It was a week later, roughly two weeks since Daeun had taken the leap of faith with Shownu and become a Runner, that a Marathon was called. Marathons, she learned, referred to any sort of running competition held between different Flights or Flight members- a “peaceful” form of conflict resolution and sport, if you will. However, as a participant, Daeun could confidently assure anyone that asked that the event itself was far from peaceful.

This Marathon in particular was apparently a biannual event that the others had been anticipating sometime during the month- which they just so conveniently and innocently forgot to inform her of beforehand; right, as if she would actually believe Hyungwon’s halfhearted excuses and Shownu’s very noticeable and purposeful avoidance of her gaze when they had first explained it to her (she should also add that they only did so after a random stranger showed up in front of them at the local pizza parlor on a ‘family night out’ and basically demanded they show up to get their asses kicked- supposedly- after spouting out a date, time, and place). To say the least, she was pissed. However, all her anger faded quickly- not really, it was merely redirected- when she heard the reason another Flock apparently had a bone to pick with them.

The two groups were rivals and always had been, according to Kihyun- seriously, at this rate, Daeun was about to confess her love for the only older boy she allowed herself to call Oppa because bless his sweet soul, without him and his explanations, even if they were sometimes boring and lengthy, she would have absolutely no idea what was going on, a fish out of water. It was unclear if the problem had originally stemmed from a falling out between the two leaders or if Wonho was somehow involved, Daeun honestly wouldn’t doubt it if he said he was, but there was bad blood and that much was clearly apparent. The story had never been fully explained to them, and the actual events themselves had transpired before anyone else had joined the group, back when it had just been Shownu and Wonho, but from Kihyun’s limited understanding, he gathered that the original dispute had something to do with a girl and some money, because didn’t it always? Anyway, at first, they took their hate out on each other with physical violence, small scale but intense street fights they called Brawls. Eventually- again, Kihyun didn’t know the details of what happened for sure, or what caused the change-, they decided to settle it in a less costly way, the way all Runners settled things: a race. The two groups and their respective leaders agreed that twice every year, they would hold a Marathon and compete with each other in order to settle the matter- that was three years ago. Daeun didn’t really understand the point, because if you asked her, then it was obvious that their unique problem solving method wasn’t working if they still hated each other’s guts and felt the need to crush each other in some stupid race. Plus, the solution was hardly a solution at all, just a prolonging of the initial issue; there were no prizes for the winner, no consequences for the loser, it was quite literally just a pointless race with only pride on the line, one that would only continue to spur on the vicious cycle of hatred and competition, not solving anything. At least, that’s what she had thought. Living through it, she now realized just how wrong she had been. It may not solve anything, but it was far from pointless to them.

When they arrived at the stated location and met the other Flight- they lined up across from each other in some kind of cliché standoff, how lame-, Daeun realized just how serious a matter this Marathon business was. For one, Minhyuk wasn’t smiling. In fact, his expression was oddly the most serious out them all, and she found the same burning flames in his eyes as when he dealt with the gangs before on their deliveries, only this time they were much brighter, more wild, and she didn’t want to admit it, but that worried her. On Minhyuk’s left, was Kihyun, who also looked more grim than she had ever seen him. Even Changkyun, the precious little Maknae that she often found to be the cutest thing alive without even trying, stood stiff and tense, eyes dark and a permanent frown in place. The other three wore their usual expressions, meaning that Shownu and Hyungwon really didn’t have any and Wonho was doing that irritating smirking thing again, but by now Daeun knew them well enough to notice the slight nervousness in Hyungwon’s eyes and the thinly veiled emotions of cold anger and something else she couldn’t quite name poorly hidden in Wonho’s- to her, Shownu looked the same, minus the awkward smile and squinted eyes she was used to seeing directed at her on occasion, but that could just be because she, strangely enough, had spent the least amount of time with him so far and so she didn’t know him as well yet. The opposing side was no different and definitely not better; in fact, they were far more open with their feelings. They stared down her friends with harsh glares, boring holes into them. Some looked nervous, one looked scared, but the rest just looked plain angry, furious. The one she assumed to be the leader, seeing that he was positioned directly across from Shownu, who stood to her right, was practically seething, fist clenched tightly at his side and teeth gritted- she found his murderous gaze to be directed at Wonho, who was standing on the other side of Shownu, leading her to conclude that he must have something to do with the three year long feud after all. Figures, she mentally scoffed to herself, that .

In total, there was sixteen of them, the seven plus their nine opponents, not exactly a fair fight- in the back of her mind, Daeun noted that without her it would have been six against nine, even worse odds that she was sure the others had grown accustomed to- though something told her that fair wasn’t exactly what they were aiming for. Now Daeun was impulsive by nature, and sure, most of the time she didn’t really give a , laughing in the face of danger, but for whatever reason, the current situation was giving her pause. The only explanation that she could come up with was that, despite her previous actions and all the idiotic things she had ever done in her lifetime, she still wanted to live- after all, she wasn’t suicidal. There was a difference between walking the thin line of a tightrope, or in her case, the ledge of building, and consciously throwing herself to the pavement below. There was a difference between inviting death to a party and actually welcoming it inside- what can she say? Daeun was a tease like that. However, despite the warning bells going off in her head, she remained where she was, confused and slowly becoming nervous but also incredibly stubborn. She may be a Runner now, but she wasn’t going to run from this. So what if it looked a little sketchy, seemed a little risky, a little dangerous? That had never stopped her before, so it wasn’t going to now.

“Looks like you have a girl of your own now,” the silence was broken by the rival leader. His eyes had strayed from Wonho’s, breaking his killer gaze just long enough to cast her an interested glance and throw her a twisted, bitter smile that masked little of the icy hate coming from him in waves, not that that had been its intention in the first place. If anything, once he had laid eyes on her, his bloodlust only seemed to increase. Oops, looked like her presence had caused some sort of trouble. Oh well, story of her life.

“Let’s get this over with.” Wonho. He just had to get the last word in, a taunt for a taunt, an insult for an insult, a threat for a threat. It has the effect he desired, the older boy’s gaze snapping from Daeun back to him with a low growl, an unpleasant snarl on his lips. If the attitude he had shown thus far towards the blonde and blue haired Runner wasn’t an indication of some type of personal grudge, then Daeun didn’t know what was- she would be sure to give the arrogant male that liked to Flush just a bit too much a piece of her mind once they got back home. After all, starting a three-year long rivalry was something that deserved to be punished, at least in her opinion, and she was going to take great pleasure in doing so; in fact, the others would probably cheer her on.

“So, what are the rules this time?” Shownu brings them all back to the present, forcing them to focus on the task at hand with his clear, authoritative voice. Another thing about Marathons was that the rules were flexible, each race being different, and the one that called the event was the one that determined them, as well as the start and finish line. Marathons were always done on well-known Tracks though- Daeun was thankful that Shownu had made her spend hours memorizing most of them a week ago-, so there would be no surprises, no cheating, at least not in that department.

“To the outskirts of the city and back,” their leader responded in a slightly more professional and stable tone now. “One of yours will stay behind to judge, and one of ours.” Like an unspoken command, one from their line broke apart, taking a step forward, and at the same time Minhyuk broke rank, stepping forward as well to join him. Daeun was surprised by the efficiency of it all, like clockwork, and wondered if they had discussed plans before without her and how familiar the rest of her group actually was when it came to competitions like this. “First Flock with three members across the finish line, wins. Anything goes, got it?” Daeun definitely did not like the sound of that, and as they lined up, side by side, and waited for Minhyuk and the other boy to finish playing rock-paper-scissors to see who would yell “go!”, she couldn’t help but feel like something bad was going to happen, something important.

“Go!” an unfamiliar voice shouted from behind her- she was sure that Minhyuk was pouting because he lost and that she’d more than likely be hearing his complaints about it later. She pushed the irritating anxious feeling to the back of her mind and threw herself forward with the others, putting all of her being into running.

Shownu and Wonho took the lead, which wasn’t a surprise, as well as the leader of the opposition and two of his groupmates. She quickly lost track of Changkyun and Kihyun, who had fallen behind her, Hyungwon sprinting close by on her right side and a few of their competitors coming up on her left. Somewhere in the far corners of her mind, she couldn’t help but question why no one thought it was weird for a group of sixteen or so teenagers and young adults to be chasing each other through the empty streets of the poor side of town, but maybe that was just it- the area was curiously empty and unusually poor; maybe such a sight was normal, or maybe there was just no one around to see it, to care or think it strange in the first place. Everything seemed to be going fine until they actually started nearing the outskirts some five minutes later.

What people in their city referred to as the ‘outskirts’ was exactly what it sounded like, the outer most edge of the metropolitan area. This included the poor neighborhoods, the bad side of town, and the mainly abandoned region filled with warehouses and the Safe House they called home. The outskirts were further than all of that, past the warehouses, past the rocky, unkempt fields that surrounded them, past the limits of civilization and out to the unpaved roads and the open sea just a few miles from the city’s true edge. It was a relatively open area with plenty of room to run, but the terrain was sometimes difficult. More than that, the wide-open space seemed to create greater opportunities for sabotage and dirty tricks, something that their opponents knew and took advantage of all too readily.

“What the hell?!” Daeun hissed as Hyungwon roughly grabbed her by the elbow and yanked her harshly to the side at the very last second, a first swinging through the air where her head had been before. The pair stumbled, nearly tripping over their feet and the uneven ground when Daeun’s body slammed into that of the taller male. In the confusion, the owner of the fist ran past them, kicking up dust and wind, meeting her wide eyes with a cruel smirk.

“Be careful, will you?” Hyungwon spat at her. Even though his voice was deadly and his tone was angry, she knew that he wasn’t upset with her or purposefully being mean- he was worried, running high off adrenaline, and pissed at the cheap shot. He urges her forward, keeps her moving, and she keeps pace easily alongside him, her mind somewhere else, still overcoming the shock. Her heart is pounding loudly, the sound of its erratic beating drowning out everything else, brief snippets of her own ragged breath and deafening pants breaking through and reaching her ears every now and then. The hints of fear, of danger, of a thrill can be felt, pumping through her blood, through her veins. She doesn’t know whether she’s supposed to laugh or cry, doesn’t know whether to go with the flow and ride the excitement, the exhilaration, give into temptation, or