Chapter 16: Secret

“Because I’m her father” he said and the girls were left speechless with their mouths dropped. Yoona was especially shocked and didn’t know how to react.

“I’m sorry but Yoona only has one father and that is Lee Soo Man” Taeyeon immediately said and the girls dragged Yoona inside the house, leaving the man alone outside.

As they closed the door behind them, Yoona broke down and started crying.

“I-I can’t believe h-he is here” Yoona said with tears. The girls hugged her tightly

“What does he want?” Jessica asked mad

“Whatever it is… it doesn’t seem good” Taeyeon said worried “Why would he come to look for you just now?”

“I don’t know” she said still crying “But I don’t want anything from him, he is not my father”

“Unnie I think you should go and get some rest” Seohyun said worried and Yoona smiled. The girls agreed that it was time to go to sleep so they went to their rooms and tried to sleep but neither of them could, not even Jessica. It was going to be a really long night for sure.

……………………………

The next day, when they had finally managed to get some sleep, some voices downstairs woke them up. Taeyeon and Jessica on her room heard the voices first and walked outside to see what was happening. Some minutes later, Yoona and Seohyun walked out of their room and joined Taengsic.The four of them carefully to listen to the conversation carefully, trying not to be discovered.

“Why are you here Mr. Im?” Soo Man said with a serious voice, almost yelling

“I’m here for my daughter” the man said calm “I want to take her with me”

Yoona couldn’t help but gasp surprised when she heard him say that, so the two men noticed the girls. Soo Man looked up and spoke.

“Girls go back to your rooms” Soo Man said seriously.

The girls didn’t have another choice but to obey him and all of them went to Yoona and Seohyun’s room. 

“I’m not planning to go anywhere” Yoona said determined sitting on the edge of her bed followed by her sisters.

“And we won’t let him take you” Taeyeon said and SeoSic nodded in agreement. The four of them hugged and couldn’t help the tears. They weren’t going to let some stranger break their family.

They stayed quiet until some minutes later Soo Man walked upstairs and knocked on their room. Taeyeon stood up and went to open the door.

“Oh you are all here” he said smiling

“Did he already leave?” Yoona asked and he nodded

“Yoona, I know that you heard us” Soo Man said sitting next to her and hugging her her. Yoona nodded and hugged him “I don’t want you to go but the decision is up to you”

“I’m not going anywhere” she said without hesitation

……………………………..

They got ready for school and went even thought they were all still really shocked with the news. In classes, they were quieter than usual and everyone noticed that.

Siwon looked to Yoona’s seat and noticed that she wasn’t being herself. She was usually really cheerful but that day she was down and she wasn’t even paying attention to classes.

“Siwon?” Donghae, who was next to him, tapped his shoulder. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Donghae was talking to him until he punched his arm.

“Ouch!! What’s wrong with you?” Siwon complained and glared at his friend

“I was talking to you” Donghae said “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing” Siwon said coldly

“I saw you staring at Yoona, you don’t have to deny it” Donghae said with a smirk on his face

“I was, but not for the reasons you are thinking” Siwon replied

“Then why?” he continued teasing “You seemed worried”

“What?” Siwon asked in disbelief “Choi Siwon doesn’t get worried!”

“Say whatever you want Choi” Donghae said and smiled but then his expression changed into a more serious one when he looked at Jessica’s seat and noticed that she was lost in her thoughts as well. “Now that I think of it… my princess is acting weird as well”

“Your princess?” Siwon asked and laughed “Are you serious?”

“Very serious” he said without removing his sight from Jessica’s seat and not minding Siwon laughing at him. “Something is wrong. They are not acting like they always do”

“You are kinda right” Siwon said and stared at Yoona once again. He sighed as he didn’t understand why he was feeling so uneasy. It didn’t matter if he was mad at her, he couldn’t deny that he was worried about her.

…………………………

Taeyeon and Seohyun were in their music class and were quieter than usual as well. Music was Taeyeon’s favorite subject and she didn’t seem as bright as she always was.

“Taeyeon, are you ok?” Jaejoong asked her

“Not really” she replied

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” he asked concerned “I mean, if it’s ok to know”

“I’m sorry but… I can’t tell you” she said looking down

“It’s ok” he said “I’m just worried”

Leeteuk was listening to their conversation the whole time and wondered why she was so sad that day. Normally he would be jealous of Jaejoong and Taeyeon but this time he was too worried to even feel like that.

Seohyun wasn’t paying attention to the class either so Kyuhyun decided to bother her to see her reaction.

“Hey nerdy” he tried to call for her attention but she ignored him

“You are not supposed to talk to me, remember?” she suddenly asked him

“I was just wondering why you are so down today” he said as if he didn’t care

“Is not something that I can tell you” she said colder than usual and Kyuhyun decided to stop bothering her. She seriously wasn’t on the mood for his jokes.

……………..

After what seemed to be the longest day of their school lifes, the girls headed back to their house without talking at all. When they arrived, they saw a car parked outside their house and gasped surprised.

“Is it him again?” Yoona asked worried

“I guess yes” Jessica said worried too

Yoona didn’t want to enter her house knowing that that man was there again but she didn’t have another choice. When they entered, they saw them there talking to Soo Man seriously. It seemed like an argument rather than a conversation.

“YOU CANNOT DO THIS!” Soo Man yelled

“I have all the rights to do it!” the man yelled

“What’s happening here?” Yoona asked

“Yoona, I’m glad to see you” the man said and smirked

“What do you want from me?” she asked

“You are coming with me, Yoona” he said and smiled. He tried to hold her wrist but she immediately removed her hand

“I’m not going anywhere” she said with a serious voice

“Well if you are not going cooperate, I’ll have to do this the hard way” he said “Look, I have all the rights to take because I’m your real father and if you don’t come with me, I can sue Mr. Lee because I didn’t agree with your adoption”

“What?” both Yoona and Soo Man asked surprised

“You abandoned me and my mom and you still have rights over me?” she asked in disbelief. She wanted to cry so badly but she tried to be strong. “I can’t believe this”

“You choose Yoona” he said and smirked again. She felt defeated and had no other choice but to agree.

“Fine!” she said mad and the man smirked. The girls and Soo Man were surprised by this

“Yoona, you don’t have to do this…” Soo Man said

“Yes I have to” she said “You said it earlier, it’s my choice”

“Good” the man said satisfied with the answer “See how things are so much easier when you cooperate?”

“Just give me time to pick up my stuff” she said glaring at him

“Ok” he said “I’ll come tomorrow night, be ready”

After that, he left with a smirk on his face. When he was out of sight, Yoona broke down and started crying. The girls and their father hugged her.

“Yoona, you really don’t have to do this” he said crying as well.

“Dad you heard him” she said “He can send you to jail”

“I don’t care” he said “You should stay with your sisters”

“But I care!” she yelled in tears “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you or my sisters”

She wiped her tears and suddenly there was an awkward silence in the room.

“I need some time alone” Yoona said and left the house without saying anything else.

“It’s not safe if she goes alone” Taeyeon said and the girls nodded. The three girls headed outside and followed Yoona without her noticing their presence.

………………………………

Meanwhile, Siwon was in his house watching TV but he wasn’t paying attention to anything that was on the screen. He was lost in his thoughts again until the doorbell rang, bringing him back to his senses.

He stood up and went to open the door, something he wouldn’t normally do. When he finally opened the door, he was surprised to see that person there.

“Why are you here?” he asked still surprised

“I need your help” she said