time can’t solve this
if I wait, I’ll get caught

"Because of lack of evidence proving otherwise, we are assuming that the Lees are fully informed about the plan and layout of this city," Jungkook said, hands spread apart on the table before him as he leaned over the map sprawled over the tabletop. "They know where we are for now, and we have a window of only a couple of days to move."

I didn't want to leave. I was aware that the cul-de-sac position of my house made it a bad base, but the I didn't want to leave the comfort and familiarity of it. I'd been to the racers' safe houses in Seoul—all of them dead, quiet houses, looking like no one had ever lived in them and didn't want to. Granted, they probably didn't have safe houses in this city, but I was still skeptical about their choice of lodging. Something nondescript, probably, hidden and shadowy and cold.

No, I didn't want to leave at all.

But I didn't offer any resistance as he continued to explain their plans, throwing in terms and names I was not acquainted with, and I drifted further and further away from the discussion. Well, it wasn't really a discussion, but more of an unofficial briefing.

"We'll rotate every few days, spread out defenses, but not too thin." My ears perked at the word 'defenses' in alarm. Jennie noticed, giving me a look that was her definition of reassurance before continuing, "For that, we will have to send some people off to scout the areas we have in mind. According to Ken—" this was the name the informant we had met earlier, Lee Jaehwan, went by— "the Lees are mostly concentrated at the heart of the city. That should make it easier for us."

"Even if they probably have killers scouting this area for our weakest points?" This was Yeeun, not exactly more cynical and practical than most of the audience, but definitely more vocal about her opinions. "It's best if we take her with us."

Eleven pairs of eyes turned to me. Ordinarily, I would have shrunk under that weight, but I was used to this. My expression was as dry as bone, even drier, if possible.

My father eyes weren't one of these eleven pairs, the owner having chosen to stay away from the session. He had become even more distant recently. Not cold, just distant. When we had first moved here, I had thought that it would bring us closer, being partners in escapade and all, but that wasn't the case. Our lives had gone two very different ways, like a zip opening when you pulled at the zipper. With our busy schedules, it wasn't hard to feel that we barely lived in the same house.

But it wasn't the same now. Before the racers had returned, we had interacted in different ways. Even if we didn't talk to each other directly, we always felt each other's presence. Eye contact over the table at breakfast. Exchange of the house keys when I came back from college. Now it was just a frigid silence, like we were trying to pretend that the other wasn't here. We just didn't want to face the fact that the other was as much a part of this mess as us.

"That will just increase the risk," Jaebum said, eyeing me coldly. His arms, buff and folded over his chest, didn't help. "She's not trained."

Jungkook looked at me, and I almost wilted. The expression on his face was that of a man close to an idea, probably one that I wouldn't enjoy very much. "She can be trained."

Jaebum looked at him for a moment, incredulous, then looked away, shaking his head, muttering something about 'group of crazies'.

"Not enough time," Vernon cut in. I would've supported his side, but I was admittedly eager to be trained. Ever since the unfortunate encounter with Minho, I had started chafing under my lack of practice and skill. As much as I hated to agree with him, he was right. Even if it hadn't been for the moving, I needed to be trained enough to be able to keep myself alive on my own.

"I could stay here and still be trained," I said, turning my attention to Jungkook. Taeyong's gaze cut to me, not entirely pleased with my comment. Well, at least he and Vernon agreed on something. "It's not like I have to go anywhere. And the best hunters have to be out—all of you will have to go and scout sometime—and untrained, I'll be a sitting duck."

Seulgi raised her eyebrows, smiling her trademark lazy smile, and glanced at Vernon, who looked none too happy. "She makes a good argument."

"Good," Jungkook said softly. There was a caress in his voice, a dark, velvety satisfaction, that made my skin crawl. His eyes were pitch black, like his pupils had swallowed the ring of color around them, the eyes of gods and monsters. "It's decided, then?"

Not everyone looked like they agreed, but no one voiced their worries. I wasn't sure why that was—because my point was actually convincing, or if they just didn't want to go against Jungkook.

"All right, then." Jungkook straightened, his piercing stare still boring into me. He was still wearing the same t-shirt from last night, which accentuated his mass muscle. I shrank a little, and he cocked his head to the side, regarding me like a tiger looking down at its trapped prey. "We start today."

──────

"Are you sure you want to start today?"

Chaeyoung's voice was soft and slightly worried as she spoke. Her slim fingers played with a strand of her hair draped over her shoulder. It was a pretty, watermelon pink, a hair color that was probably made for her. The color of rosé wine, I remembered her telling me, the best wine. I tore my eyes away from it, and focused on her face.

"I'm sure," I said in a hard voice. I still wasn't ready to forgive the Park siblings for keeping me in the dark for so long, but Chaeyoung had always had this calming effect on me. It was close to impossible for me to be angry with her, but I was trying my best.

Her lips pursed slightly; soft features laced with worry as she regarded me with doe-like eyes. They were probably her best features, and had a dreamlike quality to them that made them seem almost perpetually sleepy. They matched the rest of her well—feather-light, as slender and elegant as a gazelle. Looking at her, it was almost impossible to imagine her as part of the racers, she was that delicate.

She was also a black belt in Taekwondo, a girl with an immovable decisiveness that could beat even the most stubborn hearts into the ground. Appearances could be deceiving. Perhaps that was why I had been so attracted to her at first—I seemed to have knack for attracting unreliable, dangerous people.

I wasn't sure what her position in the gang was, but I didn't know if I wanted to find out, either. After having seen her in such an ethereal, innocent light for the past three years, a sudden change of perspective was the last thing I wanted, especially if it was going to take a turn for the worse.

Chaeyoung raised her hand and set it on my shoulder, her fingertips gentle and fluttering on my bare skin. "You don't have to be a killer to protect yourself," she said, in a sage-like tone that made me want to scoff at the hypocrisy. "If you want to train, ask someone else. Jungkook will most likely turn you into a beast before he actually helps."

"Like you're not a part of his army," I retorted, but there wasn't much force in it. I felt pathetic. My head drooped, and she looked at me with her zephyr-like eyes, soft and easy as the summer breeze.

"What is it?" she murmured, her hand beginning to rub my shoulder in a calming way. The summer dress she was wearing rustled as she pulled her legs onto the bed, sitting with crossed legs as she faced me.

"Nothing. I..." Lying was easy for me. Even with her. I could have just come up with some small, white lie, or maybe even something about my illness—which, though I'd never told her about, I suspected she already knew of. But I didn't. It wasn't that I couldn't, but I just didn't. There weren't many, if any, people I could talk to about my situation, and though I was inclined to keep it secret, I realized it was pointless. "It's Taeyong."

Her face softened even more, if possible. "It's completely fine to be worried about it." I had never told her explicitly about him, but snippets, a vague story that she had no doubt connected to the redhead on her own. "Your relationship with him had already been rocky, and no matter how you feel, it's not your fault. It never was."

I swallowed. "Right," I said, in a tone that implied that I was thoroughly unconvinced. "What I'm feeling, what he's feeling, is not my fault."

"Whether you believe it or not." She brushed some of my hair away from my face, the softest of smiles decorating the softest of faces. "You have time."

"Right," I repeated, more scathingly this time. Even if the rest of her wise words, by some miracle, turned out to be true, time was the one thing I didn't have. Never had.

Chaeyoung laughed. "You're attracted to him, he's attracted to you—don't even try to protest, I've seen the way he looks at you—and you have the possibility of a future waiting for both of you."

"A very bleak possibility of a very bleak future." 

"That's not true," she said playfully, her hand sliding from my shoulder to the back of my neck and massaging it slowly. I relaxed a bit under her touch, forgetting about the fact that I was supposed to be holding a grudge against her. I couldn't help it, it was just the effect she had on everyone.

"It's not just him, you know," I said. In the years I had known her, Chaeyoung had become one of the only friends I had ever had, maybe the only element of normality, along with her brother. Even after the humongous secret they had kept from me, it was hard to let go of that. Speaking to her was as comfortable as speaking to a lifelong friend would have been, and everything poured out of me immediately.

I hadn't wanted to keep my past from her, but it was worth keeping my 'normal' friends away and separated from my abnormal life. How naïve I'd been to believe that I could.

"You think your indecision is your weakness," she said, letting go of my shoulder, only to lean her head against it a moment later. Her hair cascaded over my dark t-shirt like a pink waterfall. "You think that caring about both of them makes you vulnerable. That's not it."

"What else could it be?" I didn't need to explain who I was talking about. She, as always, knew.

"Think of affection as a sphere, yours that extends just a bit beyond the usual." Chaeyoung played with a curl of her hair wrapped around her index finger, and smiled at me. My heart gave a weak flutter, remembering those lips on mine. Yet another failed attempt at moving on. "You don't have to divide your love, baby."

The word 'baby' was a remnant from our short-lived relationship, which had ended not too long ago. I had thought, guileless, that Chaeyoung could have the answer to my past. Even so, we had parted on friendly terms—just a little more—and here we were. I remembered what I had said to Minho just a week ago: Chaeyoung's gonna get jealous. And his responding smirk.

I shivered.

"You have enough heart to care for both," Chaeyoung said, probably having thought that the shiver was because of doubt. "You have enough strength to save both."

Save. Not protect.

I pushed away all other thoughts, and looked at her. She looked peaceful, soothing, so calm. And though I didn't say anything, I thought my first hopeful thought in weeks.

Maybe someday.

──────

two updates in three days and more on the way, i'm on FIRE

anyway, on to the more important stuff: how do you like chae's character so far? what do you think about the training plan? is jungkook gonna kill the mc or no?

i apologize for the lack of veryong (i know you guys are agonized by the love triangle but plot comes first) but you will see them VERY soon. they're main characters after all.

love,
Manx.