They hadn’t talked about where they would go, but in the heat of the moment, neither of them thought it mattered. “As long we’re together,” BoA had whispered in Yunho’s ear after dressing completely, kissing his cheek, “As long as we’re together, we’ll make it out of here.”

Yunho jumps down from the final flight of stairs, looking around quickly to assess their surroundings before turning back to the woman above and behind him. “Baby, come on,” he urges, holding up his arms at her, “I’ll catch you but be careful on that last step.”

“What are we going to do?” she asks just as she bounces off the edge rather than jump off it, safely enclosed into Yunho’s capable arms on her landing. She takes a moment to bury her face into the crook of his neck, breathing deeply as she feels her squeeze her gently in return. They are on the run now, there was no way to deny it. Whatever good opinion her father had of Yunho would be destroyed now that Jaejoong knew about them. There was no way to sugarcoat the danger their knowing could bring.

He released her after  the moment stretched too long, rubbing his hands over her arms briefly before planting a soft kiss on her forehead. “We’re going to have to find some place to crash for the night while I make arrangements. We can’t use any of our cards, or use our passports. Jaejoong would likely be watching those closely, but I think I can get us on a boat to China. They maybe we can move through there to…”

“Indonesia, maybe? At least for a while. I would want to go back to Europe but Papa might look there first if Jaejoong decides to get him involved.”

They stared at each other grimly, knowing fully well Jaejoong would. Being an easy-going businessman was only one side of him but being the heir of to the Seoul underworld’s most feared gang was another side all together. It would be foolish to think Jaejoong would let them off easy. BoA had seen it in his eyes. He’d been hurt, betrayed.

And betrayal was the one thing she knew the Kwon underground family did not take lightly.

“We’ll worry about later. Right now we need to get some place safe.”

“Where can we go in this city? The family reaches every inch of this town!”

“Not necessarily,” someone says from the shadows, surprising the couple by its volume. Yunho had pulled out his gun quicker than BoA had ever seen anyone do and turned it towards the voice, all the while pushing BoA behind him to protect her, “Who’s there?!”

Changmin stepped out of the corner, somber; his hands up in a placating manner as he regarded them with a grim smirk. He had his gun out in one hand, the barrel pointing upwards—a sign which said that he was there in peace—and quips, “I’m not going to turn you lovebirds in. I’m here to help.”

The couple’s brows twisted together in unison, suspicious as Changmin took another step towards them. As friendly as they’ve been with the man, neither Yunho nor BoA wanted to risk putting their trust into someone who could potentially turn on them. And especially not one that was already a part of the very people they were trying to escape from.

But… Changmin’s eyes were earnest and that made all the difference. Yunho moves to lower his gun slightly though his eyes were still guarded as he regarded his friend. “What do you propose we do?”

With a smirk, he tosses a set of keys and a sealed envelope towards him. Changmin doesn’t step any closer as they tear into the packet, squinting in confusion at the address written on a sheet of paper inside of it. He explains before either Yunho or BoA can ask, talking quickly in a low tone. It wouldn’t be long till the others came looking for him and he didn’t want the couple to be around once they do. Helping them would be pointless then if they were caught. They’d die for sure. Yoona would never forgive him if that happens.

“That’s the address to my and Yoona’s apartment together. Neither of us has moved in officially yet but it’s there sitting. It’s in one of those new developments where the family hasn’t dipped into yet, owned by some relative of Siwon’s. The key to the apartment is inside a secret hatch in the mailbox.” The instructions are clear and simple, but the words weigh heavy between them. Changmin grimaces a little when he checks his watch, lifting his head to stare Yunho straight in the eyes as he speaks again, “Get in and plan your escape there. Jaejoong hasn’t told the Boss yet but he will find out about this soon enough. I’ll come when I can but I can’t promise it will be soon. Just get out of here. Now.”

Whether it was because of gratitude or fear, BoA’s eyes began to fill. “Changmin—”

Changmin shoots her a look, silencing whatever it was she was about to say into a lump in . “Don’t, BoA. Just go. I’ll hold them off as best I can. For now all you can do is take my car—it’s parked at the end of this street. I asked Sooyoung to drive it here when we were sent over.”

“Thank you.” BoA says anyway as Yunho nods and takes her hand, “Be careful.”

By then a hard mask had settled on Changmin’s face and as he pushes past them in a light jog, he turns only for a moment to mouth “Go!” before disappearing around the corner.

“Come on,” Yunho whispers, gripping the car keys and her hand tightly. “Let’s go.”

~*~*~*~

The apartment is sparse but livable with bare walls and dark, dark furniture. It’s a lot nicer than what either of them expects from the combined salaries of a thug and exotic dancer but they supposed there was more to both Changmin and Yoona that meets the eye. They had taken the roundabout way, weaving through streets and highways and back to make sure that they weren’t being followed just in case. Yunho thinks it isn’t so bad to take extra precaution and for once BoA doesn’t protest, sitting patiently in the passenger’s seat with her wide brim hat flopped low on her face.

They breathe easier once they arrive at the apartment building. They’d parked Changmin’s car a little ways away from the apartment building, grateful that it was nondescript to not catch anyone’s attention. If they had been left to their own devices they would have been caught for sure as both their cars were parked near the entrance of Yunho’s building. Whatever getaway they might have planned would have been shot to pieces; trapped in whatever it was Jaejoong would deem worthy as punishment. They go up and into the building immediately after parking, locating the mailbox and key the second they got through the entryway. The lock on the door clicks shut once they arrive at Apartment 351 and when they turn the curtains in to close off the fading sunlight from the outside, the feeling of relief and safety—however temporary it may be—fill them inside out.

The apartment was sparse but it was all they had that was safe at the moment. They couldn’t sit idly by for too long. Not now, not in this city.

“We have to act fast. We can’t stay here.” BoA whispers as she collapses on a chair, an arm placed tight across her stomach. Her words quivered even as she said them, “If my father even catches wind that Changmin or Sooyoung hel—Oh God—”

“He won’t. At least, not too soon.” Yunho assures her, even though the statement sounded false even to his ears, “Changmin’s smart and he’s got Sooyoung informed too. Neither of them will rat us out.”

“Still!”

“We have to stay calm, sweetheart,” he tells her, taking her hands in his as he knelt down in front of her. He squeezes them gently, staring and willing her to take deep breaths. In and out. “It won’t do any of us—you or me or our baby—if you worry yourself to death. We’ll move quickly and plan it out. Once I find some way to get us out of the country without getting caught, we’ll leave. Nobody will even know we were here.”

“Except for Changmin.” BoA reminds him and Yunho winces. He nods anyway, a beat later, brushing a hair off her face.

“Yes. But like I said, he’s smart. He won’t get caught.”

“I hope so,” she sighs, leaning in to touch her forehead against his. Her hands moved up to cup her lover’s face, tracing his lips with feather light before a breath escapes her and she connects their lips in a kiss.

Nothing is for certain, but at least BoA is certain of this.

“I love you, Yunho.”

Yunho sighs, their breaths mingling and says nothing.

That’s fine, BoA thinks with a smile that he returns against her lips. She knows already.

~*~*~*~

Changmin calls through the apartment’s telephone an hour later, tone flat and low. “Someone will be by. Be ready.”

“Who?” Yunho asks and then can’t help but add, “Does the Je-Chul hyung know?”

His friend hesitates just for a moment but the notion is clear. “Sooyoung and I are still trying to come up with a plan. So if you have any suggestions, you better tell me now. If not, just be ready. Don’t call me. I’ll call you.”

The line dies and the wait begins.

~*~*~*~

When a knock sounds from the door at one in the morning, Yunho is instantly up, armed and alert. His feet are quiet as he creeps across the wall, ready for whoever it might be behind the wood. BoA hides inside one of the rooms, the one they’d chosen for it’s easy exit—close to the fire escape into the alley behind the building.

They’d agreed earlier that night that they’d split up if they were found, with BoA running away as far away as possible with everything they’d gathered in his bag. She hadn’t liked the idea of going separate ways but she couldn’t find it in herself to refuse when Yunho’s eyes stared down at hers with an unguarded, wild expression and said, “You have to live, sweetheart. If not for me, at least for our kid.”

“Open the damn door, Jung.” Yoona’s lilting voice permeated through the door, sounding exasperated as the couple heaves twin sighs of relief. Yunho tucked his gun into its’ holster before twisting the lock open, letting the tall, slim woman inside in a flurry of fluid movement and reeking of floral perfume and cigarette smoke.

“Changmin sent me a message,” was all she said as she practically tosses a big brown bag of groceries at him before turning almost immediately towards BoA to hand her another. The dancer regards her with a smile so sweet, it was almost unsettling as the hug she throws around BoA’s body.

“Those are clothes for you to wear,” Yoona tells her, pulling back just so to cup her cheeks, “I don’t reckon you’d want to run away in a pair of slinky heels and tight dress. Even ones as cute as those you’re wearing.”

BoA nods, feeling a surprise flood of affection wash over her, “Thank you, Yoona.”

Yoona only grins in response, stepping back to throw herself on the couch and kicking off her heels into a pile on the floor. Her skirt rode up indecently at the movement but she didn’t care for it as she looks at the couple, still staring in stunned silence at her presence.

She snaps her fingers at them, “Don’t just stand there. Get changed! Andyou, make your girl a sandwich or something.”

They move after that—BoA towards the bathroom to change in a pair of dark drawstring pants and a white cotton blouse and Yunho towards the coffee table to pull out the groceries out of the bag. It took them several minutes later, once they were seated around the living room and were mid-bite into sandwiches Yunho had made, to find their actions ridiculous. Which Yunho points out in a grumble, making both BoA and Yoona laugh from her reclined seat on the couch.

“You’re such a stiff, Yunho. But I’m sure BoA likes that about you, huh?”

“Yoona!”

“What? I like a stiff as much as the next girl. And especially if it’s Changmin’s. I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

BoA blushes even redder, swatting her with a pillow on the legs. “Still!”

“Honey, Jung’s already knocked you up.” Yoona says simply, crossing her ankles. The heels of her stiletto shoes looked even more threatening in the dim light. “I’m pretty sure that means you know how to handle his ‘gun’ more than any gal. Right, Yunho?”

It is Yunho’s turn to blush now and when he grunts in reply, the girls fall into another bout of squealing laughter.

He doesn’t like that fact that they are laughing at his expense, and especially not after the day he and BoA have had but he doesn’t say anything to stop them either. It isn’t in him to reprimand BoA for feeling carefree. She needs a reason to smile more than ever, now that they still couldn’t quite figure out what to do.

He’ll allow himself to be the of the joke for now.

Until a plan comes to surface, Yunho thinks he’ll gladly be the fool if it makes BoA smile.

~*~*~*~

Yoona leaves for her own apartment three-fourths of an hour later, promising to be back in the morning with breakfast. She had clocked out early from the club to ‘sleep off the whiskey’, she explains with a conspiratorial arch in her brow, red lips widening into the exotic smile they’ve seen her gift her patrons. She tells them to feel at home for as long as they can but to make sure not to sully the sheets (“We got those from Changmin’s mother. I’m pretty sure she’s got that duvet cursed too. A baby-maker, I think she says it was. Not that you two need it, eh?”)—winking in that sly, provocative way that suggests a different meaning to the word ‘sully’ and makes them blush a deep, deep red. They sputter a protest which she laughs at, giving them both a loud kiss on the lips—dipping her tongue into their mouths for a split second—before bouncing out the door in her stiletto heels.

“Hell, so that’s what it means to be run over by hurricane…” BoA comments, a little winded, still tickled pink in the cheeks and it is then that Yunho can’t help the snort of laughter to erupt from his throat. She joins him seconds later, falling back into the cushions and into his arms

“I think they’re going to last.” Yunho tells her, tucking her into his side, “Changmin and Yoona.”

She agrees, only slightly teasing, “A thug and a female ? Yes, I reckon they will.”

They laugh together once more, gazes locking before trailing off into a silence no longer riddled with caution or fear. Their minds settle solely on the idea of their friends’ relationship—mismatched and troublesome for the most part but solid nonetheless and wonder that if Changmin and Yoona can make it work, why can’t they?

Their arms tighten around each other simultaneously and it’s in the air they breathe together, settling into walls of their lungs and running through their veins. She reaches for his hand and places it on her tummy, holds it there and sighs as he presses a kiss on her forehead. They drift off into sleep, wrapped in each other and under the dim yellow glow of a lamp.

The light flickers, then stills with the night.

~*~*~*~

They don’t notice Yoona returning in the morning, but they wake up to the whistling of the kettle on the stove and a plate of breads and cheeses on the living room table. The dancer’s presence is obvious by the scent of floral perfume in the air and by the loopy handwriting on a card next to the plate. The note is short but the relief it brings in reading it lifts their spirits to heights they’d never think it would reach:

They found a way. Be ready, lovebirds. –Y

BoA’s smile grows so wide it starts to hurt Yunho when he copies her. “We’ll be free soon, sweetheart.” He tells her, raining kisses all over her face. His mouth touching the downy softness of her cheeks, forehead, eyelids and pillowy lips in lingering affection.

“I love you,” he tells her, his voice strong and sure and the day is beautiful.

~*~*~*~

“I’d like a girl. If you don’t mind.”

The words are spoken so softly against her skin, BoA almost doesn’t hear it. She half-turns to face him, pulling the sheet (duvet, baby-maker, Yoona’s voice rings in her head) up to her chest and regards him with a curious expression, “Hmm?”

“A girl. I want a baby girl.” He says simply, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek. Yunho’s eyes look so soft from where she’s lying on the bed and when his gaze dips to her chest, they darken considerably as he kisses the skin above her s.

They are in the middle of a waiting game for freedom but even though this is so, she can’t help but ask, “What would we name her?”

Yunho shrugs, resting his head under her chin. Their limbs entwined still, hearts waiting and patient.

“Soojung.”

“Soojung?” BoA repeats and when he nods, she smiles and agrees. “That’s a pretty name.”

~*~*~*~

The next person who knocks on their door just as the day moves on to late afternoon is not who they expect.

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