They had just barely touched fingertips when the echo’s of the gunshot rang loud.

Out there in the streets where they once spent their days walking hand in hand with laughter on their lips and a flowery path in their future; there now raged a battle between those they knew as friends, parents, brothers and sisters and cousins. All laying down their lives and spilling precious blood on the once beautiful cobbled steps, and for what? Pride? Vengeance? For this pointless feud that had gone on for far too long for it to make sense to continue, yet too much like a reflexive part of each person for it to truly stop?

The two held tighter to each other’s hands, the fear palpable in the air. They both knew that there was a great possibility that one, or both of them could count as one of the casualties of this night of terror and just for that they huddled closer, neither one of them wanting to let go. The lover was fully aware of their fate, they were destined to be enemies and when the fateful day arrives a gun is pointed at their forehead and one has to fall.

Luhan looked at Minseok’s pale face, with the cut on his cheek and fresh blood trickling down on his lips, he was still beautiful. Out in the streets this man was known only as Xiumin, the ice prince of the Kim Family, but here in Luhan’s arms he was only Minseok, the man who trembled at the sight of pigeons and had an unhealthy obsession with coffee and cake.

Luhan was just notorious out there as the arrogant playboy that broke half the city’s hearts, if they were lucky, otherwise it was more than just hearts that Luhan broke. He had vowed that Minseok would not be one of them.

Minseok was not supposed to be his victim. They were supposed to be partners, lover with a promising future, and yet here they were, minutes away from being the cause of each other’s downfall.

Just how did it come to this? When Luhan and Minseok were still unaware of their identity and only had eyes for each other as they were too madly in love, Luhan once vowed on his name and his own flesh and blood that he would protect Minseok under whatsoever circumstance until the last draw of his breath. It was ironic really, Luhan would never have expected that his name would be the ultimate dagger that pierces through Minseok’s heart for the moment the raw unbeating truth of their family name was revealed, their time together was restricted.

“We can’t stay here forever.” fire sparked in Minseok’s eyes, a hand on his Taurus Curve. He was tense, crouched, his legs ready to spring at any moment. Minseok had already checked the knife in his boot and his favorite curved daggers strapped to holsters on his thighs. He’d always favored the elegant sharp edges of his blades to the messy aftermath of a gunshot. With a gun he was dangerous but with his knives he was deadly. it was what had attracted Luhan to him in the beginning.  

“Luhan cover me.“ In an blink, Minseok disappeared from his spot and relocated his position to the far end of the corridor, back pressed against the bare bricked walls. Luhan was quick in retracting his serious composure and darted to the adjacent side,hand slithering down to his leather waist band and touch the cold surface of his handgun as echoes of two footsteps drew near.

Minseok’s eyes glint a omicious glint, Luhan can catch that the man was calculating the right second and minute in that systematic mind of his to launch. One of the differences between the two was; Minseok is cold, reserved and calculative, he was careful and meticulous in every of his steps. On the contrary Luhan is reckless, aggressive and relied on his gun more than logical procedures.They say it takes two opposites to make perfect and so that phrase is true.

Minseok waited for the right timing before he trapped his arm around the opponent's shoulder and drew his dagger across the throat just deep enough to cut a main artery and allow blood to gush. The second one caught his comrade lying dead in pool of blood, before he can whip his gun out to shoot Minseok, Luhan shot him precisely between the eyes and watched the target fall limp over the other body.

“Thanks Lu-Ge.” Minseok turns his head and gave Luhan his famous lopsided grin, Luhan reciprocate the gesture with an endearing smile, “Anything for you.” And in that moment they look like the loving couple of which they should have been, if not for the blood splattered on their clothes and the corpses surrounding them.

Their moment is interrupted by a burst of rapid fire that has them springing apart into opposite sides of the room, their weapons clutched tightly to them. Luhan is hard headed and believes they can fight the dozen of men that will cross their path sooner or later, but Minseok thinks otherwise and by the yank of the other’s forearm the two made their escaped out of the building and into the woods.

It was nostalgic, in a way, they had run through these woods before, but it was in excruciatingly different circumstances. There had been alcohol then, both of them considerably sloshed; there had also been laughter and wandering hands and an unplanned kiss that opened the door for many more kisses to come.

Bullets ripped through the bark of the trees they had just passed, barely missing them by inches, both didn’t waver and hurried their pace, heading further into the mist as the sun sets down and soon giving into the dark. “ There’s the cabin hidden under the cliff, it should keep us safe for the night.”

They knew this place though, they had been here enough times that each step was instinctual to them. They outran the guns and the shouts, the chaos of the world and before long they came on to a familiar comforting sight.

A cabin. Their cabin.

It didn’t escape either of them that it was strangely fitting, how the place where they had first taken pleasure and comfort in each other in the beginning would also be the place where they would be taking refuge now. Back then it had been a different kind of vulnerability. Clothes shed and all their insecurities laid bare to the other’s eyes, parted legs and the look of trust shared as they offered up their bodies and drown in blissful moan of each other’s name.

Minseok crack the crooked door open, the dust and debris tumbled down and piled on his shoulder and dusted it off with his hand. The two entered the confined space, it was just like how they remembered it to be before leaving, Wrecked and chaotic.  Luhan flicked on the light but as expected the bulb was out and so was the rest of the power source, but to their luck some candles were stocked in the cupboards  to help them survive the night.

They got a good look at each other in the flickering light and immediately grimaced at the blood and dirt splattered over both of them. Luhan dug around in his pocket and managed to find a sole clean handkerchief but it did little good for either of them and they soon gave up little sighs of defeat. The handkerchief left forgotten on the ground, covered with blood and grime.

Together they sat down on the lone piece of furniture that looked like it wouldn’t buckle under their combined weights and let the frantic beating of their hearts settle down into its normal pace. The turmoil in their minds, however, refused to be calmed in the same way.

“What now?”

“We can spend the night here, but tomorrow…” Luhan holds Minseok’s hands. “We’ll leave the country? Where do you want to go? I know you said you wanted to go to Japan before but that’s too close so I was thinking..”

“What are you talking about?” Minseok cut him off, voice sharp. “If we leave now, we’re going to be on the run for the rest of our lives. Do you want that?”

“If we stay here we’re going to die.” Luhan ground out.

“That’s going to happen no matter what we do.” Minseok already seemed resigned to their fates and this infuriated Luhan. He had sworn to protect Minseok. This wasn’t how things were supposed to end. He opened his mouth to argue only to be interrupted by the beeping from the small pager he always kept tied to his belt. The pager was a curiosity on his person, but it was his own paranoia that lead him to use this instead of the cellphones that was the norm. This way, he had told Minseok before, he wouldn’t be tracked.

The message displayed on the screen was simple.

xing:

[ Diverted them. Only till 8am. Baekhyun is dead. Surrender or they’ll kill you both. ]

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