I stayed close behind Namjoon all the while he crept downstairs and into the hallway which led to the front door.  I clung onto him as he craned his neck to scan the living room and kitchen, both of which were at the other end of our exit.

I peeked over his shoulder and whispered, “Are they there?” and he quickly pressed a finger to his lips signaling for me to keep quiet. We just stood there in silence before Namjoon finally moved and made his way to the door, dragging me along.

We managed to sneak out quietly, and as I fast-walked my way past the gates, the car, the relief coursing through my body was instantaneous. They were still inside the house. And I managed to get my things and leave without them having a clue about my whereabouts. It was a victory. Even if it was for a short period of time, I was free.

But that uneasy feeling was still lingering inside of me, even as we were running away.

Maybe because I was still pathetically sick.

“Namjoon,” I wheezed, grabbing onto a nearby street lamp for support.  Even though he was the one carrying my bag I ended up being the exhausted one.

“Oh,” he said when he realized I wasn’t following him and jogged over to where I was. “Are you too sick to run?” I nodded weakly. He pondered over my response. “Do you want me to carry you?” I wanted to roll my eyes and say how ridiculous he was being but he looked like he actually meant it, not even a hint of a smirk or anything. He legitimately didn’t mind carrying me through the town.

“No… thank you.”

“I’ll get someone to pick us up,” Namjoon then said, turning his attention to his phone. He sighed after a brief silence. “Alright. Any place you want to visit in the mean time?”

                                                                                                ***

“Hi. One hot chocolate, please.” I turned to Namjoon who was still eyeing every single thing in the cafe. “What about you?”

“I’ll have plain water,” he replied distractedly.

I scrunched up my brows and the young lady at the cash register giggled. Honestly.

“I’ll go save us a table,” he said and went on to sit at the table furthest away from the window. The café was empty so I didn’t think getting caught would really be an issue.  ‘Yeah, none of us ever run around here,’ he had said when we first arrived, but I guess that wasn’t enough for him to let his guard down.

As the lady set our drinks on the counter she leaned in slightly as she whispered, “Welcome back. We were worried sick.” I stared at her and abruptly got reminded of the people in the town. Right. My disappearance was kind of a big deal.

I offered her a smile as if to comfort her. Yes, I am alive and well. Nothing to be concerned over.

I went over to our table and handed him his water. “It’s a good thing that there aren’t that many people today,” I sighed as I slumped into the chair, “they probably would’ve been up in arms seeing me still alive or whatever.”

He laughed. “Well nobody really goes out anymore once they found out the big boss hangs around the town.”

“You mean he comes here often? What does he do here?” I asked, genuinely surprised that whatever was going on around town had anything to do with them. How big of an influence did they really have on this place? 

“I’m afraid that’s confidential. At least until he lets me tell you,” Namjoon told me, giving me an apologetic smile. I couldn’t help but groan at his proper reply. So business-like. I’ve known him for… a week. Give or take. Did he still need to keep up with the whole formal gangster façade? He wasn’t even suitably dressed for that kind of attitude.

My eyes dropped to the duffel bag leaning against his leg. Perhaps it was pointless for me to ask where I was going to stay since the answer seemed obvious. No harm in asking, though.

“Namjoon?”

“Hm?”

“Where will I be staying once I’m out of here?”

He took a good look at my face with a slightly puzzled expression on his own. “You’ll be staying with us at the mansion, of course.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t get too excited,” he said with that smirk of his and I didn’t understand how but he knew well enough that I wasn’t going to be thrilled.

I quickly shook my head. “I’m so