So much was going through your head that you weren’t even sure what emotions were being brewed up by your hormones.

Baekhyun bent down to start picking up the shards of glass, staring with the larger pieces. In your stunned state, your only reaction was to kneel down and start cleaning up the mess with shaky, unstable hands that were sure to result in cuts all over your fingers. Wrapping his fingers around your wrists, Baekhyun stopped you. Never before had you seen such a somber look on his face. Yes, when you first met him, he was scowling at you, but ever since your mutual understanding, he’d always had a lopsided grin permanently sculpted into his lips. But now the weight of Junko’s threat weighed heavily even on him.

A new pair of hands gently grasped your upper arms and pulled you back to your feet.

“Come on,” Junmyeon whispered in your ear. “We’ll clean it up. Go lie down.”

“No!” You ripped out of his grasp. “I can do it. I broke the vase. Just let me pick up the pieces. I-I can do-”

“(y/n)!”

Junmyeon’s snap pulled your awareness back to the surface. Wide-eyed, you stared at him, shallow breaths moving in and out of your lungs, barely getting you enough oxygen to keep conscious.

As he cupped your face, he lowered his voice back to the loving tone you’d grown used to. “Let us clean it up. You’re shaking too much and you’ll cut yourself if you keep going. Please, just do as I ask and go to the bedroom. We can take care of this. Get some rest while I figure out how to best protect you.”

“But it’s my life.”

Whether Junmyeon wanted to accept it or not, it was your life being threatened. It was you who was sent the flowers, the one that Junko would come for eventually. And that meant you had an automatic right to be a part of this.

Once upon a time you were safe, hidden away from this world your father used to be a part of and had once planned for you to be as well. But a series of events pulled you right back in without a single word from you. There were plenty of people that you could blame: Taegun, his old boss, Junmyeon. But all the blaming and the crying was useless now as you stood in the parlor. All you could do was move forward, try to remain brave no matter how many threats Junko sent your way.

Junmyeon sighed deeply, releasing every particle of air that had been stored in his lungs. “Okay. But, please, let us take care of the vase while you go sit on the couch. I promise we won’t sneak off to my office. We’ll discuss what next step to take with you present. Deal?”

You nodded, knowing that was the best compromise you were going to get. In all reality, you didn’t know what to do, what the best way to fend off Junko would be, but you were thankful to be partaking in the discussion anyway.

As Chen came back with a broom and dustbin, you shuffled over to the living room, sitting right in the middle of the couch, elbows resting on your knees and hands folded to create a base for your chin to balance on. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes or so, you heard the boys arrive until finally they all came and joined you in the living room.

A heavy blanket was draped over your shoulders. Turning to see who’d performed the kind gesture, you weren’t surprised in the least to see Junmyeon standing over you behind the couch, sending a small, but sad smile your way.

“Okay,” he turned away from you, addressing the others in complete leader mode. “I think everyone is aware of the current situation. What we need to come on to is how to deflect Junko’s attacks and keep (y/n) safe.”

“We’ve got plenty of safe houses,” Baekhyun suggested.

Junmyeon shook his head. “No, I’d rather keep her close.”

If it had been any other time but now, you would have smiled at that declaration. Why did every little precious moment have to be ruined?

“So, then you want me to up security here?” Chanyeol asked. You didn’t know how that was possible. This place already felt like a fortress.

“We could all move in,” Chen added. “Take turns making rounds and securing the building. The staff is completely on our payroll so we keep in contact with them twenty-four-seven. Junko would need an army to get in here. That would be too much attention. We could keep him away for a good amount of time.”

Shaking his head, Junmyeon came and sat next you on the couch. Your heart sank when he didn’t reach for your hand when you so desperately needed that familiar warmth right at this moment. It was as if he truly couldn’t be the loving fiancé and the calculating leader at the same time. Even though he was in the latter role to protect you, they couldn’t fully coexist in parallel.

“That’s only a temporary solution. We need to end the threat once and for all.”

“I thought we couldn’t do that until we got the files,” Sehun pointed out.

So many pairs of eyes turned to look at you that you lost count. Some stared at you with expectations, others with sympathy. It always came back to your father’s secret. That’s what kept everything revolving. What came out of your mouth next surprised even you.

“Then let’s go get them.”

Junmyeon’s jaw dropped. No one in the room spoke, still trying to decipher how you so easily came to that conclusion, even though you were sure many of them were thinking the same thing.

When Junmyeon finally composed, he pulled his eyebrows together. Conflict that rivaled the Trojan War battled fiercely in his eyes. You wanted so badly to be able to read his mind in this moment. Which side was winning? Would he agree with you? That was the only solution that you could see.

If they truly believed that the files held the key to dismantling Junko’s power, than you would open that will. Today was your birthday after all. Back in America, you’d already been twenty-three for a full day. It made sense to you to go through with the process and get this over with. At this point, you’d help Junmyeon, married or not. You’d give it all for him.

“Is that really what you want to do?” Junmyeon asked you in a quiet voice. He was giving you a chance to back out, to change your mind. But you weren’t going to.

“I want to stop worrying about Junko,” you replied. “I want to just live my life, to be able to walk down the street without being snatched up or shot at. I want to stop constantly worrying about my family. If this is the way to do it, then so be it. I don’t care.”

Junmyeon kept his steady gaze on you, searching for any hesitancy or regret in your own eyes. He wouldn’t find any. You were too set on this path, too focused on the end result to care about the journey towards it.

“It’s decided then.” He stood up and turned to Kyungsoo. “Book the tickets for the day after tomorrow. Use the aliases. We’ll go straight to the lawyer’s office in New York. From there, we’ll decided what to do with the files. We might be operating out of America for a while, but if that means ending Junko, it’ll be worth it.”

In their usual conclusion, everyone dispersed without an actual word of dismal. Not even looking at you, Junmyeon left the living room, heading straight for the bedroom the two of you shared. You waited to make sure that all the boys had left the apartment to secure the building before following after Junmyeon.

Sitting on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands, Junmyeon had never looked more vulnerable than in this moment. His back slowly rose and fell with his breathing, stretching the fabric of his shirt across his shoulder blades with the movement. The bed dipped from the extra weight as you sat down next him, but he didn’t show any sign of acknowledging your presence. Not even when you started to gently run your nails down his back in a show of comfort did he move.

The next few minutes were spent in silence. Junmyeon stayed in that statue-like position while you tried to come up with something to say. Nothing came to fruition since you couldn’t even decipher what was going through his head.

“I wish I could turn back time.”

Your hand stopped right along the top of his spine. “What do you mean?”

Finally moving his hands away from his face to look at you, Junmyeon sighed. His eyes were red even though no tears were spilling over. “If I could go back in time, I would stop myself from being so selfish and dragging you into this.”

You shook your head. “Don’t say that. You didn’t know what was going to happen. Besides, how else would I have met you?”

Junmyeon scoffed. “Isn’t this where I give the big speech about how I’m no good for you and that you deserve someone who isn’t in this world and could give you a happier life?”

“If you decided to give me that speech,” you whispered as you ran your fingers through his hair, “then of course I’d have to say for you to stop being an idiot. What I deserve is to choose what path I take and no matter what, I’m still going to choose the one that leads to you. Even if you’d left me alone, Junko would have found me eventually. Then who would come to my rescue?”

That little to his ego lit him up just enough to get a small smile from him. Using the back of your knuckles, you caressed his cheek, still amazed by the softness of it despite the sharp bone present underneath.

In a quick motion, he caught your hand in his, keeping it in place as he turned his head to grant one feather-light kiss to your fingers. His warm breath floated in the empty spaces between your fingers.

For a moment – just for that one small collection of seconds – you allowed yourself to go back to that peaceful mindset. No matter what happened after you got on that plane in two days’ time, you could focus in on this miniscule time in your life and know that everything was going to be okay.

**

It wasn’t a crash or slam or a bang that woke you up. Maybe it was too quiet. Maybe it was some sort of instinct that pulled you out of your dreams and peeled your eyes open.

As you glanced around the room, letting your eyes adjust to being in use again, you didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. No sound came from other parts of the house. Perhaps it was only your lingering fear that woke you.

Careful not to wake Junmyeon, who was sleeping peacefully beside you on his stomach, you got out of bed and shuffled out towards the kitchen. You weren’t particularly thirsty, but you knew trying to go back to sleep in your current state was going to be more daunting a task than if you got a little herbal help.  

Flicking the lights of the kitchen on, you went into automatic mode, placing the desired tea bag in a fresh mug before turning on the burner that sat under the already filled kettle. You turned around to go sit at the island and gasped.

Junko was sitting on a stool on the opposite side of the island, the small card from his flowers twirling between his fingers. “I take it you didn’t like my gift,” he purred.

A sarcastic reply, a cry for help, nothing seemed to be able to make it past your lips.

Junko chuckled at your speechless state. “I’m sure you’re wondering how I could possibly have gotten past Junmyeon’s security features, hm?” All you could do was nod. “Well, that’s what happens when you only secure the outside of the building. I’ve been lying in waiting in an empty apartment for better part of two weeks. I hope my little shootout didn’t scare you too terribly. It was simply a distraction while the rest of us moved in.”

He was good. He was too good; always a step ahead and knowledgeable in the sleight of hand. Did you ever stand a chance?

Junko’s grin grew when several men in full body armor came marching into the kitchen. The one in front stopped and bent down to whisper something in Junko’s ear. The latter laughed in a way that made your blood run cold. “Excellent.”

Footsteps echoed out in the hallway. “y/n?”

No! “Junmy- mph!”

Before you could finish the warning, someone behind you clamped a black gloved hand over your mouth and pulled you into their fiberglass chest, locking you in with a vise with the other arm securing your waist. You tried to fight off the hold, but it was useless.

Junmyeon walked into the kitchen, eyes growing wide once he’d assessed the situation. He started to run towards you. One of Junko’s men stepped in the way and jabbed the of their rifle into Junmyeon’s stomach, sending him down to the ground on his knees while he wheezed to catch his breath. You whimpered and whined a scream behind the barrier that was holding you back, practically leaping off the ground to get to him.

“That’s why you should always think before you act,” Junko mused. Slapping the counter, he stood up from the stool, shooing his man away from you. While you wanted to claw his eyes out, you instead opted for a satisfying smack. But before your palm could connect with his cheek, Junko caught your wrist. “Now that’s not a very nice thing to do towards your fiance.”

“Like hell I’m marrying you!”

Junko glanced over his shoulder, giving a silent signal to the man standing over Junmyeon. The man placed the barrel of the rifle right against Junmyeon’s head. “Maybe I should just get rid of the competition, then, hm?”

“No!” You jumped to try and get past Junko, but he grabbed you from behind, encasing his arms around your waist. With pleading eyes, you looked at your captured. “Don’t hurt him. Please don’t hurt him.”

“Aw, how cute,” Junko mocked. “Did you develop a soft spot for the big bad mafia boss?”

“Just let her go, Junko,” Junmyeon grunted. He pushed himself up from the floor, cradling his side in his hand. “Your grudge is with me. She’s innocent.”

Junko shook his head. With a long finger, he traced your hairline from your forehead all the way down to your jaw, continuing on to the curve of your neck. “I’ve waited twenty-one years to have her, Junmyeon. All of my hard work, all the planning, and all the waiting has been for this. She’s coming with me. And then, once I have the files her wonderful father left for me, I’ll take joy in watching your pathetic little family crumble into pieces.”

The muscles in Junmyeon’s jaws jumped sporadically as he gritted his death. “Over my dead body are you taking her with you. I’d rather-”

“Junmyeon.”

He stared at you, shocked. You weren’t sure where this newfound bravery was coming from either, but right now, you saw no other choice. “(y/n), if you’re about to say what I think you are, don’t.”

“I told you before Junmyeon, this is my life. I’ve already seen him hurt you once. I’m not going to witness that again. Just trust me.”

Junmyeon shook his head violently. “I can’t let you do this.”

Unable to take much more, you looked over at Junko. “Just get me out of here. Now.”

The corners of Junko’s mouth curled into the most despicable, disgusting grin. “Gladly.”

Most of the men in the kitchen lined up, blocking Junmyeon from getting to you. The remaining two men grasped your arms on either side as Junko let go, leading the way out of the kitchen and into the living room as the tea kettle gave off a foreboding whistle from the stove.

You were shocked when you saw some of the boys, bloodied and bruised, surrounded by even more of Junko’s men. Chen seemed to have the worst of it.

“(y/n)?” Chen started towards you, but his way was blocked by the guards. You kept your eyes straight ahead, too terrified of breaking down in front of them to give them a real goodbye. “(y/n)!”

Fighting the urge to run, you closed your eyes tight and just listened to the sound of the door closing behind you as you walked into your new hell.