~𝟯𝟭~

"Chan, I don't think this is a good idea," I said as we got Lee Know ready. He gave me a confused look.

"It's just something about this mission doesn't feel right. It just happened too suddenly; don't you think? Usually it takes weeks to find a source, and then their credibility has to be assured before it's even thought of to bring agents in. It feels off."

"I understand what you mean, but maybe that all just happened without us knowing."

"But don't you think the amount of missions we've gotten the past few days have been suspicious? I mean, we barely recover from one, and we're already shipped off to the next."

"We'll talk about this later," he said, handing me a wire.

"For now, your main responsibility is to stick this to the inside of Lee Know's jacket. Make sure it's secure."

I nodded and went to do my job. I walked over to Lee Know, who was adjusting his shirt collar. I waited for him to finish before speaking. When he was finished, he looked over at me. He had on a tight-fitting dress shirt paired with slim-fitted black jeans. His hair was neatly combed over. His eyes seemed more mischievous than usual. I found my cheeks heating up when he looked at me.

"Hey, Ava."

"Hey. Could I maybe borrow your jacket? I need to fasten the wire."

"Oh, sure."

He handed it to me. I placed it on a little table attached to the inside of the van and got to work. I was about halfway when I noticed Lee Know watching me work, looking over my shoulder. I could feel his breath on my neck. My hands faltered at his close proximity, and I closed my eyes for a second, clenching my fists. Then I took in a breath and continued working, him seeming to not have noticed.

I finished just as Chan said they spotted the target down the street from the alley we were parked in. I quickly handed the jacket to Lee Know, him throwing it over his shoulders and stepping out the door of the van and out of the alley. I walked over to Jeongin who was handling the cameras on the streets where Lee Know was walking, tracking his every move. I watched the screen as Lee Know walked past the girl, accidentally walking into her shoulder. He seemed to be profusely apologising. It was confirmed when Seungmin got the wire to play the sound over a speaker. All the other boys gathered around to watch.

Lee Know started talking to the girl, her laughing at a joke every now and then. At one point he told a particularly funny pick-up line. She started laughing and ended up putting her hand on his chest to stabilise herself. When I saw it, something in my gut pulled. It was a dull feeling, but it was there. And I had no idea what it was. But every time the girl touched him or leaned in closer, I felt it again. I tried to ignore it, trying to focus on what she was saying instead, but then I would just hear his voice and my cheeks would heat up. I clenched my jaw. Chan must have noticed, because he asked if I was okay, to which I answered I was fine through gritted teeth.

Everything was going okay until out of nowhere, a bullet whizzed past Lee Know and imbedded itself in the girl's neck. She clasped onto the wound and fell to the ground. Blood started seeping through her fingers. Hyunjin and Changbin jumped out of the van and ran to help Lee Know get the girl. I expected another bullet to come flying and hit one of the boys, but none did. It baffled me, until it made sense. It was a hit. Someone didn't want us interrogating her. I looked at the screen to see Hyunjin and Changbin carrying the girl while Lee Know plugged the bullet wound with his fingers. He swept some of her hair off her neck and I felt that tug in my gut again. I ran out of the van to go help them, but when I got to the end of the alley, they were already there. I helped them load her into the van before we took off to the hospital.

"What the hell happened out there?" Lee Know asked to no one in particular.

"I have no idea, but that was too close. I'm tired of getting shot at," Chan said.

I nodded absentmindedly. My brain was elsewhere. I tried to think of who could possibly have shot the girl or how they could have found out. And why Lee Know didn't just leave the girl and run.

"Ava, are you okay?" Hyunjin asked and I nodded.

We got to the hospital, and Hyunjin and Changbin carried the girl out onto a stretcher some nurses pulled up. A nurse immediately took over keeping pressure on the wound from Lee Know as they wheeled the girl into the hospital. I noticed Lee Know looking at his bloodied hand. There was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite place. I walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be okay. I'm sure of it. The wound wasn't too deep, and we got her here fast."

He just nodded at me. Chan started rounding us up again. When he got to Lee Know, the latter looked at him.

"You want to stay, don't you?" Chan asked.

"I just want to make sure she'll be okay. And I want to make sure she doesn't try to get away."

Chan nodded and patted him on the shoulder, and I felt that tug in my gut again at his words. I tried to brush it off and took a seat inside the van with the rest of the boys. Chan climbed in and closed the door, and we were off to the dorms, leaving Lee Know with the target.

...

Lee Know didn't come back to the dorms until early that afternoon. The girl was out of surgery and was stable, but still unconscious. I wanted to ask him if he was okay, but Chan sent me and Jeongin to go over the camera footage from the mission to see if we could find anything to do with the shooting. I trudged along after Jeongin as we headed to the operations room. He set everything up and I stood next to him as he pressed play. We watched as Lee Know accidentally bumped into the girl. They started talking and again she touched his chest when she laughed. The same tug was in my stomach. I frowned. I didn't think Jeongin noticed but he proved me wrong when he spoke.

"Did you see something, Ava? You're frowning."

"Oh, I'm just thinking about some stuff."

"Okay. If you want to talk about it, just tell me."

Then we left it at that, eyes focussing on the footage again. I willed my brain to focus on anything suspect and it worked. Until it didn't. I started listening to Lee Know's voice. He sounded mischievous and playful. He sounds that way around me, I thought. My stomach tugged again. Then the shot went off. My eyes flitted around on the screen for anything suspect. There was nothing. I asked Jeongin to rewind the footage to just before the shot was fired. I watched again. Nothing jumped out at me. We watched it again and again, but there was nothing. He got up to go tell Chan we couldn't see anything, and I slipped into his seat. I hit rewind on the video and watched it from the beginning again. And again. And again. I watched it so many times, I could pinpoint when everything would be said and how even before it was said. I started getting a headache when Lee Know walked in. He put a hand on my shoulder, making me look up at him.

"How many times have you watched this?" he asked.

"I have no idea, but I'm getting a headache, so probably a lot."

"You should take a break. If you haven't found anything, I doubt you will."

Just as he finished his sentence, Hyunjin walked in. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Lee Know, standing still for a moment before moving to retreat.

"Hyunjin, stay."

Both me and Hyunjin stared at Lee Know with wide eyes when he said those words.

"I actually want to talk to you," Lee Know said, dragging two chairs near mine for himself and Hyunjin.

"Should I leave you guys or..."

"Stay. I want you to hear this as well."

I turned my chair towards theirs, sitting up straighter. Hyunjin slowly came closer and took a seat, Lee Know doing the same. It was quiet for a while, all of us exchanging uncomfortable glances. I looked at Lee Know, making eye contact with him. He sighed and closed his eyes before speaking.

"I have been acting badly around both of you. I wanted to apologise. I was mad about something else, and I took it out on the both of you. I'm so sorry."

I took the hand that was resting on his leg, giving him a sympathetic smile when he looked at me.

"It's okay. We both get it. I've done it too."

Hyunjin cleared his throat, making us look at him. He nervously played with his hands, avoiding eye contact.

"I acted badly as well. I should have been the bigger person and tried to reconcile. I'm sorry, Hyung. And I'm sorry, Ava, for not trying to reconcile sooner."

"Guys, it's not necessary to apologise to me. I should be apologising to you both. I've been hiding things from you both, and then when I broke down used you both as my safety nets. I'm sorry for that and I'll try not to do it anymore."

Both the boys shook their heads before getting up. They both held a hand out for me to take. As I did, they pulled me up and into a hug, both of them holding me gently. I snuggled into the warmth. We stayed like that for a while until we heard Chan calling from downstairs. I pulled out of the hug, giving both the boys a smile before heading out of the room and down the hall. I heard them pat each other on the back before following me.

"Ava, you find anything?" Jeongin asked as I got downstairs.

"Nope. But there is some news."

I looked back at Hyunjin and Lee Know, waiting for approval before saying anything. They both nodded.

"Hyunjin and Lee Know sorted everything out. Everything is back to normal."

"How did you do it?" Changbin asked. I just shook my head.

"I just sat there. It was all Lee Know. When he apologised, so did Hyunjin."

"You make it sound like I'm the hero, when really I'm the one who started it all," Lee Know said, coming to stand next to me.

"You were the bigger man. You both were. That, to me, is something big."

Hyunjin came to stand on my other side, and they both gave me smiles. We all moved to the table for lunch when something caught my eye. A pile of mail was on the counter. I spread it out, and almost flinched when I saw a letter. In the same handwriting that the others were. With a USB-drive attached.

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A/N

I wonder what the pull in Ava's gut could mean... but anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter. i'll talk to you guys again, same time next week :)