After Yeonhee left to return to GOT7’s headquarters to get more information, the rest of them packed up their belongings and piled into the car before driving away from Jaebum’s safehouse. It was clear that their location was jeopardized which meant all of Jaebum’s properties were probably unsafe to use. 

Lucky for them, Yeonhee had a second apartment that they were going to use until they could come up with somewhere more secure. They set off in the middle of the night, the car silent as they drove. A heavy cloud had hung over them all but especially Mark and Heiran. Jinyoung had set up alerts to follow the case and any developments and he was working with Jaebum to find ways to get onto a police radio frequency so that they had an inside ear into what the police knew. 

But Heiran and Mark were immobile, unable to leap into action the way the others had. Mark was seated in the passenger seat next to Jaebum and looked into the rearview mirror to the backseat where Jinyoung, Heiran and Lucy were sitting. 

Lucy was resting against Heiran’s arm who was in the process of draping her coat over her daughter when Mark caught her eye. She gave him a weak smile before looking back at Lucy. Every piece of Heiran he learned about, the more in awe she left him. 

His parents couldn’t even love the son they had, but here was a woman who had such a big heart that she could love a child that wasn’t hers. 

“How are you doing?” Jaebum mumbled while glancing at him from the side of his eyes. 

Mark moved his eyes back to the road, “The minimum sentence for 1st degree murder is 25 years.”

“It’s not 1st degree, it’s not premeditated.” Jaebum said back. 

Mark didn’t flinch, “They kidnapped him and took him out to a field. Hard to argue it’s not premeditated.” 

“The cops won’t know that. There’s no proof.” Jaebum muttered grumpily. 

Mark laughed soullessly, “I’m sure they planted proof and once I’m tied to him, they’ll tie me to Jackson.”

“I’m the one that did that and the cops rushed in right after, they had no time to plant anything on the body.”

“Doesn’t matter. It makes more sense that the person who took out the old VP also had something to do with the new VP getting gunned down.” Mark spat. 

“That’s enough.” Jinyoung barked, silencing them. “We’re not having this conversation right now.”

A tense silence followed until Jaebum spoke up, “Seo, why don’t you tell us a bit about Johnny?”

“Jesus.” Mark muttered with a wince. 

“Oh my god.” Jinyoung groaned under his breath. 

Jaebum scoffed, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just trying to help change the subject. I don’t see any of your imbeciles coming up with anything better.”

“Silence is better than making someone talk about their dead brother, .” Jinyoung sniped. 

Mark shut his eyes and rubbed his forehead, “I think silence is what we all need now.”

“He always made everyone laugh.”

Jinyoung looked at Heiran while Mark and Jaebum glanced at her through the mirrors. Heiran was staring off at the window, her fingers calmingly tapping against Lucy’s shoulders, “He was always cracking a joke, never at anyone’s expense, he was always good at making everyone feel comfortable. If he was in a room, someone would always be laughing. I think when I’m 80 and my memory is fading, I’ll always remember the sound of his laughter."

“That pageant, you said someone dared you to do it.” Mark said quietly, “Was it Johnny?”

Jaebum slammed his foot on the brakes and everyone groaned as they were jerked forward. He turned in his seat and glared, “You were in a pageant and never told me?”

“Keep driving.” Mark ordered why massaging the back of his neck. "And ease up on the brakes, ."

Heiran rolled her eyes with a smile, “It wasn’t exactly my crowning achievement.”

“Because she didn’t win. It literally wasn’t her crowning achievement. Some other girl walked out of that ballroom with the crown.” Mark blurted with a laugh. 

Heiran gasped and stretched her hand out to slap his shoulder repeatedly, “Runner up is a big deal, you know! I beat out like a hundred applicants and 25 competitors and it was my first time in the pageant circuit.”

“No wonder he’s known for making everyone laugh. He must’ve got the crowd roaring when you dropped the baton during the talent portion.” Mark teased. 

Jinyoung gasped, "Baton twirling? Come on, I thought you'd do something more dignified like playing the harp."

Her hits got more aggressive and her cursing got stronger. Despite the dire situation, they were in and the fact that they were literally running away from their death, they all laughed hysterically at her complaints. Soon the ruckus quieted down and Heiran hadn’t even noticed the smile on her face. It was the first time she spoke or even thought about her brother after his death without crying or getting sad. 

“He made the bet out of nowhere, I wasn’t interested in pageants and he knew that. But I think he made me do it because he thought it would boost my confidence. But he masked it as a dare to trick me into agreeing.” She said melancholically. “Getting dolled up and walking on that stage, I realized how powerful I could feel for the first time. Ever since then, I wanted to always feel that way no matter what I did. It's why I love high heels. He was the best older brother I could ever have.”

She noticed Mark’s hand reaching back towards her and she gratefully tucked her hand with his. He squeezed it reassuringly, “I bet you were the best little sister he could ever have.”

“Yeah.” Jaebum agreed. “Your brother would’ve hated me, though.”

Jinyoung snorted, “Your first adult fight with Johnny probably would’ve been the first time you brought Jaebum home.”

Jaebum shot Jinyoung a dirty look over his shoulder, “Listen, nerd, I met you a few weeks ago, we’re not close enough for you to be insulting me.”

Heiran chuckled and stared at the back of Mark’s head. 

She wondered what her brother would’ve thought of him.

-----

Once they were in the apartment, they all went their separate ways to wash up and get settled. They were all operating on barely any sleep and they needed to recharge before the sun came up. At the rate they were going, they’d probably need to be changing locations every other day. 

If the cops were closing in on him and GOT7, he was running out of time and they didn’t have any sort of plan of attack. 

Yeonhee’s apartment was smaller so they all took turns changing, when it was his turn, he pulled his shirt over his head and rummaged around his bag for a clean one. He was running out of fresh clothes, the thought of doing laundry wasn't a priority over the last few days. 

He wondered if Lucy and Heiran had enough to wear, he hadn’t really packed their bags systematically. Maybe he had to send Jaebum out to get them more clothes.

When his phone rang by the bedside table, he was pulled from his thoughts and felt his heart stop. 

The only people who knew that number were sitting on the other side of the door and had no reason to be calling him. He slowly picked up his phone and stared at the unknown number, but there was a small part of him that knew exactly who would be on the other end. 

“Hello?”

“You cleared out so fast, we just missed you.” His Boss teased mockingly into his ear.

Mark’s fist curled by his side. “Well, you shouldn’t have given us a head start.” 

“Fair enough.” He sang. Mark could see him casually pacing around his office like he had all the time in the world.

“It’s almost like you wanted us to get away.” Mark hissed.

“In a way, I do. I’d rather call off the army and save myself a million dollars.” He said teasingly.

“So why don’t you?” He asked, “Why not just back down.”

“I would need something in return in that case.” He mused.

Mark felt his jaw tense, but the urge to hang up was outweighed by the lure of an exception, “Like?”

“Ditch the duchess.” His father said simply. It was funny how he used to throw the word ‘daughter’ around all the time to pull on Heiran’s heartstrings and now he was referring to her by a nickname he didn’t even come up with.

“Get the out of here.”  Mark snapped back.

His Boss seemed unphased by Mark’s reaction, “I’m serious. If you leave her and come back to GOT7, I can get the police off your back in a snap of a second. I hear that your name is on the top of the list of suspects which I can only imagine is courtesy of Heiran’s little cop friend. I heard he’s been sniffing around about you. I guess he figured out who you really are and now the cops know the name Mark Tuan. Come back to us and I can make them forget it.” 

The lie was so weak that he saw straight through it. He just wanted Heiran on her own and him back inside GOT7’s pocket. The second he was back, he would hold it over Mark’s head to make him do whatever he wanted. If Mark ever stepped out of line, he’d send the police after him.

“No. You trying to bring me back just means that we’re closing in on you and you’re getting nervous. We have you boxed in and you’re scared. I’d rather keep going until your empire is ash. We’re going to take you down, you know we will. It’s too late to go back.”

He chuckled, “I’m not threatened at all, I just want to give you one last chance to save yourself before we end you for good. That VP’s body is riddled with your DNA, the gun with your prints was left at the scene and an anonymous witness called in giving your exact description to the police. Apparently, they saw you driving away.”

“How convenient.” Mark gritted out. He knew his anger wasn’t just towards his former Boss but also towards himself for being so careless. He should've been more careful and not have let his emotions get the better of him, “But my answer is still no. I’m not coming back to you and I’m not throwing Heiran under the bus.” 

“Come on, she lies to you about the kid she’s raising as if it’s her own, she’s playing with you without committing because she’s using you to get her out of this mess before she ditches you, and she’s cozying up to her ex-boyfriend right under your nose. She’s not worth it. Don’t throw your real family away for her. Like you said, it’ll be too late to go back.” He tsked as if he was a father who had the right to give anyone life advice.

Mark almost wanted to laugh at how wrong he was about everything. His Boss thought he was so brilliant and was always 10 steps ahead of them but the one thing he still couldn’t predict was Heiran. He didn’t know how her brain and emotions worked. And he had no clue how she really felt about him. He couldn’t read Heiran, he couldn’t figure her out which is why she threatened him so much. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Mark snarked back.

“I would. Because the truth is, no matter what you know or what proof you have, there’s no taking me down without taking Heiran down whose name is on everything GOT7 touched. And even you aren’t that stupid.” His Boss hissed. 

Mark began pacing but his was more frantic than what he imagined was his Boss’s rhythm, “She could come forward, make a deal with the cops.”

His Boss snorted, “And what? Turn me in? She can’t do that without turning you in. She’d never do that to you. You screwed her over by making her care about you because now she’s giving up a shot at freedom to keep you safe. You’re trapped. You’re not surviving this without someone going behind bars. No matter how human you think you’ve become, your self-preservation is your instinct.”

Mark felt his stomach drop, he was right, they were all tied together and there was no way to take down one without taking down everyone else, even the ones you want to protect. 

And Heiran wouldn’t ever do anything to turn him in, even if it meant her father would go free. That was just another curse of allowing themselves to fall for each other. It was starting to feel like their relationship only came with downsides. 

“There’s no easy out, Mark. You can see that now, right? Just let us deal with her ourselves. You and I, we can work something out, come to an agreement and move on past this little deception. I did this for GOT7, for us, think about all the time you spent with GOT7, everything this gang has done for you. Don’t let her screw over the rest of your life. “

“Rot in hell.” Mark spat out before hanging up. 

He leaned his back against the wall and dropped his head. 

There had been moments when he thought they would somehow find the perfect answer that would save all of them from getting hurt. But it was becoming clear that it wasn’t an option anymore. 

Like his Boss said, there was no taking one down without all of them going down. 

He knew what he had to do now. 

The one thing his Boss was sure he’d never do.

-----

After hanging up, he raced out of his room and stormed into the living room before looking around frantically, “Hey, where’s Heiran?”

Jinyoung looked up from his laptop, “I think she’s with Lucy, the kid’s confused as hell and she’s getting really restless. Why?”

“I have a plan. I think I finally figured out how to take GOT7 down while keeping Heiran and Lucy out of it.”

Jaebum’s eyes widened, “Really? That’s great, what is it?”

Mark sat down next to them and took a deep breath, “Okay before I tell you, I need you guys to understand that I know it might sound insane but I have to do this and there’s no changing my mind. I’ve been running through a bunch of different plans in my head since we defected from GOT7 but this is the only one that’s felt foolproof. So, I need you guys on my side and you need to promise to trust me.”

Jinyoung looked worried and shared the sentiment with Jaebum whose face grew serious, “Okay, let’s hear it.”

“One more thing.” Mark said before glancing up at the stairs where he could Heiran walking around above their heads, “You can’t tell Heiran until after it’s over.”

-----

12:30AM

This would be a time that Heiran would think about for the next 3 years. 

It was the time that flashed on the stove clock when Mark stepped out of the room he was in walked across the living room where he found her in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal while the rest of the house was asleep.

He smiled when he saw her, “Midnight snack?”

“Yeah.” She said sheepishly, “I didn’t eat all day, my appetite caught up with me. Do you want a bowl?”

He chuckled and leaned his elbows onto the counter, “I’m okay.”

“Then what