ʟᴜʟʟᴀʙʏ ♪ ʟᴇᴇ ᴅᴏɴɢʜʏᴜᴄᴋ

[74]

The air had become cold, the sun rapidly disappearing behind the horizon to give space for night to begin.

A figure was speeding down the road with hurried steps, clearly with urgency.

Her heart was pounding furiously, throat getting clogged up. Soomin had spontaneously ran away from this, and she hoped so desperately that it was all true.

She had finally figured out the letter. After three whole days, she finally understood what it meant.

Before anything, are you okay?
really hope that everything is alright with you.
i and the rest are safe. Don't worry about us.
dinner time is approaching. We're
gonna be having McDonalds. And you?
eating is important for your health.

(Apparently the 23rd will be a beautiful day, but you should go for a walk the next to avoid crowds)

I hope the food doesn't cost me over 80,000 won.

Probably will be finishing up now,
Maybe speak to you later?

Truthfully Young

If you read carefully, the first letter of each line in the beginning paragraph spelled out the word 'Bridge'. The second was in brackets, meaning that the first letter no longer matters, and told her the day: 24th. In the next sentence, the 8 in 80,000 is slightly underlined, stating time. And in the end, the letters at the beginning of the two lines spell PM.

And 'Truthfully Young'? Well, it was short for T.Y = Taeyong.

On the 24th at 8PM on a bridge, Taeyong had asked her to meet.

Breathing heavily, Soomin raised the sleeve of her hoodie, to reveal the watch. She read the time. 8:34PM.

"Shit." She whispered out, breaking out into a run.

It was true, the letter didn't specify which bridge they were supposed to meet on. But somehow, in her mind, Soomin knew. She knew exactly where she had to go.

Somewhere isolated, where no one would see. Somewhere with no security or cameras, so she wouldn't be caught. Somewhere that she was familiar with.

The girl broke out into a run, passing by the nasty, old McDonalds, soon later reaching the final corner before the glorious Han river was right in front of her. She mustered up all her strength, sprinting at the old, iron red structure. The so familiar bridge that she had visited countless of times.

And in a minute, she had arrived in the dead middle of it.

But to Soomin's absolute terror, there was no one there to greet her.

"No..." she mumbled to herself, desperately trying to re-gain her breath.

It was too late. He was gone.

Panting heavily, the girl closed her eyes as she bent over, hands gripping onto her trembling thighs. The black hat that she used to cover her identity fell to the ground, but Soomin could truly care less.

She had missed him. And there was probably no chance to meet him ever again.

"Ugh, I'm so stupid!" Soomin growled at herself, the words coming out way louder and harsher than she intended to.

As she stood back up, eyes turning to stare at the orange horizon, she suddenly heard a voice coming from somewhere nearby.

"Soomin?" It was small, hesitant and unsure.

The girl turned to find a head peaking out from behind the nearest bar, and she watched as the tension and confusion drowned out of his eyes.

"Taeyong?"
"Soomin!" He yelled out, lips melting into a joyful smile. "You came!" 

"TAEYONG!" Soomin screamed out, euphoria filling her features as she flew straight at him. Taeyong grunted in surprise as she jumped onto him, hands excitedly wrapping around his neck and pulling him into a hug.

"Oh my god you're okay? How about everyone else, are they alright? I'm so so so sorry for being everything, no, I'm so super hyper sorry about everything that's happening to you guys because of me and I-"
"Woah, calm down, you're going to run out of air." Taeyong laughed out.

Only upon looking up at his eyes, she noticed how uncomfortably he was staring at the arms she had around him. Soomin's lips dropped into an 'oh' and she quickly removed herself.

"Sorry, I got excited, and got too ahead of myself." She muttered in embarrassment, hand travelling up to scratch the nape of her neck.

"No, don't worry about it." Taeyong smiled softly. "I'm glad to know that you're in high spirits after... everything."

"I-" Soomin gulped. "I'm not in very high spirits actually." She sighed. "I have no idea what's going on or how I can help out. But what about you guys? Is everyone okay? Did anyone else get caught?"

"Everyone's fine. Although morale is kind of low since things probably won't turn out pretty..." Taeyong sighed.

Just by the way he spoke, Soomin realized- the leader was exhausted. He had to handle the mental state of 18 other people, whilst brain storming about how he'll get the other 4 out of prison. And worst of all: he was losing hope. 

"Taeyong... Are you okay?" The words kind of came out unknowingly.

He forced a small smile. "I'd be lying if I said I was. But I have to hold on, for my team."

"That's exactly why I asked you to meet. I need, no, we need your help."

Soomin was slightly taken aback, and she pointed to herself. "My help?"

"For now, Jisung, Chenle, Donghyuck and Kun are held in jail, waiting for trial. For some reason, it hasn't started, and no one's really sure why. I think it may be your dad meddling, since afterall, you'll have to come out and testify. And he probably doesn't want that, either to try to keep you safe or he knows something's up."

"He doesn't." Soomin shook her head. "I've been diagnosed with Stockholm syndrome and been attending therapy."

"Soomin..." Taeyong's brows fell in worry, having heard the weak, feeble tone she used.

"But don't worry, when it comes to it, I'll tell everything to the court." Soomin shook her head in determination. "Even if that means that I'll have to testify against my father for having taken away my constitutional rights and is forcing me into an abusive relationship."

Taeyong was breathing deeply, whilst staring down at her with pity. "You're really strong Soomin. Did you know that?"

"My mom was a fighter." The girl smiled weakly. "But I really hope it doesn't come to that. I just want everything to be back to normal again."

"Yeah, me too." The leader whispered, staring off into the sunset.