Protect Her, My Heart

hold my hand and don't let go

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Miss Kim. My condolences."

Jennie just nodded, not bothering to correct the woman. Instead she went over to her daughter to help her into her jacket.

///

It was later that night, Ellie had cried and so had Jennie. Separate from each other but for the same reason. So when Jennie had finally managed to put her daughter to bed, she called Jisoo. Afterwards, Jennie had no idea what she had actually said into the phone, but about 15 minutes later Jisoo stormed through the front door.

Before she even finished asking if Jennie was okay with a hug, the brunette was already wrapped around her completely. They stayed like this for a while, until Jennie could feel that her hands stopped shaking. Jisoo then moved her to the couch and made them both some tea before she sat down as well.

"You love her, don't you?"

Jennie raised her chin to look at her with watery eyes. She'd never even thought about it. Love. Such a weird concept.

"I do," she said after a few long moments had passed. Her voice raspy from crying too much. "I love her so much that it hurts."

She looked down at her hands again, her bottom lip shaking, when two strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her close.

"It'll all be okay. I promise," Jisoo whispered.

Their night ended with Jisoo falling asleep on the couch after she'd come up with a list of all possible ways to get into contact with Lisa and to also get her back to Jennie. The whole time, Jennie had just looked at her in awe. Jisoo in her fight mode was definitely amazing to watch.

///

The next morning, Jennie started with the first point on their list; calling DSPS Security.

"Hi, this is Jennie Kim speaking. I'd like to get in contact with Lisa Manoban. She's worked for me until recently and we still have some things to sort out."

Jennie cringed at her own phrasing but she had no idea how to say it in a better way. The woman at the other end started typing before she spoke again.

"Ah yes, I see it here. Unfortunately, I can't help you with that," she said.

"Do I need an appointment or what is the problem?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Manoban doesn't work here anymore. Could I interest you in any of our other bodyguards? They all went through the same training program and-"

"Uhm, no thank you," Jennie interrupted her quickly. "Do you happen to know where I can find her? Did she switch companies or something?"

"I'm sorry but I don't know anything about that."

"Okay, thank you anyway."

And with a sour feeling in her stomach, Jennie ended the call. What did this mean? Did Lisa quit because of what had happened. Or even worse, did she get fired?

Her thoughts got interrupted by another call coming through. She answered her phone without looking at the caller ID.

"This is Jennie Kim speaking."

"Miss Kim, this is Detective Irene," the woman at the other end said. Well, that was fortunate, as Irene was one of the next people on her list. "I was wondering if you could come down to the precinct today. There was a breakthrough in your case."

///

When Jennie left the police precinct a few hours later, she felt lighter than she had in a long time. They had somehow found a large sum of money that the psychologist of her daughter's kidnapper had received from one of Mrs. Kim's offshore bank accounts.