𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬

Twenty Four

"Hyemi..." Aera turned around with a devil's grin. "You finally came out."

Bin looked at her in shock, "Why don't you try being a devil for Halloween? It suits you,"

"Bin, now's not the time," Eunwoo muttered.

"Let this go, Aera. It's over." Minhyuk said, as Eunwoo rushed to his aid, "You lose."

"I won't surrender until I find my dad!" She exclaimed.

"Lady, we don't know where your dad is," Bin said. "We're not detectives!"

"Where is he?" Hyemi asked, still pointing the umbrella at her.

Aera shrugged, "How should I know? The moment his dad," He pointed at Minhyuk, "Paid my dad to shut up, he was never himself. Always leaving the house – sometimes it takes him 5 months to come home,"

Hyemi held the umbrella on her hand tighter. Incase she tries anything stupid.

"When the accident happened, it was the first time I saw him smile again but when Mr. Park doubled the payment for being the family's lawyer, he disappeared. Again! I— I haven't seen my dad in two years."

"Wait, why did his dad paid your dad? Why was he shutting him up?" Eunwoo asked, having trouble removing the ropes, he listened.

"Oh, so you haven't told them?" She said, facing Minhyuk.

Everyone look at Minhyuk but he was quiet. He was not going to admit that this crazy girl is related to his brother in any way.

"Minseok is my half-brother," Aera said, proudly.

The three of them looked at each other, mouth hanging.

≿————-　❈　————-≾

"Wait, wait! Aera is Minseok's sister?!" MJ asked, putting the ice on Eunji's cheek.

"Half-sister – ouch!" Eunji said in pain.

"Careful," Jinjin said, letting her sit properly on the couch. "But yes, Minhyuk's mother and her dad went a little steamy and that happen,"

"That's why she's so intent on getting revenge." MJ muttered, connecting the dots. "I thought it was because Minhyuk liked Hyemi,"

"Actually, he didn't like her at first," Jinjin explained, telling them the things Minhyuk told them while they were in Aera's bedroom.

"He was getting revenge because he thought it was you who's driving that night," Eunji added. "He wanted you to experience the pain of losing someone important."

MJ blinked, "You said at first, does he like her now?"

Jinjin nodded, "He does. That's why he told Aera to stop everything,"

"But Aera's a crazy bitch who don't know how to forgive!" Eunji motioned a hand upstairs.

"Language." Jinjin looked up. "I hope they can stop Aera."

"Give me your phone. I'll call my dad before this gets wild," MJ said as he dialed the station's number.

≿————-　❈　————-≾

Hyemi looked at Minhyuk, "Is this true?" The boy who was questioned, nodded.

"But, your brother's okay now, right?" Eunwoo asked. "No injuries, whatsoever, so let's just stop this."

"No!" Aera stomped her feet. "My dad isn't back yet,"

"What do you want us to do?" Bin said, getting annoyed. "If you want to find your dad, you should've gone to the police station. This is my house!"

"Aera, please, let's talk about this," Hyemi quietly said as Aera threw the sword, luckily Bin pulled her out of the way.

"Aera!" Minhyuk exclaimed. "I know you're mad, and scared. I know how you feel but please stop. You're going to hurt someone – or worse, you're going to hurt yourself."

"We're here to help, okay? Just put down all your weapons." Hyemi said, motioning on the ground.

"And we mean all your weapons." Bin made sure she understands.

Eunwoo watched as Aera slowly kneeled. He was almost done untying the ropes on Minhyuk's feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted her removing something from the back of her shirt.

Eunwoo widens his eyes, "She has a gun!"

Bin grabbed Hyemi's hand and ran to the other direction where the stairs were but where stopped when Aera pulled the trigger and hit the vase.

"What's going on up there?" Jinjin exclaimed.

"Aera has a gun!" Minhyuk said, standing up, getting support from Eunwoo.

"Did you call the police?" Eunwoo asked.

MJ was the one who answered, "We did. They'll be here,"

Bin hid Hyemi behind him, "It's over Aera, the police are coming. Drop the gun,"

"No!" Aera said, her hands shaking. She has never fired a gun before. "I want you to feel my pain! Feel the pain of losing someone important,"

"We can help find your dad. We can track him," Hyemi said, about to walk closer but Bin put an arm in front of her, "Eunwoo's good at computers. We can see if he used any of his credit cards,"

"Stop it, stop," Aera's tears were falling, she was still pointing the gun at Hyemi and Bin. "I – I don't need help from someone who's the cause of all this."

"Aera, Hyemi has nothing to do with this," Eunwoo said from behind her.

"Eunwoo, what are you doing?" Minhyuk asked.

Aera turned around, "What do you mean?"

"I was driving that night. If you need someone to blame, blame me."

She pulled another trigger and was about to hit Eunwoo but Minhyuk pushed him on the ground, "Are you insane?! Do you want to die?"

"It's the only way, I need to distract her so Hyemi and Bin can escape," Eunwoo whispered, looking at Hyemi who was hiding behind Bin, their eyes met and Eunwoo nodded.

Bin knew what he meant, they've been friends for so long, they can practically read each other's mind.

'Take care of her, Binnie,' Eunwoo thought in his mind.

Bin turned around and found Hyemi a bit shaken up, "Hey, I need you to focus okay? As soon as Eunwoo says another word, we're going down."

"B-but, Eunwoo and Minhyuk -" Hyemi said, pointing at them. Aera was breathing heavily, trying to gather her thoughts.

"Trust me," He said, looking at her eyes. "And trust them. They want you to be safe."

Hyemi focused on Bin's eyes. He was hurting and she was too. Everyone knew how perfect they were for each other – including them – yet the timing was never right.

Bin hugged her and kissed her forehead, which made Hyemi smile a little.

"Okay, Aera," Eunwoo said, signaling them. "I can explain what really happened."

Bin grabbed Hyemi's hand and rushed to the stairs but Aera heard it. She turned around, "Where do you think you're going?"

She was so angry, she pulled another trigger.

"Bin!" Hyemi exclaimed before taking another step. Bin pulled her back upstairs, making him tumble on the floor.

BANG!

Aera dropped the gun, "I – I hit someone,"

Everyone looked at the rolling body down the stairs, too stunned to come closer.

Minhyuk captured Aera as soon as she dropped the gun, tying her with the ropes.

Hyemi's eyes widened, realizing what happened, "Moonbin!"