Echo || NCTau ||

32 - About power struggle

By the time Yeoreum reached her mom's house, she had barely avoided at least half a dozen traffic accidents and scratched the side of her brother's car against a traffic sign while taking a sharp turn. She kept calling her mom but all of her calls went unanswered, leaving her gripping onto the steering wheel and the panic welling in her stomach.

She had already surpassed the two-hour time limit and failed – what if Dr. An had taken her mom or hurt her? Yeoreum would never forgive herself if something happened to her mother because of her failure.

That's why, when she saw her mom squatting outside the house with her back leaning against the wall and looking at the dark evening sky, Yeoreum almost crashed the car again.

"Mom!" She shouted as soon as she stumbled out of the car and ran to her. "I tried to call you so many times!"

Mom, startled by her explosive entrance, stood up and took in her pale and anxious appearance, even more alarmed when Yeoreum engulfed her in a hasty hug. As soon as the hug ended, she led them in quickly, understanding that something was going on. "I left my phone inside. What is happening?"

The door slammed shut after them.

"I messed up, the client wants revenge, and we need to leave now. I don't know how much time we have so we have to get out now." Yeoreum's breathing became superficial and uneven. "Daniel is coming. We need to leave."

The worried look on her mom's face dropped and suddenly, for the first time in a long time, Yeoreum could see the Echo in her – calculative, quick and efficient.

"Who is the client and how much do they know?" She picked up her phone. "What about your brother?"

Thinking about her phone call with Alex, Yeoreum swallowed. "I just heard that director Barros Carvalho is dead. Yeowoon isn't picking up his phone but he's been lying to me ever since I took this job, so I don't know what his role is in all of this." She pushed her hair back. Ever since she was hired to kill Jisung, she had hated how much information Dr. An had. "The client is a woman called Dr. An and she knows everything about you and Shotaro and Sungchan as well. I'm not sure how – "

The words died in her mouth when she realized what might explain the how.

Mom was quick to pick up. "Yeowoon probably told her, right?" Her lips were pale.

Yeoreum shook her head aggressively. "He wouldn't do that to us." Her heart was racing painfully. "He wouldn't endanger us like that."

Her mom placed a hand on her shoulder. "You can't trust anyone in the organization. Your brother's perspective has always been different from ours."

"But – "

Her mom's hold on her shoulder tightened. "That doesn't matter now. What about the boys? Are Shotaro and Sungchan in danger as well?"

"I called them on the way here. They promised to disappear", Yeoreum answered, feeling brief relief for having had the chance to warn her friends even if it was her fault that they were in danger in the first place.

Mom exhaled. "Good. Then we don't have to worry about them. Okay. We need to start moving. You know where my passport is, right? Get it from my room", she glanced towards the living room. "I've hidden some cash in the cabinets, I'll get it and make a phone call while you get the papers from my room."

"Who are you calling?" Yeoreum called out while heading towards her mom's room.

"Couch Lee", her mom replied as if it was obvious. "He'll help us out if something happens."

Yeoreum's fingers twitched against the door leading to her mom's room.

Would Haechan's dad help them when she had attempted to murder his friend thirty minutes ago? The confused, betrayed look in Haechan's warm, honest eyes flashed in her mind. She had never wanted him to know what she was, yet now it was all out in the open.