Haru Haru (Day by Day) - Big Bang (Instrumental)

Narrator's POV

"Make way, please. Thank you," Leeteuk repeated for the 123456789th time as he held on to Min Yu's arm. Press people, paparazzi, fans, and even curious people crowded over them at the airport.

Of course, the media's all-seeing eye couldn't care more about Park Leeteuk's daughter, held captive and tortured in the probably most fearful country for South Koreans, the North.

It's been a month since Park Min Yu, the 23-year-old in question, has been subject of internet discussions, made headlines on numerous newspapers, and caught the attention of almost every South Korean citizen.

With the last few steps, they were out of the airport and into a private car. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Leeteuk examined his daughter from head to toe when they finally escaped blinding flashes and intriguing questions.

"I-I told them to shoot me...They aimed the gun on my head...But they never pulled the trigger," Min Yu replied, staring blankly on the road ahead. Tears fell from Leeteuk's eyes, partly from happiness, partly from sadness.

The same sentence kept replaying from her lips, like a memorized line from her favorite book. "I know...I know..." was all Leeteuk could say, as he comforted her in his arms.

"Don't you want to hire a private nurse for her?" Super Junior's manager suggested. "I want her to stay with us first. Min Jae and I would look after her," he replied.

"What did the doctor say about her wounds?" manager hyung pressed. "The nearest hospital from Pyongyang was Niigata, near Sapporo. I brought her to Niigata General Hospital, but I couldn't understand much Japanese. Good thing one official knew Japanese and he translated for me."

"The doctor said her head injury wasn't serious. It just needed a few stitches. But two of her ribs were broken and needed to be taped tightly. She was extremely dehydrated, but her body responded to the IV well. Right now, my only concerns are her stitches on the back of her head, her taped ribs, and her bruises," Leeteuk explained.

"How long has it been?" the manager asked again, as if he has a list of questions waiting to be answered. "More or less a month. Min Jae and I couldn't sleep for the whole month, but I'm glad I could catch up on rest now that she's home," Leeteuk answered.

"I already called the president and said my thanks even though it took them a month to fly to North Korea and attend to Min Yu," he informed.

The manager's eye drifted from Super Junior's leader to his daughter, and the bag that lazily slung over her shoulder. "What's that?" he pointed. "It was the bag she had brought with her when she went to North Korea," Leeteuk answered.

"What's inside?" he pressed, wanting to prod over the small details. "It had her clothes, some food and water, her laptop and camera. But they took the last two. The camera had pictures and the laptop had her articles," Leeteuk responded.

"I'm not a spy...dead bodies on the floor...I want to go home..." Min Yu blabbered again. Her sentences came out scattered, disorganized in thought, but it was a proof of what she's been through.

"We're going home. We're getting nearer," Leeteuk her hair gently. She was there with him physically, but he wondered how long it would take her to be with him mentally.

Donghae's POV

"They're here," Min Jae announced when we heard a car approaching the driveway. The room was filled with tension, but then again, it has been like this since she left.

Heechul opened the door for them, and it seemed like time stopped as she entered. She got thinner, her skin tightly hugged her sharp cheekbones, threatening to break through.

Bruises were all over her body, tracing marks of the torture and pain from the hands of strangers. When she was 15, I would kill a mosquito if it touches her skin. And now I look at her, and blame myself for letting this happen.

Min Yu sat on the sofa, and Chunji was the first to approach her. He knelt in front of her, but she didn't seem to notice. Chunji's words replayed in my head over and over again.

My clenched fists couldn't take it anymore. I jabbed his face with all the anger and grief built inside me. He stumbled a few steps backwards before falling completely to the ground. He clutched his bleeding nose, and I thought at that moment that he would fight back. "You think I don't know? YOU THINK I HAVE NO IDEA?" he shouted.

"I'm not dumb, hyung. I know she still loves you, even more than me. I know that since you came back two years ago, she cheats on me behind my back. I know she had slept with you one night, JUST AFTER WE GOT BACK TOGETHER. Do you know how painful that is on my part? Do you know how I did my best to make her think of me and not you for the last eight years?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me? You think I don't know that you're the reason why she doesn't want to marry me?" Chunji shouted all at once. "She what?" I asked, confused.

"I think you heard me quite well, hyung," Chunji wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand and ascended up the stairs to his room. I stood in the middle of the Teen Top dorm, unfazed.

"Min Yu-ah, did you know I fought with the minister of foreign affairs just so you could come back home?!" Heechul greeted her with a tight hug. Min Yu stared blankly into space, her eyes were frozen brown and transparent.

"Where's Min Young?" Leeteuk asked. "I left her with CAP and the others," Min Jae replied. The child had been searching for her sister lately, but she still has no idea of what happened.

I stood on one corner of the living room, just in front of Min Yu. Chunji held both her hands firmly and stared at her face. Min Jae couldn't help it anymore and rushed to her daughter's side and embraced her tightly.

"What happened to you, hmm? Omma had been so worried. I thought you wouldn't come back to us," she cried against Min Yu's hair.

"I-I told them to shoot me...They aimed the gun on my head...But they never pulled the trigger," the words erupted voluminously from Min Yu's mouth. She was still busily adoring the nothingness, the space, the emptiness. Her eyes had dark depths, like a blackhole. Min Jae examined her closely, never leaving a bruise untouched.

"What happened to her head?" she turned to Leeteuk. "They threw her against stone walls, remember? But it isn't serious. It just needed stitches," he replied. "Jungsu, even if they had pulled out a strand of hair from her head, IT'S DEAD SERIOUS," Heechul scolded. Min Jae pulled away from her and watched her from afar.

Chunji was still kneeling in front of her, desperately waiting for her eyes to meet his. "W-why does she sit like--" Siwon started. "Why does she sit like she's tightly bound to a wooden chair?" Leeteuk suggested, gesturing to Min Yu's hands that were firmly attached to her sides as if she was being held back from making any movement.

"If ever I knew the names of those bastards who did this to you, I'd murder them using my bare hands," Heechul let Min Yu's head rest against his chest.

"I'm not a spy...dead bodies on the floor...I want to go home..." she said. For a moment, there was silence. The unfortunate situations that had happened still haunt her. And I knew it wasn't easy.

She was the Min Yu who ran away from home, the Min Yu who almost died from the car accident, the Min Yu who always remembered to take her medicine too late, the Min Yu who never got scared.

And now here she was, home after a month. She was wounded, bruised, threatened, slapped, kicked...and now she's just traumatized. "You save me from myself," her words played back in my head. Tears brimmed in my eyes and I shook my head. Right now, there was nothing I could do to save her from her own devils..

An hour passed and the others started to leave. Chunji still remained in his position, but Min Jae told him to go home. It had been the longest hour of my life. Min Yu's eyes were fixed straight ahead, staring at something only she could see.

"If you're waiting for me to give you a go signal, then go ahead. You could talk to her," Min Jae tapped me on the shoulder.

"Look after her first, okay? I'll just go fix her room," she said and left the two of us at the living room. "Hey," I smiled as I sat beside Min Yu.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten me, huh? You've only been away for a month, and now you don't recognize me anymore?" I watched and waited for her reaction. But it was all in vain.

"I-I told them to shoot me...They aimed the gun on my head...But they never pulled the trigger," she mumbled audibly. I tucked her hair behind her ear, letting my hand brush against her neck, down to her shoulder.

I lifted her weak forearm close to my face. She was tightly bound to a chair alright. The rope or whatever it is they had used to tie her had left red, angry marks on her pale, milky skin.

My salty tears dripped to her wound, and she flinched slightly. "I'm sorry," I muttered and wiped the tears from her raw wounds. "I'm not a spy...dead bodies on the floor...I want to go home..." she rocked back and forth slowly. What would Min Young say when she sees Min Yu like this, unresponsive and blank?

I held both sides of her face and turned her to face me. She did, but her gaze passed through me, like I wasn't even there. "Tell me. Were you pregnant?" I asked. If she says yes and tells me that the baby was gone, I'd never forgive myself, especially if it would have been mine.

She continued rocking back and forth. "I'm already dead...they trampled on my back..." she ranted, and I knew there was no hope of me knowing the answer to my question. I sighed and let her go, or else I'd end up hurting her again like what had happened before she left.

"...And I thought the baby was hurt," the words came bursting from . I fell from my seat and crept to kneel in front of her. Her hand went from her lap to her stomach, and she tugged at her shirt repeatedly. "What happened?" I asked and began crying again.

"What happened?" I said, a little louder this time. "They trampled on my back and I thought the baby was hurt," she answered. Her grip on her stomach tightened, as if she was remembering everything that had happened during the last month. "There was blood...lots and lots..." she said. "But there was no baby..." 

With those last five words, my hopes and dreams quickly went down the drain.