Bang. 

Lynn smelled the gunpowder, felt a whizzing of a bullet, but did not feel pain or a jolt as the bullet lodged itself into her brain. What she saw was Lau crumpling and cursing, the gun falling out of his hand and a sudden pain in her left shoulder, before hearing more bullets whizzing past her and hearing the heavy thud of the guards behind her. 

She was confused until her ear crackled to life, a panicked male’s voice coming through, “Lynn? Oh god Lynn, tell me you’re okay, I couldn’t get a clean shot --” 

As the realization hit her at full force, her eyes brimmed with tears and she could care less about the bullet that was possibly lodged in her shoulder now. Jin had stayed to save her despite her orders earlier. 

“Just a bit roughed up,” Her voice shook, “Give me a minute and I’ll be out. Bring the car around, if you please.”

“Of course, Lynn.” Jin’s voice was relieved as well. She glared down at Lau, who was holding his now limp left shoulder. 

Lynn struck him across the face with her leg, the satisfying sound of cracking in his jaw making her smile. He crumbled to the ground, and she kicked him again in the nose, successfully knocking him out in the process. “A nose for a nose, unfortunately yours will need a lot more fixing than mine.” She snapped, wiggling her right hand out of her binds. She breathed a sigh of relief, getting her knife out of her boot and cutting off the rest of the rope, rolling her wrists as she took a minute. 

“Lynn, I’m here.” Jin came back in her ear. Lynn took another deep breath. 

“Okay. I don’t think I can walk right now, could you…?” She trailed off, shaking in her seat. Immediately the door opened to reveal Jin, looking a little bloody but thankfully unharmed from first glance. He looked visibly shaken, however, as he stepped over guards and strided over to her, picking her up without hesitation. 

“Thank you.” Lynn mumbled, allowing herself to be carried to the car and gently settled in the passenger seat. 

Jin drove off very quickly, neither of them hestiating to look back. The ride was silent for the first few minutes. Finally Lynn had to ask the question that was gnawing at her nerves. 

“Jin, how much… did you hear?” She asked, her eyes flitting to Jin to gauge his reaction. His grip tightened on the steering wheel and his shoulders stiffened. He was nervous about how to answer. 

“Most, if not all.” He finally said, and Lynn nodded, holding her shoulder as the pain of the gunshot started to come through as the adrenaline rush died down. 

Lynn opened the glove box, pulling out her phone and dialing a number she knew all too well. “I need to talk with Yeye, then.” She said, gripping her arm. “You’re going to have to get rid of this car, you know.” She offhandedly mentioned before giving her full attention to the phone call at hand.

“My dear? What’s wrong?” Yeye probably could sense something was up. 

“Yeye, it was a trap.” Lynn winced again as she tried to apply pressure on her wound. “It’s the Lau family. They know about me, Mingi, and there’s a mole in our ranks somewhere.”

Hearing Yeye curse was a sign that something was very very wrong. “Is anyone with you right now?” She eyed Jin sitting in the driver’s seat. 

“Jin. He got me out when Lau captured me.”

“Are you hurt?” 

Lynn sighed, “Yes, mostly just normal fighting wounds, but I got shot in the shoulder... Oh, Jin, we should probably go to the hospital --” She mentioned, remembering that it was a wound that would make her lose a lot of blood. She’d probably need a transfusion and surgery.

“I’m surprised you haven’t passed out yet, honestly.” Jin admitted, taking the exit to the hospital. Apparently he was planning on going there all along. 

“Dear?” Yeye asked, his voice higher and definitely panicked. Lynn put her full attention back on him, “Yes, Yeye. I’ll be okay. We can trust Jin.” 

“Until I figure this out, you must lay low. Do what you must, but return home as soon as possible.”

Her brows furrowed.“Home..?”  

“Changsha. It’s too dangerous in Dalian right now.” Yeye confirmed, and Lynn’s heart dropped. 

“But Yeye --” 

Yeye cut her off, “I mean it, dear. You go home as soon as you can.” 

“...Okay.” Yeye had to be serious about this. “I’ll let you know when I’m out.” The wording had more than one meaning and they both understood. Jin was none the wiser, pulling into the hospital’s emergency lot. 

“This is the one under the Song family, right?” Lynn checked as Jin hurried to get her out of the car. He nodded. “Good. Word will get to the Triad about the mole and the Lau family even faster.” 

As soon as Lynn was helped out of the car, she couldn’t remember much other than feeling woozy and lightheaded. The blood loss must of caught up to her, adrenaline rush or not. When she woke up, Jin was talking with a Song doctor and her head was filled with an unpleasant fuzzy feeling. 

“Why in high heavens does my head feel like you’ve stuffed it with cotton?” Lynn managed to get out. Jin immediately brought her a glass of water, helping her take a few gulps before explaining.

“You did lose quite a bit of blood before getting here, but luckily the bullet was already out of the wound and we only needed to repair your shoulder and give you a blood transfusion. You’ll feel fine very soon.” The doctor said. Lynn nodded, glancing at Jin for further answers.

“It’s only been a few hours, but Song’s been notified about the situation.” Jin revealed, “Duizhang had someone drop off an envelope for you too.” He handed said item to her, which she took. When she opened it, it revealed cash. Enough for two people to get away. 

“Here.” She shoved some of the bills at Jin. “You need to go somewhere safe where you won’t be traced. The family will contact you when it’s safe.” 

Jin looked at the money with disbelief, “What about you?” 

She held up the envelope. “The same goes for me. I’m assuming they took your car and left one here?” Jin nodded.

“Alright, it’s time to get going then. We’ll need to make a couple stops and then go straight to the train station.” 

The doctor looked shocked, “Hold on, you’re still recovering from a wound --”

“I’ve suffered worse,” Lynn cut him off, “And I assure you, you did a fine job patching me up. But the longer we stay here, the higher the chance of Guo’s goons sneaking in and trying an assassination. I know you mean well but I do too. I don’t want innocent blood spilt.” As she spoke, she motioned for Jin to come and help her stand. 

“Thank you darling.” She said to her partner. Lynn hobbled around with a firm grip on his arm, “And thank you sir for your help. Please inform the Songs of the Li Family gratitude for taking care of me.”

Before the doctor could respond to her thanks, the two were out the door and already closing in on the doors. Jin helped Lynn into the car and hurried around to the drivers side, starting the car and taking off.

The ride to Jin’s place was quiet. “Take only the essentials and get out in under five minutes.” Lynn had instructed him as they pulled up to the apartment complex. Jin put the car in park, not bothering to take out the keys as he rushed into the complex.

Lynn locked the doors and leaned as far down in the seat as she could without agitating her shoulder wound. The quicker they got to the station, the faster they’d be safe. She took a deep breath, making a mental list in her head of what she needed. Hardly anything, if she thought about it. Going back to Changsha meant going back to her parents.

It was the safest place in this scenario. Yeye had made sure there were no records of his personal family, only bringing in members who he deemed worthy. And it wasn’t like this mole and the Lau family were going to crash into every house named Li to find Yeye’s family. 

Jin came back to the car in record time, 3 minutes and 52 seconds. She jumped in surprise as he tapped on the window to gain her attention. Lynn unlocked the doors and let him in, and soon enough they were off again, Lynn giving him occasional directions to her place.

“Five minutes?” Jin tried to offer as they pulled up. Lynn nodded stiffly, almost leaping out and bounding up the stairs, counting the seconds in her head.

It wasn’t her first time running, but it certainly was the most dangerous getaway yet. She threw together everything she needed, prying up her floorboard to take out every personal possession, burning or destroying those she couldn’t bring as to not give away anything, and a couple of essential travel items that she’d need on the trip home.

As she was about to run out the door, she heard a quiet ‘meow’ from behind her.

“Oh, Fei Mao.” She moaned, close to tears. She couldn’t bring her beloved cat, but if she left him… 

She didn’t want to think about it. There was only one option that ran through her mind, and against her better judgement, she scooped up Fei Mao and his necessities before running out across the hall. 

Lynn kicked the door with her foot, her mind racing as the seconds whittled down to the final minute. Just as she was about to break the door down, the door opened.

“What the hell --” It was Luhan. Of course. She shook her head, hoping to god that he wouldn’t ask anything.

“I need for Tao to look over Fei Mao for a while.”

“A while? Wait, what happened to your --” Luhan’s face was a mess of emotions, probably from seeing Lynn’s very bruised and busted up face. But Lynn couldn’t care less of what she looked like right now. She carefully placed Fei Mao down, who trudged into the apartment and shoved his supplies into Luhan’s arms.

“Please don’t ask, the less you know, the better.” Lynn slurred, shaking nervously. “I have to go. You never saw me, you didn’t know me, I never existed to you or anyone in this apartment. Are we clear?”

“But --”

“I said are we clear.” She repeated firmly, authority and finality ringing through her words. Luhan opened his mouth to say something, but shut it in defeat. He nodded.

“Good bye.” She nodded in response, taking her only bag and flying down the stairs, not looking back once. Lynn didn’t stop getting into the car, and once again, Jin tore off into the early morning to the station.

“Hey Lynn…”

“Oh, Jin, please, we can’t know where either of us is going --”

“I wasn’t going to ask that…” Jin said softly, “I just wanted to ask if you were okay.”

“Why would you ask that?” Lynn wasn’t meaning to be rude. She was just so on edge about this whole ordeal that she really couldn’t handle any more questions.

“Well… You’re crying, Lynn…”

She jolted, almost tearing the mirror from above her down and checking her face. Sure enough, tears were slowly dripping down her bruised face, and Lynn felt like she saw herself for the first time.

Broken. Ugly. She choked back a sob. “Just… Just drive, Jin. Please.”

And he did.

She and Jin didn’t speak much after that. After she had managed to wipe away all the tears that were continuously gathering in her eyes, she pulled out her small makeup bag she had snagged and started covering up the bruises and marks left on her face and visible parts of skin. While they were going to a Triad run station, who knew who they could trust anymore. She winced as she gently swiped some blush over her bruised cheek. Lynn refused to cry anymore in this car ride or trip, so she bit her tongue and continued to cover up.

The silence lasted all the way to when they parted ways at the ticketing station. They were going in separate lanes as to not reveal where they were going. The less they knew about the other’s whereabouts, the safer they were.

She did say one thing before they parted. 

“Be safe. Please.” He simply offered a weak smile, looking more sad than mad. She tried to smile back, but she doubted it looked convincing. 

Lynn turned her back to Jin, entering the station before him in order to buy her ticket and disappear from sight. 

“One way to Changsha, please.” She didn’t make direct eye contact with the seller, handing over a handful of bills. Once she received her change and ticket, she quickly hurried away to the more secluded part of the station to await her train. 

One Day, 2 hours later.

Lynn was exhausted. When she had made her first stop at Beijing, she had ditched her old clothes to something less off putting and that blended in more. Her cheek had started healing, giving off a sickly yellow color that showed through the makeup she kept applying every few hours. However, that meant every time she had to walk to the next station she had to start all over again, praying to god no one approached her asking her what was wrong with her face. 

She was finally on the last leg of her journey, though, and sure enough, when she exited the taxi and handed the fare over to the driver, she almost burst into tears from seeing the two people who she needed to see most.

The older couple opened their arms to her, smiling so wide their eyes were disappearing. 

“Welcome home, Lynn.”