For a few days, all was calm.

 

No more gangsters stormed through the streets below, no one tried contacting them, and no human approached the apartment building.

 

For some reason, this was worse than being on the run. For some reason, this was worse than gun fights.

 

Some part of Yukwon marvelled at the whole domesticity of the situation; living with Minhyuk in his palace of a flat, sharing his house, his food, his facilities. Yukwon hadn't cohabited with anyone since he'd moved out of his parents' house, so being constantly this close this close to a man he was comfortably intimate with kind of shocked his system.

 

But the fear was always there, a nagging sense of perpetual panic that refused to go away. Both of their lives were in danger- Yukwon made sure he didn't forget that, otherwise the calming lull of domestic life might have convinced his brain that he was safe, that he had nothing to worry about.

 

Yukwon made the most of it, though. The apartment only provided temporary cover, both boys knew that, but they made sure to enjoy to silence while it lasted. The television was constantly on, kept at a low volume to fill the serene flat with a constant, comforting hum of noise, and the men's days were spent plotting and planning on the best ways to maintain their survival.

 

Yukwon and Minhyuk grew closer, too, as people living together tend to do. Small, chaste kisses soon turned into longer, searching ones. Wandering hands got uses to the curves and planes of each other's body, brains used to the comfort and sheer sensation of affection. When they fell, kissing languidly, onto Minhyuk's bed at the end of the day, neither pushed the other into anything further. It was more gentle coaxing, following the natural progress of their relationship.

 

For a few days, all was calm.

 

But not for long.

 

Things began taking a turn for the worst when they ran out of food. The flat's food supply was diminished enough when they arrived ("I'm hardly ever here. It's big and empty, and I get lonely."), but a few days in it was practically nonexistent. Two men couldn't survive on packet soup alone, so that meant one of them had to leave the apartment to go shopping.

 

Yukwon argued that he was trained in this sort of thing, in keeping out of sight, but no matter how much he protested, Minhyuk was just not letting him leave.

 

"You don't know Black Dragon like I do. They'll be on you as soon as you step onto the street." Minhyuk frowned, hand moving to Yukwon's shoulder as he tilted his head meaningfully. The killer frowned.

 

"You seriously don't think I'm letting you go out there!" Yukwon shook his head, and Minhyuk shrugged

 

"I'll be fine." The other man dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand, but Yukwon wasn't convinced.

 

"There's a reason Zico's the leader, there's a reason he's feared even inside the organisation. I'm seriously not letting you out of my sight while he's looking for you." Yukwon enforce his point by circling his arms around Minhyuk's neck, and the black-haired man's hands slid down to his waist.

 

"Yukwon, It won't take long. I'll be in and out of the store before anyone even sees me. I promise."

 

Minhyuk was stubborn, there was no denying that, and Yukwon grumbled as he buried his face in the taller man's shoulder. Minhyuk held the killer close, smoothing his hands soothingly over the other's back.

 

"Be safe, please. For me." Yukwon muttered, lifting his head to look Minhyuk in the eye. Minhyuk smiled softly, before leaning in and catching Yukwon's lips in a soft kiss.

 

"I will." He replied, lips brushing the killers' as he spoke. He pulled back and smiled again, "I'll do anything for you."

 

Yukwon tried to ignore the way his heart fluttered at this, and took to punching the other lightly in the shoulder for being too cheesy. Minhyuk chuckled, before stepping back to grab his jacket off the hook by the door.

 

"I'll be back before you know it." Minhyuk winked, and Yukwon sighed as he headed over to the kitchen area.

 

"Yeah, yeah, just stay alert." He warned again, and Minhyuk left through the glass doors with a short laugh.

 

 

-------

 

 

Zico stormed into the apartment with a growl as the door slammed shut, pacing over to the couch and throwing himself down heavily. Kyung, roused by the noise, went to see what was up with his boyfriend.

 

“Still no sign?” The shorter male asked warily, carefully approaching his scowling partner. Zico threw his head back against the couch cushions, exasperated.

 

“It’s like they’ve both just disappeared off the face of the Earth. No one knows anything about B-Bomb’s previous locations or area of residence or anything.” The blonde sighed, and Kyung hesitantly sat next to him. “It’s just so frustrating! I knew Yukwon would do a runner once we warned him, but I expected B-Bomb to be too careless and inconsiderate to bother. Now we’ve lost both our hitman, and an extremely dangerous mark.”

 

Kyung let his hand fall to Zico’s thigh, and smoothed the denim of his jeans comfortingly. “Zico, we’re one of the top organisations in the entire country. No one can escape from us, even if they know the best places to hide. It may take a little longer, but we will find them.”

 

Soothed slightly by his partner’s words, Zico lifted his head and smiled tiredly at the smaller man. “I know, Kyung. I just get impatient when things get drawn out longer than I want them to. The case has gone on for far too long already, and I don’t want the Bosses to start asking questions.”

 

Suddenly, Kyung thought of something. He paused, before speaking quietly. “Do you... Maybe your heart’s not really in it? That’s why you can’t find them?”

 

Zico’s face fell, turning to face Kyung sharply, and the shorter man immediately regretted opening his mouth.

 

“I don’t care about this goddamn mark, if that’s what you’re implying. That’s Yukwon’s job. I just need to find him and kill him before things get out of hand.”

 

Kyung shook his head. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m talking about Kwon here. Maybe hunting a member of your own organisation goes against your loyalty?”

 

“I’m not hunting Yukwon, I’m hunting B-Bomb.” Zico tilted his head to the side, the words drawn out as if Kyung was slow and didn’t really understand. The older man frowned.

 

“Come on, Zico. We both know that wherever B-Bomb is hiding, Kwon is sure to be too.”

 

Zico sat and thought for a moment, and when his gaze met Kyung’s for the second time, the smaller man physically shivered at the coldness held there.

 

“My loyalty to the organisation as a whole far surpasses my loyalty to one man. I don’t desire to, but if killing B-Bomb means killing Yukwon as well, then I’ll have no choice.”

 

Kyung gasped. “Zico...but... Kwon...”

 

The coldness shifted slightly, replaced by the defiance Kyung knew all too well. Gently, Zico slid an arm around Kyung’s waist.

 

“We could both die if this doesn’t happen.” Zico’s tone was serious, but Kyung refused to back down.

 

“There has to be a way of getting B-Bomb away from Yukwon. There has to be. They aren’t inseparable.”

 

Zico studied his partners face, biting his lip, and Kyung could almost hear his brain working. After a few seconds of tense silence, the beginnings of a smile curled at the edges of Zico’s mouth.

 

“I may just have an idea...”

 

 

-------

 

 

Never before in his life had Minhyuk found grocery shopping a particularly difficult task, but it was completely different when he knew someone was out there chasing him down. Every step was taken with caution, every move made with precision and awareness that at any time, he could be ambushed and killed.

 

It took longer than he’d expected it to, but soon the shopping was completed, and he was free to make the trek back to the apartment. As much as he loved this new little intimacy with Yukwon, as much as he loved spending time with the beautiful man, he hated feeling constantly on edge. Minhyuk hated the feeling that even his fathers gang weren’t there to protect him this time, that he no longer just had himself to protect any more. He didn’t admit it, not even fully to himself, but he was actually afraid of anything happening to Yukwon. Minhyuk had never felt this way about anyone before, so the realisation that something bad might happen to Yukwon sent terror clouding his mind.

 

That’s why he hurried back to the flat. His brain refused to let him leave the killer alone for too long, just in case something terrible occured.

 

The first thing he noticed upon arrival was that the gate to the fire escape was open, swinging leisurely in the breeze. Briefly, he wondered if he’d been careless enough not to shut it when he left. The second thing he noticed was that the air seemed different, and that there were small scratches in the railing under his palm. A sense of foreboding rose inside him as he stopped to examine the grooves in the paint, brushing his fingers over them.

 

Against his better judgement, he dismissed this as him being over-cautious, and continued on his way up to the apartment. 

 

The third thing really didn’t need noticing. The glass doors were wide open, and without even thinking, Minhyuk rushed inside.

 

One word flashed through his mind as he entered the flat. One word, like a mantra, repeated itself in his brain like an alarm clock as he tore through the apartment, checking room after room for the killer.

 

Suddenly, he reached the bedroom, and the word began echoing louder in his ears, competing for volume with his pounding heart. The room was trashed- bedcovers ripped and strewn around, the desk upturned, and the curtains tugged off the rail. Minhyuk ran forward towards the bed, not caring about the shards of glass littering the floor from the shattered mirror. Once there, he stopped abruptly, and a flood of panic rushed over him.

 

He felt sick, his mind hazy and his gaze unfocused. There was no sign of the man Minhyuk had grown to love so much, and there, on the bed, was a small stain of what looked an awful lot like blood. A small object lay a few inches to the left, and with shaking fingers, Minhyuk lifted it up to get a closer look.

 

He gulped, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as his body went cold with terror. It was a ring, just a plain silver band, but engraved in the centre was a symbol that was all too familiar to his eyes.

 

A dragon.

 

Minhyuk’s knees collapsed, and he sunk to the floor beside the bed. He’d been careless, he’d left him alone, and now this had happened. He gripped his head in anguish as the full force of what might have possibly taken place here struck him suddenly, and his brain began shouting the one-word mantra deafeningly loud.