Tears first struck his eyes before he shook her and called her name repeatedly.

“Wake up. Namjoo, wake up,” he cried, “please open your eyes.”

It looked like she was sleeping, so he was sure she was just deep asleep. His heart shook and screamed. The shock of it even left his hands trembling. His tears ran down his face repeatedly and dripped onto her face again and again. Namjoo should have felt the warmth of his tears, but she didn’t react to it. In his mind, he was sure that she was just playing with him again.

“Come back again,” he was really pleading with her now. Childish sobs fell from his lips before he leaned his head down onto her shoulder and gripped onto her shoulder. “Don’t take her yet. Let her come back to me. I’m begging you. Namjoo…”

For about a minute her body refused to move then he felt it. A light grip on his arm before it became stronger then he heard a quiet gasp.

“It hurts…” he heard her whisper.

Lifting his head off her shoulder he saw the painful frown on her face and she turned her head before he heard a groan of pain. His lower lip quivered and he let out a relieved cry before pulling her into his arms. A louder cry left his lips and surely echoed throughout the whole second floor.

D—“:

After waking, the first thing Krystal heard that morning was crying. Curious, she walked toward a door and opened it a crack before she witnessed Kris crying inside. Pulling her hand off the doorknob she pressed it against her lips and felt tears emerge before turning to run down the stairs.

She ran pass Victoria at the bottom of the staircase and stopped by the entrance of the foyer where she saw Eunhyuk sitting with Baekhyun and Tao. Eunhyuk stood to his feet alarmed when he saw the tears running down her face.

“Oppa…” her voice cracked.

“Why? What’s wrong?” he questioned alarmed.

Victoria’s eyes followed her and Krystal tried to speak, but her tears cut her off and she cried. She was scared to say it.

“Stop crying and tell me what’s wrong,” Eunhyuk grabbed her shoulder.

“Namjoo…she…”

“What about her?” Eunhyuk asked before he suddenly stopped at the realization of it. Then they all turned when they heard heavy footsteps.

“Kris, where are you going?” Krystal heard Victoria’s voice before turning to see Namjoo on Kris’ back.

They disappeared down the hallway and listened as the door opened and closed. All their attention turned back to Krystal and she couldn’t help, but cry again.

D—“:

Victoria had given him two days and he had less than 24 hours now. Every moment and every second became even more precious. Namjoo wasn’t going. He wasn’t going to allow heaven to take her yet. Not until he returned to her side. The tears were hanging in his heart and were becoming heavier by the second and he was scared he wouldn’t be able to do this in time if he didn’t choose now.

“Are you there?” he asked.

“Awake,” Namjoo replied normally. “I told you I can walk. Put me down.”

“No. Not yet,” he refused as he started down the stairs and toward the woods.

“Where are we going?” Namjoo questioned.

“You’ll see,” was all he said before he felt her run her hands over his face. “What are you doing?”

“I made you cry again.”

He lowered his head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say that to me.”

“Then should I say I love you?”

“Yea, keep saying that. Always say that.”

Namjoo laughed a little. “You like hearing that?”

“Better than listening to you say anything else.”

Namjoo wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on the back of his shoulder. This felt right. Everything about this felt right and he wished Namjoo could always be like this.

He let her get off his back when they were in the woods and told her to sit.

“Don’t turn around,” he told her.

“Why? What are you up to?”

“Just don’t turn around.” He told again and sat with his back to her.

Kris fiddled with the little flowers on the ground before messing up his piece of artwork and tossed the flowers aside and started again.

“You know what quote I remember? They say that if a woman’s ring finger is the same size as her man’s pinky, then they’re meant to be.”

He held out his pinky and compared the width of it with the little ring he was making before he was satisfied.

“Are you done?” Namjoo questioned leaning her head back.

“Done.” He turned around.

Namjoo turned around to face him with anticipation and he felt a little shy before the thought of her leaving any moment forced it away. Hiding the little ring into the center of his palm he glanced into her face and realized she was looking more tired than any other day. His heart hurt and he bit his lip to refrain from crying.

“When I was teaching Luhan how to shoot,” he watch the tears rise in her eyes at the mention of Luhan and continued, “I saw the ring he wore around his neck.” Then he glanced at the silver necklace around her neck. “He never told me about you and then I met you, so I thought, ‘This is how Luhan’s girl is like. No wonder he wanted to keep you a secret to himself.’” He almost laughed painfully, but Namjoo was listening attentively. And Kris felt a tear run down his face without meaning for it to. “You’re the first person I ever really wanted,” his voice shook, “and I thought for the first time about what marriage was like. I thought about how great it is.” He looked right into her eyes and continued, “I’m sorry, Namjoo, for making you look at me when you’re already in pain, but…I want to do it now before it’s too late. I know, I’m being selfish and you’re not ready for it again…but…marry me.”

It wasn’t a statement. He wasn’t asking her to marry him. He was telling her to.

“Be mine.” He drew his fingers away from his palm and revealed to her the ditzy handmade ring. The tears fell continuously from her face before she looked at him and nodded.

His own tears fell too when he took her hand and slid the ring over her finger.

“You’re my wife now.” he smiled and pulled her into a secure hug.

“I love you.” She hugged him back.

And he swore that he was the happiest man on earth at that moment.

D—“:

And so the cops started their investigation early morning. A troop of 15 entered what they knew as a ‘secret base’ armed with guns and bullet proof vests. Little did they know they wouldn’t make it back to camp.

Even as strong as their guns seemed, Organization One members, who were specially trained assassins, ousted them the moment they made their move. As they infiltrated and surprised Organization One, a huge breeze swept by when they shouted, “Freeze! You’re under arrest!”

D—“:

Changmin was sitting inside his tent quietly turning the book he’d brought with him over and over into his hands before someone pulled the tent door open.

“Sergeant Park wants to have a word with you.”

He hobbled toward a private green tent and discovered Sergeant Park sitting at a solid wooden table on a hefty stool too small for him. His face read of serious business and Changmin worried about what would happen to him. Without a word he sat down across from Sergeant Park on an identical stool and glanced nervously into his pudgy face.

“Sir, you wanted to talk to me?” Changmin asked.

“Shim Changmin,” he began with a force to his voice, “how is your ankle? Do you think you need to go home?”

Changmin slightly raised his brow at the question. “Why? Do you think I need to go home?”

“The decision is yours,” Sergeant Park assured, “if you can assure that you won’t be a hassle to our plans, your stay will be appreciated.”

Changmin stared at him and tried to think of any possibility about why Sergeant Park was telling him this.

“I…I can stay…but…why? Are we…is something going to happen?”

“Do you know where it was that you were held for four days?”

He searched his mind then shook his head, “No.”

“Of the 10 that were captured and sent to the city for interrogation, 7 of them were recovered victims of the kidnapping case,” he explained and Changmin felt his heart start to race, “that base you were at, we’re guessing is where they’ve been held prisoners. Do you know what went on there?”

Changmin immediately shook his head, “I…I was locked in some kind of cell…so I don’t know…”

Changmin had never imagined that where he had been was such a dangerous place and it was exactly where those kidnapped were held. But it had looked like some kind of sanctuary where people worked together…so…how did this all fall together?

“That boy you shot, the forensics team called after identifying him yesterday.”

Changmin felt his heart race. Who was he? He was curious.

“His name’s Luhan, he’s 26, and works for an E Packaging company. He’s also a recovered kidnapped victim.”

Luhan…the name was familiar. Changmin was into a whirlpool of silence while he tried to dig back into that box of memories before he remembered putting up his picture along with the other kidnapped victims’.

The clock behind him read 5:45 in the morning. It was an absurd hour for anyone not drunk to come in. It was also almost about time Changmin grab his second coffee of the night before the sun would start crawling up into the sky. He quickly wanted to hurry this man along so he could take a 10 minute break and return to work refreshed.

“My friend is missing,” the man affirmed, “I can’t contact him and he’s not at his apartment. I think something might have happened to him.”

Another ridiculous report.

Changmin tapped a finger silently against the counter, “Are you sure your friend hasn’t gone on a trip somewhere or he might have gone out to take some fresh air and forgot to take his phone along. I’m sure he’s still in town somewhere.”

“No,” the man sounded confident, “he would always answer his phone. I know it. I have a really bad feeling. He’s been missing for almost 24 hours.”

“What’s your name?” Changmin questioned grabbing a pen and a scrap piece of paper.

“Zhang Yixing.”

“The name of your friend?”

“Luhan.”

Luhan…that one friend had been desperate to find him and Changmin had killed him. Then it shook Changmin’s soul. He had killed someone…someone he was supposed to bring back alive.

As if from far behind he heard wild shouting outside before someone yelled for Sergeant Park. Even as he left the tent, Changmin didn’t rise from the stool. He had never shot a person before. What would his mother think of him when she knew he’d killed someone? And that person was someone he was supposed to bring back alive…not dead…

He felt motion sickness and wanted to vomit. Changmin was finally in shock at what he had done. How would he face Luhan’s friend when he returned to Seoul alive and well? How unfair was that?

Then it reappeared in Changmin’s head. He was in handcuffs and there was someone standing on the slope in front of him. Why had he been so confused then? Maybe…Luhan had been trying to save him…

What was this!?

Then Changmin rose to his feet and almost ran through the door, but stopped when he heard urgent voices.

“We need backup, Sir!”

“They’ve hung our comrades off the trees!”

There was some crying.

“We need reinforcements immediately! Connect me back to the Police Department!” Sergeant Park shouted.

And when Changmin peeked through a small gap in the door he saw a bloody officer kneeling on the ground with his arm limp beside him. His sleeve had been slashed up and all Changmin saw was blood, blood, blood, and blood.

D—“:

“Tomorrow’s the day, huh?” Namjoo curled up against Kris and played with his shirt.

“What day?”

“That you’re going back to Organization One.”

He didn’t reply.

“Kris,” she called, “don’t feel obligated toward me. Go out there and just do what you have to do. Don’t do anything silly…like avenge Luhan for me.”

“I know…” he turned to hug her. “Namjoo, when I come back, lets go to Seoul together.”

“Ok, lets do that.”

They slept until the moon went down and the sun came back up. The next morning, Namjoo didn’t feel any strength in her legs.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get up?” he asked.

Namjoo nodded, “I feel a little tired, so I’ll stay in bed today.”

She saw the worry on his face and reached for his hand to assure him.

“You’ll wait till I come back, won’t you?” he squeezed her hand.

“I’ll be here when you come back,” Namjoo promised with a genuine smile. “Take care of yourself out there. And come back so we can go to Seoul.”

He leaned forward to gift her with a peck on the lips. “I love you.”

Namjoo felt her heart crying and she replied, “I love you too.”

Kris ran his thumb over the side of her face before the door opened and Victoria walked in.

“Hey Namjoo,” she smiled and patted Kris’ shoulder, “we’re going now. You’re going to be alright here, right?”

Namjoo nodded, “Watch out for yourself.”

Victoria nodded with a firm smile and Kris reluctantly got up without letting go of her hand. He peered back at her desperately before he eventually let go and exited the room.

D—“:

“Don’t feel sad,” Victoria comforted on the way outside. “Stay concentrated; you’ll come back here for sure.”

Kris knew what he had to do. He knew he was going to come back. He’d have to. Namjoo was here. She was going to be waiting. How could he leave her alone after what had happened to Luhan?

Baekhyun and Krystal was outside to bid farewell to the others and when Kris passed by he stopped. “Since Namjoo said you were a good friend, I’ll trust you to look after her.”

Baekhyun glanced at him with a strong shake of the head, “I will.”

Kris kept his eyes glued to him for another longer second before he turned to follow Victoria and the others.

So they…were going to do this at last. 

***;A; their own little wedding ceremony ;A; 

***And now for the journey to the end of this story 

***P.S. I have officially returned to writing 3 Ways. Wait for the update!