MINA POV

It was already around 6 pm when the quiet evening took a turn. The initial plan of going to their home in Gwangju was redirected after Momo had a sudden vision of another house. An unknown, medium-sized house, isolated in the woods. Since we had Dahyun in the car with us, she sent the message to Jihyo right away and then to the others. Jihyo crafted a new plan right away and instead, we were to keep driving as far as we can away from the town. We went by Seoul and Jihyo wanted to get as far away from the city as well to some countryside to get to an isolated place. Since the house in Momo's vision was unfamiliar, we had no choice but to just keep going and hope we would find the house somehow. 

However, at around 6 pm, I had told the girls that were with me that I needed to go to the washroom. Dahyun alerted the others and we stopped by a gas station. I got out of the car and quickly entered the convenience store to go to their washroom. Once I was finished, I got out and I was busy rubbing my wet hands on my jeans when all of a sudden, I heard a very familiar voice.

"Mina?!" 

I quickly looked up and my expression immediately lightened up as I ran over to the owner of that voice and gave him a big hug. 

"Daniel! Oh my god, how have you been?!" I said after we broke away from our hug.

Daniel was the only son of the Kang's. The only foster family that treated me like family. Daniel treated me like his actual younger sister. We got along so well and he was practically the only guy I ever trusted. 

"I'm great!" he said with his signature bright eye smile. "How about you?! You live around here now?" he asked 

"Oh no" I said. "I've actually finally got out of the foster system. I'm free!" I said with a big smile 

"That's great! I'm happy for you!" he said. "Hey listen, we moved to a home near here. You should totally come with me to say hi to mom. She would be so happy to see you!" 

I was taken aback when he just mentioned his mom.

"What about your dad?" I asked confusingly as my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  

His expression immediately changed and then lowered his head. Mentioning his dad seemed to have shifted his bright expression to a sad one. 

"Dad...." he began slowly and hesitantly. "He passed away a few months after you left," he said sadly as he met my eyes again. 

"What?!" I asked shockingly. "Why?! He was so healthy!" 

"He was," he said sadly. "It was a car accident." 

"Oh my god" I said. "I don't know what to say... I'm sorry." 

"It's okay. Mom and I had a pretty hard time during the first few months he passed. We're better now. I'm sure he wouldn't want us to be sad all the time."

"Yeah.... Gosh, I wish I could've said a proper goodbye to him" I said, remembering how our last interaction didn't end the best way. 

"Yeah," he said nodding his head. "Well, you should really come and say hi to Mom. It would really put a smile on her face" 

At that moment, I was about to say yes right away. His parents were the most nicest people I've ever met. They treated me with respect and made me feel at home. And now that I found out Mr. Kang has passed, I wanted to see how Mrs. Kang was doing more than anything. But then I quickly remembered my situation. The girls and I were running away. So, this wasn't exactly a good time for this kind of reunion. 

"I would really love to" I said. "But... I actually can't." 

"Why not?" he asked disappointingly. 

"Um....." I said before I began to scratch my head, trying to come up with something. Just then, Jihyo came in to see where I was at. 

"Hey, Mina" she said as she went towards me. Once she got to me, I eyed at Daniel which made her look back and lock eyes with him. 

"Who is this?" She asked curiously. 

"This is Daniel" I replied. "Kang Daniel. He used to be my foster brother." 

"Nice to meet you, Daniel," said Jihyo as she cautiously extended her arm to shake hands with him. 

"Nice to meet you....." said Daniel as he shook Jihyo's hand and anticipated her name. 

Jihyo hesitated and looked at Daniel with curiosity as she tried to read him before she said, "Jisoo" she said as she gave a small, reserved smile. "Kim Jisoo"

"Nice to meet you Jisoo," said Daniel with a shy smile before they broke off their handshake. I could already sense some tension between them. 

I was taken aback over Jihyo's sudden fake introduction. Why didn't she say her real name? 

"So, Mina," said Jihyo as she resumed her attention back to me. "We should go now." 

"Oh do you girls have to go right now?" interjected Daniel. "I'm sure a quick dinner won't hurt"

"Oh no, we aren't hungry" replied Jihyo 

"Come on, just a quick one. Besides, when are we gonna be able to have a reunion like this again Mina? Mom really misses you. You're a reminder to her of the good old days we had with Dad. When we were a complete family." said Daniel.

I looked at Jihyo to wait for her decision. 

"Come on. It'll do you good too since our last time seeing each other wasn't exactly... good," 

Jihyo was actually contemplating the offer until finally, she looked at me first with a smile and then looked back at him to say, "Fine" 

"Awesome!" he said with a bright smile. "You girls can just follow my car to our house. It's not that far from here!" He said excitedly before he started to walk out of the store, with me and Jihyo following.

"Why didn't you tell him your real name?." I asked Jihyo.

"At a time like this, you can never be sure who you can trust," she replied.

"That's true... but that's Daniel. He's as normal and harmless as a puppy. We can trust him" I said before we got at the side of Sana's car and we faced each other. 

"I trust your judgement Mina, but trusting him is going to be up to my judgment," she said. "Now go back in the car. I'm sure you're excited about reuniting with his mom." 

"Wait, why did you agree to that? I mean aren't we losing time?" I asked 

"We need a place to think and lie low for a bit. As well as, I wouldn't want to deprive you of something like this. Judging from your interaction with him, seems like you had a good time with them." she said before she gave me a kind smile and a squeeze on the shoulder before she quickly told the other girls the new plan. 

Daniel was already in his car which was parked right next to us. After Jihyo talked it over with everyone, we got back in our cars and tailed Daniel to his home. 
 

~

When we finally got there, which only took about 20 minutes, my heart was beating like crazy in excitement but also nervousness. It would be 2 years since I've seen her. Our last meeting wasn't too good because I had left their house so abruptly in the middle of the afternoon. They didn't tell me why they were letting me go or anything. It was completely out of nowhere, I didn't even get a heads up so I grew a grudge against them for a while after. However, the good memories outweighed my resentment to them, so I couldn't stay mad at them. 

Their house looked quite modern. It was completely isolated from everyone else. The closest house was a few blocks away. It was smacked down right in the middle of an open field in the front, and a forest at the back. 

"Mina, I can hear your heart beating like crazy. Breathe or else your heart will literally jump out of your chest in any second!" said Momo before she laughed. 

"Sorry," I said. "I just... They were the ones that made me feel what it's like to be a part of an actual family. The only foster family that actually gave me love and respect," I said.

"It's alright," said Sana. "I must say, their son is a cutie," 

"Hey!" said Dahyun as she playfully hit Sana's shoulder which made all of us laugh from her jealousy. 

Just then, Daniel appeared and gently knocked on the window of the car on my side. 

"Let's go Mina!" he said with an excited smile. "Mom is gonna freak when she sees you!" 

"Coming," I said excitedly before I looked at the girls who gave me smiles to encourage me to go down. 

Once I got out, Daniel put his arm around me which gave me flashbacks to those days I used to live with them. Daniel was always a tall guy, but now he grew even taller than the last time I saw him. He has also become way more muscular than I remembered. Guess he's working out now. 

"Mom is literally gonna cry once she sees you," he said.

I laughed before I looked back to the other girls who were following along.

When Daniel opened the door, it took me a while to see where Mrs. Kang was until I found her sitting on the couch in their living room. 

As soon as she laid her eyes on me, her ex