Archive of Our Own ^beta

Yun-Jin thanked the gods for the invention of elevators.

There was a fair amount of aggression as she slipped her key into the lock, expression muddled and clothes soiled as they dripped onto the tile floor. It had been one hell of a day, start to finish; executive meetings that had lasted hours with her arguing herself hoarse, the weight of Ji-Woon’s career resting solely on her shoulders. They weren’t happy with the direction his music had gone, the themes were far too violent for the charts - which. Yun-Jin could understand where they were coming from, truly. Originally, she’d just thought the graphic musical exploration was nothing more than a phase.

Several months later with his voice overtaking the sounds of synth and reverberated screams, she was beginning to think otherwise.

The door to her penthouse apartment swung open with a firm push, the storm now visible through the large and wall-encompassing windows that made up the entire side of the living area. She gave it a glare, the night sky a swirl of rolling clouds and heavy rainfall that drenched the city of Seoul and all those within it. 

Unfortunately, her driver for the night had taken his time seeking her out when she’d finally called it a day and left the Mightee One office building. The time it’d taken him to meet with her had just been long enough to saturate her wool coat and pressed dress pants as she had stood there looking for him. Any other day and she’d have gone back inside to wait but just the thought of breathing in that stale office air again had made her want to claw her own face off.

So here she was, a drowned rat as a result.

Her keys and bag hit the ground the minute she was inside, the front door slamming shut with a kick of her heel before she was wandering further into the darkness of her apartment. She would have to talk to Ji-Woon tomorrow, break the news to him and somehow try and manipulate it into something he wouldn’t be difficult about. It wasn’t necessarily his fault that Mightee One sales had dropped, but he probably wasn’t helping.

If Yun-Jin wanted to keep her job, and her relevancy, Ji-Woon would have to shelf the brand they had created for him. Running off of the literal fumes of the fire wasn’t working anymore, and whatever artistic direction he’d taken hadn’t been it either. 

With a loud and wet smack, her coat fell into a heap as she crossed from the foyer and towards the kitchen. There was wine there, and it had her name written all over it.

Light wasn’t necessary for her to navigate her own living space. Sheer determination is what had her using the brief flashes of lightning to make out shadows and shapes, her hands extending to feel counters and the glassware that decorated the tops of them.

If it was up to her, Yun-Jin would simply ask him to dial it a bit back. It wasn’t anything new that Ji-Woon Hak was a bit of a wild card, his content was bizarre certainly but he wasn’t without a fanbase because of it. His talent and ambition to succeed had been far too colorful to be pushed aside because of how distinctive the execution was. And really that was the only problem, the execution.

A loud thunderclap made her shoulders lift reflexively, though she relaxed when, after a few seconds of scouring, she finally wrapped her fingers around a familiar glass bottle. It was half-full, or half-empty depending on which way one looked at it. Given that Yun-Jin tended to be a realist, it didn’t matter what adjective was used. Once it was gone, she had another lined up to take its place. 

Her rings made a delightful clinking sound as she lifted the wine bottle and propped her hip up against the granite countertops, her balance necessary to remove her shoes. The leather of her Louboutins was treated, but that didn’t mean she wanted to risk her thousand-dollar heels if she could help it. They’d need to be dried and cleaned, the soles no doubtedly soaked through if the moisture in her socks was anything to go by. She lifted each leg behind her and reached to slip them off, the damp strands of her hair brushing her cheek and making her sniff from how miserable she felt.

There’d be no tears, Yun-Jin hadn’t cried since she was a child and that streak wasn’t about to be broken by snakes in expensive suits who made significantly more money than she did. 

Bastards, she hoped they choked on their gold foil and caviar.

She set her pair of heels atop the counter and abandoned them there with the intent to retrieve them later. They’d be fine until she returned, and if they were truly beyond repair then oh fucking well, there were others in her closet. Just as there was more wine in her cupboards. Win-win.

The walk from her kitchen and towards the hallway was a bit slower as she had to avoid smacking into the walls, the light of the storm not quite consistent enough to give her the navigational confidence. That, and fatigue was starting to set in the closer she got to her bedroom, an unfortunate Pavlovian response. Very rarely was she ever here to do more than sleep. As of late almost all of her time went to sitting inside the studio with Ji-Woon, the pair of them going back and forth for hours until they were both too tired to continue.

There was going to be even more of that soon, she couldn’t wait.

When she reached the end of the hall, Yun-Jin turned to bump her hip into the bedroom door in order to open it, the wood swinging freely inwards. She swayed right along with it as she twisted the glass stopper from the top of her wine bottle, eyes narrowing to sweep the pitch-black space of her room before she headed for the spot she knew the master bathroom door to be. It was shut tight, and the chorus of rain outside of the apartment made it difficult to hear her own thoughts let alone anything out of the ordinary. 

It was just a storm, just white noise to ignore as she thought about tomorrow. 

It was going to be another long day, though admittedly Ji-Woon’s company was far better than Mightee One’s executive team. She would have to spin something up, push him without making it seem like he had to change anything about himself. Yun-Jin didn’t want to do that to him, not after everything that he’d gone through just to get here. 

Things that were sometimes her fault.

Not the kinds of thoughts she wanted to have on a day like this, and on that note she brought the bottle up to her mouth as she reached for the bathroom door. She wouldn’t dwell on it, the entire situation was solvable, Ji-Woon would just have to-.

Oh fuck.

Yun-Jin had only just barely pushed open the door when light spilled through, a wave of steam releasing through the crack and warming her wrist. Leaving the bathroom light on was a mistake she could’ve potentially seen herself making, but the steam. Outside of the room, the noise had been excused as just particularly loud rainfall. But - but it was her fucking shower.

Her heart immediately leapt into her throat, fingers tightening around her wine bottle as her eyes remained glued to the bathroom floor. There wasn’t a whole lot she could see given she’d ceased her advancement, body frozen and breath lodged in her windpipe. Yun-Jin’s first thought was a robbery or a break-in but that would’ve meant that they'd gotten by the penthouse building security, and she could only think of one other person who had the latest codes to her level.

With a steadying exhale for courage, she spared only a few seconds before slowly pushing the door open a little farther, head tilting to peer around as much of it as she could. The shower was to the far left, and the bathroom door was also an inwards swing which meant she’d have to actually peek her head in before she could see fuck-all. 

When she did, however, what she saw had her blood running cold. Bloody footsteps decorated the white marble floor, some of them pink where the puddles were more water than anything else. It wasn’t difficult to track their progress towards her shower.

It was very difficult to break into a place like this, and why they would stop to take a shower was an impossible question to answer. So that left legal entry, and last she checked, the only person that knew how to get in was...

Oh no.

Adrenaline took over sense and Yun-Jin shoved open the rest of the door, steam immediately billowing in her face and making her cheeks flush hot. Whoever had turned it on must’ve opted for the highest setting, and when she pointed her attention straight for the shower the fogged up glass almost disguised the blurry figure within. 

“Ji-Woon!” The stopper and wine bottle hit the bathroom floor with a loud thud, Yun-Jin ignoring the soak of blood and water in her socks as she made to rush for the shower door. Her heart twisted as she pulled it open and there he was, his body slumped up against the wall. Unresponsive. 

The first syllable of his name barely wheezed out of her, and her hands were already shaking when she moved inside to turn off the hot water. He must’ve gripped it on his way down if the bloody handprint on the knob and the slide of fingertips down the wall was anything to go by. The sight only worsened her panic, and Yun-Jin withdrew her hand to quickly wipe off the smear of red on her pant leg before she dropped to her knees. Reaching out to touch his face, she had to assume her fingers were still cold from the outside given how boiling he felt to the touch. She cupped his jaw to tilt his face up and the floor of her stomach dropped out when his head lulled weakly in her hands.

There was the heavy drum of a pulse when she searched for the soft spot beneath his jaw, a gust of an exhale pushing out of her chest in relief at the feel of it beating against her fingertips. It didn’t last very long however, that panic began to rear right back up when she spotted the specks of dried blood decorating his cheekbones.

Ambulance, she’d had to call for one of those or at least the penthouse security downstairs. He was a sight, and the more she looked at him and the area around them the worse it got. The shower had done a decent enough job of washing most of the blood off of him, but not the puddles that littered the room. There were stains of it on the floor outside the shower, and when Yun-Jin glanced behind her, she could see the various handprints where he had probably used whatever he could find to stabilize himself on his way in.

The pieces of her bedroom carpet not encased by shadow, even that appeared to have suffered the assault of bloodied shoes.

“God, Ji-Woon…” What had happened? Yun-Jin pivoted her face back to him, her hands still gently cradling his face. If she let go, he’d slump like a ragdoll again. 

No one came to mind that would want to hurt him, but then again he could’ve simply found trouble himself. Which wouldn’t make sense either given he tended to be kind of private. The K-pop star didn’t like being touched when it wasn’t on his terms, and he certainly didn’t wander the streets late at night without at least his security detail to follow him.

He wasn’t stupid.

However, there’d been that string of murders, and Yun-Jin had suspected a stalker at one point. 

Dread filled her then, and she slowly set his face down as she thought about retrieving her cellphone. Like an idiot she had left it in her coat out in the foyer; strangely enough, at the time it hadn’t occurred to her that she might’ve needed it. 

Wait, did she lock the door when she came in? Was there anyone lingering outside the building that she could’ve seen?

Security, she needed to call security first and then she’d call for services. 

Decision made, Yun-Jin twisted and reached for one of the shower handles on the wall and pulled herself up. Water had soaked into her pants and her socks, the feeling uncomfortable but just something she’d have to deal with in the meantime. The mess would be a problem for later, for now she just needed to get him help.  

Or, at least that was the plan until a hand weakly grabbed hers before she could get too far.

She whipped around in startled panic, a gasp sucking in tight as she caught Ji-Woon looking at her through half-lidded eyes, his lips parted as he pulled in slow and steady breaths. Like her strings had been cut, Yun-Jin immediately dropped back onto the shower floor, her free hand a flurry and her voice lost in a series of random frantic sounds that he seemed to find a tad overwhelming. Ji-Woon’s eyes fell shut again, his head bobbing forward before he lifted it up and rested it against the shower wall. He still had a hold of her hand, his grip nearly slipping though she had no intention of pulling away from him just yet.

It was quiet when he didn't immediately say anything, so quiet. She couldn’t take it for very long.

“Ji-Woon what the hell happened, wh- we have to get you to a hospital. Do you hear me? You’re bleeding everywhere, this is-.” 

“S’not… not all of it is mine…” His voice was a mere whisper, throat working before his eyes opened again and he wandered around until his gaze eventually landed on hers. He looked close to keeling over, but there was an alertness there that seemed otherworldly. For a man who was just recently unconscious, he had an unsettling amount of energy to put towards just watching her. It was about all he was doing, save for the seemingly deliberate pushes and pulls of his breath.

What the fuck did he mean that it wasn’t all his?

She didn’t have an immediate response to that, instead her mouth opening and closing as she searched his face. He didn’t give anything away, and the dried blood there had her slowly dragging her eyes from his cheeks and down to the rest of him. She stopped when she got to his midsection, his posture standing out as oddly intentional. He was cradling his stomach, his fingers tense like he was actively engaging his muscles. 

No, Ji-Woon was applying pressure. The blood soaked into his jacket sleeve and shirt was oddly pooled underneath his arm, which meant...

“Let me see.” He didn’t fight her as she wiggled her hand free from his and reached for his arm, though through her peripherals she could see him grimace the very minute her fingers brushed over his wrist. He made no further protests, however, simply sat still as Yun-Jin lifted his wrist with as much care as she could - just enough to see what was underneath. 

A single wound, the size and shape making her think it was made with a sharp object. It was still oozing, but not nearly as bad as she would’ve thought. Most of the gore was just on the part of his sleeve that had been pressed over it, the material sticky and saturated with blood.

How long had he been here?

"Ji-Woon." Yun-Jin tried to keep her voice steady, her mouth going dry as the possibilities ran through her mind. It took effort to look at him, but when she did he looked tired, and would probably be ashen if not for the hot water he'd been previously underneath. He was still bizarrely watching her too, every breath made from his nose as his lips pressed thin from what she assumed was the pain. "I have to get you to the hospital. And…,” she exhaled, “... and call the police." 

He visibly frowned at that, but she quickly continued onwards hoping he’d get it. "I don't know who did this or what-what you mean that it all isn't yours but you're not about to fucking die in my goddamn shower. Alright??"

Ji-Woon blinked slowly at the snappiness of her tone, and then he said the most outrageous thing Yun-Jin had ever heard.

"... if you call the police, they're going to ask questions." 

What?

There was a strength to his voice that hadn’t been there before, and his wrist twitched where Yun-Jin still had a hold of it. Something about him just then had her hesitating, an alarm bell that rang in between her ears and warned of danger. It didn’t keep though, the growing rise of hot indignation at his audacity quickly broke right through it.

"You’re worried about questions?! Are you fucking kidding me? I have questions, Ji-Woon! And if you want me to do anything for you right now I suggest you start by telling me what the fuck this is!” Her outrage and near threat hadn’t been spoken with the intention that it was rhetorical, and yet he remained stoically silent as if that had been an option all along.

The man had the gall to keep her in the dark, after he'd invited himself bloody into her home and passed out in her shower. The insanity of the situation was mounting into make-or-break territory, and Yun-Jin gave him an icy scowl before she stood up once again. 

She was calling him an ambulance whether he liked it or not, and when the authorities inevitably got involved then he’d have no choice but to talk. Though, the possibility that he'd done something wrong enough to keep it a secret was difficult to accept. It just didn’t sound right, but yet here he was in a state she never expected to find him in. How could she rule it out…?

Yun-Jin only made it out past the shower and to the bathroom door before she stopped on that notion, a foreign force begging her to reconsider. If she walked through, if she walked away… then that would be it. He’d suffer the consequences of whatever he’d done.

Did she want that? To take that risk?

Ji-Woon had certainly made the decision to bleed out in sanctuary rather than somewhere logical. And when she took a brief glance over her shoulder at him, he wasn’t even looking at her anymore. He was staring up at the ceiling, body limp like he either didn’t have the energy to move again or he simply was choosing not to. The verdict was entirely up to her.

And he trusted her, at least enough to come here looking like that and wait for her to get home. 

She gulped down reason, cursed her conclusion, and then let out a shaky sigh filled with all reservation. Yun-Jin swayed away from the door and ripped the nearest towel from the rack. 

She didn't exactly have a plan yet with how she was going to handle this, but it wasn’t by getting him thrown in fucking jail on a whim, if that was what was in store. Being the scapegoat for a loss of profit was one thing, she could fix that, but assault and potential homicide?

God, fucking homicide. She was going to be sick. Please let it be self-defense and manslaughter instead - or, fuck it, she'd even take a messy goat sacrifice. 

His eyes dropped at her sudden approach, a noise of confusion slipping out of him at the assertiveness she poured into moving back into the shower. Her name started to form on the cusp of his tongue before he squawked when spray from above suddenly hit him in the face. Served him right, and at that Yun-Jin turned momentarily to toss the towel over the top of the shower wall before she took a second more to remove her rings and pearl bracelets.

They were set aside on the shelf where her hair products were kept, the satin of her sleeves being rolled up her arms as she watched Ji-Woon spit water to the side. He seemed more awake at least.

"I'm taking off your clothes." That earned her his full attention, those dark eyes flickering up to her before he visibly fought a smile. He was bleeding all over her floor - she'd punch the little shit if he so much as dared to make a comment. Hopefully her glare was steely enough that it deterred him from doing so. "If you're going to Emergency, which you are because I am not even remotely qualified for this, you're not doing it covered in someone else's blood."

Ji-Woon sobered a bit from her explanation, the blatant honesty of it flattening his features until there was nothing there to read. Whatever, Yun-Jin didn’t need his approval or his happiness to do what she was about to, which started off with surveying what she had to work with.

Street clothes, that’s what he deemed appropriate to get stabbed in, right. Boots first, then.

Warm water rained overhead as Yun-Jin got back down onto his level, her hands already at work getting the laces to tug free and the expensive leather to slide off. It took a bit of work to get them off given how saturated they were, the material near shrunk and rather keen on staying put. They were ruined, for all intents and future purposes.

Looked like Ji-Woon was buying them both new shoes.

As soon as his boots were tossed to the side, she went for his jacket, a piece of clothing that proved a task in getting off of him as well because nothing was going to be easy today, apparently. His silence quickly dissolved into pained hisses and loud pants, each movement of his abdominals clearly causing him pain. Yun-Jin considered cutting it off of him after a minute or two, he barely lifted himself up off the wall to try and help before his expression shattered and he made the kind of sound she never wanted to hear from him again.

“Y-Yun-Jin… ah. I think-.” 

“Shut up.” She couldn’t stand to hear his voice, wanted that quiet he’d previously been so keen on giving her as she withdrew her hands and pushed wet platinum strands out of her face. She was drenched, clothing sticking uncomfortably to her skin and leaving her a bit overwhelmed from too much stimulus. At least she’d already been wet and uncomfortable before this, perhaps the rain had just been a preliminary warning of what awaited her back home.

Could’ve done without it, thanks, her shoes would have at least survived.

The material of his jacket was too thick for any sort of scissors she had, so in the end it took them gritting their teeth and baring it as she carefully guided the fabric back and slipped it free of his arms. He did a decent job of biting back sounds, each hitch of his breath ending on a shaky exhale that she swore sounded a little like a laugh. 

Could’ve been a sob, laughter didn’t quite make sense in this context. 

Actually that was generous, if Yun-Jin was being completely honest, none of this made sense.

His jacket hit the shower floor with a loud and wet thwap, Ji-Woon making a mournful sound as he dropped himself back against the shower wall. Rationale and logic told her to question him more, find out what in the hell he’d done while she had the chance. Yun-Jin had him in the perfect spot, he was completely at her mercy. 

And yet. Not a word left her.

The rest of his clothing took the same amount of painful effort, though to preserve his modesty she stopped at his boxers. Ji-Woon had at least kept most of his pointed looks to himself, though it seemed by now he was past any of the childish remarks she had feared. Looked a bit green when she shoved all his clothes into a pile and shifted back on her knees to give him a once over. He was still protecting his midsection, which upon further investigation wasn’t really that bad. A single wound, just the one - and not another scratch on him.

Yun-Jin didn’t ask. She didn’t ask when she turned the shower off and stood to drag the towel off of the shower door, Ji-Woon silent as death save for the quickened puffs of his breath. She didn’t ask when she bent and draped it over his head, his eyes strangely distant and thoughtful. 

Instead it was thick and uncomfortably stagnant air, Yun-Jin left wondering if this was all some sort of terribly creative dream as she pursed her lips and took either sides of the towel in hand to wipe off the water and dried blood from his face. The soft cotton swiped just atop his cheek when he looked at her again, the lull broken and whatever he’d been thinking about apparently shelved for the time being. 

They were very close, yet she still startled when she felt his fingers suddenly wrap around her wrist, his parted lips pressing into a weak smile as he relaxed under her hands. Ji-Woon’s thumb brushed her pulse point, and Yun-Jin suddenly felt very aware of how her wet clothes plastered onto her body. It was the second time he’d touched her that night, the gesture already unfamiliar between the two of them but even more alien given the circumstances. 

He was probably delirious, that’s what she told herself. And in order to break whatever spell was threatening to form as a result, she gave his cheek a firm pat and released the towel, her wrist slipping back away from him. He let her go with ease, a mere sigh expelling itself from him as Yun-Jin rocked up onto her feet and staggered a bit in her attempts to exit the shower. 

“We’re getting you out of here after I get dressed.” Another towel was pulled from the rack, her hair needing a firm scrub first thing before she bothered with anything else. With one hand working the cotton through her hair, the other reached for the mirror above her sink and wiped the fog off down the middle. She didn’t look her best, her makeup wasn’t exactly waterproof and the day had been long. 

There wasn't time to fix it, but at the very least she'd wet the towel and clean up what she could.

Ji-Woon was still quiet by the time she finished drying her hair. His eyes had closed the last she checked, chest rising and falling softly as if he’d lulled himself to sleep. The faint noise he made when she stepped away from the sink made her think he wasn’t actually asleep, though she still gave no warning before leaving the bathroom entirely and heading into her bedroom. 

It was too dark to see, but when she reached for the lightswitch to illuminate the room, she suddenly wished she hadn’t bothered. The bloody trail was a pink stain from door to door, and Yun-Jin stopped to stare at it with a mixed bag of feelings.

This wasn’t going to be something they could get by without the press snagging hold, it was way too big.

Just another thing to look forward to.

A shaky exhale pushed past her lips, and Yun-Jin steered her attention elsewhere as she reached for the buttons of her blouse and stepped towards her dresser. Perhaps it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, this… incident, considering the shitstorm she had dealt with earlier in the day. Mightee One would potentially give him space if they fluffed up some bullshit story about Ji-Woon Hak being caught out in the rain and nearly killed by a rogue mugging.

She peeled her shirt off of her arms and then dropped her hands to push the hem of her dress pants down her thighs, a noise of dismay hissing under her breath at the feel of clammy skin being exposed to chilled air. Her day was certainly one for the books start to fucking finish. Everyone would be damn fucking lucky if she didn’t spontaneously retire after this. 

Yun-Jin was quick to remove the rest of her sopping wet attire and replace it with something dry and warm, the bobbing thought of ’he’s right in the other room’ damn near haunting her every second. Not that she thought Ji-Woon was capable of hauling himself up without at least making enough noise for her to notice, but the irrational fear was just par for the course of fried nerves. 

There was a conundrum not previously considered however, when she finished adjusting the thick turtleneck around her neck and started scanning the room in thought of what was next. Finding herself clothing was easy enough, but what about Ji-Woon? They couldn’t very well stick him back in the wet and bloody crap he’d come in with, and given her severe lack of a dating life there wasn’t much she had stored away that was man sized.

Maybe… somewhere Yun-Jin had an oversized t-shirt, maybe some sweats; things she used to wear when lounging around had been an option for her.

Noise came from the bathroom, a wet pant following the sound of a hand sliding along the glass of her shower wall. She didn’t have much longer to dally.

”Ji-Woon.” He’d be getting a mouthful later. Perhaps even an itemized bill given how much damage he had caused her home, emotional grief to boot. Yun-Jin hurried to rip open her dresser drawers and sift through folded the materials, her ears trained in on the ruckus her unexpected guest was making. No doubtedly he was intending to leave the bathroom in search of her, her suspicions only confirmed when she had a bundle of worn clothes in her arms and was turning around to spot Ji-Woon leaning in the bathroom doorway, lazily observing.

The pair stared at one another for a long moment, the only sounds being the roaring storm overhead and the pained pulls of his breath. He was using the threshold to prop himself up, one arm pressed into the dark stained wood while the other continued to cradle his midsection. He seemed like he wanted to say something, his tongue peeking out to wet his lips before he parted them on an inhale.

Yun-Jin scrambled to beat him to the punch. 

“Mightee One wants to retire the Trickster.” Oops. For added effect, a crackle of thunder boomed somewhere in the distance, lightning shortly following and briefly flashing through the bedroom windows. The leftfield comment put a befuddled furrow to his brow, Ji-Woon tilting his head slightly as Yun-Jin took a deep breath before starting right for him.

“What…?” He was completely lucid at least despite the returned tiredness to his eyes and the paleness of his face. Yun-Jin gave a curt hum in the affirmative as she waved a hand at him to encourage him back into the bathroom, she herself far more concerned with the bit of blood she could see beading down the hard planes of his stomach. “What does that mean?”

All of his focus was locked in on her as she pushed him gently backwards, Ji-Woon going only after a second’s wait. She held onto her answer until she had him sitting on the closed lid of her toilet, his teeth grit through a curse of pain from the inevitable jostling. Yun-Jin sat the clothes aside and paced away from him - over the spilt wine and bloody puddles - in order to get to her medicine cabinet. 

“They think your music's too violent. I tried to defend your case.” All day, actually. “But they won't budge.” She rummaged through commercially labeled pills and even some prescription, her search only ending when she caught sight of the little first aid kit stashed somewhere in the back. “You’re being given a chance to boost your popularity and rebrand, I managed to secure you that much. It’ll take some brain-storming, but it’s nothing we haven’t already had to do in the past.” 

Little box in hand, she rotated back to face him. He still looked confused, though dismay was there as well. As was something else she was too unfamiliar with to identify. 

A flutter of nerves had her drumming her nails over the kit, regret threatening to take over before she lifted her chin and made her way back over to him. “It’s doable, Ji-Woon. I just need you to listen to what I say.” 

“I do listen to what you say.” He started to get animated, to get upset. It was more life in him than Yun-Jin had seen all night. “That’s all I have done - what am I… what’s supposed to change??” He made like he was going to stand back up, but with a firm palm against his naked shoulder she pushed him right back down. It hurt, she knew it did just by whine he made as he sank back into his seat, but Yun-Jin didn’t have the time to gentle him.

“Everything, from what I’ve been told.” His face fell and she gulped past the rush of guilt. How unfortunate she could still feel that for him, given the circumstances. She'd have to blame it on her exhaustion, and quite frankly she was far too overwhelmed to bother with rationality.

Ji-Woon didn’t say anything back, not immediately, so Yun-Jin occupied herself with popping open the kit and shuffling around its contents. There was gauze, and a bit of tape. She’d have to wash her hands before getting down to it, this really wasn’t just your common backyard knee-scrape.

Yun-Jin really needed to get her phone. And she really needed a minute outside of this room. Eventually, he found the nerve to speak, his voice so small she nearly faltered before deciding to do just that. 

”Everything...?” He didn't acknowledge her placing the kit in his lap, gauze and tape being set into his free hand which she closed his fingers over. He was obedient in his shock at least, sat completely still as those wide eyes followed her when she stepped towards the door.

“Unfortunately.” Heavy silence followed from behind her, the kind that had her wincing. “... wait right there." 

Resolutely, Yun-Jin didn’t touch the light switches once she made it outside her bedroom door. The darkness did a perfect job of hiding the evidence of any blood, but it still made her skin crawl a bit thinking of it being there. 

The storm was beginning to die down, but Yun-Jin was still able to navigate to where she had tossed her coat. She didn't bother with lingering to pat it down, just scooped up the material the minute she had it in her hands and started back the way she came. Once it was withdrawn from her inside pocket, the wet wool was abandoned thoughtlessly to the side as she tapped the screen of her phone to bring it to life. It nearly blinded her while in the darkness of her hallway, but under the light of her bedroom it was only two clicks to get to her emergency contact list.

When she re-entered the bathroom, Ji-Woon only lifted his head when he heard the loud ringing echoing from the speaker of her phone. He hadn’t moved from where she left him, which was a positive - Yun-Jin had almost expected him to given the information she had very unwisely just dumped on him before she left. 

“Calling a friend.” Even though he hadn’t asked, she still felt the need to reassure him in any way she could. There were complicated threads of emotion sewing themselves into her skin, Yun-Jin unable to meet his eyes as she got close enough to set the phone on his knee before heading immediately for the sink.

Despite the ringing and the pitter-patter of rain, the bathroom was uncomfortably quiet.

She washed her hands, making sure she took her time. The phone was still ringing, and given the hour Yun-Jin honestly couldn’t be so surprised. Still, it wasn’t ideal for a multitude of reasons, and when she couldn’t stall any longer she took a steadying breath and looked up into the mirror. 

He was staring in her direction, which wasn’t new for tonight, but this time it was different. There was a hollowness there, the kind that socked her in the gut and left her struggling to form words. Dammit, she had intended to plan that better but the day had just been so much. This was so much, it was too much. 

“Ji-Woon.” She spoke his name and her tone made him perk up. He was waiting, hanging on her every word. “... I’m sor-.”

“Hello?”

The sudden tinny voice replacing the rhythmic ringing had them both jumping, Yun-Jin whipping around on a dime before she swiftly turned off the sink, dried her hands, and made her way back. They’d have to continue this discussion later, because her gears needed to shift in order to make this work.

“It’s Yun-Jin.” When she was close enough to retrieve the medical kit and coax the gauze and tape from his hand, she dropped into a kneel just in front of him. He was still protecting his stomach, though when she batted at his arm he lifted it away so she could get a better look.

”Yun-Jin? What’s going on, is everything okay?”

Not in the slightest.

"I need an ambulance sent to my penthouse." Down at eye level, the wound was a lot more difficult to take in. It wasn’t large by any means, and whatever blood there now was had been from disrupting the clot. But it was deep enough that she could see the fleshy bits underneath and the parts of his skin where it had separated against a razor-thin edge. 

Looking at it like this, it made a wave of warm sickness roll up into her face, her head feeling a bit dizzy until she stabilized herself.

"What?! Oh God, what happened?"

"Mmmm…" Yun-Jin swallowed after a brief closing of her eyes, her breath pulling in slow and steady. "It's Ji-Woon. He uhm…" 

There was a pause, one that allowed Yun-Jin the time to reopen her eyes and look up at him. It was up to her again, the second make-or-break of the night. 

She didn’t need another reason to feel like the asshole, so Yun-Jin stared him right in the eyes and lied. "He was mugged."

Ji-Woon's brow twitched, and even though nothing about him really changed there was still a subtle sense of relief. She faced away in order to not have to see his gratitude, hands flexing with nerves before she pushed them aside and ripped open the packet of gauze.

"Oh shit, oh-oh shit, is he alright? I-I can call an ambulance if it's serious but you know a car would be more... private. Have you called Mightee One?"

An exhale of agitation followed a bitten out 'no,' because calling the executive team, while important, hadn't been at the top of her priority list. Yun-Jin shifted forward to press the gauze against the wound, the following tense and loud hiccup from up above pushing her to get the ball rolling.

"I called you. They still need to be contacted so we can get a hold on this before the press catches it. And I don't care what you send me, just get me a fucking vehicle."

"O...okay, I'm sorry - you're right. I'll… I'll send a car and get the word out. You might keep your phone on you, just in case they call."

Whatever, that was fine. She gave a hum of acknowledgment as she kept the gauze in place with one hand and ripped a strip of tape off the holder with her teeth. Ji-Woon didn't make another sound as she applied it over the gauze, though his breathing seemed controlled like he was actively trying not to. 

Almost over. 

"Is… you have him in the meantime, right? He's okay?"

Yun-Jin sat back to admire her handiwork, one hand falling to her lap with the tape as the other lifted to tuck her hair behind her ear. It was as good as it was going to get, but it only had to hold him until they got to the hospital. 

"Ms. Lee?"

"Yes." She cleared her throat, head dipping so she could rub at her eyes. Did she have him? Of course, Yun-Jin always had him. She felt unbelievably bad about the whole Mightee One fiasco but that would work itself out. She wouldn't let him fall, not again.

As for this, this oddity of an occurrence… 

"Yes," she repeated, "I have him."

Ji-Woon gave her a squint when she sighed and dared seek him out, his mouth pulling into a small smile that almost seemed warm. It made her want to smile back, and she almost did before she remembered herself. "I'll talk to you later. Let whoever you send know to buzz and we'll head down. Thank you. "

Before the other could reply she reached over to pluck her phone from Ji-Woon’s leg and hit the disconnect call button, the heaviness of the day beginning to weigh her down as she considered her reflection in the darkness of the screen.

There was still so much to do.

"Yun-Jin...?" 

Ugh.

"I want you to promise me something." She sniffed as she shifted to slip her phone into the pocket of her leggings, thoughts roaming as she solidified herself in the decision she was about to make. There were a million things he could want to say, and none of them she wanted to hear. If they were going to do this and pretend this never happened, she couldn’t be made a liability.

The plan was he needed to not say anything at all.

Which meant that they needed to have this conversation now, before the police, press and Mightee One got involved. "We don't talk about this. At all. I've changed my mind, Ji-Woon - I don't want to know how this happened. So… don’t tell me. Because if you tell me." Yun-Jin exhaled as she rolled her shoulders and lifted a hand up to rub the back of her neck, gaze wandering the tile. "Then... I have to get involved. Are we clear?"

In lieu of an immediate response, he slowly sat up after a hitched breath, one hand moving to take a hold of the kit on his lap so he could set it aside. Whether he was pondering her words or not, Ji-Woon took his time.

He checked his stomach, ran his fingers through his wet hair and bothered with looking past her - probably at the mirror. 

Yun-Jin would be patient.

"What’s going to happen, Yun-Jin, if it doesn’t work?" The words were spoken so softly and so detached she almost had to strain to hear them. It wasn’t what she expected to hear, and for a moment she was puzzled on what the fuck he was talking about. He gave the air of someone in mourning. "The Trickster. If… if retiring him doesn’t work, what’ll happen?"

She held her breath. 

"You… let me worry about that, okay? We'll figure it out." She hoped she sounded convincing enough.

Ji-Woon slowly nodded once before he glanced to the side, his head suddenly tilting as he examined something she didn't feel like turning around to see. 

"You drink when you go home?"

Ah. Heat climbed up her face and Yun-Jin bit at the inside of her cheek. Whether the observation was a detour so he didn’t have to talk about the thing Yun-Jin was demanding they not talk about, or it was a genuine question - she supposed it didn’t really matter. When it came down to it, Ji-Woon had to have been just as overwhelmed as she was and considerably more exhausted. He’d lost blood, he’d just been informed his career was on the line. 

He had hopefully not done something incredibly illegal.

"Well." She'd humor him just the once, for her own sanity. "Sometimes after days like today, where I have to spend all day pretending like I care what the Mightee One’s executive team thinks is best, it's the only thing keeping me from going back and murdering them all."

He snorted in surprise at her honesty, a bark of a laugh catching him before he could stop it. The tear in his abdominal muscles unsurprisingly cut it short, but even as Ji-Woon complained and cursed, he still expressed the first full grin she'd seen all night.The kind that lit up his face.

Yeah, he'd be okay. It was going to be difficult moving forward after this, and she still had no idea what this even was. But, like with anything, Yun-Jin would handle it.

Just as he trusted her to.