Sehun paced back and forth. Luhan was suddenly out of reach and it actually made him nervous. What he just doesn’t know is that Luhan just doesn’t pay his phone much attention lately. Sehun bit his nails, where are you, Luhan?

It was early in the morning and Katherine was awake. She was having the morning sickness and she practically threw up her whole being onto the kitchen sink when she was grabbing something to drink. She rubbed her tummy and spoke, ‘it’s okay.’ She was still sleepy but she was determined to wait up for Jongdae to arrive.

She fished her phone under Luhan’s sleeping body and headed out to the couch to lie down there. She opened the phone on and squinted when the bright light hit her face.

After a few moments, she felt her phone vibrate and she immediately answered.

‘Kat? Are you awake?’ Jongdae’s voice was soothing and soft – or at least to Katherine’s ears, they were. She croaked, ‘yep.’ She was rubbing her tummy which had a tad small bump now and bit her lip. How was she going to break the news? She was nervous as she was sure Jongdae wouldn’t be able to take it in in a good way.

‘You should be sleeping,’ Jongdae said. She laughed nervously, ‘and so are you.’

He sighed. He had to stop by a small inn for the night in hopes that this day would be the day he would finally find her. Seems like no place was good enough for them to hide. Kris always seemed to find them.

‘I did, Kat. I’m driving. I think I finally know where you are,’ his voice had a tint of excitement and it made her heart skip a beat. Please, do find me. She was rubbing her tummy and smiling. Soon enough, her baby would have a dad. Or so at least she thought he/she would.

‘I love you,’ she whispered softly. Jongdae sighed and a weak smile formed in his lips as he answered, ‘and I love you. I’ll see you real soon so wait for me, okay? I miss you, Kat,’ he leaned into his phone a little longer as he smiled weakly.

‘I miss you too, and I’ll wait for you, okay?’

She ended the call and stared at the digital clock beside the bed. It was nearing seven in the morning and she decided to try to cook Luhan breakfast. He was still asleep and Katherine had the thought of cooking for him like he did for her often times back in Korea.

She wanted to make pancakes and so she fixed the batter and started cooking. It was a long while since she last prepared breakfast.

The moment the pancakes’ scent started to seep inside the room, Luhan’s eyes fluttered open. He rubbed his eyes and looked to his left. Katherine was cooking. He practically jumped out of bed and ran to her.

‘What are you doing? You should be taking a rest,’ Luhan grabbed the spatula from her hand and she laughed at him, ‘good morning to you too, Luhan.’

Luhan scoffed in disbelief, ‘really, this woman, ay.’

‘Luhan, you’re over-reacting. I’m fine. Geez, I need to cook too, you know,’ she said as a matter of fact. Luhan could only sigh, ‘fine. Just don’t come running to me when you feel tired and heavy as an elephant.’ He gave her the spatula back and laughed. She giggled. How she had come to love that man dearly.

‘Would you like anything from the store? I’ll go out for you if you like,’ he called from across the room. She replied, ‘no, I don’t need anything,’ but then added, ‘maybe just some food for the week. Jongdae might come over soon.’ She smiled happily and Luhan did too.

‘Okay, I’ll get dressed,’ Luhan disappeared to the walk in closet and got dressed.

‘Have some breakfast before you leave,’ Katherine called out. After an hour of eating and laughing, Luhan was out the door and she was left alone.

She cleared the table and cleaned the plates. Her phone rang just in time as she finished off.

‘Hello?’

‘Kat, I think I’m close,’ Jongdae’s voice ranged from being happy and being confused and lost. She chuckled, ‘are you sure you got the address right? Please make sure you do. I’m waiting.’

He blushed a bit, ‘yeah, I think I got it right. I’ll call you back.’

After an hour or so of cleaning, she grew exhausted and decided to take a break. She was wiping off the beads of sweat from her forehead and she was fanning her face. She heard a knock and without second thought, she stood up, her heart beating quite rapidly. She momentarily fixed her hair and straightened up her clothes. Jongdae could be standing there now and she needed herself to be presentable.

She walked towards the door and opened it. Luhan was looking at her weirdly, ‘why are you smiling at me like that?’ he asked. She shook her head and immediately held Luhan’s plastic bags and helped him inside.

‘I thought you were Jongdae,’ she whispered, slightly embarrassed by her wrong assumption. Luhan could just chuckle, ‘excited aren’t we?’

Yes, she was.

‘That’s not what.. fine,’ she exhales as Luhan chuckles. He was obviously enjoying this. She was blushing as she laid down the bags on the kitchen counter. Apparently, a call from Jongdae had a certain effect on her which made her into someone who wanted nothing to do with him to someone who wanted to be with him in an instant.

Funny how someone you love can turn you into a mess.

Right then, there was a knock on the door. Luhan smiled at her knowingly, as she was practically just three steps away from the door. She excitedly opened up the door, with a beaming smile on her face.

‘Jongd-‘ her smile falters as she stared off to space – there was no one to welcome.

‘Where’s he, honey?’ Luhan called as he fixed the ingredients for dinner. She smiled, ‘no one.’

Before closing the door though, her hand brushed off slightly on the edge of the doorknob and a thin line of coldness touched her fingers. Without thinking much, she got what was hanging from the knob – a very familiar white gold necklace.

She dropped it at first since it came as a shock – where the hell did that come from? She had thought she had lost it. Seeing that it was hanging from a knob clearly meant one thing: Kris.

She gulped, hurriedly (slammed) closed the door shut and jogged towards Luhan, her face still tainted with slight horror.

‘Luhan,’ she called, ‘I think we have a problem.’ Luhan looked at her weirdly, ‘what do you mean?’

She hung the necklace in front of her face as Luhan examined it, trying to recall where he had seen it before. Knowing that he saw Kris take that exact same necklace from her before, he was convinced that they really had a problem.

‘Don’t tell me..’ she started, her voice shaking. Luhan furrowed his brows, but quickly held her near him.

‘Lock the doors and call Jongdae,’ he said sternly. Nodding, she hurriedly went to the door and locked it – chaining it thrice. She peeked inside the hole – no one was there. She swore she felt Kris’ eerie presence and it was enough to make her shiver.

‘Baby~’ he cooed, clearly unaware of the present situation. Had he known that Kris was probably within a mile radius, he wouldn’t even have time to think straight.

Noticing that there was a lack of response from the other line, he immediately added, ‘is there something wrong?’

Luhan took the phone from Katherine and spoke to Jongdae instead, ‘Jongdae, I think you should be here by now.’

‘I’m close. What’s wrong? Is everything alright?’

Luhan glanced up to Katherine who was staring blankly into nowhere. It was just about nearing noon, but it felt as if a lot of things had already happened.

‘Damn it, nothing’s alright now, Jongdae. Where the hell are you?’ Luhan half hissed, and with gritted teeth, he tried to calm himself by breathing in slow rhythms.

‘Tell me what’s wrong. Is Katherine alright?’

‘She needs you now, Jongdae. Kris is near.’

His heart dropped from what seemed like a high storey building as he heard Kris’ name. That dreadful name had been haunting him for the past days and he sure as hell won’t let it haunt his soon to be wife as well.

‘I-I’ll be quick, Luhan, please keep her safe for the meantime,’ he stuttered as he felt cold sweat from his forehead. Suddenly, it wasn’t enough that he was driving towards Katherine – he needed to drive faster.

‘I can only do so m-‘ and the line was cut.

‘Katherine, didn’t you miss me?’ he asked, clearly enjoying the scene. Luhan scowled at him, ‘don’t touch her, you maniac.’ Kris grunted in annoyance, ‘you used to be on my side, Luhan.’ Katherine blinked and looked at Luhan who was throwing glares at Kris.

‘That’s before, stupid. I don’t take sides with crazy people,’ he said, fueling what burning fire Kris had. Kris felt the rage scourge through his veins as he exclaimed, ‘I’m not crazy, you son of a !’ He pulled a fist full of Katherine’s hair back, to which the young lady could only tilt back her head in pain.

‘I said don’t ing touch her!’ Luhan shouted. Neither one of them knew where Luhan got all his courage, but seeing Katherine getting hurt with the added thought that she was pregnant was just enough to pull Luhan’s strings of patience.

‘Relax, Luhan, I’m not going to hurt her,’ Kris said as he caressed Katherine’s cheek and smiled lovingly at her. If it weren’t for the obvious fact that he had gone bunkers, anyone would’ve believed his sincerity.

‘Please, Kris, just- what the are you holding?!’ Luhan clasped his hands around his mouth. Kris was toying around with the sleek, black piece of metal between his hands.

‘Oh, this?’ he raised the gun cockily, with a lazy smirk across his face. Luhan gulped, he surely did not want anything to do with Kris at the moment – let alone, ever.

She whimpered, to which Kris attended to her sickeningly close. She could smell alcohol reeking through his mouth. And as bad as it was, she still managed to hold onto what peace she had left inside of her. It wasn’t because she was scared of him, no, it was mainly because she was scared for her baby.

‘Sorry, Kat, I’m sorry,’ Kris whispered as he inhaled her scent. ‘God, I missed you so much,’ he reiterated. Shivers ran down her spine as she tried to inch away from him but failing miserably.

Luhan was slowly approaching Kris when the latter spoke, ‘you two are coming with me now.’ She felt her heart drop to the floor.

Why was life messing up right at the moment when she thought she could finally have her old life back?

‘Hell no, Wu Fan,’ Luhan hissed as he tried to pull Katherine away from the dazed man. ‘What happened to you, Kris? You used to be.. normal,’ Luhan tried to phrase out his thoughts, but then the situation didn’t really give him much of the ability to do so. His thoughts were running wild – probably even as wild as Kris’.

Where the are you, Jondae? She mentally cursed as his boyfriend clearly had some issues with keeping up to his words. She had stealthily dialed Jongdae’s number when they were on the car, and she hoped for the best that Jongdae would find them. Soon.

It was like the whole kidnapping thing all over again. She fought the urge to cry – she didn’t want to show how weak she was. It will only fuel Kris’ god-knows-what intention of keeping them there. Besides, if she cried, Luhan would probably just freak out even more.

Where were all the men when they needed them?

She looked around. It seemed like they were kept in an old car park. The thick pillars and the painted floors marked that the place was once a car park. It was abandoned though – it was evident by the way dust flew up every time Kris took a heavy step.

Coughing, Kris laid down a chair of his own in front of the two. Kris faced Luhan first, ‘what happened to us, Lu?’ Luhan rolled his eyes dramatically and even had the guts to joke, ‘there were no us, Kris.’

Chuckling, Kris nodded in agreement. He faced Katherine, and immediately, his eyes softened and looked sad. Katherine needed to do a double-take to make sure that she really did see sadness in those sharp eyes.

‘Katherine,’ he breathed, ‘how have you been?’ Kris sounded like he was the normal, caring Kris from before. But Katherine had a different view of Kris now. It wasn’t about to change anytime soon -- if Kris would not grant them freedom.

She didn’t respond, but she did stare at him blankly. Kris breathed in, ‘please talk to me, Katherine, I missed you,’ he stood up and inched closer to her. She could only watch as he sneaked up his hand towards her cheek and caressed it.

Why, you may ask, aren’t they fighting against him? Try having a gun pointed at you – see if you could still move.

She had known better than to disobey Kris. From the moment she saw his sturdy figure for the first time, she had known that she was to just listen and obey. She knew that there would be consequences if she didn’t – but still, she did, and now the consequences were starting to unravel.

Luhan could only sit down helplessly as he didn’t want to risk any of their safety. He knew that if he made a move, either one of them could be gone in an instant. And he doubted if Kris would point and shoot the gun at Katherine – he highly doubted it.

‘Kris,’ Luhan called, almost pleaded.

‘Please stop,’ his voice came out almost inaudibly. Luhan was running out of breath as his nervousness was clouding most of his chest air.

‘But I’m just getting started, Lu,’ Kris smirked. He held up his hand in the air and it took a moment for the two to realize that Kris was holding Katherine’s phone.

‘What a naughty girl, Kat,’ he smiled. Katherine’s blood was already boiling, but she kept a straight face. When did he get so good at being a sneaky bastard?

Soon after, the area was stained with the ringing coming from the phone’s speaker.

Luhan’s eyes widened.

Katherine’s heart skipped a beat.

‘Kat-‘

‘Where the are they, Wu Fan?’ he hissed through gritted teeth as he held the phone closer and tighter. He had just arrived roughly around two minutes after they’ve left and if he had known, he would have just exploded out of his self-irritancy. He had arrived at the half-opened apartment, with half-touched batter of pancake on top of the kitchen counter.

‘They’re here with me, Jongdae. No need to raise you voice,’ Kris chuckled. It was enough to bring Jongdae to the edge of his patience, but he decided not to let Kris get what he wants.

She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or even more scared. Was she supposed to feel relieved that Jongdae was going to save them, or was she supposed to feel scared at the thought that Jongdae would really kill a person?

It made her question – why did it sound like Jongdae was used to giving death threats?

She snapped out of her thoughts the moment Kris ended the call.

‘Look at what you made us do, Katherine,’ Kris said. She closed her eyes, trying to avoid occupying thoughts that she was the one who caused all of this.

She didn’t want to admit to anything, but the circumstances clearly pointed out to her as the reason of such turn of events. She was never unconscious of things, but it seemed like she wasn’t aware of her new “problem”.

‘She didn’t do anything, you ,’ Luhan muttered. If it hadn’t been for the gun that was pointed at them, he would’ve just stood up and slapped the living out of Kris.

He’s being awfully unfair, Luhan thought. It wasn’t like they could do much since they were practically tied up in the situation. Even if he wanted to hurt Kris, he knew he would just end up hurting himself. So, without much of a choice, he stayed quiet.

‘Would you do me a favor and shut your mouth up for me, Lu? I wouldn’t want to disappoint Sehun you know,’ Kris stated. Luhan’s eyes glared at Kris, ‘what does he have to do with you?’ Kris chuckled in amusement as he had momentarily forgotten that Luhan had no idea of Sehun’s little deal in exchange of Luhan’s return to Korea.

Why would Luhan know, anyway? He’d surely go bunkers at the fact.

‘Oh, you know, I mean, he did sell your little asses out, right?’ Luhan arched a brow. Things weren’t making any sense.

‘Oh, I’m sorry. I guess he left that part out before you left?’ Kris teased. Luhan’s eyes were slowly becoming blurry as he tried to process what Kris was saying.

He must be joking, right?

Kris sighed, ‘here, let me enlighten you.’ He grabbed his phone from his back pocket and dialed a number. Luhan had to close his eyes as he heard the ringing of the other line. He hoped and prayed that he wouldn’t hear Sehun’s voice.

‘Kris,’ the other line sighed. It was nearing the evening and by the sound of it, Sehun had just woken up.

‘Here,’ Kris called as he pressed the loudspeaker button on so that the space bounced off Sehun’s voice.

‘Hey, Sehun, old friend,’ Kris greeted. Not that Kris’ voice was annoying, it was just that Sehun’s voice was.

Oh dear God, please no, Luhan gulped.

‘Nothing in particular,’ Kris said, ‘just wanted to say hi,’ he added. Sehun’s heart stopped a little as he felt something inside his chest tighten.

‘Say hi too, Luhan,’ Sehun heard shuffling noises from the other line as he waited anticipating to hear Luhan’s voice. Part of him felt happy – while another part of him instantly felt the regret as he thought that Luhan was with Kris.

That thought was bothering enough.

It never meant good, especially when he knew what Kris’ intention was. He didn’t want Luhan to be involved. He didn’t want anyone to be involved. But as the circumstances forbid that no trouble will be caused, he just hoped for the best that Luhan would come out unharmed.

‘Sehun?’

His heart stopped. He felt as though he had heard someone who was in pain. And although he knew that Kris wouldn’t hurt Luhan, he knew well enough that he was the one who did so.

‘L-Luhan, are you okay?’ he asked hastily. He wanted too badly to know if Luhan was alright.

‘Luhan, please t-‘

‘How dare you?’

It came out faster than a bullet and it surely struck and hurt Sehun quite harder than necessary.

‘I can explain,’

‘Time’s up, Sehun,’ Kris remarked to which Luhan only closed his eyes, finally letting a teardrop escape them.

‘I trusted you, Sehun,’ Luhan breathed, ‘I’d even trust you with my ing life,’ he finished.

The silence wasn’t comforting. It just made the fact that they were far, far apart clearer.

‘I’m sorry,’ Sehun muttered. It was evident that he was already shedding his own tears. Too bad, Luhan didn’t see his sincerity anymore.

‘You knew better, Sehun,’ Luhan sniffed back, ‘and I should’ve known better too,’ he finished as he inched the phone away from him.

‘Luhan’, Sehun’s voice pleaded, and it sure as hell pierced through the silent air. Luhan didn’t know if he really was angry at Sehun, or if it was just brought by the situation they were currently in. Either way, he was hurt, and it didn’t rid the fact that Sehun sold them out to Kris.

Looking back at the phone, Luhan thought twice before he ended the call. Once he did, he closed his eyes with furrowed brows. Kris smirked, it seemed like it was his plan for the two of them to fall apart. Kris handed his hand out to Luhan, to which Luhan handed the phone back onto.

Katherine scooted closer, tugging on Luhan’s sleeve, signaling him to rest his head on her shoulder. Luhan complied, and sobbed softly onto her shoulder.

‘I’m sorry,’ Luhan sobbed. Katherine held him tighter, ‘it’s not your fault, Luhan.’

For a moment, it was quiet. Until Kris clapped his hand, ‘Luhan you may go now.’ Luhan looked at Kris with wide eyes, ‘what?’

‘Unless you want to die, I suggest you just leave,’ Kris said. Luhan held Katherine’s hand tightly and tugged on it.

‘Leaver her with me,’ Kris ordered.

‘And why would I?’ Luhan asked bravely.

‘Luhan, leave now,’ Katherine whispered, ‘I’ll be fine. Please, leave now,’ she ended. Seeing that there was still a chance for Luhan to escape, she surely didn’t want to waste it.

‘Are you being serious now?’ Luhan asked her back. It was a wonder how Luhan’s voice sounded so manly and serious at the moment, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away, together with Luhan.

‘Luhan, just please, leave,’ she pleaded. Luhan stood firmly, ‘Katherine, you’re all that I have left. I’m not letting you stay here with him.’ Luhan glared at Kris who was returning his gaze just as intensely. ‘If I were you, I’d listen to her and leave,’ Kris said.

Luhan stood still. It was now or never.

‘I’m not going to leave her with you, you son of a .’

Kris raised his hand.

Katherine stood up almost too immediately.

Luhan stood still.

‘Leave or I’ll kill you,’ Kris threatened. With teary eyes, she pleaded, ‘Luhan, please, just leave,’

‘No. If this will be the last time I’d ever stand up for you, I’ll do it.’

They heard a click.

Katherine raised her head. She could see the tip of the gun pointed towards Luhan’s direction.

Click.

‘Oh my god, Luhan!’ she exclaimed as she cradled Luhan’s falling body. His left thigh was already damaged, but still he managed, ‘she’s never going to be with you Kris, would you just accept it?

Click.

‘! Kris, stop!’ she was screaming frantically as Luhan’s blood made contact with her face. Luhan’s lower abdomen was stained as well, and Luhan didn’t look so good.

‘I warned you enough, you son of a ! You just don’t listen, do you?!’ Kris raged, and locked up his gun, about to shoot Luhan for the third time when he heard sirens outside the place.

Kris stood still, before running out the room and searching for the sirens which left Katherine alone in the area, cradling a bloody Luhan on her lap.

She was sobbing uncontrollably as she grabbed her bag and pulling out whatever she could to stop the bleeding on Luhan’s abdomen.

-LUHAN-

Sobbing, he pushed Katherine's hair to the back of her ear.

'Don't cry, it doesn't suit you,' he tried to chuckle off, only to squint miserably at the pain that was radiating from the bottom part of his abdomen. Apparently, the gauze that she had miraculously saved for emergency wasn't enough to salvage the blood loss from that area. Looking down his body, she couldn't help but let out her own cries of despair as she saw another wound on his left thigh.

'Damn it,' she cursed, trying to apply pressure to his left thigh in which he could only watch her with sad eyes. She kept on sniffing back her tears, only to be replaced with a set of new ones.

'Hey, you can stop now,' he called, gently pushing her small hands away. She stared at him with wide eyes -- what did he mean by 'stop'?

'W-what?' she stuttered, trying to keep calm. He smiled at her weakly, 'Kat, I need to go,' he whispered. She shook her head, 'don't you dare.' He chuckled in response before closing his eyes briefly.

For a moment her heart stopped and she stared blankly at him, 'hey..' she called as she tried to shake his body up. He didn't respond, but he smiled, 'yes?'

'Don't joke me like that!' she shivered as she held his body near hers. There were distance sounds from the other part of the room and she had to keep quiet.

'Don't talk too loud, he'll hear you,' he whispered to which she shivered yet again in fear.

'Don't leave me, please,' she begged him but he just smiled weakly at her. He was tired, and he couldn't do much anymore.

'I'm sorry, Kat,'

'Ssh, don't talk like that!'

'I love you,'

It was turning quiet, and all that was ever heard was the sound of her sobs.

'I love you too. So much,' she said and kissed his lips.

'Ew,' he muttered, still able to laugh at her.

'I really do,' she sniffed.

'And I do love you too,' he huffed with all the might he could muster up. It wouldn't be long until he gave up, and both of them knew it.

'Be happy, okay?'

Her tears pooled out of her eyes before she hugged him tightly and sobbed shamelessly but with a little control. Kris was just nearby and she didn't want to risk both of their safety. She doubted if he would hold on longer, but she held onto whatever string of hope she could. She didn't want to let him go, no, she didn't want to be left alone yet again.

'Are you tired?' she asked, her voice shaking as she tried to minimize her volume. She couldn't talk loudly anyway -- she was too tired as well. She was bleeding and her legs felt numb.

He nodded with furrowed brows, indicating that he was already in a lot of pain.

'I love you, Kat,' he cried, finally letting out his frustrations, 'keep safe,' he added. She nodded and closed her eyes as she nuzzled under his neck, not wanting to witness him drawing his last breath.

'Good bye,' he whispered as his grip around her loosened. She sat helplessly for a few moments before she lifted her head up, tears staining her flushed cheeks.

'Jongdae?' she asked, to which no one answered.

Day Twenty-nine, done :)

I'll be posting EVERYTHING on the last chapter.

Stay tuned, yes? ♥