Rule #36: Don't over think and let the information come to you

"How the did you get her?" Saera hissed venomously.

Sang Min chuckled, "She's pretty but she's not the brightest one in the world. All I had to do was tell her that I was one of the cops that Mark sent and she was following my every order."

"Wait till I get my hands on you." She whispered threateningly, "You're cocky now because you're hidden but you wouldn't last a second alone in a room with me."

Sang Min started laughing loudly, "Are you really threatening me, Saera? I thought you'd be using your time more wisely, like deciding on what you're going to do about your brother and Yuan."

"How did you even find out about her?" Saera asked as she stared at the televised image.

Sang Min sighed in annoyance, "I followed you around and saw you and Mark go to her house. Now are you ready to chose, yet, because I'm getting bored."

Saera stared at Yuan, how was she supposed to choose between her sibling and Mark's sibling?

Of course she loved Youngjae more, but she wasn't just going to hand Yuan over to The Collector. The poor girl had no part of this, she was innocent and if something were to happen to her, it would destroy Mark.

He would've lost the most important person in his life.

It wasn't even about earning his forgiveness, it was a matter of being responsible for taking away someone else's little sister.

But this was Youngjae.

She'd sell her soul to protect Youngjae and if something were to happen to him, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

She'd have nothing.

Tears started to well in her eyes. What was she supposed to do?

"You can't expect me to pick." She rasped out as her eyes flickered between Youngjae's screen and Yuan's screen.

"Of course I do, or else why would I give you the options?" He said incredulously.

Saera pressed her fist against .

She would have to pick Youngjae.

Tears started to spill on her cheeks as she stared at Yuan. Mrs. Xiong had no one else to rely on except Yuan. Mark's only purpose in life was his mother and sister.

"Here let me help by laying out the scenarios." Sang Min said frustrated from her lack of action.   

"If you take your brother and leave the girl, your little detective will receive a very familiar metal box sent to his apartment with the remains of his baby sister and a note detailing your choice. He'll hate you so much that he might kill you himself." He said stoically.

Saera closed her eyes, she didn't even want to imagine the horror he'd feel if he saw her dead body. Her mind couldn't even hypothetically create a situation where Mark found Yuan dead.

She didn't even care about how much he'd hate her, she was more concerned about Yuan's safety.

She prayed that the girl didn't wake up before Saera could figure out what to do, it would only raise more questions about her relationship with Mark.

"And it's pretty obvious what'll happen if you save the girl…you'll have two dead brothers you were responsible for." He said with a laugh.

Saera growled and whipped her phone across to the wall. She covered with her hand as she paced back and forth.

She perched on the corner of the table and held her head down, "What do I do Jinyoung?" She whispered.

She raised her head and looked at the two screens, these were two kids that couldn't catch a break for more than a second.

This was her fault.

Her eyes widened at the thought.

So she would have to be the one to fix it.

------

"When was the last time you saw her?" Mark barked as he raced into the precinct.

Jaebum was on his heels, "One of the officers walked her to school but in the gap between her entering the school and her meeting up with the undercover cop, she disappeared."

Jackson was on the phone barking orders, "Make sure someone is posted with Yuan's mother 24/7. I don't want you to look away from her for a second."

"Can you track Saera's cell?" Mark asked.

Jackson frowned, "I've been trying, but it's not working. It won't narrow down her location, in fact, her signal is bouncing around different cell towers."

Mark punched the side of his desk, making everyone jump.

"You think this is all connected?" Jackson asked quietly.

Mark shot him a look, "Yuan and Youngjae both go missing and  now Saera is MIA? Yeah, it's pretty ing connected."

"I want an APB out on all of them. I want every officer out there looking for them." Mark ordered angrily.

Jackson started making calls leaving Mark alone, trying to organize his thoughts.  All the most important people to him were missing and he prayed that nothing happened to them.

Any of them.

If someone hurt them, there'd be hell to pay.

------

"Let's make a deal." Saera said after she picked up the phone from the ground.

Sang Min hummed, "I don't like making deals. You're not in charge here."

"I know." Saera said hastily, her voice quivering, "But what if I made a deal in your favour?"

Silence filled the line for a few minutes before he spoke, "What's your offer?"

"Take me instead. I'm the one who you hate, right? Not those kids. So I'll sacrifice myself for both of them." Her words came tumbling out as she paced back and forth.

It frightened her how easily she had accepted her own death.

She didn't even blink or spare a thought.

"Fine."

Saera blinked in surprise at how fast he agreed with her deal. She figured he'd reject her offer considering that it left her guilt-free.

She assumed that he would want to drag it out and guilt trip her into picking one of the two and have to live with the consequences for the rest of her life.

He was letting her have the easy way out.

"So…so you'll let them out an--and kill me instead?"

Sang Min started laughing, "Oh dear, I'm not going to kill you."

Saera's steps faltered, "What? What do you mean? Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to ruin you."

-----

"A piece of paper is being slipped under the door. I want you to pick it up before standing on the far side of the table, in front of the camera." Sang Min ordered.

And on cue, a piece of paper slid into the room.

She tried wiggling the door knob, but Sang Min cut her off, "Don't bother. It locks from the outside."

Saera took her spot in front of the camera and held up her phone, "Now what?"

"Now, you're going to set the piece of paper on the table, out of frame and recite whatever is written on the paper straight into the camera." He said smuggly.

"But I--"

Sang Min cut her off, "If you fail to do so, I get to keep both of them."

Saera's eyes darted to the camera when the red light and felt her stomach churn.

In another life, she would've spat on the ground, refusing to let someone like him order her around as if he had authority over her.

But this life, she could only keep shut because it wasn't her life on the line.

Saera flipped the piece of paper over, her eyes scanning the contents before tears started building up.

She held the phone up to her ear, "You can't make me say this. This isn't true. You helped him, not me."

Sang Min sighed in exasperation. "It doesn't matter if it's true or not. I'm doing exactly what you're doing Saera. I'm working to survive. So unless you want to hand your brother and Yuan over to me and save yourself, you will do exactly as I outlined."

Saera stared at the piece of paper again, the consequences of her actions spinning around in her head before she took a deep breath.

It was time for her to make sacrifices.

She set the sheet in front of her, out of frame and stared the camera dead on.  

"My name is Park Saera and  for more than 10 years, I was The Collector's accomplice. When I was young, I would lure the es by pretending to be lost and bring them to The Collector, knowing that he was going to kill them. I liked it. It made me excited and sometimes he even let me help with the killing. When I got older, The Collector I was working with died so I got close to the police because I took over for my father. I'm the new Collector. "

Sang Min's voice echoed from the phone on the table, "Now tell the camera why you were The Collector's accomplice."

"Because the original Collector…was my father."

-----

"Annnnd cut. Perfect." Sang Min said cheerfully as the red light on the camera turned off.

Saera picked up the cell phone, her head throbbing in pain, "What are you going to do with that video?"

"I'm going to save myself." He said brightly.

She scoffed in disbelief, "You planned this from the start, didn't you? You were never going to kill either of them. You're going to post that video up and make me take the fall, aren't you?"

"Looks like you always were a daddy's girl." He sang.

Saera felt a roar tear through , "Yeah, well daddy's dead."

"But he'll always live through you, right?" Sang Min snorted.

Saera's eye twitched, "That's not true."

"The door is unlocked. I'm done with you. Go save those kids for all I care. Oh, and I suggest you spend a lot of time with them before the police come knocking." Sang Min said before ending the call.

Saera let out a garbled sob before running out of the door and into the warehouse. She didn't have the time to think about how her whole life was about to fall apart and domino effect of her 'confession.' All she could think about was getting the kids out of there before he did anything else.

She pulled out her phone and sent the text that she had drafted before running around in the warehouse, in search of Youngjae and Yuan.

The warehouse was dusty and old with a wide empty space in the center of the building. She looked around frantically, her heart pounding when she couldn't see anyone else there.

"Y-Youngjae?" She called out shakingly as she looked around. "YOUNGJAE?!" She screamed.

Saera was kicking over tables and pushing over boxes while searching for door or a room that matched the video stream.

She stopped when she noticed a stack of boxes covering something. Her fingers were shaking as she shoved the boxes aside haphazardly.

The boxes revealed a door with a latch. She was trembling as she flipped the latched and dragged the heavy  metal door open.

She forced her way in, coughing when musk and dust floated around her, "Youngjae!? Yuan!?"

"Sae-Saera? Oh my god. SAERA! OVER HERE!" Youngjae called out.

Saera gasped and raced down the hallway to the end where she heard pounding against a door.

"Youngjae?" She asked while hitting the door.

"I'm here! I'm here! Get me out of here!" He cried.

Saera looked at the locked and noticed it wield shut. She slammed her shoulder against the door a few times but it didn't bu