She ran.

She ran all the way back to the car without stopping and all but flung the drivers' side door open. She clambered in and shoved the backpack into the footwell of the passenger seat before ramming the car key into its slot. Misook then sat there, contemplating her next move. There’d be no point in going back to the house; Jongdae would’ve already been bundled into the back of a police car by now, there was nothing she could do about that. 

The driver side door was suddenly yanked open, almost making her jump out of her skin. She’d automatically reached for the weapon hidden in the glove compartment but never actually reached it before Kris was shoving her into the passenger seat. 

“What the , Kris?” She yelled as he threw the car into first gear and sped off. 

Kris didn’t respond to her until they were almost back at base. Misook had glared at him the entire ride.

“How did you know where we were?” She demanded as they came to a stop at a red light. 

“I know where every member of my team is.” He said. Bull.

“If that were true then why didn’t you tell us where Jongin was? Or know where Minseok had been taken? You didn’t even realise he’d gone missing until you actually needed him. Stop lying to me.” 

Kris didn’t give her an answer. Even if he had one it probably wasn’t good enough to satisfy her accusations. The remainder of the journey was completed in silence. 

She went straight to her room when they arrived back at base. She was no longer interested in what Kris had to say. She was glad that Kris didn’t follow her down to the dorms because she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to resist throwing a punch at him. 

Misook hit the mattress with a thump. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed by the time she woke up, but she was almost certain that she could hear loud knocking on her bedroom door. 

Sitting up groggily she paced the short distance to the door and unlocked it, half expecting either Kris or Joonmyun to be standing on the other side. She wasn’t expecting Jongdae. 

“I’m not even going to question this.” She muttered, stepping to the side as he limped his way in. “Is your ankle okay?” 

He shot her a wide smile in true Jongdae fashion, an attempt to mask the obvious pain he was in. Misook wasn’t daft. She could tell it hurt him more than he would ever admit. 

“It’s fine, just a slight bruise.” He told her simply. “They could’ve been gentler with the cuffs though.” 

Misook’s eyes darted to Jongdae’s hands for a split second before returning to look at his face. It was barely noticeable but his wrists were indeed slightest red from where the cuffs had been. She had no doubt in her mind that he hadn’t struggled, he just wasn’t the kind to do that. But she did wonder how he’d gotten out so fast. Surely they hadn’t just let him go?

“I know you said you weren’t gonna question it but you’re probably wondering how I got released so fast,” he said, sitting down on the bed. “Well, that’s where our friend Kyungsoo comes in. He did the arresting, the questioning, and then the releasing.” 

“You’ve put ‘ing’ on far too many words in that sentence.” She replied. 

“You know what I mean. Anyway, what happened yesterday doesn’t matter, all that matters is what I told you.” 

Misook took a breath, “Yeah alright, I’ll keep that in mind. We do need to figure out if he really is the blame, though, we can’t just assume.”

Jongdae smiled at her, “I know he’s your brother so you probably don’t want it to be true but—“

She waved her hand, “Nah, I hate him. If it is him I have more of a reason to kick his .” 

“Fair.” 

“What did the police do when they found you?” She said she wasn’t going to question it but in truth, she felt like she had to. Jongdae had been well and truly stuck when she’d left him, so she wondered if it had taken long to actually free his foot from the rubble before they’d slapped the cuffs on and whisked him away. No doubt he’d come up with some witty remark as they were bundling him into the back of a police car. 

“All they did was help me free my foot and then cuff me and put me in the back of a cop car. Nothing too exciting I’m afraid.” The way he said it made it sound as though it was just another day. A walk in the park maybe. 

“Well now that you’re back maybe we could actually do something useful.” She suggested.

“Like another coffee date? Took the words right out of my mouth, let’s go!” 

Jongdae took hold of her wrist and all but dragged her out of the room. He hadn’t even been back at the base for a full hour before he was a leaving again, with a very confused (and done) looking Misook in tow. 

They ended up at a different coffee shop about a mile or so away from the base, but it might as well have been the exact same one as last time because once again Jongdae wasted no time in projecting his boyish charm with the barista to get them discounted drinks. Misook didn’t even react to this; she was becoming accustomed to his ways.

They sat down on the balcony of the outer level overlooking the river. There were barely any people about, and for once it was as if the world had turned itself off. The air was calm, and it appeared as though Jongdae was as well.

“You don’t have a care in the world, do you?” Misook uttered before she could stop herself. 

The male in front of her stopped sipping his coffee and glanced up at her.

“If I spent all my time worrying I wouldn’t get anything done.” He answered honestly. 

He had a very good point. In a way, he reminded her of her sister. The two of them were very much alike.

“What do you have for me this time?” She asked.

“Nothing. I just wanted to spend some time with you.” Jongdae explained, “Away from Kris.”

Misook wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It didn’t sound like he was flirting, or joking around; it sounded like he was being genuine. Like he had a genuine interest in her. Why else would he want her away from Kris? Maybe she was just overthinking it. Maybe—

“Earth to Misook.” 

The girl didn’t realise she’d been staring until Jongdae snappe