#sector 17

Lee Jihoon had you hired as his personal bodyguard because you were well trained in what you did, but he’d kept you for your diligence. Your muscle memory had saved Jihoon's life a number of times, only a few of which he’d combined his in tandem.

You were also quiet, unquestioning. Never expressed a single ounce of discomfort towards uniforms, meeting attendance, food, etc.

In your mind it was just part of the job. Personally guarding any of Sector 17’s keystones is an honor and upholding honor was rooted in your bones.

Jihoon keeps thousands of citizens safe. A stiff costume and clammy gloves were the least of your worries.

If anyone were to ask, you couldn’t say you knew your boss as a person much at all. You knew plenty of trivia about him. Everyone in a mile radius did. But you seldom spoke to each other about anything. Your job tended to be more like “Lee brother’s fly on the wall” on the daily.

It was in the dead of winter so work and, well, life, had been slow lately. Jihoon almost never left his room every other day of the year but in the colder months he was truly incognito. You were probably the only person in the world who had any idea what he did other than sleep (a bit).

The last time you saw Jihoon leave his room was to meet with Hong Co.’s CEO a few weeks ago. Their meetings were few and terse, and you usually stood outside of the door so you couldn’t hear anything important.

Today, however, things would change.

Jihoon’s companion Shubot, usually muted on his desk, spoke in full sentences for the first time in days.

“Lee Chan is at the door, sir. Should personnel be sent for?”

On the outside, you looked the same. Still, stoic, and always ready to pounce. On the inside, alarms were going off. The Shubot asking about personnel meant that not only was this visit unplanned, Chan had traveled here alone.

Jihoon was mostly unfazed. He stretched back in his desk chair and yawned. “Just let him in.”

A few minutes later, a frosty-cheeked Lee Chan tumbled through the door. As he closed it behind him, you glanced down the hall and saw the trail of melting snow he’d left.

Jihoon took Chan’s coat and hung it around his desk chair. “Do I want to know what you’re up to?”

Chan unceremoniously slumped onto the (messy) couch on the other side of the room. “Probably. Though should we call Shua in, too?”

“He doesn’t pick sides, remember?” Jihoon pulled a sweater out of his even messier closet to toss on.

“Well at least he still talks to me.”

“You know that in this city, that doesn’t make you special.” Jihoon ignored Chan’s pout as he sat back down at his desk, returning to whatever he’d been typing before.

“Jihoon, I’m not judging your shut-in lifestyle but you really ought to get one of your workers to clean this room.”

Jihoon kept his back turned. “I’m the only one who lives here, the only reason you’re seeing it is because I didn’t have the know-ahead to prep a meeting room.”

If it wasn’t for your track record for staying quiet unless spoken to, you would have piped up by then to ask if the Lee brothers wanted privacy. But suddenly Jihoon turned in his chair to face you.

“Y/N, are you okay with staying here? I can call for another guard to stand outside.”

You gestured that it was fine but if you wanted to speak the truth, you would have rushed outside immediately.

Chan gave you a polite bow of his head then turned back to Jihoon. “I've been informed that Seok has kept my most recent assassin alive...for months.”

Jihoon’s eyebrows raised. “Poor thing.”

“The superior who sent them gave them my most recent smart watch model instead of the usual. I fired them when I found out.”

Because of your background working for the Lee’s, you knew that wasn’t good news. 

Chan’s military tech was good but hackable. The newer the model, the less upgraded security.

Not life-threatening for anyone but it explained the surge of refugees from the east side in the past year. It also explained why Chan wanted to deliver the information in person.

“Thanks for the heads-up,” Jihoon said, tapping on his Shu-watch in a way that looked like he was drafting a message. “Armageddon isn’t coming anytime soon but we could have a strategy meeting with the governor.”

The governor. Unlike the Lee brothers, you had trained with Choi Seungcheol before “the incident” pushed him into politics.

“Any progress on observing District 9?” Chan asked, helping himself to a glass of water from a Shu-bot nearby - one of Joshua’s latest.

Jihoon paused, then nodded. “I took advantage of Seokmin’s distracted state and sent a cloaked drone past his tower. It sent me a few satellite images and I’ve sent bitty bots after it to be safe. Other bitty bots have been helping me gather gossip from the refugees that are still coming in due to Seok’s carelessness. In fact, Josh recently hired one that originally came from District 9.”

Chan’s eyebrows shot up. “He’s living with another human for once?”

“I wouldn’t think about it much, he’s always lived in his own little world. Safe in his tower. Now if there isn’t anything else, you should probably get back to your own tower before someone realizes you’ve gone.”

“But-”

“If you want to stick around longer next time, bring guards.” Jihoon grabbed Chan’s jacket and wrapped it around him. Chan looked upset.

“Jihoon, at least let me get you some food, or-”

“You’re my baby brother, Dino. Listen, I’m glad you’ve got your life now, and I’m proud of how you’ve grown. But you gotta be more careful, I thought I taught you better.”

---

A couple of days after that interaction, Jihoon had the sudden urge to take a stroll through the area that surrounded his home, The Woozi Plaza. As always when there’s a blue moon and Jihoon leaves the building, you follow him closely but not too close. You wore a scarf around your neck and half your face - instead of your usual mask - to protect from the cold.

Jihoon’s arms swung freely at his sides as he walked and a small, coordinated swarm of bitty bots flew around him. You, on the other hand, kept your dominant hand close to your hip and your other arm relaxed.

You took pride in your quick reflexes and refined spatial awareness but reading your boss’ body language has never been easy. You certainly weren’t expecting Jihoon to take a detour in his usual route. But you followed him without a question or hitch.

When you realized where he was heading, you felt your shoulders tense.

There was a memorial to Jihoon’s parents at the heart of the oldest neighborhood in the Plaza, on the farthest end of the south side. The Sector 17 walls could be seen in the distance.

It had been years since Jihoon visited the memorial, you knew. Back then he had a different bodyguard.

As you approached, you noticed Jihoon taking in his surroundings. Beforehand he’d walked the whole way with his eyes straight ahead.

You felt terrible for him.

No one could ever forget the incident - “the day The Sun fell and left Perpetual Dusk.” No one could ever forget the death, the terrible destruction, the remaining buildings crowded with survivors who had lost everything.

Including you.

Jihoon bowed to the stone pillar, murmuring a prayer under his breath. He turned to look at you and you knelt down.

“Uh, Y/N?”

Still kneeling, you tilted your head up in response.

“You don’t have to do that.”

You blinked. “Oh.” You got up and brushed yourself off.

Jihoon smiled at you. “I appreciate it, though.” He gestured for you to walk closer to him, surprising you. The coast was clear, so you obliged.

“‘In loving memory…’” It was the first line written on the monument but Jihoon wasn’t even looking at it to read it, he knew the writing by heart. You continued to stand quietly.

“I don’t miss my father.”

Your body didn’t move but your eyes widened. Jihoon continued to speak.

“I didn’t hate him, and I’m not happy he’s gone. But I’m not sad, either.”

You really didn’t know why Jihoon was saying all of this out of the blue. 

“My brothers…even now, they’re still in mourning.”

And then he turned around and started walking away. In the split second it took for you to register his movement and automatically follow him again, you saw two bitty bots leave the formation around Jihoon and fly the other way, past the monument and towards the walls.

---

Back at headquarters, in Jihoon’s room, he wordlessly used his Shu-bot to order his dinner from one of the refuge cafes that were built into his building. You calculated the time he was taking to do so was longer than he usually takes. 

Before you could squint too hard, though, Jihoon turned in his chair to look at you.

“I ordered extra in case you’d like to share with me today?”

Out of all of the shocking events of the day, that one finally took the cake. You felt your jaw drop.

“Sir-” You swallowed to recompose yourself. “If… that’s what you’d like, then of course.”

“Cool. I hope chicken is fine.” With that, he spun right back around.

You stood there feeling the least like yourself you’d felt in a while. Huh?

“Oh and Y/N,” Jihoon added, simultaneously pulling up a holographic screen to review what looked to be blueprints. “There’s nothing I have planned left for the day. You should wash up before dinner.”

You were a tiny bit relieved amidst your bewilderment. You walked into the bathroom of Jihoon’s room, then through the door on the other side of the bathroom, into your living quarters. Every morning you made your bed and set out your evening wear folded on top to save time at night. It took a while to lock up all firearms, due to the tight security protocols Jihoon had on everything.

At that moment it was rather early for you to be changing into what were pretty much your pajamas but you didn’t mind. You would still have your weapons and communication tech on you but no warrior costume or tight gloves. 

When the food arrived, Jihoon had you sit next to him on his couch. You sat as close to the edge as you could, visibly uncomfortable. If Jihoon noticed, he didn’t show it. He leisurely took bites of his fried chicken as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Then his watch beeped.

“Oh…Joshua is calling. Give me a minute.” Jihoon wiped his face and fingers with a napkin, tossed it at a trash bin (a Shu-bin, so it sprouted a robot arm to catch the napkin), and walked out into the hallway, leaving the door ajar. You instinctively got up to stand guard by the doorway.

Whatever they were talking about, you weren’t listening. You looked down at your socks and recalled back when you were first chosen to be Jihoon’s new bodyguard, hand-picked by Chan. You'd been told you were the first female bodyguard he’s ever had.

When you first met Jihoon, he barely gave a formal introduction. He just said, “Chan said you’re the best of the bunch, that way is your room, familiarize yourself with my surroundings and always listen to your gut.” 

You hadn’t even met him in a meeting room or anything. You’d been brought right to his master bedroom, where he’d just been wearing casual clothes and mis-matched socks, tinkering away at whatever was on his desk.

You were so used to looking through files on DK or observing Chan’s eloquence when enthusiastically organizing business that you never would have guessed the famed genius Lee Jihoon lived like…this.  

Not that you were judging. 

You could never complain about a cushier job. But part of you missed the rush and noise of training with your comrades by day and busting underground organizations funded by DK by night.

When Jihoon walked back into the room, you opened and closed the door for him before joining him back on the couch.

“Joshua Hong wants to meet with me tomorrow at his tower, the hovercraft floor.”

You nodded, hiding your slight nervousness. You weren’t afraid, of course, it wasn’t the first time you’d ever guarded Jihoon in a vehicle. But it was the first time it had happened in the winter. Whatever the meeting was about must be important.

“May I ask you something, Y/N? Not as your boss but as a person?”

You tilted your head at him in confusion. Jihoon let out a huff.

“Am I really becoming a slob?”

You bit back a laugh. “Uh…no sir, I don’t think so.”

“You’re not just saying that?”

“No, seriously, I think you’re going to be okay.” At the continued doubt in his face, you added, “...for now.”

Jihoon didn’t move his body but the corner of his mouth quirked up. “Okay.”

The two of you finished the food in silence before Jihoon addressed you again. “I don’t usually get to see you in anything other than your uniform.”

“Hm?” You glanced at him, then adjusted the hem of your shirt. “Oh, uh, yeah.”

“The clothes you’re wearing really suit you.”

You froze for a moment, hoping he didn’t notice your involuntary blush. “Th-thanks, sir.” 

“I’m going to wrap up for the night. I suggest you do too for the day ahead.”

You didn’t need to be told twice. You practically sped to your room with a quick “goodnight”.

A compliment. He’d given you a compliment. You’d been trained since early teens how to sleep lightly but tonight, even after your entire pre-rest routine, including a whole shower, you laid there wide-eyed.

---

You started the morning the same as you always did.

Get up fast, strap on your weapons, make the bed, do a few stretches, then a quick workout. Set out clean clothes and make sure your teeth are clean.

You knew the fastest ways to get in and out of any of your clothing but for some reason today your arms felt heavy putting on your formal uniform.

No time to think about it, you told yourself, brushing the feeling off. You needed to guard Jihoon in his last hour of sleep. Normally that’s when you’d do your morning workout but today was a travel day.

Fast forward past breakfast, securing Jihoon in his vehicle, getting yourself checked over for any missed equipment, and zipping over the rooftops of Sector 17.

As per protocol, you were positioned in the back of the pod-shaped vehicle on a platform separated from Jihoon inside by a glass door. The driver and another guard were in the front.

The route to Hong Tower was one you knew pretty well and it was secure - it didn’t cross through any territory but Joshua’s and Jihoon’s. So you allowed yourself a moment to take in the view.

You’d always preferred the cold air over signs of summer and today there was only a little bit of snowfall. The vehicle wasn’t moving slow enough for snowflakes to stick to your mask but you did feel a few clumps kiss your cheeks. 

The sheets of gray that hung in the sky over The City of Perpetual Dusk had almost no light peeking through today, emphasizing the glow of the city. As you left the south side moving west, you could see the twinkle of hundreds of Hong Co.’s delivery bots flying through the air.

You had just enough time to take a breath, before everything shook. The sound of an explosion not only snapped you out of it, you’d already launched yourself through the glass doors to protect Jihoon.

But you were flying towards an empty seat.

Kicking your legs up immediately to land on the seat with your feet, you looked down.

Shit.

Someone must have planned this attack - if a chunk of the floor had been blown up, that means the security measures programmed into that part of the pod had been previously messed with.

In the same nanosecond it took for you to realize that, you jumped down through the hole, activating your grappling hook. You saw the other guard and the driver on a rooftop below, the snow around them red.

You looked to your right and swung, breaking your fall onto a different snowy building with a somersault. You clicked your earpiece to call for backup as you began pursuit of the only large hovercraft you could see heading east.

For once running across slippery surfaces came in handy. You were able to catch up a lot quicker than you thought, given how uneven the rooftops in the north of the Plaza were compared to where you’d previously trained. 

Once you could calculate the highest chance of success, you took as big of a leap as you could and aimed your grappling hook at the only edge you could see. You felt tension at the precise hit, used the leverage to launch yourself up, then re-aimed the grappling hook to swing you the rest of the distance. 

You landed on the top of the vehicle, not giving whoever these people were a chance to shake you off. You had already grabbed your holographic weapon handle (Chan always jokingly called it his “lightsaber” weapon series) and you summoned the blade right between your feet.

A whole chunk of metal flew off - had your reflexes been any less snappy it could have sliced you - but you flipped up and out of the way then aimed your landing through the opening.

You registered the sight of Jihoon fighting for his life with someone dressed in a way you recognized - a DK mercenary. With a loud cry, you summoned your weapon, this time as a dagger, and took a swing.

You knew Jihoon would dodge out of the way but you weren’t expecting someone to grab you from behind. 

Fuck, I should have sensed the driver-

Jihoon’s leg swung over your head and hook-kicked your assailant’s face.

“Nice,” You let out, and you and Jihoon’s backs met.

For the first time in a while, you found yourself, once again, amazed at Jihoon’s hidden athleticism and you aligned your fighting instincts with his, clearing him a path to the vehicle controls.

Fighting off Jihoon’s captors wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was overriding the captors’ vehicle just enough to get it to turn the other direction. Jihoon did his best with the hacking in the minute he had but Seokmin’s systems were iron-clad.

“Move over,” you shouted, swapping places. Jihoon fought to knock out the last of the mercenaries as you used your weapon handle and brute strength to damage the steering component. You got it to turn the hovercraft maybe 30 degrees southeast. 

Which is all you needed.

You tapped your wrist and heard a series of beeps through your earpiece, indicating the exact position the air support you’d called for was in relation to you. You ran towards Jihoon and shot the lock of the vehicle’s side door with your electric gun.

“Brace yourself!” You yelled as you wrapped your arms around Jihoon from behind and jumped backwards. Your uniform protected your back from the force of impact that made the door crater open and you fell through the air, feeling the sting of cold all around you.

If Jihoon needed to scream from vertigo, you didn’t give him a chance. With one last well aimed grappling hook, you swung the two of you from a rooftop to redirect your landing direction and made a perfect landing into a crash cushion.

The cushion lowered, flipped around so you and Jihoon were secure inside the military hovercraft surrounded by backup, and you heard the vmmmm sound from up top of the ceiling sliding over the cushion.

As you felt the craft accelerate and watched the other guards tend to Jihoon, you let out a huge sigh. Safe and sound.

---

“So…" You managed between gulps of water. "I’m guessing the meeting’s cancelled.”

Jihoon nodded wordlessly.

You’d just gotten back to headquarters. The driver and guard who’d been tossed and injured had been brought back separately and were being treated.

Comms coming through your devices told you where to lead Jihoon for food, rest, and security. But you stayed as alert as you could.

Before the doors to the most central refuge cafe opened, Jihoon turned to face you and bowed.

“Thank you for saving my life. Again. I’m ever grateful to have you by my side.”

You didn’t get to respond to the…wording of that sentence. And maybe you were too alert. 

The instant the doors behind Jihoon opened and you saw an unexpected figure, you pointed your gun. Then you saw who it was.

From your hesitation, Jihoon also figured out who it was.

He didn’t even turn around to see that cat-like smile he knew all too well and tried not to sound weary as he spoke. 

“Hey, Josh.”

“Good to see you in one piece, Woozi.” 

As you followed Jihoon in, Joshua Hong gave you a warm, handsome smile. His pristine appearance was in stark contrast to Jihoon's disheveled clothes and scrapes.

You nodded politely and, as the two men sat down in a secure and private booth, you took your position by the exit.

“Your bodyguard here possesses mighty talent, to have rescued you from a situation with such stacked odds.”

You remained as you were but on the inside you felt warm from the praise. Especially so as Jihoon nodded with gusto, regarding you highly.

“Chan chose me the best. But that means Seokmin must have known the only way he could get even close to catching me was through tech.”

Josh crossed his legs and held his wrist hand out. One of Jihoon’s bitty bots projected a holographic replica of Jihoon’s damaged hovercraft. “I take back what I said to you all that time ago - it was a good precaution to bring some of my bitty bots with you when you’re about. Seok must really not have wanted us to meet for him to have gone as far as attempting to murder your crew. I made preparations to get here the minute I received an alert.”

Jihoon looked away from the image, wincing. Joshua dismissed the bot.

“But, Jihoon, I’m still worried for you. It’s not even spring yet and you’re worse for wear.”

“I thought you like staying neutral, Josh.”

“My AI’s analysis of home tech Seokmin recently traded in to me indicates reason to suspect that his aggressive behaviors have grown worse, and quickly. It’s only a matter of time before he invents a reason to turn on me, too.”

Jihoon swiped a few times at his watch then held it up to a bitty bot. Then he deactivated the bot and handed it to Josh, who tucked it into a pocket inside his suit. 

“That’s all the data I can give you for now. It's a shame we can’t meet again for a while.”

“I don’t consider this a victory for Seok or anything,” Joshua said as he began to stand from his seat. “Even if he succeeded in getting us to cut contact for a while from today on, we still got to meet first.”

“Good luck, Shua.”

---

That night you had a pilates session in your room for yourself and it was somber. It did feel good to be out of your gear but the shock from the day’s impromptu mission lingered in your limbs.

At least you hadn’t sustained any injuries, unless the chafing on your arm from somersaulting counted.

You knew Jihoon was taking it easy tonight and outside of his door, there was a rotation of extra guards going, just to be as thorough as possible. So you took the time to focus on what you could, which was keeping yourself in shape.

At some point you walked into the bathroom to wash your face. Then you heard a knock from Jihoon’s door to the bathroom. You opened it, knowing you would see Jihoon in his pajamas, but your eyes still widened.

The drawn look on his face was not what you were expecting.

“Y/N.” Jihoon looked you right in the eyes when he spoke your name, using his clearest and most sincere voice.

“Hello, sir?” You knew Jihoon wasn’t used to a life of action, at least not anymore, but no amount of being trained to expect the unexpected could have prepared you for what he said next.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way…but…I’d feel a lot safer if you slept in my room tonight.”

What. In the actual. Tarnation.

Never in your life, nevermind your time working for this man, had so many things out of the ordinary happened in the span of a few days.

Seeing your poorly masked expression of being so taken aback, Jihoon backtracked. “Sorry I…you don’t have to do anything-”

“N-no, it’s okay. I just…do you mean…on your floor? Or…?” 

“Oh! Oh, no, um…you know what, it’s fine I-”

“Sir, I’ll just take the couch.”

Jihoon blinked, clearly embarrassed. “Yeah that’s…that’s what I meant. Thanks.”

You nodded, then turned on your heel to get to your room to prepare.

Two nights in a row you’d found reason to speedwalk to your room out of shock.

Please for the love of all things good was this man had not been implying he wanted to…sleep in the same bed. As you. That wasn’t just toeing the line of a professional relationship, he’d practically just launched a tactical nuke.

But you got yourself to do it. You set up your blanket and pillow to sleep on the couch and only let yourself start to rest once you were sure Jihoon had fallen asleep.

In the middle of the night, the sound of Jihoon struggling perked your ears.

You practically leaped off the couch, reaching for your knife. But there was no one else there. 

In the dark you saw Jihoon tossing and turning under his covers. He was whimpering and a single tear glinted in the glow of the nearby tech.

You grabbed onto Jihoon, trying to shake him awake. When he finally opened his eyes, you felt a jab of sorrow slice through you. He looked as if he was…crumbling. 

He suddenly wrapped his arms around you, catching you off guard entirely. You tried not to feel awkward as you patted his back.

“You’re safe now,” you whispered, getting him to look at you. “Nightmares are awful, I know.”

“Please don’t go…”

You felt caught off guard again. “O-of course. I’m here.”

You slowly lowered Jihoon back first onto his bed and adjusted his blanket. You laid on your side watching as he drifted off back to sleep.

When you woke up the next morning, you remembered where you were with a jolt.

For the first time in years, you had overslept. Not only that, in Lee Jihoon’s bed. But he wasn’t there anymore. In fact, he wasn’t anywhere in the room at all.

You jumped and rushed out the door, only to be met with the face of one of the rotation guards. You looked down at yourself and turned bright red. The guard also blushed in embarrassment and stammered “Good morning, uh, um, th-the boss said to tell you to check with the companion bot on his desk.”

“Thanks,” you croaked as you shut the door and went to do…that.

Jihoon’s Shubot gave you brief notes - including an explanation that he woke up sooner than not after you fell asleep and you could take all the time you wanted to get ready and eat today before reporting back for duty.

You would have figured as much on your own, frankly. Jihoon must really think you were going to quit or something over an accidental sleepover.

But then the memory of him embracing you, crying into your shoulder, and begging you to stay with him resurfaced in your mind and you flushed red again.

If you carried yourself with any less dignity, you’d be back in your room screaming into your pillow right now.

Instead, you took some deep breaths to clear your mind.

That's right.

You'd done your duty; protecting Lee Jihoon at all costs, and you would continue to do so as instructed. And the current instructions were to take your time.

When you were finally all refreshed and ready, you found Jihoon in the same refuge cafe as yesterday right as he was finishing lunch.

You saluted, not meeting his eyes. “Reporting for duty, sir.”

Had you looked him in the eyes, you would have noticed his cheeks tinting the slightest bit pink. But you didn’t.

“I wanted to thank you in person for…comforting me. Last night. I apologize that…you had to see me…like that.”

A lot of firsts were going to happen this week, huh? For the first time, you made a point to look straight at Jihoon to give your response, and you left nothing unsaid.

“No need to be sorry at all. I’m glad I could be there for you.”

Jihoon’s expression was hard to read, which wasn’t out of the ordinary - what you weren’t expecting was the furrow of his brows. It was slight, but to your trained eye, it showed you exactly how vulnerable he was feeling.

And just as quick as you noticed, it went away.

The rest of the day went as if nothing had changed. You could live with it and understand. But things were too different this time.

You had no idea Jihoon struggled from night terrors, in all this time you’d worked for him. You were surprised you’d never picked up on anything of the sort.

Was your shared bathroom really that sound-proof? No, that would defeat the purpose of you sleeping so close to your boss.

'Sleeping so close…'

You were currently back in Jihoon’s room and the very sight of the pillow you’d rested on made your face grow warm.

Get it together, Y/N. You couldn’t let anything cloud your mind. If your senses dulled even the slightest bit from what you were capable of, you’d be unfit for your job.

Jihoon’s voice cut through to you suddenly.

“You seem stiff today, Y/N. Are you okay?”

Since when did he know you so well? He’d barely turned in his chair.

You blinked. “Yes, sir.”

“Just call me Jihoon.”

...Now what could you say to that? “O-of course.” Shoot. You used to be so good at hiding your surprise.

“I mean, look. Yesterday I did actually think I was done for. I’d regret it if I didn’t make my respect for you clearer.”

You pursed your lips, then let them smile. Just a little.

---

Things grew quiet again at headquarters for some time after. Which was good - the winter winds outside weren’t letting up as easily this year and while you didn’t mind the cold as much as Jihoon, you still had your limits.

Unbeknownst to Jihoon, you’d rearranged the furniture in your room. It was clear from the scratch patterns on the floor that you were the first to do so in many years. You wanted your ears as close to the door as possible when you slept so that you’d never miss a thing again.

It only occurred to you how much seeing Jihoon in a weak state had affected you when it happened again.

Sort of.

It was a random afternoon where you accompanied Jihoon out on a walk in the Plaza. He usually sends messages to his forces digitally when anything isn’t running smoothly but today he had to receive a message in person.

Yesterday, one of the refuge cafe owners picked up on chatter about the sighting of a person of interest.

That was how Jihoon described it, at least. You knew that there was no way this wasn’t connected to his research into District 9.

Upon arrival, you took your position outside of the private room Jihoon walked in to speak with the informants. You had to in case anyone tried to intercept. The room had already been checked thoroughly for listening devices so the only other way in would be through you.

Except the meeting didn’t get to go on for that long.

Not even ten minutes in, you heard muffled sounds of a commotion through the door. You instinctively kicked it open, only to see the cafe owner unconscious on the ground and Jihoon next to her, doing compressions.

“Y/N call for backup, she’s not breathing.” 

As you spoke a series of codes into your earpiece, Jihoon was able to get the woman breathing again but her pulse was still weak.

Even though you knew it would all end up okay, you would never forget the look Jihoon had on his face. Not just now, but how he’d looked straight at you when he’d asked you to call for help.

You’d never seen Jihoon so distraught.

Maybe past bodyguards had, during the times everyone knew were hard on the Lee’s, but you’d never imagined this. You knew he cared for the citizens that lived or had ever lived in his Plaza, you knew how hard he worked even from his desk, but to see him genuinely scared for the lives of one of his people changed the way you felt about him entirely.

It all hit you then and there how much you’d grown to care about this man. It wasn’t like how you felt back when you first swore to protect him. 

You wanted to shield his entire being from all harm.

You hadn’t felt fear like this since…

Since you, too, lost your family to the incident.

As headquarters medical staff rushed on the scene, you led Jihoon away by the arm to give them space. He was shaking, but his expression had steadied. He tapped his watch and typed on the projection quickly - you figured he was alerting someone to get things back in order for that woman’s cafe. 

Later that night, Jihoon shared his dinner with you again.

This time you were far more comfortable with the notion and you were glad for another excuse to be in pajamas early.

Maybe, since he’d complimented you that one time, you’d been hoping for this. But you paid no mind to that thought and focused on Jihoon.

“The doctor I had checked before helping the lady earlier sent someone to tell me she’ll be making a full recovery. The new amounts of Plaza inhabitants have kept all the workers busier than usual. I wish I could sign a deal with Hong Co. to get all of the cafe owners health-tracking watches with central AI, maybe have a digitized way to streamline shift rotations, but in this dreary city that would look like the first draft of an alliance. I’ll have to take care of the extent of that idea myself.”

You chewed on your food thoughtfully. “For what it’s worth, Jihoon, I think it’s a great idea. And you have the personnel to make the process more efficient.”

“I'm too afraid Seokmin will intercept material somehow, if I don’t manage it alone. But thanks.”

Security in the Plaza was stronger than ever and Jihoon was still worried that Lee Seokmin could hack into civilian wristwatches? No wonder Jihoon always had you nearby.

Or maybe you were still around because Jihoon was more afraid of being alone with his own thoughts. 

Two days later, Lee Chan came by for another visit. This time he brought guards and the two brothers spoke in a meeting room. Chan’s guards stood outside of the room and you were inside standing by the door.

“I met with Seungcheol the other day,” Chan said to begin the meeting. “I told him you’d been attacked recently on your way to Josh’s and you haven’t left your area since.”

Jihoon sighed heavily. “What else did you guys talk about?”

“The usual report. It doesn’t seem like Seokmin is planning anything major soon. But spring will be here eventually.”

Chan turned to look at you. You raised your eyebrows. “You gotta leave some glory for the rest of us, Y/N. Breaking your own record like that - you rescued my brother in what, ten minutes? Five?”

You simply bowed in response, making sure it was a deep bow.

Chan turned back to Jihoon. “If you have any more refugees looking to train in my neck of the woods, Shua gave me an updated driver to send me their files through. His most secure one-way, two-person limit comms device yet.”

“As a matter of fact, I do have a new list to review,” Jihoon said, holding out his hand. Chan took the tiny device out of his inner pocket and placed it in Jihoon’s palm. “I can plug this thing in tomorrow, be on the receiving end at noon.”

The meeting went on for another twenty minutes before Chan made his departure. Then it was back to Jihoon’s room.

The next morning, Jihoon made a strange proposition to you.

“Would you like to join me on a jog up and down HQ before breakfast?”

“...Sure.”

The jog wasn’t totally silent. Every few minutes you checked in with Jihoon to make sure he stayed hydrated.

“How have you not broken a sweat?” Jihoon had asked you halfway.

You shrugged in response.

Towards the end, Jihoon called to you again "I'm thinking we get banchan after this, what do you think?"

"Sure, that sounds great," you called back with a smile.

Jihoon gave you a smirk back, genuinely making you think that the day was off to a great start.

As you both cooled down and stretched outside of a smaller cafe entrance, waiting for your food to be ready, you heard your watch make an unusual sound. You heard the same sound echoing from the guards around.

Maybe Jihoon was trying a new alert system for scheduling.

“What was that?” Jihoon asked you, sounding concerned.

You looked at him, confused. Then your eyes widened. You grabbed Jihoon by the arm, pummeling through the cafe doors to try and find a safe room to hide in.

Then everything went dark.

---

a/n: HOLY COW it’s been 2 whole years? Since I wrote “The Only Hong”??

Seriously guys I think I have problems, I literally wrote this on a whim and finished it in 2 days

I get notifications almost every day that people still heart the fics I’ve written and it’s kinda insane, thank you so much

The first action scene was inspired by Huntr/x "How It's Done" btw ^^ and of course a touch of Spider-Man

I would say stay tuned for pt. 2 coming soon or smth but to be totally fair i have no clue what i'll be doing in the coming weeks

Uhhhh I’m kind of a different person now than I used to be so this fic turned out WAY different than I originally imagined years ago and it's probably only gonna keep veering off-style from here