Sehun awoke with a startle when he received a text. Still half asleep he reached for his phone and checked the message. It was from luhan. A fact that surprised him. What baffled him even more was that his brother wrote, saying that Eunbi was missing and that her mother had called the police. Sehun tried to remain unfazed by this, which he found considerably hard. It wasn’t every day your girlfriend was reported as a missing person. Luckily for him, he knew exactly where she was. Next to him. Safe and sound. And with that, Sehun texted back that there was no need to be worried. This only resulted in yet another message, which read, she’s with you, isn’t she?

There was no way Luhan would know where they were, and because of that, Sehun replied with a simple yes. Whether his brother would relay the information was up to him. He doubted it though, something that was confirmed right away as his brother’s next text message arrived. Sehun almost thought he was dreaming for he could barely believe what he was reading. As long as they’re unhappy, I’m happy, was what he’d written. It was utterly unexpected to see that coming from Luhan. They were still not on the best of terms. Though it’d begun to get better. But it was going to take some time before anything would be remotely okay again.

Sehun fell back asleep again as soon as he’d placed the phone away. It was still too early to get up so he draped an arm around Eunbi’s waist and let his hand rest against her stomach.

Eunbi awoke after a while. A sense of panic overwhelmed her for a second before she realized where she was, something she’d forgotten for a moment. The sound of Sehun’s, though very low, snoring was more than enough for Eunbi to feel at ease. She was relieved he was there as it meant she didn’t have to be alone. And ever so gently did she place her hand over his, which she then noticed lay against her stomach. Whether it was intentional or not she couldn’t be sure, but all Eunbi could think of was Sehun’s not so subtle suggestion from the day before. Her insides tingled by the mere thought of it. Obviously he only meant it as a way to get back at their parents. At least that’s what she thought he’d had in mind. Well. It would be for the best if he wasn’t serious because they would’ve hit a huge problem otherwise. Their current situation would be nothing in comparison to the one if she got pregnant. It would be disastrous to say the least.

Movement from Sehun’s side told her he was awake and she glanced at the male, whose gaze found hers. And just like that her pulse raced. There was no doubt he could do things to her heart that no one else could. It was insane how dependent she’d become to him. How much of her happiness relied on him. Sehun was the only person who thrilled yet calmed her at the same time. And the fact that he was one of the very few people she could rely on showed just how important he was to her.

Several harsh knocks on the door disturbed their little moment and Eunbi sat up in a hurry. She became even more worried when the person on the other side pulled at the door handle as if trying to get inside. Sehun reacted at this too and was soon up on his feet. His whole composure had changed in a second as he got up from the bed and walked over to the door and looked into the peephole. Eunbi watched all this happen from her place on the bed, her senses on high alert. Had their parents already found out where they were and was now trying to come and get them?

“It’s Ahbin.” Surprised by her friend’s sudden appearance, Eunbi shot up from the bed and rushed over to the door, which she unlocked and opened. Disheveled hair, red eyes, and an expression that showed she’d cried met Eunbi’s eyes as she looked at Ahbin. The latter pushed her way inside, completely disregarding the fact that Sehun was there before she spoke.

“There’s something you should know. Well. There’s two things actually. First and foremost. Your mother has called the police and filed a missing person’s report on you. This on it’s own is pretty bad. But what’s worse, your mother wants to send you overseas.” Information that heavy was a lot to take in and it took a moment or two for Eunbi to realize what Ahbin just said. It was not simply a missing person report that’d been filled out. But also a threat about being sent away. Like, away away. Not just to her grandmother’s. But really far away.

“How could you know?” Sehun interrupted and it seemed like Ahbin noticed him for the first time because she tensed, as if she hadn’t expected someone else to be there. Whether Ahbin was upset by Sehun’s presence, Eunbi had no idea, for the other girl continued like it was the most natural thing in the world that Sehun was around.  

“Because Eunbi’s mom called my house and I sort of overheard the conversation between her and my mom.” So there was no doubt about that then? But why would her mother call Ahbin’s mom in the first place? It wasn’t like they knew each other. There seemed to be endless possibilities to this so-called situation and Eunbi found herself unable to know what to expect next. Had the phone call been nothing but a formality and a way to tell the other woman about her plans, or had her mother already figured out that Ahbin might be a part of this. Either how, Eunbi and Sehun would now have to lay low so as to not draw attention to themselves. Ahbin, too, needed to be careful.

“You haven’t told anyone we’re here, right?” Ahbin shook her head in an instance, she hadn’t told a single person where Eunbi was. And that even though her mother and father tried to force it out of her. They’d been certain Ahbin knew of Eunbi’s whereabouts. She did. But she’d refused to reveal anything despite being threatened with curfew. In the end Ahbin managed to convince her parents that she really did not know where Eunbi was, which was a lie of course. A lie that most likely would come back and bite her in the .

In the midst of it all did Sehun’s phone ring. He ignored it though, until it rang for a second time. Eunbi told him to pick it up in fear that it might seem suspicious, especially after she noticed it was his father who were calling. Sehun took the call and almost immediately did a heated conversation break out. They were arguing with one another and Eunbi could hear that his father was asking him if he knew where she was. Sehun replied no, he did not know where she was. This answer only made it worse because his father reminded him that lying would do no good. And the call ended with the promise that they would eventually find out about where Eunbi was staying. Sehun frowned at this, but made no notion to reply before he ended the call and threw the phone on the bed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think they know we are together.” Well. Eunbi didn’t think that was too much of problem since they had no idea about their whereabouts. In fact. It would probably have been a bigger surprise for their parents if they weren’t together.

“Maybe we should stay here then, because if they know we’re together the police probably do to.” All she hoped for now was to get Ahbin to agree. It wouldn’t be right to just have Sehun stay without asking if it was alright first. That he’d already stayed the night was bad enough. So Eunbi wanted to make sure that Ahbin was okay with it and therefore asked her friend if Sehun could be with her until this ordeal settled down.

“How long do you think this will last? I mean. What if you can’t come to an agreement? Are you like going to run away from here then? What if . . . Ah. This is driving me nuts. Why can’t your parents just understand that nothing will break you apart.” The straightforwardness was one of the many charms Eunbi liked about Ahbin. It was also one of the many things she liked about Sehun. It was nice to have people who didn’t sugarcoat everything. More so after how accustomed she’d become to her mother’s lies.

“I haven’t thought about that to be honest. But if they can’t accept us, then I’m certain my grandmother will.” It dawned on her then and there that she’d completely forgotten about her grandma, and as a result felt apologetic. The older woman deserved none of this and Eunbi went to grab Sehun’s phone. One he pulled from her hand whilst asking what she was doing.

“I have to call my grandmother. She needs to know that everything’s alright with me.” She reached for the phone but Sehun refused to hand it over with the explanation that it might give away their location. Luckily for her, Ahbin was nice enough to lend out her own phone. Eunbi decided to make it quick and dialed the number to her grandma’s place. Kyungsoo’s voice greeted her after a few rings and without further ado, she asked to speak with her grandmother. His tone changed in an instant once he heard it was her and proceeded to ask if she was okay and where she was, why she hadn’t shown up. Eunbi did not want to get into the details and instead told him that their family was ed up and insane and that she had to get away. A bit exaggerate maybe. But still pretty accurate.

“I guess that’s . . . Here’s your grandmother.” Kyungsoo’s voice faded away and was soon replaced by the older woman’s, who demanded to know about her whereabouts and what was going on. And so Eunbi had to repeat everything all over again. From how their parents now knew of the relationship between her and Sehun and how they were against it. That the reason she was sent to Daegu was because her mother and stepfather wanted to separate the two teenagers. Unfortunately for them, Eunbi was past the state of obeying their tyrannical ways.

“Honey. Running away won’t do any good. It will only create more problems.” But talking hadn’t worked and running away was the only solution she’d come up. It was unfortunate and far from ideal and Eunbi wished this could end. She was not giving up though, not before her mother accepted defeat.

“I know it’s drastic an . . .” The phone was pulled from her grasp and she looked up at Sehun in surprise and shock. Eunbi didn’t understand why he did that and demanded an answer. One that came when he showed her his cell phone. It displayed a text message from Luhan where he warned them that the police were on their way, which meant they’d found out where they were hiding. How they managed with that was quickly overshadowed by the fact that they needed to leave the apartment before the police arrived. Rushing about, Eunbi gather her belongings and stuffed them into her bag, which she then slung over her shoulder as they left. Ahbin retrieved the key and within a few minutes the three of them were running down the street.