Li-na crept into the house, quietly slipping her shoes off and setting down her school bag.

She dared not make a noise, lest her father lash out at her for disturbing him.

Her ears pricked up at the sound of shouting and deep voices coming from the living room, and pattered towards the door with fear instilling into her limbs.

Through the small crack between the open door and a cupboard she'd hid behind, she could make out many tall men wearing black suits, and then her father, kneeling on the ground in his cardigan and ripped pajama bottoms.

She hugged her knees, watching with wide eyes as a man in blood red struck him across the face with the side of a gleaming gun in his hand, anger clearly visible in his tensed eyes.

"What do you think of yourself?" He growled, signalling for the guard behind her dad to smack him hard with a golf club.

Li-na shivered. That same club had stricken her across the arms and legs as well.

Her father yowled in pain, whimpering and cursing, as the young girl pressed her chin into her knees, frightened.

"Fuck you, Kim Taemu, and your stupid son," Jaeyoung rasped, glaring up at his captor with hatred. "You are nothing but trash, you scumbags-"

His words were drowned out with a scream as a boy in deep purple pushed a dagger into his shoulder from behind before wrenching it back out.

Jaeyoung fell to the ground, yelling in pain, as the same boy stepped straight onto the fresh wound with his polished black shoe.

"Think twice before insulting my father, prick," he hissed, a vein popping out from his neck in rage.

"You disrespectful brat," Jaeyoung cursed.

"I'm merely showing you the consequences for your loose tongue, Bae Jaeyoung. I told you not to mess up when we borrowed you money, didn't I? I warned you,"

Taemu stepped up, holding his son back and pulling out his gun again. "Any last words, Jaeyoung?"

"Meet you in hell, asshole,"

The trigger was pulled; a loud bang erupted followed by an ungodly scream. Li-na crumpled up into a tiny, shaking ball as she watched her father's blood spurt out of his body, which contorted with a jerk before laying completely still.

She took long, hard breaths, trying not to make any noise, frozen in her position.

She hadn't realized a boy in purple was stood towering over her trembling body, his hands in his pockets and his head tilted to the side.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

TAEHYUNG'S POV

The girl was miniscule.

She tensed immediately after hearing my voice, clenching her arms that were drawn around her knees tighter.

"Taehyung?" Dad came over to where I was stood, glancing at the guards who were cleaning up the trash's body. "Oh, lord,"

He gazed down at the small child, blinking in confusion.

"Bae Jaeyoung had a child?"

One of my father's most trusted friends, Min Yoonseok, stepped forwards and placed his hand on Father's shoulder.

"What's wrong, Taemu? You look pale,"

"Seok, I just killed that young girl's father," he answered, a bit shaken. Uncle Seok looked at her, who refused to move or even shift a little, and sighed.

"Shit," he said softly. "Now what?"

"Father," I said, gesturing at the girl. "She's the kin of Jaeyoung, the man who betrayed us. Why should we care about her?"

"Son," Father said sternly. "That's not the way we see it. She's an innocent, young child. She has nothing to do with this,"

I nodded, lowering my head and stepping away.

I always felt ashamed when Dad used that tone.

My dad called out in a kind, gentle tone, the kind he used with Mother and I. "Little girl, come out. No one will hurt you,"

She didn't move, so still that I wondered whether she was a statue or not. Her head dug deeper into her knees, shielding her eyes from us.

"Don't worry," Father tried again. "I just want to help you. Let's talk,"

She didn't budge, making me a little impatient.

Then again, she must be in shock. This is natural, right?

"Sweetheart," Uncle Seok went to her, crouching on the ground and opening his arms out for her. "We just want to talk. Will you talk with Uncle, hm?"

She, to our surprise, raised her head, blinking at us with her eyes full of tears.

Her small face was flushed with fear, her fingers curling around Uncle's as he held out his hand.

"Come on, sweetie," he ruffled her hair, helping her out of her hiding spot and setting her down on the battered sofa.

By now, there was no trace of murder anywhere in the small house, the blood that had previously strewn across the floor and the dead body of Bae Jaeyoung nowhere to be seen.

"I'm so sorry about your father, little girl," Father apologized, his eyes soft and upset. "I-"

"Don't apologize," she whispered, not daring to meet anyone's eyes. "D- don't,"

"Okay, sor- I mean, okay,"

"Do you have any family around here?" Uncle asked.

She shook her head.

"Your mother? Or grandparents?"

She shook her head.

"Hey," I spoke up, making her flinch. "Stop being so tense. No one's gonna kill you, you know,"

Her lips formed a pout, her eyes slightly glaring at me as I chuckled inwardly.

"What should we do?" Father asked again.

"S- sir," she said, fumbling with her hands.

She'd seemed to gain the courage to speak now.

"I- I heard everything. My father owed you money, you said. I'll try and find money, I'll pay you back, don't worry-"

"Are you silly?" He scolded, shaking his head. "Where will a small child like you find money from?"

"I can work-"

"How old are you?"

"10, sir,"

I rolled my eyes. 10? So she's three years younger than me?

"How can a ten year old work?"

"I always work," she said quietly, hair falling over her face. "Or Aboeji scolds me,"

"Taemu," Uncle murmured. "I think this child has been abused. Look how small she is. She looks like she hasn't eaten in days,"

"What's your name, child?" Father asked.

"L- Liana," she said finally.

"Korean name?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Bae Li-na,"

"Li-na," Father said. "Does your dad hit you? Has he ever hurt you?"

She paused, silent for a long time. "N- no,"

"Lies," I pointed at the sleeve of her school blazer, which had ridden up to expose her thin arm, red marks on it.

She stared at me, before bursting into tears, tugging her sleeve back down.

"Don't cry," Uncle patted her hand. "It's okay,"

"Aboeji-" she sobbed.

"He won't hurt you anymore," Uncle whispered.

She continued crying, my heart twisting a little.

It was sad to watch an orphaned child cry.

"W- what will I do?" She whispered to herself.

"You're coming with us," Uncle said suddenly, making Dad look at him, confused.

"I've decided," he continued. "I will take you in, little Li-na. Can I adopt you?"

"Seok, will you?" Dad said, a smile making its way across his face.

"If she agrees. I've always wanted a daughter,"

"Well, I wanted to adopt her myself-"

"I don't want a sister!" I butted in quickly, seeing Uncle's eyes narrowing.

It wasn't good to oppose Uncle Seok.

"Li-na, I have a big house," Yoonseok said brightly, smiling gummily at her. "And lots of toys. And a son, who's really nice-"

Okay, cap.

Yoongi's about as nice as a rock is.

"You can have everything you want," he pressed on.

She really didn't have a choice, did she?

"O- okay," she mumbled. "B- but-"

"I won't hurt you," Seok said firmly. "No one will be able to touch you again,"

With that, he got up, gesturing for us to follow, and we left the house of Bae Li-na.

NO ONE'S POV

Li-na was successfully and legally adopted by Min Yoonseok and his wife, Min Yeji, who loved the girl to bits. She met her new brother, Min Yoongi, who immediately fell in love with her.

Not the romantic sort of love, though. The kind of love that made him want to protect her and be the best older brother she could ask for.

Despite their age gap of five years, the two siblings became extremely close, rendering a bond that was unbreakable.

Time flew by, and before Li-na knew it, she'd been under the Min household for 8 years. The malnutritioned child grew into a healthy, pretty young woman.

She became more easier with her words, able to open up better, and even defend herself.

Which she had to do a lot, given the fact that a certain Kim Taehyung had found it fun to start picking on her.

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Hello. This is your friendly author.

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Please correct any mistakes you may find, it helps out a clumsy girl like me 😅

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