jimin had just finished brushing her little seven year old teeth.

she let out a gentle yawn and waddled to her bed. 

after rereading her favorite picture book, she fell into a deep sleep. 

 

a few hours later, she was suddenly shaken awake. 

jimin rubbed her eyes, "what do you want mom?"

her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw her mother shaking in front of her in tears. 

she barely whispered, "jimin, go hide in the attic."

 

the little girl tilted her head, "what? why?" 

her mom shook her head, "just go. we don't have much time," and roughly pushed her daughter.

jimin pulled down the attic stairs and turned around, "why aren't you coming up with me?"

"jimin, go!" her mother said while sobbing. 

 

she climbed up the stairs and shut the door. 

suddenly, she heard stomping and loud talking.

jimin listened to her dad shouting and the sounds of his cries. 

this was all too much for young brain to handle. 

 

she listened as they continued to walk down the hallway and her heartbeat quickened as they reached jimin's room.

she quietly sobbed as she tried to drown out her mom's screaming and her blood squelching. 

a male voice asked, "isn't there also a kid?"

"oh yeah, i almost forgot," another man responded, "little boy come out, we won't hurt you."

several booming laughs followed after his remark. 

 

hot burning tears rolled down jimin's cheeks. 

she covered with both her hands to stifle her hiccups. 

she was shaking uncontrollably and the stuffy, dark attic didn't help. 

 

suddenly, a man said, "hey, look. there's an attic door."

someone else replied, "you can check just in case but i doubt a kid's smart enough to go up there."

"got it, boss." the man said. 

 

jimin scrambled to move behind a couple boxes as the male pulled down the attic stairs. 

she watched as his head poked out and took a couple glances around. 

he shouted out, "it's empty," and stepped back down. 

 

she left out a heavy sigh of relief. 

jimin shifted her weight to sit more comfortably but suddenly, the wood underneath her creaked loudly. 

for a moment it was completely silent. 

 

a confident voice chuckled, "kid, we know where you are now. just come out to make it easier for both of us."

jimin was frozen in her place and the voice quickly became impatient, "motherer, come down here in five seconds or i'm coming up there myself and blasting your head to bits."

her blood rushed into her legs and carried her body down the stairs. 

 

"what, so it's a girl?" a man who seemed like the leader said, "damn, why isn't your room all pink and ?"

jimin choked on her saliva trying to form a pleasing response. 

the man laughed, "you don't need to answer the question."

 

he turned around to the other men, "i kinda like this kid. i think i'm gonna give her a chance."

he kneeled down and looked jimin straight in the eyes, "you know, i have a kid who's just about your age and you remind me a lot of him. you both have eyes filled with anger and a hint of sadness. wait, i'm getting off-topic. anyways, i'm going to give you two options so listen carefully; either join my gang and work under me forever or die."

it wasn't even an instant before jimin replied, "i'll join your group."

a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes before he grinned, "okay kid, follow us. we're gonna need your help tracking down your relatives."

he pointed to a couple people, "clean up the house and toss the bodies into the sewer."

they nodded then ran away to do their work. 

 

for some reason, jimin didn't feel so scared when she talked to this man. 

he seemed friendly and kind of talked like her dad. 

 

like her...dad.

her father who is now dead. 

but for some reason her brain and heart prioritized her own safety before mourning her parent's deaths. 

 

jimin's little heart felt stone cold.