Chapter Eighteen

Mari shook her head. “No, she didn’t. But those scars were the reason that she became depressed. When she was fourteen she got her first boyfriend, I don’t know his name anymore and I don’t want to know but I remember that he was three years older than she was. At the beginning she was as happy as any other girl that gets a boyfriend but gradually my mom saw Anne becoming more depressed by the minute. I myself didn’t notice, I was ten at the time.” Mari took another sip and continued: “We would hear later that her boyfriend abused Anne, he hit her when she did something that he didn’t like and he was overly jealous. And one time it got out of hand and he threw her through the window. Anne lost a lot of blood and was brought over to the hospital. She broke up with the boy because my mom said so and they filled in a claim by the police but my sister wasn’t better. That boy had completely destroyed her inside.”

Mari stopped talking and looked out of the window. “It took us two years to get her self-esteem back but the one thing that helped was Korean music! We listened to it when we heard it once in a music shop and my sister bought the cd. Ever since then we both became almost obsessed with Korean but it brought her back and we were happy.”

Jaejoong and Yunho smiled but then Mari’s face became dark again. “She met a new man when she was eighteen at the university. He was nice in the beginning and they were a happy couple. She got you from him but when she found out that he was hitting you, Yunho, she kicked him out. But it brought back the memories and she became depressed again because she couldn’t protect you.” Yunho involuntarily felt bad even when it wasn’t his fault.

“With such a history and then finding such a note. My sister didn’t know what to do but she took her chances and met John Smit, she knew that it could be her chance to make enough money to go to Korea. When she came back to our parents’ house she was like on the ninth cloud and my sister almost never gets on that cloud. When I asked her she only said that she had found someone who she really liked. My parents and I got fearful, afraid that history would repeat itself but with the feelings of her two last relationships combined Anne had never been so in love. So she helped him find that certain object. And that was the biggest mistake she ever made.” Yunho and Jaejoong looked confused at Mari who put the cups away in the sink before continuing:

“She came back in shock. We don’t know whatever happened there, Anne never wanted to tell us. But we wanted John, or Daniel as he later introduced himself, gone. Anne however begged them to let him stay and she refused to let him go. But my parents both didn’t want him here until Daniel went to talk to them. I know for sure that he didn’t gave them the reason why Anne was in shock but he did gave them some kind of explanation because he was allowed to marry Anne as soon as they realised that Anne was pregnant.”

Yunho looked again at the little letter. “So we all lived happily here in Sweden?” He asked but Mari shook her head. “Nope, you all immigrated to America.” She answered and both Jaejoong and Yunho were baffled. “AMERICA?” They both exclaimed in chorus. Mari nodded and smiled. “Yeah, but when Daniel vanished, Anne left for Korea to escape to the land that hadn’t disappointed her as Sweden and America did.” Mari explained and Jaejoong and Yunho looked at each other. They both didn’t know what to think anymore.

“Auntie, do you know why Daniel vanished?” Yunho asked and Mari furrowed her eyebrows while searching through the box again. “The only thing I know comes from this box.” She pulled out another letter in which stood:

Dear Anne,

I’m too much of a coward to admit it right in your face (yes, you read it right, I, Daniel Lee, am a coward) so I do it in the way we corresponded with each other at first, through a letter. I’m leaving, Anne…

I bring you, Yunho and especially Donghae in danger when I’m with you. I can’t tell you in words how much you mean to me… You’re the light of my life and so are Donghae and Yunho. I really didn’t want to bring Donghae any harm but I wanted to make sure that ‘it’ stays safe (I can’t say its name here because that would be dangerous) and I admit that I wasn’t thinking clearly when I did it and that it is in no way an excuse for what I’ve done. So now I’ll try to limit the damage to me. You must know that the only two who know of this secret are you and me. So if the both of us don’t tell, then nobody will get harmed but if I stay with you, you’ll all will be harmed.

I know that you’re fearful that the same thing that happened to little Eunhyuk will happen to Donghae but I’ll make sure that it won’t! I’ll make sure that you’ll all stay safe. I’ll always be here in the shadows, Anne. That’s why I made so selfishly the decision to stay married to you. I want to be sure that you’re mine (even if I know that you hate hearing that).

My sweet Anne, I want you to know that you mean more to me than the heavens with all it stars combined, that I want to whisper more ‘I love you’ sentences to you than there are sand grains one the earth. I want you to know that I see an endless sea of love when I look into your eyes. You’re the love of my life and you’ll always will be.

I hope that you’ll live a good life together with Yunho and Donghae,

Daniel Lee

Jaejoong had tears in his eyes, even when he didn’t know what exactly this letter was about because it was written in some kind of code, it made almost nothing clear! It only showed the love that Daniel had for Anne…

“Eunhyuk…” Yunho whispered while he stared at the handwriting. “My mom knew Eunhyuk for such a long time already…”

“It seems like this letter is less a mystery for you than it is for me.” His aunt said with a slight smile but Yunho shook his head. “No, it’s still a mystery. But the only two who can solve this are either my mom or Donghae’s dad. And since my mom has vanished, it seems like we have to find out where Donghae’s dad went.” Yunho deduced and Jaejoong nodded. “Well, we obviously know now that were on the right track. Eunhyuk was named in the letter and obviously Daniel is talking about something that would make people want to have Anne, though it seems like he is very fearful for Donghae too.” Jaejoong noticed how Donghae was named explicit a few times. “So why didn’t Eunhyuk want to talk to Donghae?” Jaejoong asked.

“Because he didn’t know, because my mom and Hae’s dad are still protecting their secret! So now the question is… who set it all in motion and what are they exactly looking for?” Yunho said to Jaejoong who nodded.

“Do you want to find Daniel?” Mari asked. “That too,” Yunho admitted, “but we don’t know where to start!” He admitted and Mari gave him a little smile and searched once again through the box. She pulled out a photograph of a man, woman and two kids. Yunho recognised himself sitting on the ground at the feet of a woman that was his mom when he was younger. On his mom’s lap was a little child about a year old who was most likely Donghae and next to Anne stood a handsome stranger that looked like the older version of Donghae. That had to be Daniel. “This is the last photo that Anne sent me before she moved to Korea. This might help and I also got the address of a friend of Anne in America. She told me that if I ever wanted to go sightseeing that I should go to this address. The last place where Daniel was seen was America so it seems to me that the best way for you two is to go to America and to go to her place, maybe she can help you.” Mari concluded and both Jaejoong and Yunho embraced her. “Thank you for helping us, auntie Mari.” Yunho said and Jaejoong nodded. “You’re welcome, boys. And you should take the box along, maybe it’ll help you find Daniel!”

And you guys thought that this would make everything clear, right? Wrong. As I read it back, for me it makes things only more complicated... Why America? Anne knew Eunhyuk for such a long time? What happened to Eunhyuk? And these are just three questions of the many that are still unsolved... So then what was solved? Frankly, not that much but I see these two chapters as the main frame as I already said. The details in other chapters will make it logical (hopefully).

So up next is: torture, Eunhyuk and Donghae. I'll only say these three words, hey you guys were the ones who asked for them...okay, not really but I know you want them. I'll say one thing though, this torture isn't at all like the one that Kyuhyun went through, this is the real kind!

I loved how this last chapter got some comments again, really I like it! It doesn't matter if it's just a comment with 'I like it' or if it's a mega chapter! Subscribers did well too, 'cause I'm at 120! I never would've thought that a story that just began with a poster would be that popular... Thank you so much. Oh and I didn't get any upvotes... but it's okay because I really liked the comments ;) Though I'll curse you if you haven't upvoted yet, next time, okay? :P

So remember to: COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE AND TO UPVOTE~!  Thank you!