Wonho had gone soft.

That was just something that he had to admit at this point. Years of being a Runner had made him too comfortable, his walls weaker and his guard lower. And then came along a girl by the name of Nam Daeun and those cracked walls seemed to finally crumble. In a split second decision, in the moment he had come out of the station and saw her, he had concluded that it didn’t matter. it. If this was the way it was going to be, then he might as well make the most of it. Enjoy it. Daeun certainly made that easy for him, which was why it had been so hard to resist her in the first place.

“Now what?” she laughed, voice breathy from running. It was a sound that Wonho had heard a thousand times, typically as the result of something or someone else, and hardly ever directed towards him. It was a nice sound though, and he liked the fact that he was the cause of it.

“Now,” Wonho smirked, climbing back inside the car, “we have some more fun.”

There was no doubt in his mind -or anyone’s, for that matter- that Daeun knew how to have fun and could cause trouble almost as well as he did. She certainly knew how to Flush, making just as good a partner for him as Hyungwon had, if not better. Since last night, they had stirred up quiet the commotion in a variety of small cities, driving from place to place and then hopping back in the car to head to the next. It was nothing serious- just some minor Lifting, a few drinks, a couple more races. But it was a hell of a good time, that was for sure.

They had somehow made their way back towards their own hometown, vehicle now parked outside of the city limit by the river’s edge. Close by was the sketchy neighborhood in which he had just recently gotten arrested. It was dangerous, a place someone normally didn’t want to be, but it also happened to be a spot he knew they could run wild a little, and the others in their Flock wouldn’t ever dream of coming here. Shownu had been in the area his fair share of times, but that was all in the past, and he hadn’t stepped foot in that part of the city since he founded his Flight. It was like this- there was the bad part of town where their Safe House was located, near the rusted old playground and Daeun’s apartment complex, and then there was the bad part of town, the part they were in now.

Wonho knew the area best, for obvious reasons, so he took to leading them away from the river and further into the city where their destination laid. Truthfully though, there was no specific place he had in mind, just that he wanted to stir up some trouble, have some last little bit of fun before they would be forced to head back home to the Safe House, where Shownu would undoubtedly scold them- scold him, actually; just him. Daeun was sure to get a free pass- one, because she was Daeun, and two, because technically, as she had said before, she had been taken against her will when their road trip adventure began. Of course, since then that had changed, and she’s definitely enjoyed herself, though neither of those things are facts she’ll ever admit out loud- certainly not in Wonho’s presence.

They pass a couple of beat up shops with worn down storefronts, though Wonho makes sure to steer clear of both the mechanic’s place he’s wrecked and the building with the broken window he was so rudely thrown through. There’s a decent sized department store a few blocks from here that acts as the center for the largest gathering of people in this region, and so he heads towards that. More people means more targets- he’s an expert at Flushing, his favorite pastime, so he knows how to scope out an ideal location. They don’t quite make it there though, and it doesn’t take Wonho long to realize that he’s made a stupid rookie mistake. Sometimes things just escape his attention because he seems to consider himself invulnerable, invincible, but he should know by now though that that isn’t the case. Plus, Daeun’s with him, and that girl attracts trouble no matter where she is or what she’s doing- yes, Wonho is blaming this unfortunate run in completely on her, even if only in his mind because he doesn’t really want to face her wrath if he were to ever say it out loud.

“Hey, Wonho,” a distantly familiar voice called out- like Daeun had heard it in passing on the street but not enough to be able to actually place it. She turned, they both did, to reveal the speaker. Wonho clenched his jaw and fists at the same time, the aura around him darkening considerably until the air felt cold and angry, something she had been around to experience more times than she would like- it looked as if she was now about to add another instance to the growing list in her head. At least, this time it wasn’t directed at her. “Funny seeing you here.”

Standing in perfect formation in front of them are the Runners from the Marathon, the group that is supposedly their rivals, the ones that don’t know how to play fair and have a serious grudge against Wonho. She tenses, muscles coiled and ready to either run or fight- preferably not the latter, though she has enough sense to see that, unfortunately, that’s the direction this seems to be headed. She recognizes the one that’s speaking so bitterly as the leader of their Flock. The only difference between the way they look now and the way she remembers them is the black and blue bruises that mar their skin and the white bandages that match Wonho’s. The hatred and aggression in the man’s gaze as he glares at Wonho -and her by association-, however, is the same. There are a million thoughts racing in her head at that moment -escape routes, back up plans- but all of that proves predictably meaningless. After all, Wonho isn’t one to back down from a fight.

He may have gone a little soft, may be a little out of practice, but he’s not going to run like a coward. Running may be his job, his life, but at this instant, in this situation, he feels as though it isn’t a viable option. At least, not until he knows what their intentions are.

“I’m surprised you came back to this side of town,” the other Runner bites out. “Or really, I’m surprised that they even let you out.”

Knowing a little more of the story, recalling the brief and very vague history Wonho had told her in the car the previous day, Daeun can understand why the guy seems angry. However, that also means that she now knows that he also used to be a Heavy, and that fact makes her wary. That explains his willingness to use dirty tricks like knives in a simple race, at least. That also begs the question of what else he’s willing to do. They’re outnumbered and Daeun is definitely no prized fighter. She’s a Runner through and through- and so were they. She could probably still get away though, remembering that she was faster than most of them during the Marathon. The problem is that she’s sure a great getaway isn’t Wonho’s goal, and she doesn’t really want to leave without him for a couple of different reasons.

Wonho makes some sort of comeback, but it goes unheard or unacknowledged by the majority of the people there, because this is the moment that Daeun’s presence is finally noticed. The angry boy turns his attention to her fully, eyeing her up and down with his burning gaze. A hint of pain briefly flashes through them, but it disappears before it can even be caught, and the furious fire swirling around in their depths only increases in intensity, his hatred doubling.

“You’re a ing hypocrite, you know that, Wonho?” he spits venomously.

Wonho’s whole body seizes up and, acting on pure instinct, he steps forward aggressively, now half blocking Daeun from the view of the others. He doesn’t need to be told something that he already knows, but hearing those words said out loud makes them seem more real, pisses him off even more than it had to just think them silently to himself. He’s a hypocrite of the worst kind, and he’s come to accept that- prison had been a very illuminating experience to say the least, even if it had only been for a day. That didn’t mean that he had appreciated everything he had learned about himself though. He was still extremely new to this whole “acceptance” thing, to the concept of “caring”- or at the very least, caring so openly about someone aside from himself.

“I’m not a Heavy anymore,” Wonho tries to justify rather poorly. “We’re both Runners. Things like that don’t matter now.”

It’s clear to both of them, what he’s getting at. That things like unspoken rules and secret relationships don’t matter anymore- things like the girl he used to be fond of, the one that Wonho made sure would never go near him again. In fact, she’d never do anything again really. And he hated Wonho for that, for what had happened. The past still mattered to him; he couldn’t let it go and, until very recently, he knew that Wonho was the same as him. He still acted like a Heavy, always had, and that fight just two nights ago proved it. Now he was acting like he had moved on? That he was better than that? They both knew the truth.

“I think we should finish what you started the other night.”

A lot of things happen at once then, and Daeun isn’t entirely sure what’s going on. She’s stayed quiet, stood in the background, and felt the adrenaline begin to pump strongly throughout her veins, hoping it wouldn’t be necessary and that she was just preparing for the worst case scenario. When it came to Wonho though -and a lot of different things in her life recently-, the worst case scenario seemed to be the only scenario that ever came to fruition.

“.”

Wonho spun around on his heel in a complete 180, grabbing Daeun’s wrist as he did, and then took off sprinting. Daeun couldn’t help but wince and make a few noises of surprise and discomfort as he dragged her away. Her arm was jerking up and down roughly, feeling like it was about to be ripped out of its socket, and she tripped over her feet for a split second before regaining her balance and running on her own. Knowing that she had caught on when he felt her come up to his side, Wonho released her hand -which she was extremely thankful for- and motioned for her to follow him with the tilt of his head and a nod. The others weren’t far behind, since it had been one of them lunging forward that had sent the two of them taking off in the first place, and so they needed to shake them, and fast.

“What’s the plan?” Daeun shouts over the sound of air rushing past them.

“There isn’t one,” he laughs. How he can have the guts to laugh in this type of situation is beyond her. It isn’t the same one she’s been hearing since last night though, nor is it the one that echoes and lingers in the air when he’s disturbing others and causing misfortune, high off the thrill and having the time of his life. Instead, it sounds hollow, bitter, and that means that he’s either angry or worried- maybe both, probably just the former. Wonho usually doesn’t seem like the type to worry about anything, for he’s far too confident for something like that or pesky nerves; he rarely hesitates.

He takes the first turn he sees, not caring which direction it guides them to, and Daeun follows his lead, only a few steps behind. Their options are slim, because no matter how fast they are, they’re still outnumbered and Wonho’s in no position of try and take them all on again like he had the other night. That’s an excuse though- the real he reason he chose to run instead of fight, something that had shocked them both greatly, was because he wasn’t alone this time. If it was just him, then he wouldn’t care if he got his handed to him again, even if it did hurt his pride quite a lot, or if he had to spend another awful night behind bars in the cold slammer. Only it wasn’t just him, because Daeun was there too. Curse his newly developed feelings of genuine empathy and sincere care.

Getting back to the car seems like the best choice available to them, but he honestly has no clue where they left it at this point. A couple of minutes ago, he probably could have led them back to where it was parked and waiting. Now, with an angry group of Runners on their tails, he had lost sight of their current location after the first few wild turns he had taken, unaware of how the distance they had already covered affected their relation to the vehicle. Their next best bet would be to either outrun them until they tired, or ditch as many as they possibly could before they caught up and a showdown would inevitably occur.

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