The Gangleader's Sister

Chapter 22

I had calmed down significantly, and we were all waiting on the elevator. I noticed Jaemin looking especially down, so I pulled him aside..

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not upset with you. Mina isn't either, she's just very frustrated right now. We all are. But she'll get over it. We know that you'd never do anything to put any of us in danger." I saw something flash through his eyes as I said the last words, but I shrugged it off. He's probably just upset with himself.

"Thanks, Rae. I just can't help but feel responsible. She was with me, and I should've known something was wrong when she wasn't out in like 5 or 10 minutes." Jaemin said as he quickly looked away.

I patted his back, and then heard the elevator ding, so we rejoined the others. I stood beside Hyunjin and he put his arm around me while I held Mina's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She was still extremely upset with everything - Nuri being kidnapped, me having a target on my back, and the fact that my brother and his friends were all in a gang.

The ride down was spent in awkward silence that was finally resolved when the elevator dinged and the doors opened into the lobby. We all piled out of the elevator and headed outside until Woojin's voice stopped us.

"Um guys? Two things. Where exactly are we going, and also, should we rent a car or something so we can get around easier?" We all looked at each other before someone spoke.

"I-I think we should start where she was last seen..." Jaemin spoke quietly. And I don't think a car would be a bad idea."

After a few seconds, we all agreed. So Woojin and Minho went to go rent two cars while the rest of us walked to the area where Nuri was taken from. It was a mini beach carnival. There were food stalls, but also a ferris wheel and some carnival games to play. In all honesty, it was the perfect spot for a date.

"Um, Mina? You and Jisung go look over there, Hyunjin, Jaemin and I will look over here." I heard her say something about being careful under her breath as she walked away. I turned to face the boys. "Okay, I'm going to look in the bathroom for anything unusual. Mina gave me my phone in the elevator, so if I find anything, I'll call or text you, okay?"

They both nodded their heads and Jaemin walked away to go ask street vendors if they saw anything,  but Hyunjin stayed behind and looked at me worried.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be by yourself? I mean they did manage to take Nuri..."

"Hyunjin, I'll  be fine, I promise." I gave him a reassuring smile as I turned and headed into the bathroom. Nothing looked out of the ordinary inside the bathroom. There were three stalls, and two sinks. On one side of the sinks was a hand dryer, and next to it was a paper towel dispenser.

Nobody else was in the bathroom, so I checked each stall. The first two were empty, but in the third one, I could smell Nuri's perfume. She was here.she probably came to freshen up so that Jaemin would kiss her before they said goodnight. I smiled while thinking of my friend and her extra ways. I suddenly stopped in my tracks at what I saw next. I leaned down to inspect it and almost screamed when I was right. There was a small amount of dried blood on the floor.

I quickly pulled my phone out and called Hyunjin.

"Princess? Are you okay?"

"There's dried blood here. I think she put up a fight before they took her. And that means she would have caused a scene on their way out. Somebody out there had to have seen something."

The line was silent for a few seconds as Hyunjin was processing what I was saying. "Okay, Come on out, we're waiting for you. Oh, don't tell anyone else this, I want to test something out. I have a hunch, but I'm really hoping I'm wrong."

I hummed a response and hung up. As I turned to leave, I received a text. I scanned over the words:
    "You're closer than you think Mirae, better hope you're not too late. Red sure does look amazing on Nuri, it's going to be a bitch to clean her up. Best of luck.
            -NCT"

I ran out of the bathroom and to my friends as I showed them the text. "Guys, I think she's here!"

They all looked up from my phone and around at each other, their eyes were wide. Before we had the chance to speak, I heard familiar voices behind me. I turned around to face Woojin, Minho, my brother, and the rest of the gang.

Chan met my eyes, but I couldn't decipher  the look he was giving me. It was a mix of anger, sadness, and something else I couldn't detect. He broke eye contact as he cleared his throat and greeted everyone.

"She just got another text. But have you guys seen the first one?" Hyunjin showed the texts to Chan and the others. I could see Chan's face change as he read the messages and saw the picture of Nuri.

"NCT! They're one of the worst gangs we've been up against! We still can't figure out who their top people are, we've only ever dealt with their lower down people. Fuck! There's no way this is going to end well," as Chan spoke, I could hear the anger in his voice. This entire situation is literally my fault. If I had just listened to him, we would've been on a plane back to Seoul. Not here looking for my friend who is probably bleeding out.

I could feel tears surfacing on my eyes and I grabbed Mina's hand since she was next to me. She gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Rae thinks that Nuri May be here because of the last text. She got it while she was searching the bathroom Nuri disappeared from." Jisung spoke up in an attempt to fill the thick silence.

"If that's the case we should split up and look everywhere. Ask as many questions as you can to everyone. Let's go!"