"Ari, what happened?"

"Talk to me. Please."

It's easy to attack the weakest...

It was early morning when little Ari woke up. She couldn’t go back to sleep as she wasn’t sleepy that much and like all kids when they had no school, she was full of energy. She quickly ran into the bathroom and washed her face before getting dressed. Junmyeon dropped off her things last night so she had everything she needed and she knew her morning routine well. As she walked out of the room where she was sleeping she couldn't hear any voice so she figured that her mom and Baekhyun were still asleep. The girl didn’t want to wake them up, so instead, she took her teddy bear and walked into the living room to watch some TV until they woke up.

Ari wasn’t a child who would barge into a room when her mom is sleeping and wake her up. Yes, she could be a loud child, but there were things she didn’t do. Areum always talked with her and told her what was right and wrong, but on the other hand, there were things that Areum didn’t need to explain as Ari knew them. She was a smart girl.

Her mom never had any major problems with her, aside from a few small problems regarding homework or sometimes refusing to go to school or being cranky, or asking questions bluntly (something that her mom didn’t really like and would always warn her about), but she was a curious girl with her moments. At times she was mature and at times she was immature. But that was all part of growing up.

She scrolled through the channels but nothing caught her attention and she pouted. Suddenly, the little girl then remembered something.

***

“Is it okay to play outside?” Ari asked as she walked up to her mom and Baek who was sitting in the living room.

Before her mom could answer anything, Baekhyun jumped in. “Of course, you can. The area around the house is safe and you can play outside anytime you want.”

“There are also some shells,” Areum smiled. “But don’t go out of the gate okay?”

“Okay!” Ari smiled and outside.

***

The little girl grinned to herself and got off the sofa, taking her teddy with her as she made her way towards the back exit of the beach house. Collecting shells was one of her hobbies and she would always get amazed by the shapes and colors that she would find. Her favorite was the curved one. She loved to place it on her ear and listen to the sound that was like the sound of the ocean and the waves.

As she stepped outside, she grabbed the plastic bucket and took off her shoes, stepping into the sand. Ari giggled as the sand tickled her feet, but she loved the feeling of it. Playing in the sand and walking barefoot was something amazing for her, and it was something she could thank her mom for. The two often went to the beach.

***

"Mommy!" Ari grinned. "We have a castle!" 

"We sure do," Areum smiled softly at her daughter. 

"And in this room here we will place the princess!" 

Areum smiled. "What else?"

"And we will make a water trap around the castle," Ari said. 

"Why?" Areum asked. 

"To keep the big bad wolf away!"

***

The little girl sat down on the sand, crossing her legs as she picked up a wooden stick and started to poke around, her eyes sparkling with enjoyment as she was to see what she would find in the area. 

"Mommy will love this one!" She giggled and started to clean it before placing it into the bucket. “And I’ll give this one to Nari and this one to Jieun,” She continued talking to herself. 

The child was so absorbed in what she was doing that she paid no attention to what was going on around her, nor did she care. Somewhere along the way she had stepped out of the gate that surrounded the house, without even noticing it. A shadow appeared, and the man smirked as he looked at Ari, slowly taking one step forward. Ari looked at the man, stumbling back. 

She knew she had to run… but she froze.

*

Layla was heading back home from the store, she stopped to scrub off the list of items she bought. Placing the paper back into her coat pocket she walked towards the beach when she spotted a black Mercedes and a man lurking like an angry dog gazing at Ari, as the girl seemed to be frozen. Inside of her, intuition told her this was Dal’s man. She had learned of the things Dal was capable of doing and wh else would be after Ari, expect for him? And she reacted fast. She carried almost always a knife inside of her pocket. She headed towards her from the other side and facing the man she pulled Ari close to her.

“Walk,” Layla said. “Don’t look, just walk back towards the gate.”

The little girl nodded her head as she held onto the woman's coat. Her body was trembling as the two walked backward. Layla glared at the man the moment she caught him following them and her step was faster. The black gate was approaching and she knew she had to reach fast so she could set the alarm and call the police. Ari looked at the woman, fear in her eyes was obvious as she held tightly onto the woman’s coat.

“You’re safe with me. When I tell you to run, you’ll run. Okay?” Layla spoke, still glaring at the man.

"O-okay," Ari said as her voice trembled. 

They were now closer to the gate. “Now! Run!”

Ari turned around and ran inside, bumping into Baekhyun. He was at first confused and he wasn’t sure what was going in. He heard his mom’s voice and the commotion outside so he decided to go check it out. Without a word, Ari pushed past him and ran off.

“Ari?” He called out, but the little girl never replied.

Layla quickly closed the gate just before the man could reach her, turning on the alarm just as Baekhyun approached her. The man banged at the gate and cussed at the woman as she took a step back.

“He will hear for this!” The man hissed. “You will pay!”

Baekhyun didn’t waste time as he already called the police, making sure that they were on their way. "Mom! Inside! Please. The police are on the way."

The man swallowed and took off running. She looked at her son. “I am fine. We need bodyguards here.” She said.

"What happened? " Baekhyun asked as the two walked inside. “Ari doesn’t look like herself-”

“Neither would you son if you saw a stranger walking up to you, trying to kidnap you,” His mom started to explain. “I was walking back home from grocery shopping and I saw him lurking like my former husband… like an angry animal,” she said, her own heart beating fast almost making her dizzy. 

She suddenly grabbed the chair, and sat down, trying to breathe. Baekhyun walked over to his mom and gave her a bottle of water. His heart dropped into his stomach after hearing his mom’s words. There was no need to ask who was behind it. She thanked him silently and took a sip of water. This triggered her memory when she was running. When she got the courage to run.

***

“Where are you running? Where? You have nowhere to go! You have nobody, you have no family! I created you, you breathe because of me! COME BACK HERE, YOU SL*T!” 

She ran faster and faster towards the train. He was closer and closer. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. But there’s no time for crying; she had to succeed this time. When she was closer to the train she jumped and threw the knife at him. She watched him holding his arm. He was screaming profanities, as he tried to catch the train but he stopped as he fell. She took a deep breath, her heart accelerating. She broke down entirely when