ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕑π•₯𝕖𝕣 πŸ™πŸž

A/N: You guys, someone actually DM'ed me to say not to hurt Hikaru or else they're reporting me to the police😭 I know they're kidding but lowkey felt scared for a minute there LMAO

AND OMG WE ACTUALLY GOT A XIAOJIN SELCA AFTER 8364727 YRS!!😭

β€’ Yujin β€’

"... I talked with the manger of the mall to check out their security cameras... After coming out of the store she was last seen in, a group of people with cameras and recorders approached her- It didn't take long for a crowd to surround her. I-I'm not sure but she might have panicked because she run away to the emergency exit. Those fucking bastards followed her. She dropped her phone in the stairwell but I have it with me. Some retard was even contesting me for it so I punched him in the face. The cameras at the back last saw her running across the street. After that, we couldn't find her anymore."

I tried to contain the mix of anger and worry I was feeling. Anger for those selfish people and worry on where my little sister is and how she's feeling.

"Okay. Thank you, Dayeon."

"I-I should have came sooner, eonnie. I'm sorry. I'll try looking for her around the area."

"No, it's not your fault. We didn't expect this so we shouldn't blame ourselves. And please be careful, okay?" I said worriedly.

"Yes, of course. You too, eonnie."

I ended the call and saw Chaehyun still talking on the phone with the police.

I fiddled with my phone and tried to calm myself. I was already on the verge of crying out of worry. I couldn't help but think of the worst case scenarios.

Maybe out of habit, I found myself pressing the call button on a certain contact number.

β€’Β°~Β°~Β°β€’

β€’ Xiaoting β€’

I handed the files to Shiro. "That's the last one, right?"

"Yup," She smiled. "See what the beauty of this called 'division of labor' can do."

I rolled my eyes but smiled. "You talk as if you're not a workaholic yourself."

"I'm blaming that on you, boss."

"Don't pin this on me. Just say it's an occupational hazard-"

I didn't get to finish my statement when a familiar ring tone sounded from my phone. A knowing smiled appeared on Shiro's face. I don't why but I squinted my eyes at her because for some reason, I felt life she was teasing me with that look.

I picked up my phone. "Yujin?"

"T-Ting, I need- Hikaru she's-"

I furrowed my eyebrows in worry. "Okay, Yujin, please take a breathe first. In and out. In and out. In and out. Yeah, just like that. Good, you're doing a great job."

I covered the speaker and called Shiro who was about to go out. I signaled for her to stay.

"Can you speak properly now?" I made sure to soften the tone of my voice to calm her. I heard a quiet 'yes' from her. "Okay. Now, tell me what exactly happened with Hikaru?"

After getting a grasp of the situation, I sent immediate orders to Shiro. I wrote on a paper for her to coordinate with the security team to look at the areas where Hikaru was last seen. I wrote on a separate paper for my other assistant to check all the security cameras from the nearby establishments across the mall.

I gave her the papers and motioned for her to go as soon as possible.

'Keep me updated.' I mouthed towards her. She gave me an okay sign.

I turned back my attention to my phone. Yujin took a shaky breathe. "Something l-like this also h-happened back when she was in middle school. H-her classmates were making fun of her s-situation and she got fed up and r-ran away. W-we couldn't contact her for the whole day. She shut us all off and w-we only found her because someone s-saw her. It's dangerous right now and she might- she-"

"Hey, hey. Don't think like that. We'll find her- I'm sure of it. Now, I need you to breath in and out again with me. In. Out. In. Out. Yeah, you're doing a fantastic job." I praised and kept making sure she wasn't panicking. "Think positive, okay? I already ordered Mashiro to help in searching for her. You don't know, she might even come back to you before you know-"

The door of my office opened which stopped me from speaking.

Mashiro, along with Ms. Wen, came in with confused expressions.

Ms. Wen spoke up, "Ms. Shen, the front desk called me just now and told me that someone was looking for you at the lobby."

"Ting, they said it's someone named Hikaru." Shiro said, although a bit unsure.

"... Ting, are you still there?" I quickly assured Yujin. "Yes. Stay on the phone with me, okay? I'll check on something."

I motioned for the two to come with me. I took big strides to reach the elevator and quickly pressed the ground floor button. I kept tapping my foot while looking at the descending numbers.

Upon reaching the ground floor, I darted my eyes for the missing kid and quickly let out the breathe I didn't know I was holding when I found a certain Japanese teen excitedly waving her hands at me.

"... Ting? Are you okay?"

I was brought out from my trance when I heard Yujin's voice.

Finally, I smiled. "Yujin, she's here. Hikaru's okay."

I couldn't hear anything, until I heard her cry. She was full on sobbing in a mixture of relief and happiness. Only a short time has passed, but it felt so long when we were all worried. Even I didn't know how worried I was until I saw Hikaru's smiling face.

I saw Shiro zoom past me and engulf Hikaru in a tight hug. I smiled at the sight and started walking towards them.

"I-Is she really okay? She's not hurt? Crying?"

"Don't worry, she's not. I'll hand my phone to her so you can both talk."

"Okay. Thank you, Ting. So, so much."

I simply hummed in reply.

When I reached where she was, Hikaru shyly waved her hands at me. "Hi, Ting eonnie."

I quietly opened my arms and smiled at her. "Come here." I let out a small 'oof' when Hikaru bolted towards my arms. I laughed and made sure if she was really okay. When I was satisfied, I told her that Yujin was on the phone and wanted to talk to her. She suddenly looked constipated which made me laugh.

"I'm scared. I'm sure she'll scold me." She whispered to my ears.

I pressed mute on the call. "She's just concerned for you, Hikaru. You weren't gone for that long but I'm sure she felt otherwise when she didn't know how you were doing or where you were."

She softened and accepted my phone.

I backed away along with Mashiro to give them some space. After a few minutes, Hikaru gave me back my phone.

"She... She didn't shout at me?" She told, or more like asked, me. I chuckled because she was legitimately confused.

"I told you, she's just concerned for you. Are you planning to go back home?" I asked and fixed a few stray strands from her pigtails.

"Actually," She started swinging her arms back forth. "I asked Yujin eonnie if I could stay with you. I wanted to go back home with you after your work, if that's okay?"

"Sure." I said without hesitation.

"Shiro has game consoles we could borrow." I turned my attention to Shiro. "Can we borrow your equipment for the mean time?"

"Okay! I'll bring it to your room now." She went on ahead while I accompanied Hikaru towards the restaurant to have some lunch.

β€’Β°~Β°~Β°β€’

After lunch, we went back to my suite. I told Hikaru that I don't have anymore work to do so that means I can play with her. She looked at me skeptically then turned towards the pile of papers that were waiting on the dining table. I smiled awkwardly and told her that those can wait because they weren't due anytime soon.

After getting her assurance, she excitedly pulled me towards the game console and started choosing which game we could play.

She chose a game called Worms Rumble. She taught me the basics and when finally I understood the gist of it, we started the game. Compared to her, who constantly plays games, I immediately lost to her several times. Over a few more times, I was at least able to hold my ground without losing the moment the game started.

I didn't know that I would enjoy playing this much. Also, I didn't know that I would make the most random and loudest noises which would send Hikaru laughing. I actually had that much volume in me? Who knew.

When it was around four in the afternoon, I decided to call someone to send us some snack. After receiving it, we sat near the windows that overlooked the city. We were across each other but we were facing the floor-to-ceiling windows. We ate in silence for the first few minutes until she opened her mouth.

"Ting eonnie... Won't you ask me what happened earlier?"

I drank a sip of my cola. "Would you tell me?"

She thought about it for a few moments before saying, "I would."

"Then, what exactly happened earlier, Hikaru?"

I heard her sigh which made me look at her.

"Before that, I want to share something personal first." She took in a shaky breathe. "Back when I was in middle school, some douchebags would always take their time to tell me... unpleasant things about my past. I don't know how it happened but my school found out that I was adopted. My so-called friends asked me if it was true. So, I told them, also adding a few things like how I was orphaned and how I found a new home- and that was the biggest mistake I did. Kids can be scary at times, right? The next day, some people found joy in making me remember how I came here, how I was some jinx, and how I-I was a b-burden to my sisters." She was crying softly now so I reached out a hand to comfort her. She held my hand and her grip felt like she was trying to gain some strength from me. I quietly brushed the knuckles of her fist with my thumb.

"I was able to put up with it for a few weeks. Then it got to a point where they would always corner me at school. I wanted to be strong. To take whatever they want to say with a puffed up chest, but I couldn't. Their words got to me. Was I really unloved by my birth parents? Why didn't they look for me? Why did so many bad things happen even when I didn't do anything to hurt anyone? Did my sisters feel like I was a bother? Did my friends secretly hate me?-"

"Hikaru," I stopped her because when she kept going, I felt a part of my hart being stabbed over and over again for a young girl like her to think about those things. "If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that your sisters and friends, including me, love you for the ball of happiness that you are. Don't let those double IQ imbeciles with no tact, to tell you otherwise. You're beautiful, both in and out, and is successful in your passion and career."

She laughed and wiped her tears with her other hand. "I know that now. Eonnie never failed to tell me those kind of things, too. She's like my number one fan but Hiyyih says she's going to compete with that." Both of us laughed because I could imagine Hiyyih saying that.

"When that thing happened at the mall, I don't know- I just, I felt myself being taken back to that time. When they got closer and surrounded me, I was terrified. I-it brought me back to when I was young. Way younger. When... When my father dropped me off in a playground only to never come back. I stayed there. I didn't set one foot away from that place because I was told that he'd come back after five minutes. That- H-he didn't come back even after days. I was lost, lonely, and starving. So, when an amiable old man approached me with some food, I went with him."

A pained smile ghosted on her lips. God, I didn't even notice that I'm already crying.

"Who would have thought that I would suddenly be brought to a whole new country with no knowledge about their life, culture, and language. I woke up in a black van. When the van stopped at a gas station, an older kid who was with us noticed that the window could be opened. So while our kidnappers were busy outside, all of us helped each other taking off the ropes and tapes. And when the older kid kicked the window open, all of us run. It was a save yourself moment because we all just scattered- desperate to get away. I didn't look back. I run and run and run. But in one street, the familiar black van appeared and the driver tried to catch me. I shouted so hard in desperation. I-I'm not sure what happened next but a guy helped me fight him off. I tried to run away again but I sprained my ankle. E-eonnie, I was so s-scared."

I could hear the tremble in her voice. I stood up from my chair and kneeled in front of her. I took her in my arms to calm her down. "Shh, shh. We can talk later if it's-"

"I-I'm okay," She cried. "I w-will be. I want to tell you."

"Okay, okay. But let's rest for a while first, yeah? Is that okay?" I wiped her tears away.

She obediently nodded her head and breathed in and out. After a while, she started speaking again while I remained kneeling in front of her as I held both of her hands in mine.

"Everything happened so quickly. When I heard something clicking followed by a loud bang, I cried. The clicks from the cameras- it was those things that reminded me of that time. Then it happened again. All of a sudden I was in the arms of a woman, and I thought I was safe. But I heard the click and bang again- and that was it. I fainted after that. The people at the hospital told me that I bumped my head when the woman fell because I was in her arms-"

The scenario became awfully familiar that I felt my throat closing in, but I spoke. I needed to.

"Hikaru," She stopped to look at me. "D-did you perhaps know about what happened to the man and woman?"

Her shoulders dropped. "Y-yeah. They didn't make it." I felt myself tearing up again. Could she be-?

"Hikaru, do you remember when that happened? Perhaps the year and month?"

"I think it was around February since it was snowing. Year 20**."

I didn't stop myself and cried as I took her again in my arms.

"It was you. All along it was you. I'm sorry." I kept repeating this while she was just letting me cry on her. She was probably so confused at this point.

When I finally got myself together, I leaned back.

"What do you mean by that, eonnie?"

So I told her. I told her what happened to me back then. How I felt so guilty for not looking for her as I kept saying sorry.

"Eonnie, you shouldn't be. Honestly, I feel like I should be the one apologizing. I feel like it was my fault-"

I glared at her and pinched her side which stopped her from talking as she flinched. "Don't you even dare think like that. It was my parents' choice to intervene. We don't have any control of their past actions."

"Okay, okay. Then you should also stop saying sorry. You didn't know what could have possibly happened." I nodded my head with a smile.

"You grew up so well, Hikaru."

She gave me toothy smile and pulled me into a tight embrace while rubbing her cheeks on mine.

"Eonnie, we're like long lost sisters!"

I smiled and nodded. "We are. We definitely are."

I realized that we both looked like a mess after crying so hard. The sky was already dark so I decided for us to go home, but before that, I offered to get some ice for our swollen eyes.

β€’Β°~Β°~Β°β€’

When we finally got home, Yujin and the others were already waiting by the living room. The moment we opened the door, Hikaru was quickly engulfed in hugs and kisses. I laughed and closed the door behind me.

"Someone owes everyone an explanation," I chuckled. "I'll be upstairs washing up."

They barely gave me attention before pulling the flustered girl towards the couch.

After finally changing and drying my hair, I went back down and saw that no one was in the living room. I heard noises coming from the kitchen so I followed the ruckus.

When they saw me, they immediately flooded me with questions if it was true that Hikaru and I met when we were kids at the most traumatic part of our lives. I simply told them 'yes' which earned overdramatic gasps from them, particularly from Youngeun. Hikaru and I exchanged glances and laughed.

Dinner carried on with that atmosphere. After which we settled in the living room to share stories and snippets of our lives.

After the panic and worry we all experienced earlier, it was not questionable that we unanimously decided to sleep in earlier. Everyone was tired and we all went in our respective rooms.

Yujin and I were already settled on the bed. The room was dark and only the moonlight peeking from the window curtains served to help our vision.

I was facing the ceiling and focused on the even breathing from the body beside me. It's calming.

"Can't sleep?" She turned her body so now she was facing me. I kept my gaze up. "Yeah."

"Are you thinking about something?"

"Mhm."

"Care to share?"

I smiled. "I'm just finding it amazing, you know. Who knew that the woman who I had the most terrible impression of would become the most important person to me? You became a bridge to me and your sisters that I've unknowingly met before officially getting to know you. Everything that's happening to me right now is because of you. I've met the most amazing people because of you. I... I'm much more happier... because of you."

I looked at Yujin who was tearing up but had that beautiful, full-teethed smile directed at me. For some reason my heart started beating faster.

Calm down- Stupid heart keeps acting weird lately whenever I'm close with Yujin.

I maintained my gaze at her and smiled. I don't know why but I'm so contented at this moment. I reached my hand towards her face to brush off a tear.

"Thank you for being my friend, Yujin."

I blinked because for some reason, I thought I saw her frown and her eyes filled with sadness? But it was too quick so I didn't mind it and focused on Yujin who looked like a dam broke from her eyes.

I didn't hesitate in reaching my hands around her shoulders and placed her head at the crook of my neck. "I'm sorry. Did I say anything wrong?" I whispered.

I felt her head shaking. "N-no, no. I'm sorry for being a crybaby. I guess I was just... so h-happy. For what you said. About being your friend. I'm glad you're my friend, too."

I hummed and kept rubbing her back until she finally calmed down. She was breathing evenly now so I checked if she fell asleep. She did.

I adjusted our positions a bit, placing my arm comfortably on her waist and stretching my other arm out so that her neck won't feel sore in the morning.

For some reason, I felt a bit impulsive.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I succumb to idea. I kissed her temple and whispered, "Good night, Yujin."

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