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They’re at Chanmi’s car when Hanbyeol finally breaks down, she’s been putting on such a brave front since the incident. Hanbyeol had been panicked when she called her, Chanmi drove herself as quickly as she could when she received Hanbyeol’s call, she didn’t know who would ever target her and the only one she suspected was already behind bars.
Her own home, while she was falling asleep, any semblance of safety had been taken from Hanbyeol, Chanmi’s never been more angry at herself and she can’t imagine how Hanbyeol must be feeling. She informed Butler Cho of where she was as soon as Chanmi calmed down, Butler Cho immediately rushed over and called the police on the way. The police arrived soon after and examined the area, no fingerprints were found and they were still accessing the security cameras, they asked Hanbyeol questions and were shot down by Butler Cho, stating that Hanbyeol needed time to process before being interrogated about the incident, while Chanmi was comforting Hanbyeol.
Chanmi sent out a few bodyguards to check on the guards she set near Hanbyeol’s house, not a single word from them was sent out. She explicitly told them that if they were attacked the first thing they should do was send out a message, even a single beep was enough; yet tonight they were radio silent. Chanmi will find out later that they were ambushed by a group of people and beaten until they were unconscious, not a single one of them could send a message. Chanmi felt dread, she didn’t even think of the possibility that Hanbyeol was being stalked by a group, she didn’t like the uncertainty of not knowing whether the group were simply hired to do a job or if she was against a whole group of people.
Hanbyeol’s eyes were alert and wide, her hands were shaking and balled up into a fist, her jaw was clenched and she was breathing hard but she was trying so hard to keep herself together, she kept her voice steady when the police asked her a few questions and asked her to come to the station the next morning. That forced smile made its way to her face again when she thanked the police for their service.
Chanmi saw it all, Hanbyeol hides her feelings well but Chanmi didn’t spend the first 24 years of her life remembering each and every detail of Hanbyeol to be easily fooled by a smile. Chanmi saw it all and when she saw just how hard Hanbyeol was trying to keep herself together she immediately offered an escape.
“You should stay with me for tonight, Unnie.” Chanmi says as gently as she can, she would respect whatever Hanbyeol decides but there is no chance that she will be leaving her alone for the night.
Hanbyeol was torn, on one hand she dreaded returning to her apartment, but on the other she would be nothing but an inconvenience to Chanmi. Hanbyeol shakes her head, “No, it’s okay I wouldn’t want to impose on your family.” She hears Chanmi sigh and feels her taking both of Hanbyeol’s hands.
“Unnie will never be a bother for us, let us help please? If you truly don’t want to go to my house then I can stay here, I don’t want to leave you alone.” Hanbyeol stares at Chanmi’s cool hands, then looks up at her, Hanbyeol can see the desperation on Chanmi’s face. ‘Right,’ she thinks, ‘Chanmi ran all this way in the middle of the night, she must be worried too, how could I forget that?’
“...Alright then, let’s go to your house instead.” Hanbyeol dreads the thought of remaining in that dark apartment tonight, she can still vividly remember the sound of the incessant tapping of the codes on her door and fear grips her heart once more. Chanmi notices that Hanbyeol’s grip tightened, she needed to get out of this place with all these people around.
Chanmi leads Hanbyeol to the car, opens the door and guides her to sit. “Stay here, I’ll just talk to Ahjussi so he can wrap up with the police.” Chanmi moves to close the door but stops when Hanbyeol’s hand grips her wrist, Chanmi is about to ask why when she sees the hunched and shaking shoulders of Hanbyeol she looks so terrified. Chanmi glances at the driver, ‘Right, she must not want to be alone with a stranger now.’
“Secretary Nam,” Chanmi calls out to the driver who immediately looks at her, “Call Butler Cho and tell him to hurry up, we’re leaving.”
Hanbyeol releases a breath, forever grateful that Chanmi seems to know exactly what she needs from just a look. “Thank you,” Hanbyeol whispers, Chanmi gives her a little smile and moves to sit beside Hanbyeol.
Hanbyeol falls asleep during the ride, perfectly comfortable around Chanmi and grateful to be away. Once they arrive, Chanmi carries Hanbyeol towards her bed and carefully tucks her in.
Chanmi sits on the floor by the side of the bed and resigns to remain awake for the rest of the night, she would not be able to sleep tonight no matter how hard she tried. She thinks back to the shamaness’ words.
‘A month from now,’ the shamaness said, so why did it feel like it was less than that? She sighs then feels Hanbyeol stir behind her, she turns and sees the fluttering of Hanbyeol’s eyes as she wakes.
Hanbyeol stares at her with half-lidded eyes, barely awake, “Where are we?” she mumbles then yawns, stretching like a cat. “My room,” Chanmi shifts to face the bed, “go back to sleep, it’s safe here I promise.” Hanbyeol suddenly remembers why they were here in the first place, her eyes widened and she clutched the blanket a little before relaxing her grip, “right…that happened.”
She grows quiet and Chanmi lets her process her thoughts, eventually Hanbyeol lays on her side and puts her arms under her head, “why are you sitting there, aren't you going to sleep?”
Chanmi opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out, how could she even begin to explain? How could she explain that the moment she received that call she felt a thousand needles stab her chest? How could she explain that the grip she had on the wheels left moon shaped wounds on her palm just as it had when she was riding her horse on the way to an already dead Hanbyeol? Or that she was moments away from losing her world and she wasn’t even aware until it was over?
She can’t. So she tells Hanbyeol that she’ll stand guard instead.
“But I thought you said it was safe here?” Hanbyeol raises an eyebrow and frowns. Chanmi nods, “It is, but do you feel safe?”
Hanbyeol pauses, she wonders if it would be rude if she said no, after all she doesn’t know if she’ll ever feel safe after this.
“No.”, she says, Hanbyeol knows that there’s no use lying to her friend and she knows Chanmi is concerned for her too.
“Then I’ll stand guard until you do, so go back to sleep please?” Chanmi moves to fix Hanbyeol’s blanket but before she could, Hanbyeol takes a hold of her hand and gently grips it. “I know that you’re uneasy, but you need sleep too,” Hanbyeol pulls her hand and Chanmi follows willingly, laying down beside her.
Hanbyeol feels the indents on Chanmi’s palm and takes a close look at it, she gasps when she sees the red crescent wounds, “What’s this?! Where did this come from?” Hanbyeol takes Chanmi’s other palm and glares at Chanmi when she sees similar wounds.
Feeling chastised, Chanmi averts her eyes,, “I gripped the steering wheel too hard when I was on my way. I’m sorry Unnie.” Hanbyeol sighs, “Didn’t I tell you to be more careful?” She says gently, she couldn’t possibly get angry at that reason, she saw the terrified expression on Chanmi’s face when she arrived at Hanbyeol’s house. She slides her thumbs back and forth on the outside of Chanmi’s palm, careful not to accidentally bump the wounds.
“Have you put ointment on these?” Chanmi shakes her head, Hanbyeol makes a humming sound at the back of her throat and sits up and moves to get out of the bed to get a first aid kit. Chanmi stops her and says she’ll get it instead, insisting that Hanbyeol remains on the bed. Hanbyeol berates Chanmi while she treats the wounds all the while Chanmi watches her, eyes tender, she just nods absently to whatever Hanbyeol is saying.
After Hanbyeol finishes dressing Chanmi’s wounds they lay down again, Hanbyeol starts to feel sleepy, Chanmi’s presence never failing to help her feel at ease. They’re laying face to face next to each other and she notices that while she’s completely relaxed, Chanmi’s posture is tense; even while she’s watching Hanbyeol fall asleep her shoulders are stiff and her eyes are alert it seems she’s still shaken.
Hanbyeol can’t imagine how scary it must have been for her too, she knows that Chanmi holds a certain…affection towards her; and while Hanbyeol may be afraid to name that affection, she knows that it’s deep. She’s lucky that she has someone like Chanmi to care for her, but she dreads to be in Chanmi’s place right now; to receive a call like that in the middle of the night, to rush towards someone and not know if they’d still be safe by the time you get there, to take care of them while you’re barely holding on too.
Chanmi had been trembling when she got to Hanbyeol’s house, eyes wide and breathing hard. She’d never be able to forget the gasp of relief Chanmi breathed out when she embraced Hanbyeol, she could tell Chanmi really needed that. Not to mention that in the whirlwind of the events she forgot to show her gratitude and maybe a hug would ease Chanmi just like it did back at her house.
She snakes her hand on the space between Chanmi’s arm and waist then scoots to get closer to Chanmi, burying her head on Chanmi’s shoulder. “Thank you, not just for tonight, you’ve always been there for me, always taking care of me. I’m glad I have you.” She feels Chanmi tense up more then hears her breathe a sigh of relief as she wraps her hand around Hanbyeol’s waist pulling her even closer and burrowing her nose on Hanbyeol’s hair. ”I’ll always be here, I promise.”
Hanbyeol has never felt safer wrapped around Chanmi’s arm, the feeling of warmth in her chest lulls her to sleep. Tomorrow they’ll deal with the stalker, but just for tonight they dream in each other's arms.