"GOOD morning!" Rajwan, Mal's step-brother, greeted her as soon as she stepped out of the room. She faked a smile and hugged his defined waist, planting a small kiss over his cheek as welcome.

"When did you come back?" The slightly-younger boy asked, letting go of the hug. Mal faked another smile and squeezed his hand.

"Last night... At around two o'clock."

Her brother let out a noise of disappointment.

"Oh. Why didn't you tell us you were coming this late? We could've waited for you, or at least come pick you up?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I wasn't thinking, I guess. But, I had some company with me, so I wasn't alone."

He nodded with a smile.

"You look sad though... Are you okay? What happened in Korea?"

The events of her one-week trip to Korea hit her like a train.

She walked into the house her friends were supposed to share with the keys that were put under the welcome mat, and was met by the sound of loud groans. She hurried towards the kitchen, where the first two voices were coming from, and let out a terrified scream.

She was met by the horrifying sight of Jisung sitting on the floor, holding the knife in his thigh in pain and shock, and his boyfriend, Minho, weakly holding the knife that impaled his shoulder to the wall. Both were groaning and crying in pain, which made her immediately run towards Minho to let him free.

"No, save Jisung first, please..." he muttered, making her hesitate and stop in her tracks.

"Please, Mal. Listen to me." he ordered through his gritting teeth, tears streaming down his face.

She tearfully nodded and hurried towards Jisung, whispering reassuring words to calm him down. Jisung let out continuous gasps of pain and shock, then reached for her hand in an attempt to reassure himself by her presence.

"M-Mal, help!"

She shushed him quietly, planting a quick kiss on his forehead.

"Shh, you're going to be okay, both of you. I promise. I'll call for help."

She quickly reached for her phone, which was placed in her purse, and dialed the Korean emergency number.

"What happened, Jisung? Just tell me."

He took a shaky breath before answering, the thought automatically bringing tears to his eyes.

"There were e-eight men. They forcefully opened the door, and entered, and each one of them headed towards one of us, and... It happened again. Just like last time. I-I was in so much pain, I couldn't walk-" he let out a gasp, "They raped us, Mal, and after they were done, they hit us, and most of them had k-knives! They made sure not to leave without hurting all of us-"

He wrapped his arms weakly around his friend, seeking calmness and reassurance. She hugged him back and kissed his soft, dark brown hair, rubbing his back.

"Jisung, Minho, where are the others?" She asked after he let her go.

"They're... In different rooms. They're badly hurt too," Jisung frowned and allowed a small tear to stream down his face, quickly followed by a deep groan of pain, "Please go check on them. Felix is terribly hurt..."

The sentence made her heart drop to her stomach.

"W-What?" she began, "Where is he?"

"H-He's upstairs, in his room."

Mal gave them both a pat on their hands as a promise, then rushed out of the room.

As soon as she walked into the hallway, towards the living room, she gasped at the sight of Chan, the leader of their band and the oldest of the group, holding the knife stabbed to his stomach. He allowed two streams of tears to leave his eyes as he sobbed, then let out a groan of pain, reaching out for her hand.

"Mal, I'm really s-sorry... We shouldn't have left, this is all my fault-"

Mal shushed him, then wrapped her arms around his torso, rubbing his back.

"It's not your fault, Chan, please stop saying things like that."

He shook his head.

"I'm really sorry about our fight. We shouldn't have yelled at you, we should've listened to you," he sobbed, "we shouldn't have done what we did..."

She closed her eyes and squeezed his body tighter, careful not to brush against the stab wound on his stomach.

"I love you, Mal, so much. You're like a sister to me..." he began, taking a fistful of her cotton shirt, "Please, take care of Jeongin. Protect him. Please,"

She nodded in the process.

"I promise I will take care of Jeongin. Please, just stay with me. Hold on, help is on its way."

He nodded with a sob.

"Go check on the others. I'll be fine."

"Mal- hello?" Her brother's voice snapped her out of the triggering memory, causing her to glance at him, taken aback that the situation had only happened a week before, despite the many details.

"What?" She spoke, dumbfounded by his tone.

"I was talking to you. How did it go in Korea?"

The question hit her like a locomotive once again.

"I... Oh yes- it went good."

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