'Joon... Where the hell are you?!' Jihyo thought to herself as she stood against the wall.

She glanced at the watch on her wrist. He was two minutes late, but in this profession, two minutes might as well be a whole year. Joon was never late, and Jihyo could sense that something had gone wrong. Following her senses, she walked out of the dark alley she was hiding in and walked quickly in the direction that Joon should have been appearing from. She passed a few more alleys and peered into them before stopping at one where she could see a mop of blonde hair behind a trash container.

"Joon?!" Jihyo whispered as she approached him. "Joon, what the hell are you doing here?"

Jihyo ran towards him as she saw he was sprawled on the floor, his hand clutching his side. Jihyo cursed under her breath as she saw the blood gushing out onto his hands. Joon lifted a hand and pressed something into hers, Jihyo took it and shoved it into the pocket of her jacket, zipping up the pocket so that it wouldn't fall out.

"Can you get up?" Jihyo whispered in panic.

Joon groaned in response, wincing from the pain that was shooting through his whole body. Jihyo looked at his body in concern, her eyebrows furrowed together as she figured out what she should do. Thinking quickly, she picked Joon up with all the strength in her and draped his arm across her shoulders so that he was leaning on her for support. She led him out of the alley, peering out to see if anyone was out there. Seeing the empty streets, Jihyo pulled Joon along and made their way to the closest shelter; her apartment.

Reaching her apartment, she gently laid Joon on the couch before going to her bedroom to get her first aid kit. Taking his jacket off and lifting his top up, Jihyo scowled at the bullet wound in his side. Joon growled as Jihyo dabbed the wound with antiseptic, wiping the blood away.

"This is gonna hurt, hold on..." Jihyo said apologetically. Joon groaned in pain as she proceeded to pull the bullet out.

"Sorry..." Jihyo muttered as she stitched and bandaged the wound. "You're not one to mess up like this."

"I know," Joon replied bitterly. "You don't need to carry on reminding me I messed everything up."

"That's… not what I meant," Jihyo shook her head.

"It's exactly what you meant," Joon barked, leaning on his arms as he tried to sit upright.

Jihyo immediately helped him up but Joon simply pushed her arms away, helping himself up on his own. He let his head fall backwards and closed his eyes to rest. Jihyo knelt back down on the floor, defeated, trying to hide the hurt in her eyes. She sighed inwardly before packing up the first aid kit and returning it to her bedroom. Glancing at the photo of Joon and herself on her bedside table, a flash of memories crossed her mind. Memories from their high school days, when they were mere teenagers before they found out about this cruel world they now immerse their whole beings in.

What a long way they had come since then.