Pre-Session 6 [Part 3]

Y/N opened her eyes. The sound of the phone ringing pulling her senses out of whatever dreamland she had landed in. She groaned as her body became sore from the restrictive feeling.

"Fucking hell" She murmured under her breath.

She sat up carefully, as she didn't want to make the pain worse.

Her eyes finally landed on the phone.

"Are you not answering?" She asked her mom softly.

But her heart dropped.

Her mother was staring right at the small device sitting on the night table. Her lean frame was shaking uncontrollably. Tears seemed to roll down her cheeks every so often.

"Do not answer that phone." Her mother said in a raspy low tone. She was speaking through gritted teeth.

Y/N swallowed.

"I won't," She said, lifting her hands up.

She stood up slowly.

"He's calling," She said, her voice breaking. "This is the 16th time he will be doing it!"

Y/N looked down at Aaron. The boy was staring at her with pleading eyes. His own frame was shaking as she could see the tears welling up in his eyes. Y/N glanced up, noticing her mother's solid stare was still on the phone.

She looked down at Aaron. She lowered her hands slowly, leaving them open for him to run to her.

The little boy moved carefully and slowly, keeping the noise to a minimum.

Y/N reached to the side and pulled her own bag towards herself. Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw her mother's arms tense up and contract.

She moved slowly to the side, a few small steps at a time.

Her mother's eyes jumped around the numbers on the tabs Y/N had written. The latter knew that this was to happen sooner or later.

Aaron tiptoed to the door as Y/N reached the other side. Her pace became quicker as the shaking increased. She swallowed, opening the door, and slamming it shut. Aaron running towards the elevator right away.

The sound of things crashing and breaking was instant as Y/N caught up with her brother.

She crouched to hold the little boy close.

"Shhh" She cooed as he began to cry. "You're safe"

"It's over now." She said, her own heart breaking into a million pieces. "Mom can't hurt you anymore. You are with me"

"Please don't leave again" He mumbled in between sobs.

"You are staying with me," She said with a small smile. "Sounds good?"

Aaron parted the hug, looking into her eyes. Her heart began to swell at how attentive he was. He wanted to know if she was lying. And she sure as hell was not.

"Am I lying?" She asked, a huge smile appearing on her face.

Aaron's eyes lit up as he hugged her tightly.

Y/N reached up and pressed the button to call the elevator.

"Will you accompany me today?" She asked.

He nodded, drying up his tears.

"You'll meet Professor James today," She said as the elevator doors opened.

She grabbed his hand and began to walk with him.

"Is he nice?" He asked, a few hiccups escaping his mouth.

She chuckled. "He is. But first, let's get you some water and food"

Y/N walked into the room with Aaron holding onto her bag.

"Professor James?" She said softly.

The man lifted his head in surprise.

"Forgot you were coming" He muttered.

He stood up, spotting the young child next to her.

"Is he...?" He trailed off.

"He's Aaron." She said with a smile. "My little brother"

"Half?" He asked.

"Kinda" She answered.

"Well, nice to meet you, Aaron. I'm James." He said. "I'm a professor in this institute, as you may already know"

Aaron nodded as he neared his desk.

The professor extended his hand as the little boy shook it. His posture becoming much straighter than usual.

"Commercial?" The professor asked.

"Extremely talented," Y/N said as she came closer.

The man began to look around his drawers.

"I teach advanced psychology mixed in with criminology for this semester. I'm also one of the founders of this university's research program"

Professor James pulled out a small card, giving it to Aaron.

"This is for your sister" He whispered. "Give it carefully. Its top secret information"

The little boy smiled as he turned around and gave it to her with both hands.

"Thank you," she said.

She put her attention back on the man.

"Will this keep my name on the list?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," He said. "Song was not able to do much"

Y/N froze.

"Dr. Song?" She asked, her body filling up with fear.

Professor James sighed.

"He doesn't know for who it is nor why," He said. "I overheard him talking with Mingi and I got a glimpse of the problem"

Y/N took in a shaking breath. She nodded her head.

"Thank you." She said.

"I'm sure you will solve it," He said.

"Thank you," She said, holding out her hand for Aaron.

"Are we going to the station?" He asked suddenly.

Y/N frowned. The light breeze ruffled his hair as he walked.

"Depends on your sister" She heard.

Y/N cursed under her breath as she turned around.

Detective Park stood there with his hand inside the pockets of his jacket. She swallowed as she hoped they were mostly empty.

"Have been looking for you for about 24 hours." He said, his eyes soft, as his shoulders were relaxed. "Mingi and Irene were about to make a mess of the place"

Y/N remained quiet as she squeezed Aaron's hand twice. The boy squeezed back as he let go.

"I'm going to the toilet," He said, walking towards the building.

She was lucky the kid learned routes quickly. She just hoped Professor James would keep him safe.

He sighed once the kid was a few steps away.

"I'm going to keep it simple, they want your head," He said.

"I figured that much," she said as her chest tightened. "It's not really hard to guess"

"What are you to do?" He asked. "Are you going to keep at it?"

She let out a breathy chuckle.

"Like hell I'm stopping." She answered back. "A few people are owed the truth."

She arched a brow.

"And San deserves his small piece of innocence," she said.

The detective sighed.

"You don't know where Irene came from don't you?" Just the mention of her name sent shocks through her system. All she wanted to do was cry and keep herself locked away. But it was not such an option at the moment.

"You're right," she said. "Anything to add?"

"You'll have to ask San," He said. "All I ever saw was them living together"

Y/N frowned. She crossed her arms over her chest out of instinct.

He sighed before pulling out a piece of paper.

She grabbed it, unfolding it immediately.

It was an old photo. 10 people stood smiling at the camera. 8 boys. 2 girls.

"Yunho is not good at lying" He added. "Very truthful"

She looked at him for a second.

"I was told you were going to kill me," She said, her tone distant. She really was testing fate, wasn't she?

"Not after what I read," He said, pulling out another photo. Blue hair, leam frame, those haunting eyes.

Her breath hitched in her throat.

"You deserve a chance," He said. "But the others are not giving it to you"

Y/N continued to stare at the photo. He looked so happy. So peaceful. It was way before she found him holding onto his boyfriend's dead body. Before he pointed the barrel of a gun right at her chest.

"Mingi and Irene are filing your last session in," He said, coming much closer. "They also put my name on that file"

She shifted her gaze to meet his eyes. He was in distress.

"Jongho told me he found you. I decided to test the waters" He said, holding onto her arm.

Y/N's alarms went off quickly at the contact.

"Don't put your trust on Hongjoong." He said softly. "Nor on Yeosang"

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows. Her heart was speeding up. Her body was shaking. She needed space. And she needed it now.

"Why Yunho then?" She said, her tone much more aggressive than she intended.

"I already told you," He said. "The other two are wildcards. I've known them long enough to know"

"So you confirm my theory?" She challenged. "That you have a hand in this"

He let go of her. He looked down as he sighed.

"Good luck doctor," He said, his tone much deeper. "We'll see each other soon"

Y/N could feel her stomach turning. Why did it sound like San? Why was his posture so laid back?

She suddenly came back to reality as she spotted Aaron running towards her. She crouched to catch him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes. Don't worry about me" She answered.

She folded the picture with one hand only to notice the shiny surface of another one. She closed her eyes tightly, pushing away the memory of her brother.

Y/N stared at the blue-haired man for a second.

"What do you mean by a promise?" She asked.

Her eyes jumping between the three men. She could feel her own body getting hyper alert ever since she spotted Hongjoong's new hair. Something she did not expect.

"We made a promise to keep everything under wraps," Yeosang said.

"At all cost" Yunho added.

She nodded. Her gaze fell on Hongjoong.

"When did Lily disappear?" She asked softly.

"January" He answered. "And that's all I will ever know"

He looked away. A few seconds of silence went by. They had answered all the questions that only confirmed her point, the detective's remarks, and San's cryptic messages.

"Do any of you meet Irene?" She asked.

"That's when he distanced himself from me," Yunho said. "She was his world. They even lived together"

"Any exact location?" She said.

"I only remember the neighbor," Yeosang said. "Jisoo?"

Fuck this.

"When did you guys fully cut communication with San?" She asked.

Hongjoong frowned.

"You don't call him Mr. Choi anymore" He commented.

Y/N sighed.

"You can say he is one of the few people I can trust at the moment," she said. "But that didn't answer my question"

She arched a brow.

"I left after the seventh month," Yunho said.

"Eighth" Yeosang said.

"Second," Hongjoong said.

Something about their responses didn't sit well.

"Wooyoung?" She asked simply, noticing how Yeosang tensed up.

"Haven't spoken to him in a while." He said.

"Bullshit" She mumbled. "He was ready to attack me with a pencil the moment I mentioned you"

Yeosang froze.

"Jongho," Yunho said. "He is the middle man"

"How?"

"He is the youngest out of the bunch. He is bound to want to keep us together" Yunho said.

"Mainly after becoming a cop" Hongjoong added.

So he keeps them all together. Would that include San?

"Did Irene and San break up?"

Hongjoong laughed bitterly.

"They were worse than me and Lily. They were apart every other week" He said.

"He got a few girlfriends every now and then," Yeosang said.

She sighed.

He had given her Yeosang, Yunho coming by default. So the 8 never included San? Was it Irene?

"Was one of them from northern Europe?" She asked.

Hongjoong and Yeosang tensed up. Yunho was relaxed.

"Never knew the name," He said. "Skinny, elegant, redhead"

"The flower shop lady?" Y/N asked.

"Promises are made," Hongjoong said. "Even if we wanted to, we can't give you every detail."

"That's San's job," Yunho said.

"It's complicated," Yeosang said.

"You are not betraying a friend," She said.

Wish to know how that worked.

"Anything else?" Yunho asked.

"I have nothing," She said, standing up.

She turned towards the counter only to spot her little brother talking with the cashier. She whistled as she began to walk away.

Hongjoong suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Be careful." He said softly. "Mingi is his own machine now."

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows.

"And Seonghwa is a great liar"

Well, she can conclude that now.

She broke her arm free before walking to the exit, Aaron meeting her halfway.

Her mind began to run on adrenaline. She was right. She was fucking right.

"I know how to make donuts now!" He exclaimed, taking her out of her thoughts.

"Good!" She said. "Did mom cook a lot?"

Aaron suddenly fell quiet.

"Allan did" He trailed off.

Y/N's eyes went wide.

"Allan?" She said.

He nodded. "He used to make food and help me study"

"When?" She said.

All she could ever remember was him hitting the three of them every so often.

"After you left," He said. "But he still..."

"I get it" She interrupted, taking his mind away from their family. "Did mom say why you wanted to come see me?"

"No" He answered.

"Did you find that weird?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"Allan gave me the tickets," He said.

Oh hell no.

"He even sent me a phone"

He sent them here?

"Did he say why?" She asked.

"No"

They walked a few more steps until Y/N body froze.

It was too convenient, wasn't it?