MY GANGSTER PROTECTOR ✔

CHAPTER 10 - Doubts

The InterSAT thugs who were following Dara stepped back at the sight of Jiro.

"W-We're just joking."

"I don't find it funny." Jiro growled while striding slowly towards them, his eyebrows mashed together in fury.

"M-Montecillo, we didn't do anything to her."

Jiro's demeanor darkened. "Why? What are you planning on doing if I wasn't here?" That was probably the longest sentence they heard from Jiro. And that is never a good sign.

"Jiro, let's just go", Dara interjected, blocking his path. "Come on", she insisted and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Please?"

Jiro glanced at Dara before shifting his eyes back at the guys who were looking anywhere but him. "This is not over", he warned them and ushered Dara away.

The walk home was met by silence. Dara was supposed to be the one doing the talking but judging from Jiro's furrowed eyebrows, she knew she has to keep her mouth shut.

"Tsch", Jiro clicked his tongue and suddenly stopped walking, grabbing Dara's arm. "Don't do this again", he said while looking directly at her eyes.

"Do what?" Dara asked quizzically, obviously at lost of what the young guy is talking about. Jiro's gaze conveyed his frustration and his grip on Dara's arm tightened a bit. There was a shred of pain that Dara thought passed in his eyes, but she wasn't sure. The Jiro that she knew wouldn't even blink in the face of death – this was imprinted in her mind since the first time she encountered him. There is nothing in the world that would hurt him, is there?

"Don't do this again", he repeated. A moment of silence passed between the two as they stood on the street trying to comprehend what the other is thinking. "Don't run away from me", he whispered.

Dara's mouth slightly parted but no words came out as she stared back at Jiro, her heartbeat doubling its pace. His voice betrayed his stoic expression. There was a silent plea and urgency that made Dara hold her breath. Why is he saying this?

"You almost got hurt before when you went to the back gate. And even here inside InterSAT..." His fist tightened as he averted his gaze.

Dara placed her hand on top of Jiro's hand that is gripping her arm. "Jiro, you don't need to exert yourself for my sake. Forget what you promised to my father."

"I can't do that. I won't do that", he muttered and held her gaze. "I've sworn that I'll protect you and be by your side." There was a steady resolve in his voice that told her no one and nothing can change his mind. It was then that she realized that the endless argument about the stupid promise will go nowhere.

"Why?" She asked, more like pleaded, as she searched his eyes for the answer she's been waiting to hear. Why would he go to such lengths in keeping her safe? In keeping her beside him?

"Because all things are taken away from me", he replied hoarsely. "Your father is now gone, what if you disappear too?" When Dara heard those words, everything else seemed to slip away. Finally, she was able to peek at a small part of Jiro's mind. Finally, she was able to somehow grasp his determination to fulfill his promise. "I have nothing to protect anyway." Jiro has no one else left but her.

Her father might have saved Jiro from his dark life, yet the fear remained. And with her dad passing away, that fear once again hunts him. The fear of being alone – of having no one else beside him; no one that needs him. He lost everything, and is now determined to prevent any remote possibility of it happening again. For him, she is the only one left.