Min Jee wanted to run but she knew there was no way she could get away silently with Baekhyun and Chen in tow without alerting whoever it was in the mansion with them.

Quickly she thought about running upstairs and hiding but realized if there was definitely more than one of them in the mansion (which was likely since bad guys never came alone) then they would find all of them in no time.

It didn’t help that it was dark enough that when Min Jee stepped forward, she stepped on someone’s foot.

Chen swore.

Min Jee cringed but focused at the crisis at hand.

“Do you have a back door?” Min Jee whispered, trying her best to keep her voice low.

“No,” it was Baekhyun that replied. “The only other door we have is near the end of the hallway that leads to the garden. But we would have to go through the living room first to reach it.”

Min Jee’s mind raced as she tried to think of a safe way out for the three of them but she didn’t have time to waste especially since the man started to talk to her again. This time, the voice sounded even closer than before as if it was at the doorway of the kitchen.

“We promise we won’t hurt you,” the man said as sweet as he could. Min Jee knew he was lying and so leaving Baekhyun and Chen standing near the counter, she waited until the man was close enough before she rammed her body into the perpetrator.

The surprise of the attack was mostly what made the man topple over and because of that Min Jee jumped over his body and ran for the hallway with the door leading to the garden. Hopefully due to that commotion, the bad guys that were in the mansion with them wouldn’t enter the kitchen. She was sure that the two males were confused and frightened as she was but considering that they were solely looking for her just meant that their attention would be focused on her instead of the others.

“Get her!” the man that she hit, yelled.

Footsteps followed behind her not long after and Min Jee saw the door within reach but when she opened it she saw another one of them standing in the shadows of the trees and immediately closed the door again. Quickly she turned into the room nearest to her and made the instant decision to dive underneath a clothed table that was there.

Covering , Min Jee strained her eyes for any movement near her. As she listened, she heard the footsteps stop, as if they were pausing to look around before it came even closer to her inside the room.

She knew the moment he entered the room when his shadow was outlined by the cloth she was hiding under. Min Jee waited and held her breath.

Another set of footsteps joined them.

“Let’s go Jaehyo,” it was a woman that spoke.

“Wait about her?” the guy named Jaehyo asked confused. Luckily for Min Jee, judging by his voice it didn’t seem like it was the same man who was asking for a “talk”.

“Backup plan, we got what we came for—we’ll get her later. Let’s hurry before they come.”

There was no answer (probably because it was a silent confirmation) and the footsteps faded away after that.

With shaking arms, Min Jee lifted the hand from and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Wrong move because a hand suddenly grasped her ankle and Min Jee yelped as she was pulled from underneath the table.

Min Jee tried to kick the man but he wouldn’t let go at all and she grasped at the table leg in desperation of trying not to be dragged away.

Jaehyo’s arms immediately reached around Min Jee’s waist where she was lying on the floor. By then she was forced to let go of the table’s leg. She didn’t make it easy for him though, once she let go, she struggled and her head flung back into the man’s face. Through that action she could hear a satisfying crunch as she broke his nose.

He groaned at the pain, his grip loosening and taking that chance of weakness, Min Jee broke free. It was still dark enough that she could use it to her advantage and she did, backing away from him as best as she could. The only thing was she was still trapped.

It didn’t take long for the man to regain his composure before heading straight for her. Min Jee tried to shuffle away but as he came closer, she realized she had corralled herself into the corner of the room.

Driven by fright, Min Jee held out her hands as if to warn him back.

“This is for Erebus, you have to understand,” Jaehyo said with a tone of slight guilt as if he was regretting what he was trying to do, “so make this easier for the both of us.”

Min Jee pushed him with her hands. “Never!”

The instant that her hands made contact with him, unexpectedly electricity ran from her fingertips and transferred to him. Jaehyo flew back from the impact and against the wall hard. Min Jee panicked, disoriented at what just happened as she walked closer to the man. She bent down where he was slumped over and tried to check for his pulse on his wrist.

Before Min Jee could make sure he wasn’t dead, the lights turned back on.

Min Jee eyes squinted from the onslaught of lights because they needed to adjust and soon enough she heard steps run towards the room she was in.

Someone spoke a second later.

“Is he dead?”

Min Jee let out a sigh of relief as she saw that Baekhyun and Chen were standing before her and unharmed.

“Are you guys okay?” Min Jee instantly asked them, standing up.

“Are you okay?” Chen shot back at her and she just nodded.

“We’re fine,” Baekhyun replied then repeated, “Is he dead?”

Min Jee glanced at the man. “I don’t think so?”

The man answered the question himself by letting out a groan but otherwise stayed unconscious.

“What do we do with him?” Baekhyun questioned.

Min Jee was internally panicking at the question but Chen answered for her.

“Tie him up probably? I mean he is one of them isn’t he?”

The trio didn’t spend much time thinking about it however when a new voice broke through their conversation.

“Didn’t I tell you to lock your door?”

*

*

*

“My ears are still ringing from your screaming,” Luhan commented offhandedly.

“Well you still look like wet dog,” Chen replied with a raised eyebrow.

Min Jee just rolled her eyes at their bickering.

Luhan and Chanyeol had arrived at the mansion right after the Erebus had left (they all double checked around the mansion to make sure), startling the trio at their sudden entry