The others could tell that something was up when Wonho and Jooheon walked into the Safe House together as if they’d been the best of pals for years, Wonho’s arm thrown around an irritated Jooheon’s shoulder as he chatted easily with his signature smirk engraved on his face as it always was. Upon the Dangerous Duo’s appearance (that was what Daeun had decided to nickname them, only in the safety of her head of course, because of their Heavy pasts and their uncanny ability to get on her nerves far easier than it should be possible), the rest of the group that was already there quieted down immediately, a tense atmosphere replacing their former friendly one. It wasn’t that anyone was scared or intimidated by Jooheon and his actions the previous night- they did put up with Wonho on a daily basis, as well as deal to gangs and have races where those that were too slow to actually run resorted to dirty tricks and came at them with knives-, it was just that none of them knew what to say. Dealing with Jooheon was a bit different than dealing with Wonho after all, because, while they were both trouble and could probably kill any of them without much difficulty should they chose to do so, Wonho hid it so well they forgot about it most of the time. In comparison, Jooheon was always a brooding, nearly unapproachable gangster-like thug with his narrow eyes and crossed arms- the only time he seemed to open up and get along with the others was either when he was fighting with Daeun or there was food involved.

Minhyuk would have made a joke about the two hanging out together, had it not been for Jooheon’s quick glare and his own slowly fading nausea curtesy of his hangover from hell. To be honest, he doesn’t even remember last night, so he’s not judging Jooheon anyway- not that any of the others are either-, though he did hear about it from Kihyun this morning.

Daeun wanted to say something too, but for once she held her tongue.

It was Shownu that eventually broke the awkward silence, informing them that, now that they were all here, they could finally begin on their jobs for the day. Apparently, they were going to be busy, requests from gangs and the like piling up due to their recent additions, injuries, and drama- not that Shownu was blaming anybody; Wonho was, though Daeun was used to ignoring him.

Today, Minhyuk and Kihyun would be out on their runs like usual, though Shownu was sending Hyungwon with them in order to help make their job a little easier. This meant that Jooheon would be joining the pair of Wonho and Daeun, though that didn’t seem to be a problem considering his new ‘partnership’ with the former. , Daeun was totally going to be the third wheel, wasn’t she?

Oh, and Shownu was keeping Changkyun because the Maknae was the best, besides himself, when it came to peaceful negotiations, which was what their task for the next few days would be- the others didn’t do ‘peaceful’, hence why they had to do damage control with the other groups they had managed to piss off. Personally though, Daeun just thought that the bastard was hoarding the easy jobs for himself. At the very least, he was making her life a nightmare, and something told her that he knew that too.

That was how she ended up with the worst job of all with two troublesome teammates that decided to entertain themselves by ganging up on her (and sometimes each other) as they made their way to ‘apologize’ to a certain broken and bloody gang member that was at the wrong party at the wrong time. That was the plan anyway; Daeun highly doubted there would be much apologizing going on though, not with Wonho playing devil’s advocate that is. A part of her doubted if an apology was possible even without his so-called encouragement- Jooheon was a stubborn person, after all. In short, Daeun didn’t have much hope for their success, something she had muttered bitterly to Hyungwon as they left. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and eat overcooked, crappy convenience store ramyun with Minwoo like she usually did on the days after his wild parties. Did she actually miss stuff like that? Apparently so.

"Aren't you just the luckiest girl alive, Princess? Stuck with two attractive bad boys and all? Must be every girl's dream."

"So long as you're involved, it's a nightmare," Daeun muttered under her breath, though she didn't try to be that quiet, not caring if Wonho heard her. He deserved it after all, and besides, it’s not like her disdain for him was a secret.

Jooheon scoffed at them, shoving his hands in his pockets as he tried to walk ahead of his bickering companions. “Just kiss already.”

“Yah!” Daeun shouted, jogging to catch up with him and then tugging on his arm to show her displeasure. “What did you just say?” she demanded, glaring up at the curly haired male with a look she usually reserved for Wonho. “We already get enough of that from Hyungwon. Don’t you start too.”

“Watch who you’re touching, Nam,” he glared right back at her, shaking her off of him roughly. Before she could retort, Wonho interrupted their stare down, not liking that they were ignoring him.

“Aw, Princess, you said ‘we’! Does that mean you accepted us being partners now?” He grinned, smoothly stepping in between the younger pair. He placed his right hand over his heart, rolling his neck to look down at her mockingly. “I’m touched. Truly.”

“Bastard.” Honestly though, whatever she said would only be seen as encouragement to the infuriating blue haired male.

“Much better!” Wonho laughed for a second before becoming strangely serious, though his lips remained tilted up in a smirk. He leaned down dangerously close, invading her personal space, until they were eye to eye, his warm breath ghosting over her face. “Only look at me that way.”

Daeun froze, breath caught in . She was reminded of their first meeting, the one in the park where she had literally flirted with danger before being chased by a maniac throughout the city. She could feel her cheeks begin to heat up out of embarrassment and frustration. When she saw one corner of his pink lips hike up a little higher, she finally snapped out of it.

“!” Wonho hissed, palm springing up instantly to cover his burning cheek.

“You deserved that,” Jooheon chimed in boredly, starting to walk once more. Daeun was quick to follow him though, shaking her hand with a huff to ease the slight sting. Damn did it feel good to finally slap the . Unfortunately for her, Wonho wasn’t one to give up easily.

“,” he muttered just loud enough for them both to hear him. His voice may have sounded playful and teasing, but his jaw was clenched tightly, his already dark eyes even darker. He didn’t know whether he was more pissed or impressed, but either way, she was stupid if she thought he was just going to let her get away with that. “I didn’t peg you for the type to be into that sort of thing. I kind of like it though.”

This time, Daeun didn’t even have to do anything. Wonho was sent to the ground face first, legs swept right out from under him as he tripped over Jooheon’s outstretched foot.

“ert,” the latter rolled his eyes, treading over the fallen male without a care.

“Aw, you do care!” Daeun cheered with a smile, bumping his shoulder in a joking manner. “,” she cursed, stumbling a little when Jooheon bumped her back a little too hard- and that was most likely on purpose too. In an instant, she was back to glaring at him, friendly moment brief and quickly forgotten. “Jerk.”

“I’ll get jealous if you start calling other guys by my nickname, Princess,” Wonho sang, dusting himself off as if his pride hadn’t just been mortally wounded. It was fine though, because he got even the second he was standing, arm swinging out to casually cuff Jooheon on the back of the head, causing him to trip himself. Plus, the look on Daeun’s face as he messed with her was absolutely worth every comment. “And I thought I told you to only look at me like that,” he whined, faking a pout as he gestured to the annoyed Jooheon a few feet away from them. In response to his alleged sulking, she did nothing but stare at him, deadpan.

“I hate you both.” Because Daeun couldn’t think of anything else to say that summed up her feelings about the current situation any better.

“Both? You should only hate-“

“I swear, if you say one more sorry excuse of a possessive pick-up line, we’re going to be down a Runner at the next Marathon.”

“Pick-up lines? Someone’s full of themselves. In case you haven’t noticed yet, Princess, you aren’t exactly my type.”

“Shut up- you’re both too noisy. At this rate, we’ll never get there.”

And so that was how their journey passed, full of bickering and minor injuries- only half in the name of good natured teasing and friendship-, until they reached the hideout of the supposed gang they were meant to ‘apologize’ to. She highly doubted that the small corner store family run grocery was their actual hideout- it was probably just a meeting place deemed safe by the group. Either way, once their destination came into sight and they noticed the four men dressed in black jeans and dark colored street clothes waiting outside with white cigarettes between their teeth (seriously cliché in Daeun’s opinion, almost as if they wanted people to notice they were your classic old movie’s no-good gangsters), all joking and arguing came to a halt. Despite their differences, and Wonho’s naturally inconsiderate and provoking attitude, they still knew when to be serious and it up to get their work done.

Now that they were actually here, Daeun was once again struck by the pure ridiculousness of the situation. Who actually apologizes to gang members? Just what the hell had Shownu been thinking when he sent them on this pointless suicide mission? She understood that apparently the gang was one of the ones they made deliveries to frequently, and so it would be bad if there were any problems and misunderstandings between them, but an apology? This wasn’t kindergarten; the fact that Jooheon and one of their newly recruited members got into a fight, one that involved a knife at that, couldn’t be solved with a halfhearted apology, because she knew he wouldn’t mean it, and a can of low quality beer from the store they loitered in front of. Honestly, how this was supposed to be more effective than a meeting between Shownu and the gang’s leader to work out the issue, she had no clue. Maybe Shownu was just too busy to care and liked to see them suffer- the majority of her new friends were bipolar and borderline sadistic, after all.

It was easy to tell that both Jooheon and Wonho were thinking the same thing, their expressions a mix between dismissive and annoyed. Unlike Jooheon and Daeun though, Wonho wasn’t going to go along with their stupid, soft-hearted leader’s idealistic schemes.

“So which one of you is the wuss that got his kicked by our newbie here?” The mocking grin on his face was so wide there was no mistaking its intent for anything conciliatory or friendly.

As they failed their so-called ‘easy’ mission before it even officially began, Daeun’s only thought was that she should have slapped Wonho harder.

It took less than three minutes and a few more insulting phrases- and a “Screw it” from Daeun; Jooheon preferred a frustrated “ this”- for the first punch to be thrown, curtesy of one of the gang members in an attempt to knock Wonho down a few pegs. It didn’t quite work out as he probably planned it though, Wonho easily dodging with his signature taunting smirk on his face and another derisive comment on the tip of his tongue. As if that had been some kind of signal for the others, it suddenly turned into a free for all. Wonho and Jooheon were more than capable of holding their own, but Daeun, while she was decent at dodging due to her speed and reflexes, wasn’t much of a fighter- she may have been an experienced troublemaker, but she had never been one to get into fist fights, let alone grapple with gangsters. The onl