20 Seconds of Bravery Ch 19
Man. Sorry updates are so slow. Life has been hectic. Thank you all for your patience  ♥  Oh and I should also mention that there are spoilers from my other story Dear Mom if you haven’t read that one yet.
First      Previous     Next
   It took me while to notice that not only was it morning but also that Jumin was awake and staring at me. He cleared his throat and I nearly fell off the couch. Jumin walked across the floor and handed me my stylus that had fallen. "My apologies MC. I didn't mean to scare you. I just didn't expect to see you up this early. Have you been up long?"
"Depends. Can you wake up if you never went to sleep."
"I see. You should really get some sleep. It's not healthy to stay up so much." I shrugged my shoulders.
"I'm used to it. Before meeting V I always had restless sleep patterns." He sat on the couch next to me and peered at my screen. "Is this digital art?" I nodded at him as he studied my work. "It's quite amazing. I knew you had talent but this is beyond my expectations. It might even be better than V's art." I blushed and shook my head.
"An artist is only as good as their inpirations and intentions. That's what my mom always told me." Jumin seemed confused so I explained. "V is my inpiration and freedom and love are my intentions. If none of those were good then the art would be lacking and be very negative."
"I see. So it's like how having good business partners will make your business better." I nodded and smiled at him. "Fascinating. I normally don't understand art very well but having you explain it makes it seem very simple. You're an excellent teacher." I laughed a little and sighed sadly.
"That used to be the goal. I originally went to school to become an art teacher but then my anxiety got bad so I switched to graphic design. Jake didn't really help with that either." Jumin listened intently with a serious look on his face.
"I see. Well I hope that one day you are able to achieve your dream." I smiled at him and saved my drawing on the computer. "V said that the night of your accident you two were coming up from your studio. Does that mean you do more than digital art?"
"Yeah. I'm a pretty decent painter and I love to work with charcoal. I've also dabbled with clay and metal work." Jumin almost had a sparkle in his eye.
"Fascinating. I have a business deal for you MC." I raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled. "C&R is about to expand into the creative arts, so after V's operation, I would like you to teach me about art. I will of course compensate you for all the materials that you need." I began to chuckle at how serious he was and it made me feel better.
"Jumin you don't need to pay me, and I'm sorry for laughing. You're just always dressed so neatly and picturing you in a messy studio is amusing. Of course you can come to my studio and learn." He smiled at me and held out his hand. I shook it and he stood up from the couch.
"Alright. I need to leave for the office now but we can work out more details later. Will you tell V I said goodbye?" I nodded and he headed out the door. After talking to Jumin I felt more relaxed and not as restless. I closed my laptop and walked over to a nearby bookshelf. There were mostly business books but I saw a copy of my favorite book, Dorian Grey. "Looks like I just keep having things in common with Jumin." I said to myself. At first I tried reading on the couch but it wasn't all that comfy now that I was feeling drowsy. I quietly crept back into the bedroom and saw that V was still sleeping. He looked so peaceful and calm that I just stood there forgetting about the book in my hands. It didn't seem to matter how many times I saw him but every time I did my heart strings got all tangled up and I fell hard. We had been together about a month if you counted my coma time and yet without fail he continued to stay with me. I used to think that he would of gotten bored of me an left with in the first week, but he didn't. It was beginning to come clear that he truly loved me despite how broken and flawed I was. I always believed that I wasn't worthy of love or family and that I would die alone, but V was changing all of that. I could feel this feeling stirring inside of me and it was getting stronger. I wanted to change and be a better person and I actually believed that it was possible. My mom always told me that real love was powerful enough to move mountains and change the world. I moved over to the bed and laid down next to V. He stirred a little bit but didn't wake up. I opened up my book and V's arm snaked over my waist and I smiled. With him next to me I suddenly felt even more drowsy and I barely read the first few pages before I fell back asleep.
When I woke up I didn't see V but the clock on the wall said that it was well past noon. I sat up in a groggy state and saw all three cats on the bed. The bedroom door was half open and I could hear some faint noise. I carefully stood up as not to disturb the cats and headed out the door. When I got out there I saw Jane sitting on the couch looking at her phone. She noticed my presence without even looking up from her phone. "Morning MC. If you're looking for V, Saeyoung took him to a doctor appointment." It was weird to have her read me so easily and I started to feel awkward. Jane was one of the only people in the RFA who I had yet to spend any time with so I didn't know her very well. I didn't know what to say to her or anything.
"So you got stuck babysitting me then?" Now she looked up from her phone and raised an eyebrow at me.
"I wouldn't really call it babysitting. More of keeping you company because your ex keeps traumatizing you. Plus I felt like you could use some girl time." I felt bad for sounding so grumpy just a minute ago.
"Sorry. I can be a little grumpy when I first wake up. It's good to see you again Jane." She smiled and patted the seat next to her. I walked over and sat down next to her. She handed me the phone she had been look at and I became confused.
"V said that you broke yours last night, so Saeyoung brought you a new one over. I went ahead and set it up for you while you were sleeping." I stared in shock as I looked over the phone. It was a brand new model much better than my old one.
"Thank you. He didn't have to do that though, this must of been expensive." She waved her hand and smiled.
"Please, don't worry about it. My husband has boxes of various electronics around the house. We can stand to part with it." I laughed with her and she smiled. "It also has the RFA app on it so you can talk with everyone on there. It's going to be a little confusing at first but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."
"So does that make me part of the RFA then?" She nodded at me and smiled.
"Welcome to the family, Sis." I felt my eyes start to water and she smiled sweetly at me. "I know, it feels great to be part of a family doesn't it?" I was both happy and confused by her words.
"It really does. I gave up my dream of belonging to a family a long time ago." She pulled me into a hug and it felt so good. I used to have foster sisters but they never hugged me or got close.
"I was the same way before I met everyone. I grew up with no one and was very distant when I met the RFA. Then I fell in love with the biggest idiot on the planet. They all had absolutely no reason to trust me or anything but they did."
"Can I ask why you were an orphan?" Her eyes turned a bit sad but she nodded.
"My mom died when I was a kid and my dad wanted nothing to do with me so I was on my own. It's actually quite a long story for another time. I'm just glad you're happy about joining us." We smiled at each other and then I remembered Jumin telling me how Jane and Saeyoung saved V.
"That reminds me, thank you for saving V. I don't really know what happened but Jumin said that you and Saeyoung saved V from Mint Eye, so thank you." She blushed a little bit and smiled.
"So you haven't heard the whole story yet?" I shook my head and she laughed a little bit. "Wow you must really love V to just ignore his past like that."
"I don't ignore it. I just don't push him to talk about it because I know it's sensitive. He's told me most of it, just not every detail. I haven't told him everything about my past either."
"That's a fair point. Do you want me to tell you the short version?" I nodded and she sat back on the couch. "Well basically Saeyoung and I used to work for the same intelligence agency, so when we learned that my father had teamed up with Rika we used our combined skills to take them down. When it was over though Rika became super psycho and tried to shoot V but I managed to knock him out of the way." My face was in shock and she just nodded. "I know it sounds like some cliche action movie but I swear that all happened."
"I don't doubt you I just never thought Rika would go that far." I paused trying to find the right words. "What a bitch." I covered my mouth after I said it. I didn't know if Jane was close to Rika like everyone else. She began to laugh and I realized that my words didn't bother her.
"That's a lot nicer than what I expected you to say, but you're right. She really was a crazy one and the way she manipulated people was scary. Poor Saeran was so under her thumb that he had split personalities for a while there. He had a very rough recovery because of her and if you ask me she deserved much worse that what she got."
"V told me she was far away getting help but he didn't really go beyond that." Jane rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. See do to the extent of her charges and being partners with my father, Jumin couldn't protect her anymore, but before he could turn her over to the police Yoosung and Zen sent her to to Alaska. They said she could heal in peace there." She rolled her eyes and took a drink of the tea in front of her. "I personally think she should rot in prison with my father but I know she didn't mean as much to me as everyone else."
"I know what you mean. Everyone keeps asking me questions about what she was like when we were young and it's hard not to be honest. She was awful and even though I don't harbor any hate towards her, the truth about her makes it sound like I do. I also don't want to confuse any one any more than they already are."
"That's understandable, but enough talking about her. You should hurry up and go get dressed." I gave her a look and she smiled. "I told you we're having a girls day. You need to get out of this boring penthouse and get some good greasy food." I fitgedted some what on the couch but smiled at her offer.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" She rolled her eyes again and pulled me off the couch.
"Of course I'm sure. I promise you're 100% safe with me. Plus you definitely need some girl time, a new outfit, and I need some spicy talk on V." I blushed and her eyes went wide. "So you guys did do it!" My face turned completely red and I hurried to the bedroom. I could hear Jane laughing as I pulled on some clothes. When I came back out in the living room she had a smug look on her face as she tossed me my jacket. I glared at her and she laughed a bit. "What? My mom always said that if you can't talk about sex then you shouldn't be having it." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.
"I can talk about it, you just caught me off guard. Let's just go get some food." I put my jacket on and headed towards the door. She didn't say thing until we were halfway down the elevator.
"So is the sex good?" I started thinking back to that night and couldn't help but smile. "I'll take that as a yes. Damn you guys move faster than Saeyoung and I did. Saeyoung asked if we could wait until we were married  before we did it and that was hard."
"I honestly didn't expect it so fast. I haven't had sex since I was with Jake and none of that was fun. In fact is was never even wanted. Then I found out that Jake was out of jail and something changed in me. That night the future became so unsure and in that moment I wanted to give V everything I had." The elevator dinged and I realized everything I said and blushed. We got off the elevator and Jane hooked our arms together.
"That's really romantic. You guys really are perfect for each other." I continued to blush and we walked out of the building into the huge plaza. This had been the first time I'd been outside since that day I had to go get V. The sun was warm but the breeze made it comfortably cool. "Saeyoung tries to be romantic but he usually ends up turning it into some kind of joke which I think is better. Before I met him I never really laughed so I found his childish humor charming. The first time we had sex he was a blushing mess and refused to let me take over." She laughed a little and her eyes had a fondness in them.
"I'm glad that you two make each other happy. I hope everyone can find that kind of happiness." She smiled at me and seemed to agree. "So where should we eat?" My stomach growled at the mention of food and I realized that I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning.
"I know an awesome food truck near buy. They have the best dumplings." I smiled at her as she lead the way. Once we were at the truck it didn't take long for us to get our food. We made pleasant small talk in between bites. I couldn't believe that I had been so nervous to talk to her just an hour ago. Now it seemed like we'd known each other for years. After eating our food Jane dragged me to several stores to find what she called the perfect date outfit. I rejected all of them because they seemed like something you'd wear to a night club.
"Jane none of these outfits are my style. They're way to sexy for me to pull off."
"Don't talk like that. You look amazing in anything." She said as she thrusted a a short, strapless, black dress. I held it up and looked at it in horror.
"No way Jane. I have t-shirts longer than this. Plus I'm too curvy and the fabric will just ride up." She looked at the dress thinking about what I said and took it away.
"Valid point. I'll try it on instead." I rolled my eyes as she pulled a few more things off the racks. "Alright let's hit the dressing room." We headed back over to the dressing rooms and I looked through all the clothes. Most of them were either too short or super low cut and I didn't bother trying them on. Then I noticed a burgundy dress with a halter top neck. I took the dress and held it up against my body and it looked decent. I pulled it on after removing my jeans and shirt. I tied the neck and looked in the mirror. It hit in the middle of my knees and had a plunging v neck line, but it still looked classy. I tried spinning in it and the way the dress unfurled looked like a movie dress. The dress was so distracting that I didn't even hear Jane yelling on the other side of the door. "MC come on out and let me see something." I took a deep breathe opened the door. She whistled at me and I blushed.
"It dosen't look stupid does it?" She shook her head and I tucked some hair behind my ear.
"Are you sure? I feel like it's too much skin. Are you sure I don't look like a hooker?" She laughed and dragged me over to the mirrors. I could now see myself in every angle.
"No way. I think you need to get this dress for your date tonight. Not only is is V's favorite color but you look super hot in it." I smiled at her words as I looked in the mirror. I really did like this dress and it was simple enough for any occasion, so I could wear it often.
"I think I will get it. I really like it." I gave the dress one last spin and we both laughed. Jane was right I really did need a girls day. "Hey Jane. This has been a really fun afternoon, thank you." She smiled at me and pulled me into a hug.
"Funny I was about to say the same thing to you." I gave her a curious look and she smiled. "You brought peace to V and everyone else. Since the whole mint eye thing everyone has been really confused, emotionally speaking. You've helped everyone sort out the emotions and for that I thank you." I was blushing again and then she grabbed my hands. "Enough of this sappy talk. Go change so we can pay for that dress and go do your hair and stuff." She was pushing me back towards the dressing room and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright I'm going, I'm going." As soon as I got back into the dressing room I heard a phone go off. I thought it was mine until I heard Jane talking. I tried my best to to eavesdrop but it was hard because she was right next to me. The way she answered the phone made it obvious she was talking to Saeyoung. I was putting on my street clothes back on while she sat outside talking. Her voice sounded cheerful but in a fake customer service way. When I stepped out of the dressing room I saw that her face was actually very annoyed. When she saw me she rolled her eyes and pointed to the phone. She then ended the phone call and laughed a little.
"Sorry about that. I forgot to tell V and Saeyoung that we were leaving the penthouse and ditching the body guards. It freaked them out a little bit." It felt like all the color drained from my face as I realized that we left so suddenly.
"I should probably call V shouldn't I?" Jane shook her head.
"Nope we're too busy to make phone calls. They know you're in safe hands." She grabbed my hand and began dragging me to the register. After leaving the store with my dress she insisted that I needed matching shoes and my nails done. She wanted to get our hair done too but I managed to talk her out of that one. I liked my hair the way it was and didn't need any help with it. By the time we were done with all of that the sun was starting to set and I was feeling tired.
"Jane not that I haven't been having fun, but I should probably get back to the penthouse soon. It's already past six and I still have to get ready." She looked at her watch and her eyes widened.
"Damn, you're right. Good think the building is only two blocks away. Let's get a move on girl!" I smiled at her and we headed back. We walked silently for a couple minutes before Jane said something. "Oh MC, I was wondering something. Do you always carry a gun when you travel outside?" I almost stopped walking because her question caught me so off guard. I thought it was perfectly concealed and I blushed.
"Yes. It's the only way I feel safe going anywhere. I stopped doing it once Jake was in jail and Alex left me alone, but recently it's the only way I feel safe when I go places. I don't like carrying it but it's better than being defenseless."
"I understand that. Before I met Saeyoung I worked with gun and he didn't like it one bit. I'll tell you this though, don't ever pull the trigger. Killing someone will change you and not for the better." Her face was serious and I could read the pain in her eyes.
"I'm aware of that. Carrying it really has me torn. I don't want to die but I also don't want to kill anyone, even if it's Jake. It's like a double edge sword and I'm scared of both outcomes. Does that even make any sense?"
"It does. It makes you a good person who still has an innocence inside of them. Starting tomorrow I'm going to train you so that you don't need the gun. I promise that you won't have to be afraid anymore." I smiled at her as we walked back into the C&R building. She pressed the elevator button and we waited. "Just be ready cause it's going to be hard at first but you seem capable enough to get the hang of my training." The elevator doors opened and we stepped inside. Just as they were about to close a voice called out.
"Hold the doors please!" Jane instantly stuck her arm between the doors and they opened back up. We then saw Jaehee hurrying towards us. "Jane thank you so much." She then noticed my presence "Oh MC it's good to see you too. I've actually been wanting to talk to you since you woke up."
"I know. V told me that you had something to tell me. I was going to see if we could meet at lunch but I overslept and then Jane made me go shopping." I noticed she was carrying a lot of papers and struggling with them. "Here let me help you." I said, taking some folders before she could protest. Jane also took some and Jaehee thanked us profusely.
"So let me guess. All of these are papers that Jumin forgot to sign before he left his office?" Jane said after eyeing each stack. Jaehee nodded and suddenly seemed very tired.
"You'd be correct. He said something about being inspired and needed to go gather art supplies. I have no idea what that was about." I suddenly felt bad and blushed. The elevator opened on the penthouse floor and the three of us walked in.
"That's my fault Jaehee. Jumin saw me drawing this morning and asked me if I could teach him about art. I didn't know he'd neglect his work because of it. I'm sorry." She sighed but smiled at me as we set the papers down on the coffee table.
"I see. Well it's hardly your fault MC. Mr. Han is easily distracted when he has a project on his mind. I'm just grateful it's not any cat related business." Jane and Jaehee laughed and I just smiled. I noticed that it was now seven and I really had to start getting ready.
"Well I'll be sure to make sure his art ventures don't give you more work. Now I'm going to go get ready. I'll be right back."
"I should also leave since Mr. Han isn't here."
"No Jaehee stay. You can help get MC ready and tell her your news." I had once again forgotten that Jaehee needed to talk to me.
"That's a good idea. I mean I don't know what Jane means by help but now is a great time for us to talk." I smiled at her and Jane seemed beyond excited. Seeing her like this made it hard to picture her working for an agency but that was probably made her so good.
"Alright if you're ok with that MC." I nodded at her and she smiled. Then the three of us headed towards the bedroom. I hung my dress up on the wall and went to the bathroom to start on my hair. I pulled it out of the bun and noticed that it already had some lose curls in it. I started up my curling iron and went to check on Jaehee and Jane. They were both sitting on my bed looking at their phones.
"So what's this big news that you need to tell me Jaehee?" She looked between Jane and I almost like she was nervous.
"Well you see when you were in the hospital I learned your last name and it sounded familiar. Well I did some digging and found out that our late parents were siblings." I began to realize what she was saying and my heart started to pound.
"So then that would make us,"
"Cousins." She finished with a smile. The smile on my face matched and I began to cry.
"Jaehee that's amazing!" I said wiping my eyes. "I was told that I didn't have any living family. How did they miss you?"
"I'm honestly not sure. It could because of the fact that I took my moms last name after she died. Or maybe our parents had a falling out and your mom never told anyone about them."
"That could be. I had always assumed my mom was an only child because she never talked about any siblings. I wonder what caused such a wall between them." I walked to the bathroom and picked up the curling iron. I stood in the doorway of the bathroom so that I could still talk to the girls.
"I have no idea. My father mentioned having a sister once but told me she lived abroad. I never asked about it after that." She seemed to ponder for a minute. "MC, if I may ask, when did your mom die?" I did my best not to look sad but I did a pretty poor job. "I'm sorry if the question upset you." I finished another curl and let it cool.
"It's alright. I was eleven when she died and I'm about to turn twenty six, so it was about fifteen years ago. Do you think that has something to do with it?"
"Possibly. She died before mine so maybe that's why my father never talked about her. My parents didn't die until I was almost in college. Knowing that though still doesn't answer the question as to why the authorities didn't send you to us." I shrugged and put the curling iron back in the bathroom. I brought my makeup bag out and sat on the floor across from the bed.
"Oh please let me do your make up MC! I've always wanted to do it to someone else." I was surprised by her request but held the brush out to her and she jumped off the bed.
"Anyway, Jaehee, I have a lot of records that my attorney gave me once I turned eighteen. I even have her will, maybe there will be something in there." I closed my eyes as Jane rubbed the brush across them.
"Possibly. I'm not sure when I'll be free to go over there but I'll put in the request to Mr. Han." I couldn't see her but her voice sounded defeated already.
"Well if he denies it then I'll talk to him. It won't kill him to give you a day off to learn about our family." I was finally able to open up my eyes and she was smiling.
"Thank you MC. I really am going to get going though. It's almost eight and I can hear a Zen DVD calling my name." Jane stood up and and pulled me off the floor.
"Yeah my work here is done so I should head out. Have fun MC but not too much. You've got training tomorrow." She winked and me and then they both left. I took the dress off of the hanger and put it on. My heart began to beat and I had to talk myself down. This was my first real date with V and I was really nervous. I tried telling myself that dinner at my house counted but this was different. I was dressed nice and V had been planning this for two days. There was excitement and nervousness swimming inside of me as I slipped on my shoes. They were black with straps that twisted up to my ankles, and a little higher than what I was used to but I managed. Now I just needed to find a light sweater or something, but failed to find one in the suitcase. Then I heard a knock at the door and practically jumped.
"MC, are you in there?" It was V's voice and my heart began to flutter. I went over to the door and slowly opened it. When it was open I stood in front of V and saw that he was wear a long sleeved black dress shirt, and a grey jacket, with tan pants, and he had the first few buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned. "Wow MC." My cheeks blushed and I fidgeted with my hands.
"Do I look ok?" I asked trying not to sound nervous. He simply bent down and kissed my hand.
"You look stunning. I don't know how I ended up with such a beautiful date." I blushed as he placed my hand on his arm. "Shall we?" He asked and I nodded. We then set off for our date.
