Jungshin frowned when Jonghyun drive passed their usual bar, but he didn’t bother to ask since he felt his Hyung seemed tense. Even without him telling, Jungshin could sense it, thanks for their dorm living in the past 6 years.

Soon the car leaving the business district and Jungshin suddenly realize to where Jonghyun bring them up.

‘I need private place,’ Jonghyun said as he pulled to the side-road just to open the gate one of the house. Yes it was Jinyi’s house.

Jonghyun threw the key on the bowl near the front door before he strode of to the mini bar and pulled out a bottle of brandy. He didn’t even bother to bring a rock with him. Jungshin meanwhile was just studying him from afar. The elder sat up on the carpeted floor on the living room, resting his back on the couch and started to open the bottle. Drink up the liquid straight away as if he was drinking some tea.

Jungshin silently sat down on the couch and turned  the TV on, but his attention of course was not on the show but either to the man next to him or what things he will talk about. Yet Jonghyun seemed not aware with that. He kept on drinking and drinking.

‘Hyung, stop it, it’s almost half of the bottle,’ Jungshin remind his Hyung.

Jonghyun looked at the bottle on his grip and chuckle.

‘You know what? The things I hate the most is when I need to drunk badly but end up stay alive even I drink the whole bottle.’

‘What is it?’ Jungshin asked.

Jonghyun turned his head and smiled bitterly.

‘I need to be drunk to tell you this,’ he shook his head.

‘Hyung please, stop it you’ll pass out,’ Jungshin snatched the brandy bottle.

‘Give it back to me Jungshin-ah,’ Jonghyun demanded.

‘No, you asked me here for talk not to let you pass out,’

‘I asked you to accompany me to drink –’

‘Is it about Mari? It something has to do with her, isn’t it? That’s why you acted like this?’

‘You don’t know Jungshin-ah,’

‘Then talk, what about her that Hyung want to tell me, because I’d be lying if I have no curiosity about her but I promise myself not to dig up anything unless somebody I trust will telling me those.’

Jonghyun did not say anything for a moment. It was just pure silence between them only the low volumes of the TV show before them who give a life sign in the room.

‘Noona ... she was when she was 18,’ Jonghyun began.

Jungshin turned his head to see the elder, and found his Hyung was facing to the distance. And Jonghyun first sentence was like light that strike him right on his heart.

?

‘She was and ually abused for almost five years. And I took her away from that bastard; I hid her at Kyoto, for sometimes before my parents let her move to Busan then Europe,’

Busan? So Mari did ever live in Busan?

Tears flew down his cheeks but there no sob and he kept his face straight. Jonghyun was telling the story without emotion but from the tears he spilled, Jungshin could tell it beyond of anything he ever handled thus far.

‘I promised her to tune her guitar that day, but I found her villa was quite empty, she told me to go inside straight away if none open the door for me and I did.

And flashed of horrible memory playing right before Jonghyun’s eyes.

***

“Mari,” Jonghyun called but seemingly none in that spacious villa.

There an acoustic guitar lied on the couch and some string packages on the table. Without thinking twice, Jonghyun reached the guitar start tuning it. Moments after moments passed and Jonghyun decided to look for the owner of the villa. Occasionally he called her name but to no avail, none answer his called. Jonghyun step up to the staircase and frowned upon hearing somebody grunted. He stepped further and the sound grew even clearer and louder.

To his horror he saw Mari at her bedroom with torn clothes lied helplessly underneath a man that seemed lost in his own world.

He should back off, he should close the door but he didn’t. He was stupefied on the cracked of the door, his brain frozen. His  system was just stop dead there. The world was stop running that moment.

Until he heard silent sobbed that snapped his sense back into his brain, gripped the doorknob tightly Jonghyun still not sure whether he should beat that man or leave.

Their gaze met, and Jonghyun could see the tears on her cheeks, disgust on her face and misery on her watery blue iris.

And that silent and desperate plea mouthed from her dry lips,

“Jonghyun please save me”

Not only once but she chanted the sentences while that man grew insane in his world.

Done.

Just like that,

Mari pulled Jonghyun away from the beaten man and dragged the young boy outside the room.

Jonghyun snapped back into reality and grabbed Mari leaving the villa, both of them run and run. Run without care anything, just run from the monster, run from the cruel life, although it could never erase the horrible memory.

Out of his instinct, Jonghyun took Mari to Kyoto, to the place he ever lives for awhile before.

“Are you okay?” Jonghyun asked and Mari nodded, “oh here,” Jonghyun handed Mari a guitar he tune earlier as they were already boarded the train to Kyoto.

Mari laughed.

‘Why are you still manage to grab this?”

Jonghyun scratches his nape, and sheepishly smiled.

“I don’t know either; maybe it’s my instinct as guitarist,”

Mari smiled and she start fixed her hair with her fingers.

“Maybe its better if you freshened up in the restroom,” Jonghyun suggested, “come on, I’ll guard you, don’t worry,”

And Jonghyun pulled her when Mari was still hesitated.

“Where do we go?” Mari asked once they get back to their seat.

“Kyoto, to my old home, you’ll be safe there,”

***

Jungshin frozen, he didn’t wanna hear any of this. Jonghyun was lying. For sure he was, because Mari wouldn’t have such unimaginable past. She wouldn’t have. Jungshin was very sure of it. Jonghyun just made up the story. Mari is a happy girl, she is always smiling. How come she still manage to smile if she life in such a world?

‘Noona keeps on smiling though,' Jonghyun continued his story as if he answering Jungshin doubtness. 'She’s smiled whenever and whatever happens on her. Because that the only way for her to keep her life alive, that’s the only way  to cherish herself, but deep down she needs love, she’s more fragile that crystal glass, she needs protection,’

‘Why didn’t you make police report?’

Jonghyun let out sarcastically laugh as he wiped his tears away.

‘She’s just visitor at that time, tourist, and as I told you earlier, she was almost five years had that kind of life, let alone, who’s gonna believe if her mother’s boyfriend will her?’

‘B-boyfriend?! I thought Mari has father?’ Jungshin asked in disbelief. And for once, he just realized that he felt almost knew nothing about her and still confidently said out loud that he loved her?

Think before you speak Jungshin! He scolded himself.

Jonghyun nodded. ‘Yess she has, and her parents didn’t divorce either. Just for you know, Noona isn’t her dad daughter.’

Jungshin didn’t know it’s for how many times his jaw dropped. How much more Jonghyun will reveal Mari’s true life?

‘Mr. Johnson is infertile and her wife desperately need successor for her company, so she did everything necessary just to have children.’

‘Is Mari adopted?’

‘No, Mrs. Johnson seek help from bank, you know,’

‘Oh ... and her brother?’

‘He’s that filthy bastard’s son,’ Jonghyun’s voice rising up in anger.

‘Why? Why she had to endure it until five years? Didn’t her mother know about that?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jonghyun shook his head. ‘Noona was too scared to open up the case. She was thinking, once the case is out, it wouldn’t be matter if the case will go as the law supposedly goes, but if it goes otherwise, how she faces the world? She will known as victim, or if people cruel enough to bully her, they may be will called her kitten, toys and the like, she won’t that happen beside she thinks about her family company, they need a clean name, and she cant just ruin it.’

‘But her family ruin her life,’

‘It’s true,’ Jonghyun shrugged, ‘but once she found out she isn’t actually part of the family, I mean she wasn’t born ‘cause of love but simply successor to be, she didn’t think that they’re her family anymore, in fact they’ve never treat her as family, like my parents treat her for instance,’

‘Hyung ... did she ever pregnant before?’ finally the question was able to slipped out of his tongue although he almost sure he was already knows the answer.

Jonghyun nodded and Jungshin felt his body stiffening as he his breath.

‘Trice,’

‘Wh-where’s the baby?’

Jonghyun inhaled a deep breath and shook his head.

‘Gone,’

Finally Jungshin knew Mari's past,

And Mari's babies are all gone ....

I have no idea what to write, gah Yifan is distracting me soooooooo much.

Almost everytime I wish there miracle in may ^^