The second the shot was fired, the ballroom was thrown in chaos. 

People were screaming and running towards exits blindly in the dark. Mark pushed past bodies that were bumping into him as the crowd ran in the opposite direction. He tried to maintain his sense of direction, hoping he was getting closer to Heiran. He couldn't see five ing feet in front of him. 

He couldn’t believe that she would actually run towards a speeding bullet. 

Suddenly the lights flickered back on and some of the people stopped running to look around at the carnage while others continued to head to the door. Mark glanced over to see Jackson’s face set in a glower before turning and blending with the crowd. 

“.” Mark grumbled as he looked back to where Youngjae was standing. 

No one was there. 

Mark looked around frantically in search of Heiran and Youngjae. He pulled out his phone and called Heiran. Suddenly the sound of her ringtone pulled his focus over to a room tucked off to the side of the ballroom. 

He ran over and caught a glimpse of Heiran leaning against the banister, blood trickling down her arm as she spoke to Youngjae in front of her. 

Mark closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. 

If she kept this up, he was going to be sent to an early grave.

-----

“What the was that? Did someone just ing shoot at me?!” 

Heiran’s head was spinning as she tried to keep up with Youngjae’s hysteria. She didn’t know why she was so dizzy. When the lights were off she remembered slamming into Youngjae’s body, sending them both tumbling to the ground just as the bullet fired off. She could still feel her ear ringing from the sound of it. 

And as much as she couldn’t blame him for freaking out, she really couldn’t keep up. 

“Yeah, I think so. I don’t know for sure, it was dark.” She mumbled, leaning her head back. 

Youngjae paced, anxiously running her fingers through his hair, “I could’ve died. I could’ve ing died right now. Holy . I can't believe this actually happened. I wasn't even going to come tonight.”

"Why did you?" She asked seriously. 

He shook his head, "I was told it was really important that I attend. What are the chances, man? I'm shaking, my heart is racing." 

“Well, you’re alive.” She said blankly, letting her eyes fall shut. 

He looked over at her, his face softening, “Thanks to you.” 

She opened her eyes and peered at him, “You might be making my life a living hell but I couldn’t let you get shot, now could I?”

“I—“

Youngjae fell silent when Mark stormed in, charging straight for her, “Are you out of your damn mind?”

“No Mark, just incredibly tired.” Heiran said blankly. 

He huffed, pulling his tie loose until he could slip it off his neck and tug her close. He completely ignored Youngjae's presence. He wrapped it around the wound after inspecting it, knotting it tight to stop the blood from flowing. Luckily it wasn’t an actual bullet wound and just a nick that broke enough skin to draw blood. 

Heiran held her breath and watched him wipe at the blood on her arm, his fingers drawing gentle patterns on her skin, “I’m still mad at you.”

“I know.” He said calmly. “Let me make sure you’re okay first.” 

She huffed but acquiesced, letting him check her arm one more time before Youngjae interrupted, “This is all very cute but what the just happened?”

-----

It took a lot of cajoling on Heiran’s part before she convinced Youngjae that they’d drive him home and get someone to pick his car up for him. Mark didn’t utter a word and she wasn’t sure if it was because he was furious at her or because he just didn’t want him in his car. 

Either way, the drive to his house was silent, Mark and Heiran were icing each other out and Youngjae was too freaked out to notice the frigid atmosphere. They had spun some lie that it was probably a robbery attempt that went wrong and that Youngjae wasn’t a target but just unlucky. 

He didn’t seem to believe them but didn’t resist when they suggested leaving before the cops came.

“Really puts everything into perspective, huh?”

Heiran glanced at Youngjae through the rearview mirror, “Huh?”

“Almost being shot, makes you realize how quickly you could just…die. It won’t be like in a movie where there might be a twist ending because the main character never dies. You’re just gone and have no way to soothe or care for the people you didn’t want to leave behind. You're just torn away from your life.”  He said solemnly. 

Heiran still wasn’t used to hearing Youngjae speak to her like that, without the taunting or malice he’d show her at their office. But there was something in his words that hit too close to home to the point where the backs of her eyes were starting to itch. 

“Try not to think about it too much, you’ll drive yourself mad. Just appreciate what you have." She said. 

Youngjae was quiet for a moment before leaning forward, “Thank you for saving me, Heiran. With our relationship, you probably could’ve benefited a lot from looking the other way. I-I don’t know how to repay you.”

She felt Mark’s gaze on her, “Don’t thank me and you don’t have to repay me, Youngjae. Seriously.”

He sighed and leaned his head back, “You’re a way better person than I thought you were going to be, Heiran. I feel bad saying this, I think I judged you too hard.”

“Why me, though?” She asked, “what was it about me that made you think I was hiding something?”

He closed his eyes, “There were rumours in the financial industry that some of the money circulating in your company was illegal and that it was your doing since these rumours only started after you were promoted to VP. But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find anything proving that. I thought I’d do it with SmartLogic but even that was a bust.”

Heiran said nothing as Mark continued to spare glances at her until they finally pulled up to Youngjae’s house. 

“We’re here.” Mark called out.

Youngjae took off his belt and leaned forward, touching both their shoulders, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you. I’m so happy to be home.”

Neither of them said much as Youngjae got out of the car. Heiran watched him stand by the door but before he could unlock it, it swung open revealing the woman inside, tears spilling down her face as she hugged him.

dropped as Mark drove them back to her house. 

-----

The drive was silent except for when she got out. 

“Spend the night.”

His eyes were wide as he looked at her unsurely, “It’s late and your clothes are here anyways. Just take my guest room.”

“Bu—“

“I’m not asking you, Mark.” She said coldly, before slamming the car door and going inside the house.

He came in a few seconds later, watching her wearily as she kicked off her shoes and soullessly marched up the stairs. She had texted Yugyeom, telling him to let Lucy spend the night at his apartment so the house was eerily quiet for this late. 

Mark followed her path until he stood by her bedroom door as she pulled her earrings out and set them down by her vanity. She moved to her closet, swinging it open before staring blankly at everything hung up in front of her. Mark followed her in cautiously and frowned, he hated the silence, he wanted her to do something already. 

She didn’t just offer him her spare bedroom out of the kindness of her heart, she wanted to say something to him. She wanted them to be alone so she could give him a piece of her mind and he just wanted her to get on with it because the anticipation was killing him. He watched her reach her arm behind her back and attempt to grab hold of the zipper on her dress. She struggled for a few more seconds before he stepped in behind her and pushed her hands away before sliding the zipper down her back. 

“You knew, didn’t you?”

His hand froze midway down, “Knew what?”

“That he had a pregnant wife.”

He pulled her zipper the rest of the way down before stepping away. When she started to slide her straps off her shoulders, he turned his back to her and leaned against the door, looking into her bedroom, “Saw them together this week.”

She stepped out of the dress, not bothering to hang it up and pulled on comfortable clothes before walking up behind him, “And you were just going to let your guy kill him?”

He turned when he heard her voice near his ear and looked down at her, “This is bigger than anything you and I could do. I don’t have a say in things like that.”

“You’re okay with that? You’re okay with having such little control?” She asked incredulously.

Mark didn’t falter, “It’s my job.”

“Or your excuse.” She sneered and shoved past him to walk into her bathroom. He trailed after her, perching on the edge of her bathtub while she set products on the counter.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

She shrugged dismissively, “It must be easy on your conscious to kill for a living when you can turn around and say that you did it because you were told to and not because you wanted to.”

“It’s more complicated than that. There isn’t a whole lot of autonomy in my line of work, I don't get to decide what I want and don't want to do. That's not my purpose and that's just the way it is. I am a criminal, I don’t know why you expect me to have more of a moral compass.” He barked, annoyed. He wasn’t even sure why they were having this conversation at all. It didn’t matter if she agreed with him or not, it wasn’t like he was someone whose principles or morals should matter to her. 

She massaged foam onto her skin, slowly stripping her makeup off, “I guess I never had to come face to face with it. Honestly, how do you sleep at night?”

“Not all of us come from a life where being the good guy was easy.” He hissed vengefully. He didn't even know why he was bothering with this argument. He had nothing to prove to her and he didn't care enough about to her to have her see things his way. But she had hit a sore spot that no one he worked with or knew would ever dare to touch because they were all the same.

She dried her face before glaring at him through the mirror, “Why? Because you lost both your parents when you were young? Because you didn’t have money or means to survive? Because you were scared and no one was there to look out for you except yourself?” 

“Yeah, something like that.” He snapped.

“Guess what? My life was like that too. I had a father that ed off with all our money to start a crime ring, a mother that was terminally ill all when I wasn’t old enough to get a job. Your past is no ing excuse for the ty decisions you make and how they affect other people.” Her voice rose in anger.

His brow twitched, “I was young,” he growled out as he stood, “I didn’t have anyone to tell me that there were other options, I was 12 years old when I joined a gang because I didn’t ing know any better. Because I wanted a family and someone to help me survive. Once you’re in a life like that, your soul is sold and you’re not getting out, so I was stuck in a life that maybe wasn't ideal but I don't have anything else. So, you for blaming me for a decision I made as a ing kid.” 

She turned to stare at him, the angry gone from her eyes but the pain was still there, “Fine, I won’t blame you for that, but do you realize that you almost put that unborn child into the same position?”

He grabbed her arm abruptly and kicked the lid of the toilet down before forcing her down, “Sit.” 

She opened to fight back but he just turned away rummaging around her cabinet before finding what he was looking for. He sat down in front of her and carefully untied his tie from her arm before dabbing it with some rubbing alcohol.

“I know, I am fully aware of the consequences and victims of the work I do, but I also know when to pick my battles. I weigh the pros and cons of putting myself on the line by disobeying a man that could kill me if he wanted. C