I froze.
My breath literally caught in my throat.
I had no idea what to do.

By this point, I'm pretty sure he knew that I had pieced together in my head what exactly was going on. Mark had disguised himself as one of the security guards and was standing behind me right now.
I should've known. I should've said something when I realized that his shoes looked familiar. My brain had shut down to the point where I couldn't even recognize his voice immediately.

"How'd you even get in?" I felt him step forward a bit so that my back almost touched his chest. He was out of formation. The other security guards are bound to notice soon.
"I have my ways," he responded in the lowest whisper he could manage. A whisper only meant for me to hear. "Don't make me use them to get what I want from you."

I felt a shiver go down my spine. He sounded serious, almost as if it was a threat.
But he definitely didn't sound like Mark.
I opened my mouth to say something back but Luhan turned around before words even made it out. His eyes automatically narrowed in on Mark.
"You there," he pointed at him while walking towards us, his eyes never leaving the space between me and him. "Why are you out of standing out of formation? You're not supposed to be that close to __________________."

I didn't really know what happened after Luhan said that.
Everything moved way too fast for my brain to even fully process what was going on.
I felt my body jerk backwards. I saw the other guards, including Luhan, spring into action, each pulling out a gun from inside their jackets. I felt Mark's arm tighten around my neck and pull upwards slightly so breathing became difficult. I clutched at it with both of my hands, digging my nails into it, desperately trying to free myself. He bent his head down so that his lips were right next to my ear.
"Don't struggle. You're gonna make it hurt more than it has to."
"Oh really? Cause you putting me into a chokehold isn't suppose to hurt at all right?" I spat at him, squirming against his chest. He pulled me closer, tightening his hold around my neck. I let out a cough that drained all color from Luhan's face. His eyes were wide with alarm and fear, and he looked like he was about to pounce at any second. 
"You're seriously asking to die right now Mark Tuan," Luhan literally hissed out, his eyes finally narrowing on him. 
I felt the vibrations of Mark's laugh shake his entire body. It's weird having something that usually made you calm and relaxed have a totally different effect on you now.
"You do know that if you shoot, I'm not gonna be the only one who dies right? All I wanna do is talk to her. You people need to chill."
"Right, cause you're totally in a position to tell us to chill," Luhan's eyes darted from me to Mark's arm. He raised his gun a little higher.

We both knew that he couldn't save me even if he wanted to. Shooting Mark's arm so he would let go was extremely risky in our current position. One wrong move from either side and I could die.
And he sure as hell wasn't gonna order the other security guards to do anything either with Mark's arm around my neck and his next movements being completely unpredictable.
I needed to so something to get myself out.

So I did the first thing that popped into my head.
I slammed my foot down on top of his.
Hard.

His hold on me loosened for a split second. But a split second was all I needed to drop out from under his arm and run to Luhan.
"Are you ok? Did he hurt you anywhere?" his eyes scanned my entire body from top to bottom as his voice came out shakily. I shook my head, forcing back the tears threatening to spill out.

Physically, Mark didn't really hurt me.
Emotionally, I was completely broken.
The guy I loved, the guy who I thought loved me had just used me as a human shield. All for what? To talk? To say a few words to me so his betrayal wouldn't hurt so much?

"What do you want us to do Ms. __________________?" one of the security guards nodded in the direction of Mark, who now had his hands resting by his sides. He looked completely unphased....like what I did was all according to some master plan he had in his head.

But there was no way in hell I was gonna let him win.

"I don't want him to die so don't shoot. Take him into custody so I can ask him some questions later," I walked up to him as the other guards restrained him, grabing a hold of his wrists and keeping them pressed against his back. I saw him wince a little in pain, and I have no idea why my heart still reacted the way it did.
After what he just did to me, all my heart should be feeling towards him is hate. But for some reason, I couldn't do it.
I couldn't bring myself to hate him.

"Let's see if your 'ways' can get you out of this," I glared at him, my face just inches away from his. I watched as his lips suddenly curled into a smile. Not something someone who was just captured would do.
"You haven't seen what my ways are yet," he whispered back.

In literally a couple of seconds, Mark had twisted his way out of the hold the guards were restraining him with and had knocked both of them out. The other guards charged, but it seemed as if he was always one step a head of them, avoiding their swings and punches easily while countering them and delivering his own. I didn't even know he could fight like that.
"Game over, pretty boy," Mark's voice came from behind Luhan. When the heck did he even get over there?
"Over my dead body."
"That can be arra-"

"Stop Mark. Don't let your jealousy get in the way of the mission," a deeper voice cut through the air as a taller, bigger man suddenly joined Mark, walking in from the two heavy looking doors. If it was possible, I think Luhan grew even more tense. He was ready to snap.
"Can I just punch him once?"
"No. We need him to relay the message to that old fart remember? Just grab the girl and go. I don't want to be here when he decides to send in back up."

Usually, I would be super sassy and fire something back in response. But nothing would come out. I just stood there, motionless and speechless at the voice I just heard come from underneath that hood.

It all matched up too perfectly.

The voice that always echoed in my head fueled by rage and fear.
The big, formidable figure that was always coming at me.
The voice that haunted my dreams from time to time.
The voice that belonged to my mother's killer.

My dad.

Author's Note
chapter title: Danger (Pinocchio)-f(x) [x]
i was literally going in and out of consciousness when i wrote this so if things don't make sense at any point...sorry xD
lemme know and i'll change it :)