∞∞∞∞∞

Pressing a finger against her ear in effort to block out the distracting club noise Chorong shouted into the phone, hoping Bomi would hear her screaming over the racket, “I don’t see them! Are you sure they’re here?!”

Her eyes quickly scanned the dance floor one more time before frustratingly hurrying outside where the quiet night air was more than welcoming. When the door slammed shut behind her she could still feel the music echoing inside her body. Night clubs, she hated them.

“Well, you’re right about that,” Bomi said, “they’re on the road now.”

Chorong let out a grunt and quickly stomped toward her car, “Where are they headed.”

“Location sent to your phone,” Bomi explained. “I also sent whatever I could about Kim Yongchan to your tablet. Look it up when you can.”

Hanging up Chorong wound back on the road muttering to herself, “Just where exactly are you going, Joonmyun?”

∞∞∞∞∞

Something about tonight was unusual and Sehun didn’t like it. He couldn’t keep his eyes closed for more than ten minutes at most, five at least. Giving up he left the bed and headed out for a cold glass of water. Warm milk always did the trick when he was younger, but he was no longer a fan of milk. Namjoo had proved not to be a fan of it either.

After grabbing that cold glass of water he sat at the table and stared at the contents of the pendant and ring he’d left behind earlier on the table. It was disturbing he had to admit.

When he had to claim Namjoo as his wife under the alias Min Sohye to keep her safe from the public eye, it had been nothing but awkward. He didn’t know a thing about this woman he had to share his home with. The fact that he had to treat her as someone he loved had been a big burden, but time melted that away. She was as normal as any other woman he came across.

Prying the pendant open his eyes roved over the pictures inside – the real pictures of them, not the photoshopped ones. One of them was the first picture they’d ever taken together, their smiles slight and stiff. The second picture was of two happy people genuinely smiling.

It was quiet now, not just because it was nighttime but because he was the only one here. His sham marriage had been the kind of marriage anyone else would have realistically. Normal. From the very beginning he couldn’t share one bed with Namjoo. It was strange, weird. It had been too clear for him that they were fake, but Namjoo continuously had nightmares that made her cry out every so often in the night. He had always jolted awake, alarmed, and would often comfort her to sleep.

One year had gone by very fast, but the memories were plenty. Sehun could still recall the first initiation of intimacy they shared together, when Namjoo kissed him one morning. It had shocked him completely. He could still remember going out to complete his errands and coming back home flustered, unable to face her but Namjoo was 100% unaffected. One day while watching soccer he had kissed her too and they made out shortly before the oven timer interrupted.

Yes, the sham marriage had been a completely normal one. He had been affectionate with her.

But Namjoo was a criminal on the run. That was his mistake.

Sliding his ring off and setting it onto the tabletop he thought about how he’d found her that morning. The airport…why had she been there in the first place? Kim Joonmyun had also been at the airport.

After making a quick call he was at the bureau in no less than an hour. Kim Hana was in the tech analyst’s room running through the security footage she’d obtained just before he arrived.

“What do you have?” he instantly inquired.

“Currently spinning through it,” she muttered then said in a clearer voice, “funny, they said, we aren’t the only ones who wanted to look at the tape.”

Sehun frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Apparently someone else wanted access to the tapes,” Hana turned to him. “The Interpol.” Then interrupting his thoughts she said, “I think I found her.”

His attention swerved to one of the computer screens and watched Hana enlarge the footage. There was Kim Namjoo leaving a car with an unknown woman and Joonmyun.

So she’d found him, faster than any of them had, and they were back on the run. The chase was just about to resume again.

Spinning around he left the room ordering, “Find that car and find out where they are.”

∞∞∞∞∞

Chorong slipped her feet off the accelerator and peered out the window when she spotted the car by the side of the road. It was the exact make of the one Joonmyun had driven that morning, but why was the car here? Turning to stare out into the dark beyond she squinted her eyes for better vision. There was something up ahead. A building. Turning quiet she opened her window to listen for anything, anyone. She smelled food first then she heard voices.

Joonmyun was here. She’d recognize his voice anywhere. What was he doing here and who was he talking to? When the voices rose threateningly Chorong pulled open the glove box and reached for her pistol. She wasn’t about to let Joonmyun fall in danger or let anyone else arrest him before she could.

Extending her arm out the window she shot into the night air and listened to the figures scatter in panic. Throwing the gun aside she rammed her foot against the accelerator and surged forth, listening to the chaotic clatter as her car drove through the fence. The noise echoed into the night air, then silence. She spotted shadows disappearing into the distance and searched for Joonmyun. He wasn’t in sight. Leaving her headlights on she stepped out of her car and walked around it, looking around.

Disregarding the abandoned building and the fact that anyone might be waiting inside for their chance to attack, she called out for him. Though the abandoned factory stretched for miles the surrounding woods gave it a haunting chill. She hadn’t been mistaken, had she? No, she was completely confident she’d heard Joonmyun. He was here…somewhere.

Chorong’s attention quickly shot toward some crates piled up to the side of the building and watched both Namjoo and Joonmyun step out. First they looked appalled then dumbfounded when they recognized her. Relief soaked her veins but she didn’t dare show it on her face that she was glad he was still safe.

Stepping toward her Joonmyun questioned with a hint of defense, “What are you doing here?”

“And you?” she shot back. “What are you doing here?” She watched the two turn to look at each other and grew slightly annoyed. What did he have to hide from her? Why did he always have something to keep from her?

“You should leave,” Joonmyun suggested.

Chorong quickly spotted the gun within Namjoo’s grasp when they began walking by. She stopped them with, “Are you out here to kill someone again?”

“Chorong,” it was Namjoo this time. Her eyes swayed off the Interpol agent’s face then turned to look at Joonmyun for an answer. She wanted him to be the one to tell her just because she wanted to hear something from him. Noticing her stare on Joonmyun Namjoo turned to look at her runaway partner for an answer.

As the atmosphere tensed Joonmyun finally told her, “It’s not your problem.”

“It is my problem if the federal bureau is involved,” Chorong pressed on stubbornly. “What are you two up to and all the way out here?! Who were those people? Why were you at the nightclub?”

Silence.

Joonmyun’s defensive stance grew stern. His interrogative eyes settled deeply on her, a sign that he was going to blockade her any moment now.

. She shouldn’t have opened .

Joonmyun’s stare thickened on her. Unhappily, he questioned, “You followed us?”

Firmly pressing her lips together Chorong took a deep breath. “Yes.” The expression of disbelief on Joonmyun’s face made her feel extremely guilty, but she wasn’t about to apologize. She would get what she came here to get, answers. “I’m reviewing Kim Yongchan’s murder. Just tell me, did you kill him or not?”

She wanted to shake him violently when he continued eyeing at her. Why didn’t he want to talk to her? She would do all she could to help if he just talked to her, but he had to go to other means. Why?! What was so bad about her that he felt he had to keep his lips sealed?

“You don’t need to get involved,” Joonmyun stated, “so go back.”

Chorong nearly gritted her teeth, prepared to bite back before the sound of a roaring engine interrupted. Wondering who their intruder was they all turned to watch the car gently swerve into park and a tall figure stepped out of the vehicle. Chorong frowned when she recognized none other than the FBI agent Oh Sehun.

∞∞∞∞∞

Eyes widening, Namjoo’s stare glued onto the familiar form. Something raced through her mind but it wasn’t a clear enough order for her to turn and run. Instead, she remained trapped in spot and watched Sehun to the front of his car, glance at them all before letting his eyes land on her. Millions of questions buzzed through her mind, but she didn’t want to resort to adding her personal problems into this mix.

Chorong shot him a glance from the corner of her eye, irked that he’d interrupted her moment of interrogation. Namjoo felt her nerves tense wondering how the heck he had come here and why he was here. Joonmyun, unlike the two, felt baffled by what the situation had become. Tonight was supposed to be his and Namjoo’s night, but it had taken a sudden unforeseen turn. Certainly their luck had vanished somewhere in the darkness.

“You are…” Joonmyun wondered.

“I’m here to pick up my wife,” head held high Sehun never removed his gaze from her.

A frown overcame Joonmyun’s expression at last. He glanced first at Park Chorong then swiveled his eyes over to Namjoo. Then he asked, “You’re married?”

“I’m not married,” Namjoo was quick to deny. Her gaze shot back to Sehun before stepping back cautiously, “Who are you?”

Sehun’s gaze dropped to the ground with an amused smile before glancing back at her, “Lets go home.”

At the mention of home the place she had lived in the past year flashed through her mind. She was going to go insane over it. In that duration of time she believed she had been in love. Oh Sehun. This man was hers, she had thought, and she was lucky to have him. It was all a lie. Feeling the biggest urge to slap herself for getting tricked and still experiencing confusion about what her life had really been the past year, Namjoo did all she could to maintain self-control. She bit her tongue.

She wouldn’t trust him under any circumstance. The past year had ruined her life, she had lost her fiancé, all she’d had and if betrayal wasn’t already enough to describe what had happened, nothing else would. Grabbing Joonmyun’s arm she quietly said, “We need to leave.” Joonmyun glanced back at her in silent agreement.

“Namjoo,” Sehun took a step forward. Alert, Namjoo quickly took another step back and aimed at the ground. The shot was explosive and sent all their ears ringing. Her heart skyrocketed, pounding heavily within her frame. She was mentally afraid to fall back under the same spell she’d spent the last year under.

“Stay away,” she warned then slowly backed up with Joonmyun. Once the gap widened between both parties they both immediately turned in unison and made a run for it. Escape was all that plundered her mind. When the car neared they quietly jumped in and as fast as the wind, started the engine and sped down the road.

Calming her panting Namjoo pulled the seatbelt over her and listened to the rocks crumble underneath the wheels. Solace was all she felt, safe and far enough away from that man.

“What?” she asked upon noticing Joonmyun’s curious eye.

“You were married,” he quietly said.

If she could refute it, she would but she didn’t know what had really happened the past year – what her true self had actually been doing. Heaving a breath she brushed her loose hair back, “I wasn’t.”

“He said…”

“I wasn’t married,” Namjoo spoke more aggressively. Calming down she said, “I don’t know what happened. When I woke up in the hospital he was there. I didn’t know anything, so I believed him. I don’t know who he is or where he came from. I don’t even know his name.”

Joonmyun shot her a side glance but said no more. Namjoo glanced at him once then said, “What’s with you?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s a sin to lie,” Namjoo murmured. “I saw what happened between you and Chorong. How do you know her?”

She watched him press down on his teeth, tightening his jawline. After a long moment of silence Joonmyun finally said as they entered the city line, “She’s my ex.”

∞∞∞∞∞

Sehun literally stepped forward to follow when Namjoo and Joonmyun dashed off into the distance, but the Interpol agent’s voice brought him to a halt. “What are you doing here, agent?”

Pivoting toward her he glanced at the damage done to her car by the fence she’d run over. “I should speak the same.”

Chorong stared back just as stubbornly. “You first.”

Shrugging off his pensive demeanor he lied, “I just came here for my wife.”

“Your wife,” she repeated with doubt.

“Yes,” he confirmed. Appearing more confident he stated again, “My wife.”

Chorong ran her eyes over her him then smiled, “Government business really is shady.”

“Marriage has always been a government affair,” Sehun calmly smiled. “And what are you doing so late out here at night, agent?”

Thumping her foot against the ground Chorong crossed her arms, “I probably didn’t come out to enjoy the night air, so you can say I came to find someone.”

Joonmyun or Namjoo? Or was she helping them escape yet again? Sehun couldn’t make judgement, but he had clearly seen her talking to them as he pulled up. What exactly had they been talking about and why hadn’t she called in for back up? It wasn’t much of a task for him to figure out that Park Chorong was the other one who’d asked for the security footage at the airport. Just what was she up to?

“That would be dirty business for you,” Sehun said. “Might I remind you that the FBI is in charge of this case unless you’ve decided to transfer into another department.”

Chorong was prepared to get him, “FBI business?” she peered around behind him as if expecting to see the SWAT team and a jumble of vans at his back. “And where’s your team?” Eyes back on him, “It’s suspicious if you’re working alone, agent Oh. You had two perfect criminals right in front of you and you didn’t take the hook. Have you made a transfer yourself?” With a mock smile she went on, “Looks like you let her off…twice. If that’s anything I should say, but I won’t tattle about seeing you here tonight.”

She gave him a salute with a mischievous grin before getting inside her car. Sehun listened to her drive off before turning to stare off into the direction Namjoo and Joonmyun had disappeared. She had become completely wary of him. Again, Sehun droned over the fact that Kim Namjoo was the polar opposite of the woman he had shared a home with. They were, once more, strangers to each other.

Tonight, what had they been doing here? Where were they going to go and where were they going to hide? Why was Namjoo helping Joonmyun?

Perhaps it didn’t matter. He would just track them again. He’d find them, he would.

∞∞∞∞∞

He and Namjoo had come to an agreement that they would abandon Aejung’s car. Joonmyun didn’t like that Chorong was following them. He didn’t want anyone else involved and he didn’t want to ruin her career if anyone knew she could be linked to him.

They’d quietly returned to Aejung’s house and entered the home without turning the lights on. He couldn’t let their cover get blown by letting the neighbors know that someone other than the house owner was in. Now they would really have to plan on where to hide next. If Chorong knew the car he’d driven belonged to his former wife then she’d most likely guess where he was hiding. Since she belonged to a part of the government he was confident that figuring out that much wouldn’t be difficult for her at all.

Joonmyun couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his son behind without going to see him once. Tomorrow he’d go visit Hyunsu at the cinerarium to settle his heart. Before heading toward the bedroom he turned to stare at the baby picture of his son framed on the wall. His son was the very reason he’d settled down. Joonmyun had wanted to do everything right, be righteous, upright, and stand like a hero before his boy, so he’d left everything behind and married Shin Aejung. He hadn’t been able to keep his word for it. He hadn’t been good enough. He was a father, but to the rest of the world he was a murderer.

Deep in his unsettled being he knew that wasn’t just his only regret. Joonmyun had always been sorry for what he did to Park Chorong and because of that he couldn’t look her in the eye.