one blood ✓

t w e n t y • o n e

• • Y O O H Y E O N • •

"Is it really okay to do this?" I asked Jiyoo unnie as she stood by the door. My heart was beating fastly while I was waiting for my turn. I can't really remain calm the whole time.

I really felt that someone is watching, and following us while we were finding our way towards the exit.

It was really hard to get outside the door since the exit was very small because the upper part of the door was covered with wood planks. So we had to take turns in going outside.

And of course we would make the youngest go first so we let Gahyeon get out before all of us, despite the fact that she was taking a long time because of the struggle of a small space.

"She's out," Siyeon said cheerfully, whispering out of joy as Gahyeon got out successfully.

"What are you little girls doing here?" The moment Gahyeon got out, we heard a voice- a voice that gave shivers to our spine.

Upon hearing that we also heard a cry from Jiyoo unnie. We all gasped when turned our heads and saw our mom holding out a knife in her hand.

We all tried to run for the exit but our mother prevented us from escaping by covering the exit. She was still holding on to Jiyoo unnie, her hand covering her mouth while the other one was holding out a knife, dangerously pointing it to my sister's neck.

Our eyes were trembling in fear as we watched our mom, slitting the throat of our eldest mercilessly.

I almost puked inside my mouth, looking at the horrifiying scene.

Once she saw that Jiyoo unnie was on the verge of death, our mother threw her off in a corner. Then she looked at us with the eyes which is hungry of murder.

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"And before we know it, mom caught all of us too. She also harmed us in different ways. Some ways that I can't dare to tell the details of... Good thing I was lucky enough to survive it for some reason," I said my voice cracking a bit. The fear I felt from that night was coming back while I was narrating my experience to my younger sister.

"I really didn't know how, but I woke up the day after. My dress was all covered in blood that time, and the first thing I did was burst into tears as I saw the bodies of our sisters. Luckily, I woke up after the police left so I had a chance to escape them, but I really had a hard time walking since had a lot of bruises and cuts that time."

"Didn't you change your clothes?" Gahyeon asked.

I replied, nodding my head. "Yes... I actually stole some clothes which were hanging from the clothesline from our neighbors house and used it for myself," I said, chuckling after. "And after that I tried to find you but to no avail. Where were you that day, exactly?"

"I was adopted by a couple from Busan the night the incident happened. And luckily they brought me with them,"She paused as her expression changed. I expected her to smile because she was lucky enough to have someone adopt her but the only thing I received was tears.

Tears that made me feel guilt for some reason.

"Did something happen?" I said, moving over to Gahyeon's side, my arm going over her shoulder, concern written in my eyes.

She replied with a slight nod as she rubbed the few tears away from her cheeks. "Our sisters... Killed them."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine unnie," Gahyeon said, sniffling. "Past is past, even though it hurts still. I have to move on to prevent myself to get more hurt." She said, small tears still continuing to slide down her soft pink cheeks.

I made her rest her head on my chest as I rubbed her head to comfort her. "It's okay, Gahyeon-ah. Just cry it all out." I said, resting my chin on her head.

She stopped after a few minutes which made me let go of her, letting her to rub her tears away.

I really felt the pain coming from her while I was watching her cry in front of me. It made me feel bad that I wasn't there for her.

I watched Gahyeon as she finished rubbing her tears away with a handkerchief. And whilst I was watching her, a question popped up inside my mind.

"Hey, Gahyeon. How did you find me by the way?" I said without even hesitating. The question just came out my mouth out of the blue.

She looked at me, biting her bottom lip. "Well..."

"Well... How?"

"Ms. Choi... She told us that she left you here in Daegu," She said. It was obvious that she was hesitant to say it to me because Gahyeon knew that I could get hurt.

So I smiled for her- smiling away all the pain I felt inside.

"O-oh," that's all I could say. I really get speechless when I talk about this kind if topics as if my mind was blank for all the possible replies I could say.

"And she..." Gahyeon took something from her bag as she talked, it was some sort of envelope or something. "She wanted to give you this." Gahyeon said, handing the envelope to me. "I'll let you read it by yourself later."

"Wa-was she fine when you met her? Is she healthy? Does she have a good job? Is she happy with her life right now? Is she happy without m-" Gahyeon stopped me as she held onto both my shoulders. She looked worried as she stared into my eyes.

I didn't know that I still cared for my foster mom. I really wanted to cry because of all the pain, but nothing was falling out. As if all the tears from the past already bursted out.

"Please tell me... How is she right now?" I pleaded, making Gahyeon leave a heavy sigh.

"I... I can't, unnie," She said, looking away from me.

But I became stubborn, and held both of her hands, my eyes pleading for an answer. I want to know... I needed to know.

"She... She died, unnie. She's gone. Our sisters killed her."

Once, Gahyeon said those words, I saw my whole world breaking down in front of me.

I should've forgave her when she approached me.

I should've protected her when I had a chance.

But no...

I killed her because of my own stupidity.

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omg I just realized, this book is almost gonna end ⊙︿⊙