Back at the apartment, you showed Miryo and CL to your room. You and CL would take the bed and bring in an extra cot for Miryo to sleep on the ground. Mother and father had probably left by now, so to your best knowledge they are considered safe.

CL’s mother had died shortly after she was born, leaving her with her father. However, he also was a big business man and was out of town most of the time. This meant that she was safe to stay with us for a while; however, she was upset about missing school. You think that she is probably more upset about not being able to see DuJun.

You wonder what was up with JunHyung. Why had he been so curious about your whereabouts? Didn’t he have another girl friend right now? Then you remember what he had said. He had bluntly told Guk about the kiss. The meaningless kiss. The kiss that had nothing behind it.

You still feel guilty.

“Uh, so you guys unpack, I’m going to see what the others are up to…” you say as you get off the bed and head for the door.

“Okay.” CL says as she and Miryo move their bags around.

You go out and down the hall. The guys are spread out in the kitchen and meeting room. Guk leans against the counter and looks up at you as you walk in.

He hasn’t spoken much since the whole ordeal with father. And he seemed upset in the car ride back to the apartment. And now his bad mood has carried on into the rest of the day.

“Can I uh… can I talk to you for a moment?” you ask as you twirl your fingers.

“Sure.” he answers flatly.

You look at HimChan. HimChan looks at you and then back at Guk.

“Alone?” you ask as you stare at him.

Guk moves his eyes to HimChan as well.

“Well, jeez. That’s okay you guys. Don’t worry about me. I can tell when I’m not wanted.” he mumbles as he leaves the kitchen.

You smile and look back to Guk. His face is stone.

“So I wanted to talk to you about the stuff my father said… and also about JunHyung.”

“It’s okay.” he states. “No need to talk about it. I understand.”

His face relaxes a bit and you step closer.

“Well, I’m not so sure you do. You see, I don’t care what my parents think about you. They don’t know you like I do. They don’t know anything really. And JunHyung… the kiss… it was nothing. I wasn’t expecting it. It was just a peck and meant nothing.”
“I know.” he says.

You move closer, showing sympathy in your eyes.

“I really don’t care.” he says again.

That kind of hurts. Shouldn’t he care?

“Oh.” you answer.

“I don’t care because he kissed you then, but I get to kiss you now and forever. Right? What do I care about what has already happened? I can’t change anything.” he explains.

You nod and go to his side. “Right. It was nothing. And actually, that was when I think I really knew. Really knew that I had stronger feelings for you than anyone else.”

“Hm.” he finally smiles and wraps his arm around you, taking you into an embrace. “Then I guess I’m more thankful to the fool. Thankful that he let you know that.”

You hug him back. “Ha, I like the sound of that.” you smile. You do like the idea of Guk and JunHyung being friends… or at least getting along… somewhat.

Then HimChan walks back in and turns quickly.

“Whoa! I can see you two aren’t done yet, then.”

“Nah, we’re done.” you say as you try to pull away from Guk.

“No we’re not.” BYG answers as he holds you in.

You laugh as you try to free yourself from his grasp.

“Awe, too cute.” HimChan mocks.

Guk releases you and advances towards him.

“Whoa, whoa, like I said, I know when I’m not wanted.” he says quickly as he darts from the room.

You wink to Guk as you slide past him. The other guys glance at you as you walk through and back down to your room. You catch up on information about school and all with Miryo and CL as you tell them about your last couple days.

“Hey,” YoungJae peeks in through the crack in the door, “Me, DaeHyun, and HimChan are going to take the van back to the center of town.”

“Why?” Miryo asks.

“Well, we keep it there because if BigBang recognizes it, since it’s in the middle of the city, they won’t necessarily know which way we’re hiding.”

Oh. That was smart. YoungJae smiles at the idea of his own plan.

“Anyways,” he continues. “Guk, Zelo, and DaeHyun are heading out to get more supplies for the hideout. They want to know which group you want to go with.”
“Which group?” you ask.

“Yeah. HimChan’s team or Guk’s team?” He smiles as if it should be obvious to you. You know you would want to go with BYG’s team, but at the moment, you’re just tired from running around and all the drama. You just want to stay back.

“Couldn’t we hang out here?” you ask.

“Uh… well, I mean… I guess you could.” He shrugs. “I’ll go ask.”

You look around the room at the other girls.
“Do you guys want to go out?” you ask them.

“Not really.” CL smiles.

“I guess I don’t care, though I do love to shop.” Miryo mumbles.

There’s a knock on the door. Yong Guk sticks his head in.

“Can I talk to you?” he asks.

You get up and follow him into the hall. He shuts the door behind you.

“So listen, I think you should go with a team.” He says.

“Why?”

“I just don’t want to leave you alone. I’d prefer you to come with me, but if you want to go with HimChan’s group then you can. They’ll probably get back sooner than we will.”

“I’m tired, BYG.” You pout. “We all are. Can’t we just stay here? It is supposed to be a safe house right? No one knows we’re here.”

“HOPEFULLY no one knows we’re here. But still. It would make me feel better if you were with some of the guys. Do you want me to ask some to stay behind?”
“No, no, don’t worry about it. Uh, we’ll just go with HimChan I guess.” You shrug.

He smiles and kisses your forehead.

“You sure you don’t want to come with me?” he asks with a smile.

You smile back. “Guk…” you whine playfully.

“Fine. I understand.” He backs away with a sly smile. “You need some space, I get it.”

“It’s not that!” you slap his arm.

“It’s okay.” He smiles again as he grabs your hand and pulls you in.

This time he kisses your lips.

When he releases you, he starts down the hall.

“Okay my team, round it up and let’s move out!”

You go back inside the room. You really don’t feel like leaving. It’s not necessarily that you want space, but you’ve been around boys nonstop for the last week. Just some girl time would be nice.

You hear the apartment door shut and you know that Guk and his group have left. There’s another knock on your door a few minutes later and HimChan enters.

“Alright, ladies, we’re heading out. You girls ready?”

“Uh, we’re sitting this one out.” You say.

CL and Miryo shoot you a glance.

“What?” HimChan asks, losing his humor. “I thought you were coming with us? Guk’s group already left.”

“Yeah, I asked him already.” You say, choosing your words carefully so it’s not technically a lie.

“You asked him if you could stay behind?” he asks.

“Yep.”

“Oh… okay. Well then, I guess we’re heading out.” He rubs the back of his head hesitantly. “You sure you ladies don’t want to come?”

“Not really…” CL hesitates.

“I don’t care.” Miryo adds.

“Nope.” You say confidently for them.

“Alright. We’ll be back soon. Keep your phone with you.” He cautions you.

You smile and nod and he leaves. After a few minutes, the apartment is quiet. No sound. No burping. No yelling. No arguing. And no odd smells. It really is like a getaway home.

You smile to CL and Miryo and they smile back. You catch up on all the gossip from school. What the KARA  girls said about you. What Hara did. How the Beast boys have been.

After just a half an hour, you’re all caught up.

“I’m bored.” Miryo whines as she paces in the bedroom. “I wish we would have gone with one of them now.” She pouts.

“Ha, I don’t.” you retort.

“Can’t we do something?” she asks.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know…hey! There was a small convenience store at the corner of this street. Could we walk down there and get our own little supplies? Like food and drinks and stuff? How do we know the boys will get good enough stuff? We sent boys shopping?! How foolish.”

You and CL laugh.
“No, we can’t leave.” You say. “We’re technically not allowed to be alone. I wanted to show Guk we’re fine by ourselves. But if he finds out we left, then he really might be mad.”

“But I’m so bored!” Miryo plops face down on the bed and CL rolls her eyes. “Can’t we just do one quick trip, unnie?”

You look to CL and she looks back. She shrugs.

You sigh. “It has to be a real quick trip, Miryo. Like in and out.”

She jumps off the bed in happiness. “Oh, yes!”

“I mean it! No joy shopping! Just necessities!”

“Okay, unnie! I got it!” she pulls you and CL up by the hand and you follow her out.

You’re sure to grab your cell phone on the way out. You make sure the apartment locks before leaving. You can remember the easy four digit code. Miryo dances with excitement as you wait for the elevator.

“What’s taking so long?” she whines.

You and CL roll your eyes again. You all ride down together and make your way out into the street. It’s getting closer to dinner time now. The air feels cool and open. A light breeze passes by and brushes your hair. You feel happy. Free. You smile widely as you take CL and Miryo’s hands and start on your way down the street. The trees along the sidewalk are brisling in the wind, giving everything a relaxing feeling.

You three hurry into the small convenience store at the corner and begin shopping. You pick up vegetables and fruit as Miryo runs in search for bathroom stuff. CL goes straight to the cleaning supplies in search of air freshener and disinfectant wipes.

You gather it all into a basket when you realize you’ve forgotten your wallet back in the apartment.
“Oh shoot.” You hand CL the basket. “I forgot the wallet! I’ll be right back.”

“Well, wait, I’ll go with you!” she offers.

“No, we can’t leave Miryo here alone or she’ll try to buy the whole store.” You laugh. “I’ll be quick. Wait here and don’t leave!”

“Okay.” She says cautiously.

You quickly walk out of the store and make your way down the street. The sun isn’t shining like it had been. You look up to see a dark cloud moving in. Rain. You like thunderstorms and smile. A nice rain would do the world some good. It’s relaxing to be inside during a rain storm and to hear it beat on the windows. You move faster to be sure not to be caught in the weather when your phone begins to ring. You pull it out and look at the screen. JunHyung.

“Hello?” you answer it.

“Hey.” He says.

“Hey, JunHyung, what’s up?”

“Just wondering how you’re doing. How are you holding up at that place?”

“Ha, it’s not bad!” you laugh and joke with him as you skip down the street.

The wind is really picking up.

You stop outside the apartment complex. Across the street, you see a man in dark jacket with a dark rain hat on. He must feel that it’s going to rain too.

You glance at him once more over your shoulder before entering the code on the lock in order to get into the apartment complex. You quickly yank the door open and go into the lobby after glancing back at the man once more. Is he looking at you? The wind pulls the door open for you and you rush inside. You go through the lobby and down a short hall to the elevators. You press the button and stand back to wait for it, still talking to JunHyung on the phone. He wanted to know where you think you are and what the street is called. Just in case. You tell him as much as you know.

You can feel and hear the wind still coming in from outside. You turn and walk back down towards the lobby. Do you have to close the door or will it shut by itself. You poke your head around the corner. The wind has kept it open, but it’s starting to close now. Right before it can slam shut, a hand jumps in and blocks it. Your eyes open wide. It’s a dark glove. The hand is still for a moment before carefully opening the door.

You turn and rush back down to the elevators, now wanting to wait for the stranger. The elevator still isn’t there. You go past the elevator and head for the door leading to the staircase. You yank it open and run up the first flight of steps. You pause there to get your breath. You’re just overreacting. You try to quiet your breathing and listen. Quiet. Then the door opens below you and the sound of boots on the steps echo up to you.

You gasp and start to run up the next flight. Below, the other footsteps quicken their pace.
“JunHyung!” you yell into the phone.

“What’s going on?” he asks quickly.

“Someone…someone’s chasing me!” you pant as you sprint up the steps.

Your fear starts to cause you to stumble which causes you to panic more.

“JunHyung!” you scream as you fall to your knees.

Your hand shoots out to catch your fall and your phone hangs up. You get yourself off the floor and rush to the next flight. You can hear the sound of something big following you. They grunt and breathe hard as they stomp up the steps. You can hear the sound of their gloves on the railing as they fling themselves after you.

You yank the door to your floor open and sprint down the hall. You stop outside your door and quickly enter the code. *EHHHH* Wrong code! You pant as you glance down towards the end of the hall. The door pulls open and the big man in the black jacket stops to look at you. He’s breathing hard too.

You squeal as you rapidly enter the code again. *EHHHH* Wrong again! You feel yourself whining and crying as you try for a third time. The man starts to run towards you. *Beep* *Click* you get it open on the third try and squeeze through. You slam it shut just as the figure reaches you. You scream as his body hits your door. *Bang Bang Bang* the man pounds on your door. You cover your mouth and walk backwards as you gasp. They’re really hitting it hard! Could they break it down? It’s not a huge door.

You pull out your cell phone and dial the number. *Brrring* you back up, past the kitchen. *Brrring* “Oh please! Please answer me!” you cry into the phone. *Bang Bang Bang* you move further back. *Brrring* *BANG BANG BANG*  something in the door cracks. You gasp.

“Hello?” on the line.
“Yong Guk!” you scream accidentally.

“What? What is it?”

“Yong Guk, someone’s here!” you shout as you cry and move further into the family room.

“What? Who? Where?”

“I don’t know! Here! At home!” you cry.

“Why are you at home? Where’s HimChan?” he asks quickly.

“Not here!” you cry harder. “No one is here!” *Bang Bang* *Crack!* “Ah, Guk they’re coming in!”

“Run!” he yells. “Hide! I’m on my way! God damnit, Hyuna, you HIDE!”

You gasp as another good hit on the door sends wood chips flying in. You stumble over the small table on the floor and land on your stomach with a thud. The table tips and you spill over it. Your phone clicks and goes flying under the couch.

You jump up when you hear a kick on the door and hear it swing open and crash into the wall. You gasp. You can’t run to the bedrooms or they’ll see you. You turn and pull open the sliding door to the outside balcony. The curtains should hide you out there. You shut it as quickly and quietly as you can. You run to the railing of the balcony on the side and try to get out of view. Inside the house you can see the dark shadow of the figure inside. They walk slowly around.

You press up against the rail. If they come too close, they could see you. They advance. You gasp and climb over the railing and hold on from the other side. Behind you is a tree. Pretty tall but it doesn’t make it all the way up to you and it’s a few feet away as well. You glance at it and then back at the house. The figure is coming to the window. You turn around. One more glance over your shoulder verifies that the intruder is still coming near the window. You turn back… and jump.