Her eyes fluttered open. She blinked several times, attempting to adjust to the light when it dawned on her that the room was entirely dark. The only sound heard in the vast blackness was her own breathing, heavy and slightly faster than usual. She attempted to stand up when she realized her arms were tied down to what she could only assume to be arm rests. Panic struck as her breathing quickened, growing shallower. A small whimper escaped her lips as she looked around the blank room. Where was she? What was she doing here? What had happened?

She shut her eyes tightly, controlling herself the way she’d learned to so many years ago. Her hands clenched into fists, the edges of her nails sinking into her skin. She in a deep breath, holding it.

One, she counted. Two, three, four, five.

She let out the breath slowly, repeating the action several times. Her pulse slowed to a lethargic pace, her mind dizzy from the lack of oxygen. The panic subsided, returning to just within in the grip her control, the way it always did. She sighed. Now, what had happened?

She recalled a face, or at least flashes of one. Pink lips, wet from , a mole just above them. Boyish brown eyes, staring down at her, mahogany hair touching the lashes. She recalled a voice, tired and slightly raspy. She recalled fingers, warm and delicate, pressing against her lips. And peppermint. The scent of peppermint, everywhere.

"….your ing responsibility!"

Her head shot up at the sound. A hint of light flickered in a narrow line near where she assumed the floor must be, illuminating the door.

"Don’t you ing talk to him like that!"  

She recognized this voice. It was no longer tired, but carried the same ashy sound with it. She remembered a name; Baekhyun.

"Do you even have the right to say a goddamn thing?" another voice hissed, "This was your ing responsibility, your ing heist, and you got Kris taken away!”

"It wasn’t my fault." Baekhyun replied, his voice strained.

"Like hell it wasn’t! You just ing wait till he gets out, and you know he will.”

"Look, that’s besides the point right now." a new person cut in, "Right now we have to figure out what to do about the girl."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what does she know?"

A moment of silence passed before Baekhyun mumbled, “She saw my face.”

"No she didn’t." another familiar voice replied.

"She did." he sighed, "In the car. You didn’t see. She woke up."

"Did she say anything?"

"She just looked at me." his tone seemed to darken, "It couldn’t have been more than a minute, then she passed out again."

"Does she know your names?"

"I don’t know."

"What do you mean you don’t know?"

"We might’ve said them at some point, I don’t ing know!” he snapped.

"God, who cares what she heard or remembers or whatever, we only have one choice don’t we?" one of the others replied.

The voices fell silent. She shifted in her seat, her heart feeling like an anchor in her chest.

"Baekhyun’s gotta do it." one boy mumbled.

"No, I’m not."

"What do you mean-"

"Look," the third person cut in, "We’ll discuss that later, if it comes to it. It’s not our decision anyways. For now, Baek, you talk to her. Find out what she knows and if she’s a liability, and that’s it, ok?”

She bit her lip as the footsteps subsided, growing softer and softer till they were no longer there. She turned her head left and right, desperately searching for an escape as the soft creaking of the door sounded. Her head snapped forward as she bit her tongue, clenching her fists to control herself.

It was the boy, Baekhyun. All the features she recalled seemed to come together as he shut the door behind him, flicking the lights on. He was the one who’d broken into the bank. The one who’d pressed his gun to her head, who’d played with her life as if she were nothing more than a pawn in a much bigger game of chess. She felt her blood boil at the sight of him.

The young man dragged his feet across the floor of what she now saw to be an empty warehouse storage. The entire room was hard concrete, from the walls to the floors. It was relatively empty, aside from a few crates shoved in the corners, and a solitary chair situated just before her. Baekhyun took the seat, rubbing a hand over his face as he sighed. His eyes ran over her figure as he put his elbow up on the arm rest, leaning his head against his palm.

"What, no name tag?"

Her eyes flickered down to her dress. She didn’t respond.

"I thought it was mandatory or something?"

"I forgot it at home." she mumbled, her voice surprisingly steady.

Baekhyun nodded, pressing his lips together. “Are you gonna tell me your name?”

Again, no response. He let out another sigh, his eyes shifting over her shoulder before returning to her gaze. There was something different about him now, she noticed. He no longer seemed as calm as had been at the bank. His eyes were slightly red, prominent bags darkening his skin from lack of sleep. He seemed worn, stressed, a shadow of the seemingly heartless creature who’d invaded the bank only hours ago.

"Well, my name’s Baekhyun," he announced, "But you knew that already, didn’t you?"

She clenched her jaw, avoiding his gaze. His eyes flickered down to her hands, lying flat against the arm rest, completely still. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I saw you wake up in the van." he hummed, "You looked up at me."

"What does that mean?" she muttered, "I don’t know anything."

A smirk played on his lips at her words. He glanced over her shoulder again. “You heard them outside, didn’t you?”

She didn’t reply.

"How much did you hear?"

She lowered her eyes to the floor, staring at his legs sprawled out before him. “Enough.”

"And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don’t know anything.” her voice raised, the desperation leaking through her lips, “You can tell them that.”

 ”Am I just supposed to believe you?”

"What have I done to make you doubt it?" she furrowed her brow.

"Well, for one, you left the room when I told you not to." he glared.

"That-"

"And you tried to run away." he continued.

"You-"

"And," he held up a finger to silence her, "Your hands aren’t shaking."

She looked up at him, her eyes narrowed. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes moving up and down her body incessantly.

"Why is that?"

She looked away, targeting her gaze towards the blank wall. “What are you talking about?”

"You’re not nervous? Scared? Afraid for your life? You’re not even crying."

"If I cry, would you let me go?"

"No." he scoffed.

"Then why should I?"

"You were crying at the bank." he pointed out.

She bit her lip, looking down at her feet, the toes of her shoes scuffed with dirt.

"You’re interesting, you know." he mumbled, "But whether I believe you or not doesn’t matter. You heard what they said outside. It’s not our decision to make."

With that, he sighed, pushing himself up off the chair. He brought his fingers through his hair, tousling it as he glanced down at her.

"You’ve already seen enough to be a liability. Once the boss gets back, you’re going to die either way."

He the heel of his sneaker, strolling tiredly towards the door.

"Then why didn’t you tell them?"

He turned back, catching her gaze. She curled in her lip to keep it from trembling, her brow drawn together in frustration. “Why didn’t you tell them that? Why didn’t you just kill me like they said?”

His eyes flickered down to her hands, curled into fists, shaking just slightly. He bit down on his lip, turning his back to her as he stormed out of the room.