Sweet Poison

Disclosure

It is eight o'clock in the morning and Elaine is out on the balcony, leaning on the rails and staring up at the foggy sky. She has yet to change out of her lace midi nightgown, but with having quit her acting career, she has been having a lot more time to relax and fill most of her time with training. It just so happens that right now, she actually has a moment where she doesn't have to drill her fists into a punching bag. She usually wakes up around ten because her hectic schedule has cleared up, but something has been bothering her for the past couple of days so she wakes up early to fix the itch.

The sound of the door opening eases through her ears and she finds herself taking in a breath and releasing it as a sigh. Turning around, she stares back at the room instead, and finds Jongin taking really slow and meticulous steps inside, as if he is a thief who is breaking into a millionaire's mansion.

"You don't have to tip toe your way back to bed, I'm already awake today." Her voice comes out from behind him, making Jongin shake and turn around with a case of the jitters.

"Oh god you scared me, I didn't think you would be up so early." He says as he begins to loosen the tie around his neck, and she can see small beads of sweat hanging around his sideburns, giving her more reasons to investigate.

"It must be because I'm always asleep when you run off, right?" Jongin can tell that she is onto something, and from the somberness of her tone, he can also see that she is upset with him.

Therefore, he comes closer to her and places his hands on her shoulders, like that will ease her flames. "I'm sorry if you think of it as running off, I just have a lot on my plate." He begins to message circles around her skin, and she tries not to fall for his boyish smile and warm summer eyes.

"At five in the morning?" Her tone reveals her belief of him being a liar, "I waited three hours for you. What did Mr. Jung want from you that early?" She questions him, and he only shakes her from side to side, to try and loosen her up a bit.

"You have every right to question me, but it's about this deal that we have to close with the company in China. It's important so I have to work on it extra early, and I come back everyday so I can have a few more hours to hold you, is that so wrong?" Jongin tries to sooth her as he places a gentle kiss onto her temple, and she offers him a small smile.

"Alright, just go upstairs and get some rest. I'll be out job hunting again for the time being." She sends him away, and after he walks up the stairs, she moves the phone that she secretly took from him into view.

Typing in her birthday as the passcode on his phone, she ventures to his calling log and finds over ten calls from a blocked number. She stares at the number as if trying to decode it, and ends up just placing the device onto the table in front of her. Elaine decides to just hurry up and head to the academy before Jongin has a chance to come down for his phone. It appears to be that this game of lies and manipulation will never leave her be.

The training session is heavy with a deadly aura, which is the only aura that is ever around her, and the only sounds escaping are the pants and grunts of Elaine and Damon, her instructor. The scenario is nothing far from usual, but in the middle of their battle, the noise of surface gliding against surface suddenly clicks in their ears, and they find themselves turning towards the door to their right. Damon pivots his head upwards as a sign for her to advance towards the door, and she bends down to take out the knife in her boot before slowly taking her steps to the other room.

Carefully pushing the door to a wider circle, Elaine gasps when coming face to face with a body hanging from a rope in the center of the room. Damon is right behind her with his own hand gun pointed towards a potential threat, and they both end up staring at a dead body instead.