"What's wrong?"
Jimin frowned after seeing Minjeong sitting emotionlessly on the couch, hugging tightly her sister Ning, who was crying uncontrollably, confined in her comforting hug. Minjeong looked up at Jimin, looking devastated. Jimin's heart broke into millions of tiny pieces when she saw those salty, transparent tears flowing down her lover's cheeks. It had been so long since she had last seen her cry like that that it crushed her infinite times.
Ning only looked at her for short seconds, then buried her head back on her sister's chest. Jimin slowly approached them; even if she didn't know what was wrong with them, she could feel their pain.
She had felt like that before, she knew perfectly how horrible it felt.
She sat next to Minjeong, and rubbed her back slowly, soothing her down.
"...Mark's missing."
Minjeong's mutter made Jimin stop on her tracks. She looked really shocked. Mark. Minjeong's younger brother. The brother she cared for so much. That brother that went through hell when Minjeong supposedly died.
Now, he was nowhere to be found.
"...Win..."
Minjeong just shook her head. She got it as a signal that she didn't want to speak. She always did that gesture with her head when she preferred to maintain silence. Jimin then touched Ning's hand, holding it between both of her hands.
"Un-nnie..." The younger one said, in the midst of a sob, "Y-you lost your so-on and I l-lost my br-rother..." She kept sobbing even more, in a way that it was getting out of control. "Y-you ar-re s-so bra-ave..."
Jimin's tears started pouring down her eyes, "Ning ah...when you lose someone who's very, very important for you without any reason or kind of explanation...you try to find an explanation to know why it happened...but you can't..."
"The thing is...you can never lose hope. If you lose hope...then it's over."
Jimin wiped her tears, breathed deeply and caressed Ning's cheek affectionately "You need to believe everything's gonna be alright..."
Ning smiled briefly and nodded.
"Th-thanks..."
The bell rang and Jimin got up from the couch as she could, walking towards there. As soon as she opened the door, she was confronted with Chanyeol, who looked stronger emotionally when compared to his younger sisters. Jimin immediately hugged him, muttering comforting words. As soon as they broke the hug, Chanyeol looked over to his younger sisters.
"I'm here to pick Ning up..." He muttered, trying to look as serious as possible.
Ning broke free from the comfortable position on her sister's arms and walked towards her older brother, knowing she had to leave.
Leaving Jimin and Minjeong alone.
Silence filled the living room for some time. Seeing that she kept incredibly quiet, Jimin approached her silently and sat by her side.
"Win..."
She sat closer, one arm wrapping around her lover's waist and the other caressing her locks between her fingers.
"...I know you want to cry. You can cry if you want to, there's absolutely no problem about it," She whispered, trying to make Minjeong feel better.
Without any warning, Minjeong tightly wrapped her arms around Jimin, resting her head on her neck. Minjeong's sobs broke their silence and her tears soaked Jimin's clothes, but she didn't care.
"I'm sorry Win...I'm so sorry you have to endure this again..." Her voice cracked up at the end, even if she tried to stay strong.
"No..." Jimin heard her say, "You went through so much, and you were all alone...you can't possibly compare your pain to mine...I can't even imagine how bad you felt for so long," Minjeong breathed in and opened her eyes, staring into nothingness.
"I would just imagine you were watching over me," Jimin whispered, kissing her temple, before taking in a brief moment to sniff her scent that she absolutely loved.
"...I'm sure the one who did this is Jeno."
"Why? Why would he even do any kind of harm to your family?"
Minjeong held her shoulders and looked right in her eyes, "He wants to take me off of the way because he wants you to come back to him, Jimin," She took in a deep breath, "He wants to distract me from you." Her voice became shaky and her breath unsteady, "I'm so afraid you can be his next bait, Jimin...I just don't want anything bad to happen to you ever again."
"I promise you I'll be alright...Please, just don't be sad...you have to think that your brother is alright now. Do you understand me?"
Jimin laid down on the couch comfortably, showing her a sad smile, "Come on. By my side, Win," She muttered, hugging Minjeong back and helping her lay down on the couch, next to her.
Jimin made Minjeong rest her head on her chest, and took in a deep breath.
"You," Jimin began, caressing her hair, "Maybe, someday I won't be here anymore for you and...I'm sorry I'm talking about this but, I just...I want you to remember that if anything ever happens to me, you still have Minji and Jeongwoo. You'll have to stand on your own and you must be strong," She breathed out a smile, biting her lip to prevent her tears from falling, "You're an amazing person, Minjeong. And believe me, that you can do this. You'll get through this."
Minjeong stared into her eyes, before looking down and hugging her tightly.
"...Tell me."
"What...?"
"How you could...move on after I had the accident..."
Jimin breathed out a smile and opened her eyes slightly, as she ran her fingers through Minjeong's hair.
"At first I thought I was alone...And I wanted to end up with myself but...But then I thought that you had left me with such a wonderful present...Seeing how my father reacted to things only motivated me to fight for our baby," She took in a deep breath, "Even though I had your family, Ryujin and Giselle...I felt so lonely. I mean, I knew you were important to me but...that's when I finally realized how important you truly were to me."
Minjeong blinked her eyes slowly, wrapping her arm carefully around her pregnant belly.
"You're my hero, Yu Jimin," Minjeong whispered, intertwining their fingers together, "Because you fought for me. You fought for us. You fought for our son. You fought for our daughter. You fought for your happiness, even if it meant going against your father and..." Minjeong looked up at her, staring into her eyes, "...I admire you so much for it."
Jimin took in a shaky breath, staring at her with tears in her eyes.
"...I'm sorry for being a bad girlfriend," Jimin whispered, breathing out a sad smile as a tear rolled down her cheek. Minjeong shook her head, taking in a deep breath.
"I'm sorry for all the times I called you that," Minjeong muttered back, making Jimin shake her head lightly.
"...Don't be."
_____________________________________________________________________
"They said they can't search for him because he's of legal age," Chanyeol said, sighing deeply afterwards. Taeyeon just poured more tears. She did not know what to do anymore to recover her younger son.
It was an incredibly painful pang to her heart.
"But I need Mark...I need him here."
She sobbed.
"I need my son..."
Ning approached her mother and sat by her side, rubbing her back in a soothing way, "Eomma...I am very worried as well but as Jimin unnie said to me...you need to have faith and believe that everything's going to turn out well. If you go down, you'll feel worse."
Her mother nodded, "Jimin ah went through a lot at such a young age...I don't think I would be able to handle what she went through...losing her son and the person she loved in less than a year...I really admire how she managed to get over that..."
Ning smiled for a moment, "I think you should speak with her, eomma. She'll calm you down so much, you'll see," She wiped her mother's tears, "I also want to cry mom but please, don't."
"I just hope our Mark is alright."
_____________________________________________________________________
"Why are you doing this?" The young male asked, looking desperate.
His hands and feet were tied up and, truth to be told, that feeling wasn't pleasing. Not to talk about the uncomfortable position he was in. His eyes brimmed up in hope, looking to the man on his front.
"Why...?"
The man on his front laughed loudly, and then smirked.
"You don't need to know about it...it's not important."
"Of course it is!" The young male protested, impatient. The older man rolled his eyes and approached him, holding a gun next to his neck.
"Will you just shut up? You're way too noisy."
The boy gulped down saliva, looking down...he did not want to meet the eyes of his possible murderer. He closed his eyes, just in case.
"...Is this because of my sister?"
"Your sister? Who?"
"...Kim Minjeong."
"Kim Minjeong...?" The older man looked interested in the name that the younger man had said to him, "You know, that name is incredibly familiar to me."
He removed the gun off of his neck, finally leaving the boy in peace.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Hello...?" Jimin asked, sleepy, expressing her tiredness. She has been getting so many calls lately. It was like everyone wanted to speak with her right on those days. She felt her daughter move around on her bump so she caressed it lightly, signaling her to stop a bit.
"Jimin ah."
Jimin smiled warmly, recognizing her best friend's voice in the other line.
"Giselle...How are you?"
"I called because I heard about Minjeong's brother, Ning called me."
"She did?"
Jimin poured some milk into a glass, before leaving the milk package above the table and grabbing the glass, bringing it up to take a taste of the cold milk.
"Mm, she seemed really depressed...How's Minjeong?"
Jimin sighed, "Barely slept tonight. Just went to help out her mother at the supermarket and check out how everyone else is around there. It's just sad that even though this happened their parents can't close their supermarket down even for a day because they need that money so badly. I said I can give them some but they tell me I should just keep it for the baby," She sighed and bit her lip, "But Chanyeol is coming here to take care of some problem with my car's engine, so I won't be alone."
"Yeah..."
Jimin heard the bell ringing and looked towards the direction of the living room, as she couldn't see the main door from the kitchen.
"I have to end the call. Someone just rang the bell."
"Oh, it's okay. Do call me later, okay?"
"Hmhm," Jimin said, nodding, a smile painting across her face, "Kisses and hugs for you," She muttered, before ending the call. She took a little sip of milk quickly and exited the kitchen, going towards the living room.
"Coming~"
She took in a deep breath and rushed towards the door, writing the opening code and unlocking it, then opening the door.
"...Missed me?"
Jimin's eyes widened even more. As if it was an impulse, she began walking backwards, afraid of what could happen in that moment. The man in front of her smirked and shook his head.
"Aish...why are you so serious?"
He kept smirking, "It's not like I'm bad."
"J-Jeno..." Jimin muttered shakily, as her attempts to keep calm were happily fading away.
"Why are you shaking so much?" He asked, his head turning to the side and stepping inside of her house, "I'm not going to do anything to you."
"G-go away."
"Why would I?"
"G-G-GO AW-WAY!"
"Are you afraid of me?"
Jimin didn't answer. Instead of that, she just threw him a vase of flowers that...unfortunately for her, Jeno avoided. The loud sound of porcelain shattering made her inner self shiver. She saw as Jeno looked to the shattered pieces on the floor, then back at her with a deathly glare.
He smirked and ran towards her, pinning her against the wall and making her wince in pain.
"You fucking bitch!"
Jimin gasped in pain. His fingers were marking her arms and his nails scratching her skin. She wanted to scream out in agony but she couldn't. She knew it would only make things worse.
"P-Please...le-let me g-go..."
She whispered, half suffocated because of the strong grip on her neck.
"Not before I kill you."
Her eyes widened when she felt a knife pressing against her neck, ready to kill her.
"N-no...p-please..."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING MOTHERFUCKER?"
That booming voice was all she heard before Jeno was harshly snatched away from her. Her heartbeat quickly fastened and she was struggling to breathe. She only saw as Minjeong's older brother, Chanyeol, punched the bastard like there wasn't tomorrow, drowning Jeno into unconsciousness.
However, what she felt next wasn't something she was expecting.
She winced in pain as she felt her insides contract, huge abdominal cramps shaking her system; an excruciating pain going through her body, as if ripping it apart. Next thing she knew, a transparent fluid began rushing down her legs.
But then, blood came along.
It was happening.
What she had been waiting to happen for the last months, it was happening. The moment she saw the blood, she knew it was the end for her.
And if she didn't hurry, it would be the end for her baby as well.
She held her belly and cautiously held herself against the wall, trying to find balance.
"C-Chanyeol!"
The older man looked down from the beaten man up to the pregnant lady, wondering what was wrong. But then, he saw blood rushing down her legs and tights, staining her dress and her hands.
Jimin screamed in pain, gripping tighter on her dress.
His eyes widened in quick realization of what was happening...totally out of time. Jimin was only 8 months pregnant, she wasn't supposed to give birth so soon.
But there she was, in labor.
Jimin's eyes rolled, before she fell into unconsciousness, falling flat on the floor. Chanyeol rushed to her side, bringing her up to his arms, shaking her.
"Jimin! Jimin!"
Her head fell back, unconscious, blood staining her dress and her legs even more.
As if it was an impulse, he just decided to grab her and carry her in his arms, and decided to take her to the hospital, not caring if he stained his clothes or even his car seat with blood. He rushed out of her house in a hurry, carrying her in his arms. Opening the car's back door, he laid her on the back seat, and rushed to the driver's seat.
As soon as he was on the road, he looked back, staring at the unconscious female struggling to breathe. In complete despair, he decided to call his girlfriend. He wasn't sure of how dangerous the situation could be, so he needed an opinion from someone who knew way better than what he did.
He shakily paused the phone on his seat, on loud speaker mode.
"Chanyeol ah, I'm at work-"
"-If a pregnant woman in her final trimester faints and starts bleeding, how dangerous is it?"
There was silence for a few seconds, until Jihyo finally answered.
"Was it only blood or blood mixed with something else, like, transparent fluid?"
"Mixed."
Silence.
"...What does that mean? Jihyo-!"
"The baby will die asphyxiated and the mother from excessive bleeding if not taken to the hospital right away-"
"-Damn!"
"Is Jimin bleeding that hard?! For how long is she unconscious?!"
"Five minutes and yes, she's bleeding badly."
"Oh god."
He took in a sharp breath, finally spotting a hospital.
"I-I found a hospital. I'm hanging up!"
_____________________________________________________________________
"Minjeong ah!"
Minjeong turned around as her mother came to her, holding her cellphone. She got off the chair and frowned, looking at her mother worriedly.
"What?"
"Chanyeol is calling you."
Minjeong rubbed her forehead and took the call, knowing her older brother had gone to her house because Jimin said she felt something was wrong with her car.
"Hello-"
"Minjeong, please come to the hospital as fast as you can."
Minjeong stopped for a moment, looking at her mother, "Wait, what happened?"
"J-Jim-min s-she entered into labor and...s-she fainted, Minjeong. She was bleeding really bad, I swear I-"
"Where are you?!"
"The hospital you were at last time, please-"
"I'm going," Minjeong muttered, hanging the call.
Her mother looked at her worriedly, approaching her daughter as she started making her way outside the supermarket, "Minjeong ah! What happened?! Honey!"
Minjeong stopped and turned around for a moment, breathing heavily.
"Jimin and the baby...they-" She muttered, feeling her whole body shaking from the fear of losing both her and their unborn child.
Minjeong didn't want to lose Jimin and their baby. Hell, what would she do if she lost them?
Minjeong's mother's heart was crushed into millions of tiny pieces as she saw her daughter's tears.
"...They're everything I got, eomma," She whispered biting her lip, "I-"
"Go. Just go," She muttered, motioning her to leave, "Grab your motorcycle and just go!"
She took in a shaky breath as she saw her daughter running out of the supermarket, grabbing her helmet from the floor.
"Oh god, please let them be alright."
_____________________________________________________________________
Chanyeol let out a sigh of relief when he saw his younger sister running across the hallway. Minjeong did not care if nurses screamed at her. She didn't care anymore.
"...W-Where's Rina-w-where's my b-baby?!"
"...They're doing an emergency C-Section on her, Minjeong. She lost too much blood and the baby's in distress..."
Minjeong didn't even want to hear her brother anymore. She sat down in one of the plastic chairs of the hospital's hallways, looking around, completely lost.
She knew she couldn't lose them. Not at that moment. Jimin and their baby meant the world to her. They were the only things in the world that were able to make her smile.
She couldn't bear to lose them.
"I was too hard on her, wasn't I...?" Minjeong whispered, looking up at her older brother, her eyes tearing up again. Chanyeol stared back at her silently, as the younger looked down, a tear falling down her cheek.
"I got so caught up with Mark that I even forgot she's having our baby..." She covered her face with her palms, breathing in deeply, "It's my fault..."
"Minjeong," Chanyeol began, sitting down at his sister's side, "It's not your fault, Minjeong. You didn't do a thing wrong..."
Minjeong sobbed, looking at Chanyeol, "What if I lose her? What if I lose them? W-What am I supposed to do without them...?"
"Everything's going to be alright," The older said, patting the younger's back, "This nightmare will be over."
Minjeong shook her head, "I swear-"
"Yu Jimin's family?"
Minjeong immediately rushed to the doctor's side, breathing heavily. Her eyes looked around desperately, trying to get good news from the doctor.
"The baby's a beautiful girl. Congratulations," The doctor smiled at her, "You'll be able to see her soon-"
"-How's Jimin?!"
The doctor's grin eventually fell off of his face, and, much to Minjeong's distress, he looked as serious as he could possibly be.
"...We need to talk, Ms. Kim."