“How did you get my number?”

“I’m just relieved you brought your phone with you.” Haneul’s soft voice comes over.

Staring out into the night sky, Mino allowed his lower extremities to dangle hundreds of feet above the ground. 

“Where are you?”

“I’ll come back when I feel like it.” He knew why she was calling – though he didn’t know why she cared enough to.

“...You could have taken me with you.”

“We’re not a pair, darling.” Mino snorts upon hearing her words.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“So you can nag at me until we returned?”

“Seems about right.”

“Who is putting you up to this?”

“It isn’t safe to be on your own.”

Not safe? That’s not new. “I stopped caring a long time ago.” There was a bit of silence before he could hear the sound of rushing footsteps and a closing of a door. His lips naturally form a smile thinking about what she could possibly be up to. “If there is nothing else to say, I’m going to hang up.”

“It shows, Mino.”

“What does?”

“That you’re not trying to survive.” Haneul spoke softly so that the others couldn’t hear her words from the bedroom. “That you’re just going along with whatever Seungyoon and the others are saying…and it seems as though you think that you know – “

Mino’s smile falls at her sudden words. “That I know how it ends?” 

“Yeah.”

 “And why do you think that?”

“Because not once have I heard your determination to stop Jeeun.” Haneul voices. “Mino, the others don’t think that this will be the end.” 

“They just haven’t accepted it yet.” 

Her soft voice from before suddenly changes as it takes on a louder and more commanding approach. “So, we all end up dying in the end. Mr. Yang and the people he brought along, your friends…will you be okay with that?” Mino’s speechlessness allows Haneul to continue. “Would you be okay and accepting of how things will turn out the way you think it will?” 

Again, Mino offers no reply and he could hear Haneul inhale a deep breath on the other line.

“Let’s talk in person, okay?” Not content with her own words, Haneul continues. “I don’t know what Jeeun did to you, Mino. But, I’ve heard she hurt you deeply.”

His body stiffens. 

“The people who care most about you are here waiting. So, don’t be off alone for too long.”

Removing the phone away from his ear, Mino ends the call and releases a heavy sigh. 

***

Haneul looks down at her phone as the door behind her is thrown open. Haneul jumped in surprise and looked around to see who it was.

“Did he say he was coming back?” Jinwoo anticipates for her answer with wide eyes.

“…Not really.” She says dejectedly. 

Jinwoo’s shoulders drop before offering her a smile. “Thank you for trying, Haneul.”

Well, it was due to Seungyoon’s insistence that she be the one to try to talk to him. “What are you going to do now?”

“We may have to go out and look for him ourselves. We’ll leave someone here – “

“Take everyone.” The more people, the better.

***

What is this life worth?

He had come upon this question countless times and repeatedly, no answer followed it. He didn’t understand why the others were trying so hard to protect a life like his. It wasn’t just Jeeun…but, in his wake, he had also left devastation and pain. 

In the end, it was only Seungyoon’s futile attempt to put meaning to his life after all these years and while Mino had given up.

“How long were you planning to hide?”

Mino continued staring out above the city as dread throbbed throughout his body. “Well, if this life didn’t have meaning, you wouldn’t be so obsessed with it.” He answers his own question a loud. Turning around, he came face to face with the woman made of nightmares. “Jeeun.”

“You’re right. I still need you.” She answers lightheartedly. 

Taking steps backward, Mino’s heels reached the edge of the building’s roof. “So, you’re not planning to kill me?” 

Jeeun chuckles. “Of course not. I want you to come to me.”

There was one thing Mino was wary of – he was waiting for the moment she would bind him. But, it was as if Jeeun wasn’t even thinking of doing it. And, this was his chance. “How much would it kill you if I never did?” He couldn’t imagine any other expression other than that stupid smile upon her features – she never showed anything else. 

“You’re breaking my heart, Mino.” Jeeun cooed. “Don’t make me imagine a world like that.”

“You won’t have to imagine.” He figured Jeeun could just experience it. Taking another step back, Mino allowed his body to succumb to gravity. In that split second, Jeeun’s relaxed expression turned into one of shock. 

Mino felt the air rushing past him and closed his eyes – it’ll be over in a few seconds. The fall won’t kill him right away but the damage would surely do more than enough. 

His eyes snapped open upon feeling his upper arm grabbed. Looking to the side, he found Jeeun’s puppy. While Mino fought to remove the grip, Chanhyuk fought to keep ahold of the young man. With mere feet separating the two from the concrete sidewalk, Chanhyuk makes a last attempt to swing Mino’s body upon his own. Pulling it off successfully, Chanhyuk manages to land on his feet and drops Mino on the ground. 

He ignores the shock in his legs and carries out one last task to make sure Mino wouldn’t be able to get away. Mino tries his best to recover but a shooting pain renders him immobile. Looking above him, he finds Chanhyuk standing over him with his arm halfway through his abdomen. 

Mino clenches his teeth due to the pain and holds onto his assailant’s arm.  

“Release him, Chanhyuk.” 

Chanhyuk retracts his arm and the blood spills out from Mino’s stomach as he gets up on his knees. 

“I always get what I want, Mino.” She walks forward and toward him. “Must you drag it out?” Her hand comes up and softly touches his face. 

She had done nothing but care for him and in return, he always offered such hatred in his eyes. She didn’t know what warranted that kind of reaction from him. There was something Mino wasn’t understanding here.

“Don’t you miss us?”

Clutching his abdomen, Mino was unable to hide the scornful laughter that spilled from his lips. Not even the pain was able to stop it. “I hated every m