Rule #37: If you fail, get up and try again, it will only make your skills sharper

Saera rubbed her eyes the next morning and turned to her side only to jump when she saw someone beside her.

She was about to scream when the person turned their face towards her.

Saera sighed when Youngjae snuggled further under the blankets while hugging a pillow.

"Mark brought him over at dawn."

Saera looked to the door and saw Jackson standing in the doorframe, "He's being relocated today so Mark wanted you two to hang out for a while. I'm supposed to take him to his safe house soon."

Saera smacked her lips and turned to look at her little brother before nodding. Jackson left to go to the kitchen, leaving the two of them together.

Saera slid closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. She patted his hair down just as he started to shift.

Youngjae groaned as he woke, only to look down and see his sister attached to him. He looked at her bleary eyed, but the sadness was still present.

"I don't really remember mom that well." He said groggily. "But whenever I think of a mom I think about you."

Saera blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

"I don't know. I guess you've sort of became mom to me." He said with a shrug. "But I still know you're my sister and I can come to you with anything."

Saera felt her eyes water as she smiled, "I love you Youngjae."

"I love you too and you'll always be the best sister I could  ever ask for. I wouldn't want anyone else." He said shyly.

Jackson appeared at the door with a sad smile, "It's time to go Youngjae. Saera, I'll drop you off at the precinct before I drop Youngjae off. Mark doesn't want you to stay anywhere alone."

-----

Saera had contemplated going into the precinct for about 15 minutes before the security guard started giving  her funny looks.

But even after she managed to enter the precinct, she stayed outside the doors of where Mark was seated and paced back and forth.

She was nervous beyond belief and all she could do was think about the million ways that he could reject her and shut her down.

Mark needed to hear her story. This time, she wouldn't wait until someone beat her to the punch, she was going to be the one to tell him everything.

Saera took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders back and pulled the door open before strutting into the offices.

Her eyes immediately zeroed  in on Mark who was seated behind his computer typing furiously. She made a bee line for him until she was standing on the other side of his desk, staring him down.

"Mark?"

His fingers stilled first when his brain immediately recognized her voice before his eyes flickered up to her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you." She said softly.

Mark's jaw locked, "I shouldn't have come over yesterday. It was a mistake, I was just emotional about Yuan."

Saera's head hung low as his every word took a hit to her heart, "I understand, but that's not why I'm here."

"Saera, I think it's best if we leave some space be--"

"No!" Saera exclaimed frantically, shocking him, "I…I know you're still mad and you have every right to be, but I really need to talk to you. I promised you that I was going to fix this."

Mark gave her a weary look, "And how are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to tell you the truth about me."

-----

Mark was sitting next to Saera on a bench in a park a few streets away from the precinct and needed to continuously resist the urge to hold her hand and pull her into his chest.

"My break is 30 minutes." He said stoically.

Saera nodded, "I don't think it'll take too long."

Mark felt a prick of guilt when he saw her shaken and scared. The Saera he knew was tough, cocky and full of attitude.

Ever since yesterday's incident her whole demeanour seemed like it changed.

"Don't worry. Just say what you need to say." He murmured.

Saera stared at her lap, twisting her ring around her finger as she took a deep breath, "My parents didn't abandon us like I said."

Mark looked at her with confused eyes. "Then where did they go?"

She swallowed the lump down . "They died.  A long time ago."

"Why didn't you just tell me? What was the point of hiding it?" Mark asked in exasperation as he turned to face her better.

Tears started filling her eyes, taking him aback. "I don't know. I think at first I just wanted to keep it a secret to protect me and Youngjae since you were a cop. But the longer I spent with you, the more I just didn't want you to hate me."

"What are you talking about? Why would I hate you and why would it matter that I'm a cop?" His questions  came out in a rush.

Saera let out a defeated and tearful laugh, "I don't want you to look at me like I'm a monster."

His eyes flinched. "Saera…what did you do?"

"It was him." She gasped out, "Park Yoo Chang was the one that working with Sang Min all those years ago."

Mark shook his head in confusion, "Park Yoo Chang. That's the name I got off of a file from Kwon's safe. You said you didn't recognize him."

"I lied." She said weakly, "I knew exactly who he was and how he was connected to Sang Min. He was The Collector  before Sang Min took over. He would lure girls out by pretending to be a client and then kidnapping them before…killing them."

Mark pinched the bridge of his nose, "How do you know all of this?"

She tilted her head at him as tears finally spilled down her cheeks.

"Park Yoo Chang is my father."

-----

"Y-Your dad is…"

"The original Collector and Sang Min was his…protégé I guess, but my dad would say that he was a business partner. That's why I knew his name but I never saw his face." She explained while hastily wiping her tears.

Mark closed his eyes for a moment, "So you're saying that after your father died, Sang Min took over?"

She nodded and watched his reaction. Mark leaned back and stared out at the park in a stunned silence with erratic breaths.  

"My dad was spotless.  He'd have a regular day job and bring home a sizable income. He'd then come home, kiss my mom and tuck me and my brothers in. He'd take us out to eat, to the movies, to amusement parks, he was the model father. No one was the wiser." She said while tilting her head up.

She let the wind caress her face as she started picking at the stitches in her brain that helped her repress these memories, "He'd go on a lot of business trips, but I don't think he ever left the city. I think he'd just go to motels and pick his victims."

"If your…dad was so spotless, then how did you come to know about who he was?" Mark asked, his own voice starting to tremble.

Saera gave him a sad smile that screamed of heartbreak, "Mom found out. She thought I was asleep with Youngjae, but I was standing by the door. I heard her confront him. She found pictures that my dad took, stalking all those girls and she demanded to know why he had pictures of girls who were just on the news for having gone missing, hidden in his study."

Saera leaned forward and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, "She thought he was cheating on her and when she shoved his chest, something fell out of his pocket. It was a velvet box. She really thought he was cheating on her, but th