#####

It was common sense that he wouldn’t know what Namjoo wanted next. She was unpredictable as it was. If he didn’t find a way to do something she’d find a way to part the distance between them. Luhan wasn’t going to risk it, so stepping up was the best he could do.

He hadn’t known whether Namjoo would choose to wait for him or not. While showering she could have walked through the door and not come back. Although he didn’t want her to invite herself out, he had to take a chance. If she left, he’d still try to opt for her feelings. If she was still there when he walked out, he would know there was still something there.

Still, hesitation brought him closer and farther from the door afraid of what he’d see once he opened it. He wanted to believe that Namjoo had kissed him for reasons she had hidden and that it wasn’t just a drunk call.

Part of him wished Mi Yun was there with them. Getting closer to Namjoo might be a bit easier with their daughter wheeling them along.

Shutting his eyes allowed him for a breath of anxiety before he grabbed the knob and pulled the door open. The moment Namjoo turned around to look at him caused his heart to ram against his chest thankful that she hadn’t yet gone.

#####

Whether Luhan was trying his best to remain at level with her or not wasn’t one of the greater bothers Namjoo was experiencing. Just his presence made her nervous to the point where she could feel her nerves hardening.

Upon reaching the stairway the sudden flashback of Luhan lifting her up and leaning against his shoulder made her want to hit her head against the wall again. It was hard to believe she’d done so. Why’d she allow him to carry her up when she should have walked on her own? The immense urge to slap herself was endless as they headed out.

The first time they met up after their first night together three years ago after Luhan had hid from her wasn’t even as awkward as this moment right now. They were in step with each other, but not too close or too far from the other with just a perfect gap in between them. Neither had instigated conversation and maybe it was the ensuing silence that caused her mind to ramble on. Namjoo had nothing to say anyway and she hoped it was the same for him, yet she was still worried about what was going through his mind.

Luhan had this allure of perfect calm floating about him. Namjoo had to be honest that she was jealous over how well he was still holding himself. Obviously he wouldn’t be feeling as perplexed as she.

Silently groaning she worried about how she’d go through the whole day.

When they neared the homeless man who always sat on the walk in the same spot, Luhan slightly pushed her aside so that they were further away from him than usual. She couldn’t forget about how stingy he’d been about her giving away money so easily.

“Should we eat at Kat’s?” Luhan wondered. “Is there any other place you want to eat at?”

Again, Namjoo felt herself stiffen up when he talked to her. Just the mere knowledge that his sole attention was on her made her nervous.

“It doesn’t matter,” Namjoo said quietly as her eyes penetrated the walk in front of her.

She didn’t think she’d be able to look at him anymore. Remembering the sensation of his hands gliding over her skin was still sending tingles through the deepest of her mind. In a sense, Namjoo just wanted to choke herself.

In the end they wound up at Kat’s restaurant at one of the circular tables at the back of the restaurant.

“I haven’t seen you two for a while,” Kat smiled at them, “what can I get you?”

Luhan first turned to look at her, but she still couldn’t bring herself to look at him. After a moment Luhan turned back to Kat and ordered something random.

“It’s Namjoo’s birthday today, do you have anything special like a cake on the menu?” Luhan wondered.

“Birthday?” Kat repeated in the kind of tone as if speaking to a child. “Yes, definitely. I can fix something special up for you. Happy birthday, Namjoo.”

Namjoo nodded with a short smile, “Thank you.”

When she walked away the life of the restaurant buzzed around them. Namjoo had no idea how she wanted to present herself; whether she still wanted to remain headstrong or try to start from scratch with Luhan. Both choices were difficult to do.

“Are you feeling ok?” Luhan reached his hand over to feel her forehead.

Surprised, Namjoo jolted back in her seat. Luhan withdrew his hand shocked.

“I’m fine,” Namjoo told reaching a hand up to brush her bangs.

Her stare on the table hardened while the back of her mind pondered over whether she was making herself awkward of if she was making Luhan out to be the awkward one. Then she wondered if she should be sorry for still trying to avoid him when he was right in front of her. Why didn’t the basis of her actions make sense anymore?

Namjoo wanted to slide to the floor and out of the restaurant.

She only looked up a moment later when something was placed down in front of them. Their food had arrived during all the time she’d spent pondering over whether to talk to Luhan or not. Luhan handed her her utensils and they at first in mere silence.

“This kind of reminds me of when we ate noodles on your birthday because we were on an operation,” Luhan reminisced.

Namjoo remembered that day only all too well. What had mattered most then was that the two of them were spending time together. Was spending time together important her anymore? Namjoo couldn’t tell if she was grateful for today or not.

“Should we call Mi Yun later to see if she got our gift?” Luhan wondered.

Namjoo’s hand paused midway in the air with the freshly cooked noodles hanging from her fork. She missed her daughter; the only remembrance she had of Luhan during the time they spent alone. Her creation…theirs.

“Should we?” Namjoo asked.

With a small turn of her head she saw that he was shifted her way, a smile on his face. She couldn’t help, but feel that he’d been waiting for that moment the whole morning. That smile, though, made her heart gush a tranquil happiness.

Shortly after another plate landed on their table and they looked up to see Tina who’d placed down her cake.

“I heard it was your birthday,” Tina stated then congratulated without much emotion to her voice, “happy birthday.”

Namjoo glanced at the whipped cream cake and nodded with a small smile. Suddenly she was aware of the ring on her left finger. Taking it off now would look wrong, so she very skillfully slid it under the table hoping neither Tina nor Luhan noticed.

“I’ll cut your cake for you,” Tina offered.

She sliced it very slowly with a small knife and placed it on a small plate. Namjoo watched her set the plate down in front of Luhan with the most charming smile she could summon. The insides of Namjoo snorted at the devious act, but she only really stared at the girl.

“The first slice of the cake always goes to the birthday girl,” Luhan said taking the plate and set it in front of Namjoo.

“Why?” Tina whined. “I wanted you to have it from me.”

Luhan patiently smiled at her, “Would you mind leaving now? I only came here to celebrate Namjoo’s birthday.”

Tina’s brow deepened and she turned to shoot Namjoo a glance. While the girl stared at her Namjoo clenched her hand underneath the table feeling for the silver ring. Tina finally stomped away a short moment later and her eyes tilted down to see Luhan move the piece of cake closer to her.

“Eat it,” he urged.

Namjoo stared at the vanilla layered cake feeling no emotion of hunger whatsoever for it.

“You have it,” she said. “I’ll cut my slice.”

Namjoo reached for the knife Tina had left behind with Luhan quickly following to stop her. Upon grasping it she found herself unable to move before realizing Luhan’s hand was around hers. Their arms slightly brushed when she turned to glance at him. The long leap of her heart hit her rib cage when their eyes met and she quickly looked away. She was afraid an emotion might overcome her face.

Luhan’s hand loosened and she pulled her hand back.

“I’ll cut it for you then,” Luhan offered.

Namjoo kept her eyes concentrated on her plate of food before sneakily glancing over to watch Luhan cut the cake for her.

“Here,” Luhan slid the plate of new cake in front of her. “You’ll eat it, right?”

Without a word Namjoo grabbed the plate to slide it toward her. Luhan watched her every movement intently with an expecting smile on his face.

“Happy birthday, Namjoo,” Luhan softly said. “There are no candles here, but I hope every one of your wishes comes true.”

Stabbing her fork into the cake for the first bite made her a little anxious for the upcoming sweetness soon to be tasted. Before she was allowed to fully lift the cake up on the fork the door slammed open loudly. Every customer in the restaurant turned to stare. A long silence simmered over them as the two rogues at the door searched the restaurant with their buggy eyes.

It didn’t take Namjoo long to remember them. They were the troublemakers a few weeks back who had refused to pay after ordering so much food. Why were they back? What did they want?

Namjoo felt her shoulders fly up in surprise when one of the men shot at the ceiling. Women screamed, children cried, and everything silenced again. The men searched the room again still unmoved by the doorway.

Careful to follow their eyes she gripped her fork with her right hand ready to throw it if anything occurred. Luhan seemed to take note of her move and grabbed her lower right arm.

“Do you know them?” Luhan whispered moving to block her from view.

“Yea,” Namjoo replied forgetting the anxiety of earlier now that all she could focus on were those men.

The men finally moved into the restaurant stopping to check out each customer they passed. A second later hurried footsteps from the back sounded and Kat ran out; a yellow apron clinging around her torso. She gasped at the sight before bravely running forward to confront the men.

“What are you doing here!? Get out or I’ll call the cops!” She warned trying to push them back.

“You want to try me, lady!?” The men with the gun questioned angrily. “Where is she!?”

“I said get out!” Kat continued and flinched back when he pointed the gun at her.

The curtain hanging over one of the back doors opened and Tina peeked out. This was just going to be as bad as last time, Namjoo foresaw; if she didn’t choose to do anything now. Mother and daughter would lose in their fight and she would have to step in. Well why not now?

Quickly shifting her fork to her left hand she raised her arm and flung it through the air. It slightly missed the man with the gun’s head, but it at least skimmed across his head enough for him to notice. Upon shifting toward them he raised his gun at her.

Moving quick to wrap his arms around her Luhan tackled her to the ground, their chairs clambering down with them. Bullets screeched through the air and into the wall as she threw her arms up to cover her head.

When it silenced Namjoo tried to sit up, but felt Luhan restrain her with arms on either side of her.

“Stay down,” he cautioned.

Namjoo craned her ears for any kind of noise. Luhan slid his arm around her back before ushering her underneath the table. They moved under it just as a pair of legs passed by and turned to watch. Twisting around Namjoo searched for the other man. Pulling her attention away Luhan grabbed her hand dragging her out of the table and just as they got back to their feet he pushed the table over. It was a technique to trap the man on the other side.

“Run! Run! Run!” Luhan shouted to the customers. “Get out of here!”

And at once the customers scrambled to their feet fleeing from the site as quickly as possible. She felt Luhan readjust his firm grasp around her hand as the man trapped behind the table finally made his way over it. Turning around Namjoo sighted his partner starting for them.

“Incoming,” Namjoo managed.

Luhan twisted his neck back to look. An expression of deep thought fell over his face before he reluctantly let her hand go.

“Careful,” he cautioned.

Grabbing a chair Namjoo hoisted it up and charged at the man. She ran him into the wall locking him between the legs of the chair; however, he pulled a knife out and swung it at her to force her to back up. There was a shout from the partner across the room and his eyes moved over her shoulder.

“Namjoo! Get down!” Luhan screamed.

Namjoo jumped from the loudness of the gun and immediately let go of the chair as she clambered down onto her knees to avoid from getting shot. The bullets came relentlessly and she assumed Luhan had also gone for cover.

In the end Namjoo had to resort to crawling across the floor to avoid from becoming an easy target, but that couldn’t guarantee her safety. She could hear a series of laughter from behind her before she flopped forward off her arms when the man grabbed her ankle. He dragged her across the floor of the restaurant and Namjoo had to struggle to turn herself over. Her arms rammed into the legs of chairs of tables that the pain shooting up and down hurt much more than she could take.

He finally came to a stop a minute later and when Namjoo finally flopped onto her back she saw him swinging his knife back into the air. Her eyes widened knowing she might not be able to slide back or roll away in time. In that mere moment Luhan suddenly came flying tackling the man into the wall.

The first thought that entered her mind was that Luhan could have gotten stabbed.

“Luhan!” She shouted rushing forward.

Grabbing his arm she forced him up nodding her head up and down to examine his state. All was well in the end.

“I’m fine,” he told.

And when his eyes slightly widened in horror Namjoo swung around to see the knife being ed toward them. It was instinct to block herself with her arms and an instant later she felt something cool slice through her palm. Clumsily falling a step back she collided into Luhan bringing the two of them to the ground.

All that was heard through the restaurant was the chairs clambering down and the table squeaking as it was forcefully pushed back. Namjoo heard Luhan’s head thump against the ground. Regaining her composure she got onto her knee and grabbed the few dishes on the table tossing them at the man with the knife in order to force him back. A gun shot rounded through the air forcing her to cower.

A second later she felt Luhan press his body down onto her to shield her from damage and wrapped his arms around her. The front door slammed open and footsteps entered the restaurant.

“Freeze! Put your gun down!”

They turned to see at most five uniformed policemen inside the restaurant. Namjoo hung her head back relieved as Luhan sat on his knees to take a deep breath.

Luhan turned to look at her and his eyes widened at the pool of blood escaping from the deep cut on her hand, “Your hand!”

Namjoo let out a shout of pain when he grabbed her hand to look at the wound.

“Are you two ok!?” Kat ran out from the back.

“A towel…a rag…something…” Luhan stammered in a rushed manner sounding impatient and stricken. “Hurry!”

Kat nodded blankly before spinning around and disappeared through the back door.

“Does it hurt?” Luhan worried. “You should’ve been more careful!”

While his eyes sat on the cut Namjoo’s concentration neither fell on the hand holding hers or the sting emanating from the wound. Her stare fell on his worried stricken face and she almost wanted to keep on looking at him this way.

“It’s…it’s ok,” Namjoo tried pulling her hand back, but Luhan only tightened his grip on it.

“You don’t have to lie,” he murmured sounding somewhat upset, “I’ll take you to the hospital after I wrap it up.” He gritted his teeth before his brows seemingly crossed upset. “Why’d you have to get hurt?”

Namjoo’s heart thumped again. Maybe she was falling in love all over again…and this was one of the wishes she didn’t want to come true. 

***Just fall in love *.* Fall in love everyday xDD

***Notice how during the fight it's all about saving each other huhu~~ Thanks for subscribing guys! I'll try to update when I can, in the meantime if you're bored I'm probably going to be at Blaze