It’s been a couple hours since the moment in the tub, Daehyun’s mood still low as we pack the various belongings into my bag. The food sits near the top, the spare clothes at the bottom cushioning the fruit.

Part of me is excited to go back to the hangers, but there is another part of me that wishes it could stay like this for a little bit longer… The two of us able to bond over something that should be so simple.

I lift my gaze from the contents of my bag to his toned frame as he gazes through the carved out stone which makes a window. He fingers it slowly before turning to face me with a small smile. I smile in return and close up the bag, slinging it over my shoulder and standing to face him.

“I like this place…” He mumbles out suddenly as he looks around the room.

I keep my smile, “Well, if you ever need some place to rest on a run, you know you’re welcome here.”

He smiles wholeheartedly and he gestures me to exit the room and I do so.

“It won’t take too long to get back, seeing as we’re in the Central City of the district… six hours if we move quickly,” he instructs.

I nod in compliance as we make our way down the stairs and are greeted with the living room.

“Oh, wait,” I say as he wanders towards the door.

He looks over to me as I take a place by the bookshelf, taking out a few advanced medical textbooks that I’m sure Hongbin doesn’t have anywhere in his office.

“I need to study when I get back,” I tell him shyly.

He laughs a bit but walks over to grab the books from my hands and places them in my canvas bag, making sure the food is not touched.

“Are we ready?” Daehyun asks, his hand placing itself in mine as he stares down at me.

I glance from him to the pictures that sit on the shelves of my wall.

“Just one more thing,” I pout as I pull him over towards the shelving.

He feigns an annoyed sigh but lets me pull him to my desired location.

I look over the photographs once more, the one of my parents catching my attention. My fingers trace over their faces and I let my smile fade.

“This time… I won’t mind if you come with me.”

I can feel Daehyun’s eyes on me as I pick up the photograph, folding it and shoving it into my bag quickly.

I smile at him and pull him to the door where we make our way out of it, making sure it’s securely closed behind us.

“Lead the way, Captain,” I giggle at him.

He keeps his regular smile and this time pulls me along, telling me about the path we were going to take.

“We need to be careful this time round, there’s a distance where soldiers could be,” he instructs with a defensive tone.

I nod, my eyes widening slightly as my memories of my last encounter with the soldiers flash into my mind.

“Just stay behind me,” he asks, his expression taking on one of worry.

I nod, rolling my eyes a bit. Maybe I should listen to his advice and get some stealth training… What could be the harm in it, really? If I was going to make sure the government had their just deserts, well I surely needed to be in better strength to do so.

“Daehyun,” I begin, taking a deep breath before continuing, “Tell N to give me stealth training… I don’t want to have to rely on everyone all the time…”

Daehyun eyes me in surprise but nods in agreement.

“Okay… I think I can do that.”

I smile as we continue on our walk in simple chit-chat; He tells me about various fighting styles, different moments he’s been involved with and in no time it’s been three hours, and we’ve reached the outskirts of the city.

“This is where we have to be careful…”

He moves towards a broken section of the stone walls that encircle the district. His hand tightens around mine as he pulls me forward to slide through the crack of the wall.

“You need to be quiet, there could be soldiers,” he glances nervously at me, “Stay near me unless I tell you otherwise. It’s basically straight ahead.”

He squeezes my hand before pulling me through the slit in the wall, popping out the other side to be greeted with a dry and dusty atmosphere.

There are yells heard but seem far away so the two of us move forward. It’s a swift walk, surely one that won’t cause much noise. It’s only when we are half way to where I am being pulled that we notice the back of a soldier pacing near the mountainous region we need to get into.

Daehyun halts his steps to pull me behind him, letting go of my hand while his hand slides to a pocket on the thigh of his overalls.

“Move,” he mumbles stiffly.

“What?” I ask as I gaze at the somewhat bored soldier.

“Go to the piled stones,” he breathes out roughly as he takes a step forward, “just be quiet about it.”

“But I’m –“

He cuts me off before I can finish my sentence.

“Now,” he orders.

I feel strange when I see this commanding side of him but I follow the order and begin to move quietly towards said stones.

I glance over as he moves forward in a domineering stance towards the man who is paying no mind to the two strangers behind him.

When I roam Daehyun’s body to see what he was reaching for in his pocket, I notice a small blade in his right hand. I have a sudden surge of nerves spring through my body as my eyes widen at the way he walks towards him.

What if he gets shot? Or killed? Why is he sending me away…? I need to help him.

As I become wrapped in my thoughts I don’t take note of the few stones coming across my path and stumble over them, a small eep escaping my lips as I do so.

My hands collect the weight of my fall as they crash against the dry earth and I can hear a ruckus being made. I look up only to see the soldier facing us and I quickly spring to my feet, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

I glance over as I move forward to see Daehyun springing to the side and I finally hear a somewhat familiar sound. A single shot.

I look over and take note of Daehyun’s body lying on the ground but his head quickly turns to me as I hear him yell out my name.

“Taylor –“

I let out a yell as I feel something graze my abdomen, my body involuntarily scrunching downwards.

I glance down at myself as immense pain begins to shoot through my body. There’s a graze left from the soldiers gun and my eyes widen as I come realize just how serious our situation is becoming.

My left hand covers the wound as I push myself to my feet to keep moving forward, tears building in my eyes.

I can’t tell how deep it is quite yet, but I can feel the blood seeping into my new clothing. I need to move before this man has another chance to fire.

It’s mere seconds before that happens but this time the sound travels in a different direction and all I can hear is a muffled scream.

I take a chance and look over to see Daehyun with an arm wrapped around the soldiers head, the other pushed against his neck. Daehyun’s hand moves away from the man’s neck and I see a splash of blood as he pulls his blade from the soldier’s now colourless skin.

The man’s body drops to the floor as his screams become muffled by the earth entrapping his face.

Daehyun is sprinting towards me and I quickly throw myself against the mountain side. When I move my left hand from my abdomen, I try to figure the depth of the gash but find there’s too much blood that pours from it to care. My hand quickly squeezes against it and I can feel Daehyun’s hand rest on my shoulder signalling he’s by my side.

“Where is it?” he asks, worry lacing his voice.

My breathing becomes heavy as I weakly step forward to grab onto his body, too much blood having left my body for me to properly exude my strength.

He glances over my body and I eye him in worry as I speak.

“This better be quick, I need Hongbin,” I state with tears making their way down my cheeks.

I try to smile but he just counters with a grimace. He’s quick to scoop me into his arms, his hands behind my shoulders and underneath my knees.

“It’ll be less than thirty minutes; most of the walking was to get to this point.”

I nod as my left hand continues to push against the seeping wound that sits an inch or two beneath my left . My right hand clutches onto his shirt tightly as he begins to kick stones from our path, making his way into what seems to be a cloaked area in the mountain side. He crouches lower signalling it’s small, but not to the point where we would be on our hands and knees.

“Ravi might kill you now,” I jokingly grunt as the pain over takes my senses.

He doesn’t dare to look at me but only responds, “That’s not funny right now.”

I look back down to my wound and grit my teeth as I squeeze the sensitive area tighter. It’s beginning to get to the point where the rise and fall of my chest as I breathe becomes painful, stretching the wound to let out more blood. The pain of it all seems to encircle my mind and I can only concentrate on how many stitches I may need, or if the bullet is still inside it or not.

When Daehyun begins to sprint up a steep hill, the bounce of his steps sends sheer pain ringing through my body and I grind my teeth, making sure I wouldn’t scream.

“I’m sorry,” he breathes out suddenly.

I shake my head, “It’s fine.”

He shakes his head in response and when I turn my eyes forward I can finally make out an entrance a few metres away. I would finally be greeted with the familiar hangers, and the eyes of some not so happy males.

“This may hurt since I have no hands,” Daehyun says as he comes to a stop in front of the entrance.

I give him a questioning while his leg quickly rises to kick the door in front of us. The sudden movement is too much as my body shifts, stretching the wound open more and I scream. I cut it off by biting into my bottom lip as we make our way into a lit hallway. Tears are falling down my cheeks as I clutch onto the fresh wound. My gaze is becoming blurry when Daehyun yells suddenly.

“Yah, Jongup! Hyuk!”

I look forward, adjusting to the two figures in front of us with Hyuk’s face frozen in fear as he drops the tools in his hands to run towards us. Jongup takes a moment before moving but is halted by Hyuk’s masculine voice.

“Tell Hongbin to go to his medical office, maybe avoid Ravi if you can.”

Jongup nods, turning towards the stairs that lead to the hallway holding Hongbin’s office.

Hyuk stops in front of us to eye me and when I lift my hand from the gash, his eyes widen.

“Oh, ,” he breathes loudly, “Follow me.”

Hyuk gives Daehyun a strained look and I try to bat at the younger man’s frame.

“Don’t swear,” I scold.

He scoffs, “We’re the same age, so how about you stop too.”

I try to giggle but wince as pain takes over my chest.

We begin to move once Hyuk is leading us up the stairs and when we make out way into the hallway, he takes the third left on his right, twisting the door open quickly.

When we enter Hongbins medical office I can hear feet behind me and I guess that it’s Hongbin being followed by Jongup.

“Here,” Hyuk commands as he motions Daehyun forward.

I’m quickly comforted by the softness of a hospital cot and soon enough, Hongbins face is greeting mine.

He has gloves on his hands already and his face is covered with worry.

“What the hell happened?” He questions.

“Soldier,” I breathe out, my voice a bit raspy from the screams that had earlier strained my voice box.

Hongbin shakes his head as he turns his eyes away from me to Hyuk.

“I need bandages, rubbing alcohol, maybe tweezers if I can clean it out and see if there’s still a bullet in there.”

Hyuk nods and begins to move around the room.

“Sorry,” Hongbin apologizes and I give him a questioning look but any questions I might have are answered as he rips open my new clothes around the wound.

“I need to be able to see it,” he adds.

I nod and let go of the wound and wince as his fingers graze it.

“, this is wide,” Hongbin mutters, “what kind of bullet was he using…”

I shake my head as Hyuk hands him the rubbing alcohol, clutching not only bandages but as well as cotton swabs in his arms.

“Again, sorry,” Hongbin breathes. This time I am fully aware of the sting that will ensue.

He dabs a cloth from the table nearby with rubbing alcohol and presses it against the wound. I scream in pain as it seeps into my skin, stinging deep into my abdomen.

I make out more footsteps as I glance over at Daehyun who is staring at me with a saddened expression. I know he thinks it’s his fault, but it couldn’t be helped in the situation. Hopefully I would be able to tell him that after words.

“There’s no bullet,” Hongbin breathes but I don’t dare to look down or at him. The footsteps have stopped as two more members join the five of us.

My eyes widen as I quickly meet Ravi’s angered expression but it’s stolen as my eyes focus on Leo’s stone like expression. Our eyes lock and tears leave my eyes and fall against the cotton mattress beneath me.

His eyes widen as he moves his way through the office towards me. His shoulders are tense and his features have taken on that of anxiousness.

I let out another loud grunt of pain as Hongbin’s hands make their way around the wound, each moment my eyes not leaving their locked position with his. More tears form in my eyes and I bite my bottom lip to prevent them from spilling onto my cold skin.

Leo is nearby when I try to smile at him but he only frowns in worry as he stares down at me.

Daehyun lets out a shaky breath and I glance at him for a mere second but my gaze can’t leave the redhead in the room although this time his eyes are not on me.

Leo has squared his shoulders, his eyes colder than I had ever seen as he stares gaze burns holes into the side of Daehyun’s face.

“Leo,” I mumble between gritted teeth.

He ignores it only to move towards Daehyun, his fists clenched tightly. It's not too long after that I see Ravi doing the same from behind.

Whatever is about to ensue, I would surely need to apologize for later.