It had been two weeks and Heiran had heard nothing from Mark.

Not a text, a call, or even a short visit. 

One minute he was there and the next he wasn’t. It was starting to scare her because Mark never disappeared for so long without giving her a heads up. It was bizarre, going from seeing him every second to nothing. 

She chewed her lip nervously as she paced around her living room. Even Jinyoung had gotten cagey with his responses whenever she tried to nonchalantly ask where Mark was. He’d say that Mark had urgent personal matters to take care of. 

He might as well tell her that it was classified information.

She could tell Lucy also got anxious and antsy when each day passed without Mark although she didn’t bring it up as much, it was clearly on her mind when Heiran was the one dropping her off and picking her up from school every day. 

Heiran played with her phone in her hands. Maybe it was in his voicemail. Maybe he told her where he was going. What if he wanted her to find him? Or maybe he left the city? What if something bad happened and he left her a voicemail asking for help. And she just let it still in her inbox for 2 weeks collecting dust…

Dropping down on her couch, she bounced her leg as she contemplated it. Jinyoung said he didn’t know when Mark would be back, could she wait an indefinite amount of time to get answers?

Taking a deep breath, she played the message and held her phone to her ear. 

“Duchess, there’s a hundred things I want to say to you right now but I need to make one thing painfully clear…”

-----

Wiping tears wasn’t helping Heiran because they’d keep spilling down her face. She had listened to the message 3 times and each time her heart broke into smaller and smaller pieces. 

Mark was a lot of things, the pained strain in his voice wasn’t one of those things. 

“. !” She whispered as she grabbed her bag and keys. She opened the gates before scrambling to find her shoes. 

Dressed, she wiped her face with her sleeve in one last attempt before opening the door and stumbling back, “Jaebum? What happened to your arm?”

“Why are you crying?” He asked back, ignoring the look she was giving this thin cast. 

She stepped back, “I-I’m no—why are you here?”

“I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?” He asked gently. 

She shifted from one foot to the others wishing she could just run off to find Mark, but instead she stepped to the side, “Yeah, come in.”

They sat next to each other on the couch, “Do you want something to drink?”

“Um…no I’m okay.” He looked a little confused as he watched her. 

She nodded, turning her phone over in her hands, “So, your arm?”

“O-oh, urhm, it’s nothing, it’ll be in a cast for a few more days and then I’ll be back to normal.” He explained. 

She puffed out her cheeks before nodding when silence fell over them, “Did you want to talk about something?”

The crease in his brow grew as his frown deepened, “Why aren’t you angrier?”

“I sorta gave up on being angry after we got married.” She grumbled. 

He narrowed his eyes, “Mark hasn’t talked to you yet?” 

“No, actually, he’s sorta been off the grid.” She said impatiently. 

Jaebum looked curious, “He hasn’t been in touch with you?”

“Not really, Jaebum what are you doing here? Please. Now isn’t the best time so if this is just a casual visit I really can—“

“No, it’s…um…I guess I sorta hoped Mark would’ve told you first, that way I wouldn’t have to say it out loud to you. I figured it would be a matter of time before you knew.” He stuttered. 

Heiran perked up, Jaebum rarely stumbled over his words, “Knew what? Jaebum what’s going on?”

He gulped and took a deep breath, “I realized that I only ever hurt you. Everything I've done has just hurt you more and more. I want to stop making you feel that way but maybe it's too late. I messed everything up too much. I think at this point all I could do to make it up to you is to come clean and leave you alone for good."

"I don't understand. What is this about?" She asked, surprised by his confession.

"It was all fake. There was never anyone coming after you, Seo. No threa—“

The sound of the doorbell ringing interrupted them, causing both to flinch back. Heiran’s eyes were wide, even though he only got a few words out, her mind was running. She stared Jaebum down, at the downcast of his eyes and the fist of his hand. 

It was fake? What did that mean? He already admitted that after he found out that she was the one who allegedly landed his man in jail he was pretending to go after her. She already knew that much was fake.

Was there more?

Before she could press him, the doorbell rang again.  She gave him one more harsh look before opening the door to reveal Yugyeom. 

“Hey! Whose car is out there? Doesn’t look like Mark’s. Anyways, I brought you lunch, you’ve been quiet lat—what the hell is he doing here?” He growled the minute his sights landed on him. 

Jaebum stood, “It’s been a minute, hasn’t it Yugyeom?” 

“I’m a cop now, I can arrest you.” Yugyeom blurted. 

Jaebum’s lip twitched, “So I’ve heard.”

“What are you doing here?” He asked with a glare. "Are you bothering her? I thought she told you to hit the road."

Heiran massaged her temples, “We were just talking. We have some things to work out.”

“You’re…no way. You’re married?” Yugyeom spat out when he saw the ring on Jaebum’s finger. “Who’s the poor woman who agreed to spend the rest of her life with you?”

Jaebum and Heiran both tensed, sharing a look before Yugyeom scoffed, “Some nerve you have, ditching her because you didn’t want to marry her only to show up in front of her married to someone else. Does your wife know you’re with your ex?”

“She does.” Jaebum said evenly. 

Yugyeom’s face started burning and Heiran was quick to intervene, “I’m fine, Yugs. Go home, I’ll talk to you tonight.”

She walked him reluctantly to the door, “Are you sure?”

“I’ll be fine. We’re just going to talk. I can handle myself...and him.” She reassured, “How’s work?”

He leaned against the door, glaring at Jaebum over her shoulder, “It’s fine. I finally got to do some profiling but it’s not what I normally do. It doesn’t really help the detectives unless they can find actual evidence though.”

“Is this for the gang case?” She asked softly, knowing Jaebum was only a few feet away. 

Yugyeom nodded, “Yeah, it’s harder than I thought. We only have theories.” 

“But aren’t you holding one of the members?” She pried. 

Yugyeom looked confused, “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t…don’t you have a member of one of the gangs in custody?” She said wildly.

He groaned, “I wish! Life would be so much easier. But sadly we have nothing on our side.”

That didn’t make any sense. The entire reason she was dragged into this whole mess was because her father said the police arrested a member of DS because of dirty money that was tied to her and GOT7. 

“Wait, so you haven’t arrested anyone?” She asked with wide eyes.

“No. Why would you think that?”

It was all fake.

Jaebum wasn’t just talking about the threats and kidnapping. He meant everything. Everything that brought him and her father back into her life. The source of her nightmares, her fears, losing everything important to her. Every single thing that followed the fateful day her father showed up at her office.

It was all fake. 

“I just assumed.” She croaked out.

“You’ve been watching too many police dramas. It rarely works out that smoothly. I guess I’ll leave but are you sure you’ll be okay alone with him?”

“I’ll be fine.” She breathed out. 

Yugyeom pouted at her before sending a last glare at Jaebum before walking back to his car calling out a promise to talk soon. The minute she shut the door, Heiran turned to Jaebum with fire in her eyes. 

“Explain.”

-----

He was sleeping. 

2 weeks of just sleep. 

But it didn’t help that much, no matter how many hours he spent knocked out under his blankets, Mark was still tired. 

The days faded and blurred together. Sometimes he’d wake up and see the sun bleeding through his curtains, other days he’d wake up in the pitch dark. Every now and then he’d see a plate of food by his bedside table, so he guessed Jinyoung was coming in. But it was hard. 

Hard getting out of bed, showering, eating. All of it. 

He just felt like sink, sink, sinking. 

And he’d let himself drown. 

So, he’d just bury himself under his covers, refusing to check his phone to check the date, time or if Heiran had responded to his voicemail. He knew she hadn’t, but seeing it with his own two eyes would be too much. 

In the span of 24 hours, he had lost grip of everything important to him. 

GOT7, his Boss, had done the unthinkable and Mark didn’t know what to do now that he knew Jaebum’s claims were true. He didn’t even bother telling anyone about his time off. He just vanished, although he was sure Jinyoung covered for him. 

Maybe he should just run. Pack a bunch of his bags and board a flight to somewhere far away. Start over. He could do it. 

Closing his eyes again, he let himself fall back into the darkness that started to replace sleep. 

He could do it. 

He just didn’t know if he wanted to. 

-----

Usually, Mark would wake up on his own, slowly coming back to consciousness for a few hours before falling back asleep. But this time something else roused him. 

Soft giggling, whispered hushing, a weight being pressed against the mattress and gentle uncoordinated fingers poking his cheek. Flinching, his eyes peeled open. 

Was this another one of his dreams? 

Because there was no way he had actually woken up to the family he had always wanted. 

Lucy was sitting next to his head, wearing his leather jacket. It drowned her, you couldn’t see the tips of her fingers or the bottoms of her feet in it. When her eyes met his, she gasped and flung her little arms around his neck. 

“Mark! You’re awake!” She squealed into his ear. 

Dazed, he let a hand touch her back as she squeezed him tight. His eyes moved up and he felt his breath catch when Heiran smiled, tentative and warm from her spot on the edge of his bed. He hadn’t realized how long it had been since he last saw her. 

“You’re a hard man to find.” She whispered and he realized her voice was thick and cracked. Most likely from tears. 

Lucy sat back and pressed her palms against Mark’s cheeks, squishing his face, “We missed you!”

“We?” He repeated, his eyes drifting to Heiran.   

Heiran’s lips curled, “We.”

He smoothed his palm against the back of Lucy’s head, “I missed you guys too.”

“Lucy, why don’t you go watch tv? I’m going to help Mark.” 

Her eyes widened at the thought of watching tv on a weekday, “Can I?”

Mark nodded, “Of course, kid.”

Lucy shoved the arms of his leather jacket up her arms before running out of his room. A few seconds later, the sound of cartoons filled the room. Heiran looked at Mark, feeling heavy when she saw his sunken cheekbones and purple bags under his eyes. 

“How did you get into my place, duchess?” He asked, his voice groggy with sleep. 

Heiran inched closer to him, “Had Jinyoung give me his spare.” 

“Right.” He nodded, pressing his fists to his eyes. 

“Did you eat at all?” She whispered, cupping his face. She could feel the roughness on his chin from weeks of not shaving. 

Mark sat up, groaning as knots cracked in his back. “A little, I think. Not much.”

She curled her fingers into his hair before scrunching up her nose, “When did you shower last?”

“You don’t want to know, duchess.” He replied. 

She eyed him up and down before climbing out of the bed and pulling his covers back. “Come on, get up."

“Duc—“

“Nope. None of that.” She ordered before grabbing his arm and tugging him up, “Let’s go.”

Mark followed her into his bathroom, still reeling from the fact that she was standing in his house smelling the way that she did with that smile. Heiran closed and locked the door behind them before nudging Mark’s back against the sink. 

He took a sharp breath, the cold air nipping at him when she pulled his shirt up over his head. “What are you doing?”

“Helping.” She said before pulling down his sweat pants. “Shower with your boxers on. It’s going to be uncomfortable but it’ll probably make our lives easier.”

He gave her a look, “Why on ear—“

She dropped her dress to the floor and Mark flinched, struggling to handle being in close quarters with that much of her skin on display. She still had her underwear and bra on but these days, it was hard to be near even when she was fully dressed. 

Heiran brought the two of them into the shower before adjusted the temperature of the water that rained down on them.