#choi doyun | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sugatsby · 6 years

Text

Hole-and-Corner

Group: GOT7 Pairing: Choi Youngjae x Reader Rating: Angst | Fluff Prompt: But doctor’s were meant to help people, right? AU: Mafia!AU Word count: 15,5K

Warnings: swearing | violence | mentions of blood

“I’m leaving!”

“Okay! See you later!” your roommate yelled back from behind her bedroom door. She was still running around, getting ready for the day. You heard shuffling and rummaging around. At some point you heard something crash to the floor. You shook your head. Even though she’s always up before you, you were always the first to leave to leave the apartment.

Swinging the strap of your bag onto your shoulder, you snatched your set of keys from the small table in the hall and made your way downstairs. Your apartment building was small, but pretty cosy. It was also pretty close to the campus, which was one of the reasons you decided on moving in here during your first year. Also, you needed to get as far away from your family as possible. That didn’t really turn out the way you wanted it to when you fell in love with the university in the same city. But at least you lived on opposite sides of town now, barely crossing paths.

As you made your way down the street, you soaked in the warmth of the sun. Even after the meteorological start of this year’s spring season, you hadn’t seen much else than grey clouds lately, so you welcomed the sight of some bright blues. Today was going to be a good day.

You plugged your headphones into your phone while simultaneously scrolling through your playlists. You were so engrossed in looking for one of your favourite songs, you didn’t notice the figure ahead. It was only when you crashed your shoulder against the person that you glanced up.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you offered. “Guess I shouldn’t be looking at my phone while walking.” You tried to laugh it off.

The brunette you bumped into, however, didn’t seem to find it funny. The scowl on his face was a dead giveaway.

“Er… I-I really am sorry,” you stammered. “I’ll be more careful from now on.”

The serious frown on the man’s face didn’t budge. And neither did he. Your smile faltered when you realised he didn’t seem so forgiving.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get going,” you said, trying to step around him and remove yourself from the situation. But the man put himself in your path. “I’m sorry, but I really need to-”

Before you were able to finish your sentence, you felt another presence, arms coming over you from behind. One grabbed you across the shoulders to hold you in place. The other moved in front of your face, a cloth getting pressed against your nose and mouth. You struggled, trying to break free. Your phone slipped through your fingers and crashed to the pavement. Your cries got muffled by the piece of fabric and no one else seemed to be around to help you. A sweet, slightly-chemical smell invaded your senses, and that’s when you realised that this situation was really, really bad.

You tried to hold your breath, not wanting to inhale any of the chemicals, but struggling took effort. Your eyelids started to grow heavy as you breathed in the nauseating scent, your limbs turned to jelly, and your consciousness started to fade. The last thing you heard was a car screeching to a halt near the sidewalk and its sliding door opening before everything turned dark.

You struggled to open your eyes. A groan escaped your lips. It felt like you’d been hit by a truck. You were pretty sure your tailbone was bruised by the way your behind was feeling. You tried to move your neck and shoulders, trying to get the strain off of them, but your arms, awkwardly bend behind your back, didn’t give. Your eyes were now wide open.

“Fuck.” Your voice was a mere whisper, your words getting swallowed by the darkness of the space around you. You tried to wriggle around, feeling nothing but rough concrete around you. This was not good. Not good at all!

You tried not to panic, but you couldn’t help it. A sob escaped your parched lips and your shoulders started to shake against the coarse wall you’d been propped up against. While the tears began to drip down your cheeks, you failed to notice the approaching footsteps on the opposite side of the room. A door swung open, a beam of light falling into the room. The contrast against the dark room blinding, you squinted your eyes against the brightness poured onto your slumped figure. A shadowy silhouette made its way into the room, its heavy footsteps echoing against the walls before a mocking voice called out.

“I see daddy’s girl has awakened…”

“Good,” another voice followed. One shadow became two as the men further entered the room. “I have some questions for her.”

The latter passed the other male before squatting down in front of you. “Now,” he began, his hand reaching outward to brush your damp cheek. “We want to know where your dad is. And we thought that maybe you would be so kind to help.”

His voice sounded sickly sweet, his tone mimicking his actions. However, you weren’t fooled. His gestures only added to your discomfort. “My dad’s dead,” you stammered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

As soon as those words left your lips, your captor’s eyes turned into menacing slits. And before you even registered what his intentions were, your head got pulled back, the man’s hand finding purchase in the hair at the nape of your neck. It didn’t hurt, but the awkward angle only put more strain on the muscles that were already sore.

“Don’t lie to me, princess. He’s very much alive, taunting me after stealing from me.” You can hear the venom dripping from his words. There was cold rage in his eyes. “Your stepdad has been running from us long enough. I want my money back. Now, where is he?”

The man dug his fingers into the sides of your jaw, making you look at him. The pain made you flinch. “I don’t know,” you sobbed. “I haven’t spoken to that man in years. I don’t even know if he still lives there!”

“Lives where?” the man sneered, his fingers pressing into the bruises that were already forming along your cheeks.

“O-on the east side of town…”

Finally the grip on your jaw fell away and the man straightened up. “Jinyoung. Give me the phone,” he ordered, his hand beckoning his partner impatiently.

The man behind him, Jinyoung, stepped forward and placed a black device in his hand. He fumbled with the phone and spoke again, his gaze not moving from the object in his hands.

“Now, you will tell me the address and we’re gonna send him some pictures. I guess he forgot who he’s dealing with.” He held up the phone, an ominous smirk on his face. “Maybe this will serve as a reminder,” he said before the shutter went off, the sound echoing against the walls.

You didn’t know for how long you’d been lying in the same position. Everything was stiff. Everything hurt. Wriggling around when you were still bound had caused the twine of your restraints to cut into the skin of your wrists and for the rough cement of the floor to scrape your bare arms to the point of drawing blood. The darkness of the room had stolen away any notion of time. You felt empty. Alone in the shadows. By now you had stopped struggling. It only brought pain, and you were never going to get out of here on your own. Your captors had probably thought your stepdad would come running, like a dog with its tail between its legs, doing whatever he could to get you out of there. But you knew that’s not how he was.

The man was stern and harsh, the epitome of the crime boss JB had told you he supposedly was. He had never liked you much. Your mother had fallen for him pretty quickly after your father died. You’d always thought that it was her way of coping with things. Doyun wasn’t good for her, however. At first you thought he was just under a lot of stress from his job but, as time progressed, you found out more and more about how obsessed he was with power and control. Standing at the head of his own company wasn’t enough for him, so he took his job home.

Your mother was still oblivious to it all, though. You had tried to convince her that her relationship with him wasn’t okay, but she turned a blind eye, accepting the situation. You guess the money had something to do with it. However, you couldn’t deal with him, even when the house was big enough to avoid him most of the time. You decided to choose for yourself, moved out, and never looked back.

Doyun didn’t give a damn about you. But these people didn’t know that. They probably thought that knocking on daddy’s door with you as leverage would be an easy way to get their money. Little did they know that he couldn’t care less if you were lying dead in a ditch somewhere. A kidnapping would most likely not change his mind.

You had a glimmer of hope that the message might reach your mother first, but even if it did, you’d doubt she would act on it. She had changed and you wondered if she would care enough to do anything.

You felt numb, forgotten and alone. Broken. The only sliver of light in your darkness was the man that came into the room two times a day – you guessed without any sense of time – to feed you. At first, you shied away from him, afraid to have someone lay their hands on you once again. You thought perhaps he had felt your discomfort and kept silent. He didn’t do anything besides quietly putting down his tray in front of you before walking off, leaving you alone again.

You hadn’t touched the food the first couple of times he had come by, afraid it was laced with something. After not eating for what seemed like days, he had finally spoken up.

“You should eat,” he said.

His voice was gentle, and you felt yourself thinking that it fit him. Everything about him was the total opposite of the man you encountered that first day. The young man with kind eyes hadn’t once tried to lay a hand on you without your permission. He had continuously asked to take a look at your bruises and cuts. When you finally let him, he had examined them carefully, each touch soft and soothing. He was the one that undid your ties.

“Wouldn’t want your hands to fall off,” he explained.

You were surprised to learn that Youngjae – that was his name – was a doctor. A medic. A person that helped people for a living. He puzzled you. How would a person like that end up… here? But, you were glad to have him, as he was the only friendly face around lately.

It seemed like time crawled, although you wouldn’t know. You’d been staring into the dark void for quite some time. You hadn’t heard anything from the outside world. Did they send the message to your stepdad? Did it arrive? Did they even find him? Did anyone else realise you were missing?

The longer you laid there, staring at the direction of the door, the slimmer you felt your chances of getting out of there alive becoming. You felt hopeless.

A creak from the door one day made you look up. It was Youngjae with his usual tray of food and water. He silently made his way over and placed the tray on the floor. You didn’t make any move to get up, too forlorn to even lift a finger.

Youngjae tilted his head sideways, looking at you with pity. “You have to eat, ___”

You kept staring ahead, your lips pressed together in a straight line. When you still didn’t make any move to sit up, Youngjae lifted you up into a seating position, his hands tucked underneath your arms. When he let go, your arms dropped at your sides like dead weight.

“Come on, ___. Eat,” Youngjae insisted, scooping up some of the porridge onto a spoon before bringing it to your lips.

That’s when your eyes started to glisten and tears welled up in your eyes, the slightest act of kindness breaking your façade. “It won’t work, you know…” Your voice cracked. “He won’t pay.”

The young man looked up, concerned. He put the spoon down onto the plate next to him, before wiping away a tear from your cheek.

“I’m gonna be here forever, aren’t I?” you sobbed. “Why don’t you just kill me now and be done with it?! Why-” Your voice cracked and the tears came streaming down your face, sobs wracking your body.

Youngjae was slightly taken aback by the desperation in your voice, but immediately reacted by pulling you into a warm hug. One of his hands found purchase on the back of your head while the other pressed soothing circles onto your lower back. You found comfort in the firmness of his hold and the sound of his heart beating against the inside of his chest. You let it all out.

“I can’t do this anymore,” you sniffed. “I can’t.”

“Shh…” He whispered soothing words against the shell of your ear. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

You didn’t believe him. If these people were capable of kidnapping and blackmailing, surely murder wouldn’t be far down on that list either.

You had cried onto Youngjae’s shoulder until you couldn’t cry anymore. Your body was still shaking when he left, having left the tray of food on the ground beside you. You couldn’t eat. You must have been down there for at least a week and nobody had made a move to save you. Your hope – and will for that matter – to get out of there alive had started crumbling more and more.

It didn’t take long for the door to open again after Youngjae left. An hour maybe? You weren’t sure.

“___?” Youngjae’s voice quietly called out. But you didn’t respond. He walked into the room further before holding out a hand. “Do you think you can walk?”

Youngjae had let you outside. The room in which you were held captive seemed to be a part of some type of storage building. The square building was merely part of the grounds that held an even bigger building.

Facing that building, it looked scary and striking, the grey bricks contrasting with the oranges and pinks of the evening sky. But as soon as you were let inside, Youngjae’s hand continuously in contact with your upper arm, you were pleasantly surprised. The walls in the hallways were painted a pinkish beige, gold accents lining the wooden details. You found yourself gaping at the sophistication of the interior of the rooms you passed. What was this place? A mansion?

As it turned out, the answer to that question was yes. Yes, it was.

With Youngjae’s help, you managed to climb up two flights of a dark oaken staircase before he lead you to a beautifully and delicately decorated bathroom.

“Take your time to freshen up. You’ll feel better afterwards,” he explained with a tender smile before closing the door behind him, leaving you to stand in the middle of the luxurious lavatory.

Now what?

You moved toward the sink, placing your hands on the cold marble. There was a person standing in front of you, staring right back at you through the mirror. She didn’t seem like your usual self, the image unrecognisable. Her face was gaunt, and her complexion pale. Anyone could guess how little she’d been sleeping by the purple circles under her eyes. The bruises on the side of her face had faded into a disgusting green-yellow colour. You closed your eyes, unable to look yourself in the eyes anymore.

A sigh escaped. When Youngjae had reached out his hand to you, you had thought that maybe he’d pitied you enough for him to let you go. But when the mansion came into view and he brought you inside, you knew you had gotten your hopes up.

This entire situation was unexpected. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t thinking about making a run for it. The only issue: Youngjae was right outside. And there was this house... There might be others walking around, ready to catch you in the act. You would be much worse off then.

You let out another sigh. You supposed you might as well use this opportunity to clean yourself up like Youngjae had proposed.

An unfamiliar voice on the other side of the door pulled you out of your thoughts. You couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, but you knew that there was something going on when Youngjae responded.

“I’ll be right there.” Then he knocked on the door. “___, will you be okay for a minute? I’ll be right back.” Then his footsteps moved away, the thud of each step on the carpet sounding softer than the one before.

It was as if your prayers had been heard. This was your chance! This was your one shot to escape.

You straightened up and made your way to the door, your ears strained. But everything seemed quiet. You reached out for the door handle, but you could not bring yourself to push it down. You thought of Youngjae and how he had tried to make you feel as comfortable as possible. He had been so nice, considering the circumstances and as far as kidnappers go. He was gentle and caring. You shook your head. No, this was your chance. If no one was gonna save you, you might as well do it yourself. You had nothing to lose.

You shot a quick prayer and pushed the handle down. The door opened without struggle, and as you peaked your head out the door, the hallway seemed empty. You let out a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding. Next step, and the most difficult one, was getting downstairs and out of this house without being seen.

The floorboards underneath the carpet creaked as you placed one foot over the threshold. You tried to hold back your curses, as it would draw attention to your escape. As quietly as the old, wooden floor let you, you started to make your way down the hallway.

You were about halfway down the long hallway when you heard voices. You froze, too afraid to take another step and give yourself away. The voices grew louder, which meant the people these voices belonged to were getting closer as well. You told yourself to make a break for it. However, your legs didn’t want to cooperate. Grounded to the floor, your legs were shaking out of fear or simply out of fatigue. It might as well have been a combination of both.

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

When a heavy voice called out to you, your legs were finally moving. It took a lot of effort, but you were running.

“Hey!”

With the sound of heavy footsteps on the carpet behind you, your heart rate spiked. You needed to get out of here!

You dug through your memories, trying to remember which way you came. Good thing you were good at directions. The footsteps were coming closer, your fear of getting caught reaching a new high. Just past this corner was the main staircase, you remembered. Just a little bit more…

The staircase was in sight when you felt your legs fail you. No! Not now!

But you were exhausted and your legs were shaking, the situation had taken its toll on your body. Your muscles totally seized up when you arrived at the top of the old staircase. Unable to catch yourself with a next step forward, you felt gravity pull you down. With the momentum you built up from running, you toppled forward.

The first thing you felt was a pop in your ankle, which bended the wrong way after a failed attempt of trying to catch yourself, followed by a throbbing pain. The thump you felt almost directly after came from your knee meeting one of the steps forcefully. After that, however, your head connected with the edge of another and, before your body was even halfway down the staircase, you got knocked out cold.

You woke up with a throbbing pain in your head, your eyelids heavy. You frowned. Ugh. Not again…

You blinked, trying to adjust to the brightness, before the shadow of a person started to take shape above you.

“Good. You’re awake,” a familiar voice murmured.

“Youngjae?” you croaked.

“Yes,” he said when your vision cleared. “I’m here. How are you feeling?”

“Sore.”

He managed a sympathetic smile. “I can imagine. You made quite the nosedive.” He moved to grab something from behind him. You found out a second later the object he grabbed was a flashlight as he waved it in front of your face. “Look at me.”

You did. Youngjae eyes looked over you intently. You ended up admiring him from up close, despite the bright light shining into each of your eyes. His lashes were dark and long, perfectly surrounding his slightly slanted eyes. His eyes were small, but beautiful nonetheless with their rich brown irises. Under one of his eyes you discovered a freckle for the first time, the light in the room revealing the small details you hadn’t been able to see in the darkness in which you first met.

“You don’t seem to have sustained a concussion,” he said, shaking you out of your reverie. Then he drew away, straightening up. “Other than a sprained ankle and some bruising, you’re alright. I expect your headache to be gone by the end of the day, but prepare to feel a little stiff over the next few days.”

You didn’t know how to respond to that, the only thought whirling in your mind being your way out being compromised. You failed. And with a swollen ankle you most certainly wouldn’t be able to try it again anytime soon. You were done for. A tear made its way past your lashes when you realised you fucked up your only chance of getting your freedom back.

“I’m never getting out of here, am I? I might as well be dead…” Your voice sounded fragile, broken, all hope lost.

The doctor placed his hand on top of yours, the action calming. “For now just get some rest, okay?” His other hand cupped your cheek before he leaned in, his breath fanning your cheek. “You’re gonna be fine,” he whispered before you feel his soft lips on the corner of your mouth. “I promise.”

A couple of days later, there was still no news about your fate. You had been confined to one of the rooms in the house. You had tried to leave the room once, but you were immediately send back by the man keeping guard outside your door. You figured they considered you a flight risk even though Youngjae kept insisting it was because he needed to make sure you got enough rest.

The time you spent in your room was divided between spending time with Youngjae and thinking. You had come to find Youngjae’s presence soothing. He was the sole reason you were able to hold onto your sanity all this time. But there was still no news from home. You were grateful for Youngjae, you really were. But you had to take matters into your own hands again. You just needed to approach it differently. The remainder of the time you had spent thinking, brooding over a plan to get yourself out of here. Winging it clearly didn’t get you very far last time.

One morning you were woken up with the request to go downstairs. The young man in front of your door, however, told you that it was more of an order than a suggestion, so you didn’t dare to keep whoever was expecting you waiting.

While making your way down the dreaded staircase, your escort right beside you, you tried to figure out what was going on. “What’s happening? Where are you taking me?”

But he didn’t answer, his stoic expression unchanging. The man was tall and slim. You wouldn’t think him to be a very strong opponent in a fight, but you weren’t willing to find out. A serious frown marred his face, but his features seemed boyish to you. He was definitely the youngest person you’ve encountered here so far.

You let out a disappointed sigh at his lack of an answer. From the corner of your eye you noticed his stern façade crack a little. It seemed like some of these men weren’t completely immune to emotions…

At the bottom of the staircase, he took you along another hallway. It was similar than the ones you’d walked – or ran – down before. It was less detailed and more muted, the colour of the walls a little darker. You were still looking around, fidgeting, when all of a sudden you bumped into a solid form.

“Oh, sorry,” you said.

Your escort had stopped walking, halting in front of a door. He scoffed and shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips, but he still kept his lips sealed. He knocked on the door in front of him before entering.

Your heart was pounding, reverberating in your throat, but you felt obligated to follow. Before you sat the man you met that dreaded first day. He sat behind his desk, looking up from his work as you made your way in.

“JB, she’s here,” the man beside you spoke.

“Thank you, Yugyeom. You can go now.” The man dismissed him with a wave of his hand before letting his gaze fall onto you. “So,” he spoke, while moving up from his seat. “What am I going to do with you?”

The man called JB moved around his desk, slow and calculated steps making your heart beat faster. Even though you were not tied up and sprawled across a concrete floor, he still didn’t seem less scary. He was intimidating and each and every atom in the air around you buzzed because of it, pressing down on you.

The man leaned back against the wooden frame, a hand in his trouser pocket. “As you may have noticed, we haven’t received any response from your family.”

You couldn’t help but wince a little, even though you tried so hard to keep your face as emotionless as possible. The words didn’t come as a surprise, but the realisation that there was no one out there to help you still hurt.

The man looked at his shoes. “This simply won’t do.” He shook his head disapprovingly, before once again fixing his intense gaze on you. “I’m gonna need my money back, ___.”

You felt the blood rushing in your temples at his threatening statement. You were so on edge that you winced when he moved to straighten up before starting to pace around the room unhurriedly. The heels of his designer shoes clanking on the floor boards were deafening in the heavy silence hanging in the office. And with each clang your demise seemed to draw nearer.

He stepped closer before bending down to your height. His voice was a whisper, insistent and stern. “I want my money, and you’re gonna help me get it.”

His menacing voice made a chill run up your spine. You were about to answer him with a shaky voice, but – gladly – you got interrupted by the door slamming against the wall.

“What are you doing?”

Youngjae’s voice came as a surprise for both you and JB, causing the latter to move away slowly, giving you space to breathe again.

“Why is she here?” Youngjae continued, slightly irritated.

JB shrugged. “I’m trying to strike a deal with her. Since her daddy doesn’t respond, we need to come up with another way to get our money back. And she’s gonna earn it for us.”

“No,” the young medic simply stated, shocking both you and JB. Was it okay for him to talk to JB like that? Wasn’t he like… his boss?

“No?” JB asked mockingly.

“No. She’s not going to partake in any of this.” There was a fire in his eyes that left his boss at a loss of words. “I won’t let her-”

“I’ll do it,” you cut him off.

“What?” Youngjae exclaimed.

Before letting him get another word in, you continued. “On my terms.”

“Well,” JB mused. “The girl’s got spunk.” He walked back to his desk, taking a seat behind it. “Talk to me, girl.”

“___, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Youngjae said, placing his hand on your arm as if trying to stop you.

You ignored him and took a deep breath to gather your courage. You had enough time to think about the next step when you were confided to your room. And now it was the time to put that plan into action. “I don’t know what you had planned for me, but I’m sure I have a better way of getting us both what we want.”

JB’s eyes sparkled at your words, a mixture of surprise and mischief. Good, you thought. He’s interested.

“You’re going to let me go and I’ll make sure you get your money.”

The boss started to laugh. It wasn’t a humorous laugh. Instead, the sound caused the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end. But as quickly as it came, it subsided and the ominous frown was back on his face. “Don’t take me for a fool, girl. I’m not gonna let you simply walk out of here.”

“Not even if I promise to bring Doyun down.” Your daring offer met silence. JB’s eyes were squinted, out of suspicion or curiosity you couldn’t tell. “Believe me, I hate Doyun as much as you do right now. I want him to pay.” There had been a determination in your eyes that hadn’t been there ever since you ended up in this nightmare.

“But, ___-” Youngjae objected. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into!”

“I’ve got an idea. Now,” you turned back to JB. “Do you still want to hear the rest?” The man in question nodded, giving you permission to elaborate. “So, you are going to let me go and I’m going home. I’ll snoop around. When I find something interesting, I’ll report back. You can use this information for an ambush, or whatever you guys do when you want to get back at your enemies.”

It was silent in the office when you finished speaking. JB seemed to be mulling all of it over when you looked at him expectantly. The man next to you looked at you in disbelief before turning to the man behind the desk, a questioning look in his eyes.

Then, JB’s voice cut through the silence. “Okay.”

You let out a breath you didn’t know you had been holding. Youngjae displayed a similar reaction, probably relieved you weren’t losing your head yet.

“However,” JB leaned forward in his chair, his tone menacing. “one word about us, one wrong action, and you’re mine.”

You didn’t know what JB had in store for you if you messed up, but you weren’t planning on finding out. Youngjae had tried to talk you out of what you were about to do, but it was too late to turn back now. You were adamant on taking Doyun down, especially after all you had to go through at his expense.

Youngjae had expressed his worry in more ways than one. He tried to warn you of JB, of your stepdad, that it was too dangerous. He even tried to postpone everything by telling you weren’t ready to go out yet with your injuries. But you wouldn’t listen to him. And now you were here, in front of the mansion you’d called home before going to university. You hadn’t lived here for long, not standing the person you had to live there with. It was a beautiful house, you had to give Doyun that. But the more you looked at it, the more the beauty got overshadowed by the amount of bad memories you had of your mother’s abusive relationship.

You let out a breath, gathering the courage to make your presence known. You didn’t quite know who knew about your situation or if there was anyone who had noticed you were missing. Doyun had to have been one of the few however. The gang had send him multiple messages to try and get him to act, to provoke him, but probably none of them had seemed to be worth responding to. You and the guys had agreed you would tell him you had escaped by yourself somehow, but for the general public, you had just come back from an impromptu road trip with your friends from uni.

You pressed the right buttons on the outer gates of the property and within five seconds, the buzz of the gates being opened rung out. You made your way inside, slightly apprehensive. You were going to have to lie to your mother. You never liked lying, but it was for a good cause, at least that was what you kept telling yourself.

Before you were able to walk all the way to the mansion’s giant front doors, they swung open, your mother appearing in the opening before running outside to envelop you in a hug.

“___! Oh my god! What-” She pulled away, looking you in the eyes. “Where have you been? We were so worried!”

You were unable to answer when she tightly squeezed you against her again. We? Yeah, right.

Over your mother’s shoulder, you could see Doyun appearing on the top of the small staircase outside. Never in your life could you have imagined that face belonged to a worried man. He had a disgruntled frown on his face. Everything about him told you he wasn’t expecting this. You could have guessed: the man never liked it when things happened out of his control.

You squinted your eyes at him, not afraid to show your anger toward him. You needed to talk.

“I’m okay, mom,” you said, patting her on the back. “I just got back from a road trip with my friends.”

Your mother pulled back. “You were what?! We thought something happened to you!”

“I’m sorry,” you looked down, remembering the story. “It all just was very spontaneous and I forgot to tell you, and then my phone died… I’m so sorry.” You were truly sorry. Just not for the reason she thought you were.

“Well…” she let out a tired sigh. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Let’s go inside.”

With her hand on the small of your back, you passed Doyun on your way inside the house, a strict expression on his face. You remembered that face. It was the face he made before another one of his guards got replaced by another. You made sure to look him in the eye, unwavering.

When your mother had finally calmed down and made her way out of the living room, you were finally able to confront Doyun. However, you didn’t have to breach the subject yourself: he did it for you.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” His eyes were still piercing, the muscles in his jaw rigid. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

You scoffed, incredulous. “Oh, yeah. I know. It’s a good thing I know how to fetch for myself, because you certainly didn’t help anything.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, so you have no idea about what I had to go through this last two weeks?” This time you felt your anger rise, the boiling point in sight. “No ransom notes? No photos on your doorstep?”

Doyun shook his head calmly. “I only found out about what happened two days ago. Your mother insisted that something was wrong. I tried to figure out a way to get you out of there, but here you are now.”

Your eyes crinkled in anger. “And why exactly didn’t you tell mom about this?”

He let out a content sigh before answering, like he expected your question. “I guess for the exact same reason you didn’t tell her the truth either. I didn’t want to worry her.” Then he leaned forward, his elbows pressing down on his thighs. “Now, tell me. How did you manage to get out of there? Money? Sex?” Doyun looked at you, judging, scrutinising.

“I escaped,” you stated. Two could play this game of lying to the other person’s face. “They’re probably still looking for me. That’s why I need to stay here.”

Doyun still hadn’t moved a muscle, disdain and distrust lining his harsh features. You both knew the other was lying, but none of you said a word. A tense silence settled between you until your mother walked back into the room, followed by the smell of herbal tea.

Your mother was more than happy to take you back in the house for a little while. Her nature of caretaker emerging after your so-called spontaneous trip, she almost insisted you’d stay at the mansion for a while. Thankfully, she still didn’t refrain from running her own errands, leaving the house in your capable hands. Like today.

With both your mother and Doyun out of the house, the building and some of its very interesting rooms were all yours to explore. Carefully avoiding the staff that were still working in the mansion, you were able to slip into Doyun’s office. As soon as you closed the door behind you, you took a look around the interior of the room. You shook your head at the supposed grandeur. The room was spacious, however cluttered with obnoxiously expensive-looking furniture.

When you made your way further into the room, the first thing that caught your eye was the portrait on the wall behind the desk. It showed a younger Doyun sitting on chair with, what you presumed, were his dad and grandfather standing behind him. The painting of the three stern-looking men was surrounded by a garish golden frame.

“Of course there’s an oil painting,” you sighed.

Shaking your head you made your way to the expensive-looking wooden desk. You let your fingers rest on the surface as you walked around it. The wood was stained with a dark varnish, the intricate grains visible through the shine. Most of the desk was empty, apart from a few bits and bobs and a small stack of paperwork. It would have been foolish to have left important papers laying around on his desk, but you still crossed your fingers and hoped for the best as you sat down and leafed through the pile.

As you browsed, you kept your ears strained. You were new to the world of sneaking around, however with your recent experiences in mind, you knew that you had to be on your guard. You weren’t about to find out what happened to people that snuck around in a mob boss’ office. You tried to shake off those thoughts while working a little faster.

Just like you expected, the papers on top of the desk were very normal and perfectly legal. You doubted JB would find the mansion’s electricity bills very useful. You let out a sigh and stood up with the intention of going over to the filing cabinet when you heard a cheerful whistle down the hall. Your heart rate spiked as you froze.

Shit. Move, ___, move!

You forced yourself to move and hide. You wormed your way in between the desk and its giant, coordinating leather chair. The sound of the footsteps grew louder, signalling the person’s proximity to the door. You held your breath, your heart in your throat, when the footsteps slowed in front of the door. Only when you heard the sound of shoes hitting the carpet again, moving away from you, you dared to breathe.

Okay, we’re done for today!, you thought. This is how far it’s gonna get!

You quickly emerged from below the desk before looking around and making sure to leave everything the way you found it. As a precautionary measure you waited a couple of minutes more, pressing your ear to the door for any more sounds. When the coast was clear you made your way back to your old bedroom as silently as possible.

You tried to make the trips down to Doyun’s office as short as possible, not willing to risk getting caught. Each time, you made sure to report the developments, or lack thereof, to Youngjae. Your findings left you disappointed and guilty as you were sure JB wasn’t very happy about it, but Youngjae reassured you that it didn’t matter, that you’d just have to be patient, insisting that your safety was the most important factor. As for the data, your assumptions proved to be right: your stepdad wasn’t a complete idiot. Important information wasn’t locked away in his drawers and binders, or carelessly strewn across the office. In this era, a laptop would provide to be a more suitable holder of secrets. However, that laptop was nowhere in sight, always being kept safe by its owner.

A few days later, after coming up with nothing, and JB insisting you should do something about it, you shot a quick prayer and snuck your way into Doyun’s quarters once again. Only this time there was something else on the desk than his usual frills. It was as if the gods had looked upon your desperate attempts to comb through meaningless papers and files, and had finally answered your prayers: Doyun had forgotten his laptop, leaving it right before your prying eyes.

Not wanting to throw away this opportunity, you made your way over to the desk as quickly as possible, ready to look into whatever the man was hiding on the device. It was only when you stumbled upon a login screen that you started to panic a little. Password protection. Of course.

You racked your brain, desperate to find the answer to the question presented in front of you. Think, ___, think.

You pressed in the five numbers most familiar to you, praying he was one of those people that used the same password for everything. Within a few seconds, instead of the feared ‘failed login’ screen, a wallpaper appeared. You couldn’t help but let out a surprised snicker. Yes! Knowing the password to the entrance gates never came in this handy.

Listening around for unexpected noises, you fumbled around for your phone. Browsing around the laptop aimlessly would only eat away at the little time you had. Some kind of lead might’ve been helpful at this moment.

“___?” Youngjae’s voice sounded through your phone’s speaker. “How are you doing? Everything alright?” The worry in his voice tugged at your heartstrings a little, making you smile.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” you whispered, before hurriedly continuing with the matter at hand. “I just need a little bit more info on what kind of info I’m supposed to be looking for. I just broke into Doyun’s laptop.”

“Oh,” he exclaimed, admittingly impressed. “Right.”

“I just need a little help navigating a crime boss’ laptop. I don’t really have a lot of experience in hiding this type of intel, you know. And I figured you might be able to help me.”

The male on the other end of the line spoke aloud, repeating what you’re asking to somebody else in the distance before letting out a hum. “Try to open up some of his work-related files. He might hide some important documents there.”

Moving your phone to your other ear, you used your free hand to browse through the different programmes on the laptop. A lot of the files seemed to be files you might harbour on your own computer. Except for that one file, obviously loaded with porn, everything seemed to be void of top secret documents. You didn’t want to know what kind of secrets were hidden away in there, though.

“I don’t know, Youngjae. It seems like everything checks out. No weird or suspicious files, or anything.”

Another hum. “Then try opening up his email. Information needs to be send to him somehow.”

You opened up his inbox, determined to find at least something of use. Your eyes skimmed over different email addresses and subjects until you finally stumbled across something promising. It was an email about a certain ‘transaction’. Your curiosity and desperation reaching a peak, you hurriedly read your way through the cryptic email.

“…tomorrow…”

“What?” Youngjae’s voice sounded in your ear, reminding you of the phone you’ve been pressing against your head the whole time.

“There’s something happening tomorrow,” you explained. “It’s an email from what seems like a business partner of some sorts. It says there’s going to be some kind of transaction or deal tomorrow night.”

“What? Where? Does it say anything about a location?”

You were about to answer Youngjae when a noise came from the other side of the door. You started to panic, quickly putting down your phone and logging off from the laptop. You needed to get out of here, now!

It wasn’t until you were walking down the hallway that you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. No one had seemed to see you exit the office, but of course you could never be too safe. You had hurried upstairs, quickly closing the door behind you to block yourself from anyone’s scrutiny.

This had to have gone okay, right? You didn’t see anyone on the way up here. This went well. Everything was gonna be fine.

You leaned against the door, putting your hand on top of your heart in an attempt to calm it down. Your breathing had gotten heavy. You felt like you’d been running a marathon. It took a few minutes to catch your breath again. But just as relief started to take over, a sound you were unable to place in your current state of mind caught you off guard. You jumped. Then you looked down at the source: the phone still clutched between your fingers.

Right. Youngjae!

Your shaking hands fumbled with the device, trying to get a proper hold on it to press the green icon and move it to your ear. “Yeah,” you breathed.

“___! Are you okay? What happened?” Youngjae once again sounded concerned.

“I’m fine,” you said. “I thought I heard something, so I ran.”

“Did someone see you? Did you get caught?” Again, unease showed through the words coming from the phone.

“No, I don’t think so. I do need to show you something, though. Can we meet up somewhere?”

An affirming answer came from the other end of the line. “I’ll text you the address.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in a bit!”

You were about to hang up when Youngjae interrupted. “Oh, and ___?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful.”

You shook your head, a small smile creeping up on you. It wasn’t the time to feel giddy at all, but you couldn’t help it. Youngjae’s worry and concern for you caused your heart flutter and a warm, pleasant feeling to spread all through your insides.

“I will,” you whispered.

Arriving at the address on your phone, you couldn’t help but doubt yourself. Was this the right place?

It seemed like Youngjae had send you to an old, run-down bar. It looked like it was closed, which was logical: it being 11 AM and all. Starting to wonder what to do next, your nervous pacing got interrupted by a familiar calling of your name. You turned around and came to face the exact man you had wanted to see ever since you escaped your stepdad’s office. It seemed like a while ago, even though it happened just this morning. But the solace you found in Youngjae’s eyes, filled you with relief and immediately lifted your spirits.

After asking if you were alright, Youngjae took you inside the hoary bar and led you to one of the tables in the back, away from any of the grimy windows. With JB and Jinyoung already seated on one end, you and Youngjae carefully sat down opposite them. Great, you thought. The two scariest gangsters decided to join you.

As if sensing your apprehension, Youngjae moved closer unconsciously. You were extremely grateful for his presence, feeling instantly protected and more at ease. Your gaze moved to the two men in front of you, both answering with a similar, cold glare. That was when the older of the two spoke up.

“I heard you found something.” His monotonous voice was accompanied by an expectant raise of the eyebrow.

“Erm, yeah,” you said. “I guess so.”

“Well… What did you find?” JB’s patience apparently already started to wear thin in the mere beginning of conversations.

“Right,” you started before fishing your phone out of your jacket’s pocket. You scrolled through your camera roll. “So, I found this email on his laptop,” you said, handing over your phone to the man opposite you. “It appears to be talking about some kind of shady deal.”

JB’s eyes moved across the screen quickly. He kept quiet, so you continued.

“It was the only clue I could find. I’m guessing he forgot to delete this email by accident, because the rest of his files didn’t say anything unusual. I got really lucky this time. He doesn’t normally seem this sloppy.”

“Hmm.” JB’s face took on a brooding expression. After a second, he handed the phone to Jinyoung, who made sure to send a copy of the pictures to his own phone.

“So?” you mused. “Did I manage to bring you something useful?”

One of the corners of JB’s lips tugged up, his cold face transforming into something a little bit more sinister. “I guess we can work with this.”

An unexpectant sense of gaiety started to grow among your insides and a smile made its way to your lips. You looked over to Youngjae with a strange sense of pride. You actually came up with something helpful. For a gang. Which wasn’t ideal. But it all felt kind of… exciting.

It was the day after your top secret meeting when you found yourself lounging around in the living room. It was the first day that you hadn’t been sneaking around in the house, and it felt… boring. The snooping had almost caused several heart attacks, but with nothing much else to do, besides going to class some days, you kind of missed it.

Before you left yesterday, JB had informed you he didn’t have much use for you right now. It was their turn now and you had to stand back. Lying on the couch, you couldn’t help but wonder what was supposed to go down, what they were involved in. Were the gang going to interfere with some type of arms deal? Or were they involved in drugs too? It was almost certainly going to be dangerous, you thought.

You found yourself praying that, whatever the gang had planned that day, they would come out unscathed.

It was already late at night when you finally heard something. But instead of the phone you had expected to ring, you heard the front door slam shut with a loud bang, picture frames on the walls threatening to fall down due to the vibrations it created. The crash was followed by loud curses coming from downstairs.

A knowing smile crept up your face. Someone had a bad day today, you thought. You had to hold back the urge to rush downstairs to find out what exactly happened, the smart part of your brain telling you it was better to stay away from Doyun for a while.

As if your curiosity sparked interest across the city, your phone signalled an incoming message. It was Youngjae.

‘Took care of everything. Are you okay?’

You let out a relieved breath, smiling at the man’s concern once again before quickly sending a message back.

‘Yes, I’m fine. Doyun less so. Did everything go okay?’

Youngjae’s answer came quickly. ‘We’re okay. Everything went as planned. His business should be held back for a little while.’ Followed by another. ‘You should lay low for now. Take care of yourself. We’ll talk soon!’

You replied with a quick ‘thumbs-up’ before carefully deleting the messages. If Doyun found out you were a mole, you’d be in major trouble.

It had been about a full week of normalcy before you received a message from Youngjae again. Taking into consideration that Doyun was on high alert, he didn’t dare keep in contact, afraid to raise suspicion. You were glad he was so thoughtful of you, but you were kind of disgruntled that you weren’t called upon earlier. You were bored and you found yourself missing the action a little. But especially not hearing from Youngjae had caused the disappointment to sink in. So when that text finally came, you couldn’t be more cheerful.

The message carried you to a local café, where Youngjae, JB and a young man that you had seen once before – Yugyeom, you remembered his name was – were waiting for you. Youngjae was the first one to speak to you when you arrived.

“___! How are you? Is everything okay?” His eyes darted up and down, quickly trying to scan your body for any injuries like it was his job – which it was, you reminded yourself.

You smiled, nodded and took a seat, ready for whatever happened next. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

JB let out an amused scoff at your forward nature before folding his hands on top of the table. “Well,” he started. “We need you to gather some more information on your stepdad.”

You nodded, signalling your understanding and willingness, much to Youngjae’s dismay.

“We’re planning on messing with him for a little while longer before we’re able to bring him down completely. After that, you’ll be free from your debt to me.”

It didn’t take you much longer than two seconds to agree. This was what you signed up for, right? Getting revenge. But also because you didn’t really have a choice with your freedom in JB’s hands.

You noticed Youngjae growing more and more wary. One look at him and his worries came spilling out. “Just be careful, ___. Doyun’s already on edge and most certainly suspicious of every tiny thing. If you even have one inch of doubt that he’s onto you-”

“I know, Youngjae,” you smiled reassuringly. “I’ll be on my guard. I’ll message you when I find anything.”

And that was that. Your next assignment.

Eager to prove your worth and help the only people able to bring your worst nightmare down, you started right away. The next couple of days you found nothing. Of course, Doyun had always been careful. Your first search was proof of that. You just prayed that all of the paranoia and stress would cause him to become sloppy. Just one mistake was all it took for you to take advantage of and have his entire business come crumbling down. It was only a matter of time.

Your prayers got answered about five days later, when a ‘business partner’ visited the house. Afraid that someone at headquarters might have something to do with the recent incident, Doyun had invited this particular partner to his home. That was your moment to strike. You had thought of a way listen in on their conversation, but it proved to be quite tricky. There was no way you could personally attend the meeting without being caught spying. That’s why you had to find another way to eavesdrop on the exchange.

Which led you to your mission of retrieving the phone you had hidden away in the pot of an ornamental plant before the two gentlemen made their way to Doyun’s office and started their all-important meeting. Your nerves had been building up consistently when you were waiting for the meeting to end. You were praying your not-particularly well-hidden phone wasn’t discovered. After making sure there was no one in sight, you made your way down to Doyun’s empty office to fetch your recording device.

Your proof turned out to be shockingly useful, prompting you to immediately report to the men on the other side of town. Doyun’s conversation was mostly filled with all kinds of details surrounding this deal that was currently being finalised. The who, when and where were all spoken about in great specifics. You just hit the jackpot, however, it was now the gang’s turn to run with it and put another one of their plans in action.

The week was just starting when Doyun, once again, came home with a dreadful temper. He was furious. Within a month, two of his deals fell through. The first one, an arms deal had been cancelled right before it was supposed to take place. Apparently the opposite party had made a more favourable deal with a different seller a couple hours prior and didn’t feel the need to show up. He had been infuriated. How dare they back off at the last minute? How dare they cross him, one of the most influential people in this city?!

And then that second disaster from which he had barely escaped alive. For some reason, again, the other party had crossed him, only this time it had turned fatal for many of his closest men. Turning up at the meeting place, everything seemed to be going as planned. A few seconds in, Doyun thought he saw some new faces among his interlocutor’s men. He had brushed it off as paranoia, but he was wrong to do so, as he found out a few minutes later when his soon-to-be partner started to twitch a little too much for his liking.

When Doyun and his men started to withdraw, his business partner knew the cover was blown. His men had opened fire and whoever had failed to react quickly, had been shot. It had been a deal about an alliance, and most of it was already set. He invited this man to his house and talked details. But now the people he had given an ounce of trust had turned on him. A few of Doyun’s best men perished, which is what angered him the most. A big part of his business endeavours had fallen through or had been delayed as a result of this and, most importantly, his credibility had taken a huge hit. The first signs of power struggles and revolts had started to pop up among his men: the first cracks within the empire that his father and grandfather had worked so hard to build started to appear.

In between university classes and meetings with the gang, you hadn’t stopped snooping around, determined to find other details of Doyun’s operations. In his current state of mind he had grown a bit careless, making it easier for you to find out new things that might be of importance to your cause. Each time you reported your findings to members of the gang so they could mess with and torment Doyun in any way, shape or form. You usually met up at a coffeeshop in the middle of the city. The less questionable your behaviour, the safer you were from Doyun’s suspicions.

JB didn’t feel the need to be present during most of your frequent meetings, trusting his brothers to hold up to the task of the messenger. However, there was one person who was always there. Youngjae had apparently taken it upon himself to be your first person of contact. While you didn’t know exactly why – he was the medic and wasn’t particularly involved in the other, more illegal matters of the crime ring – you were glad he was there. He had always been there, you realised once, the thought making you feel all strange and warm on the inside.

That warmth had changed into a jittery feeling when Youngjae was the person to reach out first, asking you to meet up later that week. You had told yourself that it was probably business-related, but you couldn’t help but feel excited. It was a little nerve-wracking to be honest. You had told yourself to calm down, and that you had experienced more horrifying things these last few weeks. For God’s sake, you had met with one of the most intense mob bosses of the city while living under the same roof with another. You could handle being alone with Youngjae.

With those encouraging thoughts, you left the house without a second look back. Which was a mistake as, unbeknownst to you, a pair of very expectant eyes were following your every move.

Doyun knew that his recent losses weren’t just any case of bad luck. There must have been something more to it than that. His troubles were just too much of a coincidence. It didn’t take him long to pinpoint exactly where his tribulations stemmed from. He had a strong feeling he knew exactly who was the cause of his problems.

JB’s gang hadn’t been his direct enemy until recently. The gang was young, but had experienced a significant growth in territory, numbers and influence early on. The man at the head of this group had to have guts in order to accomplish all of this, that was nothing new. But spying on him like this, was an especially fearless move. Doyun could only think of one particular person that had been in contact with these rivals. However, he needed to make sure his suspicions were right. And it was very likely that these suspicions were going to be confirmed later that day.

Youngjae had always thought of himself as a calm and patient person. In his medical profession, it was a crucial part of his job description. He had been fidgeting for quite a while this morning, however. Time had seemed to crawl by lately, especially when he was anticipating to meet you. It had been a few days since you last saw each other. He had texted you then, asking if you wanted to have coffee with him. It took some courage to send that message, unsure if you fully understood what he meant by it, but thankfully you didn’t look at all surprised to find him alone.

You two spoke about current business, however briefly, but the conversation quickly shifted to more mundane topics. He noticed your muscles relax as the conversation went on and you smiled more than ever in his presence. He found himself wishing to be able to see more of this version of you in the future. Youngjae wasn’t able to stop thinking about it, about you, ever since, so he had made an effort to speak to you again as soon as possible afterwards.

And that was what led him to this very coffee shop for the second time this week, anxiously waiting for you to continue where you two left off last time. It was only that he had been waiting, anxiously, for a quite some time by now. A quick glance at the clock let Youngjae know that it had been at least half an hour of waiting on his part. He found out you were prone to showing up late sometimes, but never had it been more than ten minutes. Moreover, your delay had always been accompanied by a short message of apology as well. This time something wasn’t quite right.

After another ten minutes, and a lack of any notification of any kind, Youngjae was sure that something was really off. That was when he decided to try to call you, but got no further than unlocking his phone when Jaebum’s name popped up on his screen.

“It’s me,” the familiar voice sounded when Youngjae picked up. The words were blunt, feeding the nagging feeling in his stomach. “We’ve got a situation on our hands,” JB continued before uttering the words that caused Youngjae’s stomach to drop instantly. “Doyun knows.”

In order to explain the situation properly, JB had requested Youngjae to come over as quickly as possible. The latter didn’t need much of an explanation. He had had this strange gut feeling for a while. He knew you were in serious trouble, he just needed to know in how much.

Panic-stricken and restless, Youngjae rushed over to headquarters to find the core gang members gathered around a table. Mark noticed him first, waving him over in silence. The atmosphere was nothing short of tense and all the focus was on JB who seems to be in a heated discussion over the phone.

When Youngjae’s eyes fell on the picture displayed on a phone a distressed Jackson held out to him, his jaw dropped unintentionally. It was a close up of your bruised face. Your cheek was swollen, a scratch of red marking the hit from a ring. Your right eye inflamed and puffy, traces of a bruise already forming along your temple. Some stray hairs were sticking to the patch of dried blood near a cut on your eyebrow.

Youngjae’s breath got caught in his throat, a wave of guilt washing over him. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. You had been so careful. This was his fault. The gang had pushed you into cooperating and he stood by and condoned it. It physically hurt him to see you like this. Frustrated with himself and the situation he curled his hands into fists, drawing blood as his nails pressed into the soft skin. His blood was boiling, his heart breaking. How dare they lay their hands on you!

You were more or less innocent, not involved in any of this gang business if it wasn’t for them. He hadn’t agreed on involving innocent people from the very beginning, but had reluctantly let the gang do its thing. And now this happened…

“What exactly do you want to achieve with this, asshole?!” JB’s voice brought Youngjae’s attention back to his conversation. “What do you expect to gain from this?”

Having it switched to speaker, the voice on the phone echoed in the room. “What I want is for your lousy business to stop interfering with that of mine,” Doyun’s voice answered. “Back off, or she dies.”

It was silent for a minute as everyone watched Jaebum with concern. Youngjae tensed. This wasn’t supposed to happen. They were so careful and still this was able to happen. What if he didn’t ask you to meet up with him? Would your intentions still be a secret? Or was this inevitable? Just an attempt to try and fool a man that turned out to be smarter than they thought?

“Do you really think that this is how you’re going to get us? Are you really willing to kill your own step-daughter for this?” JB said out loud, putting to words exactly how unbelievable Doyun’s intentions were.

“Why not?” Doyun mused. “She’s been nothing but a nuisance to me. My life would be a whole lot easier with her out of the picture.” A cackle reverberated through the phone. “Your choice,” he said before the call got disconnected.

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds, Doyun’s words weighing it down heavily. The first one to break the silence was Jinyoung. “We’re not going to back off, are we?” he said, looking calmer than the rest of the men.

“How could we?” Yugyeom said. “We’ve gotten too far in for us to back out now.”

“But what about ___?! We need to get her out of there!” Youngjae sputtered, the muscles in his jaw tensed. He had already let it come this far. You got hurt. He needed to save you. “He’ll kill her!”

JB paused thoughtfully before clapping a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll figure this out, Youngjae. Like we always do.”

It took the rest of the day for the gang to calm down and think of a solution, which turned out to be harder than it seemed. All of the men unanimously agreed that they had to get you out of this situation before anything else, Youngjae being the most vocal about it, but that was going to be difficult without knowing where you were in the first place.

The men reached a dead end a couple of hours in. Without any location, a rescue operation was going to be practically impossible. Halting their operations in relation to Doyun’s business seemed like the only possible way to keep you alive, but their business would suffer and, after seeing the images of your assaulted body, they couldn’t promise Doyun’s men would keep their hands off you even if they did.

Discussions and interjections went on for about an hour when Youngjae’s phone signalled an unexpected message. The text consisted of a location and not much else. Tracking the message resulted in a direct connection with a burner phone that wouldn’t lead to any specific person, but the location directed them to a building at the edge of the city.

“Could it be that this is where ___ is held?” Bambam suggested while the rest seemed puzzled about where this message came from.

“Plausible,” JB said with a nod. “Who’s the owner of that building?”

After a few quick taps on his laptop, Mark confirmed everyone’s hopes. “Doyun.”

“Then what the hell are we waiting for?!” Youngjae, who’d been pent up with frustration since the moment he stepped foot in the meeting, snapped uncharacteristically. “We have to get her out of there!”

As a voice of reason, Jinyoung interrupted. “What if it’s a trap? Doyun could have just as easily texted us himself just because he wants us to go there.”

A silence fell, the thought floating around in everyone’s minds before Jackson spoke up. “If this is our only lead, I think we should risk it.”

All faces turned to JB expectantly. “Please, Jaebum,” Youngjae pleaded. “We owe her that much.”

After a second the boss hummed. “But we need to approach this carefully. First, we need a plan.”

And so the preparations of a rescue operation ensued. In the dead of night, the gang made its way to the location provided in the text. In the old van of some electrical company, Mark sat in the back, pressing some keys on his laptop, trying to hack into the security camera’s of the premises they were now quickly approaching.

“Mark, you keep monitoring the cameras. Yugyeom, you stay here and be ready for when we need to escape,” JB ordered as the youngest member slowed down the beat-up van a block away from the complex. “Youngjae, you too.”

The young doctor was quick to object. “No. I’m coming.”

“Youngjae, it’s Doyun’s men we’re talking about.” JB’s voice was cold and stern, common for the leader. “They’re trained hitmen.”

“I don’t care.” His voice was resolute. “We need to get ___ out of there as soon as possible, and with an extra hand the sooner we can do that. Besides, I can handle myself,” Youngjae said as he reached for one of the guns in the back.

JB looked at him discerningly. The fire and determination in Youngjae’s eyes told him he wouldn’t budge on this matter. Not feeling like continuing this discussion, JB just sighed.

“Okay, guys. ___ is our priority, but we shouldn’t forget that this could be a trap. Keep your eyes and ears open for anything we’ve overlooked. If anyone only gets the slight feeling that we might be ambushed, speak up and we’re out of there.” He looked at each of the men around him, who gave him an affirmative nod. He continued, his gaze aimed at Bambam. “Keep an eye on Youngjae. Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

The young man nodded.

“All right, boys. Let’s do this.”

The side door slid open, the men filing out while concealing some of their weapons within their clothes before sneaking onto the premises of the skeleton of an old office building. The grounds around weren’t completely empty. Some of Doyun’s men were loitering around unsuspectingly, smoking cigarettes and rubbing their hands against the cool night air, gazing at nothing in particular. They were unusually out of place guarding a building that was already part demolished. But as well as for a planned ambush. A good sign, JB noted before signalling the rest of the guys to move forward at Mark’s cue sounding in his earpiece.

The first man that got close to where Jackson and Jinyoung were hiding got a baseball bat to the face, the crack echoing between the buildings. A friend of his that got a little suspicious from the grunt was grabbed from behind, an arm moving around his throat, squeezing the air from his lungs. Bambam, an experienced sharpshooter, was the one to subdue the next two, the sound of his shots mere pops in the distance thanks to his silencer.

It stayed quiet for the next few minutes, the grounds minimally guarded. The gang made it to the next obstacle: a back entrance with a heavy lock. Jackson stepped forward to inspect it.

“This is not going to be an easy lock to get rid of silently,” he diagnosed.

“Shoot it,” Youngjae called out impatiently. “We still have the element of surprise. We need to get in now!”

All gazes moved toward JB for the final decision. The latter seemed to think it over for a second. Youngjae found himself getting heated up a little too much for his liking, but he was right. Nothing led them to think there was an ambush waiting for them there. In the end JB nodded at Jinyoung who looked ready to deliver the shot.

A loud pop broke the silence, followed by a clank of the lock being blasted apart by a bullet. Jackson swung open the door before a full on gunfight ensued, guards inside the building surprised at the intruders. The boys advanced into the building, weapons raised, shooting down any person in their way. It was chaos. Above the gunfire, Youngjae’s voice rung out.

“Find her!”

The group of men split into three, each moving into a different direction. As per JB’s warning, and his own gut feeling, Bambam didn’t dare let Youngjae out of his sight. He had never seen the doctor act like this. Trained in observing other people’s body language through a visor, he knew Youngjae was acting out of the ordinary. Out of all the people in the gang, he was supposed to be the most collected and practical in stressful situations. Heightened emotions didn’t belong in his line of work.

His white-knuckled fingers and the throbbing vein along one of his temples told Bambam a lot. He was trying to hold back whatever worry he was feeling, but his rushed steps and the slight tremor in his hands gave away enough for his partner to guess what he was going through.

“Hey!”

A shout from the other end of the hallway they barely entered echoed against the walls, pulling Bambam’s focus from the other male. He rushed forward, both hands on his weapon. Even before this threatening sight, his target, a thin man, still reached for his gun. But it was too late when a single shot got fired and hit him right in his chest.

Youngjae didn’t even flinch at his friends actions, his focus elsewhere. “Let’s go,” he said before stepping over the body on the floor and continuing his path. “This way.”

It took another minute before the men noticed two nervous-looking henchmen pacing around in one of the hallways. Bambam held out an arm, holding Youngjae back.

“I’ve seen them before,” Bambam whispered. “And they’re not moving in to help the rest.” He almost sounded a little disappointed.

“That means that she’s here,” Youngjae replied. “They’re guarding her.”

Bambam nodded and advanced. The men in the hallway noticed them immediately, ready to grab their guns. One of them was successful. The other not so much. Rushing in on the last man standing, Youngjae was able to hit him square in the face. Killing was only necessary as a last resort, he thought. He hissed at the crack of his knuckles when connecting with the puffy man’s face. Waving his hand around, trying to shake off the pain, he got caught off guard by a punch in the stomach. Air escaped as he groaned and doubled over, but the adrenaline kept him going. He charged forward, tackling the man to the ground where he punched him again. The man tried to throw Youngjae off, grabbing at his opponent’s face. He was able to push him of balance and land a hit on his cheek, but his victory didn’t last. Another shot rang out and Youngjae looked up to find Bambam, totally forgotten at this point, his weapon raised.

More shouts and gunshots reverberated all around the empty building, but Youngjae didn’t notice any of that. All that was on his mind was finding you. He knew you were near. All he needed to do was find you and bring you to safety. He ignored Bambam’s outstretched hand completely when getting back to his feet and rushed forward once again, only one goal in mind. The other man quickly followed him.

When they arrived at a locked door, Youngjae was the first to barge into it, slamming into it with his shoulder and kicking at it with his boot. When it didn’t budge he yelled out in frustration. Bambam, having enough of this wild display, held him back before raising his gun to shoot at the lock. That did the trick.

Youngjae didn’t feel the need to feel bad about his impulsive behaviour. He swung open the door to finally reveal the person he longed to see.

Your unconscious figure lay on the concrete floor, bruised and broken. Youngjae didn’t waste a second and appeared at your side immediately. For just a second, he tried to push aside his feelings and treat you like any other patient, but his rushed movements betrayed his sentiments. Your pulse was still there, you were breathing – however shallowly. Your face looked pale and you were burning up.

“Have you found her?” Jinyoung’s voice called out from the hallway, his footsteps quickly approaching. The gunfire had died down a little, something Youngjae didn’t even notice. His entire attention was focused on you.

“Yeah,” Bambam answered in his stead. “Everything alright on your end?”

Jinyoung nodded, trying to catch his breath while supporting his hand on Bambam’s shoulder. “JB and Jackson are still holding off some of them. Are we ready to go?” His eyes moved towards Youngjae, who was now approaching them, carrying your comatose figure in his arms. “Is she…?”

“We need to go,” Bambam said firmly, nodding in the direction of the scuffing of approaching footsteps on the cement floors.

Jinyoung looked over at Youngjae again. He looked like he was about to explode. “Get her out of here,” he said, surprising the other two, carrying your figure over into Bambam’s arms.

“What?” Jinyoung blinked, pulling Youngjae back. “What are you doing?”

A cold fire was burning in his eyes. It was more than anger. Worse. It was an intense type of hurt, one that was mixed with outrage. An explosive combination. “I’m gonna kill that bastard!”

“Youngjae, don’t do something you’ll regret later on!” Jinyoung yelled back, putting his hands on his shoulders to steady him. “Take her out of here and make sure she’s okay. She’s your priority!”

Jinyoung had never been much of a kind-hearted person. Blunt and straight to the point, even a bit hurtful. That was who he was. But despite that, he always seemed to know what people needed to hear, even though it wasn’t what they wanted to hear.

Youngjae paused, hesitant to let go of his internal rage. He looked at Bambam, who still looked quite lost at Youngjae’s behaviour and was awkwardly holding your beaten up figure in his arms.

“Youngjae,” Jinyoung tried again, looking at the figure in his friend’s arms. “She needs help. A doctor. Youngjae, she needs you.” Those words seemed to drag Youngjae back to earth. “Go. I’ll take care of things here.”

He kept silent, but gave a slight nod before hurrying past Jinyoung and following Bambam out of the building.

Opening your eyes turned into a struggle the last few hours, and now was no different. You didn’t want to open your eyes, afraid of what was waiting for you at the other side of your eyelids. It had always been a man, gruff-looking and quickly-angered, ready to hurt you in some way or another. The first time the means of torture were simply the knuckles of his giant hands, but the second time he stood there, a smug look on his face and a bucket of ice water hanging on the phalanxes of his fingers.

However, something was different this time. Familiar voices, vague and unintelligible, floated in the space around you. A flutter of your eyelids had drawn the attention of a particular familiar voice back to you.

“___?”

Youngjae.

You tried to open your eyes with much difficulty. With your vision blurry and your head pounding, you were just able to make out the face of the person you longed to see. “Youngjae,” you croaked, your throat dry.

“It’s okay,” he said, the palm of his hand falling to your forehead. You welcomed the coolness of his fingers, your eyelids fluttering closed at the soothing sensation and the rocking of the van. “I’m here. Everything will be alright.”

That was the last thing you heard before everything turned black, a fitful sleep waiting for you on the other side.

Your surroundings had significantly changed when you opened your eyes next. You were met with a white ceiling and a feeling of comforting warmth. When your gaze landed on a mop of familiar brown hair, your heart jumped. Seeing Youngjae’s blurry face hours ago had seemed like a wonderful dream amidst the frequent nightmares, but seeing his sleeping figure, slumped over onto the side of the bed proved that it wasn’t.

You propped yourself up against the headboard with effort, a tentative hand reaching out to touch Youngjae’s face. His cheek pressed into the sheets, his lips were forming a pout. It made him look younger. It looked like he spend most of his time beside you, exhausted to the point of passing out on the chair next to the bed. He had always been there, you realised once again. Even when you didn’t realise, he was there.

The sound of the door opening broke your gaze from the sleeping figure beside you. Yugyeom stepped into the room. His hands occupied with carrying a tray, he pressed the door closed behind him with one of his feet.

“Hey,” he whispered. “You’re awake!”

“Sssh!” You pointed at Youngjae, who was still asleep beside you.

Yugyeom approached the bed silently, putting his tray down on the bedside table. “I thought I’d bring him some food,” he nodded toward man in question. “He’s been cooped up inside this room the entire time.”

“How long have I been out for?” you wondered.

“Almost two days,” Yugyeom said. “You had a fever. But I’m guessing you’re feeling better?” You nodded, your gaze back on the person who was probably responsible for it. “Well, I’ll let you rest some more. Youngjae will kill me if I won’t.” He walked back to the door. “And make sure he eats something when he wakes up. Wouldn’t want our doc to get sick.”

After Yugyeom left, you took another good look at Youngjae’s cherub cheeks. He looked so soft and peaceful that you cursed yourself for doing the thing you did next. You ran a hand through his soft brown locks, your fingernails lightly scraping over his scalp. He breathed out a lazy sigh.

“You know,” you started. “As a doctor I figured you should know this position is terrible for your spine.”

Your soft voice coaxed him out of his sleep. A soft moan escaped from his lips, the sound surprisingly adorable in your ears. He blinked, not entirely sure of where he was and what was happening as he shook off the veil of slumber. It took him a few seconds to realise what woke him, but as soon as he did, he shot up.

“___!” he exclaimed, grabbing your hand. “You’re awake!”

You couldn’t help but smile, even though the action caused you to wince as pain blossomed across your cheek.

“How are you feeling?” He looked at you once again with a worried look in his eyes. It had become his default look for you, you found yourself thinking. You should really change that.

You smiled weakly, trying to hold your own, mostly for his sake. “Haven’t felt better.”

“I’m so sorry, ___,” Youngjae said, guilt swimming in his beautiful brown eyes. “This is all my fault. I should’ve-”

“Youngjae. Stop.” You lay your hand across his cheek. “I participated in all this. You couldn’t have prevented any of it.”

“No, ___. You don’t get it,” he said, his eyes glazed over. “You had a fever! If I hadn’t gotten to you in time… You could have died!” He swallowed thickly. “I thought you were dead when I found you. I don’t know if I could ever forgive myself if you…”

He trailed off, staring at the way his hand enveloped yours before placing a kiss on top of your bruised fingers. You didn’t say anything after that. He looked heartbroken. Realising no words could soothe him, you waned in silence, comforting him with your presence and gentle rubs of your fingertips over his knuckles. You both stayed like that for a little while, before Youngjae had to switch to his physician persona.

After having gone through your check-up extensively, you both found yourselves still exhausted, but also hungry. Yugyeom had passed by again in the meantime, another meal spread out on a tray. This time it was meant for you. With both of your stomachs filled with Yugyeom’s hearty meals, weariness hit hard. While Youngjae was reluctant to leave your side, you worried over his posture after sleeping on a chair. You padded the mattress next to you, inviting him to lay down next to you. He protested at first, but you were steadfast – and, above all, selfish.

Both of you settled down quietly, your arms around each other as if to confirm you were together. You didn’t want to let him go and he didn’t want to let you out of his sight. As if calmed down by the other’s presence, your breaths slowed down soon after, both of you finding comfort in each other’s embrace.

You had no idea what happened behind the scenes when you first woke up. After your return to the manor you first considered a prison, you had done nothing but focussed on healing and on Youngjae. He had managed to calm down a bit after everything that happened. He was still reluctant to leave you alone, however. But you didn’t mind.

After the horrific events you went through, you felt like you had to hold onto him at all times, if not for your own sanity. He still felt guilty, the dispirited look in his eyes wrenched your heart. So you made it your job to drive out that feeling, reassuring him at each opportunity and gifting him a smile every time he looked at you. The rest of your efforts went into getting better. You needed to heal, for him, but for your own sake as well. You needed to put this behind you. The sooner you were able to return to your life, the better.

However, there were a few loose ends that still needed to be tended to. One of which presented itself when Yugyeom knocked on the door and asked for you to come downstairs. You hadn’t really spoken to the rest of the gang after the events of the last week, but Youngjae had briefed you about most of it. This time, however, Youngjae shrugged his shoulders in wonder as well.

After they saved you from Doyun’s men, the gang combed through the building in search of the man himself, but he was nowhere to be found. It turned out Doyun had fled the scene and was in hiding. JB was still fully immersed in the manhunt. However, without the mob boss’ presence, his business had crumbled. Some of the higherups that still managed to be alive, had tried to usurp the syndicate in the chaos, but all of them had failed to fully take the reins into their hands.

Another question remained, still. One that was almost forgotten. The answer to that question was sitting at the kitchen island when you arrived downstairs, Youngjae trailing behind you.

“Mom?”

“So, you’re the one who sent that message?” Youngjae said. “You knew where ___ was.”

Your mom nodded regretfully before moving her gaze from her cup of coffee to you. “When I found out you went missing, I knew he was behind it.” She smiled, remorseful, the traces of tears still visible on her cheeks. “I’m not as ignorant as Doyun thought I was. I knew about his business. I knew what he did for a living, but I kept silent. I only started to pay close attention when I figured out you had gotten yourself into his mess.

“You know, he kept things from me, like when you first disappeared. I did some digging and found the ransom notes. But by the time I found out you were missing that first time, you had already showed up again. I kept an eye on things after that, though.” She shook her head. “And when you got missing again, I couldn’t let him do as he pleased. I knew he was angry and I knew he was the one who had you. He became a ticking time bomb and I tried to find out your location as fast as possible.”

She paused.

“I knew I couldn’t save you on my own. So I messaged you.” Her eyes now moved along the members that had gathered in the kitchen. “Thank you, once again, for saving her.” Her eyes halted on Youngjae. “And thank you for taking care of her.”

Youngjae smiled and nodded humbly under her gaze before squeezing your hand in support.

“So, what’s next?” Jaebum asked.

Your mother shook her head. “I don’t know. How does one divorce a man who’s missing?” she chuckled dryly. “I’m looking for an apartment right now. I’m ready to cut all of my ties to that man.”

After another cup of coffee and second heart-warming hug, your mother was on her way once again. She had smiled at Youngjae knowingly before turning away and driving off in her car.

“What was that?” Youngjae said as he helped you back up the stairs.

“What?”

“You know… That weird smile of hers.”

You shrugged. “I guess she’s figured us out.”

“Us?”

“Yeah, us.” You smiled at him as you reached to top of the stairs. “I think she noticed the way I look at you. She could always tell what I thought by looking at me for one second. My face is way too telling.”

Youngjae pulled you along the landing further, before manoeuvring you to the wall. You wrapped your arms around his neck and moved in closer. Your breath fanned on his lips as he spoke. “And how do you look at me exactly?”

You let out a hum. “I don’t know. Like you look at me right now.”

He smiled. “And how do I look at you?”

“Like you want to kiss me.” You moved a hand to his chest. “I won’t stop you if you decide to do so,” you whispered.

Youngjae hesitated, like every time when you moved too close to him. He had wanted to kiss you so bad ever since you woke up, but he didn’t want to hurt you. Traces of bruises still marked your skin, a reminder of the trauma you lived through so recently. But the breath on his lips pushed back the reason within him, his feelings taking the lead in his actions. When he couldn’t take it any longer, he caught your hand in his and moved his face forward, your lips meeting in an unyielding kiss.

His lips were soft and his touch gentle, careful not to hurt you while you were still on the mend. He tasted like coffee and vanilla, a safe and familiar combination perfectly captured in an intense kiss. This was what home felt like, you thought. I’m home.

161 notes · View notes