“It’s me” He said softly, “It’s me. I’m here. I’m sorry it took me so long” He said and he felt his throat tightening at the relief that she was alive. He gently brushed her hair back and quickly unfastened the restraints on the neck, wrists, and ankles. He didn’t wince at the open sores on all of these from her struggle. She had fought hard.

“Are you real?” Min Ah asked quietly because this felt real to her and as much as she would have loved to have some sort of psychic power, not even hallucinations could undo restraints.

“I’m real” He said as he unfastened the last restraint and walked back to her side. She wasn’t sitting up.

“Are you… sure?” She asked surprisingly scared that this was some cruel trick that her mind had conjured up. Maybe she was imagining this all this and if she let herself get hopeful then she would really lose it if she woke up to that man and his dammed knives again.

“I’m very sure. I was never going to leave you here. Even if it was the last thing I did I would’ve made sure you were alive. Min Ah, I’m going to sit you up right now ok?” He said gently as he placed his hands on her upper arms and pulled her torso up. She gasped as his warm touch pulled her up and at the same time it made the injuries on her arms sting.

“Ow ow!” She said quietly as she winced.

He instantly let go, afraid that he was hurting her.

“No… I think I have a couple of broken ribs” She whispered.

She looked up at him then and really saw him because she very nearly expected him to disappear until he touched her. Her eyes filled up with tears she thought she had run out of and they spilled over as she cried. Every inch of her body cried out in pain as she tried to bite her lip and keep herself calm. Even though she had thought he was long gone he had come for her and part of her always knew it. Unsure of whether he would hurt her or not, he slowly wrapped his arms around her as she put her arms around him and despite the pain she held on tightly and cried into his chest. They didn’t speak for a minute even though realistically they didn’t have the luxury to do that.

“We have to go. I’m going to get you out of here and to a hospital” He said as he pulled away gently.

Reluctantly she let go of him and nodded as he helped her swing her legs over the edge and tried to get her to stand. She instantly swayed as her knees gave out under her. Wu Fan carefully held her up as her head pounded loudly and she tried to gather her strength.

“I can’t…. I… can’t” She said with difficulty and cringed at the stabbing cramps in her abdomen. She hadn’t been fed or given any water for a few days and given her conditions she was surprised she was even conscious right now.

Wu Fan quickly shrugged his coat off and helped her slip it on. It provided good cover as it fell long past her arms and down to her knees. He closed his eyes briefly before deciding to ask, “Did… did he touch you… I mean…” He said awkwardly, unsure of how to broach the topic.

Min Ah stared up at him and shook her head, “Not like that. Ironically enough I think he hated me too much to want to do anything like that. Although if I had been here any longer…” She trailed off, the thought causing a shudder of fear to run through her, “Is he dead?”

“Very” Wu Fan said seriously and felt relieved when she nodded in approval. Part of him had been worried that she would be mad they didn’t go through the law although if he knew her at all he suspected she would have liked to her hands on that man before him and kill him herself.

After she buttoned up the coat he picked her up and carried her up. When they passed the two corpses she looked over his shoulder and stared until they were long out of sight. Her body trembled slightly and he just wanted to take her as far away from here as he could. They reached the top floor of a building she hadn’t been able to see because she had simply woken up in that room. She leaned her head on his shoulder and waited quietly until they could leave. She wanted to close her eyes but other scarier things came to mind so she fought to keep her eyes open and instead focused on Wu Fan.

“Did you start gathering everyone?” Wu Fan asked as they reached the rest of them.

“Yeah. Everything here is handled, we got two cars already gone and getting rid of everything else. We just need to get out of here now” Kyungsoo said as he glanced at the battered girl in his arms.

“Good let’s get out of here” He said as they headed towards the car.

They were blinded by the headlights as soon as they stepped out. There had been no sounds or warning signs and their eyes sight had to adjust before they noticed the row of cars in front of them. Min Ah felt her head spin and suddenly remembered that Min Guk had baited two men. She shut her eyes tightly.

“Put her down and we won’t shoot!” She heard Myungsoo yell, his voice proud and unaware of the situation.

“I’d rather not” Wu Fan yelled back, holding Min Ah tighter.

“Put me down” She said softly, no strength to speak any louder.

“What?” Wu Fan asked.

“Park Min Guk didn’t just use me as bait for you. Do you want him to shoot you? He will you know” She said quietly.

“I’m not leaving you” He said.

“We have no choice right now”

“I said put her down!” Myungsoo yelled and Min Ah finally turned to the row of men with guns trained on them. Her eyes scanned them, recognizing each and every one of them until she rested her sights on Myungsoo.

She felt her feet touch the ground as Wu Fan gently eased her down. He kept an arm around her to help her stay up and she tried to think of any way to get out of this, “I love you” He whispered in her ear, staring defiantly at the men with guns.

“Step away from that man Min Ah” Myungsoo said softly and she wanted to scream and grab tightly onto him instead.

“You won’t shoot him right?” She asked loudly, her chest crushing her with pain at the force of raising her voice. It was subtle, but it was like sound around her was being muffled. She tried to stare straight ahead, but she found darkness creeping in on the corners of her eyes.

“Of course not, Min Ah come here” He ordered and Wu Fan’s arm tightened around her waist.

She cautiously tried to step away and after a slight resistance from Wu Fan, his arm finally dropped from her side. She stood on her own for a second before her whole body swayed and she felt her knees give out. As she fell to the ground she heard two loud pops and only after did she hear someone yell. Footsteps rushed to her side and she still couldn’t understand what was happening until Wu Fan’s body went down in front of her. She must have screamed with energy she didn’t know she had as she felt arms grab her and try to pull her away. She slapped the arms away and turned Wu Fan over. She saw the red blood stains and she heard people talking around her, but she couldn’t make anything out as her headache got worse. She wanted to throw up, but she didn’t know what to do.

“What are you doing?” Myungsoo asked as he watched her murmur something as she shook that man’s body.

“Did you call an ambulance?” She whispered without looking at him, instead keeping her eyes on Wu Fan who groaned in pain. His eyes seemed unfocused and she was terrified he would close hem forever. Rescues weren’t supposed to end like she told herself. They were supposed to have escaped together not end up like this. This wasn’t right.

“Yes, now come on. You need to go to a hospital”

“You said you wouldn’t. Why did you…”

“He went for you. We told him not to move, he was going to hurt you” Myungsoo lied.

“No he wasn’t! He saved me!” She insisted as she touched his face and put pressure on the wound in his abdomen. He was going to be ok she told herself.

“He is a criminal” Myungsoo hissed watching her carefully as he replayed Min Guk’s word in his head. He looked down at the man, so much for a white knight.

“He saved me… you tried to kill him without reason. Who’s the criminal here” She whispered, her voice full of disdain and Myungsoo grabbed her arm roughly.

Min Ah gasped as his touch hurt the injuries all over her body and he pulled her up despite her struggles. Her eyes locked with Wu Fan’s and he groaned as he tried to reach for her. She cried out as Myungsoo crushed her to his chest and held her there unwilling to listen to her pleads to let her go because it hurt like hell. Instead he held on stubbornly until the ambulance came. Kyungsoo had already been taken away and Min Ah had stopped struggling. Instead she stood still as she watched Wu Fan struggle all alone. In that instant she hated all of them for leaving him lying on the ground like an animal. He was hurt and no one was helping him.

“You’re suffering from shock. That man is a criminal. There is nothing that happened that you wouldn’t have done. Who knows if he was even saving you or grabbing you for something worse?” Myungsoo said calmly.

As the paramedics put him on a stretcher, one of them approached her.

“Miss you need to come with us too” One explained as he reached for her.

Myugnsoo held onto her, “I’ll take her into the hospital”

“No, I want to go in the ambulance” Min Ah said quietly.

“I’ll take you to the hospital” Myungsoo insisted.

“Sorry she is a conscious patient and we need to respect her wishes” The paramedic said as he managed to pull her away from Myungsoo and he called for the other stretcher to be brought. As he helped her on she tried to keep her nerves calm at the sudden reminder of the table she had spent all this time in.

“I’m going with you two”

“No, make him leave” She pleaded, closing her eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me” Myungsoo snapped as the paramedic could do nothing but shrug as they wheeled her inside. Right before they close the doors she opened her eyes and met his angry stare.

It didn’t take her long to focus on the problem at hand though as she turned her head to the right and stared at Wu Fan whose breathing had slowed as the man besides his put an oxygen mask on him and carefully tried to bandage the wound.

“How bad is it?” She asked, her voice trembled slightly.

“Not good” The man said sympathetically as he watched her worried gaze land on the supposed criminal here and he wondered what their relationship was.

The answer was a bit clearer to him when she reached for the man’s hand and held it tightly even after she passed out. Judging from the injuries something bad had happened, but all he knew was that this guy had been shot and that she had suffered extensive trauma. He cocked his head as he adjusted the oxygen on the tall man and wondered if it was something like Stockholm’s Syndrome?

~~~~~~

When Min Ah next opened her eyes, she stared straight ahead at the bright white lights on the ceiling and began to panic. She breathing quickened and grew shallow as she sat up with a gasp, surprised that her restraints were gone. Has that man forgotten? Was she being set free? It was only after she had noticed the bandages all over her and the fact that she was in a hospital room that things began to fall back into place. She laid back in her bed and closed her eyes, trying to recall what had happened. She remembered being bound to the table and having a dream about Wu Fan… Her eyes suddenly widened at the thought of him as everything came rushing back to her. She sat up once again, this time slower without the sudden rush of adrenaline there to muffle the sharp pain in her rib cage.

She went still as the door to her room opened and Myungsoo walked in. His eyes were downcast and he hadn’t realized she was awake until he shut the door and finally looked up. She didn’t know what to do as their gaze met and he froze for a second before a smile came onto his face. He went up to her and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m so glad you’re alight” He whispered and she stared at him quietly, “You don’t know how worried I was that you weren’t waking up. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t” He murmured and she stared at him as he pulled back.

“How long was I asleep for?”

“Four days. The doctors said you were resting they had to sedate you when you first came in but afterwards your body just completely gave out from all the stress you’ve been under. He said he’d come talk to you when you woke up” Myungsoo explained as he took a seat beside her and grabbed her hand, “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” He said quietly.

“Myungsoo…” She said as she slowly took her hand back and looked away, “I don’t… I don’t think now’s the time” She whispered.

“I know, I just wanted you to know” He said and she felt bad at the hint of sadness in his voice, “I love you, I thought you should be reminded”

They fell into silence until the doctor came in. Min Ah closed her eyes and thanked god for the small break he had given her. Myungsoo excused himself and promised to visit again early tomorrow because visiting hours were over now. She nodded and thanked him for coming as she watched him leave and got back to the doctor who explained the series of injuries she had and that for the most part everything would be alright now. Min Ah nodded along waiting until he was done talking to ask him about Wu Fan.

“There was another man who came in with me. Is he alright?” She asked nervously.

“The patient in room 216? It was touch and go for a while, but he pulled through. Although don’t you have any questions about yourself?” He asked and she shook her head.

“Alright then. Rest up although I suspect after all this time it’s probably the last thing on your mind!” He said with a smile as he left her.

She waited a couple of minutes before slipping out of bed grabbing tightly onto the IV stand she slowly made her way out into the hallway. She looked at her own room 210 and went to the right. Very slowly she watched the room numbers increase until she reached room 216. She hesitated before going inside. Wu Fan laid on the hospital bed, he looked pale, but he was alive. She got closer and her eyes flickered to the handcuffs that bound him to the railing of the bed. She sighed as she tried to figure out if she could simply pick the lock and free him.

“Min Ah?” His voice cut through her thoughts and she smiled.

“I’m here” She said tearfully, relieved to finally hear his voice.

“Are you alright? They wouldn’t tell me anything about you. Not that I could really go out and ask...” He said and she noted how weak his voice was.

“I’m fine. You know me” She said with a soft laugh as she got closer and cautiously touched the top of his hand with her fingertips. He instantly turned his hand over and grabbed hers firmly,

“I was worried”

“I’m worried now, what are you going to do?” She said motioning towards the handcuffs.

He stared at them and sighed, “I think… maybe this is a sign of a fresh start”

“Being a prisoner?”

“No, paying for what I’ve done. Getting a clean slate, I don’t know. There’s not really any other options you know. You should probably go before they suspect anything”

“Everyone’s gone. I want to stay here with you” She said quietly as she leaned in and placed her lips on his lightly. He touched her cheek and pulled her back in as he gave a deeper kiss.

“I was going insane not knowing about you” He whispered and she smiled sadly.

“You’re stupid for realizing that so late, but for what it's worth... thank you for coming back for me”

~~~~~~

Myungsoo had always known that there were thing he would much rather have lived without knowing. For example, he never wanted to know that his father had constant affairs and that his mother knowing all about them chose to look the other way. He never wanted to know that despite his skills in the end the only reason he had been given this job was because of his father. Above all, he had never wanted to know that the woman he loved had betrayed him in more ways than one. She had not only stopped loving him, but she had risked her own job all for a man and that was something that Myungsoo couldn’t understand.

Where did she meet him? How did she let herself be so manipulated by her own feelings that she would do things like these? It was easy enough to figure out the rest once he knew the truth. It was all right under his nose and yet it was one of those things that you could never realize unless you were looking for it explicitly. He was glad he knew because it gave him a chance to fight back, but he didn’t want to know. It was so obvious too when he had looked into her eyes today that her mind was somewhere else and he knew exactly where it had gone. But Min Ah had always underestimated his own feelings he realized. Maybe he had been late, but she failed to pick up how much he loved her and how much he knew her.

While she may love someone else and that man may know her, Myungsoo was confident he knew her better. So when he had walked into her room he smothered the flare of rage that had come up inside of him and played the ignorant role. He knew he could probably guilt her into doing the right thing in the end. She had shame at least he reasoned and despite the fact that he wouldn’t acknowledge the bit of hate that had begun to taint his love for her, he wanted her by his side forever. It would be fitting, he would get what he wanted and she and that man would never be together again. He was preparing himself to keep him behind bars for a long time and who knows, maybe shorter. After all, accidents in prisons happen every day.

He comforted himself with these thoughts as he watched her come out of her room and go into that man’s. She must’ve been really going insane not knowing if he was alive to be so reckless about it. Myungsoo thought back to the video footage from that room when EXO’s leader had walked in. He had found it to be so strange, why would anyone send him that until he saw him go to her. He saw the tenderness in his touch and the way she had held on to him. Sure, that might’ve been just a reaction to being saved, but her actions afterwards weren’t. It made sense with everything else too so Myungsoo accepted it as one of those truths he would have preferred to never know.

But now that he did, there was nothing left to do but deal with it.

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Thanks for reading! :)