Lucid

Chapter 22

Once I get back, I see Chaeyeon in her dressing room, still in stage clothes, and she looks annoyed.
"Someone said they found five people all across the building and they all went to the hospital." I smirk, and nod.
"I wonder how that happened."
"I assume that was you?" Smart of her.
"You know me so well. Yes, that was me. They were going to mess up your performance. Your source didn't mention the smoke grenades they had smuggled in." She looks surprised at this.
"Smoke grenades?"
"Yup. Nasty little things, very distracting. Would have totally messed up your performance." I say, gesturing a large explosion. Her eyes widen a bit, clearly concerned. "I handled it. Like I said I would."
"Thanks." Y'know, despite all the work I do for pay and rewards and influence, something about the work I've done in Kpop has been far more rewarding. Actually having people thank you for what you do, and watching them be so relieved when you tell them they're safe and you took care of their issues, is just better. I've worked for money and power enough, time for my money to work for me.
"Fixer? Hello?" Ah, my internal monologue got away from me.
"Yes?" I say, pulling myself back to the present.
"Will there be any more issues today?" ah, right, about that.
"I think someone is going to try and kidnap you by stealing your company car and delivering you to a place where you'll be coerced to sign a new contract. So don't take your company car." She gets a little bug-eyed at this. I probably should have sad that better. "Don't worry. I'm going to take care of that as well. All you have to do is ride with me instead of them. I'll have someone else deal with them later." She's still obviously scared, I should work on that. I go and pull up a chair, and sit down next to her. Putting one arm over her shoulder, I say, "Hey. You aren't, and weren't, in any danger. They were trying to get you to join their company, that's all. Nobody wants to hurt you or put you in danger. And if they did, me, or plenty of other people would be there to help and protect you. You don't have to worry." I rub my hand in circles, rubbing between her shoulders to help her relax. Clearly, it's helping, because her breathing is getting slower and calmer, and she looks better. I reach over and use my other hands, and place her own hands crossing on her shoulders. "Pat your shoulders. Twice on each side. One, two, one two." I pat each shoulder in turn each time, and she nods, and copies. I keep simply rubbing her back, and after another half a minute she finally seems better. "Are you... Alright?" She takes a deep breath, then says,
"I'm ok now. Sorry about that." I smile, glad that she's better now. That was a little creepy to be honest.

"Alright, so, like I said. We'll take my car out. Where are you going tonight? Dorm, company, family home?"
"I'm going to my dorm."
"Alright, I'll get the car around. You should get changed." I flip my wrist, and start tapping the computer mounted to my left wrist, directing the car to pull up to a different exit from the previously planned one. I also grab the details of the company car, make sure that there's RWB people in it and not WM people, and put out a report for a carjacking with the company car plate. That should handle that, given that they don't own that car or work for the company thus it is a carjacking. And, the five people that went to the hospital won't know what hit them, and I doubt they'll want to give details on why we were fighting given what they were doing when I stopped them. Chaeyeon coughs, and I look up at her. She's standing there, still in her stage tank top and leggings.
"Well?" What is she talking about.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"I need to change." Oh, I should leave.
"Right!" I say, jumping to my feet. "My bad. I'll wait outside." I walk to the door and open it, and as I step outside, she says,
"Unless you want to stay and watch." Turning around, I raise an eyebrow and look at her, very confused as to what train of thought brought that on. She's standing just inside the door, and smirks at me before shutting it my face. I guess that's what I deserve for taking her partially seriously. "Nice try." She says. I facepalm, and lean against the wall next to her door.

A few minutes later, she walks out in casual clothes, and I pull myself upright.
"Ready?" She nods.
"Let's go."
"My car is around the back." She stood and grabs my arm.
"Wait, no. Not your car. I'm not letting you drive me anywhere." Ah, right. I forgot.
"It'a something with four wheels this time. Very stable. I'll drive it slowly, too. Don't worry." She looks at me, still obviously uncertain.
"You promise to be slow and gentle?" I feel like she's setting me up for a joke at this point but I'll let it slide.
"Yes. Now can we go?" She starts walking again, and after some meandering through hallways, we finally reach a side door. I check, and we're all clear, and my car is parked there. "Hop in." I say, walking around to the other side. She opens the door, although it takes her a moment to realize they don't go the direction normal car doors go. I slide into the driver's seat, strap in, and check to make sure she's set.
"Ready?" She looks a little nervous, I think I traumatized her last time.
"Let's go." I slowly push the gas, and we start moving. I make sure this time to make it a calm, peaceful drive, instead of worrying about how long it takes to arrive. It's not my favorite, given that I'm not a very patient person, but I'll handle it.

That was boring. Pulling up to her dorm after a long drive, I can she agrees it was boring because she's asleep. Wonderful. Quietly climbing out, I come around to her side and grab her bag. There's her key, so i put her bag over my arm and pull her out of the car softly. I carry her to the door, and thankfully it's aromatic. I tap the elevator button with the handle of the sidearm on my hip, and we start going up. Thankfully, her key has her apartment number on it, so I take her up to her door, and slowly kneel down. Resting her upper body against the wall, I grab her key from my pocket and unlock the door, and it swings open with a quiet beep. I can hear a security system going off in the back, so I quickly pick her up and set her down on the cough before going and shutting off the alarm. Ah, I have no idea what the code is. Well, I quickly pull a cord from my wrist computer and plug into the system, first extending the timer, then shutting down the alarm. That's better. Anyways, I place her bag down on her table then go back to her on the couch. Looking around, I can see a bed which looks like hers through an open door, so I once again carry her bridal-style to the bed and lay her down. I turn to walk, then realize she probably wouldn't enjoy sleeping like that. I go back, and pull her hair out of its ponytail, take off her jacket, and prop her up on her pillows with her blankets over her. That'll be more comfortable. She mumbled lightly, but i can't make out anything of what she said. I step out, and shut the door. Double checking, the rest of the apartment is clear. I'm remarkably thirsty though, so I step over and open the cupboard. That's... not cups. Let's try the one next to it... no. I start randomly opening doors, and after 7 wrong guesses I finally get the right one. Finally, I pull out a glass and get a quick drink of water. That's better. I place it in the sink, and re-activate the alarm. I quickly step out and shut the door behind me. All in a days work. And what a day, too.

A/N-
That works