Bom

“What?” I shriek. Shaking, my chest heaves with every heavy breath I take. Ji looks stunned by my outburst. He stands with his hands outstretched in front of him in a pacifying gesture. “Calm down. You asked, so I told, but you only heard one damn sentence. Let me finish, will ya?”

So many thoughts rush through my head but I can’t seem to voice any of them. I nod and he looks a little more relaxed. “Your father contacted us about a month ago. He asked for protection for your family after someone anonymously sent him a threat. The threat looked false to me so I declined the job, but something didn’t feel right. A few nights ago, I hacked into your father’s email and saw there were other things being sent there. Hate mail and more threats. I immediately saw a pattern regardless of the threats being sent from multiple email addresses. I declined the job because I thought there was nothing to it, but when I saw the other things he hadn’t told me about, I decided to make a snap decision and get y’all out of there quick.” There’s a twang to his voice I hadn’t heard before. “So that’s when we broke into your house, and as you like to call it, kidnapped you.”

I’m stunned speechless. After a few moments silence, I ask quietly, “Why didn’t I know about any of this?”

Ji shrugs. “I assume your dad didn’t want you to worry. I don’t blame him. Women tend to overreact.”

I blink a moment before I screech, “Someone is trying to kill me! I think I have the right to overreact!”

He runs his hands down his face and mutters, “There she goes again.”

Shaking my head in disbelief, I ask, “What exactly were the threats?”

“One threat. Kidnapping and murder of Miss Park Bom. Just one threat made multiple times.”

He says this as if he’s reading out of a diner menu. No feeling. No emotion. Just cold.

I’m confused. “Why me? I don’t go out or anything. I’m at home ninety-nine percent of the time. It doesn’t make sense.”

Ji leans his hip against the kitchen counter. “Well, from the past few days surveillance I’ve had you under, it has shown me that your father is more protective of you than your sister. I think that has something to do with it. But I could be wrong.”

He’s right. My dad is a lot more protective of me than of Hanbyul unnie. I never really understood it.

When I asked my parents if I could go to college, dad got angry. He said he expected that one of his girls would take over the business and Hanbyul unnie wasn’t interested. She was already at college. I was basically guilt-tripped into doing an internship at Royal Logistics. I do all my studies externally in the warehouse office and send it off to a training institute to get signed off. It feels like I’m being home schooled. 

I whisper, “Are you wrong a lot?” Holding my eyes, he shakes his head. I sigh, “I was afraid of that.” Then I remember something he said and glower at him. “You had me under surveillance?”

He nods. “Yup. Sure did, darlin’. And don’t look at me like that. You never would’ve known if I hadn’t just told you.”

He’s right again. . Folding my arms in front of my chest, I ask, “How do I know I can trust you?”

A small smile lifts the corner of his lips. “You don’t.” My shoulders slump in defeat and he asks seriously, “Have I given you any indication that I mean to harm you? Any indication at all?”

Being my smartass self, my mouth opens before I can think about what I’m about to say. “Well, now, let me think. There was the time when I was minding my own damn business, and I got restrained and kidnapped. Then I was blindfolded and taken to a place I’m not even sure is on a map. Then I was thrown down to my knees while I was being…” I use my fingers to make slow quotation marks, “…protected. Now I’m here being told that I can’t see or talk to my family. Indefinitely. You have no idea of the harm you’ve already done, Ji.”

Although it felt good to get all that off my chest, as soon as I see Ji scowling down at me, I regret my decision to run my mouth. Too late to apologize now. He leans down until we’re almost nose to nose. “I have a mind to tell you exactly what you can do with your thoughts, Bom.” He smirks when he says my name. He smells good. My cheeks heat. I try one last plea for tonight. “If you’d just let me speak to my father-”

But he cuts me off. “No.”

My eyes burn with unshed tears and I hate myself for it. I don’t dare blink because they’d be sure to fall.

You’re so weak, woman. Walk it off.

Dipping my chin, I shift from foot to foot. I don’t look up when he says, “I like this situation about as much as you do, Bom. We just gotta make the best of it. I am not a babysitter.” I raise my head at this comment. I’m close to calling him some choice names when he adds, “Not that I’m calling you a baby. Because you’re not. I’ve never had a job like this before, so take it easy on me, okay? We’re both experiencing something new here and it would go much easier for all of us here if we got along. We’re gonna be spending a lot of time together.”

We’re gonna be spending a lot of time together? …Well .

His eyes bore into mine, his brow bunched in a way that I know he’s expecting me to say something nasty. If I were more myself, I probably would, too. But right now, I’m so damn tired that sarcasm evades me. That’s pretty damn tired, if you ask me. My eyes are suddenly heavy, too. I puff out a long breath. “Whatever, boss man. Can you ple