FORTY

     "How?" he asked as he paced around the room.

     Mel looked at him, spaced out, "Huh?" she answered.

     "How are you still alive?" Hyuk asked, stopping in front of his sister.

    The girl interlocked her fingers with Jin who had sat beside her.

    "It's complicated," she responded as she tried to smile, but her smile looked forced, "and a long story."

    Jin turned to her and smiled, "We have enough time."

    The group were inside the room waiting patiently for her to talk. Yugyeom and his men were outside and some had been severely injured. Naturally, he decided that it was best to stay at the motel for one more night and then move to another one.

   Yes, they were still searching for Nari's father. Jungkook thought he could've been at the same place where Mel was but he wasn't.

    Something was not right, and they had compromised to help Nari in her search for Yun Jay.

    "I was the one inside the quilt that you found, but I was unconscious," Mel began, "not dead."

    "I don't understand, Mel." Hyuk said.

     She nodded, "I know, I'll just explain."

     "Once you went back inside the house to tell our parents, Zik had his men exchange my body for another that was similar to mine," she seemed uneasy or maybe on edge, "more like, a body that was structurally similar to mine."

    "But how were the police able to identify the body as yours?" Jungkook asked.

    "Zik had his men enter the station and place fake test result pages, didn't he?" Jin asked as he furrowed his eyebrows.

    Mel just nodded.

    "I will kill him," Namjoon stood up, "he really did fake her death to make us go against him."

    "I can't believe this." Nari let out.

Everyone stayed silent in shock. No one dared to change the subject.

"I tried to get out but he just didn't let me." she let out a small tear.

Jin tucked a hair that feel on her face behind her ear, "Did he hit you?" he began searching with his gaze for any scars, he did find some.

They all saw her small scars on her arms, her cheek and her legs.

    "He didn't hit me," she shook her head, "but he ordered his men to do it instead."

    "He wouldn't have the guts to do it himself." Jimin let out.

    "I will kill him if I see him." Hyuk let out his rage as he kept pacing around the room.

"We will join you." Namjoon said as he began taking out some papers from under the bed.

"Then what will we do?" Hoseok asked.

Namjoon began pointing to a red dot in a map that he had folded neatly.

"We tracked the phone and it let us know that he was here, as well as Nari's father," he began explaining, "we just have to track it once more and then we leave to wherever it points us to."

    "Should I begin tracking it?" Taehyung asked as he took out his laptop and placed it on the bed.

    Namjoon nodded to the boy and he began clicking on the keyboard.

    After clicking endlessly, he stopped. Taehyung closed the laptop with a thud and plopped on the bed with a huff.

    "What's wrong?" Yoongi asked.

     "I can't track it, it says there's an error." The red headed boy let out.

     Everyone groaned except Mel who was staring to the distance.

     "He said something about moving somewhere in Incheon." she answered.

Nari widened her eyes, "I–Incheon?"

"Yes, he said he was bringing someone there." Mel continued.

Something clicked inside Jungkook's head.

What if the person Zik was bringing to Incheon was Nari's father?

It would make sense. The tracker led them to the same place twice, which means that Jay could be with Zik.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Namjoon asked Jungkook and he nodded.

"I need to make a call." Nari said as she motioned to her phone that stood next to Taehyung on the bed.

Jimin took the phone and gave it to her, "If you are going to call him, put it on speaker. Just in case."

Nari nodded before sitting on the couch next to the bed, it was a weird motel.

Jungkook held her hand as she used the other to put the call on speaker.

As they waited for him to pick up, her hand trembled inside Jungkook's.

    No one answered.

    "Try again." Mel encouraged her.

     So she did, she tried once more and he finally answered.

    But what she heard wasn't what she expected.

    "Nari! Don't come here, please!"
he whispered.

     She let out a sob as she heard his desperation, "I'm coming to save you, I'm with my friends!"

    "No, don't. You'll be in danger!" he whispered once more.

   Then they all heard screams and a voice calling out Zik's name that Nari knew well.

     "No! Zik!" she heard her mother's voice call out and her father screamed as well.

"Ara, don't move sweetie." her father whispered.

"Shut up!" Zik shouted.

Suddenly, the line went off. He had hung up or Zik had caught him.

Zik had captured her family.

"Did you know he had my family?" Nari asked Mel who shook her head in disagreement.

"No, I mean," she sighed, "I had seen them but I never knew that you were related to them." she mumbled.

Nari nodded as she wiped her tears and held in her breath.

Jungkook placed his hand behind her shoulder and brought her towards him.

He held her tightly as he hugged her, trying to soothe her, "Shhh, babe we will find them." he said.

No, she wasn't crying. She was trembling in fear. At least, that's what he felt.

"I tracked the call." Taehyung broke the silence and everyone looked to him.

Hyuk looked at the screen and nodded, "They're in Incheon."

"He brought them in yesterday, I guess he now went with them to Incheon." Mel announced.

Namjoon nodded, "Okay, I'll get us some train tickets for us and we'll be leaving tomorrow."

"I'll tell Yugyeom." Yoongi said before opening the door and heading outside to the balcony.

"I 'll go and pack." Nari said as she began walking behind Yoongi.

Jungkook followed her and brought her hand to his.

"Babe, don't worry. We'll find your family." he mumbled to her as he kissed her cheek.

They kept walking until they reached their door.

But they both stood there and didn't dare to open the door.

Instantly, Jungkook brought her to him and ran with her through more flights of stairs. He had to show her what he found last night, before they left for Incheon tomorrow.

"What are you doing? We have to pack for tomorrow." She said to him as she tried to drag him back down.

"Before we pack I have to show you something. I know it's a bad time for this," he said to her as they reached the top of the stairs and faced another door, "but I found this place last night, and I needed to show it to you."

He opened the door and she stared in awe. They had reached the rooftop. The beautiful city lights graced the skyline.

"It's beautiful right?" he asked her as he led her there.

She nodded before placing a kiss on his cheek, "It is."

He could tell that she was a bit down from what had happened a few minutes ago. But he wanted to let her know that he was there for her and somehow try to make her feel better for the rest of the night.

He opened his arms and closed his eyes. He could feel her staring intently at him.

"Follow my lead." he told her as he opened one of his eyes.

She widened hers, "No, I'm not going to throw myself–"

"What? I'm not going to. Trust me." he told her.

He left his eyes open as he watched her mimic him.

He smiled at her before he did the same, "I always feel better whenever I do this," he opened his eyes once more and saw her furrow her eyebrows, "weird, I know."

"No, it's not weird at all. I actually agree with you." She told him.

"I don't know if it's the wind, the beautiful view or just being with you," her eyes twinkled in the glow of the night, "but I'm feeling slightly better."

He smiled. He still kept his hands open so he held her hand. She was doing the same as him.

"It'll be okay," he said, his eyes were still closed, "I know it hurts but when we find him, I'll let you do whatever you want to him." he told her.

"I don't know what I will do," she sighed, "but it'll involve a lot of punches."

He chuckled.

He had messed with his girl twice. Jungkook promised to himself that this time, he won't hesitate to pull the trigger.

He won't hesitate to kill Zik.

"I'll join you." he mumbled.

No other words were needed.

All that both teens needed was each other, and the night sky. The boy instantly opened his eyes and saw her still with her arms open.

Quickly, he stood in front of her and placed her hands on her waist.

She jumped and instantly calmed down when she saw it was him.

"I'll always be there for you." he met his lips with hers in a sweet, slow kiss.

That was all they longed for. One touch, one kiss, one promise; a promise of love, a promise that would last forever.