I LOVE YOU SO
Chapter Two
❛ We're leaving this place alive. ❜

"DON'T YOU THINK that it's a bit obvious that we're following them? Can't they see we're behind them?" Kicking her shoes off and placing them neatly under her seat, a quiet yawn escaped from her lips. Clicking her seatbelt in place, Aera made her legs lay comfortably on the cold dashboard.

To the right of him, all that Jun-ho could see were white fluffy socks with embroidered lemons on the side of them, "we'll just have to hope that they won't see us, plus, they would be too busy driving these innocent people to even notice us," he tried his hardest to sound convincing.

"You haven't thought this out properly, have you?" Giving him a sideways glance, Aera tilted her head so it laid restfully on the side of her headboard, even though the car shook along the uneven roads, she stayed tranquil.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Jun-ho drummed his fingers along the side of the steering wheel, narrowing his eyes at the vehicle in front of them as he did so, "it'll work. Trust me on this. The worst thing that could happen is: we get taken away too or they kill us- but, they wouldn't dare, not when I'm a policeman."

"Well that's really reassuring," raising her eyebrows at him with a doubtful chuckle, one that made her heart unsettled.

"Just trust me."

Taking her chances to gaze outside, she remembered when she first stepped out of the stuffy airplane, one filled with angry passengers and fussy infants, it all caused her head to swirl. But when she stepped out of the aircraft and inhaled the air of Seoul, her soul wholeheartedly announced: I'm home.

Even though the window was masked with condensation, Aera was able to see snippets of towering buildings and vivid lights, everything that shaped Seoul as a whole. Feeling a soft smile linger on her face, her chest felt warm. Dragging her finger along the surface of the icy window, she drew on the condensation, creating mini heart shapes. Taking her hand away with a prideful grin, she smiled at her masterpiece.

Peeking through the hearts, uncertainty filled her voice, her forehead puckered at the change of scenery. They were secluded behind tall bushes and wheat fields, "so . . . where are we exactly? This does not look safe at all. Where is everyone?"

"It seems that they're headed to Moojin Port," using his pointer finger to gesture towards the rusty green sign, that has been covered by broken vines and wilted bushes, Jun-ho kept his eyes fixated on the cars in front of them.

Aera tried to remember each minor detail from their journey, from the lines of large abandoned containers, to the number plates on the vehicles, she fiddled with her sleeves, "okay, okay. I've noted each sign here too, to the east, it's where we came from, which was Dae Chan. To the west it's Mu Jin."

"This is good, this is great," nodding enthusiastically with a determined grin, Jun-ho unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door, a flurry of night air flew past his ears, "keep recording your surroundings, it'd be great for evidence."

Crossing her arms loosely and leaning back on her right foot, she let out a small chuckle, "told you you couldn't do this without me." Punching his arm lightly, she began scanning the area, then down to her shoeless feet, "shit my shoes," hopping on one foot with a shoe in one hand, and another in her other hand, her eyebrows pinched together in concentration.

"Just ditch the shoes at this rate-"

"Shut up I've got this," struggling to tie her laces, they sat tangled together in a mess, sighing in frustration, "why don't you go do your police things, like normal policemen?" Hearing him laugh at this, Aera tried her hardest not to roll her eyes, her cheeks pinched red, giving away the fact that she was embarrassed over being unable to tie her shoelaces.

"Just stuff them into the sides of your shoes, we've got to get going, they're about to leave," standing on the balls of his feet, looking around apprehensively with worry written all over his face, Jun-ho dragged his sister by her arm once she was ready, "keep your voice down, they could hear us."

"Yeah no shit," still discontent over earlier, she gritted her teeth, "anyways, what's the plan? There is a plan, right?" Chewing at her lip, her pulse quickened, "Jun-ho?"

Feeling his shoulder being shaken by his sister, Jun-ho hastily typed on his phone, he informed his chief that he was unable to arrive at the station for a while. Noticing how Aera trembled, he tried to keep his own fears hidden behind a tight smile, "just follow my lead," digging into his back pocket, he fished out a pocket knife, "keep this with you at all times. Never walk around without a weapon, got it?"

Nodding gingerly, Aera slipped a hairband off her wrist and began to gather the majority of her hair together and wrapped it into an untidy bun. Blowing some strands away from her face with her lips, Aera gave him a shaky smile, "I don't know when I'll use this, but I'll try to think smartly, thank you," taking the small weapon from him, she tucked it away and into the pocket inside her coat.

"I'm glad we're on the same page," patting her shoulder, Jun-ho took a glimpse at one of the vans before lowering his eyes, an idea bloomed within his mind, "we've got enough time to slip under the van that's in front of us."

"Wait, wh-" Leaving her alone with her mouth agape, she watched as her brother sprinted over towards the vehicle before them. With her eyes darting everywhere, feeling tense about the possibility of some witnesses, she nibbled on the tip of her nails.

This was a crazy idea.

Unable to stand still, Aera stared at the vehicle Jun-ho was under, in a split second she saw him wave his arms about, gesturing to her to make a move. "If we die, I am so going to cry," she mumbled.

Running on her tippy toes, Aera covered the front of her face and arched her back forwards, so that she appeared unrecognisable. It reminded her of when she was younger, and she'd take hide and seek to an extreme, she would always take it seriously, hiding in the most concealed places, she was always discreet so no one would know. One time, it took her brothers two whole days to find her.

Almost bumping her head as she roughly slid underneath the bottom of the van, Aera braced for impact, but it never came, licking her lips, she tried her best to cling on to the metal pole that was attached to both sides of the vehicle. The inner sides of her arms began to ache as seconds went on, beads of sweat began to form on her face.

"How much longer?" Spinning her neck around to face her brother, she took large inhales and exhales, trying to stay calm.

The ground started to shake as the vehicle moved onwards, the tires rolled along the quiet road and on to a bumpy ramp, before entering a large boat.

Bringing his index finger towards his lips, Jun-ho reminded her to remain quiet, "wait," he mouthed, he too struggled to keep himself up, he feared that the metal would collapse and ruin the whole process.

Aera nodded in response.

The motor from the boat roared against the tides, waves collided against the surface of it, causing it to rock slightly, the scent of salt filled the atmosphere. Once the rhythm of the boat stilled and settled down, Jun-ho grasped onto the side of the van and clambered out from beneath.

Popping his head around the bottom again, he looked at Aera, "this is our chance," inclining his head, he watched as she murmured some 'okay's incoherently.

Stealthily getting up on her two feet, Aera was glad that she managed to somehow tie her shoelaces tightly, or else she'd be slipping and sliding around. Patting her pockets, she double checked to see if her pocket knife is was still with her. When it was, she sighed in relief, "what do we do now," Aera tapped Jun-ho's shoulder, her voice incoherent.

"Begin player inspection," a voice blared from the speakers- breaking the silence.

Both of the Hwang siblings shared an alarmed look; their eyebrows shot upwards.

Aera's pulse began to quicken, adrenaline pumped into her veins by itself, taking massively deep breaths, she began hopping from foot to foot, "shit . . . so this is it Jun-ho," covering her mouth with a shaky palm, she squinted at the vans that now had open doors.

Giving her a pointed look and shaking his head, he thought about reminding her to stay quiet again, but time was in their hands. Striding behind another van, Jun-ho pulled Aera next to him, "we have to split up. You take that van, I'll take this one," closing his eyes at sight of her shaking her head with widened eyes, he continued once more, "we have to, or this won't work."

Relenting, she relaxed her shoulders. What's the worst that could happen? "Whatever, as long as one of us comes back with our brother, I'll be happy," just the thought made her have courage.

"We both will," squeezing both her shoulders, he brought Aera into an embrace, stuffing her face into his jumper, "now don't make irrational decisions, okay? I don't want to leave this place with just In-ho."

Flailing her arms about and pushing him away lightly, Aera rolled her eyes with a large smile plastered across her face, "you idiot, of course I won't, you're acting as if we're going to die. We made it here alive, we're leaving this place alive."

Inclining his head slowly, a broad smile spread across Jun-ho's face, with such pride in his pupils, some tears glazed over his eyes, "you're right, you're right." Giving her one last embrace, despite Aera's protests, Jun-ho swiftly turned around and hopped into the van in front of them, it wobbled as he settled into it.

Whistling quietly, Aera stood awkwardly, the only sound pounding in her ears was her own quickened pulse. She stared at the ground, before realising she needed to go into the allocated van, she rushed over and climbed into it, it teetered, only a little too much.

Aera studied surroundings, she cringed when her hand made contact with someone's cold ones, pulling her own palm away in alarm, the female next to her stirred. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Shit.

Immediately holding her palms up in surrender, Aera's face began to pale, the colour drained from her cheeks, sweat clung on to her temples.

A gun cocked against the side of her head. The surface was cold, yet warm, as if it'd been used and fired before. With a trembling voice and quivering lip, Aera gulped, "uh hello, I'm Hwang Aera. I want to join you, on whatever it is you're doing... please, please just let me." The owner of the gun lowered their arm, giving a sign that they were taking her words into consideration.

A strange chill crawled down Aera's back; she shivered. With her mouth ajar, she awaited for an answer- she'd never feared for the safety of her life until then.

The raven haired female, that had her rest disturbed by Aera, watched the scene through slitted eyes. They hurriedly shut them again, when the man in the bright pink suit neared Aera, and frowned at the sound of Hwang Aera's familiar voice.

"Another player has died in their sleep. Please allow this woman to join," Jun-ho pressed his own gun on the supervisor's temple, "let this woman take their place," he applied some more pressure when they didn't answer.

Watching carefully as the supervisor dropped their gun into their pocket, a colossal amount of tension was released from Jun-ho's shoulders, from the corner of his eye he could see Aera let out a wary and long sigh. Knowing that that was her brother, she gave Jun-ho a sneaky nod, before slumping against her seat.

Once the door sealed shut, the very same supervisor flicked their head around and checked for any foreign behavior.

Aera held her breath.

When they faced the front again, Aera presumed that everything was clear, and at that, she stretched out her legs. As she did so, a palm squeezed her's which made her arm tingle, causing her to yelp silently.

It was the same person Aera disturbed earlier. The raved haired female gestured towards their jacket, and at how they covered the front of their freckled nose with it. Aera slid down the seat so she was lying almost flat across half of the set of seats, "okay," Aera mumbled to herself as she used her turtleneck to copy the raven haired girl's movements.

The sound of a dispenser resounded around the stuffy van, smoke began to cloud around the front of the van and it continued to swarm towards the back. Assuming that it put everyone to sleep, since the people around her were knocked out, Aera pretended to doze off as the supervisor turned around to check again.

After a while, she slowly fluttered her eyelids open, Aera tried her best to face the raven haired girl, to thank her for the small tip. But the girl was facing away from her, with a hard expression upon their face.

Aera made a note in her head to thank the raven haired girl later.

( 2395 words )

DEAR ALL,

Anyways I hope you enjoyed, it was a pain to edit🙄 because I don't know, after a while my brain said: no ❌🧠😾

I actually love Sae-byeok too much😤💓💗💖💘💝💞💕

Anyways, Sae and Aera in this: 😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️

You guys better vote and comment or else I will cry a lot😔🤚🖤🥀

Thank you for the amount of reads so far already, I want to hug all of you🥰🥰

WITH LOVE, SYLVIA