“Young-”

“Quiet”, Sleepy ordered as he pushed me further behind the containers into the shadows, exchanging one last glance with The Action. Most of the officers split up and ran through the hall, guns raised in alarm, while one of them stayed behind to take care of Youngjae. “They catch me and you're dead.”

“You just fired a shot, what do you expect?!”, I hissed furiously. That guy had shot Youngjae. His gang-mate. I managed to look at The Action who didn't have any possibility of hiding any longer. “They'll catch him”, I mentioned quietly, but the panicked reaction I expected never came. All Sleepy did was calmly examining the scene. I glanced at Kookie who was crouching on the ground with his eyes wide open as a whimper escaped his lips. The few other Untouchables that were left in the hall and hadn't made it to the exit before were discovered by the police and loud noises emitted. “You're not going to help him? Your ship is sinking, my captain”, I asked Sleepy who swallowed quietly.

“He would understand. One of us has to keep going, no matter what. We cleared this up before.”

I didn't dare to blink, not wanting to close my eyes even if it was just for a split second. “You're abandoning him?” Kookie's whining had stopped, but I didn't spare him another glance.

“Shut up, girl.”

I could see Junhong, who was freed from The Action's grasp. We made eye-contact for a second, but just as he was about to open his mouth, Sleepy's gun clicked again and I didn't have to look to know that he was pointing it at me. If Junhong tattled, I'd be dead. If they found us, I'd be dead. If they didn't, I'd be tortured and maybe he'd let me go.

Great.

I could see the conflict in Junhong's eyes and I slowly shook my head to help him decide. I didn't want the boy to see me die because of him. When he turned away, his breath seemed to quicken, head lowered to the ground as the much shorter police officer started talking to him. The noises had become quiet conversations by then and I breathed out. We were hidden by the pitch black shadows and there was no way for me to escape. Why wouldn't they find us?! Why didn't they take a closer look now?

Something started rustling to my left. “Keep quiet, Kookie”, Sleepy hissed as the boy stood up and I frowned because he just didn't stop moving. I glanced at the young boy, but Sleepy was too busy observing the situation with the cops to see him. Kookie's pale, slender hand was trembling as he reached out for mine and I got more and more confused when his fingers intertwined with mine as if looking for comfort. His hand was cold.

“B-boss-”

“Shut it.”

Kookie's mouth became a thin line and he didn't let himself hesitate any longer when his fist came up to hit the hand Sleepy was holding the gun with. Not seeing that coming, the leader released his grasp on the black thing in surprise, cursing under his breath when it clattered to the ground. It happened in slow motion: I stared at the weapon to my feet while Kookie bent down in a hurry to pick it up and point it at his own leader.

There was a deadly silence in the hall. The officers had cocked their ears. “You wouldn't do this”, Sleepy uttered quietly, staring at Kookie whose body was shaking with fear.

I squeezed his hand a little and took a deep breath, raising my voice. “It's over, just stop it.” The words echoed through the hall and I managed to smirk at Sleepy whose eyes had widened. The prey had fought back. “Game over, Sleepy.”

“Over there”, I could hear the officers mumble as quiet steps were heard and we were surrounded by four of them only seconds later. Kookie lowered the gun breathlessly and loosened his grasp, letting it fall to the ground again.

It was over.

The officers took us out of the hiding place behind the containers and I could see how pale Kookie was. “Thank you.” I hugged him, causing his body to relax and relief flooded my mind as I heard Junhong's voice call my name.

“Soora! Holy , Soora!”, he shouted with his voice cracking when he ran towards me and I let go of Kookie. “I'm sorry. So ing sorry. Those bastards really went too far when-”

“Language, Junhong”, was all I could say, burying my face in the crook of his neck while letting the last tears flow down my cheeks. His body was warm and I could feel my own become heavy. I was worn out.

His arms pulled me closer and he took a deep breath to calm down his rattling breath. “I was so scared. I really was. You know, I love you, Soora.”

My heart fluttered, about to escape from my chest. “I..uhm...Looks l-like I...me too.” I then stopped, softly pushing him away from me and turning around. There were many people who had gathered around the person Sleepy had shot, but I managed to get through to him. “Youngjae. Yah, Youngjae, why did you-” I interrupted myself when I was actually seeing him smiling there. His side was bleeding, but he was smiling at the police officers who were just nodding at him. “Young...jae?”, I asked again and his smile faded, eyes finding mine.

“I was cool, wasn't I? Tell me I-” He was interrupted by a cough. “I did the right thing, right?”

“What are you talking about? Did you hit your head?”, I asked in confusion, but one of the officers replied instead of Youngjae.

“He didn't, Ma'am. Officer Yoo came to us a few months ago, telling us about an underground organization that was tormenting our citizens. He even passed our recruitment tests to be able to help actively.”

“Officer?” I exhaled slowly, gaze flickering to Youngjae again. “But you're a part of them, why would you tattle?”

Said man managed to smile once more. “I had found the wrong friends, I was dragged in there, but I realized it soon enough. I told you I hate lying, didn't I? I had enough of them.” He coughed, holding his side before clearing his throat. “So I decided to stop them. But how could I, on my own? That's why I needed back-ups.” He looked at the officers around us and my realization sank in.

“Wait, y-you are really working for the police?!” I stared up at Junhong who stood behind me with his hands buried in his pockets. The Action was being handcuffed, standing next to a fuming Sleepy and

Youngjae raised his voice, glancing at the two of them. “The only lie was me telling you that I'm one of them. Sorry it took so long, but we needed some good evidence. And now we do.”

Sleepy started growling. “You ing traitor!”, he barked furiously, but nobody listened. “I knew something was up! I should never have trusted you, bastard!”

“I dropped hints for you though”, Youngjae told me with a small pout. “I told you we'd be the winners, didn't I? You didn't even care.”

“You were on my side...? All along...” I could only stare at him with big eyes, shaking my head in disbelief. “I'm...I'm sorry for...the things I said.”

“It's alright. I wanted you to think like that in the first place. I'm just glad Dae made it in time. I didn't want you to get hurt.”

Daehyun. Again my heart stopped for a second at the thought of his disappointed expression. “I've got to talk to him.” Now. Without taking notice of anyone else, I stumbled past Junhong and towards the cars at the entrance. “Daehyun-ah!”, I shouted, panting while leaning against the door frame. I was so done. “Jung Daehyun!” A door was slammed shut and only a few seconds later, I was engulfed in a warm hug, surrounded by his familiar smell. “I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way and it was just so much and then Himchan tattled and I wanted to tell you, but-”

“I know.” His soft voice didn't contain half as much anger as it should have and I clutched at his shirt. “You made your choice.” He sounded quite hurt, but not angry in any way. Still, the words were stabbing my heart. “And it's not me you chose.”

“You didn't deserve this. I'm so sorry.” My grasp on his shirt tightened for a split second before I let go of him. “You're being too nice. Come on, shout at me.”

“Being nice is my best trait apart from being humble, I can't.”

“Then I hate you”, mumbled I, lightly hitting him as he forced me to look at him. His eyes looked sad and his smirk looked totally out of place.

“If only you had told me sooner none of this would have happened, honey.” I was about to take back what I had said. I didn't mean it that way, I still loved him and- “I know what you're about to say. Stop it.” His voice made me shut up and bite my lip.

“Say what you've got to say. I'm listening.” I sighed, my gaze wandering as the police pushed Sleepy and The Action towards one of their cars.

“Kim Soora?”

“Hm?” The ambulance arrived for Youngjae and everybody was busy taking care of the young man who was still smiling. He's probably very proud of himself. He deserves it.

“Let's break up.” My gaze returned to Daehyun immediately, showing me his smiling face, parted by a single tear running down his cheeks. “I know that you weren't being serious anyway, but I just wanted to say this to finish the topic for myself. Let's break up and go back to being friends again, will we, Soora?”

My eyes widened when I took Daehyun's hands into mine, because he thought he understood. He really thought there had been nothing serious about this relationship to me. “You got that wrong, I love you so much, but...but...Dae... you're... God, why do you have to be so damn loveable, I-”

“Soora.”

I lost my ability to talk for a moment, trying to think of words that would help me clear this up, but there were none. “R-right... Friends...” I bit my lower lip before stepping closer and giving him a last kiss on his cheek, which left him startled. I rested my forehead against his shoulder and closed my eyes. “If it wasn't for Junhong-”

“-I would never have confessed to you in the first place”, he finished my sentence, letting go of my hands. “It's okay. All I need is some time, I'll...I'll get over it somehow-”

“Mister Jung?”, a policeman asked and he turned around in a hurry, his lips.

“Yeah?”

“Officer Yoo told me to come and get you. Would you drive to the hospital with him, please?”

Daehyun snorted and rolled his eyes while wiping his tears away. “I guess he's still scared of doctors. Fine, I'll be right there.” He then turned to look at me once more and nodded his head. “I loved you, Kim Soora”, he stated I almost waited for him to add a 'and I always will' to that sentence.

But it never came. I swallowed with a nod. “I loved you too, Jung Daehyun.” With one last snort and a shake of his head, he buried his hands in his pockets and walked up to the ambulance to talk to Youngjae. I felt empty as if Sleepy's bullet had actually struck me. There was a hole and I felt cold, but when I felt someone's fingers intertwining with mine and found Junhong looking at me in worry, the hole slowly stopped hurting and warmth found its way back into my body.

“It takes time for a wound to heal”, Junhong mentioned quietly and squeezed my hand. “But one day, there'll be nothing left but a tiny scar.” My lungs filled with air and I closed my eyes again to block the chaos in front of me out. Junhong was right. It would heal. I would grow and learn from what had happened. “He's a good man.”

I could hear how all the cars left one by one and my eyes snapped open, searching for Junhong's gaze. “Thank you for saving me”, whispered I, but he just shook his head with a smirk.

“No, it's me who has to thank you. You opened my eyes.”

“Junhong?” I inhaled and exhaled, tugging at his arm. “Let's go home.”

He hesitated for a moment before nodding and a strand of hair behind my ear. “Right. I'll follow you.”

And at that moment, I knew he'd follow me to wherever my home was. It didn't matter where he went as long as we went there together.

Home is where the heart is. And with Junhong by my side, he'd be mine and I'd be his.

There you go! This is where the main story ends!

Maybe I'll write one or two more chapters about what happens next, but basically, this is it~

I feel like crying, because the ending isn't what I had planned it to be like a year ago and it's all very confusing and abrupt.... Still, I didn't manage to put it into better words, I guess I still have to improve a lot

I want to thank all those who kept commenting and giving me their reactions, it made me really happy to see how much you were into this story! Special thanks to SprintingForward and jmayo81 who have been commenting for what seems like forever, I love you guys <3

Also a big thanks to MomoJidai who helped me with some parts of the story. (Okay...MANY parts xD)

If you liked this story, please make sure to give an upvote~

So, this is it, but don't unsubscribe please!  I'll try to find the time to write a bit about Sleepy's past or how Daehyun's life goes on...maybe? What would you like to know more about?

Time will tell~

Again thanks a lot, this is my longest story ever, the document is 228 pages long and contains 164.381 words and I love everybody who decided to read it <3

(Also, happy new year~)

KirinJidai - 03.01.2016