UNEXPECTED SPOUSE | x1

fifteen

"how can we get through all these?" ong seongwoo couldn't believe all the danger they're going through. he brushed his hair through his fingers and sat uneasily. they stayed at the police station until tonight.

gaea has nothing else to say but "sorry." she feels too much responsibility for everything. but being with what she's been through, seongwoo only held her hand comfortably. she needs to be protected more than before.

"eomma, are you okay?" hyeongjun looked up at her. dohyon is asleep beside their uncle ong while dongpyo fell asleep on gaea's lap.

she nodded and smiled, "don't worry about mom."

"lee gaea-ssi?" senior detective, mr. heo, came to call her in the briefing room.

---

"first off, we have to ensure their safety." mr. heo said as he tapped the table with a pen. "then make sure everything is confidential." he looked at gaea, "can you promise that ms. lee?"

she nodded in response. detective kim kookheon continued on explaining about the plan until every important detail is mentioned.

"we can't let them stay just anywhere." detective han added when the family's safety was mentioned in the plan.

"there's an empty room beside the apartment i live at. they can move there." kim wooseok suggested nonchalantly.

"can you manage to protect them?" han seungwoo sneered and the latter purposely slammed his palm as he leaned on his swivel.

"i'm not as irresponsible as you think, detective han." he said.

"enough." the chief said in authority, "can you abide with our condition, ms. lee?"

"yes, sir." she answered politely. "but i have a favor to ask too." everyone considered her statement for a moment before looking up at her. she let her sentence trail, unable to say what her courage mustered up to do. she then sighed, "find me a good lawyer."

---

"how did it go?" ong asked as soon as they got out of the room.

"fine. just some conditions for our safety." gaea sat beside him and drink the cold water he offered. "you have to be careful, ong." she looked at him, her voice threatening to break. "no one should know about this. and we must not trust anyone. they will send other detectives to guard you until they're done with this."

"i'm gonna be fine, and i know how to protect myself." he assured, "you're the one who needs to be protected."

they shared a short hug before ong pointed at the kids. "they found new friends." he chuckled, "they're really adorable."

meanwhile, detective hwang was with the kids to get them some dinner. the other policemen enjoyed the kids' presence so they're currently playing with them.

dongpyo is kind of an introvert so he became close with them more. hyeongjun and dohyon were just eating, listening, and laughing together.

"anyway, aside from mr. jinhyuk, i kinda know detective han too." dongpyo said as he munched on the chicken, "he helped me when i was sad."