?MY LIGHT IN THE DARK ? || JIKOOK ?

14.

So Jiwoo was after Jimin.

It was much worse than him wanting to leave me, someone wanted to take him from me.

I moved closer to Jimin, needing to feel him alive and warm and present beside me on the couch.

Maybe if I hadn't seen hobi's grief after his father was murdered, this wouldn't seem
so real but Jimin seemed to understand.

He moved closer to me, too.

"You're worried."

"I am too, to an extent."

"Kookie, I promise you."

"I've got a deputy already following you to make sure
you are protected at all times."

"Nothing bad will happen
to you."

"Me?" I asked, confused now.

"I'm not worried about me."

"I'm worried about you."

"The most dangerous criminal boss is threatening you to
make you back off your case."

"He's had people killed, Jimin."

He moved closer to me, pulling me into his arms, shushing
me, whispering to me to that everything would be fine.

"I'm being careful, I already
told you that."

"Jih and I are watching each other's backs, The whole station is on high alert. I'll be fine."

"I'm worried about you." he continued.

"I need you to be extra cautious when you are out and about."

"Not to worry you more but you should check your car before
you get in it to see if anything looks out of place."

At that, I pulled away enough
to look at Jimin's face.

Mentioning my car seemed a bit out of the blue. "Why?"

"Have you ever heard of Jared?"

he asked, instead of answering directly.

There was something very
dark and sad in the way he squinted his eyes now.

"Jared? No. Was...." this was hard to think about.

"Was he someone important
to you?"

"Me? Oh, no," Jimin rushed
to reassure me.

"Jared was Tae's ex."

"When Tae turned down Jiwoo's, when Jiwoo came on to him, Jared's brakes on his car were tampered with."

"He died in a car accident."

Jimin said it all very calmly
with little emotion, laying out
the facts like the detective he was but underneath I could
hear the turmoil and the empathy for our friend who
had lost someone in such a horrible, underhanded way.

I was suddenly much more
afraid for Jimin than myself.

He'd never forgive himself if something like that happened
to me.

"If anything weird happens, I won't panic."

"I'll pop it into neutral and use the parking brake or something."

I muttered but that didn't
seem to make him feel better.

"We obviously believe he was involved in that but so far haven't proved a thing." He explained.

"I—I don't know what—"

I really didn't know what to say.

It was startling to think about the pain Tae must have gone through.

First losing his lover in such a way, just for saying no to being intimate with someone and then to lose his best friend and hobi's father, to that same person.

The problems I'd had seemed trivial in comparison even with Jimin beating the crap out of San.

All at once, I remembered hobi.

People near hobi kept getting hurt because of this man, was hobi next?

"Hobi...." I started but Jimin immediately understood.

"I'm on top of it."

"You don't need to worry." Jimin pulled me into his arms again.

"I just need to know that you're safe. I have to know that."

"I'll do whatever I can to stay safe but please Jimin, do the same for me." I rested my
cheek against his shoulder.

"I don't want to lose you now that I've finally got you."

He smiled and kissed me again.

This time the touch was soft and comforting but it still sent a zap through me, I didn't think that excitement would ever stop.

"Wild horses couldn't tear me away from you." He answered.

I thought that was a pretty
good response.

We stayed like that for a long time wrapped in each other's arms, not allowing the rest of
the world to get in.

The next morning I had an
early shift at the hospital
so I left early.

It would have been nice to wake up next to Jimin but he'd left
late the previous evening,
saying that he wasn't going
there with me yet.

He wanted to keep earning it.

I loved that he was committed
to us doing things the right way and hated it in equal measure, both wanting him to want me enough to break his promise
and loving the care and
attention he was showing.

I think I was getting a little spoiled because each day I accepted his compliments a
little easier and wanted to
hear another one a little more.

This morning I was rushing out the door, though because even though I hadn't had a hot alpha in bed to distract me, I was still running late to my morning clinic.

As I tried to lock my door behind me and keep my bag and my essential coffee balanced at the same time, my phone dinged, telling me I had a message
from Jimin.

I'd changed my ringtone to let me know when a text was coming from him specifically.

I glanced at my phone with a little jolt of joy to read the text from Jimin.

Expecting to see another
mushy compliment, I was
slowly starting to enjoy them
I frowned when instead I saw
a message warning me to
stay alert this morning.

Usually Jimin tried to keep me calm about the danger he was
in so if he was reminding me,
it must mean he was really
worried this time.

Still frowning at the text and juggling my things, I made my way to the car.

I could see the deputy who was following me in my peripheral vision so I felt safe, knowing someone had my back covered.

I wasn't worried until I got to
my car and saw a note on the windshield.

Maybe it was a note from a neighbor or a poster about a missing pet in the neighborhood, I thought as I set my things down to take a closer look.

But my shaking hands and pounding heart said differently.

I looked at the note.

The words seemed to blur.

My heart beat faster and
sweat ran down my back in
spite of the cool morning air.

I backed away from my car, pulling my phone out to call Jimin. All I wanted was him.

The note fluttered to the
ground but who cared?

I didn't want to touch it anymore.