“So where are we going again?” Daeun asked with a sigh, tired since it was so early in the morning and her new active lifestyle had finally caught up with her, causing her to become unfocused and forgetful from sleep deprivation despite the fact that Shownu had already told her five times about their plans for the day- she was sure he was getting annoyed with her, but every time she looked over at him to check he appeared apathetic or would sometimes flash her a small smile when he caught her staring.

“To one of our Aid Stations,” he answered simply, voice casual as he spoke with seemingly endless patience, though she supposed he must have great restraint in order to deal with the others, not to mention act as their leader.

“Right,” she trailed off awkwardly, “and what are those again?”

“Noona, you’re hopeless,” Changkyun groaned from his spot a few steps behind her. She shot the younger boy a halfhearted glare and then turned forward again, walking just a little faster to be in step with her other, more helpful companion. She adored Changkyun, but she was not a morning person and he was not helping.

“An Aid Station is like our Safe House, but smaller. It’s basically a mini-hideout, any space that offers a place to stop and hide when we need it. They also usually have a few of our supplies stored there just in case. Some people like to call them Water Holes, but we just use the term Aid Station,” he explained to her graciously.

“And we’re going there why, again?”

“To show you some of the Tracks and maybe run a couple Frees,” Shownu told her offhandedly, like it wasn’t a big deal. For him, it probably wasn’t, but for, well, Daeun was getting excited. Sure, she enjoyed her time with the others, and she did learn a few things, but this was different- today, she would actually get to practice running.

She had heard about Tracks from the others, sometimes called Trails, and Kihyun had explained to her that the term meant exactly what it sounded like: planned out paths they would sometimes use in their runs. There weren’t many, most of the running they did being Free (which, also much like it sounded, meant they were unplanned), but the group did have a few routes they had mapped out used for deliveries, fast getaways, and practice. By learning the Tracks, Daeun felt like she was officially becoming a part of the group- there would be no going back now, not when she knew things that could get them caught, when she was in too deep, and that thought excited her, made her heart pound and her feel much more awake and energized for the rest of their trip to the Aid Station in question.

When they arrived, Daeun was, at first, a little underwhelmed. Based on Shownu’s description of an Aid Station, she really shouldn’t have expected a lot- they were meant to be small, impermanent structures after all, severely downgraded versions of their already crumbling Safe House. However, a hole and splinter ridden aging wooden shack sitting in the shadow of a large grouping of company owned warehouses surrounded by large chunks of grey gravel and yellowing grass and weeds was not what she had in mind when she pictured their destination. It looked only minutes away from collapse, the door hanging off its rusted hinges crookedly and there being a large jagged hole in the roof where some of the wood had succumbed to age and termites and caved in- in fact, the broken pieces of faded brown wood were found inside, laying harmlessly on the makeshift rocky floor of the shack along with a few crates made of newer, beige colored wood that she assumed was filled with their ‘supplies’.

Walking past her, Changkyun entered the tiny one room shack and immediately headed over to one of the crates, cracking its lid and pulling out a yellow bag of chips. She blinked at his nonchalant form sitting on the box he had previously just opened and munching on the snack without a care in the world, like it was the most normal thing to do. Catching her staring at him, he grinned and offered her one, laughing at her dumbfounded expression.

Shownu, on the other hand, was digging through the contents of a different container, searching for a specific piece of rolled up white paper. Finding what he was looking for, he turns to Daeun, handing the item to her. She stares at it for a minute in confusion before giving a shrug and opening, what she discovers to be, the map of established Tracks. There are numerous curvy lines drawn out in various shades of blue on the white paper, landmarks and street names written in black pen. Over all, it’s rather simplistic in nature and appearance, but it gets the job done and that’s all that matters- none of the boys are artists after all, or all that picky, so they make do with what they can.

“You can keep that,” Shownu tells her as she moves her gaze from the map back to his face. He smiles at her, a smile she has quickly grown used to and finds herself enjoying when it’s directed at her. “We have others stored in other locations, so you can take this one with you. Besides, we already have most of them memorized, so it’s more than fine. We just usually keep a couple hidden just in case we ever need them for some reason.”

“Thanks,” she grins, carefully folding the paper up as small as it can get before shoving it into the pocket of her leather jacket and zipping it inside to study later.

“Now that all the boring stuff is taken care of, can we actually run?” Changkyun whines from his perch on the other side of the room- which isn’t actually that far from where they’re standing considering how small the limited space is within the shack. Daeun once again expresses her discontent with the Maknae in the form of a glare, to which he just grins back, teasing her. “I want to see how fast Noona really is. I feel like I’m the only one that hasn’t gotten to run with her yet,” he pouted childishly. He was right though, in a way- though she hadn’t ran full out with Minhyuk and Kihyun yet, not with her giving it her all and someone chasing them anyway.

“How about a race?” Shownu interrupted their immature staring contest with an actual good idea- stupid logic. “We’re probably going to be having another Marathon soon anyway, and it will be great practice.”

“Marathon?”

“Alright! Come on Noona, I’m so going to beat you!” the brown haired younger boy shouted out in excitement, pumping his fist in the air and heading towards the exit, completely ignoring her question. It didn’t matter though because at the spoken challenge she forgot it as well, chasing him out the door with protests and laughter.

“Are you forgetting that I outran Wonho?” she boasted. Sure, at the time she hadn’t really known what she was doing or why that fact was important, but whatever, she knew now and she was actually sort of proud about it. Hell, anything that she could rub in that annoying ’s face she was going to take full advantage in.

“Just try to keep up,” Changkyun smirked, folding his arms across his chest in the ultimate action of cockiness and disregard as he turned to look at her. She faked a gasp, appalled.

“You used to think I was cool because of that!” she accused, remembering his expression of childlike awe and comparing it to his face now- it was clear which one she preferred. “That was only four days ago. What the hell happened?!”

“I just realized that, while Noona’s cool and everything, she’s a little dense and has the worst sense of direction unless she knows the area really well.”

“Ouch,” she winced, pouting lightly and covering her heart with one of her hands, vaguely upset even if what he said was true. “I thought you liked Noona.” There was a flicker of hesitation in his eyes, but he pushed it back as Shownu approached, ready to set the terms for their impromptu race. His smirk did fade into a more genuine smile though, confusing her a little.

“Of course I like Noona.” She wondered why he said it so softly like that, as if he were reassuring her or confessing a secret. She had only been joking, there was no reason for him to take it that seriously, and she thought he had known that- the two messed around often enough as it was that he should be able to tell the difference by now.

“How about we make this interesting?” Shownu asked, sizing the two of them up with a small smile and a calculating look, catching their attention easily. “Let’s race to the shopping center. Beat me, and I’ll buy you both ice cream.”

“Really?” Daeun bounced in place with an expectant smile on her face, dark eyes bright.

“Hyung’s the best!” Changkyun burst out happily, fidgeting much like Daeun, both looking even more eager than before. It was amusing how all it took was the mention of ice cream to get the two Maknaes hyped up- Shownu could swear that they seemed more motivated now than they did by just the friendly competition they were bickering about mere seconds ago.

“Ready?”

As the three lined up in the thinning discolored grass, turned to face the warehouses and, in the far distance, the city, Daeun realized that she had a problem. “Um, how do I get there again?”

“I told you Noona,” Changkyun sighed, though there was a fond smile hanging on his lips. “You’re hopeless.”

“Just follow us,” Shownu muttered, eyes focused on his goal and staring straight ahead. It sounded innocent enough, but from the way he emphasized the word ‘follow’ and the miniscule twitching of the corner of his mouth, Daeun knew it was his disinterested way of trash talking- who would willingly follow someone else in a race? The point was to be ahead of the others, not behind them, and like hell she was going to lose because of something as trivial as directions. If she could beat Wonho, the second-best runner in the group, without having a clue what she was doing, then she could do this; it was the same, right?

“Go!”

On instinct, Daeun tensed up before shooting off with the others the instant the word was shouted into the air. She was running as fast as she could, weaving in between the small spaces that separated the maze of warehouses in front of them and dashing out into the open streets with a speed she liked to think was unmatched- Shownu was barely an inch ahead of her and Changkyun was just a few paces behind them both. Her sneakers slapped the concrete sidewalk in an uneven rhythm that mirrored the erratic beating of her heart, a familiar sense of thrill building up in her chest that made her smile despite the physical activity and her lack of breath.

She did end up following Shownu until they reached a more familiar part of the city she recognized from her trips out the two previous days with the others, though it was more because of her lack of endurance in comparison to the older more fit male than a matter of being hesitant and lost. At least she never fell behind Changkyun though, that she could comfort herself with. However, she wasn’t content with merely second place- Nam Daeun wasn’t someone that got second place; with her it was all or nothing, first or last, and there was no way that she was going to be last when that meant losing to the adorable twenty-one-year-old whose teasing had started this race in the first place. As stupid as it sounded and as much as she hated it herself, she wanted him to be impressed with her again, to look at her like he did before, like she was amazing; as an only child, she had always wanted a younger sibling that would look up to her. That was why, even though her lungs felt like they were about to collapse and was open in loud, labored pants, she pushed herself harder, taking advantage of the now recognizable surroundings to pass Shownu and steal the lead. Unfortunately, her quick burst of speed only lasted a couple of seconds and her victory was fleeting- not because she slowed down and not because Shownu overtook her to reclaim his rightful position, but because the race itself was momentarily put to a halt when she crashed into another form after making a particularly sharp turn around a building’s corner.

“Are you okay?” Shownu was by her side in an instant, crouching down on the ground next to her, hand placed on her shoulder lightly and eyes flitting over her in search of any possible injuries. Changkyun arrived just a few seconds after them, panting heavily and complaining to himself under his breath, though he immediately stopped when he noticed they both had as well, obviously confused about what was going on but thankful for the moment to rest if the way he leaned over with his hands on his knees to take in grateful lungfuls of air was any indication- the Aid Station they had been at was rather far from the city after all, farther than their Safe House, which was roughly a fifteen minute walk from the mall that was their finis