It was an accident.

He was panicked and had acted on impulse. He could claim that it was self-defense, or that he and the deceased guard were both equally liable due to the struggle between them being the cause of the gun’s misfire. However, none of those things really justified the fact that he had killed a person. He may be a criminal, but Jongdae had always prided himself in the small knowledge that there wasn’t any blood on his hands. That just wasn’t his lifestyle; he preferred seeking cheap thrills and brushes with danger that left behind no scars and caused no real harm (though that was also debatable, since the banks and their patrons might have considered harm to be done against them), not snuffing out the light of someone else’s life.

The shot that had sentenced a man to death and condemned their unfortunate duo once and for all in the eyes of the police had come, not from Jongdae’s clearly unloaded pistol, but from the security guard’s weapon itself. He had tackled the older male, grappling for the semi-automatic, and somewhere along the line, the trigger must have been pulled. It could have just as easily been him instead- it could have just as easily been Kim Jongdae that died that night instead of the man that had actually passed, who, although nameless, was not faceless, and whose visage now haunted the pair of unwilling witnesses.

After the gunshot had gone off, Yuri had another panic attack, this one so bad that Jongdae had no hope of calming her down. Especially not when he was still in shock himself. Some small, rational part of him in the back of his mind must have still been functioning properly, however, because he had managed to grab what they had come there for despite his sudden inability to process information and Yuri’s sudden trouble breathing.

The instant they made it back to the safety of the car, it was as if time had restarted, as if the full weight of the situation had finally hit them. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. The doors were supposed to close behind them and cut off all connections to the event that had just occurred, severing the connection between them and the fallen guard, separating their two worlds forever. The car was supposed to make them feel safe; their home was supposed to bring comfort and erase all outside worries. But it had only seemed to make everything worse- make it more real. They both felt sick to their stomachs, like they had somehow desecrated a holy space with their misdeeds and the plague that followed them, staining the otherwise clean interior of the vehicle. For the first time in his life, Jongdae didn’t feel comfortable behind the wheel; he was nearly shaking the entire time. Both tried to forget what had just transpired with little success.

They drove all night and didn’t stop until mid-morning. Yuri had fallen into an unrestful sleep, entirely too exhausted after her mental breakdown to fight it. Jongdae, on the other hand, stayed wide awake even long after they had stopped, pulled over in another abandoned lot. He the radio and switched the station to one he hardly ever used. The speakers buzzed with static. Then, after waiting for all of the weather reports, the gossip stories and other useless drabble to finish, the voice of the news caster made the announcement regarding the change in the priority rating of their case.

“.”

Now what?

*****

This was insane. She had to be dreaming.

“Marry me.”

There was no way that those words had just left his mouth.

But he was serious. This was real. He meant every word. And so, they found themselves breaking into a jewelry store some time within the next few days after the impromptu proposal, just as he had promised her they would. Honestly, it was something that shouldn’t have been thought of as romantic, but to Yuri, it was the epitome of all those childish fantasies of love every little girl had dreamed about. If only her parents or Minseok could see her now. Sometimes, she wondered what they thought when they saw her picture on the news, when they heard the things she did. Most of the time though, she didn’t think about them at all, as if she had forgotten them entirely. Most of the time, the world consisted of only her and Jongdae, and she was more than okay with that.

“So, which one do you like best?” Jongdae asks her, glancing around the abandoned store with an appraising eye. It’s dark -of course it is, because it’s night and the shop is technically closed-, which makes it difficult to see, but that fact seems to mean nothing to either of them, eyes easily finding what they’re seeking. With the absence of light, the diamonds and sterling silver and gold don’t really shine or sparkle like they should. However, that didn’t give the impression of decreasing their beauty or value at all. “Take your pick, Sweetheart. We’ll get whichever one you want.”

It was like two immature kids given free rein in an unattended candy store. They flitted around the various display cases and cabinets as if they had impossibly short attention spans, fingers carelessly pressing up against formerly spotless glass with nothing hide, their identities already well known and publicized by now. It was hazardously careless, but at this point, they didn’t really care. It could have been the news that they were now considered dangerous enough to shoot on sight, wanted dead or alive, or it could have been the memories from the night a couple weeks ago that they still never spoke of, the one on which one of them had unwittingly become a murderer and the other a loyal accomplice; either way, what little restraint and caution they had previously had were both shed and discarded in the billowing wind. Instead of letting panic take over, they were running away from their problems, living in the fantasy world they were subconsciously trying to construct at the moment. It seemed like such a better option to indulge in childish behavior and freedom while they still could, instead of turning themselves in preemptively to avoid any more trouble.

“How about this one?” Jongdae asks suddenly, catching her attention. He reaches out and grabs her hand with a wide smile, lacing their fingers together intimately as he directs her to the display right underneath the checkout counter. Admittedly, she hadn’t really been focusing on their task as well as she should have been, getting distracted easily by the diamond tennis bracelets, strung together jewels of sapphire, and ruby pearl necklaces. However, the second her eyes land on the fine piece of jewelry that her partner points out, all of those things that had previously held her admiration seem worthless and plain in comparison. It’s not because this particular item is any more breathtaking, grandiose, or expensive than any of the others in the store, but because it seems to fit the two of them so well it’s unbelievable. Crouched down on the laminate floor in front of the case, where she quickly joins him in order to get a better look, Jongdae repeats his question, the obvious grin on his face becoming larger as he takes note of her reaction. “So?” he prompts.

Inside the case, kept safely protected by the immaculate glass, is a rather impressive variety of high-end rings that any woman would no doubt die to own. They’re all lavish and embedded with so many diamonds that its clear that the majority of the assortment are engagement rings, for there’s hardly anything else that could be that purposefully flashy. Despite there being a number of them that catch her eye and suit her tastes, there’s no mistaking which one Jongdae is referring to, in spite of the fact that he didn’t even point it out to her. It’s a ring with a thin band, and it’s fairly simple in comparison to some of the others. However, while most of the rings kept inside are all pretty standard, with large white diamonds and smaller accents, decorative, ornate designs that appear like perfect pictures straight out of a bridal magazine, this ring, her ring, is different. It’s special. It doesn’t give off the same cold feel of pretentious beauty and blandness as the rest of them. Instead, it’s unique and far from boring- and ‘boring’ is perhaps the word she detests the most in the world, after having suffered through such a monotonous life for so long. The ring in question is composed of two simple, silver bands that cross and intertwine intricately together, like wild vines, and a decently sized, brilliant blue gemstone held captive between them with four miniscule white diamonds in the corners to hold it in place. Astonishingly enough, the blue looks to be almost the same shade as the car that’s waiting patiently for them outside- although, that could just be due to the poor lighting or a trick that her mind is playing on her. Either way, she’s utterly captivated by it.

“It’s perfect,” she breathes, not taking her eyes off of it. Jongdae stands with a pleased expression on his face, proud that she had liked his choice and happy because he couldn’t agree with her words more.

“Stand back, and I’ll get it for you,” he tells her, gently tapping her shoulder to get her to move out of the way. She wordlessly steps aside and watches as Jongdae raises the dense steal baseball bat they had brought with them- they had ditched the unloaded gun, harmless or not, after the night they broke into the pharmacy, neither able to look at it without facing unpleasant thoughts that they’d rather avoid; therefore, the bat had been the next best thing, a replacement weapon they had bought at a sporting goods store under the cover of disguises. Soon, the glass shatters with a deafening crash and an alarm begins blaring throughout the quiet store. They had been lucky that the only security the building itself had was a couple of locks to pick, though it now looked like their luck had run out, some type of alarm system in place that activated whenever any of the protective cases were broken into or harmed. Neither of them paid the warning system any mind, though they both knew that this meant the police would most likely be alerted of the robbery in the next few minutes. Their time was limited.

Shards crush underneath the soles of his shoes as Jongdae steps forward and calmly reaches inside the broken display case to retrieve the elegant blue gemmed ring. He twirls it lightly in between his thumb and forefinger, an indescribable feeling flooding his body as he stares at it and then looks up to meet her gaze. “Should I get down on one knee?” he jokes, and Yuri laughs so hard that tears prick her eyes. It isn’t that funny, but the emotions she’s feeling at that moment are too overwhelming to do anything else. Jongdae joins her, his own eyes shining and looking slightly wet, as he slides the ring onto her trembling finger with his own fumbling hands.

“Do you want anything else?” Jongdae asks with the boyish, playful grin that is his signature, the one she adores more than anything else- funny, the things that some people come to treasure; intangible, irreplaceable things. “What about some earrings to match, huh? A necklace? You name it,” he chuckles, leaving the rest of the sentence hanging in the air.

“Name it, and I’ll get it for you. Say it, and I’ll give you the world.” Is the message that she reads between the lines, the one he wants so desperately to say, but doesn’t think he can. Because he’s a wanted man that has dragged her into his own mess, and there’s no way that he could possibly keep any of the promises he makes.

“No, no,” Yuri shakes her head, hair flying in all directions from the force of it. The smile on her face is absolutely radiant in the dark. She squeezes his warm hands in her own and repeats her statement from before. “It’s perfect. This is perfect.”

“I don’t need anythi