In the Rain

She came back for him

When he saw her lying on the hospital bed, still with cables attached to her, and face so pale that it worried him, Gimyung's heart broke. Kim Haejin was one of the few strong women he had ever seen in his life, and the fact that she could look so vulnerable gave him a fright. It was like a reminder to him that anything could happen to her as long as she was doing her job. However, he knew he could never tell her to quit because he could see just how much she devoted herself to it as if it was the sole purpose of her life. He toughened up, making sure she didn't have to worry about how he looked, and walked to her side.

"Haejin-ah," he called her ever so gently.

The woman he had begun to treasure in his life turned to him with a weak smile. "I'm back, Gimyung-ah." Her voice was still weak, but it was filled with life and love.

He took her hand in his. "Welcome back, noona," he replied, smiling back at her.

Her smile was weak, but it was enough to show how glad she was to see him again. "I came back for you. You know that?" she whispered, mustering all the energy she had.

Gimyung nodded. "I know. Thank you for coming back for me." He gave her another smile. "Really. Thank you." He held her hand with his both hands and rested his forehead on them as if he was praying, wishing that she would be okay soon.

"Gimyung-ah," she called him dearly.

Gimyung looked at her to find her crying.

"Thank you for saving me. I was so scared I wouldn't be seeing you again," she said in between her snifflings.

Her boyfriend's heart felt like it was being squeezed. "Hey, of course I'd come. I'd never leave you alone, noona." He held her hand even more firmly in his. "I'd never let you get hurt again like this."

He moved closer to kiss her forehead, letting his lips stay there for a while to savour the moment he finally had her with him again, alive and well. To have her taken away from in such way would forever leave a sense of fear in him, in Kim Gimyung who was never scared of anything in his life, not even the strongest fighter would make him shudder. And yet, the possibility of him losing her could turn his whole body so cold that it was unbearable.

He whispered against her forehead, "Don't get hurt again, please."

"Gimyung-ah, I can't promise you, but I'll try my best," she answered weakly, finally stopped crying.

His lips reluctantly parted from her. He smiled softly at her before resting his forehead against hers. He grunted lowly. "Noona, that won't be good for my heart."

They stayed like that for a good few minutes, ignoring their surrounding. Gimyung took his time feeling her warmth, and she used the moment to ensure herself that she was trully back with him. Those horrid thoughts about not being able to see him again might not be gone yet, but just having him with her was more than enough to make her feel safe.

For Gimyung, this was a whole new experience, loving someone like this. At one point, he was afraid that he would be just like his father who wasn't faithful to his family, but being with Haejin spared him no time to think about other women. He wouldn't even spare a glance to those women whether or not Haejin was next to him. Also, despite having said that Sinwoo was his everything, he began to feel how much her existence had grown in his life. He couldn't imagine a life without her anymore. Even when he had the whole Big Deal with him, days spent without her would mean less to him.

And, as for Haejin, Kim Gimyung had become someone who could accept her along with her baggage without complaining at all. Not even once. Obviously, there were times she would feel bad because of that, but Gimyung would always say that she didn't need to worry about that. She felt like she could talk to him about anything and everything, from something serious to something silly. Just as she liked him the way he was, so did Gimyung. Days spent without proper sleep didn't feel as bad as it was before she met him. And, knowing that she could see him anytime, she had been looking forward to her tomorrows even more.

After Gimyung was done proving that Haejin was, indeed, warm and alive, he then sat next to her bed, just holding her hand, not saying anything anymore. As he watched her drifting back to sleep, the nurse by the counter in the ICU ward could see his face hardened. He looked like he was ready to commit a mass murder any time, and nobody would be able to stand in his way. The problem was that he didn't want to end up in prison again, especially now that he had Haejin. If he had to do something, he should be careful in how he chose to do it. Gimyung was even wondering if he should work together with the police in this case despite being a gang member. Well, if he had to, he would do so for Haejin.

When he noticed someone was talking to Ryujin just outside the ICU, he decided that he needed to know more about what happened since the kidnapper contacted him directly instead of Ryujin or any of Haejin's team members. His feet were still heavy from not wanting to leave his lover for even just a moment, but he had to. Nothing like what happened today should happen again to her. Ever. With every determination he could gather, he stood up and walked towards the door. He caught Ryujin's attention.

"Gimyung-ssi, how's my sister?" asked Ryujin, curious but less worried now.

Gimyung nodded to the older man standing next to Ryujin before answering the question. "She's stable and asleep now. She's probably still anxious, though."

The older man sighed. "Both of you will have to watch her closely since she might not tell you what she's trully feeling," he suggested. He sounded like he knew her a lot. Gimyung guessed that he might be a part of the investigation team with Haejin. Both he and Ryujin nodded.

"Why would the kidnapper contact me?" Gimyung let out the question that had been bugging him the whole day.

"Because she wanted us to know that she could harm people who aren't even involved in the investigation, Kim Gimyung-ssi," answered the older man as he reached out his hand. "I'm Jung Yujin."

"He's the captain of the investigation team, Gimyung-ssi." Ryujin took the liberty of explaining who the man really was.

Gimyung took his hand. The handshake was firm, as expected from a team leader.

"Is there anything we can do? I don't want to see her like this again," said Gimyung, his hands were clenched into fists. "I know she wouldn't like it if I were too involved in this, but she called me herself. So, I'm already involved, yeah?"

Jung Yujin sighed. He knew Haejin very well and how upset she would be if Gimyung were to involve himself further, but then again, Gimyung was right. He was already very much involved in this mess. "We can start with your phone, Gimyung-ssi.  We'll check Haejin's as well, and since she called you too, there might be a lead too."

"Sure. Should I go to the station tonight?" asked Gimyung, eager to help keeping his Haejin safe from that lunatic murderer.

Hearing how eager Gimyung was, the captain laughed. "Tomorrow's fine. I told the others to rest for the night. They were constantly restless when Haejin was kidnapped."

Gimyung nodded in agreement. "Okay. Tomorrow then." He was too preoccupied by his rage that he didn't even care about the fact that he would be entering the police station on his own tomorrow.

Well, he could do the worrying later.