Whisper Of Death

Chapter 15 || The warmth of a family.

Jaemin couldn’t forget what Florence told him. Was it true? He out of all people knew that shock existed. In some cases, victims would forget the memory of it because it was too traumatising but slowly they will get flashbacks and get triggered by somethings. He never noticed Florence being triggered unless she was good at hiding it. She was trained in not sharing or expressing herself. It must be easy for her to hide it from someone.

He sighed and looked at his computer screen. He felt so anxious knowing that his mother and his wife were still at the house where they got attacked. What gave him some sort of relief was that his father was there and he was trying to organise to move to another penthouse that was more secure. He was sure that there was a mole in their staffing. He just didn’t know who it was and how he could figure out who it was.

The person that decided to betray them must be cautious now so he or she won’t be caught. The rain drops falling on the window was so loud that it started giving Jaemin a headache. He knew he needed some sort of excuse to feel annoyed. He was just worried. He was worried and annoyed. This situation wasn’t ideal. He hated it.

He felt powerless and vulnerable. He hated that feeling.

Jaemin heard a knock on the door and just hummed at the response of it. He was glad to see his brother walking in and not another co worker to give him another aching headache.

“How are you feeling?” Jinwoo asked. Jaemin just shrugged his shoulders. He truly didn’t know how he felt. He was feeling a mixed of emotions and he couldn’t figure them out. Every time he felt like this he would bring himself down as being weak and it had a bad impact on his mental health. He would feel stressed.

Before knowing Florence, he would feel like that every single day but this feeling came so suddenly. He knew he was thinking too much and with what happened yesterday. He almost lost someone who held so dear to him and meant so much to him.

“You are zoning out.” Jinwoo reminded his brother. Jaemin sighed and nodded. “I am stressed. That’s all.” He simply answered as if it was a normal thing.

“You know by worrying too much you will give yourself a heart disease.” His little brother joked. Jaemin nodded. “Arra.” He replied. He wasn’t in the mood to joke around.

“Why are you stressed?” Jaemin looked at him. “I am worried about your sister in law.” Jinwoo nodded his head.

“Then why don’t you text her?” He asked. Jaemin blinked a few times. It looked like he was processing this new information as if he wasn’t able to do this before. He just truly didn’t think about it.

“I am so dumb.” He muttered underneath his breath and took his phone out, ready to message Florence.

“Don’t worry. I brought her here.” Jinwoo replied. Florence walked inside with a smile as she looked at her husband. Jaemin instantly felt relieved seeing her and at the same time, he was angry at Jinwoo for bringing her here. He was worried that someone else might notice her and might try to hurt her again.

“Are you okay?” She asked with an angelic smile while walking towards him and hugging him. She exhaled deeply and inhaled his scent which made her feel like she was home again. She felt safe with him and after what happened, his presence brought her comfort.

“I am good. How are you?” He asked her while looking her in the eyes. She just hummed and nodded her head. She didn’t really have much to say since she felt scared.

Jaemin lovingly looked at her. He was still so thankful that nothing had happened to her and that he wasn't able to do something very harmful to her. He was glad. He sighed while looking at her. Florence frowned her eyebrow. "What happened?" She asked while trying to examine his facial expressions. She was always able to tell what he was thinking about.

He shook his head and gave her a warming smile. "Aniya." He replied. "If you want, you can go home and I will wrap things up here." Jinwoo suggested as he looked at his older brother. Jaemin contemplated for a second. He felt bad. He would always put work first. No matter what, work was always first for him but when he got married with Florence, it started to gradually change.

He felt awful for letting his brother do all the work, knowing very well that he did it on purpose so he could spend extra time with Florence. "I am sorry. Jinwoo told me that you were already-" "Let me rephrase that right now. I thought he was already finished with his cases." Jinwoo nervously chuckled and tried avoiding eye contact from the both of them.

"Let's both go home and we will finish this tomorrow. I didn't have much left and the case has been ongoing for a while now." Jaemin answered. He sighed when he thought about. This case was almost never ending. A mafia business leader that globally affected the world but now deliberately was in hiding in South Korea.

Jaemin was always so close to find him and each time he was outsmarted by the mafia leader. He would have little grasp of him and then unable to hold onto him and he would escape again. He caused a lot of misery to a lot of people. Jaemin lost close friends because of him and the public has been affected recently too.

Jinwoo almost died because of him. They trusted someone and she almost killed him. She was working for him and tried getting intel from the company. That's when Jaemin realised that he couldn't trust anyone and kept most of the findings for himself and was in charge of the case. He was targeted mainly by the mafia leader because Jaemin was always able to find him but not catch him. He didn't care what happened. Jaemin knew he would get to him and ensure he paid for everything he had done.

He wasn't just any kind of criminal. He was dangerous and if he won't be stopped, South Korea could be taken over by him and that was the last thing Jaemin wanted to happen. The government was corrupted and wasn't the same anymore. Money could buy anything and the prime minister was almost killed twice. The people responsible for it all stated that they worked for him.

"Let's go." Florence said as she tugged at his sleeves to make him walk with her. Jaemin blinked a few times as he got torn out of his thoughts and quickly nodded his head before walking with her. Jaemin didn't really tell her much about his work. He wanted to be careful. He knew he could trust her but he didn't wanted to risk as he did before.

He didn't wanted to repeat the same mistake because this time, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

Florence smiled when she felt Jaemin's hand on her waist. He pulled her closer and glanced at her. He wanted to make the most out of it. He didn't wanted to hold himself back anymore. He wanted to love her and so everyone how much she meant to him. Florence was still adapting to it. Her heart fluttered each time he would tell her that he loves her.

She shyly looked down when she felt that his colleagues were looking at her. She could feel herself panicking and anxiety was rushing through. She didn't know if she was paranoid or if she had social anxiety. Maybe it was a bit of both. When they finally reached outside, Florence took a deep breathe. She didn't even know she was holding it in until she inhaled the fresh air.

Jaemin glanced over at her once with a smile and then got in the car. "Should we go eat somewhere?" Jaemin asked as they sat in the car. Florence thought back of what Jaemin's mother said to her when she was at home.

"It is scary to stay in this house." She exhaled as she sat in the living room and closed all doors. She told guards to stay outside since she was petrified of what had happened. Florence nodded as she sighed. "What happened was quite traumatic. I am glad you had made it out safely." Florence said with a smile.

Every time Florence thought back at the moment when the invader came in, she would think about how weak she was and how she was hiding while feeling terrified. She felt like a coward who wasn't able to defend herself or someone she cared about. She couldn't help but to think back at the time when her mother needed help but she wasn't able to do anything than just running and saving herself.

Florence looked down as she tried to keep her tears in. Her mother was a sensitive topic and having a conversation about her with anyone would always panic her. She would break down. The only time she actually was able to talk about her without crying was when she was telling Jaemin.

Maybe he was helping her heal from this trauma that she had been struggling with ever since she was a child.

"Is everything okay?" Jaemin's mother asked as she looked Florence fade away from reality. She quickly snapped out of it and nodded her head. "I am okay." She replied with a smile.

"I would never take your mother's place but I want you to know that I am always here for you." She smiled and Florence nodded. She didn't think about it twice and hugged Jaemin's mother. "I know and I will always be here for you too, as a daughter." Florence replied which made Jaemin's mother tear up.

"I have always wanted a daughter. Having you is a blessing." She smiled. "My sons are always so busy. I love having you around." And hugged Florence tightly as if she was about to lose her.

"What do you think about going back home?" Florence asked. "Just your mother has been scared all day today and since Jinwoo and father will be home too, we can all spend time together as a family." She continued when she saw Jaemin's confused expression that soon changed into a warm and loving expression.

He took her hand and pulled it closer to his lips and kissed it gently. "You are always so thoughtful. This is why I love you so much." He smiled. Florence blinked a few times before shyly smiling.

"I love you too." She smiled and then quickly hid her face. Jaemin's eyes widened and he chuckled softly seeing her cute response after she said she loved him.

"I didn't hear you well. What did you say?" Jaemin asked to tease her. Florence looked at him by making a gap through her fingers and pouted. "You didn't?" She asked sadly. She put her hands down on her lap as she continued to look sadly at Jaemin. "Jinja?" She asked again.

Her cute Korean expression made Jaemin want to kiss her but he knew that Florence might not be ready for it and the last thing he wanted to do was making her feel like she had to do something with which she wouldn't feel comfortable with yet. "You are cute." He said as he laughed softly and started the engine of the car.

"Did you really not hear me?" She pouted and looked at him. Jaemin looked back at her and nodded his head. "I did hear you, baby." Florence's cheeks flushed red and she could feel herself becoming warm. She smiled and nodded her head. "I am glad." She said softly and looked away. She loved the nicknames he gave her. Even though, this was the first one she had.

During the ride home, Jaemin enjoyed the silence. It allowed him think through about a lot of things. As a secret agent, it was always impossible to not take work home. Especially if someone had a huge case which could be detrimental if it wasn't solved. That's how Jaemin felt right now. He was known to solve cases with ease. He had solved big cases in less than two week but this one took him months.

He didn't wanted to think that it was impossible. He knew that every criminal was always bound to make a mistake and get caught. This mafia was exactly the same. He had made many mistakes and left loose ends which allowed Jaemin to get close but ever since the last incident, he had been laying low. There wasn't anything that Jaemin could take as a lead and take forward and it was frustrating and stressful.

When they finally reached the parking lot, Jinwoo gave Jaemin a weird look as in 'what the hell are you doing here? You are supposed to spend time with her.' look. Jaemin sighed and shrugged his shoulders and mouthed "She wanted to be home." Jinwoo looked weirdly at Florence before looking back at his brother.

"Am I missing something?" Florence asked confused when he saw the two brothers angrily making signs to each other as if they were not meant to be here. Jinwoo quickly shook his head and innocently smiled at his sister in law. Jaemin wanted to slap him. He always hated it when Jinwoo acted like he couldn't do anything wrong.

He probably was the most evil out of the two of them.

"Disgusting." Jaemin muttered underneath his breath when Florence walked inside and Jinwoo was following him.

"I thought you were going to have dinner with her?" Jaemin's mother asked confused when everyone walked inside the living room. Florence smiled and shook her head. "I thought it was a good time to all spend time together since everyone is home." She smiled.

"We can cook good food or order and watch a movie together or just talk." She said and walked over to her and hugged her. Jaemin smiled seeing his mother and wife being close to each other. It was something he had always wanted to see and finally seeing it made him feel this kind of euphoria that he actually couldn't explain.

It was the warmth and love of the family he could sense. Florence truly was making the entire family complete and closer.

Jaemin's mother looked at her proudly. She was. She always thought about how caring Florence was and she always thought that she must have taken after her mother. She was truly a pure soul. She always thought about everyone in this family and it made Jaemin's mother relieved in a sense.

She knew that Florence was good for her son but now she was convinced that she was good to this entire family.

"I heard about ordering food?" Jaemin's father said happily. Florence chuckled softly as she nodded. Seeing his huge smile made everyone laugh. "Appa.. you are talking as if mother starves you here." Jinwoo laughed. Jaemin's mother looked angrily at him and nodded in agreement with her younger son.

"Right. He is acting as if he never had food at home." She replied. "Ah... ani. It is not like that. I am just excited to choose." He exclaimed. Everyone laughed and Florence looked around as they were sitting next to each other. This was how it was supposed to feel like having a family.

Florence never thought that she would have been able to feel this one day or be in a family that would love her. She will always be thankful of Jaemin and his family. For loving her and taking care of her and making her part of this family. It was the most warmest feeling she had ever felt.

She never wants to forget how this feels like and hope that her children will grow up in a loving family like this. She hopes to be a good mother like Jaemin and Jinwoo's.

"Florence! Come join us." Jaemin's father shouted. Florence laughed and nodded. She ran towards them and hugged Jaemin while trying figure out what they were going to order and what movie they will choose to watch. She never felt this included in a family and it made her the happiest she had ever been.

Marrying Jaemin was surely a blessing and she was glad that her father made her marry him.

_

Hello everyone,

this is another chapter! I am sorry that I haven't been too active.

I had the virus and it was quite hard for me to sit behind a computer and write.

expect a chapter every day :)