Hidden (Taekook)

Chapter 1: The Escape

New Jersey, USA

"Hannie, wake up my bear, you have to get up."  Hwa-yeon whisper yelled as he gently shook her son to wake up.

"Mom, what time is it?" Hannie sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"It's 3 in the morning." Hwa-yeon said.

"What? Did anything happen? Are you hurt, mom?" Hannie said frantically.

"No, Hannie. I'm okay. But, you have to leave now."

"What are you talking about, Mom?"

"Your father made dinner arrangements for tomorrow so you could meet your soon-to-be husband."

"What?! How can he --"

"Sssh, please lower down your voice, Hannie.  I won't let him do this to you." Hwa-yeon started crying. "I know the family that he's marrying you into and they're worse than your father.  I arranged everything to get you out of here and this is our only window. So, come on.  I'll bring you downstairs.  Ji-won will explain everything to you."

"Mom, I'm not leaving you here." Hannie started crying too.  "Please don't make me go."

"You have to, Hannie.  Do it for me, please.  I'd rather send you away where you will be safe than seeing you get hurt.  We will be together again soon, my son.  I promise you. Now, let's go."  Hwa-yeon dragged his son quietly downstairs where Ji-won was waiting.

"What are you doing here, Ji-won?  You're supposed to be in school." Hannie asked.

"It's not the right time for those questions, oppa." Ji-won nervously said.

"Hannie, go with Ji-won now.  Take care of yourself okay?  Remember that I love you so much my sweet sweet boy."  Hwa-yeon hugged Hannie tightly and kissed his forehead.

"Mom, I don't want to leave you. He might hurt you." Hannie said in between sobs.

"You have to.  Be strong, Hannie. Like you've always been. Now, go."  Hwa-yeon lets go of Hannie's hand and ran back upstairs to the master's bedroom. 

Her husband was sound asleep on their bed as she replaced one of his heart medications with a sleeping pill.  She safely went under the covers beside him and wore her eye mask on.  A few minutes later, he woke up and went to the bathroom. Hwa-yeon's heart was racing.  The thought of almost getting caught made her so scared, but she composed herself and stayed still, pretending to be asleep. She heard a flush from the bathroom and minutes later, Kim Kap-soo went back to bed.  Hwa-yeon sighed in relief with a single thought in mind...

Be safe, my dear bear.

***

Ji-won drove her car to a motel near the Trenton train station.  Hannie kept on asking questions during the ride, but she asked him to stay silent first as she needed to calm her nerves and be able to drive properly.

When they got to the motel room, the first thing that Ji-won did was to grab a chair and a plastic bag, carrying them to the bathroom.

"Now, can I ask questions?" Hannie impatiently said.

"Yes, but come on, you can ask me in the bathroom." Ji-won dragged her older brother and made him sit on the chair that was in front of the sink.  She took out a box of blue hair dye and started wearing gloves.

"Can you please just stop for a second?!" Hannie snapped.

Ji-won sighed.  "Okay, fine. You can ask me questions while I dye your hair, because here's the thing. We have two hours for me to change your appearance as much as I can and drive back to campus. Because as soon as dad notices that you're gone, all hell will break loose and one of the first places that he will ask his men to check is my apartment. He can't find out that mom and I had something to do with helping you escape." Ji-won's voice cracked and within seconds, she was crying like a baby.

Hannie stood up and quickly hugged his sister. "Hey, it's okay. Stop crying, baby girl. I can't believe that you're risking your lives for me.  This is not right, Ji-won.  I'm supposed to be the one protecting you and mom."

Ji-won wiped his tears with the back of her gloved hand.  "Oh, shut up, oppa.  Even if you're older, I can very much take care of you.  Now, sit and listen while I tell you everything."

Ji-won prepared the hair dye and then started applying it to Hannie's hair.

"Why does it have to be blue?" Hannie asked.

"Really, oppa?  That's your first question? Be thankful that I chose your favorite color."  Ji-won said with a pout.

"Fine, okay now tell me the plan."

"Mom asked help from one of Dad's former employees --- who hated dad of course. He got you a fake identity...fake passports, IDs, the works. You're supposed to ride a train to Philadelphia and then from there, fly to Incheon.  A college friend of yours will be meeting you at the airport and you will be staying with them." Ji-won almost said the entire thing in one breath, not giving Hannie a chance to interrupt.

Hannie couldn't believe what he just heard.  It all sounded so incredulous.

"Wait wait wait.  A fake identity? Fly to Incheon? Stay with a friend? What the hell, Ji-won?"  

"Yes, oppa. You will live in Incheon as Kim Taehyung. And as for your friend, do you remember Seo Joon oppa?"

"Yes, of course I remember him, and his brother too."

"Oh yeah, I forgot Hyung-sik oppa for a while there.  The boy whose heart you broke." Ji-won giggled.

"I'm surprised you're finding  something amusing amidst this mission impossible that's happening right now." Hannie snapped at his sister.

"I'm just trying to make things light. To be honest, I really hate this plan, oppa. I can't imagine the weekends at home without you."  Ji-won said as tears started to roll down her cheeks once again.

"I hate dad. I really hate him. Why does he have to do this to us?" Hannie said.

"You know what sucks the most?" Ji-won said while looking at his brother through the mirror.

"What?"

"We can't even contact you so that Dad won't be able to know your whereabouts. Tonight would be our last conversation, oppa. I don't even know when I'd be able to talk to you and see you again."

The two siblings cried their hearts out that night.  They didn't want to separate, but an hour and a half later, a blue-haired Hannie was riding the train to Philadelphia and Ji-won driving back to her college campus.

Hannie couldn't believe how they were able to execute the plan so well. Everything happened so fast and adrenaline basically took over him for the past four hours.

But, now that he's on a plane to Incheon, it all sank in. He's never going to see his mom and sister again. And it just broke his heart into pieces.

💜💜

Welcome to my new book, dear readers! As always, I will do my best to update regularly. I hope you enjoy this ff.

Please don't forget to comment and vote.

- D.T.