“Morning, baby.”

He must've been a saint in a previous life because waking up to her purring voice against his ears had to be a blessing. Mark rolled over and grinned at Heiran, “Morning, baobei.”

She smiled before leaning close to him. “You’re warmer than I am.”

Laughing, he cupped her cheek and dipped his head down before kissing her. She hummed happily, arching into his hold and pressing closer into his mouth. Slowly rolling on his back, Herian climbed up over him. 

Everything about her felt so nice and his heart filled with something so tender and sweet when she sunk her fingers into his hair. He could taste the smile on her lips when she parted and he felt everything fall into place. He smoothed a hand down the curve of her back and she shivered before leaning further over him.

“I love you.” She whispered against his lips. 

Before he could speak, the sound of a cold click had him freezing and pulling away. His eyes widened when he stared over her shoulder where the barrel of a gun was pointed to the back of her head. 

“Mark.” She whispered, her face was suddenly wracked with horror. 

His eyes filled with tears as he trembled under her, “Baob—“

Before he could do anything to save her, the gunshot rang out. 

Mark sat up with a gasp, sweat dripping down the sides of his neck as he snapped out of the dream world and into reality. His hands were shaking when he pressed them to his face, a sick twist in his gut making his head spin. 

He shifted in bed, trying to ignore the image of a gun to Heiran’s head. He to his side and flinched when Lucy was curled up next to him, hugging a pillow. He was sure that he had tucked her in the next room. She must’ve come in next to him in the middle of the night. 

Maybe he wasn’t the only one with nightmares. 

He smoothed some of the hair out of her face and watched her while he was still in his sleep-deprived haze. She looked so peaceful, nothing at all like the distraught look that had been on her face the hours she was awake. 

This little girl deserved to have her mother with her. 

Mark quietly got out of his bed before pressing his pillow on the other side of Lucy. He tucked the blanket tighter around her and left his bedroom. Groaning softly, he rubbed his face as he stepped into his living room. 

“You okay?”

Mark flinched and looked over at Jinyoung who was sitting on his couch draped in a blanket with his laptop open on his lap. After showing up at his door, Mark had advised that Jinyoung stay with them to secure his safety. 

Hopefully, it would take a while before anyone in GOT7 noticed him missing. 

“Nightmare.” Mark mumbled as he moved to sit on the opposite end of the couch. “Can they track your laptop or internet connection?”

“I’m not a rookie.” Jinyoung snorted before scanning him wearily, “, you look like a mess.”

He slouched, “I feel like one too.”

“Lucy came out looking for her mom.” Jinyoung admitted softly, “I reminded her that she’s not here, so I told her where your room was. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, thanks. She’s sleeping which is good.”

Jinyoung nodded, “I’ve been trying to track Heiran or Jaebum but I’m not getting anything. Their phones aren’t pinging so either they’re off or destroyed.”

Mark had filled Jinyoung in on everything when he showed up at his door and Jinyoung had done the same. Shortly after the cops had shown up to the restaurant, everyone was notified about Jackson’s murder and that it was Mark who had done it. 

Then the gauntlet was thrown. 

Whoever killed Mark first would get a million-dollar reward. 

For all intents and purposes, Mark had GOT7 and was going rouge. 

And he had to be put down. 

“You could have a million dollars right now.” Mark whispered softly. 

Jinyoung stiffened and stared at his friend, “Excuse me?”

“I was asleep one room over. You could’ve shot or suffocated me and turned in my corpse for a cool million.” Mark said morbidly.

Jinyoung scowled, “What’s your question?”

“Why didn’t you?” He asked, exasperated.

“Because you’re my ing friend.” He hissed, “And I’m not going to kill you for money.”

Mark softened and was even getting a little choked up, “Thanks.”

“Now if it was 10 million, we would be having a slightly different conversation.” Jinyoung teased with a dry smile.

Mark chuckled and shook his head, “Thank you. I-I don’t think I could do this alone.”

“You were his right hand. For him to turn on you like that? It’s ed up.” Jinyoung’s face dropped. He knew how Mark had idolized their Boss and the gang. He viewed it as salvation and their leader as the saviour. 

Mark nodded solemnly, “He even pinned Jackson’s murder on me so that everyone coming after me would be angrier.”

“I can’t be on the same side as them.” He said softly, looking up at his friend. While Mark had spent most of his time admiring the gang, Jinyoung had spent most of his time quietly admiring Mark. 

He never thought much about where his own loyalties lied until he watched his own gang Mark. 

Mark gave him a smile, honest genuine and filled with way more emotion than either was used to, “I’m not a lucky man, Jinyoung. But hell, I’m lucky I have you.”

“Gross.”

Mark rolled his eyes, “Ha ha. Who do you think would be most likely to kill me? Normally, I’d say Jackson.”

“This is morbid.”Jinyoung grumbled. 

Mark sat down next to him, “C’mon, guess. I better not die at the hands of some shaky handed newbie who’s never killed someone.”

“What if it was Yeonhee?” Jinyoung offered. 

A chuckle escaped Mark, “Yeah, she’d love that, I bet.”

He looked over at Jinyoung, his smile drying up when he saw darkness painted across his face, “What’s wrong?”

“I think something’s going on with Yeonhee.” He admitted. 

Mark’s brows raised, “Why?”

“I haven’t seen her once and it’s been a few days.” He said.

Mark pursed his lips, “Maybe she’s just busy.”

“No, you don’t get it. She comes by my office at least once a day, even when she’s busy.” He pressed.

Mark tilted his head with a quirked brow, “Really?”

“I-no, it’s not like that. I just mean that she’s always bothering me, so it’s strange that all of a sudden she’s MIA.” He stuttered.

Mark watched curiously, his eyes trailing up the red blush that was swarming Jinyoung’s neck, “Well, where would she have gone?”

“I don’t know. But it was so abrupt, something isn’t right, Mark.”

Mark’s expression darkened, “How bad do you think it is?”

“I…I don’t know yet. It’s just unlike her.” He said. 

Mark nodded, his mind racing to put together a plan, “Do you want me to look for her?”

“No. No, let’s focus on finding Heiran first.” Jinyoung said firmly, “Ever since our Boss showed his true colours, I’ve just been paranoid about everything.” 

Mark let out a long breath, “We can’t find her either. How can two people just fall off the face of the earth? Everything was so sudden, they had no time to plan for anything. Where could they have gone?”

“I don’t know, but Jaebum isn’t some random low-level gangster. He’s smart, he’s done this for a while now. If it came to Heiran, he’d find a way to keep her safe.” Jinyoung could see the trepidation on Mark’s face. His friend had probably never felt this helpless in a long time.

Mark tried to relax and not let his fears of uncertainty consume him, “You’re right.”

“But there is one option you’re not considering.”

“Which is?” He asked.

Jinyoung watched his face carefully, “That something happened to he—“

“No.” Mark barked, “No, I’m not considering that.”

Jinyoung sighed, “You need to consider it. He could’ve had people waiting outside in case someone escaped.”

“Stop.” Mark snarled.

Jinyoung wasn’t scared but he backed off, “Fine. But I don’t know how to help anymore. No credit card activity, no cellphone calls, and none of their cars have been recorded on street cameras. I don’t know where to start looking.”

“When I killed the VP of Legal a car was following me. I mean, I think it was. It was a black town car. I can’t remember the entire license plate but I think there was a BX3.” Mark squinted his eyes as he tried to remember more, “It seemed familiar at the time but I couldn’t place it.”

Jinyoung turned to his laptop again, “It’ll take a while until I can figure out who it’s registered to.”

Mark reached over and gently shut his computer, “Go to sleep first. You’re running on fumes.”

Jinyoung tried to pry his laptop open, “Okay but let me ju—“ 

“No, sleep. We’ll have time to sort this out tomorrow.” Mark said sternly, keeping his hand flat on his computer.

“Fine. Fine. But only if you do the same.” Jinyoung grumbled petulantly. 

Mark nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I will.”

“What are you going to do tomorrow?” Jinyoung asked while putting his laptop away.

“Jaebum left a list of his safe houses in case we needed it. I’m going to visit each one, she has to be somewhere.” Mark shoved his hands into his hair and let out a tired sigh.

“It’s not your fault, you know that, right?” Jinyoung said softly. 

Mark winced, “That’s not true. , everything bad that’s happened to her is either my fault, Jaebum’s fault or her dad’s fault. And trust me, being on the same list of men as those two says a lot.”

“That’s not fair.” Jinyoung refuted. 

Mark narrowed his eyes at her, “What’s happened to Heiran ever since we came into her life is what isn’t fair.” 

“Mark. Stop.” Jinyoung snapped, “For once in your life, just stop. Stop trying to do mental gymnastics to find ways to blame yourself for everything. Just stop. You know how she reacted when you went dark for two weeks? My phone blew up with texts and calls every 30 minutes. You don't do that when you think someone is ruining your life.” His body relaxed and his voice came out softer, “You asked me how to tell if someone is in love.” 

“No. Stop.” Mark fired back, his heart thudding the way it did when you felt guilty. 

“I still don’t know the answer. But Heiran worrying about you when she was mad at you, Heiran feeling safest around the person who thinks he puts her in danger, Heiran trusting you with Lucy is about as close to love as I can think of.” Jinyoung watched Mark’s eyes soften a fraction before they froze over and almost looked defensively angry. 

“Jinyoung. God. What is wrong with you?” Mark spat out.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jinyoung bit back, “You shouldn’t be so ing resistant to the idea that someone might love you despite all of the ed up you do. Not unless you want to be alone. Not unless you're choosing to purposely be ignorant of what's right in front of you.”

“I’m going to sleep.” Mark whispered, standing, “You should too.” 

"Only when you stop punishing yourself."

-----

Love. Love. Love.

Those words rang loud as Mark crossed off another safehouse from his list.

Was that what it was? Love?

That was a heavy word, one that didn’t fully make sense to him. But recently, the word didn’t make his stomach churn uncomfortably. Instead it filled him with a strange sticky warmth in his gut. 

Heiran was smart and she had her own conflicts with love that she wouldn’t let herself feel it so recklessly, especially with someone like him. There was no way she loved him. Maybe just liked.  She liked him. He could live with that. 

He liked her too. 

Sighing, he put his car into gear and drove to the last location. He left Lucy with Jinyoung, something that he was reluctant to do when he walked out of the house that morning. He drove further out where houses were sparse before pulling into the grassy driveway in front of a modest wooden cabin. 

She had to be here. There was nowhere else. 

He walked around the perimeter of the house, before jiggling the lock and walking inside. Immediately he knew she wasn’t inside. There was a layer of dust over everything and not a single sign that anyone was living there. 

Regardless, he walked into every room and searched thoroughly and desperately for any inch of life. 

And he came up with nothing. 

His heart sunk into the pits of his stomach. What was he supposed to do now?

Lingering in one of the bedrooms, Mark sat on the edge of one of the bed and looked around. He was sure Jaebum would’ve brought her here. Jaebum was selfish but not enough to endanger Heiran’s life. If they weren’t here then that would mean they weren’t able to make it to a safehouse. He hung his head and fought back the itch in his eyes. He had no way of finding her now. If she was even still alive. 

Now he had to come to terms with the fact that maybe his hope had been false and he was foolish to hold onto it so desperately. He failed to keep her safe. She died because of him. The mother of a child, the only woman that he really felt something for.

He rubbed his eyes when a call came through, breaking him out of his trace, “Yeah?”

“I managed to track down the partial license plate to the vehicle you saw. And it wasn’t easy.” Jinyoung reported.

Mark cleared his throat, “Who’s it to?”

“Heiran’s old company. Turns out they have a fleet of cars for the use of their staff.”

Mark frowned and stood to pace around the room, “But VP of Legal was dead. He was the only one that would’ve known Jackson and the Boss.”

“Maybe someone else followed him to where you guys were.” Jinyoung suggested.

Mark shook his head, “That means they must’ve seen me kill him but no one’s called the police. His departure wasn’t questioned by the company at all.” He said, “Plus I’m pretty sure the car was following me and our Boss, not the VP.”

Jinyoung made a noise from the back of his throat, “Why did you think that the VP was the only person from her company that was in on it?”

“Who else could it be? GOT7 wouldn’t risk too many people getting involved.” Mark asked.

“Exactly. That’s why they killed one of them.”

“What are you saying?”

He could hear Jinyoung’s proud smile, “These car fleets are only for executive members of the company and it wouldn’t make sense for GOT7 to involve any of the other VPs in getting Jackson hired.”

“They’d want someone more important in their pockets.” Mark said in realization, “They’d want the CEO.”

“The CEO knows everything, it doesn’t make sense that he had no idea what was happening with SmartLogic, not unless he did know but chose to let it happen. Which can only mean one thing.” Jinyoung confirmed. 

Mark felt the air rush out of his lung, “He was in on it from the start.”

“Heiran is brilliant, but what are the chances that a company with an entirely male executive board finally hires one woman and she is incredibly young with minimal experience at the executive level and she’s the daughter of the King of money laundering?" Jinyoung said.

Mark was stunned, “Jesus . Her dad is working with the CEO. He’s probably the reason she got the job.”

“I bet the fact that she’s amazing at it was just an added bonus.” Jinyoung added.

“It makes sense. That’s why he never gave her a hard time about me being around. He must’ve been playing along until it was time to fire her.” It was starting to come together, a picture that used to only be in fragments were starting to fall in place.

“Think about it, her missing work and dropping the ball near the end of it should’ve been addressed early on, but he only brought up her performance issues when it came time to fire her. He probably let her get away with all of that because he was going to use it against her.”

“. !” Mark boomed, nearly punching a hole through the wall.

Jinyoung clicked his tongue, “We wondered how Jackson was able to get in, he could do whatever the  he wanted as long as the CEO of the damn company let him."

Mark hurried down the stairs and started for the door, “I need you to start digging for stuff on him. His financials, his meetings, where he’s been going. I want to know exactly what he does.”

“Got it.” 

Mark hung up and just as he reached for the door, his foot caught on the wooden floor panels and he stumbled.

-----

“Sunshine?” Heiran looked around, her lips falling from a smile and into a concerned grimace, “Sunshine? This isn’t funny. Where are you? Lucy?”

Her heart raced and suddenly everything around her blurred as her eyes swept for her daughter.   Where the fu—

“M-Mom?”

Heiran spun and a gasp escaped when she stared at her daughter. 

Then a smile curved up her lips, “There you are! Come here, sweetie.”

Lucy giggled before racing into Heiran’s arms but before she could touch her, a masked man stepped out. 

And before she could save her, the man pulled the trigger. 

Heiran sat up with a loud gasp, her heart thudding so hard that it hurt her chest. She hadn’t even realized that she’d fallen asleep, “Lucy? LUCY?!”

“Ssh. Ssh.” Jaebum’s arms came around her, pulling her against his chest. “It was just a bad dream.”

It wasn’t the same, it was never the same when Jaebum tried to console her. Not when she had to leave her daughter behind. 

-----

Jaebum knew something was wrong the minute he walked into the parking lot and noticed his car was still sitting parked and the attendant was nowhere to found. He grabbed his key out of the attendant’s booth and ran back to the restaurant. 

Something was very wrong. 

And that suspicion was only confirmed when Heir