurried away immediately. Taerin and I waited until the assistant was entirely out of sight before opening the brown envelope. Before we opened it, I was suddenly in a need of a drink and remembered I had a decent, aged whiskey hidden within the depths of my desk.
"It's barely 4 in the afternoon," Taerin said. I looked as I whipped out the bottle and shrugged at her.

I stood up from my seat and walked over to the small bar I had just a few steps away from my desk. "There's never really a 'bad' time for whiskey per se, no?" I said, grabbing two small glasses from a neatly stacked cupboard. "I don't drink," she pointed out while I was about to pour her one. I looked at her in disbelief, "Suit yourself," but nonetheless shrugged and poured myself more.
"This...doesn't make any sense," she said, flipping through the pages with a fixed pace. "I saw with my own eyes...the bullet hitting him, but he's alive?" She continued, almost with a disturbed tone to her voice. I observed her for a while, noting the different facial expressions she has done in a nick of time.

Her expressions shifted from anger to confusion, to relief then back to being furious. In a split moment, I found myself in awe. Ever so slightly, I saw a bit of her own brother in herself. The same little mannerisms Jun had seemed to manifest through Taerin. Granted they were siblings, however, after knowing Jun for a long time, he had his unique quirks that I had never seen with other people. And to be able to see it through his own sister, made my heart ache a little bit. 
I looked away and drank the whiskey in seconds. 

"Dami?" 

I must have been zoning out too long that I didn't notice Taerin standing across me from the counter. I looked at her and saw how her eyes were welling up, tears ready to burst out. I also noticed how she was trying not to burst into tears and how her fists were clenched. A small whimper came out as her eyes finally let the tears out. She stood there, hands on her eyes. I, myself, was also trying not to tear up. 
I moved to her side and embraced her. She immediately sank into my chest and continued to sob. 

We stayed in the same position for a while, Taerin's quiet sobs filling the room. I didn't know what to do at the moment but to simply..be there. I was not the best person at comforting people, but I was good at understanding what people felt. I think that was what most people misunderstood me for. I was labeled as 'cold' or 'cold-hearted' because I showed a lack of sympathy, when in fact I also felt something. 
A few minutes pass by and I couldn't hear any more of Taerin's sobs and noticed she had fallen asleep in my arms. I carefully carried her to the couch and slowly laid her down, while I got a spare jacket to cover her for the time being. 

I looked at the time and saw that it was almost five o'clock. I went over to my desk and picked up my phone, then called one of my bodyguards to request a blanket to be sent over. 

I glanced over at Taerin one more time and felt the exhaustion she must have felt for the day. 

Then I remembered the promise I made to her brother before we parted ways. 

-- 

Taerin's POV

I must have been crying too much that I fell asleep. I woke up in a dimly lit room with my eyes puffy and my lips dry. There was a strong mix of alcohol and smoke in the room, and it took a while before my senses came to me. I sat up, still groggy, and searched for my phone to look at the time. "It's currently 9 P.M. if you're wondering," I heard Dami say from his desk. 
"How long was I out?" I asked, noticing one of his jackets draped around me. 

"Quite a while," he replied, with a glass in his hand. "Well, I'm up. We should get back to-" 
"No. I got it covered," he said abruptly. 
"But you said you needed my help," I replied back
"I did. But you're free to go now. I'll send a few of my bodyguards to safely drop you off in your apartment tonight," he replied back. 

I had no energy to fight back or retaliate against Dami since he was probably in a bad mood ever since this morning. I sighed, "Fine." 

Dami wasn't even looking in my direction but I could feel his intense yet bitter gaze. I took off his jacket and was about to fold it neatly by the couch, "You might want to keep the jacket, it's cold tonight." 
I wondered for a bit and shrugged. 
There was a knock on the door, followed by two men entering the room. I figured they were the ones dropping me off at my apartment. Dami didn't even say anything as I was escorted out of his office. I was clenching my fists but let it go when I realized I could finally go home. 
The three of us rode the elevator and as usual, the ride down was awkward since I was not acquainted well with Dami's company. 

All I wanted was to rest in my own bed and snuggle in with my comforter.