Kang Residence
Atlanta, Georgia
United States of America
May 2013
“Jin-ho, I’ve got a couple of things for you to sign,” Tony said plainly, stepping into the man’s office with a bored expression. The man’s brows furrowed at the center upon realizing that Jin-ho was not sitting at his desk as he usually would, and stepped further into the room with a hint of caution. “Jin-ho?” he asked carefully, dropping the stapled papers onto the nearby chair. His hand went to the gun holster and he wrapped it around the grip, senses heightened upon hearing short, heavy breathing coming from the back corner. “The fuck…”
Upon reaching the area, his brown eyes widened upon seeing Jin-ho on the floor, a hand clamped over his mouth and his own eyes looking panicked. The Korean, upon seeing Tony, attempted to speak but was unable to, merely choking on his breath. Cursing, Tony hastily approached the man, setting his hands carefully on the other’s shoulders. “Hey, hey. You’ll be fine. Okay? Come on. We know how to do this.”
Jin-ho shut his eyes and both of them did exactly what they had grown accustomed to doing. Tony counted. With every multiple of three, Jin-ho attempted to breathe in. At 30, the Korean’s breath started to grow lengthier, less tense. At 66, Jin-ho’s shaking had subsided. At 84, he had opened his eyes. Catching sight of Tony there made his apprehensions fade out slightly, and Tony slowly slackened his grip. “How you doing?”
“I feel like death,” Jin-ho croaked. At that, Tony gave the smallest of smiles.
“Yeah.” A laugh, “That’s what usually happens. Need anything?”
Jin-ho took a shaky breath. He had been able to remove his hand from his mouth at 36. “Water. I…I need water.”
“Got it.” Tony pressed something and spoke — probably speaking to the mic clipped onto his collar — asking for a pitcher of water and a single glass. “Anything else?”
“Nothing, nothing. I just need to sit down,” he spoke, attempting to stand. Jin-ho’s legs felt like jelly; Tony immediately supported him and the two made their way to where he had been sitting earlier. Jin-ho rested his face into his hands and Tony watched with a concerned look in his eyes before hearing a soft knock on the door. Rushing, he soon opened it to see Leroux standing there with the items on a tray. “Thanks,” he breathed. “You can go now.” Leroux gave a short nod before walking away, Tony bringing the tray to Jin-ho’s desk and pouring him a glass of cold water. He pushed it towards the Korean, “Drink. You’re parched.”
Jin-ho took the glass and raised it to his lips, drinking. He immediately finished the entire thing and pushed it back, quietly asking for another. When drinking down the second glass, Tony kept his eyes on the other.
“Look, I don’t want to trigger you back into those damn attacks, but what happened? Last I saw you, you were just signing documents and reading something on your phone. But now…” he trailed off. “You know.”
“It was an unprovoked attack.” Jin-ho set the glass down, “It shouldn’t have happened. Never should have happened, anyway.”
“So you’re telling me that nothing set you off?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Anyway,” Jin-ho cleared his throat, “You said you had some papers for me to sign?” Tony was about to protest but Jin-ho was pointedly looking away at that point. Sighing, the man walked to the chair where the papers sat. Shuffling them, he slid them across the desk and Jin-ho stared at them blankly before exhaling. “…I think I’m okay, now. Thank you.”
“But,” Tony protested, only to fall silent once Jin-ho lifted a hand.
“I can handle this,” the male replied, albeit tiredly. “Really. Go back to Leroux.” it wasn’t a suggestion. By the tone of this voice, Tony felt and knew that it was an order. Without much left to say, the other male straightened and pressed his lips together, nodding stiffly.
“Understood.” Tony turned and left the room without anything else, Jin-ho sinking into his chair and exhaling. What he had said earlier was the truth — he didn’t exactly know what had triggered the attack in the first place, but it came and it hit hard.
“Fuck,” he exhaled, counting down in his head. An uneasy feeling resurfaced in his stomach and he exhaled again, breathing out harder this time. “Fuck.”
Outside, Leroux caught sight of Tony, who was pacing up and down the hall of the Korean’s residence. He raised a brow, “…are you alright?”
“Fine,” he answered shortly. Leroux kept staring at Tony until the other broke, unnerved at how intense the brunet could get with his stares. “It’s just Jin-ho. Don’t bother him,” Tony said sharply, “I’m just worried about him. That’s all.”
“Why don’t you go inside if you’re worried?”
“He sent me out.” Just as Leroux was about to say anything else, Tony excused himself and left, leaving Leroux by himself. His brown eyes glanced towards the door where Jin-ho usually stayed and he made sure Tony really was gone before approaching and stationing himself nearby. He didn’t enter, not really. But if someone like Tony of all people became uncomfortable because of something that had happened to Jin-ho, then it would be better if he just stayed and waited.
Right?
He heaved a quiet sigh, merely waiting by the door and keeping his arms folded across his chest. Maybe he was being paranoid. Maybe Jin-ho was okay after all, and that Tony was just a big worrywart.
Maybe.
Closing his eyes, Leroux kept within his thoughts until he heard a certain scratching noise from inside the male’s office. Blinking, he turned towards the door and listened harder; the sound repeated and intensified, and he realized that something was indeed terribly wrong.
For a moment, he considered calling on Tony, but the other was probably somewhere else and wouldn’t get there in time. Without much thought, Leroux raised his voice and called out, “I’m going inside,” and indeed went inside.
Upon getting in, he wasn’t sure what he had initially expected.
Jin-ho was still at his desk, but one hand was gripping tightly onto the wood and another was covering his eyes. The older male was breathing hard; he coughed and barely could muster the words to speak before reverting back into his earlier state. Forgetting the identity he had to keep up, Leroux launched forward and immediately began trying to snap the other out of it, with Jin-ho trembling harder in response.
Leroux — Mathieu — cursed quietly at that point and could only hope for the best, sending a quick prayer to whichever gods would grant them mercy.
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