14

I woke up to a crying Vin. I immediately attended to her and hush-ed her. She hugged me tight and cried on my shoulders. She was crying when her phone ringed. Her mom is calling. Due to Vin's state right now, I answered her phone.

"Vin! Don't come home today! Your father is here! Stay in Yuri's house, I'll tell you when he's gone!"

My forehead creased with what I heard. What the hell is happening?

"This is Yuri. What's happening, Mrs. Shin?" I asked her but instead of answering she told me to take care of Vin well. I assured her that and asked for an explanation when everything is back to normal in their house.

"Who's that?" The girl in my arms asked.

"Your mom, she told me that take care of you for a while because your father's at home?" I said, confused.

"Oh my God! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! My brothers! Fuck!" She started to cuss and was shaking uncontrollably.

"Vin! Vin!" I'm shaking her shoulder but she started to whimper and cry again. She's also pulling her hair. I stopped her from doing that and she hugged me all of a sudden. She cried hard on my shoulders and hold onto me tight.

"Hey, hey calm down. Tell me what's happening." I said calmly and looked at her face.

"My brothers, I—I need to get my brothers out of that house." She said determined.

"Okay, okay. I'll ask Mama and my driver to get 'em for you, okay?" She nodded continuously and started to tap on her phone furiously. I exited my room and shouted.

"Mama! Mama! I need your help! Tell my driver to drive you to Vin's house and get her brothers." She was about to ask but I cut her off.

"I'll explain later." She rushed outside and did what I said. I went back upstairs when I heard a loud thud.

"Vin! What happened?!" I saw her phone in pieces at the floor.

"I..I'm late. We're...we're late. Fuck! I can't believe this is happening again." She groaned and messed with her hair again.

"Hey, stop. You'll get bald." I held her hands and she just cried more.

"What's happening?" I asked her again.

"Dad...he...punch...kick...me...my brothers." Though she said it like that I had a hint of what she was trying to say.

"Yuri! They're he—Oh my God! Get some ointments at the medicine rack! Cottons too and some gauze!" I hear my Mama's voice shouting downstairs.

"They're here." I guided her downstairs and she ran to her brothers as soon as she saw them. I closed my fist with what I saw. Her brother's eye was blacken and his cheek is bleeding while their youngest have bruises on his arms. He also have a bleeding forehead.

"Noona!" Her brothers cried at her shoulder when they hugged her.

"What's happening here?" I saw my father at the entrance of our house and he immediately attended to Vin and her brothers.

"Holy cow! What happened?" He helped Mama in cleaning the boys' wounds and changed their clothes.

"Dad?" My little brother came to the scene but mom immediately brought him back to his room.

After cleaning their wounds and fixing them up, we all sat at the living room.

"What is happening, Vin? Please tell us so we can help." Dad said with sincerity in his eyes.

"My...my dad came back. He...he used to hurt me and my brothers. That's why whenever he come home, my mom would take me and my brothers to my aunt's house. But this time, she didn't expect him to come back I guess? She called me earlier but Yuri was the one who answered it because I was a crying mess. I...I had a nightmare about what he did to us." She wiped the tear that escaped from her eye.

"He became like that when he got addicted to casinos and alcohol. He let his business sunk, but my mom built her own and managed to get it to the top. My father would come home if he don't have any money left. He would threaten my mom that he will kill me and my brothers if she doesn't give him what he wants." She continued.

"Why didn't you go to the police?" Dad asked.

"Shin's got a very large influence in politics. We tried to report him but the police did nothing." She said, her voice cracking up. She hugged me and cried as she told her story.

"He used to punch and kick me all the time. He once locked me up in our basement for a week and my mom rushed me in the hospital after he left. My brothers always suffers because he would make them drink alcohol with him or worse he would force them to smoke cigarettes." Even my father cried to her story.

"Oh goodness gracious, we'll take care of that. You're using your father's surname right?" Dad asked her.

"No, we are using my mom's surname. She's a Shin too, they're cousins." All of our eyes went wide because of that.

"He...he raped my mom that's why I was born. The Shin's don't want it to be the hottest topic in the country because of their reputation so they decided to let them be married." She swallowed hard after that.

"It was smooth, the media never noticed it. They didn't made a news about it but when my grandfather died, it all messed up. The family he once endeared became a mess." After telling us her story, my father decided to help them.

"Stay here for a while. We'll fix this, we'll talk to your mom." My father started tapping in his phone and my mom attended to him.

"Thank you, Uncle." She was about to kneel but my father stopped her.

"Don't do that, okay? You're Yuri's friend, you are family. We are family." Vin broke down because of that. I patted her back and she hugged me. I caressed her back and guided her to my room. She must rest.

"Mama, please take care of the boys for now." I pleaded her and she nodded.

"Don't worry about them. I got these kids. Attend to your friend and be there for her." I smiled with what she said.

"Hey, stop crying. You'll get ugly." She half-smiled at me and cried more.

"Stop crying already. We got you covered. I'm here, I won't leave." She smiled at me with the tears in her eyes and mouthed thank you.

"No need to thank me, okay? I'm just here if you need me." I caressed her back and hush-ed her. I held her face and wiped the tears from her eyes. I kissed her cheeks and caressed her back again.

"Calm now, my soldier. These bullets are getting wasted." I said referring to her tears. I wiped it again until she stopped crying.

"I-I don't know how to really thank your parents and you. Y-you've done so much for me." She stuttered because of her hiccups from crying to much.

"Can I have some water, in my room please." I said as I press the walkie talkie that is on the wall of my room. After a few moments, one of the maids came. I gave the water to Vin and thanked the maid. After drinking the whole glass, she fell asleep again.

"Rest for now, my soldier." I kissed her forehead hoping to kiss away the pain she is feeling deep inside her heart.