Forbidden (Chapter 10)

It's time for chapter 10 of Forbidden! I'd like to say thanks to those people who commented and really like this story of mine, it means a lot. :) so thank you!! It seems our little herione has had her ups and downs living with Detective Kim, and her first falling out with him has led to some surprising consequenses, no? XD We shall see what sort of shenanigens they get into as the story progresses, but for now, ONWARD TO CHAPTER 10!! *confetti*

Chapter 10

The next couple of days passed without much incident between Detective Kim and me. He had told me that the reason he hadn't answered his phone calls from me the past couple days were because he was working a big case that was relevant to the Charlie Park and Hong Kong incident. It turns out that Charlie Park was part of an even bigger drug trafficking scheme involving YJ Finance; Detective Kim had been swamped with paper and undercover work, but thanks to Detective Shin they managed to catch them in the nik of time before anymore drugs made it into the country. I didn't ask much more about it--I was just glad everything turned out alright and he was safe.

He had kept his promise to me and either called and texted me whenever he could, easing my mind throughout the days I was in school. He recently texted me that he was really busy working on a case involving one of their own in the Police Agency. Apparently, the YJ case files were stolen from the H.I.T.'s Police Chief's office and they were going crazy looking for them...it also didn't help that they had found out the Police Chief's room had been bugged.

Stop right there, I texted back, while I was in the middle of Math homework. Isn't this top secret? You shouldn't be telling me this at all, let alone through text message. He answered back almost immediately, and I smiled to myself as I read his answer, and rolled my eyes.

You're the one who said--in tears, need I remind you--to always text you with whatever it is I'm doing.

Yes I did, but not Top Secret information, Detective.

It took him a while to respond that time, which was good for me considering I got almost NOTHING accomplished in Math...I should yell at him for that if I ended up failing the class and make him feel guilty. But then again, I might get "grounded" for failing. I almost laughed out loud; what could he POSSIBLY do as punishment to me if I failed math? Or any subject for that matter? The man's been living alone for most of his adult life and just recently accquired a kid whom he now has to be in charge of. I doubt he'd be able to do anything drastic; I think he nearly wet himself when I broke down crying at him the other day.

He answered me back with a "Well, next time be more specific with your demands," which I followed up with a (I only realized this after I hit send GODDAMMIT!) flirty, "I have high demands Detective, I don't think you'd be able to handle them," and got back to my math homework, my stomach clenching uncomfortably with what I had just sent to him. Thankfully, he never responded back and I figured it was either because he was extremely caught off guard by my answer, or because he as really busy with work. I hoped--no PRAYED--it was the latter.

Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of embarrassment in my stomach, I gritted my teeth and got to work on the rest of my homework, which consisted of Language, Chemistry, and Reading. I ended up spending most of my time at the kitchen table trying not to rip out my hair with such moutainous work that he been bestowed upon me by the oh-so-understanding teachers at Sook-Myung Girls' Academy. (Blech!) Thank God it was Friday and I could sleep in the next day!

After about 3 hours of Math and Reading (WHO THE HELL THOUGHT IT WOULD BE OK FOR ME TO READ HANGUL?! DEAR GOD!!) I thought I got another text message from Detective Kim while I was sitting on the couch, taking a break and watching a Korean anime on television. I ignored the buzz until it happened about 3 times simultaneously and I figured out it was an actual call. I quickly turned the tv on mute, checked the caller ID, and answered.

"Yes, Detective?" I said.

"How are you doing? Are you alright?" he answered. I blinked in surprise, but smiled. He really was trying to keep his promise. I lay back on the couch and let my legs dangle from one of the arms.

"I'm fine," I replied, "Just taking a break from my homework; I still have a lot to do. Jeez, teachers here really know how to pile on the workload. I mean yeah, I had a lot of homework in my old school, but nothing like this." He laughed and my insides swarmed with butterflies at the sound and I found myself smiling along with him. I felt my face grow hot and I smooshed my free hand against my cheek, trying to cool it down. Damn, ever since that night when I broke down and he held me in his arms, he's had that affect on me...not that I was complaining, it was just REALLY annoying for me cuz I was still trying to suppress it. He's my guardian for crying out loud!! He shouldn't make me feel this way!! DAMMIT!!

"Yeah, teachers here in Korea are a lot different than teachers in the West. Kids here are drilled to study hard in order to get into a good university since it's so competitive here, so they have to have a lot of homework and succeed no matter what," he explained. I huffed.

"That should be considered Child Abuse," I muttered. He chuckled at my response.

"Hey, I had to go through it too and I survived, I think you can too."

"Yeah, ok" I told him, rolling my eyes. "So what did you call me for, Detective? Or are you just worried about me ever since the other day when I yelled at you?"

"I am," he said seriously. My smile instantly faded and my face grew hotter and when I didn't reply he contined. "But we'll talk about that some other time. I'm just calling to tell you that I won't be home until late tonight--if at all; this case has really got me tied up. I actually hope I can go home, but I can't promise you that. I'll call you if I'm not able to make it."

"O-ok," I stuttered, trying to deal with the raging OMG! HE'S ACTUALLY WORRIED ABOUT ME! HE'S SO SWEET! fest in my head. That must have set off alarms in his head cuz--quite worried--if I was all right.

"Yes-yes!! I'm fine, just really.....tired," I lied, placing a hand on my forehead as if trying to calm the thoughts running through my head.

"Ok, well hurry and finish your homework and get some rest," he said, "And like I said, I'll try to be home tonight but I can't promise you anything."

"Ok, that's fine. Work hard!" I cheered. "Hwaiting!" He laughed and answered with a slightly embarrassed "Hwaiting" of his own and we hung up. I dangled my arm holding my cell phone over the seat of the leather couch, allowing it to fall from my slack grip. I sighed dramatically, puffing out my cheeks and rubbed my forehead as if still trying to calm my thoughts.

"AAARGH!! ENOUGH BRAIN!!" I screamed at the ceiling, completely frustrated at this point. I glared up at the heavens and pouted. "What the hell?" I questioned. "What the freakin hell? I hope You find this amusing, cuz I sure as hell don't. YOU ARE SO MEAN!!" I clutched fistfuls of hair and rolled on the couch until my spazzyness made me fall off. I just lay there staring between the legs of the coffee table, not moving.

"This blows," I muttered glaring into space. I lay there for another five minutes, wallowing in my anger, confusion, and irritability until finally getting up and finishing my homework. It took my mind off Detective Kim and my own feelings but it still wasn't pleasant.

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I woke up the next morning, groggy and tired but surprisingly in bed. That's funny...I don't remember falling asleep last night, let alone falling asleep in bed. The last thing I remember was finishing up my Chemistry homework. Maybe I sleptwalked to bed? No, that wasn't right. At least I hoped it wasn't. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to go shower but stopped when I smelled the unmistakable scent of coffee being made.

Wait. Coffee?!

I dashed to the kitchen not only to find a pot of hot coffee still in the coffee maker, but also my guardian standing watch over it, an empty cup on the counter by his side. When he heard me enter, he looked up and smiled at me which in turn made me feel super self-concious about my just-got-out-of-bed appearance. Great.

"Good Morning," he said to me in Korean. "You looked like you slept well."

"G-Good Morning," I answered surprised. Detective Kim then went back to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup while I watched him like I've never seen him before in my life.

"Wh...What're you doing here?" I ended up stuttering out slowly. He grinned at me as he took a sip of coffee. "I live here don't I?" he said, smiling. I fidgeted a bit and looked away and was quiet for a while before asking my next question.

"How did I get in bed?"

Detective Kim looked at me for a long time, his eyes warm and caring. His gaze made my stomach explode with butterflies, and I fidgeted even more and I scrated by bed-head hair trying to do SOMETHING at least to try and make the situation less awkward.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask me that," he finally answered, amusement in his voice. I looked up at him to find that he was still smilng kindly at me and had that cute smile on his face. I waited for the rest of his answer.

"I found you sleeping at the kitchen table when I got home around 3 in the morning," he said. "You fell asleep finishing your homework and you were sleeping on your Chemistry book. I didn't wanna wake you up, so I carried you to your room and placed you in bed."

My stomach seemed to sink to the deepest pits of Hell when he told me that. Not only could I NOT believe I fell asleep doing homework, I couldn't believe that I fell asleep AT THE KITCHEN TABLE AND HE HAD TO CARRY ME TO BED!! Was I snoring when he found me on the table?! WORSE!! DID I DROOL?! OMG!!!

"I have to admit, you were cute sleeping on the table like that," he continued and I looked at him in wide-eyed disbelief. "And you're quite light too; I had no problem carrying you to bed. And when I put you in bed, you mumbled in your sleep and turned on your side. It was very cute."

OH. MY. GOD.

"I'm going to shower," I stated and went back to my room with my face feeling like it was on fire. I grabbed my towel, and slammed the bathroom door and started my shower, having the steam and warmth of the water try and soothe me. Didn't work so well as my insides were still a raging inferno and my face felt like a volcano. I smooshed my hands against my face as the water carressed my body and I stared the the floor of the tub as the water flowed down the drain.

"I can't believe that happened," I muttered, blinking water from my eyes. "I can't believe that actually happened!! He....he...." I couldn't bring myself to say the rest of what was in my mind--it was just too embarrassing.

"Aaahh!! I can't believe that happened, it's so emabrrassing!!" I whined as I scrubbed myself furiously with soap and water. I told myself it was to wash off the feeling of humiliation. Didn't work so well. I had finished cleansing myself and wrapped my towel around my body and peeked out the bathroom door, checking to see if Detective Kim had gone to work, which would save me from even more suffering.

"I thought you drowned in there, you took so long," his voice called out to me. I flung the door open, letting the steam out and faced him in the hallway between his room and mine.

"What are you still doing here?! Don't you have work today?!" I screamed, holding the door open with one hand and clutching my towel around myself with the other. He was quiet for a moment, staring at me. And that's when I realized that I was staring at him and only in a towel. I slammed the bathroom door and leaned against it, my heart beating a million miles a minute, and my breathing labored.

"YOU SAW NOTHING!!" I screeched from behind the door. Detective Kim said nothing for a long time and I partially wondered if he was still there. I got my answer though, when he said something to me that made my heart skip a beat.

"Let's go out," he said from outside the bathroom. My brain seemed to malfunction for a moment, while I tried to process what he said. Go out? Like...OUT out? I mentally kicked myself. No, retard that's stupid--not to mention totally unprofessional. Unprofessional? What is this, a workplace? Oh...wait....come to think of it, this whole thing with me living here with him is basically like business. He takes care of me, and I pretty much stay out of his way....

The knock on the door made me snap back to reality and the worried tone of voice Detective Kim called out to me with, made me really listen to him.

"Kimi....are you alright?" he asked. I opened the door just a smidge and peeked out at him through the tiny opening.

".......Where are we going?" I asked, grateful for the door hiding my face so he wouldn't see me blushing. He smiled that cute (AND TOTALLY HAWT!) smile at me and said, "We're going out for breakfast. My team and I are going to surprise our Supervisor, and make him treat us for breakfast." I grinned.

"Wow....that's not completley childish in any way," I answered back sarcastically. Then a thought occured to me. "Wait....if you've already decided to bring me along with you....wouldn't that mean everyone's going to find out about me living with you? Even though no one's s'posed to except for Prosecutor Kim and Detective Cha? Wouldn't you get in trouble?"

He looked uncomfortable for a moment and hesitant. He looked away and down at the ground, as if in shame but quickly regained his composure and smiled once more at me.

"You're not one of the criminals I have to deal with everyday; the only thing you do is get up, go to school and then come back home. I hate having you be basically trapped here, so I'm taking out with my team and telling them everything. I may get in trouble sure, but it'll be worth it if I can give you a lot more freedom than you do now," he said. I stared at him, touched by his words. I looked down at the floor so he wouldn't see the tears of gratitude shine in my eyes.

"Thank you," I mumbled in Korean, in a voice that was barely above a whisper. He reached his hand into the bathroom and patted my head caringly.

"Get dressed, and then we'll get going," he told me, and then went into the living room and turned on the tv. I wiped my eyes and sniffed, my mood instantly better in that 3 minutes of bonding time and I smiled to myself and hummed SHINee's "Romantic" as I went back to my room and got dressed in a denim mini-skirt, black knee-high stockings, black Converse, a light pink long sleeved shirt, and a denim vest with attached white cotton sleeves and a hood. It was warm in comfortable in this winter weather.

I actually put makeup on today--something I rarely do, even in school. You can guess why I did it today. I put on some lip gloss, and light blush on my my cheeks, while a small amount of eyeliner and mascara darkened my lashes. I brushed out my hair and placed some small but cute, pink barettes in my hair to keep my bangs out of my face. I gave myself a once over in the mirror, and feeling satisfied I went out to meet my guardian who by now was flipping through the tv channels.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," I said as I came into the living room, feeling more than a little self-conscious. Detective Kim looked up at me and I swear he looked a tiny bit surprised at my appearance, but I couldn't tell for his facial expression switched instantly to something else I couldn't read.

"You look nice," he told me, getting up from the couch. "But it's a bit cold out, you might want a jacket." I nodded and went to get my coat from my room and then we finally went out the door.

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It was an awkward car ride to Detective Kim's Supervisor's house. When we got to the Police Agency, Lieutenant Cha looked like she was about to shit kittens when she saw Detective Kim bring me into the H.I.T. headquarters and tell her that he decided to bring me along. She then proceeded to drag him out and take him someplace so she could have a private word with him. I didn't need and explination to know that he was getting shit for it.

While he was being ripped on by Lietenant Cha, I got aquainted with the other Detectives whom I just realized I hadn't seen since the Hong Kong incident. I recognized Detective Jang right away and smiled warmly at him when he greeted me.

"I'm glad to see you're doing ok," I told him in Korean. "How is Hee-Jin?"

"She's doing fine, thank you," he answered, smiling. " I'll tell her you said hello."

Detective Nam then came up to me and greeted me kindly and so did Detective Shin, though he looked at me suspiciously and I fidgeted uncomfortably under his scrutiny.

"So," he said to me, "What brings you here with Detective Kim? You don't expect me to believe that you two are just friends with you being as young as you are. How old are you anyway? 16? 15?"

"I'm 17 sir," I answered, annoyance prickling up my spine. "I'll be 18 in a few weeks." Jeez, what a jerk, asking such upfront questions!!! I made a mental note to stay away from him.

"And as to why she and I came here together, I'll explain everything when we get Chief Cho," came the voice of Detective Kim as he and Lieutenant Cha came back from their "talk." I was more than a little relieved to see him, and when I looked at him he gave me a look that said that everything was all right and taken care of and I had nothing to worry about.

"Kim Il-Ju," stated Detective Shin suspiciously once again, and eyeing Detective Kim with as much scrutiny as he did me. "Don't tell me that you're in some kind of inappropriate relationship with her. You're a cop, for God's sake."

"WHAT?!" shouted Detective Kim, Lieutenant Cha and myself in unison, looking at Detective Shin like he had just lost his damn mind. I prayed that no one noticed me blushing like a fool.

"It's not like that at all!" explained my guardian to Detective Shin, annoyance brimming in his voice. "What kind of person do you take me for?! I told you I'll explain everything when we get Chief Cho, and I will! Don't make up stories and say nonsense like that! That's a serious accusation anyway!! What's wrong with you?!"

"Ok, ok," replied Mr. Sleaze-ball (yes, I'm using his nickname that I gave him way back when. It fits him perfectly). "Just checking." And he walked off with such an air of nonchalance that I wanted to kick him where the sun don't shine.

"Forget about it, let's just go," ordered Lieutenant Cha and she and the rest of the team followed her out of headquaters and into their grey police van. Mr. Sleaze-ball was driving, my guardian was in the passenger seat, Detective Nam and Jang were in the middle seat and I was in the rear with Lieutenant Cha (SAVE ME!! D: ). As he promised, Detective Kim explained everything about him and myself to his fellow detectives and every once in a while they would glance back at me and then go back to the story and listen intently to Detective Kim. I on the other hand, stared directly at the floor of the van, not looking at Lieutanant Cha because I could tell she just wanted to rip my guardian apart....and I didn't doubt for a second that she'd do the same to me as well if she wanted to. Or worse: send me back to Canada.

So you can imagine how awkward the car ride was for me. And it didn't get any better, because as soon as we got to Chief Cho's house (IT'S FREAKIN NIIICE!! OMG!!) Detective Kim proceeded to imitate Super Junior and greeted him with a "We are H.I.T. -handsign-" and I just about died of embarrassment FOR him. Everyone else just looked at him.

"You don't think that was funny?" he asked, majorly embarrassed, looking at all of us and stopping at me with a sheepish grin on his face. I shook my head, covered my face with my hand and walked away, trying not to laugh. He tried calling out to me, but I answered him with a dismissive, "I don't know you!" and ignored him. However, the next thing I knew, the team carried their Cheif into the van and drove off to God knows where. Yep...basically they kidnapped him. COPS. The COPS. KIDNAPPED. SOMEONE. Fuuuucked uuup!! But in a good way, I guess.

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We ended up going to an outdoor breakfast/park....thing and all of us sat at one of the patio/gazeebo type things and all had a good time, laughing and joking. Chief Cho asked me a lot of questions about my home life before I came to live with Detective Kim (who had explained to him why there was a kid here, and everything. Thankfully he didn't seem to mind--he even said he would have done the same thing had he been in Detective Kim's place). I answered him as best as I could, and was surprised to find that I wasn't getting annoyed or angry as opposed to when I usually did when asked about my pre-Korean home life. I guess it was because I was happy not having to hide the fact about why I decided to come here, and also having to come to live with Detective Kim. I was more than happy not having to have that burden on my shoulders anymore.

The mood was happy-go-lucky for a while, until Chief Cho pointed out that even though the team expected him to treat them all to a nice (and expensive) breakfast, he didn't bring his wallet.

"You dragged me out and threw me into the van," he stated and laughed maniacally while the others just stared at him. "You brought this on yourselves." I looked around at all the Detective's disheartened faces and covered my mouth with my hands, trying (and failing miserably ) to hide my own hysterical laughter.

"Ah, see! Even she's laughing at your stupidity!" exclaimed Chief Cho, patting my back in gratitude and joining in on my laughter. I then felt a small stick hit my chest, and looked up to see Detective Kim grinning at me.

"Yah," he said in Korean, smirking, "It's not polite to laugh at other people's misfortune."

"It's not your misfortune she's laughing at, it's your idiocy," retorted Chief Cho, making the both of us laugh even harder. Our laughing made everyone else laugh, and the mood was lightened once more as Detective Kim asked a waitress to come and take our orders and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast.

After a good time of laughing and joking, I got up from my spot and decided to wander around the grounds, and enjoy the scenery a bit. I stared up at the sky as small flocks of birds flew overhead, and kept my distance as I watched squirrels dig in the ground for their lost acorns and whatnot. I ended up walking far from the group of police officers and found myself at a small bridge over a little creek, where fallen leaves floated atop the waters and melting snow dripped from the icicles.

I stared into the creek, thinking of all that had happened in my life so far and how truly grateful I was that it had turned out in such as way that was for the better. I was happy that I was here, happy that I was doing well for myself, and most of all happy that I had a wonderful guardian like Detective Kim to protect me. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Detective Kim smiling at me and came to stand next to me on the bridge.

"You ok?" he asked me, mirroring my stance and leaning against the metal railing. I nodded and placed a lock of loose hair behind my ear.

"Just thinking," I answered. "Not really about anything in particular though. Just finally realizing how happy I am right now, as opposed to how I was before." I looked at him and he nodded and stared out into space.

"I'm glad," he said to me. "You deserve to be happy after everything that you went through--not only back in your home of Canada, but here too. You've been through a lot." I nodded and smiled.

"True. But I have you to protect me, so I don't think things like international kidnapping and all that jazz will be happening for a loooong time."

He laughed and pulled me into a one armed hug. I felt my face burn, and the icy wind stung my cheeks as the searing blush colored my face. DAMMIT, NOT NOW!! WHYYY?! As quickly as he had done it however, he let go and I was left in the cold aftermath again, with my heart beating wildly. Ugh...I REALLY needed to figure this crap out; it's driving me absolutely NUTS. >.<

"Come on, we're about to leave so let's get back to the van," he said walking back to the others. When he didn't hear me following him he turned back to me and grinned impishly. "Unless you want to stay here in the cold, I'd be more than happy to leave you here."

"Oh yeah right!! You wouldn't leave me here!! You'd be too worried about me!!" I yelled, catching up to him and playfully hitting his arm. We joked and laughed all the way back to the others, and somehow someway, our journey ended with me being slung over his shoulder like a wild animal when we actually made it to the other Detectives.

"She commited a crime and struck a police officer, I had no choice but to carry her like this and then I'm taking her in for questioning," he told them while they stared at us.

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU JERK I'M WEARING A SKIRT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! HAVE YOU NO SHAME!!?"

When we get home....he DIES. >:(