For a space made of glass and steel, the interrogation room didn’t feel as cold as he thought it would be. Maybe because he didn’t come here to lie or deceive. Even though he was a criminal, he was on the side of the law for the first time.

He hadn’t spoken a word yet but he already felt a weight lifting off his shoulders.

“Mark Tuan, you have been a part of GOT7 for over a decade but you’ve been under the radar for most of it. What exactly is your role?”

Mark blinked at the detective across from him. He had assumed that Yugyeom would be involved but he had been quickly handed off to senior detectives. “Well, let me put it like this. You have a gun and I’m handcuffed to this table but I can still kill you more efficiently than you can kill me.”

The detective stiffened before scowling, “You said that you had information.”

“In exchange for a lesser sentence.” Mark added. 

He ignored him, “What does this information entail, exactly.”

“You’ll have my testimony about everything GOT7 is involved in, names, locations, addresses, supplies, allies, all of it. But I also have some recordings that tie my former Boss and some other high powered people to a human trafficking ring.” He said, his voice cold and calculating. 

The detective froze before lifting his head, “GOT7 doesn’t traffic. It’s a well-known fact.”

Mark smiled and it sent a shiver down everyone’s back, “Looks like you guys really need my help, then.” 

“And you have proof of all of this?” He asked suspiciously. 

Mark nodded, “Irrefutable proof. And a colleague of mine is sending in more as we speak.”

“All for a shorter sentence?” He asked. 

Mark leaned back in his chair, “My lawyer worked out the details when he got here but yeah. A shorter sentence. It also makes your lives easier because you didn’t have to track me down.”

“Don’t you want your lawyer in here with you?” The detective asked, “We want to make sure you know your rights.”

“Don’t worry about me. I know my rights. My lawyer is here just to negotiate my deal, everything else is between me and you.” Mark said, rhythmically tapping his fingers against the table.

“Why do all of this? 10 years is a long time to be loyal to someone, why are you flipping all of sudden? I mean, come on, you walked in here willingly, didn’t even try to run when you could’ve. Why?” He pressed.

Mark pursed his lips in thought, his eyes drifting to the ceiling, “I have debts I need to settle and sins to get off my chest, I figured that this was better than going to confession. I've never been particularly religious.” 

The detectives exchanged looks before flipping his notebook open, “Alright, start from the beginning.”

-----

Silence ticked carefully as Jaebum and Heiran were locked in a standoff, staring at each other from across the room. 

When Heiran woke up to a suspiciously quiet apartment, she realized that everyone had gone out, leaving her and Lucy alone. When all their phones went to voicemail a nervous twist started to grow in her stomach. 

And when Jaebum came home alone a few hours later and dropped the bomb, that twist exploded and all Heiran could see was a smoky fog. 

“He…did what?” She spoke through tightly clenched teeth.

Jaebum watched her nervously, “He went to the police station to turn himself in.”

“Jaebum, I swear to god, this better be a sick joke. Tell me this is a joke.” Her tone was too low to be normal. 

He shook his head, “He told me and Jinyoung about his plan last night, he’s apparently been thinking about it for a while now. He made us promise not to tell you because he knew you’d never let him do it. He figured it was the only way to trap your dad. The one thing your father is sure of is that Mark would never sacrifice himself to take him down, which is exactly what he’s doing. He’s turning himself in and then giving the cops everything they need to know to take down GOT7. Your father will never see it coming and won’t have enough time to deploy a counter-attack.” 

“Let’s go. We’re bringing him back.” She ordered, moving to the door, but Jaebum stopped her. 

“It’s too late. He went in hours ago. There’s no getting him back.” He said softly. 

Tears welled in her eyes, “No. That’s ridiculous. There’s no way. This is all a misunderstanding. He wouldn’t just go to the police without telling me. They’d arrest him on the spot. He knows this. He’d never let them do it without a fight. This doesn’t make sense. You’re wrong.” 

“This is what he wants. Trust me, Jinyoung and I tried to change his mind, but he was dead set on it. As long as we were all too afraid to put ourselves on the line, your father would have the upper hand, he’d never see this coming.” Jaebum said quietly. 

“How could you let him leave the house! You should’ve just locked him in his room!” She yelled, shoving him. “They’ll never let him see the light of day! They can't take him from me. They’re just going to throw him in jail and throw away the key. My dad will probably escape before the cops can even get to him. Oh my god!”

Jaebum could only stand stoically as she pounded her fists into his chest as tears spilled down her face, “H-He can’t be gone. He would've said something. We have to stop him or get him out of there. We have to do something, anything! I can’t lose him! Please! I need him back. Please…what am I supposed to do now?”

“I’m sorry, Heiran. But he did this for you, to protect you and Lucy so you two could have a better life without always looking over your shoulders and hiding.” He whispered while holding her up. 

She sobbed against his chest, “He’s gone. I never even said goodbye. How could he do this to me?”

“Look.” He said sternly, pulling her off his chest and staring into her eyes, “For as long as I’ve known you you have always been able to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and move forward. You’re never down for too long, you always land on your feet. He has a good lawyer, he’ll cut a deal, he’ll serve a few years tops, and he’ll be back.”

She trembled and shook her head, “You don’t know that."

“You’ll get him back. So just focus on moving on with your life and starting fresh. He did this for you, so you and Lucy have a chance, don’t make it go to waste. Focus on your career and making up for everything you lost. And he’ll be at your door in the blink of an eye. Trust me, a few years behind bars is better than the rest of your lives hiding and running.” He said firmly.

She felt her knees give and sat down on the couch, “What about you? And DS?”

“I talked to Mark. I told him to do whatever gets him the best deal. If that means giving my name up, then I told him to do it. By the time the cops even know my name, I’ll be long gone, anyways.” He said with a reassuring smile. 

She frowned, “What?”

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, “You won’t be seeing me around anymore. I delivered a bunch of evidence to Yugyeom’s apartment, that was the last thing Mark asked me to do. I’ve made arrangements to go somewhere far with no extradition law and no winters. I think it’s time to do some travelling. DS will just have to make do without me, assuming the cops don’t crush it to dust first, which I’m kind of hoping they do.”

“I—I don’t understand. You’re leaving?” She asked, wide-eyed. 

"I think I'm long overdue a change of pace." He tucked her hair behind her ear, “I’m so sorry for coming back and causing you all this pain. I really hope you can find a way to be happier even though Mark is gone. I’ll always love you, Seo. And if you ever need anything, I’ll be a phone call away. Won’t change my number just for you.” 

“B-But, I’ll be all alone.” She whispered. A few months ago, the thought of being alone didn’t bother her too much. Sure, after a couple of glasses of wine she might get sentimental and emotional but for the most part, loneliness was something she was used to and preferred. All she needed in life was herself and Lucy. 

Mark changed that. Mark stormed into her life dragging Jinyoung, Yeonhee and Jaebum along with him and it was torturous at times but she was just now getting used to having them in her life. The constant noise and bickering was something she had grown to love. 

And now it was gone.

“Mark instructed Jinyoung specifically to not turn himself in. He told him to stay and help you with whatever you need to get you back on your feet. You won’t be alone.” He reassured, squeezing her shoulder.

She chewed on her lip in worry, “What’s he going to do?”

“Jinyoung is smart, he knows some of the GOT7 members and allies like Jae and Yeonhee who didn’t turn on Mark so he’s helping them escape before GOT7 gets raided by cops but the rest are being set up. He’ll be back after the raid to help you go home.” Jaebum explained, his tone gentle as if not to scare her. 

The tears started building, “But it won’t be the same.” 

Without Mark, it wouldn’t be the same. 

Not after he told me loved her.

“Mommy? What’s going on?” Lucy asked softly, walking up to her, concern on her little face. 

Jaebum looked away, ready to back up whatever lie Heiran was going to concoct to spare Lucy’s feelings. But Heiran just looked at Lucy with tear-filled eyes, “Mark’s gone, sunshine.”

Lucy looked confused, “When is he coming back?”

Heiran blinked away her tears, “I don’t know.”

She looked over at Jaebum who was apprehensive, he was seeing an idea form in Heiran’s mind and he already knew it would be a bad one. And that he couldn’t stop her. 

“But I’m going to find out.”

-----

“Where is he?!” Heiran boomed as she stormed into the police precinct, her eyes searching around desperately. Everyone stopped and stared, sharing nervous looks as she plowed past all of their desks. 

“You better bring him out here, right now!” She yelled, kicking a garbage can over.

Yugyeom came racing out of an office with a severe look on his face, “What are you doing here?”

“You know why I’m here.” She seethed, “He didn’t do anything wrong, let him go.”

Yugyeom watched her in disbelief before squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, “Let’s go talk somewhere private.” 

She huffed angrily but let him lead her outside the building and to the side where there weren’t many officers around, “You can’t just barge into a police precinct yelling and screaming.”

“Are you joking?” She barked, “Mark is in there. I know he is and he shouldn’t be.”

His eyes were wide, “Heiran, he’s a killer. He’s a gang member and a murderer. He’s killed people for a living. No one deserves to be arrested more than him.”

“You don’t know him.” She hissed tears in her eyes.

The man standing in front of her wasn’t the happy-go-lucky freshman that had become her closest friend. Instead, she was standing in front of a serious officer of the law that saw things only as good and bad, black and white.

“I don’t need to know him, I just need to know what he’s done. And he’s done a lot of illegal . He admitted killing that VP whose body was found in that field, Heiran. He admitted to it. You worked with that guy. He was your colleague and Mark killed him. What more do I need to know?” He said, exasperated. 

Heiran shook her head, “He’s a good man, Yuggie. He did bad things, fine, but he’s a good person and he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Are you even listening to me? He killed people!”

“He killed criminals! He killed people who sold drugs and people.” She fought back. 

She hated the way he was looking at her, like he didn’t know who she was, “It’s not his job to decide who gets to live and die. He isn’t a vigilante, he’s a hired gun. He doesn’t kill people because they’re evil, he killed them because they got in GOT7’s way. And the Heiran I know would see that. She wouldn’t be defending a killer.” 

“Stop calling him that!” She screamed shoving him, “He’s more than that. He protected me and cared for me when I had no one!”

“Oh, I’m glad you brought that up. When were you going to tell me that your dad ing ran GOT7, huh? Or was that something you were going to bury away with the fact that your personal assistant was a hitman?” He barked. 

She flinched and looked away, “It’s complicated.”

“Yeah, well, your friend is sitting in an interrogation room making it a lot less complicated for us.” Yugyeom said.

She looked at him worriedly, “What is he saying?”

“You know I can’t tell you that. But he’s helping us take your father down.” He watched the way she chewed on her lip and felt his shoulders fall, “Heiran what the hell happened? How did you get pulled into the middle of this?”

She kept her gaze low, “My father endangered me. His enemies came after me and Mark was protecting me.” She didn’t want to get into all the details of her and Jaebum. The best way for her to keep Mark safe would be to make sure she didn’t say anything that could contradict what he was telling the police.

“Why didn’t you just come to me? I’m a cop. I'm your friend.” He pled. 

She furrowed her brows, “I couldn’t just come to you. If I did, you’d go to your bosses and coworkers and I didn’t know who I could trust. The police are corrupt.”

“Heiran, why are you here?” He asked quietly, his eyes dark, brewing a storm that he was forcing down. 

She gave him an incredulous look, “What kind of question is that?”

“If he’s just the guy protecting you, you wouldn’t care what happened to him, you'd let the law take over. Especially since he works for your father of all people. But you’re here defending him, crying for him. Please don’t tell me he really is your friend, now.” Yugyeom asked while scrunching up his nose. 

Heiran hesitated, looking away and his eyes widened, “God, please tell me you don’t have feelings for him.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Oh my god, Heiran!” He exclaimed, stepping away from her, “Do you hear yourself? He’s a ing gangster. He kills people, that's it, that's his only job, it's all he knows. He has no stability, no morals, no compassion, humanity or empathy, nothing to offer you. What the hell is wrong with you?”

She glared at him, her anger bubbling up, “Don’t you dare judge me. You don’t know anything about him or what I've gone through these last few months. He does have morals and empathy and he’s offered me more than a lot of the people in my life.”

"Of all the ing guys in the world." He muttered, "I bet I could find you a guy who could offer you all that stuff and more and he wouldn't be a murderer."

She glared, her anger rising, "I don't choose who I have feelings for. I can't just switch them off."

“Really? You really like him? You like him knowing that he’d basically be a father figure for Luc