LALISA

🥀

"I think it's better if we just ask Mr. Chou about Tzuyu's sister..." Jungkook said as we stood in front of the creepy building called Sisters of Quiet Mercy.

"Quit being a pussy and let's just go."

My words shook the hell out of Jungkook. Guess he's not yet used to how Southsiders talk as I'm not used to talking with squeaky clean Northsiders. Even if they've been hanging out the whole summer.

"So how do you propose getting in?"

I took out a small sheet of paper and pointed towards the woods. "There. Chaeyoung gave me this map. It's how she managed to get out. But I suggest you ditch that clean jacket. We'll
Be going through the sewers."

"What?!"

"What? Don't tell me we share the same lady parts?"

This made Jungkook roll his eyes at me. I clung onto his arm and pulled him towards the woods where the map is pertaining to. I was kidding with the sewer part but Chaeyoung did say it was the best way out. But we were going in so there's an easier way which was the broken gate with bribe-able guards.

"This doesn't look like the sewers—"

"Who goes there?!" A guard yelled.

"We're toast—"

As instructed by Chaeyoung, I took the white envelope from my pocket and raised it. The guard put his gun down. 

"One envelope per person!" He said. I took another one out and handed it to him. "You have 30 minutes."

"But the money is good for a whole hour—"

"Rates change missy," he said and turned towards Jungkook. "Especially when the Mayor's son is involved."

What would you expect from a corrupt guard?

"Fine." I said and went in with Jungkook trailing behind me. "We have work fast. That guard looks hella shady."

Again, I opened the piece of paper and looked for the place Chaeyoung marked on the map. She said it's where we can find files of all the patients in this crackhouse.

"I guess we can start by going behind the building," I said as I pointed at the map. "Then we can figure out how we'd be able to get inside without anyone knowing."

"Or, we can just go in like normal people and ask directly."

"Do you even know her whole name?"

"Let's just ask and show Tzuyu's picture."

"That totally makes me, bribing the guard useless!" I said pouting.

He pinched my nose. "Next time leave the planning to me. I know you like bossing people around but let's just do this in a less compromising way."

"Where's the fun in that—"

"Lisa?" A familiar voice called making me turn. My eyes grew wide as I recognized who it was.

"Unnie!"

🥀

"Why are you here, Lisa?" Hayi asked as soon as they found a spot where the sisters can't see them. "And who is this guy? You can't just go in and out of this place. They don't allow visitors here. Especially now that two people already escaped."

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu's twin.

I looked at Jungkook giving him the 'I-was-right' look before turning towards the petite girl.

"He's Jungkook, unnie. We're here to find for clues regarding Tzuyu's death."

With a mere mention of Tzuyu's name, Hayi's eyes grew wide and her lips turned a shade paler. The trauma of finding a dead body must've been the reason why she's here. I should have been move careful with my words.

"Unnie? Are you okay?"

"H-Huh? Yeah. I'm fine," she said but fear still eminent in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for mentioning it, unnie. I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay," she said after taking a deep breath. "I'm recovering. This place... it may look creepy but it helped me a lot. Being away from the town gave me the peace I needed to recover from everything that just happened."

She looked around before signaling us to follow her.

"What clues exactly are you trying to find?" She asked as we cautiously walked inside a building. "And how is Tzuyu connected to this place?"

"A friend told us someone looked like Tzuyu here. So maybe she had a sister that can help us."

"I haven't seen anyone who looked like Tzu here," she said. "And this place doesn't have a lot of patients so I'm confident I'd know if I saw someone here who looked like her."

"Oh..." defeated I turned to Jungkook.

"How about the two runaways?"

"Chaeyoung and Sejeong? Well, they caught Sejeonb days after wandering around the woods. But Chaeyoung's still outside," she answered. "I know them both but neither of them looked like Tzuyu."

"I see," Jungkook lightly patted my shoulder. So we just wasted money and time going here. Great. "Thank you for helping us."

"No problem," she answered. "We better head out before one of the nuns sees us—"

And just like that, a nun with a white cloth passed by making us hide underneath the clothed table.

"Hayi?" She said. "Who are you talking to?"

"I'm talking to my friend," she said making my eyes grow wide. "Her name's Tzuyu. I saw her drowning but I think she's okay now. She looks healthier and well—"

"I see," she responded while taking one of Hayi's hand. "We'll need to notify your parents about this and discuss having you talk with a good psychiatrist, dear."

"Okay, sister," she joyfully replied. The nun shook her head slightly before leaving. "Phew. That was close. You two really need to get going before someone sees you."

"Unnie," I cut her off and pointed at a photograph hanging on the wall behind her. It was a group of little girls. "These kids... are all patients?"

"Oh they're not," she replied. "This place used to be an orphanage."

"What happened to these kids?"

"I guess they were adopted. Why, Lis?"

I blinked then shook my head. "Nothing. Just... curious."

"Oh. But you two should really get going. If the guards sees you—"

"Outsiders!" Someone suddenly screamed—sounded like a male guard or something, triggering an alarm.

"Shit."

I turned to Jungkook. I couldn't move but Hayi unnie shoved me towards Jungkook as guards of some sort started to appear behind her.

Jungkook pulled me out of the building, straight towards the woods and ran as fast as we could. But the guards already saw us. What more can we do?

That picture. The two little girls holding each others' hand. I can't be mistaken. It was Tzuyu. I've seen her baby pictures countless times so I'm positive it's her.

So she really does have a twin. Could it be possible that the person Chaeyoung thought she saw wasn't a patient?

I tripped and fell on the ground so Jungkook immediately ran to my aide. A scraped knee and swollen ankle, I couldn't run anymore.

"Go," I told Jungkook. "It's fine. Just tell my dad and he'll find a way to get me out of that place."

"No, Lisa. I won't leave you. Not now, not ever!"

"You're being overly dramatic—"

"This is no time for your sarcastic comebacks." Jungkook turned around and motioned his back. "Hop on."

"What? It'll just slow you down—"

"Do as I said, Kwon Lalisa," he said sternly making me flinch. "Hop. On."

"But—"

Jungkook must've lost his patience as he pulled me on to his back. And with that he—we, ran.

With the guards on our tail, Jungkook sped up. The way he ran seems like he wasn't even carrying another person. But of course, he ain't superman. I could feel him losing his breath.

"Kook. Stop. Please."

"No, Lis. We're about to lose them—"

Jungkook tripped toppling me off his back. I can clearly see how he's struggled to stand up. He might've hurt his foot.

"Jungkook—"

"I will protect you, Lis," he said as he walked over to me. "Whatever happens, I will protect—"

But before he could finish his sentence, a person in black coat and a mask suddenly pulled me up. Jungkook was about to pounce but the person spoke.

"We've got no time. Follow me. Quietly if possible."

I froze. I know that voice very well. Even on my sleep, I know who owns that light, feathery voice. But I might be wrong. Or not.

It's dark and I'm currently dizzy from everything so I might just be hallucinating. But curiosity got the best of me and I reached to remove the mask. A loud gasp escaped my lips.

"Tzuyu..."

"Hey Lis. I missed you."

Everything suddenly turned black.

🥀

"You're alive? All this time we were just in a wild goose chase?" Jungkook blurted out waking me up.

"Jungkook, you don't understand!" Tzuyu yelled back while pacing back and forth. "It's way more complicated than you think and I can't just go tell you and get all of you involved. Someone died. I died. It's... it's hard to understand—"

"Then make us understand," I said while sitting up. I can understand Jungkook's frustration. "We're already involved after everything that has happened. Uncle Daesung even sacrificed himself so that his son Namjoon won't get involved."

Tzuyu heaved a heavy sigh.

"I was supposed to die that night, Lis," she started. "But...but my twin sister Daewi had other plans."

"Daewi? Why don't I know her?" So our theory was right.

"I didn't know about her 'til we left the southside," she said. "I found out about her when we were moving and mom had a picture of the two of us in the same clothes. We look exactly alike so if we chose to exchange places it would be hard to tell us apart.

"I tried to ask my parents but they just told me the photo was photoshopped. That one of my cousins in Taiwan sent it to mom as a prank but my gut told me otherwise. So I did my research and found out I did have a twin sister. And her name was Jeon Daewi and she's in the care of Sister's of Quiet Mercy. Being an only child for a long time made me happy and excited so I snuck out to meet her. I bribed some guards to let me see her and we clicked almost instantly! We talked for hours and she would listen. I visited her often and spent a lot of time with her so I had no time to tell you guys about her. Also, she made me promise not to tell our parents because they'll just send her away again."

"Wait," Jungkook interjected. "Why would your parents lock her away and not tell you?"

"Because I'm adopted, Kook," she said. "Our parents only took one twin and it was me. And I was too young to even remember I had one. And I'm pure Korean."

"So the girl who died..."

"Yes," she supplied. "Daewi died that night by the river instead of me. Because we swapped places before I was supposed to leave town."

"But Namjoon said the ghoulies captured you. And you were arguing with a girl—"

"Yes it was her. It was Daewi," she confirmed. "We switched places a couple of times and she wanted to live my life. She wanted to escape the Sisters and live a normal life with this boy she met. I supported her and told her about me running away with Jennie. And that it was the perfect opportunity to switch lives. But for some reason, she grew paranoid that I wouldn't keep my end of the bargain. She plotted with her supposed boyfriend to get rid of me permanently. So they took me hostage and she took over the remaining life I had. She went to the party instead of me."

"So she was killed instead of you..."

"Yes," she heaved another heavy sigh. "I conducted my own investigation too after Jackson helped me escape. I initially planned on asking for your help, Lis. But I didn't want to involve you in this mess. Especially when..."

"When? There's more?"

"Someone's out to get me," she said. "That person knows I survived and Daewi died."

"Who?"

"Her boyfriend. The one who the ghoulies are working for."

"But you didn't kill her. She did this to herself—"

"I'm still the reason, Lis," she cut her off. "Whoever killed me killed her instead."

"Did you find the killer? Do you know who he is?"

She shook her head "no". "I'm still in the dark, Lis. Whatever evidence it was that Jackson said he has, that's our only hope."

"But Tzuyu... Jackson's dead. Namjoon—"

"Ghoulies killed him, Tzu," I cut Jungkook off. "So whatever evidence he had, got buried with him."

Jungkook shot me a questioning look. I ignored it and continued.

"Right now, we don't have any evidence at all."

I had to make sure. I can feel in my gut, the case isn't solved just yet.