chapter 33
Love & Valor
“Oppa!!!...Oppa!!!... please let me out…”
Gary ignore the voice coming out from the basement. He ignores jihyo’s plead. Doesn’t matter how loud, how long jihyo keep on shouting, keep on knocking the basement door, Gary ignores them all. He needs to put jihyo away from harm. He needs to protect her. After a while of pleading, gary can sense jihyo’s voice getting weaker, probably she’s tired from all the yelling and knocking. Gary grips on his rifle tightly, aiming it toward the front door. Gary never leave his eye from the sight, aiming, waiting for his target. He waits patiently for the intruder to come in. He breath steadily, inhale the air deep to calm his nerves. Yet, his heart pounding hard, beating fast as he waits for his enemy. His pupil is widely dilated, ready to catch any glimpse of movement. Sweat start to trickle on his forehead. His finger itch to squeeze the trigger, ready to pop the rifle to anyone entering his house. Gary know he cannot fail. And with jihyo’s safety is on the line, he needs to hold on his ground, no matter what. Even if death is waiting for him, he surely cannot fail.
As gary eyes and ear trying to catch the any sense of the intruder, gary sense foot steps outside the door. He knows the intruder is already at the front door. Gary know it’s time. He turns the safety of his rifle off. The shooting will start any minutes now, and he’s ready to fight. Gary inhale a deep breath as he ready himself to shot.
Knock-knock…the front door knocked from outside.
“Gary-ah!!!”
Gary frown to the familiar voices. He knows them very well, too well actually. It’s impossible for the person to be here, especially not now. “Gary-ah” the voices keep calling his name again, asking for gary to open the door. Not letting his guard down, while his eye still aiming through his rifle, gary walk slowly to the door. He walks slowly, quietly and carefully until he reaches the front door. Gary turn the knob to open the door.
“Gil?” gary’s shock to see his friend is right in front his front door. He has weapon slug onto his body. “what the are you doing here?” gary ask in shock, not believing to see Gil. “to help my friend of course” Gil said as he walks pass gary to enter the house. Gary just look at him in his Mong state, still couldn’t believe what just happen. “yeah…this hyung even bust out of the hospital to find you” another familiar voices hit gary ears, shocking him. It’s Gaeko. Like Gil, he also carries weapon with him. “we’re here to help you hyung. Choiza is our friends too. We’ll avenged him, together” gary turn his head to another set of voice, only to shock himself again. All of his team are here. Gil, gaeko, simonD, jungin and jungchi. All are here. He’s shock to see his team, yet he’s happy that they’re together again. “where’s jihyo?” Gil suddenly spoke up asking gary as he doesn’t see her around. “oh ” gary curse to himself as he suddenly remembers about his girlfriend who is still locked in the basement. Gary rush himself to let her out. He kicks in the code to open the door and open the basement door from outside.
Pang!!!
A hard slap land on gary’s left cheek. “how could you!!! you promised me we’ll stay together!!! And just push me hide in here?? For what, so you can die alone??”. All of gary’s friend shock to witness the scene. They didn’t expect to see that. Neither did jihyo. She’s shock to see all of gary’s friend suddenly there. But she’s too angry at gary. She hates it when gary try protect her alone. She feels like gary’s treating her like a child. She knows gary trying to protect her, she knows that. But still, she hates it. She wants to be by his side, no matter what happen. Noticing that gil and the rest are suddenly here, jihyo give them a slight bow and run herself upstairs. “jihyo-ah…” gary try to call on jihyo. He wants to explain himself, yet jihyo ignore him. He tries to catch on her. “oppa. just give her some time. Let me talk to her” jungin suddenly speak up, stopping gary from following jihyo. Gary sigh of what just happen. He gives jungin a small nod, agreeing to her words. Gary looks at jungin as she climbs the stairs to follow jihyo. “you’re so dead bro” Gil chip in teasing his friend. He and the rest chuckle seeing Gary having a girl problem. Gary just sigh to himself, not knowing what to do. He then look to his friends “how do you guys find us anyway?”.
Upstairs
Jihyo and jungin seat in the room. At first jihyo just want to be alone. She’s sulking at gary, for treating her such a way. But after persistent knocking from jungin, jihyo give in. She decided to let her in, even if she didn’t know jungin that well. “jihyo shi…” jungin finally speak up to break the awkward silent. “can you not be too hard on gary oppa? he’s still figuring this out” jungin beg for jihyo for not being too mad at Gary. “I’m sorry” jihyo mumble slowly, feeling sorry for slapping gary that way. She knows how much gary love her, of course she knows that. It just she’s afraid of losing him again. “aniya…you don’t have to be sorry. I know you don’t want to be treated as a child, like a little girl, right?”. Jihyo nod weakly to jungin words. “and you’re afraid of losing him right?” this time jihyo look at jungin in the eyes, telling her she’s right. “kwenchana jihyo shi. I also experienced the same, with my husband. Earlier he decided he wanted to protect me all the time. Which is ridiculous right, since I’m an agent, of course there’ll be danger. But eventually he realised that he can’t always be there for me, to protect me. All he can do is pray that I can protect myself and come home safely to him after each mission I went. And trust me, eventually gary oppa will soon realise that too. He’s going to realise that you’re not a child, he can only protect you up to certain extend only. And the rest of it, will depend on you. All he can do is hope for the best” Jungin explain her thought to jihyo which she listens gladly. She feels kind of a happy to have someone understanding her thought, even if she didn’t know that person very well. “but when will he realize that?” jihyo asks hopelessly, slightly sighing. She wanted gary to understand her too. She can’t wait for it. Jungin chuckle at her “soon unnie, you got us remember…oh sorry I didn’t mean to…” jungin immediately apologize for addressing jihyo in such manner. Jihyo just shook her head telling her it’s okay “kwenchana…okay. I’ll forgive him, this time” They both smile at Jihyo’s smiles words. Jihyo feels relieve. She didn’t expect to get new sets of friend in the middle of chaos that’s going around, and yet she’s happy to meet all of gary’s team. She knows they’re really like a family, a family that protect each other. And she’s somehow glad that’s she’s belong in the family to. Most importantly, she’s glad her heart feels closer to the man she loves.
Knock-knock
The both lady shift their attention to the room door, to see gary standing by himself. “can I come in?” gary ask for their permission. His eyes are begging for jihyo, feeling sorry for what he did earlier. Knowing that the couple needs to talk and to sort things out, jungin excuse herself “she’s all yours oppa” she gets up from her seat to offer her seat to gary “just don’t get too busy okay. We got things to do” jungin tease on them before she left the room for the couple. Jihyo chuckle to the younger woman words. Seeing that jungin left, the couple begin to give attention to each other. They sat side by side on the bed to together. Jihyo wait patiently for gary to speak up, yet no words coming out from him. She knows he’s thinking hard. She knows he’s afraid of losing her, same goes for her. She slides her hand into gary’s and hold onto his hand tightly as she lands a peck to his left cheek, the one that she hit earlier “does it still hurt” she asked him as she kiss on it. Gary shook his head and look at her in the eyes. “I’m sorry…” jihyo cut gary’s words by planting her lip on his. Gary was shock at first. He didn’t expect her to kiss him right now, not when she’s mad at him. Yet, he starts to reciprocate the kiss back, moving his lip in sync with jihyo’s. Her soft lips are melting his heart. He pulls her closer, wanting more of her. Just as he about to slide his tongue into , jihyo pull back from him. “I guess you’re okay now” jihyo said smiling to him, slightly chuckling at him. Gary look at her desperately, wanting more of that kiss. He tries to lean in, but jihyo give him a slight push, telling him that’s enough, for now. They both smile at each other. “I thought you’re mad at me” gary said softly as his finger runs along jihyo’s palm, slightly tickling her. Jihyo just let him be. She like it though, it feels nice. It’s been a while for them. “I did. But rather than being mad, I’m more worried about you oppa. Please don’t do that again” jihyo ask him softly. Rather than being mad at him, she knows it’s best for them to talk about it. Gary look down as he let out a sigh. Of course he doesn’t want to pull that stunt again, but it’s the only way he knew, to protect her from harm. Jihyo know what in his mind though. She pulls his chin for him to look at her in the eye “as much as you’re worried if something happens to me, I too feel worried if something happens to you oppa. I can’t lose you anymore” she said to him lovingly, hoping gary to understand what’s in her mind. He nods to her, agreeing to her.
The couple walks hand in hand as they approach the group downstairs. “that’s it. You’re done fighting?” Gil ask them, teasing the couple. All of them laugh at both gary and jihyo. The couple decides to ignore the teasing. They let it slight. Jihyo went to Gil and give him a hug. She’s glad to see Gil is alright. The thought of something happen to Gil really scare her. He’s like a big brother to her boyfriend. And the fact that Gil sometime call her as sister-in-law really make her closer to him. To see he’s fine, jihyo feels relieve.
They all stands around the dining table. Few weapons and ammunition scattered on the table. Gil take out his laptop, ready to brief the whole team, including jihyo. They decided since jihyo is already stuck in the middle of this, she should know what happen. After a while preparing with his laptop, Gil show a picture of a man. “is that songjongki?” jihyo took a guess, little shock to see the picture. The picture shows the man with his rifle and some kind of military outfit. Gil nods to jihyo guess “this was four years ago. He was a ROK marine at that time, explosive and heavy weapon expert. After that, he dishonourably discharged due to authority misconduct”. “Meaning he was kicked out for fighting with his officer” SimonD chip in as he notices jihyo seem lost, not understanding the term used. Gil nod to jihyo and continue “after that he went dark. Rumours has it that he defected to North Korea. Some say he went to Japan or China. Other rumour think he’s becoming a private contractor”. Gil look at jihyo “meaning he became assassin, killer for hire” he explains to her in much simpler term. “do we know who hire him?” gary ask, wanting to know who exactly want him dead. Gil shook his head “we still don’t know gary-ah. But if we get jongki, we’ll know the source soon enough”. All of them sigh, knowing what Gil about to say, and they hate it. “so remember guys, our aim is to capture him alive”. “you’re going to let him live, after what he did to Choiza?” gary speak up, wanting another option instead, meaning to kill jongki. All of the team agree with gary. They want to avenged their brother’s death. Jihyo can feels the room getting tense, with all of them not agreeing with Gil. She holds onto gary’s arm, to calm him down. She knows gary is not pleased with the idea, especially after knowing how exposed she is now to the enemy. Gary look at her, knowing what’s in her mind. He held into her hand tight, telling her he’s okay. “Think, if we kill him, they can just hire someone else to find gary. So we need jongki alive. We need to find the source. I hate this too, but we have no choice”. Everybody sigh. They know Gil is right, even if they don’t like it. “So what’s the plan?” gaeko begin to ask, to know their play. “we wait here. We fortify this place and when they come, we hold our ground” Gil blurt his idea. “absolutely not!!!” Gary cut him off, not pleased with the idea. Of course he’s not. It means jihyo is going to be in the middle of shooting and fighting. “we have jihyo here. We can’t have a gunfight here”. “then what you suggest we do? We leave her alone here while we go look for that bastard. And what will happen to her while we’re away. Who’s gonna protect her??!!!” Gil cut him back, raising his voice this time. The rest of them quiet, not wanting to involve when two of their respected leader having a fight. It’s jihyo who try to calm both of them. She holds gary’s arm as she speaks to him “oppa. I think gil oppa is right…we promised to face this together right?”. Gary let out a heavy sigh as he heard her “do you know how dangerous it will be. It’s going to be like a war zone. And I want you to be safe” Gary said to her as he cups her face in between his two hand, begging for jihyo to understand what he mean. Jihyo let out a weak smile. She looks at gary lovingly. She gary’s hair with her small finger, combing his messy hair a little “there is no such thing as being safe anymore kanggary. We have to do this”. “jihyo…please…” gary almost choke as he begs for her to think about it again. He’s afraid of losing her. He wouldn’t forgive himself if something happens to the woman he loves. “I’ll protect her oppa. She’ll stay by my side and I’ll make sure nothing happens to her” jungin speak out to calm gary. Gil then walk to jihyo and hand her a side arm. “you’ll need this too. In case of emergency”. Jihyo froze as she saw the pistol handed to her. Gary know what Gil mean. Should they fail to defend this house, jihyo might need the gun to protect herself. Gary curse at himself as he saw the gun in jihyo’s hand. He hates to imagine what’s gonna happen to her if they fail. He took the gun for her hand weakly and show her how to turn off the safety, how to the gun and how to reload it “aim here and here” gary said to jihyo as he points two spots on his chest “make sure you shoot at least two time. Repeat if necessary. It’s the only way to make sure they’re down”. All of them sigh as they saw gary teach jihyo of how to use the gun. To see a normal civilian to handle a weapon like that can only mean one thing. They’re in hole right now. They can see how desperate gary is. They know how worry he is about his beloved girlfriend. It breaks their heart to see Gary like that. Jihyo know that too. Her heart ache seeing him like that. She can feel the desperation from his eyes, from his loving voice and his trembling hand. She knows she need to calm him down, yet she doesn’t know how. Unable to resist herself anymore, jihyo throws herself into gary’s arm, hugging him tight. Unknowingly, tears start to fall from her beautiful eyes. She’s scare too, of course she’s scare to death. Yet she needs to convince gary that she can take care of herself, at least for now “oppa kwenchana. We’ll get through this”. Gary wrap jihyo petite body tighter, not wanting to let her go, afraid he might lose her. Yet, the tighter he holds onto her, the louder her sobs get. He knows he cannot fail “I’m going protect you. I swear I’m going to protect you” that words just make jihyo sobs harder. Jihyo lands her head at the crook of gary’s neck, finding comfort from her boyfriend, even if she herself know gary too needs that comfort. The couple stay in that position for a while. The rest of the team let them be as they saw the couple need time to calm each other.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“sir…we got them”
One of jongki’s men call him as he points toward his computer. “are you sure?” jongki ask demandingly. He’s not pleased to know jihyo got away. And to know his two men died because of gary really pisses him off. “yes sir. We got satellite image showing their car right here” the man from earlier inform to his superior. Jongki scan the computer screen himself. He can see the car is parked right of a house. And the weird thing is the house is at the middle of nowhere. Jongki smirk as he saw the satellite feeds. It’s a perfect location. In the wood, right in the middle of nowhere, with no witness to saw what’s going to happen, this place seems perfect for large scale attack. Jongki nod as he processes the information. “Get the men ready. We’ll move at dusk tomorrow” …
To be continue…
Hi guys…I’m sorry for being such a bad author… I don’t know if you guys still hoping for this story or not since I’m being very poor in updating…I just got supper busy and bad internet connection… this chapter alone took me about a week and a half to finish…I don’t know if I just should stop writing or not…I hope you like this chapter though...i know it’s not much but this is the best I can do for now…sorry again for the inconvenient though…
Comments