The bar was even more crowded than last time. Patrons were yelling and laughing so loud Yerin could barely hear when the hostess told her to follow her to the back. Marcus was already sitting at the same table, a coke and plate of fries in front of him. He had a black folder placed off to the side. Once Yerin was seated, a waitress came up, asking for her own order. Although Yerin really wanted a strong drink that was more alcohol than mix, she went with water to keep her head clear.

“Is this really the place to have this kind of discussion?” Yerin pointed out in a voice that was a few notches above her inside voice.

Marcus smirked. “It’s a good cover. Plus, it’s harder for people to eavesdrop with all the noise and not make it obvious.” After popping a few fries into his mouth, he continued, “So. Are you really in this?”

“After what happened with Sehun….” Yerin sighed as she tried to keep the images at bay. “I can’t stand by anymore. I need to get them out of there. You said that you had a plan.”

Flipping open the folder, Marcus pushed forward a hand drawn blueprint of the basement. “This is the layout of sixty-six that I could bring up in the archives. Thankfully, all nine of them are housed in the same the hallway. Testing is coming to a standstill for the next month due to what happened today.” He paused, glancing up at Yerin for a moment. When he saw that she wasn’t reacting, he went on. “Next weekend is a national holiday. Staffing is going down to a minimum: two guards on rotation and no orderlies save for a few in the infirmary.”

Yerin took the blueprint and scanned over the possible exits. The elevator seemed to be the only way in or out.

“There’s a hidden emergency exit,” Marcus pointed it out on the map as if he was reading her mind. “The stairs lead straight to an alley a block or so from the facility. That will give us a good head start if we can barricade the exit after we go through. I’ll have a van big enough for all of us waiting there. From there, I’ll take us to another vehicle hidden in another location in order to cover our tracks. Then we’ll go to the safe house until my contact arrives. After that, once it’s deemed safe, we’ll transport them to the rehabilitation so they can start adjusting to life on the outside.”

It was good. At least, it sounded good since she’d never pulled off something like this before. Convoluted heist films were about the beginning and end of her expertise. 

“And just so you know,” Marcus added. “You’ll be put into witness protection, alongside the boys.”

Yerin perked up. “I can stay with them?”

Marcus smiled, but there seemed to be a small sadness behind his eyes. “Yes. The higher-ups figured their chances at adjusting were better if you were with them. They’re attached to you.”

Heat rose up in her cheeks, but she was able to shake it off. She could think about the after once they were free. “So, how do we get them out of the cells?”

“That’s where you come in.” He took a long sip of the watered down coke. Most of the ice had melted but the waitress hadn't returned to give him a fresh cup. “In order for all the cells to be opened at once, you need level three clearance. Guards only have up to level two, which gets a single cell open per badge swipe. Doing that individually would take too long. But – and I’ve triple checked – you have the clearance to flip the switch that will open all the cells at once.”

“Letting everyone make a break for it at the same time,” Yerin finished.

“Exactly.”

Sitting back in the chair, she was a bit dumbfounded. She should have trusted Marcus from the start. He really did have this thought through.

“So, when do we do this?”

Marcus shuffled the papers back into the folder. “My shift is on the Saturday of the holiday weekend. Our best window is for the morning, oh-seven-hundred. That way no one would question why I’m there unscheduled. You’re fine, they don’t question the doctors that come in and out.” Yerin nodded her understanding. Marcus leaned forward, lowering his voice to where she could barely hear it. “Yerin, this is still going to be dangerous. All the guards are armed with free floaters and guns. Something could go wrong.”

“I can’t think about that,” Yerin answered in the same volume. “I have to focus on getting them out. They deserve it. I can’t let this escalate. They’re trying to take away their freedom of choice, Marcus. That can’t happen. So, I get that it'll be dangerous. I'm not a fool. But I can't let that danger make me back out. Not now.”

Marcus straightened up, satisfied with the reply. “All right, then.”

She spent the next week on edge. As every day inched closer to the determined Saturday, Yerin grew more and more nervous. The little voice in the back of her head would plead with her, try to convince her that it wasn’t too late to back out. She slapped the voice away. It was too late, because turning back now... she would regret it for the rest of her life.

Dr. Wang kept her word. The very next day Yerin was allowed to speak with Sehun in his cell. The cut on his wrist was mostly healed up, looking more like an eight week old wound. The air was lighter after she was able to explain to him why she hadn’t been around. He seemed better, knowing that she hadn’t abandoned him.

The sessions with the boys also gave her an advantage. In one of the sessions, Baekhyun had let her know that they all could read, so she'd written out little notes, simply giving them the date and time and telling them to be ready.

Junmyeon recieved his first. When he read it - careful not to let it be obvious - he raised an eyebrow in surprise. Even though Yerin kept her face composed, he seemed to understand, giving her a small smile.

One by one, they got the message. Yerin made sure not to give them the information all at the same time, spreading it out so it wouldn’t be so obvious that something was up. Chanyeol had frowned, confused at what she trying to convey in the odd, vague message. When Yerin left, she still wasn’t sure if he understood. Jongin’s reaction made her even more sure of the decision. He looked at her with eyes that sparkled, a new found hope that had never existed before.

The Thursday before the holiday weekend, she was going over her session notes like they actually mattered. Most of the talks were now closer to how friends caught up with each other then how a therapist would handle them. Especially her own.

Yerin tried not to think about it too much, but the memories of her own sessions were always there near the front of her mind. There was nothing horrible about them specifically. It was more the feeling that arose when people would give “the look” once they found out she'd seen a shrink as a teenager all the way up until her sophomore year of college. Which was ridiculous. She'd gone through something traumatic. Talking to someone about it simply made sense. Really, even though it was tough and awkward in the beginning, in hindsight, she was truly thankful. But people tended to not really care about the reason.

“Yerin, it’s okay to talk in here.”

She was a nice enough woman. Her hair was up in a tight bun, a few strands loose here and there since it was near the end of the day. A pair of square glasses sat in the bridge of her nose, giving her the vibe of a librarian stepped right out of the movies.

The therapist was always patient with her. She never tried to rush answers out when Yerin wasn't forthcoming. There would be times where fifteen minutes would go by before Yerin would even say what happened that week at school. It was tough to talk about. The stares, the whispers. Most of the kids weren’t too terrible. They were nice to her face, at least. Others weren’t so gracious.

It was there in that office, on a couch that was overstuffed, surrounded by little toys and trinkets and roughened up stuffed animals, that she was finally able to talk about it all.

“They all say it’s my fault.”

“And who is ‘they’?”

Yerin shrunk in on herself, as if holding her arms around herself was the best protection possible. “The kids at school. They all blame me. And they’re right.”

“You are not at fault, Yerin,” the therapist would insist in that soothing voice of hers. She was good at being insistent without the harshness Yerin's parents' often held in their voices. They didn’t do it on purpose, they just didn’t know how else to say it. “It was an accident. Out of your control. You did what you were supposed to do.”

It wasn’t an accident. But that’s what the police declared. “Then why do I feel like a monster?”

It was one of those rare times that the therapist stood up from her chair, walked over to Yerin and knelt down so she was higher up than the therapist. “You were born human. No matter what happens to you, you’re still human. I believe you are still a good person, Yerin. And someday you are going to do something amazing.”

Something amazing. Well, this kind of jail break wasn’t exactly world-changing achievements like Yerin had imagined for years, but she was going to change someone’s world. Nine worlds actually.

“Hello… earth to Yerin.”

Yerin blinked, coming out of the memory. “Yeah?”

Nada pursed her lips. “I’m going to assume that it’s because of our lovely long weekend that you keep spacing out, hm?”

“Yeah,” Yerin lied with a forced smile. “I’m just ready to relax for a few days.” If things went right, sh was pretty sure she wouldn’t feel relaxed for a very long time. This also might be the last time she saw Nada. Yerin wanted to tell her how much she'd appreciated her friendship, but Nada was too intuitive. She’d know something was wrong if Yerin suddenly got all sentimental.

“Same here,” she giggled. “I’m looking forward to long days on the beach and soaking up some sun.”

Good. She’d be far away here.

“What are your plans for the weekend?”

Yerin shrugged, keeping her eyes on the work in front of her. “I’m a homebody. I’ve got a big to-be-read list that I’m going to tackle. Maybe rent a few movies.”

“You are so boring,” Nada deadpanned.

That actually made Yerin laugh. Because she was boring. She was safe. At least, she used to be. If she lived through this weekend, she was going to kill Marcus. There really was a large TBR pile sitting in her living room. Tonight, she’d have to remember to say goodbye to them. Maybe she should put a duffle bag together and sneak a few of them in with a change of clothes.  That was practical, right?

“You can always come with me, you know,” Nada offered.

Shaking her head, Yerin sighed. “No, that’s okay. Thank you though.”

Would Yerin have taken her offer any other time? Probably not. She was always more of a forest person over the beach. And home was where she was most comfortable. Beaches tended to be crowded. Yerin liked the feeling of getting lost in nature, the isolation. Beaches equaled exposure.

Nada pouted. “Suit yourself.” She went back to her work and dropped the subject.

For the rest of the time, the two of them engaged in some more small talk, mostly Nada complaining about her parents and her sister, who had just found out that she was pregnant. It all felt normal from the outside. One last little taste before the end.