Chapter 184 - Twins' Connection

Ye Rim was still euphoric that they didn't even hesitate. She was in the drama, which until now had the provisional name of 'Bullet'.  

She had sung, done the monologue, and when the director commented that he had watched her video with tap dancing, Ye Rim remembered the circ.u.mstances in which it was recorded. She blushed a little, but probably not for the reasons they thought! Then Ye Rim offered to show them live, and in the end, everyone was delighted with her performance.

That's what she told her friends while they were celebrating. A large group gathered at the Pearl, now reopened, to drink and party.

"Are we going to wait for the drama to premiere to see Ye Rim tap dancing?" asked Park Soo Bin, Kang Dae's girlfriend, who was also there.

"Come next week to see my farewell to Pearl! I'll show you a little of what I've learned!" she replied smiling. Jun Hyeon was at her side at the table, and that was totally natural. They were frequently and naturally close to each other.

"And Dr. Kim? Could he present something too, don't you think?" said Baek Woo Geun.

Everyone supported the suggestion and Ye Rim turned to him expectantly. But Jun Hyeon said, 

"This will be the Ye Rim's night. We'll dance together at another moment. I promise!"

Everyone applauded, but soon he excused himself and left the table, lingering in the bathroom. Ye Rim quietly asked Chang Mi to find out if there was any reason to worry, while he kept entertaining her friends.

While she was waiting for the answer, Eun Ha asked,

"Ye Rim, what about MP Lee? Won't he come?"

"Oh! I tried to call, but he didn't answer, so I left a message! I hope he shows up at any moment!" she said hopefully.

ººº

"Here it is!" Ji Hyeon heard the muffled voice of Dae Won speaking as he pushed her forward. She stumbled, but strong hands prevented her from falling on the floor. She was wearing a hood covering her face, so she couldn't identify where she was. She just felt surrounded by people, in a cold place. 

In addition, her hands were tied back, and she had a gag. Without it, maybe Ji Hyeon had escaped on the way to there. For the first time in days, she was not doped and sleepy.

Since we had was captured, it was more or less as the days went by. 

Dae Won had physically punished her once, and then said he would soon replace her with his new muse.

Ji Hyeon was sure it was Ye Rim, her brother's girlfriend. She feared and suffered for this new victim, but there was nothing she could do. Dae Won no longer had the least interest in her and now Ji Hyeon was just something boring that he wanted to get rid of, in favor of a new toy. To Ji Hyeon's confused surprise, she realized that Dae Won believed himself to be above violence. 

Of course, he wasn't. But after recapturing her with all that violence, he became very nervous and his manipulative speeches had a single purpose. Convince her she was to blame for him having to resort to violence.

He really had a sick mind. But it kept her alive, for a while, at least. 

Ji Hyeon knew that things had changed when Dae Won put her in the car and took her out that rainy night. She struggled as hard as she could, even trying to hit him with her legs, but she couldn't see with the hood and it was difficult to breathe with that horrible thing in her mouth. Her face ached for the long hours with his mouth open.

The place they were in was large and empty. She knew it because the steps with leather-soled shoes and wooden heels echoed. Ji Hyeon was an expert on the sounds of heels. Someone with exquisite taste and expensive shoes was there with them.

"How long do you need us to stay with her, Lee?" the cynical and condescending voice asked.

"Two weeks, at most three," he said. "Here's the payment. Keep her alive."

"This is the plan," the man gave an unpleasant laugh that echoed in the room. Another person took her tied wrists and pulled Ji Hyeon violently. Ji Hyeon followed up with this person knowing that she wasn't being executed tonight. What was Dae Won plotting? What kind of plan was that?

She couldn't understand, and heard a metallic noise. A door? Her own footsteps echoed with a characteristic sound. Was she in a… container? The man who brought it out took off her hood and gag.

The light was dim enough, and Ji Hyeon was not blinded when he removed the hood. She really was in a container and a man in a black mask and cap, despite the cheap suit, expertly released her hands. There was a mat, a toilet and sink, and a closed crate. 

She dr.a.p.ed her arms, relieved,

"Thank you," she murmured, and barely recognized her voice.

But the man did not answer and left.

The door closed behind him. Ji Hyeon heard the bolts lock her in with a bang.

ººº

Jun Hyeon was sitting on the toilet with his head in his hands, astonished. His face was aching, especially the muscles of the jaw. But his arms and legs hurt too, with too much lactic acid and cramps. There was no plausible explanation for this sudden pain or the excess of lactic acid because he exercised every day. 

The doctor was unable to diagnose the problem on his own. Even his hands were tingling hard, and he feared an ongoing stroke. Calling his neurologist, and feeling a lot of pain while doing this, he explained the symptoms quickly and asked to see him later tonight. When he left the booth, he came across Ye Rim's agency's intern, "Persimmon". He seemed to wait for him. Jun Hyeon looked around, but saw that the other cabins were free. 

He always found that intern intriguing. He had a rather arrogant appearance, as if he were one of the chaebols who studied with him at the elite school he attended. But he was kind to Ye Rim, although he sometimes acted like a watchdog. 

Pointing a finger at his chest, he asked, 

"Do you want to talk to me?"

"Do you think you are having a stroke?"

Jun Hyeon sighed, going to the sink to wash his hands. The tingling sensation was still strong and hurtful, but the cleaning habit was stronger.

"Don't tell Ye Rim."

"I'm going to have to say something if you die."

"Aigoo, I won't die. I just…"

"I overheard the conversation with your doctor. Don't strain yourself. Your mouth hurts," the guy used the sink beside him to wash his hand too. 'Strange dude,' he thought, but at the moment it didn't matter. He just needed to leave, and he didn't want to alarm Ye Rim or ruin the celebration. 

In fact, he didn't feel like he was going to die. 

Then the boy quickly approached and reached for his forehead,

"I know a method that will free you from pain."

"Reiki?" he asked, a little uncomfortable with the sudden invasion of space. That boy was definitely weird.

"No, something else."

Just saying that, the guy touched the doctor's forehead with his middle and index fingers. Jun Hyeon was going to dodge and apologize, escaping the bizarre situation, when a surge of energy hit him right where the boy touched.

The doctor saw everything in front of him go white and felt his body soften immediately, without him being able to do anything about it.

"Jun, Jun Hyeon ..." he heard his sister's tearful voice beside him as they took him on the stretcher. "Everything will be fine ...!" Ji Hyeon passed out, and although he was suffering from his own unbearable pain, it scared him. He was back on the day of his ski accident in Switzerland. Paramedics had extra work with Ji Hyeon. She had panicked when she saw him suffer the accident, and had to be sedated.

While he was recovering in the hospital, Ji complained of pain and did several tests, which didn't prove any illness. She only got better when she traveled back to Korea with their mother, while her father stayed with him in Switzerland.

But Kim Jun Hyeon didn't wake up in the hospital bed in Switzerland, but on a sofa backstage at Pearl. Ye Rim was reclining on him, patting him on the face, while in the background, Shin Hye Seong scolded 'Persimmon'.

"OH! He's coming to himself! Jun Hyeon? how are you feeling?"

He blinked several times, and then asked himself the same question. But it was as if he had taken a potent anesthetic, without the effect of drowsiness, however. He felt awake and well. 

Daebak, what did this 'Persimmon' do?

As a doctor, he was always skeptical of spiritual healings, which worked in psychosomatic settings or just as a placebo effect, in his opinion. But he couldn't deny that, after his brief dream of something forgotten from the past, his physical pain was completely gone. He sat down, and scratched his head. Shin asked,

"Are you okay, Jun Hyeon? Do you feel any limbs tingling? Are you listening to me?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, grabbing Ye Rim's hand so she would stop poking him. Looking around, he made sure that everything was connected. They looked at each other suspiciously.

But that was even less important than the memory he had had during his brief faint.