EPISODE 8.3 → LISA
SYNOPSIS
Lisa struggles to save herself.
____________________
"This is the place."
Taehyung stares at the bar in front of him in confusion.
"You really think she's in there?" He asks the boy beside him. The place looked greasy and underhanded and they hadn't even gone inside yet. Simply put, it didn't look like anywhere Lisa would even look at twice.
"Only way to find out is to go inside and see." Jungkook replies with a shrug. They hadn't spoken at all since their fight in Italy but when they'd both received worried calls from Emira, they decided to come together out of mutual concern for their friend.
That didn't mean things weren't awkward. Jungkook hadn't really spoken to him the entire time they spent searching for their friend unless it was about Lisa's whereabouts. And a part of Taehyung didn't really blame him. But he'd figure out how to fix it later, right now they had to save Lisa.
"So, what's the plan?"
"I'll go in the front and distract Jaewon, while you sneak her out of the back." Jungkook says, and Taehyung is thankful the younger is there because not only is he the most logical of them both. But Jaewon knew Taehyung by face, Jungkook on the other hand, was only someone he knew by name. It might not have been a perfect plan, but it was all they had at this point. And Taehyung didn't really care how they did it, as long as they got Lisa back.
"Hey-" Jungkook calls out quietly when he notices the worried look on his best friend's face, "Don't worry so much. This will work."
Taehyung nods but he doesn't feel very confident at all. That doesn't mean he isn't thankful for Jungkook's attempt at assuring him.
"I hope you're right." Taehyung mutters, repeating the younger's words in his mind. This would work. It had to.
No more one words are exchanged as Jungkook approaches the steps to the front entrance while Taehyung heads for the alleyway leading to the back exit. The brunet swallows thickly as he walks the short path leading to a set of double doors. Here goes nothing, he thought as he pushes the doors open and slips inside.
For it to be so late in the evening on a Saturday, the bar isn't that heavily populated. It's easy to spot Jaewon because he's surrounding by so many people, mostly men, body guards most likely. They're playing pool and Jaewon is watching the game intensely with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Surprisingly, Lisa's no where in sight making Taehyung frown as he scans the dimly lit bar for any sign of the Vietnamese girl. Where was she? He needed to find her and quickly because if Jaewon caught sight of him, things would end badly for them all.
He makes his way to the bathroom then, to text Jungkook to abandon their plan. Lisa wasn't there. Or so he thought. But when he nears the men's restroom, he catches sight of a familiar figure stumbling into the women's restroom. And Taehyung doesn't hesitate before following. He pushes the door open only to be met with Lisa's slumped figure. She was huddled over on her hands and knees, blinking heavily, seemingly trying to keep herself awake.
Taehyung doesn't waste any time in leaning down beside her and trying to help her up. When he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her up, Lisa looks at him, but the look in her eyes is so distant it makes him frown. Jaewon was a big drug abuser himself, so it was no doubt that he kept Lisa on his level to make her that much more easier to hold hostage.
"I'm going to get you out of here." Taehyung tells her quietly as he slips her arm around his shoulder but Lisa just blinks blearily at him in response. Already feeling as if they were running short on time, Taehyung quickly guides her to the door and pulls it open to find that it's already much too late.
When they return to the bar, the area in front of the bathroom is surrounded. Jungkook is being restrained by two body guards while Jaewon stands off to the side, an indecipherable look on his face.
"Look who's late to the party." He beams, grinning brightly at them.
"We just want to leave." Taehyung says evenly, watching the older male carefully as he plays with an eight ball casually.
"Sure-" Jaewon agrees easily, motioning towards the exit with his free hand, "Go ahead."
The guards restraining Jungkook let him go and the path to the exit is cleared and it's all too easy in Taehyung's opinion. But he decides not to question it too much. Besides, they had to get Lisa help and fast. She seemed to be losing consciousness by the minute.
Taehyung looks at Jaewon one last time to find the elder smiling, and it's a clear sign, one that he ignores. Taehyung tightens his grip on Lisa and takes the first step to leave, not knowing it'd be his last before things go left.
Lisa is snatched from his arms almost instantly and he can only so much as blink before Jaewon picks up the nearest pool stick and swings it directly at his stomach. Taehyung doubles over in pain, dropping to his knees as he struggles for air. He looks up just in time to see Jungkook punch Jaewon hard enough to make the elder hit his side against the pool table.
The bar falls silent then and everyone watches with bated breath as Jaewon wipes at the blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, looking a mixture of surprised that Jungkook had actually hit him and irritated for the first time that Taehyung has ever seen. Jaewon's signature smile is long gone and that's how Taehyung knows that they're in deep shit. But before the situation can escalate further the man holding Lisa seems to lose his grasp when she finally loses consciousness and collapses to the floor.
"She's od'ing." The bodyguard informs them as he checks her pulse.
"What-" Jaewon mutters in disbelief, pushing past Jungkook to get a better look at the Vietnamese girl, and what he sees causes him to run a frustrated hand through his hair before all but shouting, "Well? What the fuck are you all waiting on? Get her up, now."
The bodyguards quickly scrambles to pick the girl up while the other's hurry outside to get the car. Jaewon hesitates then, glancing back at Taehyung and Jungkook with a look that meant he didn't want to let them get away with their disrespect. But when the bodyguard starts to hurry out of the bar with Lisa, the dark haired male finally decides to follow.
"You better not fucking die on me." Jaewon says to the unconscious girl as they hurry out of the bar and Taehyung is forced to watch them go as he clutches his aching stomach.
Once they're gone, Jungkook hurries towards him, placing a comforting hand on his back as Taehyung squeezes his eyes shut in pain.
"I don't know what might kill her first-" Jungkook says quietly, eyes still locked on the door their friend had been carried out of,
"-him... or herself."
Taehyung doesn't say anything in response. Because he's too overwhelmed with the searing pain in his stomach and the ache of not being able to save Lisa.
They needed a new plan, and fast.
✖✖✖
Lisa blinks blearily up at the ceiling. Though it was night time, the moon provided a decent enough lighting to fill the room. Silk sheets, marble floors, and the distinct smell of chlorine just barely covering the faint scent of weed and freshly printed money. She was at Foster's, clearly. But why? The last thing she remembered was practically being forced to do coke with Jaewon at a random bar. So how had she ended up here?
The dark haired girl sits up slowly, only to jump in shock when she notices someone seated in a chair beside the bed. It was Foster's son, in his usual attire of pajamas with a book in his hands.
"You're awake." He notes quietly.
"What happened?" Lisa asks despite the uncomfortable dryness in her throat.
"You almost overdosed on drugs." The kid answers plainly, "But luckily you're dating a very psychotic drug addict who brought you to his equally psychotic drug addict bosses house where people o.d. on a daily basis and they were able to save you with all of their psychotic drug dealing knowledge combined."
When Lisa stares at him in utter horror, the boy laughs.
"The end." He adds, motioning to his book before he closes it slowly.
Lisa tries to calm her rapidly beating heart as she feels the beginning signs of panic begin to plague her. She had almost overdosed and she couldn't even remember anything before then. This was bad. But before she can even begin to think clearly, Foster's kid speaks up again.
"You should leave." The kid says, noddding in the direction of the door before looking back at her, "I won't say anything if you do."
Lisa hesitates, looking back and forth between the boy and the door. Should she trust him?
"Or you can stay." The boy continues with a shrug, "But it's not really safe here."
He reminded her of Hieu, Foster's son did. And it made her smile despite the circumstances, but it was a sad, miserable attempt that made him give her a sympathetic look.
"Can you move?" When Lisa shakes her head no at the question, the little boy pauses to think before saying, "That's okay, I'll just carry you. We can go out the back and I'll take you to the nearest-"
The sound of footsteps approaching interrupts him and the kid doesn't waste any time in throwing the covers over Lisa's face, a sign that meant she needed to pretend to still be unconscious. And Lisa does just that, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to remain as still as possible.
"What are you doing in here, kid?" Lisa recognizes Jaewon's voice almost instantly.
"What you should have been doing. Checking on her." Is the kids response, "She's going to be out of it for a while so you can leave us alone now."
It's weird, hearing someone almost half Jaewon's age speaking to him like that. But when you were John Foster's son, you could probably talk to almost anyone like that without a care, Lisa figured.
"Whatever" Jaewon mumbles, and Lisa doesn't have to look to know he's rolling his eyes at the younger boy, "Just let me know when she wakes up."
"Maybe you shouldn't have drugged her up, then you wouldn't have to wonder when she's going to wake up." Foster's son replies and a small silence follows in which Lisa briefly worries for his safety. But Jaewon just scoffs, seemingly walking away.
"You know, you're lucky you're Foster's kid or you'd be hanging from the fucking ceiling already." He says quietly, trying to intimidate the younger.
"Whatever, just leave already." The boy tells him and surprisingly, Lisa's hears footsteps followed by the sound of the door being slammed shut. The covers are pulled from her face and she's left to stare up at the sad face of Foster's son.
"I don't think I can sneak you out tonight. There's too many people here, my dad's people and Jaewon's pack of coked out airheads. They'll notice you're gone before I can even get you downstairs." He explains with a somber look, "But you can rest for now at least. I won't let anyone bother you, promise."
When Lisa doesn't respond, the boy takes it as a bad sign and lowers his head, mumbling a quiet -
"Sorry"
"It's okay." She tells him softly, but it's not enough.
Lisa was in hell.
✖✖✖
It's two in the morning the next week when Lisa stumbles drunkenly down the hallway of her house with the bag of clothes she'd just packed. It was the only time she came home, to get more clothes and then leave, it was the only time Jaewon let her come home.
"You're leaving again, aren't you?"
When a light flips on in the hallway, Lisa blinks at the brightness of it. Once her eyes manage to adjust, she turns around to find Hieu rubbing tiredly at his eyes.
"Why do you keep coming back? Just take everything and go." He says quietly when she doesn't respond, "No one wants you here."
"You don't mean that." Lisa says more to herself than him. She was tired, drunk, and running on Jaewon's time, not hers.
"Leave already. No one's making you stay." Hieu tells her, shaking his head, "But it's not like you would anyway. You're too busy chasing some guy who doesn't even care about you."
"Stop it-"
"And he's hitting you. That's how you got that bruise on your face-" Hieu continues, arms crossed tightly over his chest, but Lisa simply shakes her head in response.
"You don't know what you're talking about." She mutters, but her brother scoffs at the fact that she doesn't even deny it.
"Whatever" He grumbles, pausing to take in her drunken state before adding, "I know more than you think I do. I know how dangerous he is and that he could kill you and where would that leave me? Alone and without the only person who cares me about me in the world."
When Lisa simply blinks at him in response, drunk and unresponsive, Hieu rolls his eyes.
"But you don't care, do you? You're still going to run back to him." He continues, "God, you're so pathetic."
Lisa decides she's had enough and adjusts the strap to her bag tighter on her shoulder as she prepares to leave. But before she can even turn to do so, Hieu says something that makes her snap.
"You're just like mom."
The slap that follows echoes in the quiet hallway. Hieu clutches his stinging cheek with wide eyes while Lisa glares at him. He's expecting her to apologize, to tell him that she was drunk and didn't mean it, and that she'd stay. But instead he watches her leave silently.
And once he's alone again, Hieu rests his back against the wall and wonders, just like with their mom, if she was ever going to come back.
✖✖✖
"I win!" Taehyung exclaims cheerfully, sticking his tongue out at the boy beside him. Since they were on a rotational system, it was his day to keep Hieu company after school and they decided to play video games to pass the time.
"That's two to your one, man you're getting your ass handed to you today-" He continues to boast until he looks over to find Hieu staring blankly at the screen, making him frown as he asks, "What's wrong?"
"My sister ... she's not coming back is she?"
The question catches Taehyung off guard, partially because he doesn't have an answer himself but also because it's weird having to hear it spoken out loud. So he hesitates, pausing the game so that he can turn to face the younger fully.
"Hey, you know your own sister, don't you?" Taehyung asks quietly, continuing when Hieu nods hesitantly, "Then you should know just how strong she is. Lisa's a fighter. She'll probably save herself before we even have to."
When Hieu shifts uncomfortably in his seat, staring at the floor apprehensively, Taehyung frowns. What was he hiding?
"She came here last night." The boy admits quietly, "To get more clothes, I think. And she was drunk, I know because she wasn't listening to anything I was saying. She just didn't want to hear it, but that's not the worst part."
Taehyung knows that when Hieu swallows thickly and hesitates, he's not going to like the next part.
"She had a really big bruise on her face. I saw it before I even turned on the light." Hieu pauses then, hesitating once more before continuing, "He's hitting her-"
Hieu jumps slightly in surprise when Taehyung stands suddenly, an indecipherable look on his face.
"Stay here, okay? Don't leave this house." He instructs and Hieu can only nod at his serious tone, scrambling behind the elder who's already headed towards the front door.
"I'll be right back." Taehyung grunts out, yanking the door open and almost running into Emira who's struggling with several bags of take out.
"Where is he going?" The Sanchez girl asks with a frown when Taehyung breezes past her and storms off down the street. Hieu watches him go with the smallest hint of hope growing within him before he seems to remember Emira's question and he turns to her with a small smile.
"To save my sister." He says watching the way her eyes widen. Emira curses quietly, pushing the take out into his hands before hurrying after Taehyung.
✖✖✖
Emira Sanchez winces as she watches Taehyung smash the windows in on yet another one of the cars parked in John Foster's driveway. She'd long since given up on trying to reason with him. It'd been a while since she'd seen him this upset, and she could only wonder what Hieu he told him to piss him off badly enough to come straight to John Foster's house.
"I'm going to knock that bastards teeth in." Taehyung says before raising his bat and smashing another window in before turning towards the house and shouting, "Come outside you fucking coward!-"
"Tae-" Emira starts uneasily, only to be interrupted when the front door to Foster's mansion opens to reveal a boy with a book in his hands.
"What the hell are you doing to my dad's cars?" The boy asks, staring at the two teens in confusion. Taehyung jumps from the car he'd been standing on to storm up to the younger.
"We're looking for Jung Jaewon, is the bastard here?" He demands, attempting to look into the house. But the younger boy simply closes the door behind him.
"Wait-" Emira says suddenly, pulling her friend back to stare down at the boy, "You said these were your father's cars? Foster has a son?"
"He does and you're looking at him." The boy replies evenly, holding his book tighter on instinct, "You're looking for Jaewon, right? And judging by the bat your friend is holding, you probably want him dead, am I right? Let me guess, you two must be Lisa's friends."
"We are." Emira confirms with a hopeful smile, "Do you know where she is?"
"No" The boy answers making Taehyung run a hand through his hair in frustration and Emira look away in defeat. That is until the boy smiles widely, opening the front door for the two to enter, "But I do know a way to help you save her."
✖✖✖
Lisa watches Jaewon sleeping peacefully, his head resting on her stomach, hands gripping an unlit cigarette. Now was a good time, she thought. Slowly, as not to wake the male, Lisa slips out of the bed, slowly setting Jaewon's head on the mattress gently. He doesn't even stir at this and it gives her a momentary confidence boost. He seemed to be in a deep sleep, and she hoped he would stay that way until she left.
The dark haired girl hurriedly slips on her clothes and sets about looking for her bag. But after five minutes of searching, she starts to panic. Each time she looks back at Jaewon, she thinks he's going to be awake. But each time she actually does look back, he's still fast asleep. Lisa heads into the bathroom then, rummaging through the cabinets for her bag, which she only finds once she returns to the room and looks behind one of the couches.
This time when Lisa glances back at the bed to see if Jaewon is still asleep, her heart drops when she's met with the sight of an empty mattress.
Feeling anxious, Lisa shakily grabs her bag and heads to the main room of the hotel they were currently staying at.
"Going somewhere?" Jaewon asks from his position blocking the door.
"Just for a walk." Lisa answers quietly making him laugh.
"At this time of night?" He raises a brow in question, pausing to light the cigarette in his hand while Lisa nods. Jaewon smiles at her then, pulling the door open and giving her room to pass, "Okay, go ahead."
And Lisa hesitates, glancing back and forth between him and the door. Jaewon urges her to go as he blows smoke from his nostrils. So Lisa does just that. As soon as she steps foot into the hallway, Lisa takes off. She hurries to the emergency exit door at the end of the hall, too afraid to even look back as she does so. It's pouring down outside and Lisa becomes drenched almost instantly when she makes it outside.
But even in the pouring rain, Lisa doesn't slow down. She heads in the first direction she sees, that leads her into the city. Lisa hurries in the downpour, gripping her bag straps tightly as she tries to figure out where she is and how she can get back home. Eventually she realizes that just wondering around won't get her anywhere. So when she spots a nearby phone booth, the dark haired girl hurries inside it, searching inside her bag for change.
She's only just inserted the correct amount of change when the glass surrounding her shatters and an arm reaches inside and yanks her out roughly. It's Jaewon, tossing the bat he'd just used aside as he pulls the dark haired girl along. Lisa tries to put up as much of a fight as possible, hoping that even in the dark of night, someone would see them and come help her. But when Jaewon slaps a hand over her mouth and guides her back in the direction of the hotel, she realizes it may be too late.
A limousine pulls up beside them in the midst of their struggle and Lisa allows herself to get her hopes up that it might be help. That is until the doors open and what she recognizes as a few of Foster's men accompanied by Jaebum exit. Jaewon smiles when he sees them.
"I'm glad you're here. I could use a little help-" He says, referring to Lisa who's still struggling to escape his grasp. Jaebum simply stares at him blankly in response, making Jaewon's smile fall as he watches the other male motion to the bodyguards.
Lisa watches in shock as Foster's men approach them. She's expecting them to grab her, not Jaewon. They pull him back roughly, restraining him.
"What the hell are you doing-" Jaewon complains, but Jaebum simply blinks him.
"Put him in the fucking car." Jaebum orders, watching with a bored expression as the bodyguards practically shove Jaewon in the backseat of the limousine.
Another car pulls up behind them then and they've just barely pulled up to the curb when two familiar figures jump out of the backseat.
"Lisa!" Emira exclaims barely giving the Vietnamese girl time to blink before she engulfs her in a hug. Lisa pats her back gently, knowing fully well that it was her friend's tears soaking her shoulder now and not the rain.
"What just happened?" She asks quietly once Emira seems to have calmed down enough to answer. The Sanchez girl wipes at her face despite the rain that soaks it immediately afterwards.
"Foster's son lied and told his dad that Jaewon threatened to kill him." Emira explains, nodding towards the limousine where the bodyguards are still struggling to keep the dark haired male in the vehicle, "Let's just say our little friend is on his way to meet a very pissed off John Foster."
Lisa has to smile at this, despite the way her hands were shaking and her heart was still beating rapidly in her chest. So Foster's son had helped her after all? Movement from the corner of her eyes catches her attention then, and Lisa looks over to see Taehyung standing off to the side, looking unsure on whether to approach her or not. But when the dark haired girl opens her arms, he doesn't hesitate in hurrying over and pulling her into a tight hug.
It's when she's in the midst of patting the older boy's back comfortingly does she see it. Leaning out of the open limousine window is Foster's son. When he catches her eye, he waves with a small smile. Lisa mouths "thank you" to him over Taehyung's shoulder but he simply shakes his head and gives her a thumbs up before the limousine pulls off. Lisa allows her eyes to slip closed when Taehyung starts to rub her back comfortingly.
She was finally safe.
✖✖✖
AUTHOR'S NOTE
fun fact: foster's son was gonna be a main character (which is why his name isn't mentioned the entire time lol) but i thought he might be more like able as a kid? so he's like a very smart 13 year old 🙃🙃🙃