It was pain that he couldn’t believe.

The shock had provided his assailant with enough of an advantage as Jaehyun laid helplessly on the ground, desperately gasping for air as his chest took repeated hits. The burning spread through his body as the sickening metallic taste of blood hit him.

He couldn’t fight back. He knew there was only one of them but his body as malfunctioning, it wasn’t doing what his brain was screaming at him to. To get up, to fix his stance, to fight back.

To win.

Instead, he stayed on the ground with his eyes screwed shut waiting for it all to stop. And with time, it did.

He felt a grip on his collar and was lifted up, he peeled his eyes open, his body ringing with so much pain that it was transitioning into utter numbness. It hurt so much that he was starting to feel nothing at all. As if he left his body on the ground and detached himself from the onslaught. He stared at the face in front of him, one that he did not recognize, not that it mattered. He already knew who was responsible and he knew that even if he did fight back and even if he won, he’d still lose.

“7 days are up, florist. You’re not getting 7 more.”

Jaehyun grabbed onto his arm, “I have half.”

“I know.” Another voice quipped. He turned his head to see another face he didn’t recognize. The man bent down and held up a worn-out envelope that Jaehyun had been slowly and bitterly filling. “But I took another quarter. Just to speed things up.”

Jaehyun wanted to protest. He had calculated everything perfectly to make sure he gave him them something while still hanging onto something for himself but figured better of it. He was in no position to argue with these men. He’d just have to give him and Triple a little less than normal for the next two weeks.

Whatever it took for this to be over.

He was dropped back to the ground and with a final kick to the ribs, they turned to leave while calling out.

“4 more days for the last quarter.”

.

-----

Ayeon did not notice it, but life had started to feel a lot better.

She kept herself busy and the last week she spent in Jaehyun’s shop had relieved her of the pressure of her colleagues’ gazes. She wasn’t surrounded by constant reminders of Lucas’s death, she was surrounded by flowers, gentle music and a man so engrossed in his work that sometimes he'd let hours and meals pass him by. He also sang, well, more like hummed, but it was nice when she was working and she'd hear him in the background over the music.

And the blackouts had stopped.

She was waking up every morning remembering exactly how she got into bed, every detail of her night. She was truly fine.  For a second, she was letting herself believe that maybe she would actually be okay. Maybe everything would work out.

Maybe, but only for a second.

Ayeon pulled on the door, taken off-guard when it didn’t budge. She checked her watch, it was past his opening hours, the shop should’ve been opened by now. Ayeon pulled her sunglasses off and took a step back, there was a sign on the door in Jaehyun’s handwriting. Her eyes ran over the words, her lips dipping further and further into a frown.

We are closed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience! 😊

It didn’t make sense. She had just seen him yesterday and he said nothing about the shop closing. She figured he would’ve let her know before she left or at least sent her a hasty text message. He didn’t seem like someone who did things on a whim like this. She cupped her eyes and leaned against the glass, trying to catch any movement but there was none, not even a light.

“He called and said he was going to be closed.”

She turned and looked at the older lady next door, setting up a chalkboard sign outside of her bakery. “In case any packages came in or someone was looking for him urgently.”

“Do you know why he’s closed?”

She shook her head, “Didn’t say. Just said something personal came up.”

“For how long?”

She shook her head again before going back inside, “Didn’t say.”

If he wasn’t open, that meant that she had nowhere to hide and do work. No escape. That meant--She looked back at the precinct and felt her gut churn.

.

-----

Jinah’s eyes widened when Ayeon walked into the precinct. She had been working remotely for over a week, at least that’s what people at work thought. They didn’t need to know that she was only across the street.

She had thought that things were going well, that they were getting along without a complaint and that for once, Ayeon wouldn’t run away in an insecure and uncertain panic. She had to give it to Soya, the butterfly challenge was actually working. She didn’t know how that brilliant woman managed to hook Ayeon on a plan like that but she did.

“Hey, you came in today.” She said cautiously as Ayeon set her bag down.

She looked confused herself, “Yeah…he’s closed.”

“The shop is? At 8AM?” Jinah asked incredulously.

She nodded, “Apparently something personal came up.”

Jinah’s face darkened before her jaw locked, “Is that so?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me himself. I guess it was an emergency, it’s closed until further notice.” Ayeon began unpacking her things slowly, her eyes darting to the officers around her every now and then.

Jinah’s fingers danced impatiently, “Maybe you should check on him.”

“Why? He said it was personal and maybe he’s not even home. He might not want company and we’re not even close enough for me to casually ‘check in’ on him without him being weird.” Ayeon rattled off.

Jinah forgot what was weighing on her mind as she fought off a smile, “So, you’ve thought this through already.”

“It may have briefly crossed my mind. I need to make sure my room and board are reliable.” She said with a flip of her hair.

Jinah turned away, wishing that Ayeon would stop overthinking and just do something, “Well, if you’re sure, I’ll tell Soya the butterfly challenge isn’t working.”

“What’s that?”  An officer who had overheard asked, eyes bright and excited, “Is it a new campaign?”

Jinah made a face, “Ugh, no. Get back to work.”                          

The officer deflated and shuffled away, causing Ayeon to shake her head, “Honestly, you’re a team leader.”

“And a good one, for a reason.”

Ayeon stared at the pen in her hand, “If I go check on him, it means that I care about what happens to him and I don’t.”

Jinah nodded and stared down at her feet, “I believe you, but for the sake of the argument, even if you did care about him, that isn’t a bad thing. There’s nothing wrong with caring.”

Ayeon kept her eyes averted and picked up a new file, busying herself.

“Except when you start to care too much.”  

-----

It was a week.

Every morning Ayeon would stop at Maison De Fleur and stare at the same sign and darkened interior. And each time she would become more and more unsettled by it. No one just disappears for a week with no explanation. She was already ignoring her memory lapses and hiding it from her friends, she couldn't deal with the weight of his on her mind too.

Friday had swung around when she had decided enough was enough. Her mind was plagued with horrible things having to do with the brick that was chucked through his window. She had paced around her apartment for a few hours, trying to distract herself, trying to convince herself that everything was fine and that she was just overreacting.

It didn’t work.

Somehow, she ended up in front of her shop in the middle of the evening searching for his spare key. Apparently, he had decided to take her advice because she couldn’t find it anywhere. Sighing, she got on her knees, pulled a gift card out of her wallet and fiddled with the lock until it clicked open.

She stepped in, shutting the door behind her and