It's a big day for the whole country and its citizens, the people in the Bae and Jung household no exception as they join the people crowding the voting centres. For the people in their country - Mekar - democracy in choosing a leader who will be their face and who will be overseeing the choices made pertaining to the country's wellbeing.

The bodyguards, the two housemates, Yeosang and Wooyoung have woken up early to cast their votes. The only one who's exempted from joining the crowd is Danbi; the eligible age for voting in the country is 21 and with the recent slight change of her identity, her name is not registered among those in the list allowed to vote.

So while she's still a nameless face to the public, she lingers around the area of the voting centre, waiting for Mingi and Hongjoong to be done. The rest are dispersed to vote based on their place of residence, so for now she decided to tail both of her housemates instead. Living cooped up inside the mansion for several days is enough to make her suffocate so she decides to go out while waiting for her two friends, and maybe they'll spend some time together around the district while waiting for the results that will be announced in the evening.

It's only 10 in the morning yet she enters an ice cream parlour, gets a cup of double scoop of butterscotch ice cream for herself before taking a seat near the window overlooking the street. She sees most people passing by having their forefingers inked, as a sign that they have already played their part as a citizen in voting.

She finds it funny how her father - as that what she has learned to call him despite not having any relation by blood - is one of the candidates running to become the leader of the country, yet she feels distant from the voting atmosphere. She wonders if she does get involved, will she be biased in casting her choice and pick the most obvious one? Then her mind wonders about the rest; whether they'd be picking the person they've closely worked with, or would turn the other way now that they're given the insight of how things work from inside.

She leans forward over her ice cream, biting on the pink plastic spoon, her teeth clacking as she thinks about it. She'd love to vote; to have the power of determining the fate of your country simply by voting the leader you think would be the best. Some tend to think how one vote wouldn't change anything, when every vote counts; even a difference of one vote can change a winner to a loser.

Her eyes follow the crowd as her hand feeds herself with the ice cream, letting it melt in her mouth as she studies the people passing by the window. There are some with their families, seemingly looking to spend time together after the adults are done with voting. Meanwhile, there are some group of friends laughing along, proudly showing their stained fingers as they brag to their friends that they've done their part. Unknowingly, she smiles together with them before her eyes drop to her ice cream.

She dumps the spoon in her ice cream cup, suddenly feeling like the ice cream is too sweet now. She has barely touched the second scoop, playing around with the food as she thinks about how easier it is for her to gain access to the Bae mansion than she had expected. Before she knew it she's already a Bae Danbi, certified daughter of Bae Wonshik.

The dream that she had for long, to have someone she can call as family that's related to her by blood, to live without having to worry about whether they'll have enough money to eat or continue to have a roof over their heads. It all came together with claiming herself as the daughter of Bae Wonshik - a family and wealth...

But at what cost? Someone else's life - my twin's?

It's not my fault she's missing.

Another group of family passes by the window, before they decide that a treat with ice cream would be nice on a hot but pleasant day like this. The doorbell chimes as the father enters first, holding the door open for his wife and their two sons, looking no more older than 10 years old. The sons are jumping in joy as they make their way to the display, already shouting out the name of the ice cream they want to eat.

When they've gotten their ice cream, the older of the two takes both cups for his little brother before skipping to an empty table. As their parents join, the older is already feeding his little brother the ice cream first before having a taste of his own. The parents smile proudly looking at their two sons being respectful to each other before stroking their hairs, the sons grinning as their lips are smeared with the ice cream.

A sad smile comes to her as she observes them, and her vision becomes hazy when her only weakness comes back again. She looks down and dries the tears with the sleeves of her blazer, sucking up a sharp breath as she can't help but think about all the what ifs.

What if I wasn't abandoned when I was a baby? Would I be like that, having a happy family with my twin?

But as she remembers about how Wonshik is not even her real father, she slashes that thought away.

I don't deserve to have a family; having been abandoned twice is enough to tell me of my worth. So why am I staying; what if I end up being abandoned again?

Abandoned. Wild child, even your adoptive parents abandoned you because you were not the child they wanted.

She snaps out of the maze of her past as she receives a notification on her phone and instinctively she reaches out for it in the pocket of her blazer, ignoring her melted ice cream. She frowns when she receives a notification from a restricted number, the message not on display yet as she's only looking at the lock screen. It's enough to make her apprehensive but her hands stay steady as she unlocks it and opens the message. The message that she reads almost makes her drop her phone in sheer shock and this time her hand starts to shake.

We know what you did, don't ever think that you can run away.

She looks up, trying to search for anyone suspicious in the vicinity. But there are simply too many people, the crowd that have been gathering to vote across the road at one voting centre. Her chest inflates then deflates, her breath irregular as her eyes dart around the ice cream parlour before jumping to the scene outside. The world seems to be moving too fast for her as everything passes by in a blur.

Of course, how can I be so stupid? Destroying that other phone does nothing; of course they'd catch up to me.

She tries to take in air as much as she can, hitting a fist against her chest as she feels the world collapsing around her, but as she looks up she pushes herself back against the chair, shocked.

Hongjoong and Mingi are pressing their faces against the window, looking into the ice cream parlour, silently waving to her with cheerful expressions while showing their inked fingers. They do a motion to tell her that they're coming in before they march into the shop noisily, pointing towards the counter to tell her that they're getting their ice creams first.

She merely nods, the sudden adrenaline rush from the fear of someone watching her at that particular time making her feeling uneasy in her seat, yet she can't show it to her housemates. They'll start asking questions she'll refuse to answer, and that would make things even more complicated than it already is. She fixes her expression to try and not appear too perturbed by the message before quickly slipping in her phone inside her pocket as both men make their way to her table.

"Danbi," Mingi says through a pout, "your ice cream is all melted."

"Did you wait for us to come before you decide to eat it?" Hongjoong asks as he pulls a chair to sit in front of her, pushing Mingi with his butt to ask him to take a seat next to him. "Yours have become ice cream soup."

"Oh?" She tries to sound normal, but her heart is still pounding in her chest, echoing in her ear. "I was so bored waiting for both of you." She sticks out her lower lip, but in her mind all she can think is act normal, act normal, everything is fine, you're fine.

"Are you okay though?" Mingi asks as he gets a big scoop of his ice cream and shoves them into his mouth.

"Huh, of course I am," she replies a bit hastily, and she notices the uncertainty in Hongjoong's expression.

"Did someone disturb you while you're out alone? Or did you beat that person up and you somewhat feel guilty?" Hongjoong hasn't eaten his ice cream, and he's focusing fully on his sister's expression. "You look pale."

"That's because I'm not wearing my lipstick," she refutes, searching through her small bag for a lipstick before taking it out. Even though her hand is still slightly shaking the two don't notice it as she uncaps it before putting it on. She smacks her lips and keeps it away. "See, much better isn't it?"

"Ah, no wonder. You always look like you've no lips if you don't wear lipstick," Mingi says as he pushes out his own lips, making kissy noises.

This time, a genuine laugh comes from her before she shakes her head. She mumbles under her breath, "If you're not my housemate I'd really resort in using violence on you."

Mingi shakes his shoulders before making a horrified face. "Oooh, so scary." He lowers down his voice to say, "Bae," then his tone returns to normal, "Danbi can beat the living daylight out of you. Huh, we're going to miss you so much once the results of the elections are announced."

She stabs the spoon into the blob of ice cream surrounded by a puddle before chuckling. "You're saying as if I'm leaving both of you. I'm not going anywhere, and both of you better be staying close to me. Nothing's changed, except that we got a new house."

"Sorry to break it to you, but a lot has changed and will," Hongjoong says matter-of-factly. "You even changed your name, and your lifestyle has changed bit by bit. This," he points towards the blazer she's wearing, "is not what Kim Danbi would wear."

She looks down and holds the front flaps of the blazer before pulling them apart, revealing her old t-shirt underneath. "The only reason Kim Danbi couldn't wear a blazer was because she couldn't afford it. My style remains the same."

"Sure it would," Mingi narrows his eyes. "I'm pretty sure I saw you coming in bringing two pieces of dresses with you after you went out shopping with Yeosang. Don't tell me he forced you to buy it."

"He didn't, I just... thought they looked nice. The price was ridiculous but when Yeosang saw that I couldn't stopped staring at them he really ripped them off the hangers and asked the promoter to pack them up. Can you imagine, we went shopping without even looking at the price!" She sounds like an excited child. "Like those scenes you see in dramas, where the person just points to every clothes she wants and say 'I'll take that, that and that.' That's exactly what Yeosang did. Never in my life I would've thought I would get to experience that."

Hongjoong looks at her with a proud smile on his face, but he can't help but feel slightly sad. He's happy that Danbi is getting the life that she deserves, but at the same time he knows it's selfish of him to only want things to be just like how they were back in the rooftop house. Everything now is too... foreign. Living in a big house makes him feel like they're not as close as they were before.

"You're really happy with this life aren't you?" He takes another bite of his ice cream. "I've never seen you this happy."

"Ah..." she grimaces. "I didn't mean to make both of you feel bad. It's just that I can't believe the things that I've only imagined have become true. It's not complete, but it's getting there."

"It's fine," Mingi grins, "we understand and we're happy for you."

"How is he treating you though?" Hongjoong tilts his head. "Yeosang, I mean. We're not there most of the time since we're working, but at times when we do see him he doesn't talk to you. Is he ignoring you?"

"No," she shakes her head. "He's different from the first impression that he gave us. He seemed annoying at first, but we have to understand why he's acting that way. Well, at least he doesn't ignore me all the time. He does get quiet when I forgot about him, then he would slip away without me noticing. Sometimes I feel like I'm on a game of hide and seek with him. I'd have to find him in that mansion somewhere first before he talks to me. Other than that, he's a pretty chill guy."

"Huh," Mingi answers shortly.

"And..." she leans forward, prompting them to do the same. She looks left and right, still wary of the presence of listening ears, but believes that if the person who sent her the message is listening on, she'd let them be. It's a matter they would probably already know anyway. "There's more information on Soyeon's disappearance. We wanted to tell you about this too, but both of you were busy with work. So now, listen to what I have to say."

She lays out the whole story of how Soyeon's disappearance is not something unusual, not leaving out any part of the story. She even enforces the notion that Wooyoung must not know, as Yeosang is not sure whether her current disappearance has anything to do with their relationship.

"So what do you think?" she asks.

"Before that," Hongjoong lifts up a finger, imitating someone raising up their hand to ask a question. "How does Park Seonghwa know so much about the Reflectors?"

She shrugs. "He said that he was involved in the Reflectors and they're the reason why he took a hiatus. But then he never elaborated further, because our focus at that time was Soyeon's possible relation to the Reflectors and not his. The topic went away just like that, and no one actually asked. To the other three bodyguards, Seonghwa still does slightly scare them. They say he's like a..." she tries to find a suitable description, "...an onion."

Hongjoong snorts, losing his serious demeanour as he hears the description. "O...ni...on..." He tries to stop himself from laughing.

"Because when you peel onions, you get more layers. So Seonghwa is like a surprise at every layer, but that surprise could probably make you cry like a baby. Just like an onion."

"Right," Mingi nods, "another symbolism. What, do all of you study literature? Why am I the only one who can't seem to get the ideas and theories behind every symbolism you put out?"

"Come on," she grins, "it's just a saying. I may not know him so much, but he seems like a pretty decent guy, only he doesn't know how to express himself. He gets mad easily but also cools down really fast. Pretty attractive too."

Mingi frowns before pouting. "You think he's attractive?"

"Anyone would think he's attractive, right Hongjoong?" she asks, which receives an immediate nod from him. "But just because I find him attractive doesn't mean I want to marry him. You think you find someone attractive, you compliment them, then that's done."

Mingi wants to ask the same question but decides to keep it because Hongjoong is together with them, and he knows they'll end up laughing anyway. He looks at Danbi who's starting to eat her ice cream again, despite it looking like an unappetizing goop. She's careful in making sure that her lipstick doesn't get smudged, and he only watches her lips subconsciously before he turns away, embarrassed.

Danbi has her leg bouncing up and down since just now under the table, slightly rocking her body as she wants to forget of the message that she received. She wants to delete it to get rid of the memory, but at the same time she feels like she has the need to keep it as... evidence? Evidence that she's being threatened?

If she were to ask the bodyguards to help guard her more closely, would they be asking her why, or would they only carry out their duties without any questions? Suddenly she feels ultimately grateful that her moving into the house comes with the bodyguards, but then she gets reminded that they're the bodyguards that had Soyeon missing right under their noses.

It's not their fault.

It's not my fault.

Then whose fault is it?

She finishes her ice cream faster than the other two, fuelled by her train of thoughts that runs at high speed, ignoring all the stop signs. She can't bear to look at the two, knowing that she's only keeping something from them; something that they're bound to know. But she doesn't know how she's going to bring that topic around, not without them possibly losing their trust in her.

I don't want to break it.

The bond that I have with them; I want to cherish it, not watch it burn just because I'm selfish.

But one time; that one time I'm selfish is what could ruin everything.

---

[A/N: Hello! If you're wondering why I'm updating so much it's because I'm currently stressed lmao so stress = more writing for me. Anyway, in this story the rules of the country/elections/how things generally work are not referred to any country, and are basically a made up system. Just thought I'd put that out so there wouldn't be anything pointed out and compared to an existing system ^^

Hope all of you have/are having/had a nice day <3]