A figure ran past her and Min Ah bit her lip to keep the sudden scream in as she scrambled backwards. A familiar blur followed seconds after, too fast to notice her only a few feet away. She heard the thud of two bodies hitting dirt and she turned the corner and pressed her back against the back of large dark blue crate. She heard the sounds of struggles accompanied by the crashing of the tide and she closed her eyes for a few moments. Another one was caught and she tried to stick a name to the man who was now probably being handcuffed by Woohyun. She shook her head, her mind unable to come up with the unfamiliar name in all of this mess as she tried to listen for any approaching sounds.

He was the second one caught so far and she couldn’t help, but wonder if there had been any more caught that she didn’t know about. The trickle of fear at what it meant if the ones that were caught started talking was pushed away as Min Ah tried to stay focused on the problem at hand.

As she slid herself down low and ever so carefully peered around the corner, she wondered what the hell she had been thinking. This was by far the most reckless and stupid thing she had done thus far and for what? She couldn’t even help them right now. Instead she was stuck peering from behind crates in a desperate attempt to both not get caught and to find either Wu Fan or Tao and get away. Thankfully, this area seemed to be empty now even though she could hear yells echoing from nearby. She glanced behind her once more and holding her breath she ran towards the boating company off towards the right. It was a small building, only two stories tall and resembled a small shack when it came to width. At this time of night it was definitely closed and she might not be able to get in, but it would provide some sort of cover and she needed something more than running behind crates trying to avoid her own team members.

Her heart raced as she squinted in the faint light and walked around carefully, running her hands along the walls of the building feeling for some sort of door handle or something. She could feel her breath coming in shallow gasps as she could almost feel them approaching and she wondered who would catch her first, what would she say, would they arrest her too?

“Come on, please” She whispered desperately as her hands found a handle and pulled only to have nothing happen. She pulled back once more and nothing happened. She swore and turned her back to the door as she looked out in front of her.

They were still all over and now she was out in the open. She looked back towards the crates and groaned realizing she would just need to maneuver her way out and avoid them regardless of the fact that it was becoming increasingly impossible she realized.

With all her planning, it was too late when she registered the sound of a door being slowly opened behind her.

She gave an audible gasp as she felt herself being literally lifted up by the waist. With feet dangling in the air, she was violently pulled backwards. She herself away from the tight grip, but was unable to free herself as she kicked the body behind her. She heard the groan of metal hinges as the door swung shut with a click of its lock and darkness washed over her. If it had been dark outside, it was pitch black in this building. The windows did little for lighting as they were covered by blinds and Min Ah tried not to scream as she struggled and dug her nails into the arm around her abdomen. The grip she was in suddenly loosened up and she fell to the ground with a painful thud.

Min Ah tried not to panic as she moved backwards and nervously pulled the gun from the back of her waistband and held it up in the darkness. She blinked her eyes furiously, trying to focus in the dark, but she could make nothing out but a dark figure. Slowly, she used one hand to push herself up as she tried to back up to a wall where she could ensure that no one was coming up behind her.

“…Myungsoo?” She tried quietly, her voice quivered as she tried to hold her gun steadily.

Her breathing grew shallow as she tried to figure out what to say. If it was him… she could almost imagine the fury that would be in his eyes as he pieced everything together, the fury at her lies and betrayal. It was in that moment of sheer panic that she realized that she was genuinely afraid of him. It was a vicious fear that gripped her tightly as she tried to not think about the glint of satisfaction that she had witnessed in his eyes as he had attacked Jong In. She swallowed her fear down, muffling it slightly before she lowered her hands.

The figure made a sound and took a step forward and she moved into action. The most important thing was getting out of this closed space she realized as she moved her entire body forward and knocked his legs out from under him. A groan and a swear echoed as the figure fell to the ground. Min Ah spun towards where she thought the door was at before a hand gripped her ankle and pulled. She fell to the ground, a burn radiating from her arms where she was sure she was bleeding from the contact of skin on concrete. She kicked out desperately and made contact with something as she tried to untangle her arms and aim her gun. A large hand reached up and caught her arm, using it as leverage he pulled himself over her. She bent her leg upwards and made contact with his chest as he made a choking sound and she used her other hand punch at where she supposed his face was at.

There was a crack and it might’ve been her knuckles, from the burst of sudden pain that came from her hand, but it was good news because it meant she had hit something she thought triumphantly.

“Min AH!” The man hissed as he fought to hold her down, blood trickling from his busted lip.

 She instantly froze because this was definitely not Myungsoo’s voice.

“… Wu… Fan?” She whispered slowly, her body relaxing in his grip.

“Who the else would I be?!” He snapped angrily and she couldn’t see him, but he had no idea the relief that came to her from hearing his voice.

“It’s pitch black! I can’t see anything! You could have said something!” She snapped back, trying to stifle any signs of the relief she felt.

“I… What are you even doing here?!” He hissed.

“You haven’t lived here in years, much less been to this place! I was worried you would get lost and caught in a minute!” She snapped quietly, “Is Tao ok?”

“I made sure he and some others left first. And do you think I’m an idiot?! Would I really not know every single in and out of this place before doing such a big sell?!” He said, his voice rising dangerously high.

They both paused for a second, both realizing that for people that were supposed to be hiding they weren’t being exactly quiet. Seconds ticked by with no indication of anyone approaching and they both let out a quiet breath. Min Ah scrunched her nose as his breath tickled her face and suddenly realized that they were both still on the ground, more specifically, that he was still holding her down. She blinked, almost hearing as he seemed to come to the same realization right then.

“I didn’t pay a hundred dollars to get the key to this place for nothing” He muttered as he pushed himself off and sat on the ground.

“I don’t know that though. You didn’t even answer your phone! And when you did answer all I heard was a yell and I panicked!” She said defensively because she knew she had made a rash and stupid choice, “How did Tao get out? Why haven’t you left yet?”

“He’s safe, he took the car with a few of the others. Everyone else took the backup vehicle we had hidden around and I stayed back to get the ones that I guess by now have been arrested or are in hiding. I don’t suppose your car is up for a drive?” He said quietly as he casually took out a gun and loaded it, there were three casings missing and she didn’t want to think about what that meant for her team and Myungsoo.

“If we can get out of here, my car is parked south of here a few blocks away. It’s out of view so we would just need to get to it and as far as I know at least two people have been caught”

“I figured. We’ll be fine though, even if they’re interrogated, I trust them”

Min Ah glanced down and sighed, “If they say something about me…”

“They won’t” He said quietly, standing up.

“But if they do, Myungsoo—“ She began.

“They’ve been warned that even mentioning you is as good as betraying me so they won’t” Kris said calmly as he reached down for her arm and pulled her up, “But it seems to me like it’s not a very good relationship if you’re so scared of your boyfriend” He said simply, holding her in place for a second.

She was about to say something when a gunshot echoed behind them.

“Let’s go”

“Where are we going to go? They’ve got almost every single exit covered, we’re walking into their trap!” Min Ah said quietly, following his voice blindly.

“Just come on!” He snapped grabbing her arm once more so that she would move faster and this time she took a sharp breath, “You’re bleeding” He stated, letting her go and feeling the sticky substance on his fingertips.

“It’s just a scrape” She explained quietly and she looked away, feeling the weight of his stare even through the darkness. He grabbed her hand and moved up from there, gripping her wrist instead. She looked at his hand dryly and rolled her eyes as if holding a hand compared to her wrist right now was going to be a big deal.

“By the way, you’re not still afraid of water are you?” He asked as he led her to the back and opened a door quietly.

“…I… I’m not” She lied quickly.

“Good” He said simply as they stepped outside slowly.

Min Ah looked around before looking back at Wu Fan, “Oh my god”

“What?” He asked quickly, glancing around them in a hurry, “What’s wrong?”

“Your face….” She whispered, her eyes wide.

His eyes grew cold and he fixed her with a glare, “Yeah, thanks for that” He snapped before turning away from her and pulling her along cautiously. Min Ah stared at the back of his head and glanced down at her hand. Well, if nothing was going to come from any of this at least she got one good punch in on Wu Fan. It’s not like he didn’t deserve it she figured as she smirked and sped up.

~~~~~~

“I can’t” She whispered, pulling her arm free as she stared at the murky water below.

“You said you weren’t’ afraid anymore” Wu Fan said, knowing that she had lied and despite the situation wanting to make her fess up to it.

“I lied” She said immediately, her voice trembling slightly.

“We won’t get into the water. We just need to get down to the river bank. There’s a small ledge down there we can walk on, it should keep us out of sight and leads us out” He explained calmly, eyes dark as he met her wide and fear filled ones.

He could still remember that day. That innocent and playful shove into that lake and the panic that had come afterwards. He could still see the way her hand had disappeared below the surface. Her screams that day had given him nightmares for weeks. It was by miracle he used to think that she was alive. That he had gotten her out in time… it had been a miracle… and when he remembered her eyes finally opening for him he really had believed it back then. Seeing her fear so plainly out in the open momentarily brought him back to that day and that roused a little bit of his own fear at losing control over that particular lock on his memories.

He blinked back into the moment and realized only a few seconds had gone past.

“Surely you can do at least this right? Don’t tell me you’re still as useless as you were back then?” He snapped and the last word left his throat in a huff as she fixed him with an angry glare.

“And whose fault is that?” She said coldly and he let her wrist go instantly at the slap of guilt that had come with her words.

She reached out and angrily grabbed his wrist. He raised an eyebrow and stared at her, “It’s your idea, you make sure I don’t fall, got it?”

“Got it” He said simply even though he meant it as a promise as they carefully climbed down.

It wasn’t too bad Min Ah chanted repeatedly to herself as she kept a death grip on Wu Fan’s wrist. She quietly tried to focus ahead of her as they snuck along quietly. She tried to ignore the water besides her. It worked for a few moments until they heard the footsteps approaching.

“I’m rechecking the area! Hand me that flashlight!” Hoya yelled from the distance and they both froze.

“We need to turn back” Min Ah whispered.

“No”

“What do you mean no?”

“If we turn back we’ll just keep running and if they catch even a glimpse of us we’re screwed because that team of yours is ing relentless” He turned to her, “We’re going to slip into the water and hang onto the edge, we won’t be swimming, We won’t even be moving do you understand? We just need to move out of their field of vision for a few moments. As soon as they pass us by, we’re safe” He whispered.

The soft sounds of the tide did nothing to calm her as she pictured a mass of black water coming up around her, suffocating her and killing her slowly. She shut her eyes at the wave of nausea that came over her and took a shaky step backward. She shook her head slowly.

“They’ll catch you here and you’ll be done. Even you can’t give any reasonable reason for being here” Kris said desperately as he listened to the sound of footsteps approaching and a few yells.

“You know I can’t do this” She pleaded hoping that by some miracle they would just leave.

“I’m not letting you get yourself caught” Kris said as he pulled her and dragged her to the water.

She clawed at his arm, fighting to get free as tears welled up in her eyes and she could already feel her chest tightening painfully. She started gasping for breath as a million nightmares ran through her mind. He stopped and sighed in annoyance despite the apology he felt he owed her.

“Stop crying… we don’t have time. If you hold on to me and—” He began quickly.

“And what? Trust you? Ha” She said as she tried to pull her arm free.

“No don’t trust me. That would be stupid. But you know I would do anything to survive, as long as you’re holding on to me you’ll be safe. I won’t let myself drown and hence neither will you” He said as he gripped her arm tightly before lowering himself slowly and quietly into the water. He kept a hand on the edge and pulled her down. Her whole body trembled and then she heard Myungsoo’s voice bark out an order. She glanced back and biting her lip she yanked her arm free from Wu Fan’s hold.

If she was found… Myungsoo would forgive she thought to herself. He would have to. Despite everything Myungsoo would be kind to her at least. Jong In’s screams echoed in her mind loudly and she hear Myungsoo’s voice again. She looked down at Wu Fan, his eyes were furious and he looked ready to kill her. The water though, she couldn’t do it, she just couldn’t. She shook her head and moved back. Wu Fan’s eyes grew angrier as he raised himself up and stayed still.

“You want us both to get caught? Fine”

“What are you doing? Just go!” She whispered shakily.

“I’m not leaving. Either you get in this damn water or we’re both arrested see? And then what happens? Jong In doesn’t get the money because we did make the sale you know? We have the money and he’s waiting for us so you need to be strong and get in here and just hold on because I won’t let you die!” He snapped, suddenly glancing behind her, “We don’t have time” He added quietly.

She shut her eyes and with every ounce of strength she had she pushed herself over to the edge. She held her breath as she felt her feet submerge under the surface.

“It’s just like a bath see?” He whispered besides her as she began to lower herself down and a quiet and nervous laugh escape her. Yeah, maybe a bath into her worst nightmares.

Water enveloped her body and at least it was freezing cold which didn’t make it any better, but she focused on that instead of the water itself. She was cold… that’s all she allowed herself to think about. Even though panic was just at the edge of her mind, beating loudly and waiting to pounce, all she focused on was that it was cold. It was freezing cold. So she barely registered when Wu Fan grabbed her and held her in place. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck and they slowly sank a little lower until the water went up to their chins. Panic trickled into her consciousness slowly and she began to struggle. Hard as she tried she couldn’t relax, it was only fear that kept her quiet despite the fact that every cell in her body urged her to scream for help and to get back onto dry land.

A beam of light went over their head and her panic subsided in the face of a worse possibility. She held on tighter and tried to ignore the disgusting feeling of the water around her, the smell, the sounds, she tried to ignore it all. Instead she went back to focusing on the coldness and Wu Fan. She stared at the base of his neck and slowly her eyes trailed up just a bit. She could have laughed at how weak willed she could be, through her panic and fear she still stopped to notice him. A quiet and small panicked laugh escaped her. She wondered in the middle of footsteps only feet away and loud voices, if he really would have let himself get caught if she hadn’t gone into the water with him.

Probably not. Manipulation was nothing new to him she thought quietly, holding on tighter and silently playing for them to move past this area fast. When this was all over, she hoped that her warped mind wouldn’t mistake his instinct for self-preservation for anything else.

She glanced at the water and shuddered with a wave nausea. If they didn’t get on dry land anytime soon, she was going to absolutely lose it.

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Thanks for reading! :)