Don't be so hard on yourself Kim

As soon as Dexter left Treasure, Kim approached him and decided to have a little chat with him.

"I wanna thank you for everything you've done for my sister so far. You all risked your life for just one person, that's insane," Kim said to Dexter.

"Nah, you don't have to thank me for that. Treasure is my friend and I care a lot about her. And I'm as happy as fuck that you also put to stop to it by shooting that monster in the head," Dexter said.

"he deserved that," Kim said.

"I'm surprised that you haven't known my sister for up to a year and you have already made her feel comfortable enough for her to open up to you but I have been living under the same roof with her yet I had no clue of what she has been going through for the past years…" he shook his head.

"…I don't think I'm worthy to be called a brother," He said in a sad tone feeling disappointed in himself.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Kim. I'm sure your sister didn't keep that from you on purpose. Although, Treasure is really good at hiding her thoughts and it's not easy in convincing her to open up just like that. You gotta make sure to assure her that everything is going to be okay and you'll always be there for her" Dexter said and Kim gave Dexter a suspicious stare.

"so when are you finally going to tell her?" He said.

"huh? Tell who what?" Dexter was confused.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I know you like my sister a lot and I'm sure she likes you too" Kim said.

"You think so?" Dexter said with bright eyes.

"yeah. It's pretty obvious… and if you were like the other guys I wouldn't have approved but I see you as a nice guy so don't fuck up okay?" Kim said in a serious tone and Dexter laughed.

"got it… but I don't wanna tell her how I feel for now. Treasure just got free from her abuser and I want her to live in that moment and get used to it before I tell her about my feelings. I don't want to complicate her life already" he said and Kim nodded his head. He liked Dexter already and he was rest assured that his sister's heart would be safe with this young detective.

"I'm sorry about the other day I closed the door in your face when you came to look for Treasure in my house. I couldn't believe that my sister would be friends with a cop" Kim said.

"Oh! It's no big deal, bro…" Dexter said.

"Mr. Joakim Reed... Right?" Noah said coming towards Kim and Dexter.

"Uh… is there a problem Detective?" Kim said to Noah with a suspicious look on his face. He was beyond surprised that Noah knew his full name.

"There's no problem at all, I just wanted to ask you a few questions," Noah said to Kim like he had bad news to share with him.

"Dexter please leave us," he said to Dexter, and for some reason Kim became paranoid.

"Sure no problem," Dexter said and left them to meet Treasure who was standing all alone by herself.

"So.. What did you want to ask me?" Kim asked Noah curiously.

"about this," Noah said and showed him a gun in a small transparent plastic bag.

"one of the cops said they found it outside and I wanted to ask if it's yours"

Kim's heart skipped a beat but he tried to maintain a nonchalant look. Carlos has taught him never to let the cops know that he was scared or intimidated by them and that is what he was doing right now.

"What makes you think the gun is mine?" Kim said with his head high and his hands in his pockets, trying to stay confident.

"Oh I never said it was yours, I only asked a question. I was told that none of the cops saw you when you came into Shawn's house and the only explanation is that you jumped through the fence and that is very suspicious so I ask again, is this gun yours?" Noah said firmly.

"No.. but it belongs to my late father," Kim said, looking at Noah in the eyes.

"hmm… I didn't know your father was late. I'm sorry about that"

"It's okay. Shit happens" Kim responded flatly.

"Okay. So what was your father's occupation? was he a robber?" Noah asked with raised brows.

"no, he was a cop,"

"oh really?" Noah delivered a suspicious laugh

"You don't believe me?" Kim said and Noah shook his head.

"Yeah, because you think I'm a criminal," Kim said huskily.

"I didn't call you a criminal" Noah replied swiftly even though he was already thinking that way.

"You didn't say so but you think I'm one" he argued.

Noah exhaled softly. He didn't come to Kim to start up an argument. He only wanted to question him because, for some reason, he finds him suspicious. The way he shot Shawn like he was an expert in killing got him thinking to himself if Kim was really a criminal.

"What's your father's name? You said he was an officer" Noah said to him.

"Joachim Reed"

"Joakim? Same name as yours?" Noah asked.

"Yeah but mine is spelled with a K," Kim said.

"You know what, let me be honest with you…  I'm finding it very difficult to buy anything you're selling right now," Noah said with his hands on his waist.

"Alright then. Google my dad's name" Kim confidently said.

Noah immediately brought out his phone and googled Kim's father's name. He saw some pictures of a man with a police uniform who seemed to be Kim's father.

Noah zoomed in the picture to have a closer look at the man's face and he saw that he looked exactly like Kim but older.

"This is your father?" Noah asked, showing Kim the picture and Kim nodded his head with a gloomy look on his face.

"I'm so sorry I doubted you" Noah sincerely apologized.

"you should be sorry cause after saving your life, you suspect me to be a criminal," Kim angrily said as if he wasn't a criminal at all.

"Don't get so worked up. You didn't save my life, you only wanted to kill Shawn so badly to avenge your sister. And that's why you manipulated your way into Shaw's house with a gun,"

"a save is a save," Kim said.

"Still, you shouldn't have killed Shawn even though he wanted to kill me. It is not your responsibility to take a man's life regardless of him being a dickhead… Besides, you're not licensed to have a gun even though it was your dad's" Noah said.

Kim nodded his head like he paying full attention to him whereas Noah was only wasting his time. Kim can't stop killing people overnight. "You're absolutely right detective," he said.

"I'm only going to let this slide because that man truly deserved to die and as you said, a save is a save," Noah winked and Kim laughed.

"By the way, how did your father die?" he asked and Kim paused for a while.

"My family got killed by bandits... My dad, my mom, my aunt, and my grandma all died. Treasure and I were the only ones who didn't get hurt," Kim said with a straight face. That incident happened so many years ago yet it was hurting him a lot like it was happening right now.

Noah genuinely felt bad for Kim and patted him on his shoulder.

"You and your sister didn't stay alive for nothing. I'm sure there was a reason for that. Just keep pushing hard okay?... We'll remove all the hidden cameras in your house by the morrow"

...…..

The time was a few minutes past 11 pm and Kim was driving Treasure home. It's been a very long night yet everything happened like it was a blink of an eye.

Dexter had gone home same with Noah and the rest of the cops. Everyone was literally tired from their hectic operation.

"You shouldn't have told that detective my full name. Everyone should know me as KIM! …what if I start telling everyone that you're Tracy the club singer?" Kim said to Treasure in a serious tone as he was driving.

"whatever" Treasure said nonchalantly in a low tone. She was sitting in the shotgun seat of the car, resting her head on the rear door glass.

"What?" Kim whispered after hearing Treasure's response like she doesn't give a damn.

He looked at her and saw her smiling to herself like a fool and that was when he realized that he had been talking to himself because Treasure wasn't paying attention to him. Her mind was obviously somewhere else.

She was thinking about the moment Dexter rushed to hug her in front of everyone and it made her giggle softly. Anyone could see that this girl was thinking about a guy she was in love with.

"If you're going to keep laughing and smiling like that, I'm going to think that you're mentally unstable," Kim said to Treasure with his eyes on the road.

"mmm mmm" Treasure cleared her throat and faced Kim. "is it now a crime to laugh?" she said.

"No, it's not… it's just that, I haven't seen you so lovey-dovey over a guy before. That young detective doesn't know that he has gotten himself in trouble to be with someone who is as annoying as you," he said with his eyes on the road as he was driving.

"is that why you told me to stay away from him?" Treasure rolled her eyes.

"look Tee, I know I told you to avoid him but that's only because he was a cop and I didn't wanna entangle myself with anything that has to do with the police… I'm just starting to realize that he is a good guy" Kim said truthfully.

"Well, even though you still hated him, it wouldn't have stopped me from seeing him," Treasure said.

"wow... just like the way it didn't stop you from seeing him the other night huh?" he said and Treasure delivered a long gasp with shock.

"Where were you by the way? Did you sleep over at his house?" Kim questioned.

"No, I didn't and how did you know I wasn't home last night? Oh my God! you knew I was lying all along?" Treasure said anxiously, staring at Kim's side profile as he was driving.

"Yes! Of course, I knew you were lying to me. I just don't understand why you'd rather lie than tell me the truth. It wouldn't have killed you if you had told me about Shawn all these years… it hurts that I only got to find out after reading your diary" He said with sad eyes, looking at Treasure.

Kim fixed his eyes back on the road and heaved an exasperated sigh.

"Do you remember one night when you had a bad dream? I rushed to your room and asked you what the problem was but you refused to talk to me. You always shut me out whenever I try to know what's wrong with you… All these years, I didn't know you were having such bad dreams because you were abused. You could've least told me what happened to you Tee," Kim said bitterly.

Treasure took a deep breath. She felt bad for not telling her brother what happened to her, perhaps it was because she didn't know that Kim cared about her until now. She has always shut him up whenever he tried to know what was wrong with her in the past and it was because she sees her brother as someone who only cares about drugs.

"Actually, I always wanted to tell you," She said softly.

"So why didn't you tell me then"

"Because! I thought you wouldn't care... That night Shawn forced himself on me, I saw you through the window so I screamed your name over and over again but you didn't hear me. You were there yet it seemed as if you weren't" she said and it was the first time, Treasure was talking about it without shedding a tear.

"Oh my God Tee," Kim whispered silently feeling his heart, ache. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you. I'm sorry you had to go through that trauma all alone...  If I could turn back the clock, I never would've left your side"

"It's okay Kim, It's in the past now. Thanks to you, Shawn is dead. I have no one stalking me. I am as free as a bird" Treasure said with a faint smile.

"That's right Tee," Kim said feeling satisfied that he ended Shawn's life and that his sister is now at peace. Hopefully, she'll no longer have nightmares about that ugly incident again.

"I promise you that you're no longer alone. I know I barely say this but I'm saying it now. I care about you a lot and as long as I'm alive, no one is ever going to hurt you" Kim said with determination.

Treasure reached out her hand and held Kim's hand that was on the steering wheel with a broad smile on her face.

*******