A/N: Korean, Cantonese, Japanese

“Lady, do you recognize us?” Namjoon’s voice cuts across the wailing, calm and reassuring. Oh, . I put my hat back on, keeping an eye on the crying woman while making sure my eyes go hazel, and then turn to look behind us. There are secrets to be kept yet, though these boys seem to be forgetting that.

The three of them have taken off their masks, opting to try and help instead of protecting their privacy. Hoseokie’s eyes dart to me briefly, but I avoid making eye contact, lowering my head.

The wailing dies down as Youngmi processes who’s standing in front of her. She’s still shocky, though– I can see it in her eyes. Too soon, Namjoon steps forward, holding out a hand.

“Don’t–” I begin, but the damage is done. Spooked, Youngmi flinches away, unstable on her high heels. Her right ankle twists and she falls backward, slamming her head against the wall. Eyes rolling up, she collapses to the ground.

Even I didn’t anticipate this. “!” I swear viciously in my own voice. Of all the dumb luck. I drop to my knees by her prone form. It doesn’t look serious, but she’s unconscious.

“Call 119,” Hoseok tells Jungkook, but I whirl around and glare at them.

“Yah! Are you crazy?”

He blinks at me, taken aback. “Lady, we have to call 119. There’s an injured person,” he says, as if I’m the unreasonable one.

“Think about it,” I demand. “Three male idols. An intoxicated woman, who’ll claim she was a victim of ual assault, or as close to it as it gets.”

It’s Kookie who speaks up first. “But still, she’s hurt. We can’t just leave her here.”

“Yah, Jeon Jungkook!” I exclaim, exasperated. He exhales sharply in surprise.

The three of them don’t seem to know what to do with me, but I don’t have time to care just yet. I feel gently around Youngmi’s head, and when I pull my hand away, it’s dry. I breathe a sigh of relief. Now to make sure she isn’t concussed.

“Yeobosayo?” I hear from behind me. “This is 119, right?”

I jump to my feet and grab the phone out of Hoseok’s hand, hanging up. “Oppa, please!” I cry out, nearly out of my mind. “Honestly, can you just listen to me sometimes?”

“What’s happening?” Rat asks. I look up, and he’s in the alleyway behind the boys. They pull on their masks in a hurry, not surprised enough to forget. At least they’re not totally insane, though I must be. Seeing my brother makes me realize just how much I’ve screwed up these past few minutes.

I cough and call out gruffly. “She knocked herself out on the wall. Do you have a light?” Hopefully if I confuse them enough, they’ll forget about how much I’ve slipped up.

Hoseok’s POV:

“Oppa, please! Honestly, can you just listen to me sometimes?” she yells, snatching the phone out of my hand. She, because in the past few moments it’s been made clear beyond a doubt that yes, she is female.

“What’s happening?” Someone behind us asks in Japanese. The three of us pull up our masks before turning to face the newcomer. He doesn’t look Korean.

No Name says something in return that I can’t quite catch, then glances at us and switches to another language.

The newcomer approaches and pulls out a small flashlight.

Confused, the three of us just watch, but we hear a groan and turn to look.

“What the did you do to me?” the assailant swears, picking himself up from the ground.

Preoccupied with the fallen woman, No Name doesn’t appear to react, but the man sees us and becomes visibly enraged. “Who are you?”

“We’re just passing by,” Kookie attempts.

He looks farther, to No Name and the woman she’s taking care of, and becomes fearful instead. He takes a few steps back, then makes as if to run.

“Oppa, grab him!” someone orders me, and I automatically shoot an arm out and get a fistful of his shirt before I can think. His arm flings around as if to punch me, and I barely dodge out of the way.

“Kookie, Namjoon, help him,” someone else orders, and they comply, also looking confused.

Qilin’s POV:

Youngmi’s not concussed, but by the time I confirm it and see her eyes fluttering, I look up and see the guilty party preparing to flee. Oh no, you don’t.

Rat’s too far to stop him, but oppa and the other two are standing right by the .

In my own voice, I scream out, “Oppa, grab him!”

Almost as I say it, I see him obeying, but instant regret hits me when the man’s arm comes swinging around. Heart in my throat, I call out to Namjoon and Jungkook.

“Kookie, Namjoon, help him!” I yell, getting to my feet.

“Get him to the ground and hold him there,” I bark, but Rat is already moving.

By the time I make the few meters to the end of the alleyway, Rat has the scumbag pinned to the ground with his arms behind his back.

“Twist ties?”

“Pouch,” Rat tells me, and I pull them out to restrain him, locking his feet close together and wrists tight.

“You screwed up,” I remark cheerfully, still trying to breathe normally from the close call. I pat the still-struggling man I’m sitting on. It takes all of me not to look at oppa. 

“ you!”

“Such sweet words from lowlife scum. Bastard,” I reply, still cheerful. I hoist him up and him at Namjoon. “Take him to the police. We’ll take Youngmi home.”

“Um...” he hesitates. “Hyung?”

“Who’s your hyung? What, you want to take the girl home? Think about the bad press. Bye!” Before they can argue, I jerk my head at Youngmi, making eyes at Rat, and we both move quickly to pick her up and leave. Having seen the scuffle with the initial perpetrator, she doesn’t resist. Thankfully, she doesn’t show much interest in BTS– or she’s forgotten who they are.

“Genie-ya,” Hoseok calls out, softly, questioningly. I stutter in my steps, but stop myself from turning around.

It’s an unspoken rule, after all. I don’t learn about my Zodiac brothers’ lives, and they don’t learn about mine. Rat plays by the rules, and he won’t ask, not unless I lay it out in front of him, and if I turn now, that’s what I’ll be doing.

That’s what I tell myself, but honestly?

I don’t think I’m ready to show oppa what I’ve become. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready.

Hoseok’s POV:

Namjoon, Kookie, and I stand over the tied-up man. He’s tired out, but still moving weakly.

Kookie and Namjoon stare at each other, stunned. I just stare blankly at the wall, feeling like the hole in my life just got bigger, if that’s even possible.

“That was Minho hyung, for sure,” Kookie states, finally, but tentatively. “Swear that was his voice telling us to help hyung.”

Namjoon shakes his head. “More likely to be his sister,” he counters, but he sounds just as unsure. “Do we even know if that person was a woman or a man?”

I come to life. “He has a sister?”

They look at me. “Why did you call out ‘Genie’ just now?” Kookie asks.

“Never mind that. He has a sister?” I repeat, and I keep hearing that voice.

“Oppa, please! Honestly, can you just listen to me sometimes?”

“Mm. He has a sister.”

“Come to think of it, didn’t that person call you oppa? And why did she ask why you never listen to her? You’ve never met Minho hyung’s sister, if that’s who it was. She was ordering us around like she knows us,” Kookie asks. “I don’t know her either.”

That’s what I’m trying to find out.

“Let me meet her,” I ask. I’m pleading, almost begging, and they can hear it in my voice, but I don’t care. All I can think of is maybe Genie didn’t move away, maybe my dad lied to me, maybe something happened, maybe that’s why her dad never contacted us again. Why else would someone called Shin Minho, and someone who looks like him, or his sister, get this kind of reaction from me? There aren’t that many coincidences in the world.

Pulling out my phone, I dial home as the other two drag the guy on the ground up.

“This will make great publicity, as long as we don’t come under fire for being here in the first place,” Jungkook remarks, but I can’t care less.

“Ah, molla. We have to turn him in regardless. Let’s just not think about it too hard,” Namjoon replies. I ignore them both, walking slightly behind as I listen to the phone ringing.

“Are you alright, son?” My dad’s frazzled voice comes over the line.

“Eo, why?” I ask before checking the time. “Ah, sorry appa,” I apologize cursorily, but barrel on ahead. “Tell me the truth this time, appa. What happened to Jinhee?”

Silence.

“Son, I told you they moved,” he replies, but I heard the hesitation.

“No, don’t lie to me like this. I need to know. Please, appa. Tell me everything.”

Qilin’s POV:

“You done screwed up, Lin.”

“Shut up.”

We walk in silence, Youngmi in Rat’s arms. Getting knocked out seems to have mellowed her, and she’s not screaming about being carried by a man.

“How’d you get here?” I ask after a while, trying to take my mind off my blunder.

“I drove.”

“Where’d you get a car?”

“Can you speak Korean, please?” Youngmi requests tentatively.

“Ah, sorry, we must be making you uncomfortable,” Rat replies, switching to only slightly stilted Korean.

I glance at him, surprised. He shoots me a you-thought look. “And how many languages do you know, missy?” I shrug, but he turns his nose up at me. “Don’t give me that look.”

“It’s easier for me to learn,” I say modestly, but he sees through it.

“Ha, you’re calling me old.”

Youngmi giggles, put at ease by our banter. Turning her head, she snuggles a little into Rat’s chest, making herself more comfortable.

Rat’s breath catches a little, and I notice with a sly grin. Now that the lady isn’t protesting so much, it’s easy to see that she’s beautiful. She’s small in my brother’s arms, and her face is small and soft-featured. Her hair is black, undyed, and looks naturally straight.

I cough, catching their attention, and ask, “Youngmi-ssi, where do you live? We’ll take you home, if you’ll let us.”

She tells me her address trustingly, though her gaze is on my brother’s face.

I realize with a sort of shock that my brother is in fact very good looking. Though fairly slight and unobtrusive when needed, as a result of our daily training, he’s quite toned. Not bad. All these years, my brothers haven’t had a chance to date, or make friends. Civilians must be kept out of danger, after all. But now that we’re here and I’m making a splash, maybe my brothers can have a little relief from our normal restrictions, away from the spotlight. I don’t know if I trust Snake not to hold civilians as collateral, though. They’re not in the public eye and somewhat safe. Maybe I’ll get Bobby to introduce some girls to us.

We get to the car, and I leave Rat to drive with Youngmi while I follow behind on my bike.

Hoseok’s POV:

My dad is still trying to explain his mistakes as we arrive at the police station. The officer gets Namjoon’s statement, and since we were all together, they don’t ask for Jungkook’s and mine.

“You’re telling me my best friend went missing and you’ve just lied to me all these years,” I repeat in disbelief.

“He didn’t tell me for a while, either. You know how he was.”

“No, I don’t think I do. Tell me. Tell me what kind of father doesn’t even make an effort to search for his daughter,” I demand. Jungkook looks around worriedly, then takes me by the arm and ushers me into a taxi, Namjoon close behind.

“You know that Jinhee’s mother never fully recovered from giving birth to her, right?”

“Of course. That’s why Jinhee was always over at our house.”

“You never realized how samchon acted around her?”

“I-” I cut off, thinking.

“Jinhee-ya, your appa is here to pick you up.”

“Appa, annyeonghaseyo,” Genie greets quietly, but her father turns to get in the car without acknowledging.

She struggles briefly before getting the car door to open, and gets on, but before she can fasten her seatbelt, her father starts driving.

She lurches forward, but manages to buckle in and turn, waving a solemn goodbye.

“He hated her.”

“Ani, he blamed her.”

“Same thing,” I argue, but I can hear my father sighing.

“He blamed her for her mother’s disability, but he didn’t hate her. How could he, when she was just like her mother, and when her mother loved her so much?”

“If he didn’t hate her, why didn’t he even try to look for her?”

“He did. When they flew to Hong Kong to take care of affairs, she disappeared. He tried to look for her, but he was a broken man by then. He couldn’t stop blaming himself for not taking better care of her, and for losing them both in one go. He thought fate had taken her from him because he didn’t deserve her.”

“I thought he didn’t tell you.”

A deep silence.

“He didn’t choose to tell me,” my dad answers, and I can hear an undercurrent of pain in his voice. “Your mother and I, we were more her parents, and you more her family than ever he was. We grew distant because of it, and then when he lost her he couldn’t bear to tell us.”

“So why did he eventually? He just said they moved away, at first.”

“We begged him.”

For the first time, I understand how much my parents loved Jinhee, and how much it hurt them to not have seen her all this time. It wasn’t just me suffering, I realize. All this time, I thought my parents had forgotten about her, that they didn’t care.

“We got down on our knees, son. We begged him to let us see her, to let her visit us and for her to spend time with you again. We begged him for months, until finally he told us why she couldn’t. He thought he could find her, at first.”

The information is almost too much for me to take, but I rivet onto one detail. “You said she disappeared in Hong Kong?”

“Yes. Son, I’ve tried to keep it from you. So many things are possible. We looked into it, and the Hong Kong underground is so dangerous for a little girl. We’re still looking even now.”

“Thanks for telling me, appa,” I say abruptly, and end the call, looking at Namjoon and Jungkook. We’re almost home.

“What was that about?” Namjoon asks, but I shake my head and ask him a question in turn.

“Remember earlier? No Name– she spoke Cantonese, didn’t she?”