By the time Daeun finally made it home -courtesy of Shownu walking her back just in case she really did get lost; she had decided that her pride could let it slide just this once-, it was already past three in the morning. Minwoo had not been pleased to say the least when she had finally called him to let her know that she was back home safe- after two missed calls and nine unread messages from the concerned male that is. He had lectured her for half an hour after that, lightly scolding her for staying out so late like a father would his rebellious teenage daughter, only Minwoo and her were the same age and she had stayed out far later than that with the boy himself doing things less innocent in nature than the friendly chatting she had been doing with the boys tonight- something she told him but he readily ignored, insisting that it was different much like a flustered child that didn’t get his way.

When she told him that she had officially become a Runner, he nearly lost his . She was extremely tired though, after the very busy, exciting past three days she had (it felt longer than that), and so she tuned out most of his panicking, in the end, promising not to do anything too reckless- his exact words had been “Don’t do something I wouldn’t do”, which Daeun easily agreed to, figuring it gave her enough room to work with considering who Minwoo was and how he acted- and that they would meet up two days from now at the convenience store near his place that they tended to frequent- thankfully, Shownu had assured her that the store she had drunkenly robbed was not the same one near her best friend’s place, or else she would never be able to show her face there again, which would be problematic considering how often she patronized their place of business. He had originally wanted to meet with her the following day, or even better would be that night, but Daeun was tired and Minwoo apparently had a full schedule with his crew for the next few days, making it impossible to see each other before then- which Daeun was immensely grateful for; hearing his lectures over the phone was bad enough, she didn’t necessarily want to sit through it in person for hours on end, the fate she knew undoubtedly awaited her. That was something to deal with at a later date though, pushing off the impending sermon and choosing to focus on other things instead- better things, like meeting up with Shownu again.

To her surprise, when she awoke the next morning, the first thing she wanted to do was visit the Safe House again and see her new friends- she assumed they were her friends anyway, though she never asked. The speed at which she had accepted them all and embraced the new lifestyle now open to her had amazed even her; then again, she always had been a go-with-the-flow type of person, except for when her curiosity was peaked, in which case she would stubbornly chase after whatever it was that had interested her, and she was always open to new experiences, especially if they promised to be entertaining, so maybe it shouldn’t have really been that much of a surprise after all.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear, or so the saying goes, and it was proven true again that morning. Normally, on a day like today, Daeun would lay in bed exhausted, either on her phone or watching reruns of old dramas until she got hungry. However, despite her recent lack of sleep, she felt more refreshed and energized than she had in weeks. She dressed quickly in comfortable clothes, in the back of her mind she noticed that what she had picked out was also suitable for running, intent on heading over to the boys’ hideout and bonding with them some more. Also, she was going to demand that they explain the whole Runner thing to her clearly, she was tired of the condensed footnote versions. And here’s the part where the devil comes in- she nearly jumped when a familiar arm wrapped around her shoulder the second the apartment door shut behind her on her way out, a quick look to her left confirming her suspicions.

“Ready to go?” Shownu gave her his signature closed eyed smile, and this time, her first instinct was to return it, not punch him in the face. It was a good change, she decided. As they walked together, this time with her actually paying attention to the directions, she found that she actually liked his presence as well- he made good company, and her initial assessment was proving to be correct: they were going to be great friends, of this she was sure. Since their talk yesterday, she was feeling far more comfortable with the older male, treating him in the same manner as an old friend like he had first interacted with her.

The trip to the Safe House was a lot shorter than she remembered, or maybe time just passed by faster when she actually wanted to get there quicker and her impatient curiosity wasn’t eating her up inside.

“Noona!”

“Daeunie!”

The instant she stepped foot into the worn-down building and past the threshold protected by the blue tarp, she was tackled by an overexcited brunette puppy, Shownu pushed to the side in the process. She blinked but didn’t move, letting the enthusiastic male cling to her like a needy Koala as he happily chatted away about how much he had missed her and how worried he was that she wasn’t going to come back and how Kihyun and Changkyun and somebody named Hyungwon were making fun of him and being mean and insisting that she was just putting up with him and that they weren’t actually friends and how upset he was that Shownu wouldn’t let him go to help pick her up and-

“I missed you too Minhyuk,” she laughed at his useless ranting that was so fast she almost couldn’t understand what the hell he was even complaining about so pathetically in the first place. Wrapping her arms around his waist and returning the gesture effortlessly and without hesitation once she knew who was hugging her, she couldn’t help but to indulge the naturally friendly boy that seemed to live off skinship, cooing at him like one would a small child. “Don’t listen to them, of course we’re friends! They’re just jealous because I like you best,” she half smiled, half pouted at him, pulling away a little to see the wide, clearly proud smile on his face. “After Changkyun of course,” she grinned. She couldn’t help it, she just had to burst his bubble, the temptation was too great not to.

Minhyuk’s pretty brown eyes became impossibly large, mouth falling open in an overdramatic gasp of betrayal. He released her immediately, sputtering like a fish as he tried to think up a comeback, though his brain refused to work properly or even process the information at all. Laughter could be heard from the four other males in the room- Kihyun looking smug as if he wanted to say ‘I told you so’, Changkyun blushing lightly and looking more than happy that he was his newfound Noona’s favorite, and Shownu watching it all with a small, fond smile on his face as if he were truly pleased with how well she got along with s and how naturally she fit in with the rest of the group; the final boy, whose laugh was more of a quiet chuckle than the others, she didn’t know, so obviously he drew her attention the second she laid eyes on him, and wow did he not disappoint.

He was tall, probably the same size as Shownu, but gave off the impression of a model with his long, slender limbs and incredibly handsome features. His face was rounder than some of the others, but his jaw line also looked killer from the side. Soft pink plush lips, cute round brown eyes the darkest shade she had seen thus far framed by pretty black lashes, and black hair styled to show half his forehead, he was both the most attractive male she had ever seen, and the cutest, the perfect combination of seductive and squishy. When his cheeks puffed out just the tiniest but with his shy, self-conscious smile at her staring, she swore right then and there that she had met an angel. She was never the type of girl that mindlessly fawned over a guy’s looks, but even her stubborn could admit that the being in front of her was a true work of art.

“Chae Hyungwon,” he introduced himself in voice somehow both quiet and confident- it almost seemed to her as if he were a walking contradiction, but a very beautiful one at that. “It’s nice to meet you…”

“Daeun,” she answered automatically, still carefully scrutinizing him. As undeniably attractive as he was, her gaze held more curiosity than it did desire- the more people she met in this so called ‘Flight’, the more interesting she found them all to be, the more determined she was to get to know and befriend them, to know what they did for a living, to know if they had jumped like her or embraced the lifestyle a different way, to know why.

“I wouldn’t fall for him, Noona,” Changkyun warned lightly, both teasing and half serious, which brought her out of her absentminded musings as she directed her attention to him. Not that she was interested in him romantically- or anyone at all, for that matter-, but she still wanted to know why, and so she asked.

“Why not?”

“Don’t let him fool you,” Kihyun told her with hints of the same exasperated tone he used when scolding Minhyuk, “Hyungwon looks innocent, but it’s all a façade. He likes to play shy, but he knows how good looking he is and he’s not afraid to use it to his advantage.” Coming from the pink haired boy, the description sounded strangely like a mix between the disapproval of a friend and the praise of a proud mother. She decided just to take his word for it.

“In other words,” Minhyuk joined in, throwing an arm over her shoulder and bringing her into a side hug, blatantly ignoring the insulting rejection from earlier like the happy-go-lucky person he was, “he’s just an .” The self-satisfied grin on his face was filled with mischief, and she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Hyungwon, on the other hand, found it far from funny.

“Peasants,” he scoffed under his breath, but still loud enough for them all to hear, reserved smile melting into a displeased frown in seconds, almost looking as if he had stumbled upon something unworthy that had affronted his high-class senses. Immediately afterward, his features became schooled in a practiced expression of aloof indifference reminiscent of every cold ‘Ice Prince’ character in cliché dramas ever. The transformation was so fast that she wanted to laugh again, starting to believe that Kihyun’s candid assessment was right on the mark- of course it would be though, the boys had known each other a lot longer than she had known any of them, though exactly how long she wasn’t sure, making a mental note to remind herself to ask later once they were more comfortable with the idea of her prying into their lives and backgrounds.

“Where’s Wonho?” Shownu asked him, interrupting a fight before it could even break out like the good leader he was- or at least, like the good leader he tried to be. Sometimes it was difficult with s’ attitudes though, take now for example.

“I don’t know,” Hyungwon rolls his eyes while simultaneously checking his hair in an arrogant manner so obvious Daeun didn’t know how she could have possibly missed it before. “I’m not Hyung’s keeper; he can do what he wants, you know he always does anyway.” The sass was strong with this one, she thought, secretly smirking in approval as she added another potential partner in crime to her growing mental list- at this rate, Minwoo was going to have his work cut out for him, though she supposed their history together would always make him her favorite.

“Well then, I guess we’ll go ahead and start without him,” Shownu sighed, crossing his arms over his chest with a stern expression, though Daeun didn’t know why since the infamous ‘loose cannon’ wasn’t even there to see his leader’s displeasure. “Now that everyone’s met our latest addition,” he nodded in Daeun’s direction, and he would have probably thrown his arm around her as well since he seemed so fond of doing that had Minhyuk not already done so- these boys seemed overly touchy, but then again, she was used to Minwoo and the twins, so it wasn’t that much of change, hence why she was so comfortable with some of the members’ quick initiation of skinship.

“Things are going to be a little different for a while,” he continued, tone taking on an authoritative tenor very different from how she was used to hearing him speak, his playful teasing on the scaffold yesterday a stark contrast to his seriousness now, and she wondered if it was just the role he was taking on at the moment or if his personality so far had been an act like Hyungwon’s, though she highly doubted the latter and, for whatever reason, she trusted him enough for that not to be the case. “Since there’s an odd number of us now, Daeun will be rotating between units. Each of us will take turns training her in the next few days, starting today, if that’s okay with you?” he looked to her for confirmation and seemed to take her laidback shrug as agreement. “Good,