[title track: who do u love - monsta x feat. french montana + kamikaze - susanne sundfor]
[6k, will edit tomorrow!]

4.

“Uh…what are you guys talking about?” Seulgi’s voice pitches up slightly, her eyes darting between Sunhee and Kai, eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly in question when she catches Sunhee’s gaze. Sunhee glances at Kai, who remains infuriatingly nonchalant, a small smirk still playing on his lips, his eyes remaining on Seulgi and Seulgi alone, before Sunhee shrugs.

Sunhee doesn’t know what to say—for once, she’s flustered, her thoughts muddled, fear still lingering there, winding her up so tight she feels as if she’ll burst at the seams.

Kai speaks then, his voice low, amused, “You.”

Seulgi blinks, brows shooting up into her hairline due to her surprise. “M—me?”

Seulgi is only looking at Kai. Sunhee’s heart feels like it’s beating at a million times an hour.

Kai’s gaze meets hers and it remains there for a second too long, his smirk only growing, before he turns his attention fully on Seulgi, sharp gaze softening around the edges. Kai says, “I was wondering you were home. And then I asked about my jacket.”

Seulgi blinks. “Oh.”

Sunhee hates the relief that trickles through her, momentarily calming the thrumming under her skin. Still, Sunhee concedes, even if her stomach churns at the thought. Sunhee just smiles at Seulgi, says, “Yeah, he really seems to want that jacket back.” Sunhee glances sideways at Kai, tacks on a tight, “Very stingy of you, Kai. Just let her have the damn jacket.”

Kai grins at her with all his teeth, his dark eyes glinting. “That’s exactly what I was going to do. Thanks, Sunhee.”

Seulgi doesn’t seem to notice the exchange, though, her eyes flickering over Kai’s face while she stuffs her hands in Kai’s jacket that swaths her figure. It’s so big on her, and Sunhee thinks she looks—

Sunhee sidles past Seulgi, shooting a reassuring grin and suggestive eyebrow wiggle at Seulgi for good measure. Seulgi rolls her eyes, playful, though her cheeks redden.

Sunhee can still hear Seulgi’s loud, bubbly laughter even though she’s sprawled out on her bed with her door closed. It just rings in her head and a jittery sort of anxiety burrows its way deep in her bones, right under her veins. Despite the fact that Sunhee knows Kai is dangerous, or at the very least willing to blackmail someone for the hell of it, she didn’t even bother keeping her promise to Seulgi where she would say no for her. Guilt burrows itself alongside the anxiety and Sunhee groans into her pillow.

~.~.~.~.~

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” Seulgi sets a can of beer in front of her before she plops down onto the beanbag chair in the corner of Sunhee’s bedroom.

Sunhee can’t help but look up from her laptop, frowning in confusion. “What’s hard?”

“Saying no to them.” Seulgi pops the tab, the can fizzing loudly, before she takes a sip of her drink. She tucks her knees into her chest, the beanbag chair practically swallowing her up. She looks so tiny, right then.

Sunhee mumbles, “Yeah. I guess.”

Seulgi nods, slowly, watching as Sunhee takes a sip of her own cold beer. Then Seulgi says, “Do you think he’s nice? Is that why you didn’t tell him to off?”

“I would never tell someone to off!”

Seulgi levels Sunhee with a look. “You basically told his boss to off the other night, if I remember correctly.”

Sunhee opens before she snaps it shut because Seulgi only levels her with another look that has Sunhee snorting. “Okay, maybe I do tell people to off. But only when they deserve it.”

“So, Kai didn’t deserve it?”

Sunhee pauses, her fingers tightening around the can in her hand. The refreshing coolness of the beer in her hand only stings now. The alcohol tastes extra bitter. She can hear the hope tinging Seulgi’s tone and if she looks closely enough, she could probably see it in her pretty eyes, too. Sunhee pushes that thought away and says, smiling, “No, not yet.”

Seulgi beams.

“Don’t get too happy. You still don’t know his real name, so he’s definitely on thin ice, Seul.”

“But, he’s on ice, at least!”

Seulgi still continues grinning, her eyes crinkling into little crescent moons, her smile radiant, and Sunhee blinks rapidly, watching as Seulgi claps her hands in glee, before she starts gushing about him. Sunhee nods, smiles, and listens, all while she chugs the beer much too quickly.

~.~.~.~.~

“You look like absolute ing .”

Sunhee, at least, has the energy to reel back in shock at the vulgar words leaving Sanha’s mouth (since everyone in her office has collectively and unanimously decided that Sanha is a literal baby about three days after he started his internship). Sunhee puts a hand over her heart, “My God, Sanha. You’re, like, twelve. Watch your mouth.”

“Oh, sorry, let me translate that to grandma-talk really quick.” Sanha responds, rolling his eyes. “You look like absolute hecking poop.”

Sunhee grimaces, dropping her hand from her heart. “I liked the other version better. Somehow, this just sounded meaner.”

“Seriously?”

Sanha closes his eyes, grimacing as if Sunhee is the bane of his existence, and Sunhee can’t help the laugh bubbling up from her lips. Sanha opens an eye, grinning at her, cheeks puffing out. He waits a moment before he adds, grin subdued, “Really though. Are you okay?”

Sunhee has asked herself that question a lot lately and she could never quite find a definite answer. It’s a simple enough question to answer, but every time she wonders if she’s really okay, her heart feels like it’s running a marathon all on it’s own, and she gets the urge to itch and itch at her skin until she claws it all away. Anxiety, she knows, is a peculiar thing, and she isn’t quite sure why it’s manifested in her in such a rampant, consistent way.

(Though, a small part of her that whispers of how Seulgi hadn’t noticed if she was okay, that made her notice all the times Seulgi would grin brightly at her phone or wear that stupid, ugly jacket, tells her she knows exactly why it’s come down to this. Sunhee hates it. She hates it and herself and her feelings and, worst of all, she hates that she hates herself.)

“I’m fine.” Sunhee says. She thinks if she says it enough times, it’ll become reality. “Just a little hungover.”

“Hmm.” Sanha nods, blinking at her for a moment too long. He doesn’t seem to entirely believe her, but eventually he shrugs and says, “Do you know what the perfect cure to a hangover is?”

Sunhee raises a brow.

Sanha wiggles his fingers next to his cheeks, beaming brightly, before he says, “This face!”

Sunhee mutters, “If it wasn’t for HR and the fact that you’re everyone’s favorite, I’d hit you.”

“Luckily for you, you get to see it all day.”

“Great.”

Sanha giggles and Sunhee decides to shove her anxiety and concerns far, far away, like she usually does.

~.~.~.~.~

Sunhee does not manage to ignore her anxiety. Her blood is humming under her veins and her stomach flips, over and over, around and around. She can’t eat properly without feeling queasy. She gets this ridiculous urge to cry in the middle of a mundane phone call with accounting. When she bids Sanha goodbye, waiting out of habit for Sanha to open the door to his brother’s fancy black car before she turns away, she feels like absolute .

Sunhee has a routine and when she’s stressed, she follows that routine to a tee, for optimal relaxation.

(She’s had two ex-boyfriends point out exactly how irritatingly stubborn she could be, especially regarding her routines. She never liked spontaneity—it only served to add to her anxiety. She never did surprise birthday parties, or surprises in general, never liked being thrown for a loop. Maybe, she liked the control her routines gave her, the sense of comfort it brought her, especially as she started to notice Seulgi in ways she should never ever notice Seulgi or any other girl. It made her feel safe.)

Tonight, she planned on taking a nice, warm bath with a glass of wine and then watching her favorite dramas to wind down and take her mind off the constant thoughts running through her head. Tonight, she had plans.

So, of course, Sunhee’s thoughts go absolutely haywire when she hears a loud crash five minutes into her bath. Sunhee is quick to move, throwing on her robe, wet hair soaking through the thick fabric when she doesn’t even bother wrapping her hair up, before she stumbles out the bathroom, leaving behind her untouched glass of wine.

She knows Seulgi’s supposed to be home around this time, since she takes the earlier shifts at the hospital, but Sunhee still grabs the baseball bat they keep in the hall before hurrying into the living room, only to—

“Do you even know how to use that?”

Sunhee blinks, confused and surprised, before her emotions quickly fizzle out into deep irritation and anger. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She takes in the sight of the man lounging on her couch, socked feet propped up on her coffee table, his brown eyes filled with wry amusement as he continues to stare at the bat in her hands. She doesn’t bother lowering her bat. His smile only grows, at both her question and her actions. His dark hair is pushed back and she remembers him quite vividly as the from that kitchen, that one night. The same man Seulgi had mentioned. His name is Baekhyun, if she remembers correctly.

She glances at the door, the windows, and notes that there had been no forced entry. And then, Sunhee hears a giggle drifting out from the kitchen. Sunhee’s eyes widen because, unfortunately, Sunhee would recognize that giggle anywhere. Her heartbeat speeds up, just a bit, and her stomach twists at that reaction. Baekhyun wrinkles his nose, finally tearing his eyes off the bat in her hand only to scowl in the general direction behind her.

Before Baekhyun can say anything—his mouth his wide open, obviously ready to voice an opinion Sunhee doesn’t want—Seulgi’s voice rings from behind her. “Oh, Sunhee! I was just about to—you okay?”

Sunhee closes her eyes, briefly, forgetting that Baekhyun can see her expression, before Sunhee turns to narrow her eyes at Seulgi. She falters, though, when she notices that Kai is next to Seulgi, hovering a bit too close. Kai raises a single brow at Sunhee. Sunhee’s chest feels heavy, her grip tightening around the baseball bat, even as she drops it to her side, because Seulgi is eyeing her in worry, reaching out to place a warm hand on Sunhee’s forearm.

Sunhee still makes a face at Seulgi and says, “I heard a noise and thought someone broke in.” Then she gestures vaguely at the couch behind her, “And then I saw him. Why the hell are they here?”

Seulgi purses her lips, still looking so worried, and Sunhee finds her anger deflating significantly and the itch under her blood increasing tenfold. Seulgi mumbles, “Okay, I was going to tell you in private after you were out of the bathroom. But, uh, I’m needed somewhere.”

“Needed?” Sunhee repeats, slowly mulling over the word, her stomach sinking a little at the implications of it.

“‘Needed,’ my .” Baekhyun scoffs out from behind her, his voice echoing. Kai throws Baekhyun a disparaging glare. Baekhyun laughs. Sunhee continues staring at Seulgi, who just stares back, before she sighs and her grip on Sunhee’s forearm tightens as she practically hauls Sunhee out of the living room and into kitchen. Sunhee is always so surprised by how much stronger Seulgi is than she looks.

Sunhee doesn’t hold back, not when she’s out of earshot of Kai, though she does try to keep her tone low and civil. Seulgi doesn’t like it when people tell her what to do and Sunhee doesn’t want her worry to be too obvious, either. “Are you working for that gang now?”

“Of course not.” Seulgi mumbles, her dark eyes narrowing. “I told you. I owe them.”

Sunhee gets this terrible urge to scream, right then, but she doesn’t. All she does is sigh and say, “It’s dangerous, Seulgi. Kai visiting is one thing, but getting involved with them? What if something happens?”

“Kai promised he’d keep me safe.”

Sunhee pretends like that doesn’t make her stomach flip fifty times in just a brief moment, pretends like she’s just fine. Still, she pushes, just a bit more than she should, maybe out of an emotion than she does not want to admit to, or maybe out of something else entirely. Sunhee grimaces as she says, “Why do you believe him? You barely even know him.”

Seulgi blinks, seemingly caught off guard by the question. Seulgi wavers for a moment, before she straightens her back and squares back her shoulders, finally meeting Sunhee’s eyes as she says, “There’s something about him, Sunhee. I feel like…I think…we’ve been through a lot together already and I trust him.”

It’s stupid. Sunhee knows it is. But, also, Sunhee can’t stop thinking about what Kai had said to her. Evaluate your own intentions. Sunhee can’t deny the way Seulgi’s words make the little green monster deep inside her jolt awake and rear its ugly head. Still, Sunhee isn’t blinded by it. Or at least she hopes she isn’t. Besides, Sunhee can’t make decisions for Seulgi. That’s not how it works, no matter how much Sunhee would like to shake Seulgi by the shoulders and tell her to stop thinking with her stupid heart, especially for a stupid dangerous boy who is a part of a gang.

All Sunhee can really do is make sure she’s there for Seulgi, to catch her when Kai s up. Sunhee cringes internally at that thought, at that assumption that Kai will up, because it’s stupid wishful thinking and it makes Sunhee hate herself even more.

Sunhee sighs, shoulders sagging, and mumbles, “Let me guess. You want me to come with you? For emotional support?”

Seulgi purses her lips, nodding, and Sunhee thinks it could be adorable, the way Seulgi smiles a little when Sunhee rolls her eyes, if Sunhee didn’t get the sudden urge to scream and cry at all her thoughts. “Fine. You owe me big for this, Kang.” Sunhee mumbles.

Seulgi laughs. Sunhee’s heart skips a beat. Or five.

~.~.~.~.~

Sunhee completely ignores the jittery feeling that seems to be growing at the pit of her stomach, filling her up, up, up, jitters burrowing right up under her skin. She opts, instead, to focus intently on her surroundings.

They’re currently in some seedy club at the edge of town, just shy of downtown, called White Noise. The minute the bouncer had let them into the club—she had noticed the way Baekhyun had grinned up at the bouncer and the little nod of acknowledgement the bouncer had given him in return, before waving them into the club—Kai had spun around to face the two of them, hovering much too close, his chest pressed to Seulgi’s side, though his eyes had landed on Sunhee, for some bizarre reason.

“Can you at least try to act more natural? We’re not trying to attract attention.” Kai had said at her, frown deepening, his gaze so intense it made a shiver run up and down her spine.

The club itself was not overtly crowded, in fact it only had a handful of people, most of whom were drinking at the bar, synth pop echoing all around the room, though still quiet enough where they wouldn’t have to shout to be heard. The bartender, she noticed, kept glancing at them as he wiped counter, lingering as he stared.

The place was rundown and old, and she thinks they would have attracted attention with or without her trying to act natural. They don’t belong there. The bartender’s glances and the other patrons’ leers are evidence enough of that.

Now, she is leaning up against the bar, fingers wrapped around her water glass, Seulgi perched on the stool next to her, her skirt hiked up. Kai and Baekhyun had disappeared a long while ago and now the club has filled up, quickly becoming a lot less desolate and rundown with the crowd of people that had eventually trickled in.

Still, Sunhee focuses much too closely and the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end as she people watches, from the stumbling drunk man in the corner to the girl leaning over the bar to order drinks. There is something that leaves Sunhee feeling immensely uneasy as she observes most of the patrons at this bar.

(She wants to tell herself that she’s imagining the glint of a metal peeking out from under the skirt of a girl dancing near the DJ booth, especially whenever her skirt flutters from her dancing. She wants to tell herself that she’s imagining the glimpse of a plastic bag exchanging hands. She wants to herself she’s imagining all this, that she’s just drunk.

But, she’s not drunk.

A boy with a pretty face—unforgettably gorgeous, really—locks gazes with her and he does not smile, especially when his gaze flickers to her left, to Seulgi. His expression only seems to grow darker. Sunhee blinks. He disappears with the crowd.

She’s not imagining the strangeness in the crowd, the tension, the feeling of eyes lingering on her.)

Seulgi tugs at her sleeve and Sunhee tears her gaze off the dancefloor, off trying to find that unbelievable gorgeous boy, turning to Seulgi. Seulgi’s eyes are pinned straight ahead and Sunhee follows her gaze.

Sunhee’s heart constricts at the sight of a familiar figure rushing in their direction.

It’s—

“Suho.” Seulgi says, her voice muffled by the bass booming through the club. Still, Sunhee picks it up.

Suho stops in front of them, his dark hair pushed back to reveal his forehead, his black jeans ripped at the knee, and his dark eyes lingering on Seulgi for a moment too long before they flicker to Sunhee, returning to Seulgi as if Sunhee is of little consequence. Usually Sunhee would find that irritating, but right now Sunhee is relieved at the lack of attention, because Suho looks downright furious at the sight of Seulgi.

Suho’s mouth moves, but Sunhee doesn’t catch his words. Seulgi’s expression twists before she reaches back and tugs on Sunhee’s hand. Sunhee follows without question, only because she knows, judging from her expression, Seulgi would go with Suho, with or without her.

~.~.~.~.~

The hallway is long and dark, but much quieter than the rest of the club. Suho quickly pushes open a door at the end of the hall, stepping aside to let them in first, before he shuts the door behind them, the sound of it closing resounding all around them, a dull thud that has Sunhee spinning immediately.

It’s so much quieter in here. Sunhee notices the quiet voices first, turning to peer at the sounds, her eyes widening at the sight of the unbelievably gorgeous boy from before playing with a lighter, the clicking sound of it opening and closing echoing in her ears.

Click, click, click.

He looks up from his phone, his pretty eyes narrowing slightly when he meets her gaze.

She’s the first to look away from him, because there’s something so intimidating about his cold beauty, and she doesn’t want to admit that weakness. She focuses, instead, on the details of the room around her. The sounds of an open faucet and water leaking, drip, drip, drip. There are three people she doesn’t recognize, three people she doesn’t think she needs to recognize because two of them (a man and a woman) are currently tied up, heads lolling, eyes wide with fear and mouths taped shut. Despite the dim lighting, she can see the rope burns on their wrists. The third person lies face down on the floor and she can’t tell whether they’re dead or alive. The tears in all their clothing stays embedded in her mind—a strangely mundane thing that won’t leave her. Her gaze travels up and down the body, unable to hold her winces back at the sight of their bruises and cuts, before her brain fully registers the boot pressed to the center of the person’s spine. The shoelaces are a bright white—new. The person attached to that boot is a familiar face, a horribly familiar face that has Sunhee’s stomach flipping. His eyes are dark, the gun in his hands hanging lazily off his fingers, the coldness sharpening his features, like ice.

“K—Kai?” Seulgi’s tone pitches up in horror.

Kai looks up. His eyes widen.

Suho says, “He wasn’t supposed to leave you outside.”

There is an amused grin dripping from Suho’s lips, pulling his lips taut, revealing sharp teeth that match the sharpness in his eyes. His gaze remains on Seulgi’s face, as if he is carefully documenting each and every minuscule reaction that flits across her features. And, there are so many.

“Suho, come on.” Kai manages out, brows furrowing apologetically. He reaches out, with the hand not holding the gun, still not letting up on the pressure of his foot against the man’s back. Seulgi takes a small step back.

Seulgi’s eyes are wide, terrified, worried, everything, all at once, but somehow, they flit to meet Kai’s gaze and they do not pull away. Sunhee stares at the three of them and wonders what in the hell is going on.

Before she can ask, before she can decipher any of the seemingly silent conversations happening between the three of them, the door they had come through slams open.

Sunhee jumps, tearing her attention off the three of them.

“Yo, Eunwoo, I got another one.” Baekhyun’s voice booms through the little room.

Sunhee blinks, wide-eyed and speechless, for once, watching as Baekhyun kicks the door shut behind him with all the grace of a lumbering idiot, all while easily hauling an unconscious man over his shoulders. He saunters into the room, either oblivious or choosing to ignore the obvious tension emanating between Kai, Suho, and Seulgi, casually dumping the man in a heap next to the other two captives. The gorgeous boy—who she assumes must be Eunwoo—stuffs his phone into his pockets, side-eyeing her in slight annoyance as he steps past her to crouch next to the unconscious man. The woman flinches at his proximity, but he ignores her completely. The man, on the other hand, cowers. Eunwoo presses a hand to the man’s neck. Sunhee watches all this, half-listening when Baekhyun finally seems to realize exactly who is in the room.

“Damn, Hyung. You couldn’t just leave the baggage outside, could you?” His words are obviously a double-edged sword, ripe with intentions, his gaze pointed as he eyes Seulgi. Seulgi visibly flinches at that, stepping fully away, closer to Sunhee, further from Baekhyun, Suho, and Kai. Kai sighs. Suho throws a ferocious glare Baekhyun’s way. Eunwoo just snorts, lightly.

“Shut the up. You’re late.” Suho mutters, stepping away just to pull something out of his pocket to press it into Baekhyun’s chest. Sunhee catches a glint of silver, but nothing else.

Baekhyun jabs a thumb in the direction of the unconscious heap of a man that Eunwoo now seems to be meticulously tying up. “This one squirms a lot.”

Sunhee frowns at that, at how casually Baekhyun says that. Baekhyun notices, his amusement never-ending, his eyes twinkling, as he meets her gaze and tilts his head at her, raising a brow as if to inquire if she, too, squirms a lot.

A shiver runs down her spine at that look, the amusement, the utter nonchalance, because it’s more unsettling than the darkness emanating from Suho or the way Eunwoo ignores her.

For a moment, there’s a moment of silence, where the faint bass of the club music pumps through the walls, distant, almost eerily haunting. For a moment, all that can be heard is the ragged breathing of the man lying flat on his stomach and the small whimpers coming from the woman.

(For a moment, Sunhee is afraid of what they will do to the two men, and the woman, especially. She knows that it would be in her best interests to not get involved in other people’s business, especially because she doesn’t think anyone here would hesitate to shoot her right where she stands the minute she acts up, but she cannot turn off her empathy for this scared woman—despite how long she’s worked in a law firm where the only form of survival is to turn off one’s empathy.)

Eunwoo, surprisingly, is the one to say, “Can we wrap this up already? I don’t have all day.”

Suho grimaces, swatting Eunwoo over the head—a completely normal, almost affectionate action, that throws her for a loop for a moment. “Hey! Speak with respect, I’m older than you.”

Eunwoo just wrinkles his nose. Suho snorts. Sunhee thinks it looks completely out of place on Suho’s regal, cold features.

“Okay, grandpa.” Eunwoo repeats, “Can we wrap this up already?”

Suho rolls his eyes but the amusement and momentary fondness slips off his face so easily, revealing that stark darkness that leaves Sunhee feeling so small. Suho gestures at the four people on the floor before he sweeps his hand, gesturing towards Kai. “You heard the brat, Kai. Hurry up.”

Kai purses his lips, hesitates, really.

Baekhyun sighs, loudly.

Seulgi stares, as if she’s unable to look away. Sunhee gets this tight feeling in her chest at the way Seulgi looks between Kai and the gun in his hand, the way it flickers to the person groveling under his foot, to the terrified eyes of the woman sprawled out between Eunwoo and the unconscious man, to the tearful eyes of the man next to her, before it returns to Kai and just stays there, lingering, waiting, waiting, waiting.

Sunhee gets this tight, coiled up feeling in her chest, and she wonders if it’ll creep up her chest, into , wonders if it’ll suffocate her where she’s standing. It certainly eats at her, digging under her skin, making her feel jittery, like too much and too little all at once.

“Let me explain. Later. Please?” Kai’s voice is quiet, strange, almost intimate.

Suho’s glare darkens exponentially. Eunwoo blinks, gaze inquisitive as he eyes both Kai and Seulgi. Baekhyun is rolling his eyes, meets her gaze halfway through the eye roll. Baekhyun’s eyes stay on her.

Sunhee looks away first.

(She’s afraid, though, that it wasn’t fast enough.)

She knows, deep down, that Seulgi will nod in affirmation. She doesn’t need to look up to get her confirmation, not when Kai adds, “For now, just…look away. Please.”

~.~.~.~.~

Questions. She doesn’t understand the questions. Something about names, about a leak, and numbers that are so high, they must be about money. She doesn’t focus on them, not when the three conscious people are not able to answer the questions the way Suho wants them to answer, so he kicks the man in the face, the crunching of bone echoing so loudly, Seulgi yelps. She’s facing Sunhee, her face scrunched up, her shoulders hunched, as if she is trying her best to make herself look tiny, and something in Sunhee twists up so tightly, she nearly breaks in half right then. She looks past Seulgi’s shoulder, tries, tries, tries to ignore the streak of blood on the floor, the incoherent begging of the injured man’s, and hones in on the way Kai glances over his shoulder, checking that Seulgi isn’t watching.

(Sunhee wants to shout, she can still ing hear you. She doesn’t. Instead, she reaches out and pulls Seulgi a little closer, holding her tightly. Seulgi immediately finds refuge in the crook of Sunhee’s neck and Sunhee’s heart feels like it is being ripped out of her chest by someone wearing a spiked glove.)

She locks eyes with Kai, over Seulgi’s shoulder.

The questions continue. Sunhee can’t watch, either. She was never good at being heartless and logical, emotionless. Not to this extent. She’s staring at the floor, wincing with each hit, mostly coming from Suho and Kai, sometimes Eunwoo, though he and Baekhyun seem to be content with just watching and asking questions.

After a while, with an airy, beautiful tone, Eunwoo suggests, “Will the truth come out if we rough up the girl a bit?”

One of the men lets out a garbled response. The girl shakes her head, frantic, as she scoots back, away from the men around her. No one goes after her, allowing her to scramble, and somehow, that makes everything worse.

Sunhee’s head snaps up, she can’t help it, but Seulgi is the one to say, back still facing them, “They clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. Just let them go.”

There’s another pause—the four of them (since the unconscious one woke up a while ago) agreeing vigorously, groveling on their knees, bloody and broken—before Suho says, “Seulgi. Come patch them up.”

Sunhee freezes, feels Seulgi stiffen against her.

Sunhee finds she’s glancing sideways, at Baekhyun, first, finds that Baekhyun is rolling his eyes, seemingly exhausted, though she has no idea why.

For some Godforsaken reason, Seulgi listens to him, pulls away from Sunhee, her warmth disappearing quickly, wordlessly plucking the small first aid kit from Eunwoo’s fingers before she kneels beside the bloodiest of the four. Sunhee stares, speechless.

Suho speaks to the four, “Isn’t our medic so pretty? Like an angel, here to heal you if you give us what we want.” Suho steps close, pressing the toe of his shoes to the chin of a man who can barely keep himself upright, tilting his head up so that Suho can look him in the eyes. His tone is cold, low, commanding. It makes Sunhee step back, flinching when her arm knocks into Baekhyun’s chest, ignoring Baekhyun’s amused smirk at her fumble.

Suho says, “Give us what we want.”

The man shakes his head, whispers, pleads really, “I r…really don’t kn…know.”

Suho sighs, long and hard. “You know, I really do believe you.”

Sunhee can practically see the hope blooming in the man’s eyes. “So, you’ll le…let us g…go?”

Suho sighs, again. Baekhyun is the one to say, “Unfortunately, no.”

The kick is sickeningly loud. Seulgi gasps. Eunwoo grabs her arm with graceful movements, quickly pulling her aside. Sunhee’s heart feels like it’ll leap out of her chest.

“Then die.” Suho says, waving a hand.

Kai hesitates for only a few seconds, before he shoots.

Seulgi screams. Sunhee wonders if she screams, too. She’s sure, though, that no one will hear the screams or the gunshots, thanks to the club music blasting just a few feet away.

Sunhee’s heart is beating so fast, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession, tight with horror, and she can’t stop seeing the blood splatters. Red here, red there, red, red, red.

“Oh, my God.” Sunhee mumbles.

Seulgi is just staring, blinking. Kai moves towards her.

“Oh, my God.” Sunhee repeats, quieter this time.

Baekhyun responds, “God won’t help them now.”

Sunhee blinks up at him. He doesn’t look so amused, now. Instead, he almost looks sad, pitying maybe.

“Why the hell did you kill them if you believed them?” Seulgi’s voice is low, but controlled, angrier than anything Sunhee has ever heard before.

“They saw our faces. Heard your name. It’s a liability.” Suho says it all so clinically, like he’s reading out of a boring textbook.

Seulgi blinks, incredulous. She glances at Eunwoo and he shrugs, too. It’s disconcerting, that such a pretty, king face, appears so nonchalant in the face of murder.

Suho sounds bored as he adds, “In this business, it’s kill or be killed. My job is to protect my family, through whatever means necessary. Unfortunately for me, that includes you now.”

Seulgi opens , once, twice, three times, but nothing comes out.

Sunhee’s blood itches, right under skin, and she gets the urge to scream and scream. Kai presses a hand to Seulgi’s back and Seulgi leans into the touch, despite what just happened. Sunhee’s rational side says, maybe it’s the shock.

Sunhee is certainly still reeling, still seeing things she wishes she never ever had to see.

Sunhee thinks, even if it’s some convoluted sense of protecting their own people, it’s still murder. Murder is still murder.

Sunhee opens , maybe to scream until she’s hoarse, maybe to tell Suho and Kai and Baekhyun and this Eunwoo how ing stupid and monstrous they sound, when—

The whole world literally comes crashing down.

The screaming is so loud that it seems to fill Sunhee’s head up to the brim, her ears ringing from an explosion that leaves her trying to remember her rights from her lefts, her ups from her downs. Sunhee stumbles, hears a faint, familiar voice, one that sounds as if it is coming to her through a long, winding tunnel filled with air and wind. Her head throbs and ears ring and Sunhee’s whole world tilts sideways, a sharp pain scraping up her palms.

Sunhee. Sunhee!

Sunhee sees white and black spots and a lot of darkness, no light. Sunhee blinks. Tries to breathe. She—

“Sunhee.”

Sunhee jolts, yelps as pain shoots through her head, frowning at the hands on her shoulder. She blinks, rapidly, trying to clear her vision. It takes her a minute, but she manages.

“Oh.” She manages, when she recognizes the face.

Baekhyun.

The mad, amused twinkle is nonexistent, replaced entirely by a seriousness she didn’t think him capable of, despite knowing him for such a short period of time. Somehow, the seriousness there, the downturn of his lips, and the grounding grip he has on her shoulder brings her a sense of security she didn’t think he’d ever bring her. It stops the anxiety piling up atop her shoulders, growing and growing.

Baekhyun’s eyes flicker over her face, staring intently, “You okay to sit up?”

“Yeah…I…” She bites her tongue, wincing at the way her head spins, for just a moment. Then she tacks on, “What the hell happened?”

Baekhyun sits back on his heels, glancing around. Only then does notice that they’re in a small room with a single, tiny window, the door out barricaded. Baekhyun rubs the back of his neck, sighing as he glances back at the door. “It looks like we’re in the middle of an ambush.”

Sunhee blinks, voice pitching up. “What?”

“That door won’t budge.”

“What?” Sunhee’s voice goes up another octave.

Baekhyun looks her in the eye, too slow, too casual, as he itches his chin. He clarifies, with utmost normalcy and zero clarity. “We're totally screwed."

a/n: this baekhyun is a really fun baekhyun to write, to be honest, he's similar to deficient!baekhyun but like Way Better, imo, so I'm really, really excited to write him! I hope you guys like this so far, please let me know your thoughts! I love you guys lots!!!!!!!!! (also everyone listen to that french montana and monsta x song, it's SO good)