Haeun wasn't even thinking when she whipped off Baekhyun’s jacket off of her and got up in a sprint towards the man in the bushes as he turned around to leave. Her mind went completely blank once she realized that the man was standing simply a few meters away from them, and no one even knew.  She wouldn’t even have enough time to get Baekhyun or Chanyeol to go after him before he would disappear. As she got closer to the man, the logical part of her brain woke up and was screaming at her to get out and to go back to where she was safe, and not running towards the man that could potentially murder her. 

But it was too late, and she had gotten too far. At some point, she could hear someone calling for her. That was not good - if the man heard and started running away, they’d never be able to catch him, especially now when she was so close.  

And so, she ran. She might get hurt, but she was pretty sure that at least someone was coming after her. She’d be safe.

Hopefully.

Her footsteps pounded against the pavement as her heart pounded in her chest, and her breathing was becoming ragged. Blearily, she realized that maybe she should go running more often. She honestly questioned her own thinking to the point where she went from simply running after the man who had stalked her to where she decided she should go running more often. Trauma was a strange thing. 

Haeun was close enough to the man to touch him, and so she decided that since she’d already been making stupid decisions, what was one more?

She already had a running start, so she planted her feet firmly down and pushed herself up into the air once close enough. Haeun tackled the man by jumping on his back, and then pushed her weight down to push him down onto the pavement. Once they hit the ground, she rolled off the man from the impact of the fall, and she ended up lying on her back not far from the man. From the way her back was hurting, she might’ve sprained something, but from the way the man was groaning, he might’ve broken a nose, and Haeun smiled through the pain.

He deserved it for the hell of a night she had gone through. Guess it was another birthday to add to the list of memorable birthdays, but it wasn’t for all the right reasons. It wasn’t long before she heard someone else’s footsteps on the pavement, and then heard the person scream at her.

“What. In the hell. Are you. Doing?!” she heard Baekhyun scream in a ragged voice as well. Turns out, he was the one that sprinted after her. Haeun lifted her head in pain, and found Chanyeol behind Baekhyun. Chanyeol looked confused as he looked between Haeun and the man lying on the ground. Baekhyun walked over to her quickly and helped her up. She leaned against Baekhyun unconsciously, her legs couldn’t handle her weight for long. 

“Him,” Haeun panted, pointing at the man groaning on the ground. “It was him. He followed us.”

“W-what? Wait,” the man spoke as he slowly staggered up. Chanyeol grabbed a hold of the man’s wrists and pushed them behind his back.

“We know. When Baekhyun saw you sprinting, Jieun saw the man standing in the direction that you were running, and then she broke into tears again because it was the man that was following you two. That was beyond stupid, Haeun.” Then Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun before continuing. “But he’ll tell you why that was stupid considering he’s about to explode,” he snickered before walking off with the man who had a slightly bloody nose and a very red forehead.

Once Chanyeol and the man were out of sight, Baekhyun grabbed a hold of Haeun’s arm and roughly shook her away from him. His grip tightened on her forearm, and she winced in pain. 

“Are you insane? After everything that happened, you’re still willing to risk yourself to go after the man who would have murdered you?”

“I know, but-”

“There’s absolutely nothing you could say that is going to justify what you just did. You put yourself at risk, and you could’ve been hurt, Haeun.” Baekhyun’s eyes were hard as they bore into Haeun’s.

Haeun knew he was right, but she didn’t need him bossing her around like that. Who was he to say these things to her, anyways? He was basically an outsider in her life anyways. Tears pricked her eyes at how much his words hurt even though she willed for them to not. Her feelings must’ve shown on her face because Baekhyun’s grip loosened, and his mouth turned downwards in a soft frown. His eyes also lost some of the anger, and instead looked as if there were more worry than anything else. Regret was written all over his face, but it was too late. Haeun angrily shook off his hand, and she rubbed her forearm.

"It’s my life, and I make my own decisions. Thank you for helping me, but I don’t need you to be my father, Baekhyun,” Haeun spat out. “If you had even tried to listen to me, I could’ve explained the situation, but instead you’re over here acting like I’m some fragile girl that’s going to break into pieces over nothing. How about you go back and do your job, Detective Byun.” Haeun tried to stalk away from him, but as soon as she put pressure on her right ankle, pain flared up her leg. Haeun heard Baekhyun hiss, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. Great, he saw her stumble. Now he’ll really think she was an idiot. Haeun paused in her steps as she tried to collect herself. Biting her lips hard to distract herself from the pain, she stalked away from Baekhyun the best she could. 

As Haeun got closer to Chanyeol and Jieun’s family, her heart filled with happiness and relief at the sigh of Jeonghan pacing back and forth. Haeun nearly cried at the sight of someone familiar and reminded her of home.