Bora’s bare feet hit the metallic air duct beneath.

The material quivered and sent a sound running down the hallways beneath.

Panting, she balanced herself straight on wobbly legs. The pipe was large enough for her not to feel too oppressed.

She walked with her back bent until she reached a metal grate that she guessed would lead to the hallways beneath, and eventually to the exit.

She crouched down and snuck an eye through one of the many holes but there was only darkness. She plastered her ear against the grate.

No harried footsteps, no gunshots.

No one seemed to be waiting for her under.

She took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

Inch by inch, she carefully slid the rusty grate open. It was heavier than expected. She bit her lip under the effort and sweat formed on her forehead.

She finally opened it. She sat on the edge and balanced her legs out. Holding onto the edge, she let her body hang in the air beneath the pipe.

She glanced down. The ground was just a few feet below. Nothing deadly. Or so she hoped.

She let go of the edge and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact. Her feet hit the ground and she landed on something she didn’t realize was there with the darkness.

Water.

She was ankle-deep in sewer water.

It splashed all over. The sound was deafening in the silence that reigned over the sewer. Her face contorted and she gagged at the rotten eggs smell.

She covered her nose with her arm. The mix of sweat and blood made Celeste the dagger slip out of her hand and she readjusted her grip.

Slowly she walked listening for potential attackers. But apart from the drip-dropping of water and the occasional rat running, she didn’t hear a thing.

It was deathly quiet.

***

Drip.

“Totally not my business, but, does Mark know you’re doing this?”

Drop.

“You’re right. It’s not your business.”

Drip.

“I take it he doesn’t know,” Bambam sneered. “It wasn’t even a question, really. I heard him on the phone with you.”

Drop.

“Why give him this false sense of leadership if you ain’t gonna follow his lead anyways? That’s ed up.”

Drip.

“I’m not into politics,” Jackson murmured. “Besides, he needs it more than I do.”

Drop.

“Well, that wasn’t condescending at all.” Bambam deadpanned.

“Shut it,” Jackson gritted out. “I can’t hear anything with a voiceover.”

Silence came back after a scoff on Bambam’s part.

Jackson heard voices shouting and footsteps running his way. He quickly hid in a tiny storage room, keeping an eye out to the corridor.

***

Bora made her first turn and stopped dead in her tracks.

A silhouette was stationed, back to her. She stilled and started backtracking. She was about to turn the corner she came from when something slalomed between her legs. She looked down and her eyes widened at the creature scurrying away.

A rat.

She jumped away, sending water splashing again.

“Who’s there?” The man instantly turned around aiming his gun at her.

She looked up in horror before breaking into a run.

“Hey!”

Her heart threatening to burst out of her chest, she went back to her starting point, heading for the other turn, and another. Each corridor resembled the last and she wouldn’t be able to tell which way led outside to save her life.

She could hear the man’s footsteps chasing after her, shouting over a talkie-walkie words she didn’t catch. But she could only imagine what he was telling his colleagues.

Her heart skipped another beat when she was stopped mid-run and pulled inside a tiny storage room. Warmth enveloped her as the person wrapped a hand around , muffling her scream and pressed her back against their chest. Another arm wrapped around her stomach, locking her arms together.

Just before darkness engulfed the room, she recognized the now familiar tattoos on the man’s skin and she craned her neck to meet Jackson’s eyes.

“Shhh,” he mouthed.

Her legs almost gave out in relief and if he wasn’t holding her so firmly, she would be on the ground.

They didn’t have to wait long before a horde of footsteps ran down the hallway noisily and Jackson pressed his hand harder against . She could feel his own heartbeat against her back.

“Target with vital information escaped,” A loud voice boomed so near Bora thought he was inside the room. “Orders are to shoot on sight. I repeat, shoot on sight. Over.”

Bora’s eyes widened and her insides twisted. The noise faded out as the crowd ran elsewhere in the maze of conducts.

Jackson slowly untangled their limbs, keeping a hold on Bora’s elbows with the tip of his fingers to secure her. She turned around on shaky legs to face him, or at least what she guessed was him in the dark.

“We need to stop saving each other.” Jackson’s voice rose. “Or getting into situations that need saving in the first place.”

“You – you… I thought that you –” She stuttered, not fully recovered from both the shock of seeing him and the thrill of the chase.

“That I what?” He asked distractedly, half-opening the door to let the haunting conduit light filter in.

She held her fist up higher and looked at the dagger she had been holding like it was the first time she was seeing it. “He told me you wouldn’t… come. So I figured something happened.”

Jackson’s eyes focused back on her and he instantly zeroed in on her bloody arm.

“What did you do?” He asked, his voice sending chills crawling down her nape.

“The guy from yesterday.” She showed him the blood on the dagger. “The man you k-killed was his brother.”

Jackson angled his body towards Bora and his eyes burned holes through her, a mixture of anger and… fear?

“You killed him?”

He didn’t touch her, but he might as well have grabbed her collar and shaken her up.

“N-No,” She stuttered, not comprehending his odd behavior. “I didn’t kill him!” She repeated, taking a step forward, a frown marring her face.

Did he think her capable of killing someone?

He exhaled through his nose and the gleam faded from his eyes.

He was back to normal. At least, normal by his standards.

He scoffed at the blood trickling down the corner of to her chin.

“See?” He said, “This is what you get for showing mercy.”

A strange look crossed her eyes. What happened with Seonmin in the cell rushed back to her mind but Bora didn’t want to think about it now. It was too overwhelming, she would probably have a panic attack and now wasn’t the time.

She wiped the blood with her wrist.

Before Jackson could ask anything about it, like she susp