"Hyung what do you mean she is—"
"Jisung I don't know about Aera. Stop annoying me and let me fucking think!" Donghyuck yelled out, gripping the roots of his hair in dismay, mind utter chaos as all he could think of was his soulmate.
'I'm heading to meet Areum-'
'I'm nearing the supermarket around—'
"Dorm, their dorms,"Donghyuck uttered out, hastily clambering onto his feet and Jisung's wide eyes snapped up to look at the elder, "What? What is it?"
"I think I know where exactly she was" With that Donghyuck rushed out of the headquarters with Jisung following suit.
Donghyuck's grip on the steering wheel tightened, gliding past cars as his feet pressed down on the throttle- heart pounding as his mind clouded with numerous thoughts yet he tried to assure himself she was safe and secure.
Halting the car to a side, Donghyuck and Jisung exited, eyes lingering on the supermarket ahead.
"This is the only one in this entire street. There must be some clue left around in here, search" Donghyuck instructed, strolling over the area surrounding the huge supermarket.
An entire hour of inspection yet the two came back with empty hands, no clue or any sign of the girl.
Aera?
Please baby speak up
Your Hyuckie is worried
Please...
And all he got in response was silence.
"Please just tell me you are safe Aera, please" Donghyuck mumbled under his breath, leaning against his car as tears lined his eyes, helplessly.
"Hyung!" Jisung yelled out earning his attention and Donghyuck neared him, his eyes drifting over to the cover held in his hands.
"The delivery, yes!" Donghyuck frantically nodded and Jisung began rummaging through the content inside while Donghyuck searched around for any other clues.
"Hyung.. there is a tracker in it" Jisung pointed out before looking down at what Donghyuck held in his hands.
A lighter.
Donghyuck glanced up, "It has to be someone who is close to her or knows her well" He spoke out, fingers fumbling with the lighter in his hand.
"What? How so?"
"It's a lighter Jisung- fire. Aera is traumatic towards fire or flames cause of her past"
"What the hell?! I never knew!" Jisung exclaimed with wide eyes, baffled.
"Yeah she doesn't speak much about it. And as far as I know no one except Mark and I know about this.."
"Are you suspecting Mark Hyung...?" Jisung cocked a brow and Donghyuck shook his head, well aware of the relationship the two siblings held.
"Definitely not. But he's the only one who can assist us"
"Fine but we can't make a move without knowing who's on the other side"
"There's someone else who knows about her weakness"
"Who's on your mind?"
"Who else? It's him- it has always been him fucking with my life"
❖
Silence.
Gradually blinking away her blurry vision, her black eyes slowly roamed around the room she was laid in, rooted in her position for a few seconds as she tried to recall the happenings from earlier.
"Are you sure? What is she fights back?"
"I don't think she can. I can deal with her alone Chan, leave"
The distant muffled voices rang through her ear and clearing her hazy mind, soon it dawned on her that she was held hostage.
Perplexed, she abruptly sat up straight sending a twinge of pain to strike the back of her head making her screw her eyes shut as her hand raised to clutch her head, a heavy groan slipping her mouth.
The clicking of the heels on the white marble resonated through the room making the girl gradually life her head up, cautious to not strain herself out.
Her vision invaded with the bright fluorescent light ahead, her eyes squinting shut before adjusting and reopening, soon catching sight of the silhouette that halted in front of her.
"How have you been Park Aera?"
"Who are you?"
"Curious?" The female raised a hand up to grasp her and Aera slapped her hand away with her gaze unwavering on the vaguely visible figure ahead.
"Don't stress out too much. Your body is already under the influence of drug, you're only going to make it worst"
"I don't repeat myself. Answer me" Aera sternly questioned and the women tilted her head to the side, astonishingly watching the girl in front.
"Why so confident? Do you think that stupid mafia soulmate of yours will come to save you?"
"Shut up. Don't you dare utter a word about him"
"Oh, you in love? Wow, interesting. Don't you think it will be more fun to kill him before yo—"
Aera scoffed out, ramming her clenched fist right at her nose, sending the women to stumble back with a deafening yell.
"Fuck!" She hissed out, reaching onto her nose only to feel the viscous, hot liquid spill out, her head snapping up as her fists balled up in pure wrath.
"Sorry darling but you should've known whom you're dealing with" Aera spoke, swinging left foot at her abdomen, her hands clasping onto hers, pinning them behind her back.
"Now speak, who are you?" Aera spat out, battling with her lashes as she tried her best to endure the anguish that electrocuted though her body agonizingly.
"You're too weak to fight back Aera, give up" The elder taunted, thrashing around in Aera's grip which only tightened to keep her rooted in position.
"Bullshit. I can single handedly finish you right here, don't test my patience" Aera jeered, grabbing a fist full of her hair as she yanked her head back earning a wince in torment.
"You might fight me but don't think he will let you live for much longer Aera" A maniacal laugh left her lips as she thrashed out of Aera's grip and before Aera could react, a hand clasped around her neck making her back hit against the wall situated behind.
Aera screwed her eyes shut at the pain that flared up her back, her hands clutching those which wrapped around her neck.
"You should have been a good girl and let me speak" She daunted, inching closer, emerging out of the darkness as her face became more evident and Aera's eyes widened, astound.
"S-Somin?" Aera uttered out, keeping her gaze fixated on the women who stood right in front of her.
"Right," Somin muttered, letting her slender fingers press down further on her neck and Aera's breath hitched feeling the oxygen knock off her lungs, making feeble attempts to fight back which caused less to no impact on her.
Somin dipped her head lower, her lips brushing the helix of Aera's ear making her shudder in revulsion.
"It's Hwang Somin, darling" The tone dripping vicious whispered out with a wicked smirk etched onto her red stained lips.
Hwang.
And that's when Aera realized where exactly she was held hostage and by whom-
Citrine.
If you don't remember who Somin is- she was the doctor who Aera consulted previously..
And now you probably know who Citrine is 👀