Preparations

Just when she was distracted by his sudden smile, he slid closer to her holding her gaze for so long, she did not even notice when he took out the ring and slid it on her middle finger.

“It’s a tracker,” he said. Her black stare only made his smile grow as he slid back to his side of the car. She looked down at the ring lightly encrusted with small diamonds into a small cluster.

“A tracker?” she asked when her senses returned to her, “It looks expensive,”

“It is,” he answered.

“Are the diamonds real?” her voice lowered to a whisper as she leaned his way, asking in disbelief.

“Yes,” he answered and she suddenly felt the weight on her hand double.

“Put on the rest. They are also trackers,”

“Why do I need so many?” she asked and paused, “No, I know the answer to that,” she opened the rest and her eyes only got rounder.

“What if I loose it?” she asked, “I know they are so many just in case I loose one but, what if i really loose them, here. In this world.” she insisted.

“It is best to be careful then,” he answered and her mouth sealed shut. She took out the other rings and put them on. She definitely was a ring person. She layered the three rings on the fingers she thought they best fit; two on her right hand and one on the left. She was about to put on the earings when she paused and looked up, to see him watching.

“Can’t I just put them on this night?” she asked but only recieved his stared in return. She went ahead and put on the earings and bracelet.

“I don’t even need to ask how you got a tracker put in jewelry this quickly, right?” she went back to her food when she was done.

“It is commonly sold by some niche brands,” he said and saw the judgement in her eyes as she looked at him. Her lips crunched up when she displayed judgement.

“What brands?” she asked and he looked away, passing her a bottle of water by his side.

“Take your medication,” he reminded her and she quickly obeyed and went back to eating.

“We are not sure what will happen tonight, don’t overwork. I will come for you after work,” he said and she lost her apetite at the thought of being pulled back into that world.

“Calm down. I have prepared as much as we can. We just have to ride the wave when the time comes,” he said as he saw her started to pack up her meal, no more willing to eat. To his words, she could only nod. He was right. He had prepared as much as he could. She was too busy clinging to this reality to handle what was to come. She had not even given what was going to happen much thought as she was too busy. She had tried really hard to never thinl about it. What if something goes wrong this time? She shook away this thought quickly. She suddenly felt the urge to return to work and started placed down the food.

“You still have time,” he reminded her.

“I know, but I should start returning,” she said and made to open the door when he suddenly stoped her with a hand on her arm. Her skin was cold and disposition stiff.

“Do you even know where we are?” he asked and pulled out his phone, “I will send you there,” he said and she nodded and rested back on the seat and listened to him call Assiant Jang. Soon, Assistant Jang and Driver Shin returned.

“After the meeting, I will pick you up,” he said.

“I am not sure if we will be needed in the office,” she answered. mechanically and his grip on her arm got stronger.

“Hana-ssi, I am coming to pick you after the meeting,” he said and she nodded. He had long suspected that she was too normal about the entire situation. While he could not calm down and started making up scenerios of what could possibly go wrong, she had just gone about as though nothing happened. He had suspected something like this would happen. She looked like she was having a breakdown. She was barely responding.

“Back home, Driver Shin,” he instructed.

“Yes sir,” Driver shin responded. Since he had not told him Miss Kim’s address, it meant he was refering to his home. Even after he had changed instructions, Kim Hana did not still respond.

After driving in silence for more than forty minutes, he fished her phone from her bag and used her finger to open it. He scrolled through her contacts to find someone from her work. He noticed a contact saved as Leader Lee and called. Leader Lee answered after a few rings.

“Miss Kim,” he said.

“Are you her superior? There was an incident and she-” he glansed at the blank Kim Hana for a second, “She is being hospitalized,”

“I see,” Leader Lee answered on the other side. “Will she be able to come into work tomorrow?” he asked.

“It will depend on her condition,” Kang Seo Joon answered, “If nothing changes, I will inform you,” and dropped the call.

On the other end, Leader Lee looked down at his phone in his hand in thought. That voice sounded familiar, but he could not ut his finger on it.

“Who is it?” Director Gu asked and Leader Lee looked up at her.

“Miss Kim is being hospitalized, her family called,” he answered.

“The one with bruises? She said she was fine, was it that bad?” Director Gu asked, looking to the new hires beside Mrs Kim.

“It seemed bad, I saw some cuts behind her neck,” Han Deji answered.

“Did she say what happened?”Director Gu asked with a frown.

“She said she fell and tumbled running from a stalker on sunday,” Mrs Kim explained, “I did not think it was that bad,”

“After all that, she still showed up? Did they catch him?” Director Gu asked.

“She said the police caught him, but let him go since she fell on her own,” Mrs Kim explained.

“Let her take the day off. The two of you should be enough for today,” Director Gu said and led them along.

Kang Seo Joon opened the car door and pulled Kim Hana out leading her into his house after dismissing Assitant Jang for the day. Kim Hana did not seem to notice when she was pulled to take a seat on the sofa. She only felt when someone held her by the cheek and turned her to face one direction. Soon, she was staring into dark eyes.

“Kim Hana, If you can’t let them catch you. No matter what, they can’t catch us,” she heard Kang Seo Joon say repeatedly till her eyes cleared. Soon, she was taking deep breaths and repeating after him.