When she woke up, the first thing that she realized was that it wasn’t cold. 

It was frigid. 

She couldn’t stop shivering and it only intensified when she realized that she couldn’t see and that the last thing she remembered before the cold was the panic in Mark’s voice when he said that she was being set up. Then the alarms in her brain went off and she realized that everything about this situation was wrong and that she was in severe danger right now. 

Gasping for air, Heiran struggled against the ropes that bound her to the chair. A whimper escaped her as her heart pounded in her chest and gripped . Her body was sore and the back of her neck felt stiff, how long had she been held like this for? She couldn’t make out where she was. There were no sounds that gave away where she was being held. She could be in another city, another country, she could've had surgery where they stole her organs and she'd be none the wiser.

She had no idea where she was or what had happened to her aside from the fact that DS had to be the one responsible. 

And that only sent another rush of fear through her.

“She’s up.” 

She froze at the voice. She hadn’t expected anyone else to be in the room with her. , how many people were here? Had they just been watching her this entire time? Had they done anything to her?

“She’s prettier than I thought.” 

This voice was different. That meant there were at least two. 

The first voice snickered, “Boss always liked a nice pair of legs.”

She wanted to throw up, curl into a ball and plead for her life. They wanted her dead, that was why they had targeted her in the first place and now that they had her right in front of them. How long before they finish the job? Why hadn't they done it already?

“Don’t get too close, we’re not supposed to do anything until he gets here.”

“What about Mark? GOT7’s going to send him in here after her and…you saw what he did to our other men.” 

“, you’re right. I saw his prosthetic hand. Don’t remind me. When’s DS going to get here?” 

“I texted him when she started to wake up. He’ll be here soon.”

She felt one of the men get near and flinched when a clammy hand landed on her bare knee. Too much information was coming at her and with her eyes covered, her other senses were overwhelming her, “What do you think he’s going to do to her?”

“I don’t know, but I hope he lets us watch.” One of them cackled. 

He drummed his finger against her skin and she wanted to claw at his face, scar him for life the same way they were scarring her, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m sure it won’t hurt.”

“Can’t say the same about you.” She spat, her voice hoarse.

“Aww, the princess has claws. You have a lot of confidence in your little bodyguard, don’t you?”

She tilted her head up at him, even blindfolded, “Yeah, underestimate me. That’ll be fun.”

“There’s no doubting she’s with GOT7 with that mouth on her. A lot jumpier though, isn’t she?” One of them snorted.

“I heard it’s because she’s never in the field. Committing all those crimes but walks around in fancy office buildings and tall heels like she's a regular pencil pusher. It's almost genius if it wasn't so stupid.”  

She scoffed, "You're the stupid ones, coming after me. You think GOT7 is just going to sit around and do nothing? You don't know how important to them I am."

Something hard banged into the back of her head, making her scream in pain, she could feel the blow explode through her skull. A voice appeared in front of her face, hot breath brushing against her, "Oh trust me, we know. "

“That cute daughter of yours, is the baby daddy in GOT7?” 

Her body tensed and it must’ve been obvious because the men laughed, “I guess it’s true. Which one was it? Jackson? I know he messes around a lot, doesn’t seem like the type to wrap it. Or was it Jinyoung? He looks quiet but I bet usually the quiet ones are the freakiest.”

She was shaking in anger, panting, “Shut the up.”

“Ohh, or was it Mark? All brooding and scary but he you down on the regular until you’re knocked up. Yeah, you look like the type that acts all tough and intimidating but probably begs like a in heat when he's in you. Did he tell you not to keep her? Or did he just pay you off so he doesn't need to be involved? Is that why he’s all over your daughter and is assigned to you? That’s why he left you to protect her? Because she—!”

She had reeled back and smashed her head against his with a loud growl. She ignored the pain that exploded through her skull just took satisfaction in his agonized screams and yells. She could feel blood trickle down the bridge of her nose but it didn't bother her. Even the harsh smack to the side of her face that came as punishment couldn’t make her feel bad; she was angry and furious. They can beat her up all they want, they can torture, hell they can even kill her if they wanted, but she would not let them slander Lucy or her father.

“Screw you.” She spat. 

Something cold and sharp pressed against her neck, felt a lot like a knife, and she craned her neck away on instinct. 

“Not so bold now, are you princess?”

She held her breath when the other man finally intervened. “Stop. Boss will get mad if something happens to her without his direction. He wants to make sure GOT7 knows the stakes first.”

The pressure of the knife vanished.

“You got lucky this time, princess.”

-----

There was a ringing in Mark’s ears as he pulled up to Heiran’s house where Jinyoung and Yeonhee were waiting for him.

It was like he couldn’t quite believe it. It didn't fully feel real yet. He almost expected Heiran to be standing by the door, telling him to hurry up and telling Lucy to make sure she washed up before eating. But it wasn't her. Her house was empty, cold, soulless now. 

She was kidnapped.

And it was done at her school where he’d have no footage or way to track her movements. It was the perfect way for them to come for her, wait until he was distracted and then lure her with the one thing that she would be completely at the mercy to.

He just let her be taken. 

He ed up. He made a bad call. He left her with Jinyoung. 

He did this. It was all because of him. 

And now she was in DS’s reach and he had no idea where to find her or what was being done to her.

Maybe she was already dead and her corpse was being delivered to GOT7’s headquarters as we speak.

“Who are they?” Lucy quipped. 

It was hard remaining balanced with how clueless Lucy was. She was just smiling and drowsy from the trip with no idea that her mother was missing and in danger and he had to play along.

, what would happen to her if Heiran was dead? Did she have relatives? Would she be an orphan?

“Friends. They’ll be watching you for a while.” He said monotonously. 

“Where are you going to go?” She asked.

He tightened his grip around the steering wheel, “Errands for your mom.”

Lucy hummed, satisfied, and hopped out of the car when he parked. He stayed inside for an extra second, steadying his hands and closing his eyes. No matter how put together he seemed, his insides were spinning. He had never messed up this bad before. Every assignment he was given was carried out with the utmost precision, he was never late, he never misfired, he never killed the wrong person. He never made mistakes.  

And yet the one time he did, he wasn't sure he was going to make up for it. Ever.

Opening his eyes, he stared at the steel ring snug around his finger. It pissed him off. Rings were for commitment, for trust and he knew he wasn't deserving of either and this just made it all the more clear. 

He slowly pulled the ring off his finger and dropped in the cupholder.

“Hurry up and get out.” Yeonhee barked from the other side of the car.

Sighing, Mark slid out of the car, slamming the door behind him.  Lucy scurried over to him, lingering behind his leg as he walked towards Yeonhee and Jinyoung. 

“I can’t believe this happened,” Jinyoung muttered. “I shouldn’t have let her go on her own.”

Yeonhee snorted, “This was your only job and you managed to it up in the worst way. How on earth do you outsource bodyguarding?”

“Not in front of her, for the love of god.” Mark grumbled, his hand pressing against Lucy’s head.

Yeonhee scoffed with a roll of her eyes but Jinyoung crouched down and smiled at her, “You’re Lucy, right?” 

She curled her fingers around his pants and nodded, “Hi.”

“Hi! Your mom told me all about you. She said you’re really smart.” He cooed. “Wanna go in and show me some of the things you know?"

Her face lit up and she nodded again. Mark let out a breath and patted her stiffly on her head, “Go inside. Jinyoung’s going to look after you today.”

She glanced at Jinyoung before looking at Yeonhee who just scowled at her. Lucy shrunk under her gaze and looked up at Mark, “Will you come back?”

Mark paused, staring into her little curious eyes before looking away, “Hurry up.”

Lucy cut him a look before and ran into the house. The minute she was out of sight, Yeonhee laughed dryly. 

“Don’t you make such a cute dad?” She taunted. 

“Guys, not now. We need to do something. I’ve been trying to track her phone but it keeps pinging near the school which means whoever took her dumped her phone too. . . I should’ve known that the entire thing was a ploy to separate you from her so that she’d be alone.” Jinyoung said, his voice shaking.

Yeonhe crossed her arms and frowned, “Why did you even follow the kid to the zoo? You should’ve stayed with Heiran, she’s the target. What were you thinking?”

Mark glared at her, “It’s complicated.” 

“What now? How are we supposed to get her back?” Jinyoung asked.

Mark shook his head, “We aren’t doing anything. You will stay here, look after her kid and see if you can find any info on your laptop about where she might be. I’m the one going to find her.”

“A hero.” Yeonhee said blankly.

“No,” Jinyoung said quietly, realization sinking in, “you’re not doing this to be a hero. You’re doing this so that the Boss doesn’t blame me. What the hell, Mark? It’s my fault too. I should take the heat.”

Mark tensed, “No. It’s not important for you to take responsibility right now, it won't get her back any faster. I’m the one who asked you to help when I should’ve done a better job myself. All I need to worry about is getting her back.”

“We have no idea where she is. They could've taken her anywhere in this city.” Yeonhee muttered. "Jinyoung said that they were trying to reach you a dozen times. What happened?"

Mark tugged on his hair until his scalp burned, "We were in this ing cave to look at snakes or some and I didn't have service until we got out and that's when I saw her messages."

", so you dump me but call me to help clean up your messes with her." Yeonhee muttered.

Jinyoung's eyes widened at the new information and looked quickly between the two of them. Mark had never gotten the chance to tell him how his arrangement with her has come to a firm stop. His brow ticked in irritation, "First of all, I asked Jinyoung to come, he's the one that brought you. And second, I'm not asking you to help with anything."

"None of this is important." Jinyoung said quietly, "We don't even know where you're going to start looking for her. DS knows this city just as well as we do and he has people everywhere."

Mark’s phone buzzed, pulling his attention away from Jinyoung and to his phone where ‘BOSS’ blinked at him. “.”

Jinyoung began pacing, “Oh god he knows she’s missing. What if DS sent him a finger? I’m coming with you. He’s going to kill you.”

“I don’t care if you are panicking - just…do it quietly.” Mark hissed out to Jinyoung before answering the call.

“Get over here. NOW!”

-----

It could’ve been hours and she wouldn’t know better but at least she had adapted to the cold.

For the most part, she was left alone but she’d hear the lewd threats that came from the men watching her. At first, she’d fire back with sarcasm, but she was getting tired and it was making her anxious. She just wanted them to get it over with at this point. 

Just pull the trigger.

Bring the knife.

Whatever they were going to do, she wanted it done. 

“You know I have a daughter, right?” She asked quietly. “You’ve made threats against her so I know that you know about her.”

She heard shuffling but no one said anything to acknowledge that they heard her. It was driving her insane that she couldn’t see. 

“Listen,