It had been two months since I had met Sehun that fated day. Ever since, my mind had been plagued by thoughts of "what if"s. What if I went with him? What if he found out something about why we were this way? What if he found others like us? What if I never saw him again? What if I would never find out the truth behind our curse?

I couldn't allow myself to succumb to those thoughts, however. I had to keep a strong front in order to keep myself sane. I had to ignore the numbers, ignore the memory of Sehun in my mind, otherwise I would go mad. Through all of my twenty years with the curse, it had never bothered me this much. I felt so paranoid, so alert to everyone around me. I constantly found myself scanning crowds for someone else who didn't have the numbers.

All those thoughts had had their time in my mind throughout those two months after meeting Sehun. The "what if"s came and went; my anxiety passed. I had no reason to cling to these things. I had a life that I had to live as normally as I possibly could. 

One night, however, my hopes to continue a normal life were shattered when I was awoken by a loud banging on my front door.

"Ren open up!" The voice calling my name was vaguely familiar and I groggily approached the door.

"Why are you here so late?" I asked, casting eyes towards the grandfather clock in the entryway that read two in the morning instead of towards my visitor.

"We have to go," the voice said with urgency. It was then that I turned to see Sehun standing in my doorway, completely winded. 

"We?" I asked, taken aback. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Just let me in to explain, please! We don't have much time!" Sehun pleaded, looking over his shoulder quickly.

"You're scaring me. Why do I have to leave?" I asked as I opened the door wider to let him in.

"I'm...you're...we're in trouble." Sehun struggled for his words and paced the entry way restlessly.

"Why?" I grabbed his shoulders to make him look into my eyes. I searched his brown orbs for an answer, but released his shoulders when I found none.

"I dug too deep. They know you're like me; they know you know me. We have to skip town now." He was frantic, unable to stay still. His words were panicked and made barely any sense to me.

"I still don't understand," I said, worried. "Who're 'they'?"

"Government, I don't know! All I know is that there are...were more like us and we aren't supposed to still be here. Now that I got caught, you're in trouble too. I didn't mean for it to happen, but you have to grab everything and go now!" Sehun finally came to a stop before me and searched my eyes for any glimmer of understanding or acknowledgement.

"You don't understand... I can't leave." I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.

"You have to or they'll find you," he pleaded. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault and I want to help you."

"No, Sehun, I can't leave!" I was on the verge of tears now, terrified by Sehun's words and demeanor.

"Why not?" He asked, eyes wild.

"Ish louuuud," a voice whined from the top of the stairs and I lost all the fight in me. My entire aura collapsed in on itself as Sehun whipped around to look at the toddler standing at the edge of the staircase.

"Who?" Sehun breathed, understanding now my obligation to stay.

"Mama? Who he?" The child asked innocently and my tears finally fell.

"Misa, honey, why are you up?" I cooed, walking up the stairs to her and picking her up. I could see out of the corner of my eye the shock in Sehun's features as he put two and two together.

"Who he?" She asked again impatiently.

"He's a...friend. His name is Sehun and he's going to help us," I answered as calmly as I could, wiping tears from my face to smile at my child.

"Friend?" She asked groggily as if suddenly remembering the time.

"Yeah," I nodded, "you go back to sleep and I'll come and get you in a bit. We have to go with Sehun right now and we can't come back."

"Can't?" She looked puzzled.

"No, we can't. We've got to leave, honey, but it'll be okay," I comforted, laying her down on the couch as I ran up the stairs to grab what I could possibly need.

"You have a kid," Sehun said softly, remorsefully, as he leaned in the doorway and watched me pack.

"I told you I couldn't leave. I guess I have no choice, though," I laughed bitterly.

"I'm so, so sorry." I turned to face him, looking into his eyes that held nothing but apologies. "Is she...?"

"No," I shook my head, "didn't you see the numbers?"

No sound came out of Sehun's mouth when he opened it to reply, so he nodded instead. He seemed so choked with emotion that I felt as if I could trust him. Of course, he was the reason that I was in this mess, but at least he felt responsible.

"How...how old is she?" He swallowed, speaking hoarsely.

"Just a little over two," I replied, standing up after I zipped shut my backpack filled with only the very bare necessities.

"How old are you?" He asked, brow furrowed.

"Twenty," I sighed as I saw the confusion in his eyes. "I was... I was ."

Once again, Sehun was overtaken by silence and unable to respond to my words. I quickly brushed past him to run down the stairs and grab Misa's sleeping form from the couch.

"Let's go." I looked at Sehun, waiting for him to lead the way.

He nodded and opened the door slowly. When he seemed satisfied that the coast was clear, he stepped out into the street. 

"I hope you know how sorry I am," Sehun whispered as I turned to him from locking the door for the last time.

"It's alright," I smiled weakly, "we'll be okay, right?"

And for the third time that night, I was answered by silence only.