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Warm.
That’s what registers on your body when you blink awake. Clutching the blanket, you turn to your right to grope for your phone, meeting the edge of it under the pillow. Hissing at the glare of the screen, you almost yell out a swear at the time, well past 8am.
No more beer and soju combos for you, thank you very much. Dropping the phone back on your bed, you sit up and stretch, wincing at the way your joints click back into place. You must have fallen asleep in a weird position again, or shifted into one during the night. Before you could stand, a warm hand lands on your back, making you freeze.
“It’s just me. Stand down.” A gruff deep voice reaches you. “Big of you to volunteer to mix drinks last night. Lightweight.”
Turning to your left, you grab the end of the blanket and twist it after wrapping it into a makeshift robe, slowly standing up to keep from getting dizzy.
Jung Jaehyun is lying on your bed, one arm still stretched to where you were sitting, the other resting just shy of his lower extremities still covered by your extra pillow.
You use the twisted end of the blanket as a whip to hit his outstretched arm.
He winces, putting said hand up and the other on his head, sitting up properly and trying to keep his modesty intact.
“Calm down, will you? It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad?? Not that bad my ass! Get up, Jung!!” No dice. “I said,” you kneel on the bed and snatch the pillow, keeping your eyes trained on it, “get. up.”
He meets your death glare with a neutral expression, reaches for what you assume are his boxers, slowly stands up with his arms spread and clears his throat. Refusing to look, you throw the pillow back on the bed, march (stomp) to your adjoining bathroom, and lock yourself inside.
Muttering more curse words, you quickly freshen up, wear the clothes you find in the hamper, and march back outside. Thankfully Jaehyun’s fully clothed now, but you avert your eyes even if his back is all you see.
“Call yourself a cab, or a driver, I don’t much care. Please leave now.”
“Your morning after etiquette is appalling.”
“I don’t have time for this, Jaehyun. I need to be at the station in half an hour.”
“So do I?”
“Your place is closer. You can afford to be a little late today.”
He crosses his arms and hardens his gaze. You stand your ground, but keep your posture open, sighing as you go to the living room. Gasping at the mess left behind, mainly the trail of your clothes, makes you busy yourself with cleaning up.
“At least give me some water before you kick me out. I’m parched as fuck.”
You turn to him with an eye roll. Trudging to your fridge, you push the beverage door open, and get him a bottle of water. Throwing it to him, he barely catches it and lands another glare your way. Fighting back another snarky remark, you resume cleaning the mess.
He makes his way to your door, checking for his phone and wallet, and you throw his jacket his way just as he looks your way.
“Throwing stuff seemed attractive last night but it’s just being petty at this point.” He says. “We were fully consenting despite the alcohol, I’m assuring you of that, so don’t think we took advantage of each other.”
“Sure, Jaehyun.”
“It’s true! I may not be pure of heart but I’m not a complete asshole.”
“I believe you,” you exhale and look up at him, “but I’m also cliché in not wanting to mix up personal and professional stuff.”
Hands on his waist, he meets your gaze, and you swear he softens his expression a little.
“So we’ll just go back to regular programming, no talk of this, no repeat. That’s it?”
“I’d appreciate that, if your ego can allow it.”
Facts are that Jaehyun’s on a fast track to promotion, and you’re still struggling to be taken seriously at the station. Transferring units isn’t always looked down on, but when rumors surround it, you’re not getting the best treatment possible. Jaehyun is doing his best to ease the way for you, but he can’t ignore the expectations set before him, and it wouldn’t do well for him if he gave way to people this early in his career.
Jaehyun walks over, slowly raises his arms, and wraps you in a short hug. Your cliché thinking be damned, but he’s not leaving without giving you some peace of mind.
“I’m not sorry it happened, but I am sorry it’s causing you any discomfort.”
“Thanks,” you say softly, looking at the door. “Go on, if you rush you’ll only be ten minutes late. I’ll take the reprimand for today.”
“We can just go in together. They won’t mind if they see me in similar clothes.”
“They’d mind your current disheveled look.” You pull away and point to the door. “See you at the station.”
Sensing the dismissal, he walks over to the door, but not without giving you one last look.
“I respect your choice and your boundaries,” he offers, “but know that none of this complicates anything for me. I don’t much care what others might think, I only care what will happen between us. I care about you. That’s all I’d like for you to take away from this.” Undoing the locks far too easily for someone who’s only been to your place a few times, he bids you goodbye, and warns you not to try and go on unpaid leave.
As he books a ride straight to the station when he reaches the street level, he casts one last look to your unit, which he realized has a view of the street. When he catches you watching him, he salutes, one you loosely return. When he gets into the car, he calls up the station chief.
“If you want me to cooperate and solve a third of the precinct cases by the end of this month, particularly the drug ring you are having difficulty handling, tell your ill-willed and narrow-minded officers to stop spreading rumors about the female officer that just transferred units.” He clicks his tongue in irritation. “My father won’t be too happy to hear of his batch mate being a misogynistic chief, and I assure you, any goals you have of shifting to politics will disappear before you can even compute how much money you’d sink into your pocket.”
“Y-yes, Detective Jung.”
“Do not test me. My parents may have raised me right,” he thumbs the areas where your hands sought home the past night, where your mouth branded him deeply, where his affections burn brightest, his chest filling up with nothing but you, “but I did not grow up as expected.”
Jaehyun may be a force to reckoned with, but wherever and whenever you are concerned, he’s madly deeply committed. As deep and as far as going to hell and back.