Amber woke up next to a sound asleep Soojung. I don’t mind waking up to this beautiful girl for the rest of my life, she thought. The sun entered the room through the window and caressed Krystal’s face, her white skin shining. The tomboy ran her hand on the younger’s right cheek, making sure to wake her up as softly as possible. “Wake up, princess” She cooed. The older girl couldn’t help it and started thinking about the future with her ice-princess; she needed to find a good home for them to stay, buy all the things Krystal might need and even started to make room for kids. Children? She asked herself as she mentally shook her head. Nah, too soon for that.

“Morning, servant” The ice-looking girl said as she rubbed her eyes.

“Why can’t I be the prince?” Amber whined.

“Because I say so” Krystal replied, pecking the other on the lips and standing up to walk to the bathroom.

“So unfair”

Amber stood from the bed and walked to the small kitchen, looking for Luna. She then remembered that last night she interrupted the make out session and said something like ‘I need to work early tomorrow’, so she figured the latter was already gone. Luna is a music video director; she works with the famous girl group -TWICE- on making their music videos, preparing the outfits, hiring new stylists and sometimes she would work on some lyrics too. It was the best work for a so artistical person like Luna.

She walked to the living room and saw a small note that reads:

“Hey Am, it’s me Luna. I left you guys some pancakes that you can reheat, have some milk and for the love of God don’t do anything on the couches, they are REALLY hard to clean.

See you ‘til 10pm”

The tomboy chuckled at her ex-girlfriend concern and thought, do we really make it that obvious? She walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the pancakes Luna left them as she put them in the microwave while she waited for Krystal to come have breakfast with her.

“Do you know how to cook?” Soojung said as she approached the kitchen.

“Nah, Luna left us some pancakes, I’m just reheating them” Amber replied, handing Krystal a plate with two pancakes on it.

“She’s so sweet, we should get her something, she’s done a lot for us” She said, sitting on the kitchen isle.

“We should buy some bubble tea for her” The older replied, following Soojung and sitting on the kitchen isle next to her.

“Really? Just bubble tea?” Krystal complained.

“That’s all she asked for… I don’t make the rules” The tomboy said, diving in the pancakes.

“She really loves you” Soojung shortly said, taking her time cutting the pancakes.

“You don’t?” Amber teased, but Krystal turned to her with an apologetic smile.

“I kinda don’t, Am” She said.

“Not even a little?” The older insisted.

“I mean, I’m attracted to you, that’s for sure. But we’ve only dated for a day… what are you expecting me to say?” Soojung confessed and Amber tried to understand her, but she had deepened her feelings for Krystal, expecting the other to correspond her the same way.

“What can I do to change that?” Krystal found it funny how she was returning to her Fix-it Felix attitude and mentally giggled.

“Bear with me for a little?”

After they finished their breakfast, showered and prepared for the long day that was waiting for them, Amber still hesitated about Krystal going to visit her dad. As much as she wanted to trust the girl and do all the crazy stuff she may come up with, there was still fear on the tomboy, fear of what might happen, fear of losing Soojung when she cared about her the most.

Shaking the bad thoughts out of her head, Amber drove her princess to a small house in a picturesque neighborhood. “That’s the one” Krystal said, pointing to a house full of guards. Nothing new, Amber thought. The scene was making her even more nervous, and she was to trust Soojung’s dad on letting his daughter come and go safe and sound.

“I won’t be long” The younger girl said, stepping out of the black Camaro.

“Wait! Let me go with you” Amber insisted, following Krystal.

“You can’t. If my dad sees you, he won’t say a thing” She said, stopping in front of a displeased tomboy.

“Oh, so I’m just gonna stay here with my arms crossed?” The older girl groaned.

“That’s exactly what you’re doing” Soojung said and wrapped her arms around a very annoyed Amber, then she kissed her sweetly.

“You think a kiss is gonna do it?” The short-haired girl complained, blushing a little.

“It better” She said and pulled her girlfriend in for one last kiss, then she walked away, approaching the house while swaying her hips.

“Judas” Amber said as she crossed her arms and leaned on the Camaro, watching her girlfriend make it to the front door.

Krystal mentally rehearsed the conversation with her dad, making sure that she didn’t forget any question. She made it inside the front yard and walked towards the two big guards that were standing in the front door, blocking it.

“I’m Jung Soojung, your boss is my father, let me in” She commanded. I need to look tough, or these guys won’t let me in, she thought.

The men looked at each other and then back to Krystal, one of them said “Nice try, kiddo. The boss strictly ordered us to not let anyone in”, as he finished his sentence, Onew parked a black Buick regal in the garage, he stepped out of the car and walked towards Krystal.

“Greetings miss Soojung, what can we do for you?” He said and winked to the girl.

“These s won’t let me in. I need to talk to my father” She said rolling her eyes. The little brat role really suited her.

“Very well. My apologies, they can be a pain in the sometimes. Lee, Kim, let miss Soojung in. It may not seem like it, but she’s also your boss” He said as he entered the house.

“We’re very sorry, miss. Please, let us take you to Mr. Jung” They said as they let the girl in and escorted her to a little office room Mr. Jung accommodated in the house.

Mr. Jung saw his daughter through his glassed double door being escorted by his guards and rubbed his temple in anticipation, signaling them to come in. The double doors opened and there he was, sitting on his leather chair, going through some papers while typing on the computer, cups of coffee all over the place and the smell of cigarettes in the air, just like Soojung remembered it.

“If it’s not Jung Soojung” The man said, gesturing the guards to leave the office and close the doors again. “What’s the matter? You’re finally going to turn yourself in?” Jung said.

“I’m not” Krystal shortly replied. She needed to give her father a chance, but how? If the man was only mocking her and being unbearable.

“Then what do you want? Money? Plane tickets so you can run away?” He said, standing from his chair and walking to a box of papers, looking for something. “You can’t have any of that, if you do, the police will find you” He finished.

“I want the truth” She said and her father turned to look at her, trying to decode her motives.

“What truth?” He said, raising a brow.

“The truth about me being admitted in that mental hospital, the truth about your job, the truth about that night. I want everything” She sternly said, locking her deadly stare to her father who just nodded.

“Alright”

🍂

Jessica was making dinner, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to be exact. Soojung was doing her homework on the dining table when they heard something coming from the living room, uncertain of what to do her sister told her to stay quiet and walked towards the entrance of the living room with a knife in her right hand. Before Soojung could disagree with her sister, Jessica was already gone. Five minutes passed and there was an unsettling quiet in the house until Soojung heard a glass breaking, she freaked out and ran to the living room to see her sister laying dead on the floor, blood coming out of her head and a man standing right in front of her, a burglar.

Weirdly enough, the so-called burglar wasn’t carrying a bag or anything to put their belongings in, instead, he was carrying a pocket knife and had black gloves on. Soojung furrowed her brow, he can’t be a burglar, she thought, but before she could run to the phone and call the police, the man made a move. He ran over to Soojung and pushed her to the floor as they started to fight, the man tried to stab her with his knife but the little sister struggled to dodge it and grab his hands trying to prevent him from hurting her as he was already on top of her.

Soojung took her sister’s knife that was laying on her right side and with no hesitation started stabbing the hell out of the burglar, ten, fifteen, even twenty times she pushed and pulled the knife until the man stopped screaming. She let the body hit the floor and sat beside her sister sobbing uncontrollably. She just killed a man… A man that killed Jessica. But that wasn’t the problem, she was shocked because although she was currently crying, she wasn’t able to feel a thing, there was no regret, no pain, no sadness, just her and the fact that she was alone.

And that she is a murderer.

The Jungs arrived to South Korea merely hours after the incident and frenetically entered the house filled up with guards. Mrs. Jung ran towards the lifeless body of her first born and cried her lungs out as she caressed her cold skin, cursing God’s name and hugging her tightly. Mr. Jung looked for his little girl, and he found her sitting on a corner of the living room, wrapped on a blanket, staring blankly at the heartrending scene. The man squatted in front of his daughter and cupped her cheeks, moving her head for her to face him.

“Soojung? Daddy’s here” He said. The man broke.

Seeing his fist born being slaughtered in the arms of her crying wife, her precious little princess all ed up and shocked by the events, completely broke him. He hugged his shaking daughter tightly and couldn’t help but to picture her as that five-year-old, running to his arms as she just fell and scratched her knee.

“Daddy….?” The girl weakly said.

When the forensics arrived, Mr. Jung tried to convince them to keep it low and to not notify the press about anything that’s happened, but it was too late for him as one particular reporter showed up in front of his house.

“I knew you were careless, but this? This can’t go unnoticed” The reporter said.

“Please, Lee. Don’t publish this… they might come for my little girl… she’s all I have left” Jung pleaded.

“I have no other option, Beomsoo. The forensics just left; the police are the next one to arrive” He replied.

“I’m begging you, Sooman. We’re friends, please, spare my child” He implored.

“I can’t be friends with you anymore, Jung. You’re getting me fired, I can’t keep on covering your illegal moves and putting patches all over the investigations. This is it; this is the last time I’m helping you” Sooman said as he walked away, camera in hand.

When everyone left the house and the guards started their duty, the Jungs made sure Soojung had some rest as they left her in her room, then they entered Jessica’s room to rest as well. Mrs. Jung roamed her first born’s room, looking at the pictures she had hanging on the wall; there were pictures of her with friends, pictures of the sisters and a small picture of the family in the center.

“Jieun, please have some sleep” Mr. Jung told her wife but she was still staring at the pictures, her eyes red and swollen.

“How can you ask me such thing? My daughter just died and my baby is in the other room, probably crying herself to sleep” she said.

“We need to rest. We can fix this” Jung said, walking closer to his wife.

“No we can’t Beomsoo. Stop acting like the savior when you just killed everyone” Mrs. Jung said, walking away from her husband.

“What are you implying?” He asked.

“This is your fault” She said, crossing her arms. “You and your illegal actions, your company, everything! And for what? All that money, all that power… for what? What’s the use if we can’t go back in time and protect our daughters?” She broke in tears and her husband hurried to hug her.

“I did wrong… I know it. But at this rate I can’t go back… I can’t leave my position, Soojung is in great danger” Jung said as he tried to calm his sobbing wife.

“How, Beomsoo? Just how did they know my babies were living here?” She said, breaking the hug and wiping her tears. “We did everything for them to not know we even had children. We were absent the whole time, we neglected them, we didn’t even raise them… yet they took them away from us”

“I don’t know how, but I will find out” Jung said, sitting on the bed. “We need to take care of Soojung” He added.

“She just killed a man by stabbing him like crazy. The police are going to arrest her” Mrs. Jung said as she joined her husband.

“She can’t go to jail… she’s in shock, they’re going to eat her alive” Jung shook his head. He was running out of options, he needed Soojung to be safe, he needed her to be in captivity if possible, he didn’t want for any other of his rivals to find out he has a daughter and needless to say, where to find her.

“I must admit her in Seoul’s Mental Hospital” He said and his wife looked at him with huge shocked eyes.

“You are not taking my baby to a horrible place like that” She shook her head.

“I don’t have any other options” Jung said as he turned to face his wife, trying to convince her. “We need to make her think she’s sick” He added.

“Beomsoo, no…”

“You’re not the only one hurting woman! I hate to think of harming my little girl but I have no other choice…” He snapped, tears running out of his eyes. “Just think about it… she can be safe… no one will know she’s there” He finished while wiping his tears.

“I’m not doing this! I can’t! let’s run away… please Beomsoo… don’t do this to my baby” She cried.

“This is my final choice”  

🍂

“So you made me think I was sick? You knew all this time that I was just in shock!?” Soojung asked, raising her voice.

“And yet you escaped Soojung! I needed to do it in order for you to want to stay” He replied with the same intensity, a tint of worriedness in his tone.

“I can’t believe you did this… where’s mom? I bet she wanted to take me out of the asylum so you buried her” Krystal said, she was raging.

“Your mom? She didn’t even stay a week here in Korea… we’re getting divorced”

🍂

The Jungs watched as Soojung walked down the corridor of the mental hospital. It was time for them to admit her and Mrs. Jung was not having it. She couldn’t bear seeing her little baby being escorted to her new room, her new life, full of sorrow and horrible experiences. They talked to doctors, made appointments to talk about their daughter’s behavior and planned on visiting her every weekend.

“I can’t do this Beomsoo” She sternly said as their driver took them back to the house.

“We have to” He replied. Having to deal with the company, her daughter being held in the asylum and now his wife reminding him every five seconds the ty father he was, was making him intolerant and aggressive.

“I’m going back to California” Mrs. Jung said, testing her husband’s patience.

“Are you really leaving your daughter alone, Jieun?” He asked, irritated.

“She’s not going to be my Soojung anymore… you’re making her sick, I can’t even recognize her” She pushed.

“Very well then. Do as you please, woman” He said. He wasn’t going to stop her just because they were married, if she wanted to bail then she can go. I must not leave my girl alone, he thought.

The days passed and Mr. Jung kept on watching over his daughter. He went every weekend to visit her, made Victoria promise she won’t leave her side, investigated about the man that tried to kill her and attended every meeting with doctor Park. As the time passed, he became more desperate, he still wasn’t able to know who gave the orders to kill their daughters, Soojung was getting better and he knew deep down that it was a matter of time ‘til the bomb blows up in his face. For three years he didn’t hear a single word from his wife, until she sent him a divorce petition. What a ing , he thought.

But the truth was that Mrs. Jung didn’t handle a single thing too well. She started drinking, doing drugs and crying herself to sleep because she thought she was too much of a ‘coward’ for not standing up to Jung and letting him take her two daughters away.

Jung was tired of having to put this mask in front of doctor Park, he was tired of being the ‘sick motherer’ who keeps suggesting to hurt Soojung, he was tired of being a heartless son of a that kept on with this twisted game. But how to end this? He thought. He wasn’t going to rest until he finds out who tried to take everything away from him.

🍂

“You’re lying” Soojung said, shooting him a death glare.

“I’m certainly not. Otherwise, would you still be sitting here?” He tested his daughter. “I have the papers right here, you can check them if you like” He said, pushing some papers on his desk.

“I can’t believe it…” The ice-looking girl said as she roamed her eyes on the divorce petition. “She… left me” She said as she looked up to Jung.

“Don’t mind her, you’re the only thing that matters to me” He said, honesty written all over his face.

Soojung was opening up to him, she was feeling protected by him again, she transformed into her five-year-old self and felt the same reassurance just like the very first time. She didn’t want to cry nor laugh, she wasn’t feeling sad nor happy, she was just relieved that her father was being honest with her, and it didn’t matter how much of a moment it was, she was cherishing it.

“So, you tricked into making everyone think you’re a horrible father… but this whole time… you were watching over me?” She asked.

“I didn’t trick anyone. I am a horrible father” He said, his eyes started to get glassy.

“You did what you thought was best” She said.

“It doesn’t justify the way I acted. It doesn’t make it better” Jung said and his tears finally started to roll on his cheeks. “You need to go, Soojung. I won’t put you in any more danger” He said, walking to the double door.

“Let me help you” She said.

“That’s a no, end of discussion” The father said as he opened one of the doors.

“Please, let me help you find them, let me stand by your side… dad, please” She pleaded, but the man wasn’t changing his mind.

He knew that was probably the last time he was seeing his daughter. A few days ago, the main head of security made a progress with the burglar investigation, he told Jung about a man in China and now he plans to go give him a nice visit.

“Here” He said, handing Soojung a pair of keys. “Go to Busan, the house and the car are yours. Stay there with that idiot of yours and lay low. Jung Soojung, I promise, love, that no one is ever going to hurt you while I’m still breathing”