“They turn the lights off” Joon said to me that day he had decided that we could leave. “There is about a two minute window after that to get out. But usually no one ever gets out.”

He said as a warning. “Now bend forward.”

Our relationship, since his confession, had become a lot stronger. Joon was a after I got to know him. “Do you have to stand behind me while I stretch Joon?” He just chuckled and pushed down on my back more. “Stop there, your body would only have to be this much stretch to get out of it.” He said before pulling at my abdomen and straightening my stance. Later he tied me up and turned off all of the lights in the house. “Joon if you’re just trying to play around I’m not in the mood.”

“No this is serious, try to move.” He whispered. I struggled but I couldn’t get out of the ropes around my wrists. “Joon this is hopeless get me out of these, this hurts.”  I complained.

“Two minutes Thunder, that’s all you have.” For the whole week I tried to get out of those ropes, and every time Joon would squirt me with a water gun whenever my time was up.

I was frustrated. “But what is the odds of this happening, if we go outside, you’ll protect me right Joon? Why do I have to know these ridiculous survival skills?” I asked. It was still too dark to see but I could feel his lips touch mine. “Because, as hard as I try, I’m not the strongest person, If I can’t fully protect you” I heard him gulp “if something happens to me, I need you to be able to save yourself, now please try again.”  He squeezed my shoulders and kissed my forehead. “For me.”

I tried for days and eventually I had figured out, without Joon’s help, to wiggle my wrists out of the tight rope.

“You have two minutes before they com, so you only have a few seconds to get out of the rope and escape.” I nodded to him after I had succeeded 100% of the time after figuring it out. He taught me some kicks and some punches, he taught me how to avoid being kicked or punched but he told…in the situation I was in I was likely to be shot dead on. But he taught me the skills anyway, in the dark. I had to use other senses to avoid being hurt. After all that training, training I though was unnecessary, we relaxed. That was my toughest week with Joon. I worked hard so I asked him. “So when?”

“Your birthday? We can go out then.”

I was so happy then, I knew I could leave the condo, with Joon by my side and on a date on my birthday. It was the perfect thought in my head but…It didn’t go the way I thought it would .

Joon’s p.o.v

“We have to get on the train, but hang close to me okay Thunder?” I was on edge, It was dangerous enough for me to go outside  especially with me still healing somewhat. I knew I wasn’t 100% again.

But I didn’t want to let Thunder on to how I was feeling, It was his birthday after all. If anything happens, I have no one to blame but myself. I started seeing it, on the train. People shifting around rapidly and people talking really loud I was confused but I was sure that things were already abnormal. Thunder kept smiling so I had to act normal in the situation and get us off of the train. “We should get off here, it’s closer to where we’re going than the next stop. We can walk from here.” I lied and I hated lying to him but I hated worrying him more.

Thunder just turned to me, his puffy cheeks almost covering his eye when he smiled. He was so happy.

“There’s an ice cream shop at this station, yes, let’s get off here.” I was happy he hadn’t caught on. I kept my arm around him and as we walked, he got his ice cream, and I kept a look out for anything else suspicious. I saw him, he got off the train with us. He tried to keep his head down under his black hoodie but in just the few seconds he looked up I knew it was him.

Yang Seungho.

Thunder’s p.o.v

Joon seemed really uneasy since we got off the train and left the station. I hated when he didn’t talk. He was awful at hiding his emotions. He was holding my side so tight I thought he’d break a hole in my skin. “Joon not so tight.” He kept looking back as we walked. It was so weird for me to breathe “fresh” air and walk on a sidewalk to see other people I was in awe. I felt like I had been away from years. It was all a bit overwhelming but I was happy, and I was happy  to be with Joon but he was being so weird.

“Joon is something wrong?”

“Huh?” he jumped “Oh, it looks like it’s going to rain soon.” He wasn’t kidding, the grey clouds were rolling in pretty fast, and I swear I heard a bit of Thunder. I assumed he was just worried about the rain ruining whatever he had planned for us.  I remember it now because that’s when he said “I love you Sang hyun, I really do but I get this strange feeling like something isn’t right today.”  We had stopped in front of an alley between a bakery and a flower shop. I remember it now, Joon’s back was to the alley. I saw those steely eyes creeping up behind him Joon’s eye widened.

Seungho hit him in the back of the head with a baseball bat, and I remember feeling something hit me in the back of mine. Joon’s eyes…he was trying to warn me. Why didn’t he react….

----------------------------now------------------------------------------

I could hear the Thunder outside now. It shook the house a bit and the small light bulb in the center of the ceiling swung back and forth. The lights were out but I could still see the bulb with the light coming In from the window to my far right. I thought about it as I counted the seconds, it would be too hard to just get myself through that window let alone drag Joon’s body with me or to even get past Seungho. I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

:38. :39. I started wiggled my wrists. :40, :41. I was free but dizzy from the blow to my head and the sharp pain I was feeling in my side. Water dripped from the ceiling to Joon’s face and he started to move. He groaned. “Two minutes Thunder.”

“I’m not leaving you Joon, get up. We still have a minute.” I saw a door, a wooden door straight across from where I was standing and holding up Joon.  “Can you walk?” I asked. I heard the door, the door that lead upstairs creak open. My heart was racing. “I won’t try to stop you.” Seungho said stepping aside, I won’t even get in your way. I said messily kicking the door open for me.

“I will tell them where you went but I can’t stop you from trying to get away from what I’ve caused. “

I believed him. That voice, that was the old Seungho I knew, he was still in there. I got sudden flashbacks of the good times we had together before all this. “When I think about it, there was always another way.” He said.

“1:45, 1:4!” Joon started counting loudly. It was raining and the grass and dirt outside the door became drenched and soggy. But we quickly scurried out and across the yard. I thought about it I thought about what would happen to Seungho, especially since he let us go. Why didn’t he leave too? After we were just a few feet away, I looked back. I saw him point at Joon and I from the door. And then I heard it

*BANG* “NOOOOO!”  I screamed as I watched Seungho fall to his knees in the rain. He was bleeding from his side and I wanted to badly to run to him, no matter what he’s put me through I wanted to go to him. But Joon held me back. “No Thunder, we have to go.” Joon kept pulling me back, as I cried hysterically. “Thunder please stop resisting.”

It was so hard to see him fall so fast, my first love…