“Umma,” Ara, eyes amused, laughs. “Why are you putting the milk in the pantry?”

“What?” Mamma Cho looks at her hands, and realizes her daughter is right. “Aigoo, look at me.” She makes her head, her golden earrings go back and forth. Walking toward the stainless steel refrigerator, Mamma Cho softly opens the door, but quickly forgot where she put the milk. “I know I just had it,” She whispers to herself. Laughter rings throughout the kitchen, as Ara almost falls off her stool.

“Umma!” She says, close to tears, “You silly goose, the milk is in the pantry.” Confused, Mamma Cho walks back to the pantry, and sure enough, it is where her daughter said it was.

“Don’t you laugh Ara,” She points her finger at her giggling daughter. “Once you get to be my age, see if this doesn’t happen to you,”

“Awww,” Ara gets up from the wooden stool, walking up to her mother. Wrapping her arms around the older woman’s torso, Ara tries to swallow her laughter. “I’m sorry,” She says, holding her mother tightly. The scene looks cute and warm from the outside, but there is something wrong, and Ara knows it. Rocking back and forth in a slow motion Ara whispers, “Umma, what’s wrong? What’s plaguing your mind?”

Mamma Cho leans into her daughter’s hold and sighs, glad that someone has finally realized there was a problem, but worried to talk about it out loud. They never talk about it. They can’t.

“Umma?” Nodding, Mamma Cho gathers the strength she needs to talk. Stepping away from the warmth and comfort of her daughter’s embrace, Mamma Cho turns to face her daughter. Worry is clear on Ara’s usually bright face.

“Ara,” Mamma Cho hesitates, “Have you told your husband about…that summer?” She asks, careful to not upset her daughter. The rosy cheeks that paint Ara’s face drain of color, the warmth in the air is replaced by a coldness that the thermostat has no effect on. Looking down, Ara crosses her arms as if that could bring back the warmth.

“No,” She whispers. “I thought about it and I-I think he doesn’t need to know. It’s something that no one else knows, and it’s something we never need to think about again,” Ara says, coughing at the end as memories of the pain that summer brought to her family resurface. “Why are we talking about this?” Ara asks her mother. “Umma, why did you bring this up?” Taking a deep breath, Mamma Cho closes her eyes.

“Someone from that summer,” She says, pain shooting through her chest, “Someone who participated in the creation of that tragic summer, has been lurking the streets of Seoul.” Ara, unable to accept what she has just been informed of, shakes her head violently. Mamma Cho, pained to see the fear in her daughter’s eyes, grabs her hand. “It’ll be okay Ara, it’ll be okay.” She tries to comfort her. “They’ll catch him-”

“How?” Ara cuts off her mother, “How will they catch him Umma?” Tears pool in her eyes. “No one knows what happened, so to the general public, he is just a normal guy!” Ara shouts. “He could be anyone- a man at church, a delivery guy, a janitor- anyone we come into contact with! How are we supposed to live like this?” Tears pour down Ara’s face.

“I know it’s hard Ara,” Mamma Cho says, tears rolling down her own face. “But we are going to be okay,” Turning away from her mother, Ara tries to compose herself.

“What about Kyuhyun?” She asks, wiping her tears away. “Does he know?”

“Yes, I told him as soon as I found out.”

“Umma,” Ara turns to face her mother “We’re all in danger if he is out there,”

Flash Back

They’ve been waiting four hours in this cold metal room, but Kyuhyun has not said a word. A deep purple is stained under his eyes, almost as if he has two black eyes. Kyuhyun’s once chubby cheeks have sunken in, showing obvious signs of starvation. Cuts and bruises decorate his entire body. Not a word has been spoken, not after the agent left.

The poor Cho family is divided, their baby Kyuhyun has seen things that no person (let alone child) should ever see. They can’t even comfort the boy, because he is afraid of their touch.

Papa Cho clears his throat.

“Well,” He says, eyes red from tears he’s been holding back. “There’s nothing more to be done here.”

“Will,” Little Kyuhyun says in a low and quiet voice, staring at the glass wall, only to see his own reflection.

“What was that?” Papa Cho asks, unable to hear what his son’s first word was since entering this room.

“There’s nothing more that will be done here,” Kyuhyun says in a louder voice, still staring at the glass wall.

“Kyuhyun,” Mamma Cho says

“No!” Kyuhyun yells, hitting his fist against the metal table in front of him. “They aren’t doing anything! They won’t!”

“Kyuhyun!” Papa Cho says, trying to control his son, but at the same time feeling sorry for the boy.

“No!” Kyuhyun yells, tearing rolling down his bruised face. “I saw my teachers’ heads get chopped off!” Kyuhyun sobs. “I saw kids beaten and tortured, thrown into the fire!” Kyuhyun screams at the mirrored wall. “I saw my friends die,” he whispers. “All for what?” Kyuhyun asks his parents. “So I can be forced to stay quiet and pretend that this never happened? THEY DID THINGS TO ME!” He screams, “They even marked me!” Kyuhyun lifts his shirt to show his family his assigned mark, making all gasp at the black ink surround by red skin, before turning to the mirror. “This is real!” He screams. “Every day that I look in the mirror, every day that I get dressed, every day that I breathe, this will still be there! But you want me to go back to school in two weeks, smile and pretend that this didn’t happen? NO! NO! NO!” Kyuhyun starts hitting the glass wall.

“CHO KYUHYUN,” The children’s father yells as their mother and Ara begin to sob.

“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE GOOD GUYS!” Kyuhyun continues to yell while hitting the glass. “WHY AREN’T YOU HELPING? WHY. AREN’T. YOU. HELPING. US?” He screams, before sliding down the wall. Kyuhyun continues to hit the wall, but there is no force behind it. In an almost inaudible voice, Kyuhyun continues to ask, “Why aren’t you helping?”

The Cho family sat in that metal room, Kyuhyun curled up in a corner of the room while his mother and sister sit at the table crying, and the children’s father doing his best to look strong. After about twenty minutes the Cho family was escorted out of the room. Mr. Cho told the family to take a seat while he went to sign out. As their father went in line the children and Mrs. Cho sat down in the crowded waiting room. All around them, people were crying, but one lady caught Mrs. Cho’s eye. Her hair was in a messy pony tail, eyes shifting back and forth as she stood at a desk twenty feet away from Mr. Cho. The woman was still in her pajamas, so she must have rushed over without changing, when she received the call.

“Name?” A tired looking man asks, clipboard in hand.

“K-Kim Soo H-Hyun,” The woman stutters. The man behind the desk looks through the pages, before stopping abruptly. With a tired and pained look, he stares at the woman.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry to inform you tha-”

“No, no please!” A woman screamed, cutting the man off, before falling to the ground. “Not my baby! Not my baby! MY BABY!” She cried, as her husband kneeled beside her.

Mamma Cho, pained by seeing most of the other mothers around her weeping over their now-deceased children, could no longer restrain herself from holding her baby boy.

“Umma,” Little Kyuhyun struggled against his mother’s embrace. Mamma Cho knows Kyuhyun is shaking, and scared, but this the only way she knows how to comfort him.

“It’s okay baby,” Mamma Cho whispers, tears flowing once more. “Umma’s here, she won’t let anyone hurt you,” She whispers as Kyuhyun settles down. She feels the boy’s hot breath against shoulder, as tears that do not belong to her slide down her neck. The boy reeks, as if he hadn’t bathed in weeks, but that doesn’t matter to her. “You’re safe now.” The boy wraps his arms around his mother’s neck, as she picks him up like she used to when he was a toddler.

“Umma,” Kyuhyun cries. “Umma,”

“I know baby,” Mamma Cho cries, petting the boy’s dirty hair.  

“Umma,” A small voice calls, belonging to a young teary-eyed Ara. Mamma Cho smiles at her daughter, before reaching over to hug her as well. Papa Cho, witnessing this from the checkout line, smiles and thanks God for saving his son and for the warmth his wife possesses.

“Next,” the man at the desk calls, and Papa Cho steps up.

“I’m checking out with my family, we picked up our son Cho Kyuhyun, and we’d like to go home now.”

“ID please,” The man asks, Mr. Cho pulls out his driver’s license. “Did an agent go over what will happen from this moment on?” The man asks, Papa Cho nods. “Okay, sign here, here, and here.” The man smiles, handing him a clip board. Signing the documents, Mr. Cho sighs.

Kyuhyun is just about to fall asleep in his mother’s arms when he sees a familiar face.  A terrifying face.

The man who killed JiHyun, “Boss”, was being led into the building quietly.

“Umma,” He calls out, close to tears. He struggles to get down, so he could find a place to hide.

“What’s wrong baby?” Mamma Cho asks, surprised by the sudden movement.

“H-He’s here, he’s here.” Kyuhyun cries out loudly. “He killed JiHyun, he’ll kill me too!” Kyuhyun cries, panicking. The man, upon hearing a young boy’s voice, turns to see the one who ruined all their hard work. Anger burns his insides, as he watches the boy being calmed by his mother and sister.

Lunging as hard has he can, the man breaks free from the officer who was leading him in.  However, before he could reach the boy he was tackled by multiple agents.

“I WILL KILL YOU,” The man screams at the boy, face red and veins popping out. “I WILL KILL YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY, YOU STUPID SON OF A BI-” A muzzle-like device is quickly placed on the man and he is dragged away, but it’s too late. Damage has been done, Kyuhyun is curled into a ball on the floor, Ara is crying and hiding behind her mother, and both parents feel nothing but fear and heartache.

END FLASHBACK

“What do we do, Umma?” Ara desperately cries. Memories of letters from that man, describing all the ways he would kill their family, suddenly resurface. Years of self-therapy, worthless. They thought they had finally gotten past all of the hardships that summer brought upon them.

“Ara,” Mamma Cho grabs onto her daughter’s shoulders, “You need to go on a honeymoon,”

“What?” Ara asks, confused. How can she think of a honeymoon at a time like this? “Umma, what are you talking about? I can’t g-”

“You are able to leave the country, for a valid reason. Do it, for as long as you can.” Her mother lets go of her. “Your father and I are planning a small ‘vacation’ as well,” Mamma Cho says, pulling on her earrings that her precious son had given her.

“What about Kyuhyun?” Ara asks, worried for her younger brother. “How can he leave? He’s an idol, fans follow him everywhere.” Her mother nods, swallowing a lump in .

“I-I know that Ara,” She says looking away, as if she were about to cry. “I tried to tell him the same, but he claims he is safer in the light of the public, that way people are always watching him and his surroundings. He refuses to leave, unless it is for business purposes.” Mamma Cho wipes her eyes, before talking a deep breath. “He said that since we are not celebrities we are in danger here, so he wants us to leave until things get better.

“But…” Ara can’t grasp leaving her brother behind, not when that monster is on the loose. “How would we sustain ourselves?” She asks, trying to make an excuse to not leave.

 “You can studied in Austria and England, maybe you can find work there, just for a little while.” Her mother suggests. “You’re father and I will go on a vacation, travel Europe for a bit, and then we’ll go to Taiwan for his academy.”

“Umma,” Ara shakes her head. “I don’t want to leave Kyuhyun,”

“Nor I, my precious daughter,” Her mother tells her, “But for safety reasons, it may be better if we aren’t together.” They both don’t want this, but know it’s for the best. “I think you should tell your husband, so he understands and is willing to move.” Ara nods, reluctant.

“Did Kyuhyun tell s,” Ara asks. Her mother shakes her head. “I-I think they should know, they need to know.”

“You know we can’t tell anyone but immediate family, which includes your husband now.”

“But they should know!” Ara explodes. “In case there is an incident or something happens,”

“Ara,” Mamma Cho says slowly.

“Besides, isn’t Kyuhyun’s life in danger? Wasn’t there some clause that said he could tell people if his life was being threatened? That’s what’s happening now!”

“Ara!” Mrs. Cho finally explodes. “I know all of this! I’ve begged and begged Kyuhyun, even contacting the agents at the station for help and reassurance! He refuses to talk about that summer, to anyone!” Ara stares at her mother in surprise, never had she heard her mother use such a tone before. Mamma Cho begins to cry once more, “You think I don’t want to help my baby? Ever since that phone call so many years ago, I have never stopped worrying about either of you.” Ara knows her mother has done the best to her abilities to help her children, and guilt sets in her stomach. “I can’t make Kyuhyun do anything.”

I am thinking that the muzzle looked something like this:

Sorry for not updating, I've had exams. I know the chapters seem short, and you guys are probably wondering where Changmin is, but hang in there! Hopefully, to make up for these things, I will make tonight a double update. Thank you all for reading and commenting, your comments really motivate me to keep writing (I have a habit of not continuing my stories when I feel like no one cares about it, butI will try my absolute best to finish this one) 

-With much love, ALL4ALL