her eyes dilated within seconds. the warm fluid ran down , almost burning through her insides though she refused to stop. drowning another one and another after that until she irresistibly began to choke. it was loud and could be heard throughout the crowded bar. most who were close to ears-length were equally succumbed heavily with alcohol, to joys relief. 

joy barely touched her drink, which to her seemed strangely impossible. refusing to drink was illegal in her definition. though instead, her doewed eyes narrowed with concern at the latter sitting besides her. 

one hand raised up with slight hesitation, altering the bartender while the other hand slithered its way to stop the latter from another sip. she received a hiss but without a bother, the tequila was safely out of arm's reach. 

“sooyounggg~ my drink is getting cold” joy ignored her completely.

“hi, yes, can you maybe stop giving her drinks if she keeps on asking.” the bartender hesitated at the intimidating look he was receiving so she quickly pulled out her most empathetic smile, “you know, low-tolerance” he nodded, mirroring the same smile to the kind young lady. he turned smoothly on his feet, off with his other customers. joy’s attention went back to a completely wasted joohyun, who failed miserably to unhatched the drink from her hands. 

“you meanie~” frowning deeply, her small figure pushed itself up with every effort she could strengthen. huffing in defeat, she pulled back into her seat and pushed herself forwards, until her cheeks rested on the cold, glassy bar top.

“i can’t believe i’m saying this but you need to stop drinking unnie!” 

her harsh tone sent chills throughout joohyun’s  body. but by the way her body reacted, the uncomfortable heat from the liquor didn’t sit well in her stomach, let alone she couldn’t physically sit at all. joy gave her a wary look, one that held the deepest look of disappointment she had ever seen from the youngest. the silence that followed after was almost insufferable and all joohyun wanted to do was puke.

“let’s get you home” the youngest states, her voice softer, knowing that now wasn’t the right time to start an argument. 

sooyoung pondered at the exit. on her left, joohyun was held firmly within her arms. she could barely hold herself up, her hair was disheveled and her face was painfully coloured red. definitely not in any state to be spotted by paparazzi. 

thinking on the spot, she was able to sneak through the back exit, within seconds, resting joohyun on the back seat of her security guard’s car, where she accompanied too. 

they were able to barely sneak through the largely infatuated paparazzi, holding there camera is anticipation for the actors' presence.

“ma’am” the guard spoke up. slightly centering his view to the mirror. joy perked up immediately, softly responding with a hum. 

“the premiere is tomorrow.” he remind and joy could’ve swore she saw his brows perk with pity at the actors unconscious state. 

“yes, and?” her voice thick with attitude. she felt offended at the man who had no business with their current situation.

“ms. bae doesn’t look well. i’m just concerned if she will be able to make it… deferring on her state currently.” if joy had an option, she would’ve kicked the man balls. what he was saying wasn’t wrong for a matter of fact but the way his face held a double meaning was one thing that ticked her off

“ms.bae can handle herself thank you.” joy sighed, using time to think through, “please just drive us home.” her lip pierced tightly, holding back any snarky comment she wanted to push through. for joohyun’s sake, she kept patient. 

the man remained silent to joy’s delight. satisfied and quite honestly exhausted, her head rested in her seat, shoulders relaxing for just a bit and she let her eyes closed until the sounds of city life drowned out. 

wait. sooyoung thought abstently. now fully aware of her surroundings, her eyes were fixated at the repetition of forestry indulging around them.

something’s wrong. this isn’t the way home. 

a combination of curiosity and a threat took the best of joy’s mind. 

in a much hushed voice, the driver spoke in what joy can only comprehend as spanish. he sounded almost panicked as the caller on the other line yelled rather profoundly. 

her professional instinct quickly kicked in, pulling out her gun, safety hoisting in on the side of her hips. she found herself moving cautiously, preventing any irrelevant bantering from both ends. 

joys eyes darted around hastily. she pulled out her phone, quickly scanning through her recent text. there she searched for seulgi. the only reliable contact she could’ve thought in the moment. 

“find me. something’s wrong,” is all she wrote before pulling apart the end and retracting the chip into her back pocket, discarding her phone entirely. 

cursing herself, joy’s mind busied itself with peicing the current dilemma together. 

just then, there was a gasp of surprise and a pause from the front. she winced a little, not physically prepared when her body gave an involuntary jerk at the cars sudden stop. crashing through to what seemed unidentified. 

fortunately, both her and joohyun were left unharmed from the safety of the seatbelt.  

the driver although stayed mum. 

“hey” joy voice choked in panic. joohyun, who remained silent the entire time remained unconscious and all joy could do was watch. 

she wanted to say something, had to say something but she had no idea what to say. she breathed out a lengthy breath. she need to focus. this situation wasn’t her first and certainly not her last. 

especially when they were surrounded. 

six men all dark clothes packed around the outskirts, looking in her direction. their faces clothed by the darkness.

joy needed time to think. this could go through if she played correctly. she couldn’t call backup from the aftermath of the crash. and even if she did there wasn’t time. the only solution came to her mind. she slowly pulled out pistol from her waist, hoisting the weapon to arms length.

two men, who remained unfamiliar, walked closer. there steps heavy as it made its way through the dirt road and to the side of the vehicle. 

joy cursed softly under her breath. reaching out, she made notice to the others that all the doors were locked. she perked her head forward seeing the two, both caucasian males who shared similar dirty blonde hair, one slick back into ponytails as the other kept it more spiked. 

definitely not friendly. 

the men lunged forwards. with all they had, they pulled harshly, trying to break through the door. 

joy squeezed her eyes and swallowed. how she wished for backup right about now. but she had to be strong, for her and for joohyun. 

with the slightest chance she had, she pushed down the window and aimed her gun towards their heads. easily shooting down both and fortunately giving her the chance to run. 

she grabbed joohyun by her waist, pushing her to rest on her dominant shoulder. just as she had her chance, joy felt a strong squeeze on her arm followed by a low growl.

“you’re not going anywhere!” the driver grunted, anger thick in his voice. 

he grunted repedelty after the aftershock from the crash. his wound gushed out blood and his thick brown hair looked disheveled, almost covered in sweat. 

joy was astonished, no, she was paralyzed at the sudden pain in her right arm. 

the sudden sounds of footsteps rushing there direction took her out of her trance. out of reflex her other hand aimed her gun towards the driver, giving him barely any time to react. 

his dead corpse loosened on her arm and with the opportunity she had, she rushed through the doors and into the dark entrance of the forest. 

her steps were heavy from the additional weight. she slowed for a second, giving her time to push joohyun to a more comfortable and easier position. and then she ran. faster then she had ever trained. back when she regretted joining the national security from the harsh training. 

it all came rushing back to her. knowing now more than ever that every blood, sweat and tears was worth it. 

the crunches of leaves grew closer until they surrounded her. she was almost there. the spewing lights of the city life came into view.

her pace grew faster until her breaths turned unsteady, exhaustion evident in her steps.

suddenly seulgi came into mind. 

the partner she grew to admire. a view of her signifying bear smile, monolid eyes tinned into a curved line and cheeks puffed cutely. 

to be able to see that again washed the throbbing pain running it’s way through her legs, sprinting even faster than before. 

suddenly the air went still. the crunching of the leave only evident from her only. 

joy furrowed her brows but doesn’t stop running. with sudden curiously, she tilted her head only to panic at what followed. 

a gunshot could be heard, echoing throughout the forest

...

A/N: school killing me uwu. this is a rather short chapter but i wanted the next to be more angst. (as if it's not already LMAOO) 

hope y'all enjoyed and please remember to upvote  

(: :(