Random Rambles: WOOP who's excited for the new MV and repackage album?! :D Also, yes I'm aware how long the story has become and I do apologize. I'm gonna try to keep it to the point so I can actually finish this thing ^^; Double update this time ;) enjoy! <3

***

I’m fine. You should know that. I promise you: I am fine. 

I can’t fully explain because nothing will make any sense, and even if I did tell you the truth you wouldn’t believe it, right? It’s okay though, I understand. You don’t have to worry about anything. I have to leave for a while, but I promise I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry, okay? I know it’s hard, but don’t worry. 

I love you so very much. See you soon.

Trembling hands took hold of the little note, taking care of it as though it was made of gold. Yoona sat anxiously on the couch in the quiet living room, a sniffing softly as she reread the note again. She never thought that her daughter would go so far to run away from home. She thought everything had been solved, but how could she not have picked up the signals? 

I’m a bad mother, Yoona thought, thinking to all the things Jae had told her about that stupid dagger. Now her only daughter ran away without so much as a hint in the note telling them where she could be. 

Of course she wouldn’t tell you where she was, Yoona! What point would there have been for her running away then?! She thought angrily to herself. Jae was a smart girl, after all. Unfortunately, she was very smart…though it baffled Yoona as to why she would do something so stupid like running away. 

She looked outside for a moment, the grip tightening around the note. With the recent wild and unpredictable weather, who knows how far Jae would have gone. And where would she find food and shelter? This island is small, sure, but the woods were filled with wild animals, wolves especially. Wolves… even though she had never seen one before, she knew that Jae had seen one the first day they had arrived. She gasped in fear as she remembered Ryo telling her that he had an unfortunate encounter with a bunch of wild wolves the other night. He hadn’t spoken to her in detail about it, but she was already thankful that he came out unscathed. But Jae was Jae, her little girl. She didn’t stand a chance against a bunch of wolves! 

No, think positively, Yoona. She’s probably in town somewhere… 

Yoona looked at the note in her hand once more. See you soon…what teenage runaway would write her parents a note saying that she’ll see them soon? It didn’t add up. Was she that convinced that the dagger was evil? No, not the dagger, Mr. Yok, apparently… Yoona felt her heart thump as she actually, for the first time, allowed herself to think about the possibility that Jae really was telling her the truth. Why else would she write a note that stated that she would come back? Teenagers who ran away would never write something like that. Heck, their poor parents would be lucky enough if they decided to leave them a note at all. 

Thinking back to what happened this afternoon, Yoona, in her fury and emotion, had thought that Miss Kumiho had blatantly attacked her daughter because Jae had apparently stolen the dagger from E.T. Corp. She thought that this was Miss Kumiho’s way to take justice in her own hands, but what if- just what if it was because she was in league with Mr. Yok, that she was after Jae because she knew too much?

Oh don’t be ridiculous, Yoona, this isn’t some kind of action movie! she scolded herself. She paused, recalling the conversation she had with Jae, a few hours ago. 

That dagger belongs to him, she had told her, and Jae, she looked so determined when she shook her head in protest. But it doesn’t! He stole this dagger in the first place!

Yoona put her hand in front of in genuine fear and disbelief. What if her daughter did know something? What if she ran away because she was in danger somehow? 

Yoona yelped in alarm when the front door opened and her husband came bursting through, running into the living room when he heard her scream. 

“What is it? What happened?!” he exclaimed, looking around to see if he had to start throwing punches. Yoona exhaled in relief, her hand on her chest. 

“N-no, it’s nothing,” she quickly said when Ryo rushed towards her side. “Any news? What did the police say?” 

Ryo sighed in defeat when he heard the question, prompting Yoona to feel even more anxious. 

“I drove around first, hoping that I might find her wandering on the streets, but there was no sign of her,” Ryo started, panic and worry in his eyes. “When I went to the police station-,” he paused and Yoona was about to lose her mind. 

“Ryo?” she urged, wanting him to come out and say whatever he had to say. 

“They ran into problems of their own. The ambulance was there when I arrived. Apparently, Miss Kumiho escaped the prison. A few officers were severely injured and they put mobilized the rest of the men to go look for her. Between the jailbreak and the ongoing investigation at E.T. Corp, they didn’t have anyone else to spare to help,” he sighed helplessly. “Officer Deepak offered to keep an extra eye out for Jae, though, but he told me that since she hasn’t gone missing for long and that she left a note, he couldn’t make the case his priority. They’re focused on finding Miss Kumiho instead.” 

Yoona felt her blood run cold in her veins at the announcement, and she was numb when Ryo pulled her into his arms. She hardly heard him when he whispered consoling words into her ear. 

Why would that woman escape on the night that Jae decided to run away? Was this just a coincidence? But why would that woman make matters worse for herself, unless she had been adamant to… 

“Her hands,” Yoona breathed in alarm.

“I’m sorry? What did you say, honey?” Ryo asked, looking at Yoona. Her eyes darted towards him in a panic. 

“Her hands were around Jae’s neck. I hadn’t fully realized until now, but why would that woman do something like that?! Why? Even if Jae did steal the dagger, killing her for it is going too far!” she blurted. “And now she escaped? This doesn’t make any sense!” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait,” Ryo grabbed Yoona by the shoulders, forcing his wife to look at him. “Did you just say-?! What?! Jae stole the dagger?!” he asked, unable to not be angry. 

Yoona blinked and gasped upon realizing that she hadn’t told her husband about anything Jae had told her. She pulled away from him, her trembling hand covering again, whilst the other was holding the note close to her chest. She glanced away from her husband, unable to watch how the anger and shock took hold of him. The guilt came then. With everything that Ryo had to deal with, this must be the final straw. 

“I meant to tell you, we meant to tell you,” she started, motioning gently at the note Jae had left them. 

Ryo only sighed, his hands in his hair as he started to pace the room. “Since when did this family revolve around keeping secrets from one another?!” he asked out loud, obvious frustration and rage in his voice. Yoona winced, but kept quiet since she thought that Ryo was in his right to be angry. She should’ve told him sooner. Heck, in retrospect, there were a lot of things she should’ve done sooner. 

“Unbelievable,” Ryo muttered. “Unbelievable!” he exclaimed. “This has to be the worst day of my life!” he uttered in disbelief. “I wake up to the news that the company I run was broken into. Then I find out that my employees are hiding something from me and when I attempt to follow one of them, it leads me to confusion and chaos! Then I find that my wife has knocked out said employee after having a fight with our daughter and suddenly, for absolutely unknown reasons our daughter runs away from home?! And after looking like crazy for her on the streets by myself, not being able to count on the help of the local police because this damned island is too damn small to handle more than two cases, I have to find out from my wife that it was my own daughter that broke into the company I work for?!” Ryo exclaimed, kicking the coffee table in anger. “What’s going on, Yoona?! Tell me!”

“I don’t know!” she replied, raising her voice in desperation as well. She was angry too, she was scared as he was, but she didn’t know. She was at a loss. “I don’t know, Ryo! My baby girl is somewhere out in the streets by herself and I was probably the one that pushed her out the door, and I don’t know! I don’t know what’s going on or why this is happening to us!” she screamed, sinking to her knees as she tried to hold back her tears, but angrily failed in doing so. She clung to the note she held onto as Ryo had to watch his wife break down in front of him, his heart breaking as well. Putting aside his own frustrations and anger, he quickly moved towards her, gently cradling her in his arms. 

“I’m sorry, baby,” he started, calming himself down in the process as well. “I’m sorry. I just want to try to understand what’s going on, why everything has gone this far and how it’s possible that I didn’t even realize-,” he cut himself off, sitting beside Yoona. “I want to find Jae,” he muttered. “Screw everything else. I want to find my daughter, and if Miss Kumiho really escaped…” 

“What if she’s going after Jae, Ryo?” Yoona spoke in alarm. 

“I won’t let that woman go near her, and neither will the police where they’re concerned. They’re looking for that woman as we speak. We have to have a little faith and hope they find her first before she can even find Jae,” his stomach twisted into a knot as he heard his own words leave his mouth, but what else could he do? This was the reality right now. They had to deal with it. 

“I don’t suppose Jae called or left a message?” he then tried, rubbing his thumb over Yoona’s arm as he had his own draped protectively over her shoulders. His wife shook her head. 

“I left plenty of messages to her, though. I think she turned her cellphone off,” she explained, looking at the note again. 

“Yeah, she’d do that. Our baby is smart- I blame you for that,” he attempted to joke, but Yoona only let out a weak chuckle. 

“Where is she, Ryo? I want my baby back,” she then said, her voice frail as she still held the note in her hands. 

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m sure she’s fine somewhere. We’ll find her soon enough.” 

Neither of them spoke for a while, as if they both weren’t convinced by the words uttered mere seconds ago. Ryo looked at the note his wife was holding. 

“Can I see that a moment?” he asked gently, Yoona nodding as she carefully handed the piece of paper at him. 

“It doesn’t make sense,” she sniffed softly. “If she wanted to really run away, then why did she write that she was going to see us soon again?” 

Ryo frowned at the contradiction, realizing that what Yoona said had a point. Jae wouldn’t run away from home. It wasn’t him being arrogant or boasting about being good parents, it was simply the truth. Jae would never run away- unless she had a reason. 

He reread the note and then flipped the piece of paper around, in hopes for a hint. He halted when he saw that the back of the paper was filled with drawings. Blinking, he studied them carefully, Yoona looking up as well as she noticed the drawings for the first time. His heart nearly stopped as he looked at them, sitting up straight. 

“What is it?” Yoona asked, having noticed the sudden change in her husband’s behavior. 

“You said that Jae stole the dagger?” he asked her and she swallowed, sighing softly. 

“I’m really sorry about that, I did mean to tell you-,” she started apologizing, but Ryo cut her off. 

“No, that’s not what I mean,” he stated breathlessly, motioning at the drawing. “Did she tell you that she took it?” Yoona nodded. “Did she tell you why?” he then asked. 

His wife blinked in confusion, but was too slow to answer as Ryo got to his feet. “You found this note on her desk?” he asked. 

“Yes. I nearly didn’t find it, the place was cluttered with a bunch of papers- why? What are you thinking about?” she questioned. 

“Just a crazy hunch,” Ryo mused, biting his lip. Yoona always felt annoyed when he got like this. Jae was like him in this aspect, never just sharing what he thought or figured out, always thinking to himself first before saying anything. 

“Ryo?” she called when her husband ran up the stairs without a word. Yoona quickly followed, surprised to see him barge into Jae’s room. 

“What are you doing? What are you looking for?” she asked, watching her husband open the drawers of the desk, looking at the rows of books on the shelves and finally going through the notes on the desk itself. “Ryo, talk to me,” she demanded. 

He finally stopped moving when he found what he was looking for. “Oh my God,” he muttered, looking at his wife as he held up the drawings and the notes Jae had written down. “How did she even know?” he continued as Yoona was at a loss. She stared at the drawings of a dagger, of wolves and strange, cryptic scribbles that didn’t make any sense to her. Miss Kumiho was mentioned in them as well, along side something called EXO and mentions of a ghost wolf… Yoona frowned in concern when she picked up a drawing of a gigantic tree, captioned with Tree of Life? Black vs. Light? followed by a series of question marks. 

“What do these mean?” she asked her husband as Ryo was meticulously going through all the notes. 

“I don’t know,” he replied absently, eyes scanning each page. “But it might  give us some answers…”

“Answers to what?” Yoona grew impatient. “That our daughter has lost her mind?” 

Ryo picked up the drawing of the dagger, along with the one that had the tree on it and put them side by side. “No,” he denied. “But I may lose mine…” 

“Ryo, if you know something,” Yoona started. He turned to her then while reaching into his pocket to produce his phone. 

“I need you to tell me what you and Jae were talking about when you fought, after that woman came in to attack her. Tell me everything, Yoona,” he told her. She nodded as she watched him send a message to Jae. 

“Why are you doing that? She won’t read it,” she told him. 

“She might. Now, tell me everything,” he asked, gathering Jae’s notes, looking surprisingly calm. And so, Yoona told her husband everything, hoping in her heart that her daughter would come back soon. So she can ask her for forgiveness.