Secret Mirror 10

One of my (many) favorite things about winter is snow. I love the cold, yet warm, feeling of being engulfed in it, making snow angels. I love the calm and gentle way each flake tumbles from the sky. Most of all, though, I love how it provokes couples to cuddle under blankets near a crackling orange fire… Swoon~

I happened to wake up at two in the morning on our first night in London, unable to sleep with Kyuhyun making odd noises in his slumber. I sighed and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window at my left. A tiny flicker of white came and went. Feeling my eyes light up, I hopped from the bed to investigate what I had seen. True to my initial thought, snow fell silently outside.

As a child, I used to like watching the snow, sitting in either my mother's or my father's lap. With a little smile, I recalled the one time, when I was eight, when Min Ki watched it with me. He'd figured out how to microwave s'mores and we just… Enjoyed the snowy Manhattan view.

"Yah, what do you think you're doing?" Kyuhyun sounded rather annoyed, as if it was my fault that he now sat up in bed with rumpled hair and clothing.

I could just offer a sheepish smile. "Well, it's snowing and I…" I trailed off, shuffling around a little bit. "I like snow."

He looked me over with tired, but not irritated, eyes. "Misun, it snows all the time. Just sleep now," he sighed and extended an arm, welcoming me for a hug.

This was new. I wanted to see how far I could push this.

"You can sleep all the time," I pouted.

He dropped his arm, letting it dangle with the pure-white blankets. "What do you want then?"

I smiled, spread my arms, and spun in a circle. "Watch the snow with me!"

He closed his eyes and reopened them, now with a slight smile. "Okay, but I'm not going to move."

Once again, Kyuhyun opened his arms, this time pulling me by the waist into his lap. Kissing me gently, he shifted so we faced the window. "Happy now?" he mumbled, obviously about to fall asleep again. Still though, his hold on me was protective. I made a mental note: SleepyKyu = AdorableKyu

"Elated," I agreed.

xXx

"Oh my gosh, they're so cute!"

"Should I take pictures for my Twitter?"

"You are spending too much time with Siwon!"

"You don't have many Henry-traits, dear."

"Shh, I think Kyuhyun just moved!"

"Oh no. Oh no. He's worse than Misun and Hoshi combined in the mornings."

I hid a grin, pretending to still be sleeping, while I listened to Junah and Yuna carry on. It was true – Kyuhyun had moved. He held me on his chest while we slept, and I felt him roll his hips underneath me. Oh God…

"Misun isn't that heavy of a sleeper. Wouldn't she wake up after he grabbed her like that?"

"What makes you think he grabbed her?"

"Ew, Yuna!"

Again, Kyuhyun thrust upwards. I dug my nails into his sides, silently begging him to stop, and felt a slight shaking from his chest, the suppression of laughter. Admittedly, I wanted to laugh, too. Unnie torture is fun~

"What is he doing?" Junah whispered. "It looks like…"

"It looks like we should be left alone," Kyuhyun glared. I took this as an open invitation to sit up on Kyu's stomach, giggling to myself. He had both hands on my hips, a mad grin plastered on his face as well.

Yuna stared at us blankly, arms crossed over her chest. "You're weird. And not very funny. Do you mind if we steal Misun for the afternoon, Demon Lord?"

Kyuhyun dropped his head back to the pillow, letting out a sound of disgust. "Aish… Yes, I mind."

"What?" Junah snapped. "How can you say that?"

With a smirk, he waved his hand dismissively. "Like this: You can't take her."

"Your English is horrible," the three of us chided. I look at him apologetically, but it had to be done. He'd learn eventually anyway, even if he needed private lessons. With me. And chocolates. And wine. Mhm.

"And don't talk to noona with such disrespect!" Junah shouted, flicking Kyuhyun on the ear. I reached my hand over protectively, rubbing his ear gently. I stared at Junah and Yuna with my best "sad" eyes, which were, admittedly, crap.

"Just give us the girl, and no one gets hurt," Yuna threatened, shaking her fist at Kyuhyun.

Arms tightened around my hips and I felt him pull himself up to hug his entire body around my back. "Why do you need to take my Misun?"

Junah rolled her eyes. "We want to take her shopping, maybe get our hair and nails done to make her pretty for you."

"Oh," he nodded. "Okay."

I whirled around, nearly hitting him in the face with my rogue elbow. "What do you mean, 'okay'?!"

"I mean they can have you," he blinked, now letting me go and pushing me off his lap.

Narrowing my eyes, I pouted. "Fine, be the cruel and unusual boyfriend I know you are."

He smiled teasingly, messing up my hair. "Just go… I'm going to sleep."

"Yeah, Misun, just come," Junah prodded, pulling me off the bed. Yuna had my bag and my favorite shoes in her hand, both of which she used to push Kyuhyun backwards with.

xXx

Junah had us touring around the shopping district of London, until we ended up in a crowded restaurant for lunch. It was really a small aquarium with tables arranged amongst the tanks of exotic fish. Even the windows were, in fact, fish tanks that housed colorful sea animals. I smiled to myself as I took a few pictures for Donghae – he'd love this.

"Why'd you pick such a crowded place?" Yuna poked Junah from across the table with a tiny hint of mirth in the corner of her eye.

Junah shrugged and nibbled at a pink shrimp. "Everyone's so focused on either their food or the fish. I think we'll be okay."

I looked around, mesmerized by the blue lights in the fish tanks illuminating the restaurant, casting exaggerated shadows of fish over the glass tables.

"I forgot to ask," Junah began in an excited rush. "How's the love life, maknae?"

I resisted the urge to mock-glare at her, instead smiling wistfully. "It's going well. He's not emotionally non-responsive and the physical aspect is… Budding."

"She means little Kyuhyunnie is out of the "asshole" stage and has moved on to adulthood," Yuna sniggered as she apologized to a mother that covered her son's ears at the next table. "But she still can't bed him."

And so, the ever-dependable Yuna brings up sex again. Junah tossed a hard shrimp tail in Yuna's direction and, while it missed Yuna's nose by a few centimeters, she hopped backwards and nearly killed the man behind her.

My older unnie turned back to me with eyes stricken with child-like wonder. "Is he romantic?"

I bit my lip to hide an overjoyed grin. "A bit," I admitted shyly. "Just a bit."

"Tell me story!" she shouted cutely.

Giggling, I tilted my head. "Whatever are you talking about Junah?"

"You know what I'm talking about," she pouted menacingly, furrowing her brow just so.

"Okay, okay," I gave in. "I pretty much figured out that I want to get something out of Kyuhyun, he needs to be half-asleep."

Yuna snorted. "Henry's a pushover. I get… A lot from him. I think you got the difficult one, maknae."

My eyebrows shot up and I flung a balled up straw wrapper at her. "Yah, have you even met Heechul?"

Junah started giggling. "Point made; Heechul's a diva."

"Hoshi's a saint," I agreed.

All conversation stopped when we heard the faint sound of Super Junior's It's You. The three of us looked at each other with small grins, excited to find an ELF. I leaned back slightly in my chair, spotting a blonde girl, maybe seventeen, sitting alone and facing me by a vacant wall. She checked her silver phone and answered it, glancing to me once. Her eyes held something a little… Crazed, if you would. Somewhat startled, I fell forwards, back to the table. Yuna, Junah, and I listened in silence.

I heard slight mutters in a language I didn't know. With a creased brow, I strained my ears to hear her. Maybe I could put it into Google translate later.

"Oui, oui," I heard. French? "Aujourd'hui. Je regarde elle maintenant. Elle est voici…"

"What's that about?" Yuna whispered worriedly. "None of us speak French."

"But you saw the way she looked at us, didn't you," Junah snapped back. She had a hand on my arm and I bit into my lip, still carefully watching this girl.

"Viens ici," she nodded, hair swishing with the movement of her head. She made an irritated look, pursing her lips and wrinkling her nose. "Tu es stupide. Mais j'ai besoin toi."

Yuna sighed and pushed herself away from the table. Tossing a handful of cash in the middle of our empty plates, she offered us each a hand. "I'm creeped out. We're leaving."

"I thought you were the one who didn't seem to care," Junah mumbled smugly as she refused Yuna's hand. She didn't look at the blonde again; she instead tossed her hair over her shoulder and started for the exit.

Still, that girl held my sole attention. Yuna grasped my hand roughly and pulled, not ready to wait for me. I stumbled once as I followed along, only regarding the girl once more with a last look in her direction. She inclined her chin only vaguely, a pompous look in her eye. Her lips parted into a smirk and she shook her finger back and forth.

My own fingers wrapped tighter around Yuna's hand, seeking some – any – comfort from her. I staggered along behind her, willing myself not to look at that girl again. What did she want from me?

I was certain she had something negative for or about me in her mind; that was a fact. She wouldn't have made such atrocious gestures if she didn't.

The last licks of winter wind encircled my exposed face, making me shudder. But had I really shuddered from the cold? Yes, of course you did, I reasoned with myself. You're cold. It's cold. It's freezing.

"I want to shop more before we do any sightseeing," Junah nodded. "I don't really want to look like a tourist in my own city, but I'll do it for the sake of you lovely blokes."

"Aren't blokes men?" I wondered, more to myself than to Junah. I thought that I could shake the thoughts of the Beautiful Sadist back in the aquarium restaurant.

My unnie ruffled my hair playfully. "My country, my rules, kid."

"Well, that sounds encouraging," Yuna shot back sarcastically, poking Junah's shoulder.

Our resident Brit grinned and spun on her heel, waving us along behind her. "Come on, ducklings. We're going to go buy shoes."

Yuna winked at me. "Yeah, duckling, let's go." She trotted after Junah, quacking all the way. Her choice method of duckling-travel was hopping from foot to foot, quite the disheveled system.

I smiled to myself and followed them without question. Maybe forgetting the Beautiful Sadist wouldn't be as hard as I initially thought, what with my insane friends.

My phone chirped to signal that I had gotten a text. Though I hoped Kyuhyun would be the one to text me, it turned out to be an anonymous message. The corners of my mouth sank with my brow – I didn't think anyone who wasn't in my contacts had my number.

Before I actually opened the text, I quickly scanned my contacts. Everyone that I thought had my number was in there (SeMi, SuJu, U-Kiss, f(x), etcetera…). Unless I had forgotten someone? No, that wasn't right.

I let out a sigh and watched my breath fade away as I opened the text.

[To: Misun : Sun Apr 22 ; 1:19PM]

Turn around.

What the…?

Since when am I in a horror movie? This had to be a joke, obviously. AJ, the psychopathic moron, probably got a hold of some noona's phone and decided to harass me with it. Of course he would pretend to be a creeper and/or escaped criminal to scare me. Idiot.

[To: Misun : Sun Apr 22 ; 1:21PM]

Are you listening to me?

I blinked, a small feeling of apprehension building in my stomach. AJ was taking the joke too far now; this was just creepy.

But… Just to be sure, I turned and looked around. Junah and Yuna were nowhere to be seen at this point, and this area of town looked nothing like where we just were. The harsh cold air burned the inside of my nose as I started to retrace where I'd been. Just where had I been, though?

This situation seemed very bleak – a lone girl walked along the streets of an unfamiliar city in late winter after she had received two anonymous text messages. I held my chin up and kept my mind clear, though. Maybe this would work out. Maybe I wouldn't die.

Or maybe I would?

Of all people, why did it have to be me? I shook my head. No one else deserved this (besides, maybe, convicted felons). My thoughts drifted to Junah and Yuna. Had they realized that I was missing? Were they worried? Were they looking for me?

I hoped the answer to all of those questions was "of course".

I rubbed my hands together, both to create heat and as a nervous habit. I also found myself humming a little tune (Sorry Sorry. Really?), tricking my mind to calm itself. Being the rational and level-headed person I am, obviously, that didn't work.

The buildings along the street all seemed to be closed, aside from a run-down bar on my right. I ignored it as I passed, hearing shouting and things breaking on the inside. Following the bar was an alleyway lined with black dumpsters.

Sitting on the street by the corner of the sidewalk and the alley was a man with a lit cigarette. Upon seeing me, he stood and dropped the cancer stick to the ground. I stepped quickly backwards, away from the short and stocky male. His ash color hair was cropped close to his scalp, parading his hazel eyes and sharp features front and center. I swallowed. This wouldn't end well.

"Hi," he smiled kindly at me and offered a hand. I looked at it with disdain and glanced up again.

He tilted his head. "Not gonna talk? Okay. I'm Fred."

"Okay," I blinked. Stay calm, stay calm. Or run. But, if I ran, he'd be compelled to follow me, and…

"She speaks," he said happily in his accented English. "You're Misun, right?"

Lie. "Maybe," I answered. Okay, not so much a lie, but at least I was vague…

He smirked. "I know you are," he seethed darkly. He then smiled at me in that frighteningly kind way, like your soon-to-be-murderer would to you.

"Misun," he breathed. "You're so pretty."

Once again I took a step back, nearly falling off the curb. His arm extended and he almost grabbed me before I swayed and regained balance. I crossed my arms over my chest protectively, though I was fully aware that it would help nothing.

"Does Kyuhyun ever tell you that?" he cooed inquisitively.

"How the Hell are you to ask about my personal life?" I snapped.

Another smile found his face, this time apologetic. "But, Misun, does he really love you?"

I bit my tongue before responding. Maybe self-inflicted pain would drag me back to my senses. "Absolutely."

"Aw, you're adorably faithful to him. He's not right for you, anyway," he shrugged, ruffling his hair.

This guy had to be a joke. This wasn't happening. "And you think you are?" I glared.

He smiled brightly. "Of course I do." He reached for my hand with his own, but I slapped it away. "I love you," he breathed into my ear. "I'm obsessed with you."

A calloused hand pulled me, by the hip, towards him. Struggling, my knee found the area between his legs, striking hard. He grunted and fumbled, dropping me.

And then I ran.

I ignored the cold. I ignored the furious yelling behind me. And I ignored the sound of footsteps chasing after me.

Wait, what?

Don't you dare turn around, I told myself. Remember where turning around got you the first time? It'll be worse.

"Don't run from me!" he shouted in a desperate tone. I squinted under the shock of the wind; he begged for me. I couldn't decide if I wanted to be sick or if I thought it was cute… Nope, definitely not cute. That was just the irrationality of the situation getting to me.

When his fingers tangled into my hair and yanked, I left out a yelp. His other arm reached out and held my left shoulder, definitely leaving finger-shaped bruises where he touched. He dodged my knee (sadly) when I aimed for his balls again. But, really. When does that ever work twice?

"I need you, Misun," he sighed. It didn't seem like he meant that at face value, like he had some other reason for "needing" me… Something that wasn't romantic or even sexual. I almost found myself feeling bad for him. Had he been manipulated into this?

I gasped. That was exactly it! Why didn't I see it? The Beautiful Sadist had to be some sort of ringleader in this. And, with every circus, there are trained animals such as this guy! I pushed his chest away from me harder than I had before, all in hopes of prying him off. I felt certain that he didn't actually want to be doing this. Maybe he was promised money, a clean criminal record, or something else diabolical in exchange for doing the Beautiful Sadist's work for her.

"Come with me," he pressed, moving the hand from my hair down to my waist. "Everything will be okay…"

"So you say," I shouted. Going out on a limb, I swung my leg upwards and kicked him in the side.

He grabbed me by the knee and picked me up, carrying me bridal style. And, for the record, I did not feel like a bride. Just thought that need to be made known.

"Put me down, you son of a bitch!" I shouted, racking my brain for some crafty way of getting free. He'd expect the obvious out of me, of course.

He threw me against the frozen-solid wall of the nearest building, a closed hair salon painted white. Grasping my wrists, he pinned them over my head, then pressed his leg over both of mine. He had completely immobilized me.

"What do you want?" I sighed, searching in his blank gaze for some of what his voice revealed to me earlier.

When he didn't answer, I pressed further. "Money? Sure, you can have money. How much?"

"I don't want your damn money," he growled though a tightly clasped jaw. His grip on me got even tighter (more bruises), and he pressed me closer to the wall. I still didn't feel any actual pain – the body's natural defense in a crisis situation. Though I didn't want to admit that this was most definitely a crisis, I had to come to terms with that.

But that didn't mean I wouldn't fight the bitch until somebody dies. That's just a given.

"Go to hell," I spat as I wiggled my legs free and tried, still without any benefit, to free the rest of myself.

"Stop fighting me!" he shouted, struggling to keep me down. This was good – very good. His struggling made it easier for me to move around.

"Stop trying to kill me!" I yelled back. I pushed on his chest and he actually did stumble back a bit. Only one of my hands was free now, but that was really all I needed. I gave him a healthy slap to the cheek, leaving my own marks on his pale skin.

The look in his eyes darkened again. His movements became more fierce and swift, though I still managed to avoid the occasional hits he threw at me. Before I could open my mouth to start yelling again, he clasped a hand over my lips.

"Not a word," he seethed yet again. "You say anything, I'll kill you."

Wasn't that was he was doing anyway? I may be famous (and pretty!), but I'm certainly not stupid…

Which is why I used my newfound silence to have the most brilliant idea ever!

I bit his hand, causing him to scream, rather than myself. That's what we in Secret Mirror call "clever", grasshoppers.

"Misun?" I heard a shout. Joy of joys, Yuna found me! My would-be-killer dropped me and I slid down to the frozen pavement. He took the opportunity to run from me, disappearing into the bar down the street.

"Yuna!" I yelled back in elation. I stood quickly – awaiting the typical tackle from Yuna.

"Misun!" she ran to me and pulled me into a tight hug. "Oh God, are you okay? Tell me you're okay!"

I nodded. "I'm okay, I think… Just scared."

Junah joined us, looking as bad as Yuna – both breathed heavily and unevenly, cheeks and noses tinged red. "We heard screaming… Are you alright?"

"I… I think so," I sighed. "I mean, for someone who almost got raped, murdered, or both."

"Misun," Junah hugged me as well. "You saw the guy, right?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed her off of me. "No, I'm blind."

Her brow creased as she frowned at me. "This isn't something to joke about. Yes or no?"

"Yes," I admitted meekly. "But I don't want to talk about this…"

"We should go to the cops," Yuna interrupted. "Get him arrested for attempted whatever and assault."

I paused, thinking about it carefully. It was the logical thing to do to report the guy, but there was something about either him or the situation that made me not want to.

"If you don't want to," Yuna began with a smirk. "I can get Sorah and we'll eff him up for you."

"That won't be necessary," I said quietly. Junah interlocked her arm with my own, and she pulled me back down the street.

"This is a bad area anyway," she said dismissively. "The police don't do much with crime down here, since most everyone is drunk, then they get lost, then they cry… No one likes a crying drunk."

"Drunks are funny," Yuna sniggered, lacing her arm into my other one. "Strength in numbers!"

I smiled to myself. Maybe I should drag around the entirety of Secret Mirror from now on. I peeked over my shoulder at the bar and watched as two men rolled out the door, literally beating each other to death. I could see blood pouring from one's lip, and from the other's nose and they fell off the sidewalk and into the road.

A feminine form followed them out, smirked at the pair, and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder when she turned to me. Swallowing, I recognized the face. There, in all reality, was the Beautiful Sadist. She watched the fighting men passively, not caring that one of them was the one that nearly had me not ten minutes ago.

I closed my eyes and returned my gaze forward, hoping to leave all of that in London. But still, with shouting and the sound of cracking bone behind me, I realized that this wouldn't be the case. I just hoped I wouldn't get killed the second time around.