It was Thursday again.

 

The local bakery was here, giving baking lessons to some of the inmates, who had strangely found an interest this particular side of the culinary arts.

 

Whisking the batter, Kyungsoo glanced up at the new face among the group of volunteers. He never saw her around here before.

 

She was a plain girl in his opinion, nothing too special; petite frame, common brown eyes, slender hands. But she had beautiful hair. It was straight, falling behind her shoulders and in front of her face like a curtain. Black as the midnight sky, yet if the light was shining on it at just the right angle, he could see a purple hue to it.

 

Other than that, she looked like an everyday, ordinary girl who happened to hold a major sweet tooth.

 

Finding his staring a little less than appropriate--- not that it seemed to matter as a few shameless, older males were giving the girl a once over, sometimes twice--- he returned to the cake batter in his hands.

 

Usually, Kyungsoo had paid no mind to the conversations around him but throughout the rest of the session, he couldn’t help but listen on in the conversation the other inmates were having with the new girl.

 

“Why, who’s this lovely new face? I don't see you around here often darling.” He couldn’t help but scoff inwardly at the inmate’s poor attempt at flirting.

 

Before she could even reply, another inmate pushed forward to claim her attention. “Hey there miss! I made this for you.”

 

Kyungsoo watched amusely as the man waved a terribly iced, chocolate cupcake in her face.

 

“It’s for you! Have a taste,” the man continued as he pushed the others to get even closer to the girl.

 

He watched in an allknowning manner of what was going to happen next. Just as he had expected, the inmate attempted to feed the girl. His hand eye coordination couldn’t have been that bad, Kyungsoo knew, but in the name of flirting, he smeared the icing across her rosy lips.

 

Minsuk feigned a shocked gasp but they all knew that it was all in his intention. Hastily, he reached over to wipe the icing off of her lips but all he touched was air. Eyebrows rising to his hairline in confusion, he whipped his head to the side.

 

Kyungsoo had grasped the girl by the wrist and tugged her out of the crowd. Pushing a napkin to her lips, he didn’t bother to help her wipe it off as he returned back to whisking his batter, the napkin completely stuck to her flushed face.

 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her bow slightly before gently cleaning the sugary spread from her lips.

 

Shaking out of his shock, the guy roughly snatched Kyungsoo by his orange collar. “What’s your problem man? Didn’t you see that I was trying something?”

 

“I did not.” Kyungsoo brushed him off, eyes narrowing.

 

“Are you blind? How can you not know see that I was trying to make a move on her?”

 

“Because your attempts were terrible. Plus you didn’t have a chance anyways.”

 

“You…,” he growled, hands tightening into a fist.

 

Kyungsoo didn’t bother to waste his time smashing what’s left of the guy’s dignity to the ground. Settling for a strong, yet threatening gaze, he turned away.

 

He knew the matter at hand wasn’t finished yet when he felt multiple pairs of eyes burning holes into the back of his head. The cake pan barely slid into the oven when he heard a set of angry footsteps behind him. Sighing heavily, he let out a string of curses.

 

This was why he never spoke; speaking leads to conversations, and conversations leads to feelings, and feelings leads to conflict.

 

Minsuk yanked Kyungsoo hard by the collar, fingers tightening around the disgusting orange material. With the both them faced to faced, eyes narrowed into slits, “I don’t know who the you think you are, but you better watch that mouth of yours before it gets you into trouble.”

 

Face unchanged, features unfazed, Kyungsoo pressed his lips into a thin line. Voice barely above a whisper, he said, “You don’t need to know who I am and I don’t need to know who you are. All I have to say is, get your hands off of me.”

 

Smirking, Minsuk tilted his head to the side mockingly, “What if I don’t want to?”

 

Jaws clenched, Kyungsoo watched as the a flicker of fear pass by the inmate’s eyes but they were quick to be filled with a mischievous glint once again. Minsuk tried to maintain his stance and pull on a strong front but by the loosening grasp on his collar, Kyungsoo knew better.

 

He was intimidated.

 

“Don't say words that you'll regret.”

 

And that was all it took for the inmate to throw a hook at him.

 

Biting the inside of his cheek, Kyungsoo quickly ducked out of the man’s grasp. Out of the corner of his eyes, he couldn't help but roll his eyes as he spotted a certain girl stumbling over.

 

The said girl slipped into the space between the two men, hands on the inmate’s chest, shoving him back as she shook her head frantically.

 

This girl was seriously dumb.

 

Minsuk kept on resisting the girl’s attempt in blocking him from throwing another swing at Kyungsoo, his face burning red.

 

“Get the out of my way,” Minsuk continued to push the girl back, making her ram into Kyungsoo’s chest.

 

With her back touching his chest, Kyungsoo took a deep breath before pushing her to the side. “There, she’s out of the way.”

 

He felt her nimble hands grasp onto the end of his sleeves tightly, knuckles white. Face paling and parted in shock, she continued to annoyingly shake her head; urging him to stop.

 

As Kyungsoo shook her off yet again, Minsuk took this as a signal and launched himself at the other male, catching him in a headlock.

 

The two of them fell to the ground, fists were thrown as the both of them struggled relentlessly to get back onto their feets. Minsuk’s punches were futile and sad in comparison to the damage Kyungsoo had seen him land on the other inmate last week when he accidently bumped into the said male. The other guy was so badly beaten that even a couple rounds of plastic surgery wouldn’t put his face back into its normal structure.

 

Guess Kyungsoo had expected too much from him.

It’s been awhile since he was able to use his hands like this so it was quite pleasing when he managed to hook Minsuk in the jaw. As Minsuk stumbled back from the impact, the corner’s of Kyungsoo’s lips curled up ever so slowly.

 

To both of the men’s dismay,  the whole ordeal ended much too quickly.

 

They were both just warming up when the prison guards came thundering in, a back up squad following at their heels.

 

They shouted at the crowd to move out of the way and threatened no culinary classes for two weeks if they didn’t. Seeing that it was their only chance of a slice of freedom within the prison, everyone that resisted before immediately dispersed.

 

On the contrary to Kyungsoo’s small frame, it took three solid looking guards to haul him up and out of the fight. Minsuk was slammed onto the kitchen counter, knocking several cakes off their platters and onto the ground, as he was cuffed up. Kyungsoo was in a similar indictment as he was manhandled and the right side of his cheek brutally came in contact with the white walls. The impact caused vibrations to run through every inch of his body, leaving his mind in a daze.

 

By the time that he had regain his sight and process of thought, the guards had already had him walking down the corridor to his cell. When he was walking far too leisurely for their liking, the guard that had him locked up gruffly commanded, “Walk faster. Quit acting like a Prince. You’re a ing inmate. Come on now, walk faster. We don’t have all day. This isn’t a nightly stroll in the park.”

 

Although the voice was an octave lower than usual and just a tad bit less annoying, Kyungsoo instantly relaxed against his vice grip, but followed the man’s commands regardless. Turning the corner and down another, he felt the ridges of a key ed into his palm. Wrapping his fingers around the metal piece, he stealthy hid it under his sleeves, away from the two other guards’ watching eyes.

 

Waiting for the signal, Kyungsoo positioned the key at the lock of the handcuffs around his wrists. Just as he felt the touch of an index finger and thumb pressed against his wrist, Kyungsoo immediately went to work, releasing the handcuffs from their job.

 

Before the handcuffs even had a chance to touch the ground and ring from its impact, Baekhyun caught the two other guards off guard and knocked them into the wall, not before plunging the whole corridor in darkness.

 

Baekhyun shoved Kyungsoo down another corridor blindly, snickering at the shouts of the guards behind them.

 

“You could have beaten that Minsuk to a pulp, Soo. Why didn’t you?” Baekhyun questioned a smile hinting in his words. “Don’t tell me prison loosen you up a little too much?”

 

Sending him a glare that was undetectable in the darkness, Kyungsoo mumbled, “Shut up. Now what’s the plan?”

 

A jiggling of keys reached his ears before the emergency lights flickered on and a countdown of the prison going into lockdown mode began over the intercom.

 

“Just find the south exit of the prison, the one that leads into the parking lot of the police cruisers. When you get there, don’t run carelessly into the parking lot. The cameras aren’t positioned the same way as the past four prisons you’ve been in. Swoop them out before laying it low. At the outskirts of the lot, there should be a couple of taxis. Swap one of their license plates with the cruiser’s. The police will still be able to track you but that should delay them a bit for you to at least get out of town and switch to a new car.”

 

Without a single word of goodbye, Baekhyun threw him the keys and dashed to the left as they reached a split pathway. Kyungsoo took the other one.

 

Less than a minute later, he ran straight into another warm body.

 

It was the bakery girl. Great.

 

Of all times that Kyungsoo can sweep a girl off her feet, he choose then to do so, quite literally. He couldn’t believe his luck.

 

Sirens blaring all around them, the pathway completely plunged in darkness, Kyungsoo did not waste another second in his escape as he yanked her along with him. He knew that from the yelps that emitted from the girl that she was struggling to keep up to his pace but he didn’t bother to slow down for her sake. He needed to find the back door and he had little to no time to reach it before the whole prison gets locked down.

 

Turning swiftly on his heel, Kyungsoo cut a corner. Another muffled yelp came from the girl causing him to whip his head around. Catching sight of her holding onto her left shoulder, he put one and one together; figuring that he had caused her to ram into the corner upon his sudden change in direction. Averting his sight back ahead, he simply mumbled, “Come on, keep up.”

 

He continued to pull her along with him down another corridor. This time though, it wasn’t as dark as dimmed red emergency lights lit up the corridor. Reaching what seemed to be a dead end, Kyungsoo halted in his steps.

 

Sighing, he squinted at the wall. Tentatively, he placed his hands against the wall while dropping her hand from his hold like it was hot. After a moment of searching, Kyungsoo spotted a tiny hole. It seemed to be a peephole. Using both of his hands, he pushed. He continued to do so for a solid minute but it wouldn’t budge.

 

Groaning in annoyance, he slammed his shoulder against it, but it was no use.

 

Ever so softly, his ears picked up the sound of thundering footsteps and commands bouncing off of the walls of the corridor.

 

Breathing swallow and his blood pounding in his ears, Kyungsoo exhaled deeply through his nose. Choices limited, he decided on the whim to run back in the direction that they came from.

 

Stumbling in shock at the change of plans, she reeled him back to a stop. Hitting him on his shoulders, she shook her head frantically as the silhouette of the guards came into view.

 

Frustrated, Kyungsoo whispered back harshly, “This is a dead end, what else do you want me to do?”

 

At his words, the girl stopped her actions and looked back at him owlishly. A look of puzzlement adorning her features. She stood there silently, hands still grasping his arm. It was as if she didn’t hear or understood a single word that left his mouth.

 

As the shouting came closer, the girl shook out of her daze and yanked him back closer to the wall.

 

Just as Kyungsoo was about to call her out for her stupidity for leading them back into the dead end again, she disappeared into the darkness.

 

Having no idea if the girl fainted to the floor or amazingly had the ability to walk through walls, Kyungsoo wasn't left with many choices as their chasers came even closer.

 

Without a second thought, Kyungsoo threw himself straight into the darkness.

 

Stumbling into the girl, he quickly brought up his hands to stabilize her by the shoulders. Recovering from their little incident, Kyungsoo looked over the girl’s head.

 

Up ahead, not more than a few feet away, a sliver of moonlight shone through what seemed to be a crack in the door frame.

 

Blessed.

 

Not more than a second later, the biting February winds begun to nip at their faces. Cheeks and noses turning uncomfortably numb, Kyungsoo took in the site of rows upon rows of police cars lining the lot. Breath clearly visible in the dark night, he roamed his eyes over the vehicles. Glancing left and right, he blew another puff of air into the night. Eyes narrowing in on a small black dot attached to the roof of the buildings near by, he shoved the girl against the brick wall, motioning her to crouch down to the ground as he did.

 

With his hand on her shoulder blades, he pushed her to creep along the wall. When she returned around to confront him, Kyungsoo merely placed his hand at the base of her neck, turning her head back towards the front.

 

When they reached the edge, he pulled her up by the fabric of her shirt. ing her into the rows of cars, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, making her duck as they moved. With every step that they took, it caused them to move closer and closer. It was to a point where he could feel her erratic heartbeat ramming against her ribcage. He could say he was feeling the same thing but he didn’t. This kind of thing happened far too often for it to make him feel anything.

 

Once they’ve reached the outskirts of the parking lot, Kyungsoo halted in his steps. Releasing his hold, he quickly swiped and switched the license plates of a nearby taxi with one of the police cruisers. Bolting the plate in place, Kyungsoo pushed her to the passenger side, a silent command for her to enter the car.

 

Shell shocked, she simply stood there, lips parted.

 

“Get in.” He told her, his breath coming out in white puffs.

 

As he slid into the driver’s side, Kyungsoo noticed that she was still standing outside. Sighing quite heavily, he leaned over and threw the door open, almost knocking her off her feet. When she entered into a slower pace than he wanted, Kyungsoo reached out and pulled her in roughly. And in one fluid motion, he had her buckled in and pressed onto the accelerator.

 

It was when he was about to pull out of the lot that, he took a glance at the company he with him.

 

Siting rather rigidly in the seat, the girl had a death grip on the seat belt, knuckles turning as white as snow. Her legs were trembling with jitters; it was so bad that Kyungsoo could hear her knee caps knocking against each other over the humming of the engine. If he had thought that the color of her hands were bad, her face was even worst. Her face was drained of color; it was like someone had left her too long in the cold and blood stopped circulating in her body. In comparison to the flushed face he had from the bitter cold they just escaped, not a single tint of red nor pink graced her face. It was devoid of color or any sort, not even blue because he was sure that at this point, the girl had somehow stopped breathing. The ragged breaths and gasps she took earlier was no more as they inched closer and closer to the wired fences of the prison.

 

Rummaging through the glove compartment, he thanked his lucky stars and the big guy up there as he pulled out two police caps. Pulling one over his head and with his eyes still on the road, he pulled the second one snuggly onto hers.

 

They were no more than a few feets away when Kyungsoo spoke up again, “I know you have no idea who I am except that I’m a criminal and this is probably a dumb question but, do you trust me?”

 

He waited a second, then two, and it became three when he repeated his question again to her.

 

No reply.

 

Flowery words really wasn’t his forte. Words in general wasn’t his forte. But he swore he heard Jongin play the trust card on all the girls he fooled around with and they were all nothing but putty under those words. Girls were just too messy to deal with in his opinion, that’s why he never tried to play this card until now.

 

Barely contain his agitation, he averted his sight back on her figure; she was in the same position since the last time he had glanced over at her, except this time, she slouched down lower into the seat as if she was wishing the seat could swallow her whole entire being.

Letting a dreary sigh slip past his lips, Kyungsoo merely tugged the beak of his police hat down to cover his eyes as he said, “Since you can’t answer, I’ll answer for you.” Rolling the window down as the security guard came by to swipe his ID card for access to the gates, he mumbled, “I do trust you.”