"You didn't say anything about hurting her," I faintly heard Mark's voice yelling. Everything looked fuzzy. Concentrating and focusing on one thing was also completely impossible at the moment. On top of everything, my head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds and my wrists felt like they were on fire from the ropes they tied onto them digging into my skin.

What the heck happened to me?
Where am I?
How did I even end up here?

"You used her as a human shield Mark. I'm pretty sure punching and knocking her and her little boyfriend out is kind of ok after you pulled that little stunt."
"He's not her boyfriend."
"What? And you are?" the other voice laughed. "I'm pretty sure she dumped you the second your arm went across her neck."
"She hasn't said anything yet."
"Yeah, cause she's unconscious right now."

A pause.
By this point, my mind was starting to clear and I could finally open my eyes but I chose not to. They can think I'm still out of it for a bit longer. I wanted to get as much information I could out of them.

"She was never gonna get hurt back there," I heard Mark say, his voice low but still firm. "I was never gonna let her get hurt instead of me. If they actually started shooting, I would've taken every bullet."
"How noble. If only she knew that, she wouldn't think of you as the low life who stabbed her in the back and joined up with the one person in this world she hates."
"I joined you on my own agenda which means I can leave when I want. Let's get that straight."
"Except you're too far in to escape now."

Mark joined my dad.
Mark and my dad have been in on this together.
Have I been played this entire time?
Was everything planned from the beginning?

"How long?" I finally let my eyes open, focusing them onto Mark's face first then turning them to glare at my dad. "How long was this a thing?" I turned my glare to Mark, "How long did you plan on stabbing me in the back for?" I felt the anxiety and the pent up anger rise inside of me with every word I said. It didn't help that the more I moved, the more the rope dug into my wrists. But I struggled against them anyways. I saw Mark's face cringe slightly at my question. He actually looked hurt. But I definitely wasn't falling for it this time.

"I can explain everything _______________," Mark started walking towards me, but I flinched away before he could get any closer. He froze in his tracks, looking at me with the sadest eyes I've ever seen. It broke my heart. But I didn't want it to. I forced myself to look away and scan my surroundings quickly. I was in my grandpa's office.
How they even got up here without running into security is beyond me. And I'm shocked that they haven't found me yet considering this was literally them hiding in plain sight.

Unless that's what they were going for.

"You picked an interesting place to hide," I threw another death glare at my dad, who was pacing back and forth in front of my grandpa's desk. He leaned back onto it and crossed his legs. "It's the one place they won't think of looking in. I mean, why would criminals like us hide in the most obvious place right?"
"Don't you dare compare me to you," Mark spat out, rushing forward and grabbing my dad by his collar. He smirked, brushing off Mark's hands easily. "You kidnapped the next CEO of CE. Pretty sure you're a criminal."
"I-"
"He's right. You both are criminals. And you both are gonna rot in jail for the rest of your lives once I get out of these," Luhan's voice came from behind the couch. I couldn't see him from where they put me but judging from the strain in his voice, they had probably tied him up too.
My dad got up from his place by the desk and walked over to Luhan. When he brought his leg back, I looked away, knowing exactly what he was going to do. Luhan let out a cry of pain. Tears started to form in my eyes.
"No! Stop!" I closed my eyes, letting the tears fall onto my cheeks. "He has nothing to do with this. Don't hurt him."
"So he is your new boyfriend," my dad gave Mark a sideways, crooked smile. He just looked away, turning his eyes onto me. 

I don't know why, but I looked up.
I looked up and made eye contact with him.
The second our eyes met, the same electric feeling that ran through me the first time we kissed shook my spine. 
But now, I'm sorry I even thought about kissing him.

"He's not my boyfriend. And neither are you," I stared at Mark, who looked surprisingly unphased by what just came out of my mouth. I guess he was prepping himself for it.
"Then there's really no point in keeping him alive," my messed up, sorry excuse for a father grabbed onto something and lifted his arm up. Luhan popped out from behind the couch, a trickle of blood going down the corner of his mouth. He looked over at me almost as if he wanted to tell me that he was ok.
But I knew he wasn't. And I'm pretty sure whatever my dad was gonna do to him was much worse than getting kicked in the stomach.

"I was gonna use him to get something out of you, since you seem emotionally attached and what not. But now I guess there's really no point if he doesn't mean that much to you," he dragged him over to one of the big floor to ceiling windows. With one swing of his arm, he threw my grandpa's heavy nameplate into it and shattered the glass. A blast of wind followed, sending little bits of glass flying across the room. Mark immediately got up and shielded me from the incoming onslaught with his body.

This guy really needs to make up his mind.
Who's side is he really on? Why does he keep protecting me if he's the reason why I'm in this situation?

"You're welcome," he whispered to me as he moved away. I didn't say anything to him. I didn't really know what to say.
"Are you gonna save him too Mark?" my dad's voice called out from across the room. He was holding Luhan right on the ledge. Any sudden movement could send him toppling down to his death.

No.
No more deaths.
I don't want another person to die because of me.
I wasn't able to save my mom, but Luhan's a different story.

"Stop! I'll do it. I'll do whatever you want," I screamed, panic lacing every word that came out of my mouth.
And somewhere next to me, I heard Mark whisper the one word that seemed to be on both of our minds.

No.

Author's Note
chapter title: I'm Sorry for Kissing You-E-Girls [x]
if you can't tell, i've been recently obsessed with LDH artists lately haha xD especially E-Girls, Flower, and Generations from Exile Tribe.
cannot get over how good these groups are