"What do you mean she left?" I am worried and confused right now. I continuously bit my lip making it bleed a bit as I stared at my frustrated parents. A while back, they called me that I need to be home quickly. I didn't know what the reason was but hearing my mom's tone, I immediately drove all the way here with Lisa.

"W-we heard her running down the stairs. We called her n-name b-but she didn't look back." My mom started crying and it pains me to see her that way. But as much as I love her, I am more than worried on where Jennie could have went.

"Then why didn't you run after her?! She couldn't have gone far away quickly!" I yelled in frustration. My father looked at me sternly, telling me that I have no right to yell at them.

"Mianhae. I'm just worried about her." I collapsed on the couch beside me. Holding my head down, thinking of the places where she could have went, I felt soft a soft hand caressing my cheeks. I lifted my head up to be met with the doll like eyes of my best friend making me feel relaxed.

"Don't worry. We'll find her. I'll help you find her." I held her hand and leaned in on her touch. Doing so, I felt some unusual feeling inside me. A feeling that I have never felt with the beauty beside me.

•••

Lisa and I have been going on circles trying to find Jennie. We have already contacted our friends and cousins, but none of them knew about her whereabouts. Jisoo eonnie and Rosé wanted to help on looking for her but I told them that it would be better for them to stay home, just in case Jennie decides to drop by.

"Has she picked up yet?" I impatiently asked Lisa as the both of us sat at the trunk of my car. It's been more than an hour yet we have no clue on where she is. We decided to stop by a convenience store for a while to get something to eat and drink.

The blonde pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at me sadly. Just by the look on her face, I knew what it is. I sighed as Jennie remained unreachable. We tried to access her location but it seems like she turned it off. Now, it seems like she already turned her phone off.

I can't help but to let tears run down my face. My mind is all over the place on the possibilities of what could happen to her. And just thinking about that makes me scared to death. I always told myself that I will protect her. But here I am, sitting on my trunk helplessly.

"Hey look at me." I heard Lisa's soft voice. However, I kept my head down as I continued to cry. I hate crying in front of people but I can't do anything about it now. Jennie is nowhere to be found and I have no idea at all.

"Y/N." Lisa spoke once again, this time using her finger to lift my chin up and make me look at her.

She stared at me in the eyes. I have seen her this close countless of times. But never have I noticed how beautiful her eyes is. It's round unlike Jennie's cat eyes. Nonetheless, it has some spark and glow that I have never seen on someone else's orbs. It's beautiful. And with the moonlight casting some light upon her, it made it 100x better and more beautiful. Observing her face, she really is like a doll, a perfect beautiful one.

I'm not entirely sure on what has gone into me when I let my eyes travel down her face, settling on her lips. Through those years that I have been best friends with her, I've known that those lips of her just produce loud and noisy sounds. She's a loud girl after all. Screaming and yelling at the most random times scaring the living daylights out of the squad. But now, as I stare into her lips, I've noticed how plump and soft it looks. It seems to be as delicate as a baby's skin and as gentle as a mother's touch. As I stare at her lips more and more, I notice that it started to move.

"Y/N! Where are you?" I was snapped out of my trance. She was speaking that's why it moved. Why am I thinking about all these things? I should be focused on finding Jennie.

With that, I looked back at her eyes and saw a glint of something that I couldn't decipher. But then, I shrugged it off and listened to whatever she is saying.

"Calm down, Y/N. We're gonna find her okay?" I nodded my head as she still held my chin.

"Think carefully, Y/N. With what auntie said a while ago, it's safe to assume that she's upset. So on times like this, where would she go to clear her mind? What place makes her happy?"

I looked deeper in her eyes. So deep that a light bulb in my head turned on.

"The hill!" I exclaimed. "That's right! The hill! Our place!" I hopped down my trunk and held my hand for Lisa to take. She took it gracefully. I then opened the passenger's door for her as I headed to my side, not before closing my trunk of course.

On the way there, it was silent. Lisa was just looking at the window.

"Thank you, Lisayah." I mumbled and she turned her head towards me and smiled.

I must say that I have a very bright best friend. How can I not think of the hill? That would be the most obvious place that she would go to. Specially when she said to me before that it's like her sanctuary. I'm really stupid at times.

•••

Lisa and I arrived at the hill. I parked my car and from the distance, there she is. The girl that we have been looking for, sitting under the tree with her head rested on her bent knee.

I held Lisa's hand to approach Jennie. But I was stopped in my tracks when she pulled back.

"Huh?" I tilted my head and looked at her with a confused face.

She gently pulled her hand out of my grip and smiled to me. "Go ahead. I'll stay in the car. It seems like you two need some time to talk."

I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. I hugged her softly before walking towards Jennie.

"I hope you don't mind me sitting here." I quietly said as I sat beside her.

She lifted her head up in shock and looked at me. "Wae? Are you not expecting to see me here?"

Looking at her face, I can clearly see her tear stained cheek, but it still looks like a dumpling. And her eyes, they are puffy, telling me that she has be crying a lot. Nonetheless, it still looks beautiful.

I watched her as she shook her head and laid her head on my shoulder. With a soft voice, "Aniyo. I'm actually hoping that you'd come find me."

My heart started beating so fast at that. A simple sentence yet it managed to make my insides erupt and my heart to explode. Jennie would surely and really be the end of me.

I grabbed her hand and held it between mine. I started to rub the back of it with my thumb. We were silent. If it wasn't for the situation right now, I would have found our position in this peaceful surrounding, romantic. But right now, I am worried about her. I still have no idea on what happened but it surely is making me worry.

"Gomawo, Y/N-ssi." I looked down on her head that is still placed on my shoulder. I then wrapped an arm around her, to comfort her more.

"For?"

"For always taking care of me." She responded. This time, I can hear her voice breaking slowly.

"But isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"

She lift her head up from my shoulder and looked at the view in front of us.

"Hmm." She hummed. She's making me confused. Why are they always thanking me? First is Mrs. Hwang. Now, her.

"Thank you for treating me well. Thank you for always having my back. Thank you for being the best person in my life. And thank you, thank you for loving me, even if we're not blood related." With that, she broke down. Hearing her say that made my head spin. What is she saying? Not blood related? Aren't she my sister? What?

Despite my confusion, I pulled her close to me and engulfed her in a tight hug. There, she cried once again on my chest. As for me, I cried with her. I don't understand but it hurts to see her that way.

•••

It's been 30 minutes since she broke down. And now, she has already calmed down. She's still on my chest but her crying stopped.

"You know that I would always be here right? So whatever you want to say, I'm here to listen and understand. Whatever battle this is, I'll fight with you. You're not alone, Jennie. You'll never be alone."

It was silent after that. But after some time, Jennie sighed and spoke up.

"After the date that I had with Kai," I clenched my jaw as I thought of that guy once again. "the one that he promised that if I go out with him just this once, he'll never bother me again." I unclenched my jaw and smiled at that. Finally, he's out of the picture.

"After that date, he took me home. I was so excited to tell you that he finally left me alone but then I remembered that you went out with the squad."

"Mianhae. I only went out with Lisa cause the two are busy." I quickly added. I felt her nod in my chest.

"The house was quiet. I can't find Naeun nor Mrs. Hwang so I thought that Mrs. Hwang tucked Naeun to bed. And so, I headed to my room." She started sobbing once again so I held her tighter.

"But when I reached the top of the stairs, I heard yelling from the first room, Appa and Eomma's room." I can sense the bitterness in her tone when she mentioned mom and dad. I kept rubbing her shoulders to let her know that I'm here.

"They were arguing about giving me back to these people who deserve me. I didn't understand. Mom kept saying no. She didn't want to let me go. But dad, he said that they have no rights over me. He said that now my parents are back, they should let me go. So I ran away from the house, even after hearing them call for me." She kept stuttering and the more I hear of the story, the more tears fall down my cheeks.

I can't believe this. They made us think that we're sisters. They made Jennie believe that she's their child. I can't believe how they lied to us. Not just Jennie but to me and Naeun as well.

That night, I held her tight. I took us home when she said she was ready to go. I dropped Lisa home first, thanking her for everything but not telling her what happened yet. I'm glad that she understood.

That night, I felt my family crumbling down. But at the end of the day, I had Jennie wrapped in a tight embrace, letting us doze into dreamland hoping that what happened today was just another dream.

•••

Back in the day, Mrs. Hwang has been a long time server for Seojoon's family, ever since he was a kid. Mrs. Hwang has an only daughter named Minyoung. She is the same age as Seojoon. That is why Minyoung and Seojoon are best of friends. They were inseparable.

When Seojoon's parents migrated to the states after Jiwon and Seojoon's wedding, Mrs. Hwang became the cook for the Kim's youngest son, Seojoon.

As for Minyoung, she then lived with her long time boyfriend, Joongki. The same year, she gave birth to their daughter and named her Jiyeon. They were living a good life despite Joongki working on a factory and earning minimum salary. Minyoung didn't work. She took care of their baby and her boyfriend is actually okay with that.

Everything was going well. But, things got rough. Joongki got into a drug and gambling incident that led the goons running after them.

Almost killing Joongki in one of the encounters, the couple feared for the life of their newly born daughter, 1 month old Jiyeon.

With a heavy heart, they had no choice but to take her away. Mrs. Hwang found that out and suggested for her daughter to take her grandkid along with Minyoung to the Kim's since it would be for the best. However, Minyoung disagreed to that knowing that she'll just put her daughter's life in danger if she comes along. They have then decided that only Jiyeon would be brought to the family. The Kim's are rich and powerful and they have the ability to keep Jiyeon safe. On top of that, her grandmother would be there to look out for her while she grows up.

Days passed by and after being able to sneak Jiyeon carefully and silently to the Kim's house, the couple hid themselves far away. Seojoon and Jiwon, along with Mrs. Hwang, decided to change Jiyeon's name for much more safety. Jiyeon then became Jennie.

Kim Minho who is Seojoon's older brother knew of this and him and his wife, Jihyun, kept it a secret. Seojoon and Jiwon adopting Jennie was never talked about again.

After a couple of months, Jiwon gave birth to Y/N. They raised Jennie just like how they would raise Y/N. They would treat Jennie as their own. Minyoung is Seojoon's first love after all.

When the two girls grew up, they are just like the other siblings who kept on fighting. There wasn't a day where the two didn't fight. But fortunately, they learned to love each other as they grew older.

And since then, Jennie and Y/N became inseparable.

———

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