At first, he didn’t move, giving her the chance to respond and when she took a little while, he opened his eyes to find her staring at him. With her soft lips still connected with his own, they tentatively stared into each other’s eyes and then his gaze darted quickly to . Slowly he watched her breath get caught in and then she opened slightly to let him in. He kissed her slowly and savored the feeling of her body clinging to him. Her hold on his middle was strong and her lips moved in synch with his.

He wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted but towards the end, they both grew quiet and just looked at each other while their breathing evened out. Ji hyo was the first to break the silence. “It’s kinda cool huh? It’s like we’re in a movie.” She smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She’s nervous. I make her nervous.

He nervously chuckled, impressed at her ability to make jokes in any situation. “I’m—I don’t know why I did that. I’m really—-.”

She cut him off. “I’m sorry but you’re very sentimental. It’s simple. You thought you were going to die so you kissed me. I get it. It’s fine. I’m not upset so you don’t have to apologize. Plus, I did kiss you back so let’s just call it a crazy moment and move on. No need to dwell on it too much.” She needed him to be focused on their mission. If one of them messed up, the other could end up dead and she didn’t need him getting distracted. “If you want to, you can apologize after we leave here. I’m keeping tabs. That’s three things you have to apologize for.”

He tried to do the math. “Three?” He didn’t like that she had dismissed the kiss but this was also not the time to have that discussion so he pivoted.

“The kidnap thing which honestly was ty of you so you’ll have to beg on your knees to get my forgiveness for that one.” She raised her eyebrow indicating how serious she was. “The kiss just now; that wasn’t so ty.” She watched his eye twinkle a bit and she thought maybe she shouldn’t have said that. “…and a third apology for being so emotional all the time and apologizing over and over when we are trying to murder a guy. You have an awful sense of timing and you’re kinda ruining the mood.”

He tried to laugh a bit but the reality of their situation left him with a lump in his throat. “I’m so—.” He stopped when he saw her playful eye roll. “Right.” He nodded understanding her point.

“Are you ready?” She planned to pretend they didn’t just kiss. In her mind, the adrenaline rush and fear of possibly dying made the kiss possible.

He was not interested in her and she was definitely not interested in him, case closed.

He nodded and watched as she turned around. He placed his hands on her waist again and helped her up. She was very athletic and flexible and easily climbed through. He stood there tapping his feet waiting for her to open the door. He hoped it wouldn’t take long.

When she opened the door he was so happy that he wanted to kiss her again but held back. She was smiling widely at him very clearly proud of herself. He didn’t kiss her but he proudly smiled at her and briefly touched her arm. “You did well.”

“Come on.” She moved ahead of him and he let her. She was more than capable of taking care of both of them.

They had agreed to search every room together. They figured separating wasn’t a good idea. Jong-kook had seen one of Ji Hoon’s minions leave what appeared to be a bathroom. He cornered the guy and quickly shot him in the leg. Ji hyo took care of the rest. Every time she gagged and tied up one of those men, she felt a vindicated rush.

They dragged the man into the bathroom and tossed him in the tub after stripping him. They both froze and jong kook put a hand to cover when they heard a familiar voice.

“Man-shik!! Where are you? How long does it take to take a piss?” The voice seemed to get closer and closer and both jihyo and jong kook could see the panic in each other’s eyes.

Jong-kook removed his hand from and whispered for her to hide in a corner without speaking a word. With her behind him, he had decided to take the lead if things go south.

Jong-kook had decided that he would wait for Ji-hoon to leave before making his next move. They weren’t sure if there were more people in the house so they needed to be careful. It wasn’t long before they heard footsteps walking away. He sighed in relief.

“I’m going to follow him and I want you to follow behin