Chapter 12

            “I’m very sorry, General Park.  I’m not sure why General Ko had to step out, but I’m sure he’ll be back very soon.”

            Youngbin stood before the prominent and legendary General Park and two of his soldiers inside Mr. Ko’s office.  Mr. Ko had rushed out suddenly, insisting he had a very important task to carry out.  During his absence, a blaring alarm had gone off for about a minute.  It wasn’t even 3AM yet, but Youngbin knew Mr. Ko could foil the twins’ escape.

            The door to the office swung open suddenly, and Mr. Ko walked in with a stiff smile on his face.  His forehead was glistening with sweat, and his hands were balled up into fists.

            “General Park, I’m sorry to keep you waiting,” Mr. Ko assured breathlessly, standing beside Youngbin.  “We’ve had a little emergency.  I’m sure you’re aware that this facility runs a small prison for military criminals.  Well, it appears one of them has escaped.  He’s quite a dangerous man, so we must deal with this right away.  Please, stay inside the office.  Have some coffee if you’d like.”

            General Park seemed genuinely concerned about the situation, and an irritated frown appeared on his face.  “General Ko, I understand that this matter is very serious.  But I’ve made this visit because your daughter insisted there was some very inappropriate business going on in this facility.  She mentioned that the situation she was referring to was very urgent as well.”

“My daughter may have spoken in error, General.  We will be able to discuss any concerns when I return.  I’m sorry.  Please make yourself at home.”

Without another word, Mr. Ko dragged Youngbin out of the office.  They hurried down the hall together towards the Administration Building’s lobby.  Soldiers and scientists were scrambling around, all speaking amongst themselves in serious tones.

            “General, what is going on?”

            “Officer Kim, my daughter has run off with the twins,” Mr. Ko explained angrily.  “She used the special escape tunnel.”

            “What?” Youngbin exclaimed.  “When did this happen?”

            “It happened a few minutes ago as I was going to get the twins.”  Mr. Ko rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath.  “Listen, you’re aware of the tunnel’s features.  There are three escape routes leading to three different doors that cannot be opened from the outside.  I’ve sent men to wait at two of them.  You must hurry to the third one.”

            “Which one is it?”

            “It’s the one disguised as a manhole.  You know where it is.”

            Youngbin knew it well.  Not only was he required to learn its location for emergency protocol, but he and Soomin had discussed it several times as a potential escape route for the twins.  He had to hurry and help them escape before Mr. Ko could ruin everything.

            “Yes, Sir.  I’ll go there right away.”

            “If they come out of there, you must bring them to the foreign languages classroom as soon as possible.  Don’t let General Park see you.  He can’t know about them.”

            Mr. Ko’s blatant disregard for his illegal activity and endangerment of the twins set Youngbin’s mind on fire.  He desperately wanted to condemn Mr. Ko’s intentions right in front of him.  Every insult that had only appeared in his mind now sat on the very tip of his tongue.  But he shut his mouth, nodded sternly, and swiftly exited the building.

            Each of the secret exits led to locations just outside the campus.  An old, unassuming shack just outside the front gate was one of them.  Another one was under a nearby bridge, placed there specifically for inconspicuousness.  The manhole, however, was on the road about a quarter of a mile away from the campus.  As he ran there, he prayed that Soomin and the twins would head toward that one.

            The moon had already begun its disappearing to make way for the day.  Youngbin had to take out his flashlight from his jacket pocket in order to see through the pitch black night.  There was nothing but the road and open fields around him.  The bright lights of the Academy faded behind him.

            When he reached the manhole, he kneeled down and listened closely.  Two small holes were placed on the metal lid in order to allow easier lifting of it.  But the lid was tightly locked by special mechanisms on the inside that only someone in the tunnel could control.

            “Soomin-ah,” he whispered, putting his lips near one of the holes.  “Soomin-ah?  Soomin-ah!”

            He listened again, discovering the sound of quick, echoing footsteps.  “Youngbin?  Youngbin, is that you?”

            “Soomin-ah!” he cried, a smile emerging on his lips.  “It’s me!  Quickly!  Open this thing up and get out of there.  We have time to escape!”

            A few loud clicks echoed underneath the lid, and then it began to rise.  Youngbin quickly grabbed the edges and lifted it off the manhole, revealing an anxious teenage girl climbing up a steel ladder.

            “Oppa!”

            “Minjin-ah!”  Youngbin put his hands under Minjin’s arms and lifted her out of the hole.  He gently placed her on the ground beside him, and she suddenly wrapped her arms around his torso.

            “I’m so scared, oppa!” she sobbed.

            “It’s going to be okay, Minjin-ah,” Youngbin assured.  Minseon’s scared, wide eyes rose from within the hole, and Youngbin helped her out as well.  Finally, Soomin climbed up the ladder, holding onto her bag of supplies.  Youngbin took her hands and pulled her up the rest of the way. 

With Minjin still holding onto him, Youngbin took Soomin’s bag and pressed his hand against her red cheek.  “Soomin-ah, are you okay?  You look exhausted.”

“I’m just…I’m scared,” she sighed shakily.  “Are we really going to escape?”

Before Youngbin could answer her, the sound of a car engine filled their ears.  They froze in shock as headlights began to illuminate their frightened faces.  Youngbin looked back towards the Academy to see a military truck driving towards them at full speed.

“Run!” he shouted, taking Minseon’s hand.  Minjin let go of his torso and quickly grabbed hold of his hand.  She also took Soomin’s hand, and the four of them raced hopelessly away from the speeding car, into the grassy valley.

“We can’t escape them, Youngbin!” Soomin insisted, reluctantly running along with them.  “This is useless!”

Gunshots suddenly filled the air, and Youngbin pulled all of them onto the ground.  They lay still as the truck stopped nearby.  Loud footsteps stomped onto the ground, and the twins quivered in fear.

“Stand up now, or I’ll shoot you when I find you,” Mr. Ko warned furiously.  “And I will find you.”

“…Oppa.”  Youngbin felt Soomin crawl up to his face and press her lips on his ear.  “They’re going to find us.  We can’t hide from my father.”

“If he finds us, he’ll take the twins away forever.  And who knows what he’ll do to you.  I can’t let that happen.”

“What can we do, oppa?” she asked desperately.  Youngbin felt her teary cheek brush against his.  “What can we do?”

            “…Do you have a gun in this bag?”

            Her breathing stopped for a moment before she replied.  “Yes.  What do you plan to do?  Shoot your way out of this situation?”

            “It’s necessary.”

            “No,” she answered sternly, shaking her head.  “Oppa…stay low.  Get them out of here.  I love you.”

            “What?  Soomin-ah, what are you doing?  Soomin-ah?”

            Just as Soomin began to rise from the ground, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm.  Minjin pulled Soomin to the ground and held her there.

            “What are you doing, unnie?” she questioned hysterically.  “Don’t leave us.”

            “I have to, Minjin-ah,” Soomin wept, taking Minjin’s hot cheeks into her hands.  “Someone needs to distract my father for you.”

            “I will,” Minjin promised eagerly.  “I’ll do it.”

            “That ruins the whole point,” Soomin sighed.  “You need to escape.”

            “I’ll do it.”

            “Oppa?  No, oppa!”

            As Youngbin began rising from the ground, Soomin took his hand and tried to pull him down.  But it was no use; he resisted her, pushed her down, and leapt up from the ground.  Just as the headlights of the truck lit up his face, two gunshots rang out into the night.

            Soomin and the twins cried in horror as Youngbin clutched his stomach.  Blood smeared onto his fingers and glistened in the light.  His wide, petrified eyes looked over at the three of them just for a moment before he collapsed on the grassy soil.

            “Youngbin!”  Soomin fell to the ground beside him and let her shaky hands hover over his bloodstained jacket.  Youngbin took short, shallow breaths as he looked up at her.  “No…no…Oppa, no!”

            Mr. Ko stood a few feet away holding a glimmering handgun at his side.  Anger raged in his dark eyes, yet a satisfied smirk appeared on his lips.  “Did you two really take me for such a fool?  I’m not one to be played with.”

            Soomin’s tears fell down onto Youngbin as he weakly and desperately reached for her hand.  “Daddy…How did you do this?”  She looked up at her father with utter disdain.  “How could you do this to him!”

            Before Mr. Ko could reply, Minjin let out a loud, heartbreaking wail.  She kneeled down next to Youngbin and helplessly stared at his wounds.  “Oppa!  No, oppa!”

            “Unnie…”  Minseon sat down behind her sister and wrapped her arms around her stomach.  Her eyes were filled with shock.  She couldn’t shed a tear; she could barely utter a word.

            As Soomin reached into her bag and pulled out all her medical supplies, Mr. Ko began to snicker.  “Soomin, he’s already going into shock.  He won’t live.”

            But Soomin quickly discarded her medical supplies.  She suddenly pulled out her gun and stood up.  As she pointed it at her father, the two men behind him raised their rifles and pointed them at her.  Tears poured down her face, and her body seemed to quiver in the cold wind, but she stood fearless before her father.

            “Let us go, Father!” she pleaded.  “Haven’t you done enough?  Let the girls live their lives!  You can even have me if you want, but please let them go!”

            “I could never do that, Soomin,” he sighed wearily.  He slowly raised his gun and pointed it at her.  “Put the gun down, Soomin-ah.”

            “Everything you’ve done has turned out to be useless!” she continued.  “Everything…everything…”  As she looked down at Youngbin again, she began to choke on her tears.

            “Soomin-ah, put the gun down.”

            “You stole the childhood of these two innocent girls!”  Soomin’s strength returned as she spoke.  “You’ve stolen the lives of countless people.  Now the man you know I love is dying!  How much more damage will you do?”

            “All of this could have been avoided!” he cried furiously.  “This is your fault, Soomin.  If you had just done what I told you to do, Youngbin would be fine.  The twins would have gone to do their work in Daghan, and I may have let you retire.  We were so close to a perfect reality!”

            “Don’t act like this is someone else’s fault!” Soomin screamed, her voice thick with anger and disgust.  “You did this!  You!  What made you think you could treat little girls like they were special ops soldiers?”

            “I was doing it for the betterment of our country!  Put down the gun, Soomin!”

            “What are you going to do, Father?” she replied spitefully, waving the gun at him.  “Will you shoot your own daughter?  Will you justify my murder as a noble act meant for the betterment of this country?”

            “I’m warning you, Soomin.”

            “I’ll never let you have them.  You won’t take them!  You-”

            A bang went off, and Soomin cried out in pain.  She dropped to the ground and put her left hand over her right bicep, which began to bleed.  Her gun lay useless on the ground beside her.  Minseon rushed over to her and helped her sit up.

            “Unnie, are you okay?” she asked frantically.

            Mr. Ko suddenly walked over to Minjin and pulled her up off the ground.  She violently resisted him as he dragged her to the car, but she couldn’t organize a proper defense.

            “Unnie!” she called in desperation.  “Unnie, help!”

            “Minjin-ah!”  Soomin clutched her arm and sobbed feebly.

            “Grab Minseon and Soomin,” Mr. Ko commanded, throwing Minjin into the truck.

            The two anxious soldiers reluctantly began to walk towards Soomin and Minseon.  Their feet stomped heavily on the ground.  Their rifles swung stiffly at their sides.

            As Mr. Ko started to strap Minjin into the car, two gunshots went off.  He looked over at Soomin and Minseon just in time to hear two more shots ring and see one of his soldiers fall to the ground.  Both soldiers now lay on the ground, one dead, another one bleeding out onto the grass.  Finally, before he could move another inch, Minseon shot Mr. Ko twice in the heart, right where she had been trained to shoot for the past few months.  The last things he saw were Minseon’s large, frightened eyes staring into his own.  Her fear began to fade, and it was replaced by a chilling indifference that now child should ever know.  The only regret for what he had done filled his heart so suddenly, just before it stopped beating.

            As soon as Mr. Ko’s body hit the ground, Minjin poked her head out of the truck.  She gazed at the gun in Minseon’s steady hands and noticed the cold, calm look on her face.

            “Minseon-ah,” she called cautiously, slowly stepping out of the vehicle.  “Minseon-ah, did you shoot them?”

            “I…I had to do it,” Minseon told quietly, putting the gun down on the ground.  “Are you okay, unnie?”

            “I’m not hurt,” Minjin admitted, wiping the tears from her eyes.  She found herself into much shock to cry any longer. 

            Soomin gaped at her father’s dead body.  The unsettling sound of her shallow, uneven breathing filled the air.  Her bleeding arm seemed like the least of her concerns.  She let go of it and reached for Youngbin’s motionless hand.  Minseon looked over at her, but could do nothing to help her.

            The headlights of another truck lit up the night.  It screeched to a half right in front of them, and General Park quickly leapt out.  He surveyed the scene with overwhelming confusion and concern.  Two more men exited the truck and looked even more stunned.

            “What happened here?” he asked urgently.  “My God…Is that General Ko?  Dead?”

            “I had to do it,” Minseon repeated robotically, staring at his lifeless body.  “He was going to hurt us.”

            “Who are these little girls?” he questioned, looking back and forth from Minseon to Minjin.  He finally looked down at Soomin.  “Are you…Are you Ko Soomin?”

            Soomin couldn’t muster an answer.  In fact, she appeared to be on the edge of consciousness.  One of General Park’s soldiers ran over to her and picked her up just as she passed out.

            “Unnie!” Minjin cried, dashing over to Soomin and the soldier.  “Will she be okay?”

            General Park cautiously stepped towards them and looked at Soomin’s wound.  “It doesn’t look too serious.  But we should take care of it right away.”

            “And Youngbin oppa!”  Minjin kneeled down next to him and took his hand.  “We have to get him to a hospital!  He’s going to die!”

            “We’ll take care of him as well,” General Park assured, gesturing towards his other soldier.  “Officer Bae, he needs immediate medical attention.  Take him back to General Ko’s base and have the doctors look at him.”

            “No!” Minseon shouted, leaping up from the ground.  “You can’t take him back there.  You can’t take us back there!”

            “What do you mean back there?” General Park exclaimed.  “Who in the world are you?”

            “Sir, we are the Heo sisters,” Minjin explained, tears filling her eyes again.  “And this is where we grew up.  This is where we were trained. Take us home, Sir.  Please take us home.”

Author's Note: I only proofread the first half, so I'm super sorry for a lot of mistakes. I really wanted to move on from this sad life that the twins were living, so I'm sorry if it seems very rushed. Things may seem very bleak right now, but be assured I won't let this story end with an ounce of sadness. :) The ending was definitely very abrupt, but I really didn't know how to end it. lolz -_-