“Did you miss me?”

It was the same chilling voice from her nightmares.

Sunny fought against the hand clamped around her, all of her years of self-defense training going to waste as the old familiar fear overtook her. With one hand wrapped around , her attacker used his other hand to pull her hair back, forcing her to look at him. Into the cold, menacing eyes of the man she called Father.

Time and alcoholism had not been kind to Eom Kang Ha. The looks that he once used to manipulate anyone into doing whatever he asked were gone. Instead, he was now overweight and wrinkled, features distorted by overindulgence. 

Sunny thought it was about time the outside matched his inside.

“Hold still! . You’re still such a brat.” He growled, slamming her head back into the wall, the pain causing her to gurgle out a cry.

She stills, hoping he’ll relax and loosen his grip so she can run. As he feels her calming down, he removes both of his hands. Sunny finds her legs don’t seem to want to obey. Instead, she stands, shivering, waiting to see what this monster wants.

“Now,” he says conversationally, almost upbeat. “You’ve been very bad, you know, not answering my letter. Is that any way to treat your old man?”

She wanted to treat him to a knife in his God damn throat so he’d stop talking.

“I’ve always wondered how my girls were doing. How you were doing. Sun, my oldest and favorite daughter. Imagine my surprise when I learned that you both were doing just fine. More than fine. FAMOUS. The girl group Phoenix that is taking over the country, the news said. Wow. Don’t that just beat all. And your sister looks so grown up, looking exactly like me.” He’s petting Sunny’s hair, obviously trying to warm up to whatever he’s going to say.

“Don’t ing talk about her. Just say whatever the you want and leave.” Sunny hisses at him, jerking her head away from his touch. She was going to have to scrub herself raw later.

“Always with the back talk.” He sighs, eyes narrowing at her.

“Look, I’ll make this quick and simple. I need money, you’re famous and now. All I want is some monetary compensation for raising you kids, and I’ll leave you be.”

She gasps at the audacity of this ing bastard.

“Newsflash. I raised myself, , and Mina too. The only thing you did was put me through hell. Why the would I pay you for that?”

“Well, it’s not like it’s just for me. I have to pay for your sister’s upkeep too.” He grinned malevolently, leaving her confused.  

“What are you talking about? Why would you pay for Mina’s upkeep?”

“Oh, not Mina. I didn’t tell you yet?” He chuckles. “I have another daughter. Her mother died a few years ago, so I’m a single parent yet again.” He sighs, sounding so forlorn, but she knew better.

“You’re still a ing horrible liar.” She scoffs, thinking that he was obviously willing to do anything for money.

“Not lying, sweetheart. She’s sitting in the car like a good girl. See?” He gestures behind him.

At first, all Sunny sees is THE car. It’s still the same beat up piece of that he used to use to drive her to all of her “appointments.” She hated that car and wanted to smash the windows. She took a step forward to do just that when she saw her. A little girl, no more than ten or eleven, sitting in the same front seat that Sunny used to have to sit in. She was practically a carbon copy of Mina at that age. Not that surprising, considering Mina looked mostly like their father, while Sunny looked like their Mom. The girl had the same nose, same mouth, almost everything the same as Mina. Except for the eyes. It wasn’t so much the appearance, but her expression. THAT was all Sunny. The same vacant stare that meant your mind was elsewhere. The dark circles that no child should have. The red rim meaning you’d been crying for hours. Sunny knew those eyes well because she’d had them staring at her from the mirror all of her childhood.

She knew without a doubt that not only was this little girl her sister but that the bastard had already started the girl on the same path he’d put Sunny on.

Sunny could practically feel a giant ball of years of pent up rage boiling to the surface as she screamed. She turned from the scene and launched herself at her Father.

“You ing piece of !” She screamed as she jumped on his back, grabbing his thinning hair to pull his face to one side as she punched him as well as she could from that angle. It wasn’t the best move or that efficient, but she felt good every time her fist touched his face.

She was blind with fury and had no idea how long she’d been screaming or punching, but suddenly she felt ripped away. She looked at the offending party, surprised to see the dorm security. They must have been alerted by her screams and come running. One was holding her back, whispering that it was time to stop, another was helping her Father up from the ground. Somehow, she’d managed to bring him down and pummeled him pretty good, judging by the blood streaming from his mouth and nose. Luckily, the guards were both aware of the letter from before and knew precisely who this was.

“Mr. Eom, this is private property, and Miss Yong is well within her rights to protect herself. Unless you want authorities brought in, I suggest you vacate the premises.” The security guard tells her Father, grabbing him by the arm and directing him towards his car.

! The car!

“WAIT!” She screams. “There’s a girl. Get the girl!” She’s gesturing frantically at the vehicle, and Kang Ha struggles against the grip of the guard.

“Dammit, Sun! Shut your ing mouth!” He yells at her, spittle flying. 

“Who is she? Is she in danger?” The auburn haired guard that had been holding her back asks, voice still soft like he’s placating a child.

“She’s my sister. And he’s abusing her. We’ll deal with any trouble later, for now, we need to save her.” Sunny growls, yanking her arm from the guard and prowling towards the vehicle. She doesn’t see that the guard has placed himself in front of Kang Ha to block him in case he frees himself, keeping an eye on her progress.

Sunny slows her steps once she gets closer to the car. She knows she needs to be careful not to scare the girl. She opens the car door slowly and squats down to eye level. The girl looks at her, eyes still vacant, obviously waiting for direction. She’s so skinny and has bruises all over her visible skin. Her right eye shows signs of a healing bruise, and her bottom lip has recently been split open. Her hair is long, black, and oily; Probably hasn’t been washed in weeks. Sunny closes her eyes for a moment, the sight bringing back way too many unwelcome memories. She peels off her jacket, wrapping it around the girl, and gently leads her out of the car and over to the dorm. The girl gives no resistance, used to being herded around. Sunny stops in front of Kang Ha, and looks down at the little girl.

“Sweetie, look at him. This is the last time you’ll have to look at his face, so if there is anything you want to say to him, say it now. You can say anything, even if it’s mean.” Sunny softly urges, pulling the girl in front of her and placing her hands on her shoulders.

There was a tense moment of silence as Kang Ha looked at the two of them in disgust, still being kept in place by a guard.

“Anything?” The girl finally whispers faintly.

Sunny squeezes her shoulders gently in encouragement. “Anything. It can be long, or short. Silly, mean, whatever you want to say. You won’t get in trouble for any of it.” She knows that’s what the girl was most likely afraid of. Speaking without being asked infuriated her Father and usually led to being smacked around.

Under her hands, Sunny could feel as the girl tensed up and prepared to speak. The girl looked straight into the eyes of Eom Kang Ha and spoke loud and clear for the first time.

“I hate you.”

Obviously, that had been the last of her courage, because she quickly turned around and buried her face into Sunny’s stomach.

Sunny and the auburn haired guard exchange glances, both of their eyes suspiciously moist. He shakes his head and turns angrily to her Father.

“As you see, we’ll be holding onto the girl and wait to see what the authorities say about all this. If you leave the area now, I won’t beat you to a ing pulp and claim self-defense.”

Sunny snorts at that, and grins at her Father, who is now turning a dangerous color of red.

“ all of this. Keep the brat. She doesn’t bring in that much anymore.” Kang Ha scoffs, and Sunny wants to bury a blade in his neck right there.

The guard that still has a hold on Kang Ha drags him to his car, opens the door, and throws him inside. He then stands guard and watches as the car speeds off, writing down the license plate and immediately calling the police. 

Sunny the girl’s hair, muttering assurances. When it’s all clear, she pulls the girl away a little and kneels down.

“Sweetie, he’s gone. You’re going to stay with me for now. You’re going to have to tell me your name though. I can’t have strangers in my house. Stranger danger.” Sunny jokes, trying to calm the girl.

“Mai Ri.” She giggles, looking at Sunny shyly from her curtain of unwashed hair.

“Mai Ri. What a pretty name. Did HE tell you who I was?” She asked, not surprised when Mai Ri shook her head no.

“I’m your big sister. Actually, you have two big sisters. I’m the oldest, and Mina is next. Oh WOW, she’s a middle child now. She’s going to LOVE that.” Sunny laughs, thinking of Mina’s expression when she learns she’s not the baby anymore.

“There are also five other Unnies here to watch out for you. You’ll never have to see HIM again. You won’t have appointments anymore. None of us will hit you. You are safe.”

Sunny watches as her message becomes understood, Mai Ri’s eyes clearing bit by bit.

“No more appointments?”

“No more appointments.”

Mai Ri’s eyes flood with tears and she flings herself at Sunny, crying into her shoulder. Sunny coos and rubs Mai Ri’s back. She lets her get it out, knowing just how much the girl needed it.

Sunny hears a throat being cleared and looks up. It’s the auburn haired security guard, smiling at the two of them.  

“You guys should probably head up. I’ll comb the area, make sure it’s safe, then talk to your manager for you. She’ll want to hear about this so we can decide what other security measures to take. We’ll want to pursue everything we can against him, yeah?” He asks, laughing when Sunny mouths  YESover Mai Ri’s shoulder. 

“Should probably also get the little miss there some new clothes.” He smiles kindly at Mai Ri, who is now sniffling, peeking up at the guard. She stands up and walks directly in front of the guard.

“Mister. You helped save me. What’s your name?”

“I’m Kyu.”

Mai Ri nods her head. “Thank you, Kyu.”

Kyu chuckles, patting Mai Ri’s head. “You’re welcome, little fairy,”

Mai Ri smiles up at him, obviously liking the new nickname.

Sunny smiles at the scene, and thanks Kyu herself. She knows it was probably hard for Mai Ri to do that. She remembered it had taken her years before she would even shake hands with a man. 

She grabs Mai Ri’s little hand and leads her up the steps. She prayed in her head to whatever deity would listen that no one would stop them before she could get Mai Ri into the safety of the dorm. They make it successfully through the lobby, and up the elevator, not running into a single person. Finally, they are in front of the door that leads to Phoenix’s dorm.

“You ready?” Sunny looks down at Mai Ri, who quickly nods her head in the affirmative.

“Here we go!”

Sunny opens the door and sees all of Phoenix lounging in front of the television, snacking on popcorn and laughing while watching some cutesie anime. The scene warms Sunny’s heart and, for once, she actually feels like her nickname. 

She squeezes Mai Ri’s hand encouragingly and clears . Everyone stops and looks at Sunny, gazes dropping in confusion to the girl next to her.

“Hey, Sunny, who’s your friend?” Rose asks, smiling at the girl, eyes roaming over every bruise.

“Everyone, meet Mai Ri.” Sunny looks over at Mina, who hasn’t stopped staring at the girl. They lock eyes, Mina’s confused gaze meeting Sunny’s.

“Our baby sister.”

*Appointments mean exactly what you think it means, but I didn't want to get too graphic with it*