~𝟯𝟴~

We gathered all the accomplices after locking my commander in the car. When we were finished, I leaned my back against the side of one of the cars we had called in to come fetch the prisoners. I sighed and realised for the first time how tired I was physically. I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand, trying to loosen the tight muscles. I looked up when I heard someone come to stop in front of me. It was Felix.

"You seem stiff. Need some help?" he asked.

"Nope. I think I'm just going to have a steaming hot shower when we get back to the dorms and then do some stretches to loosen up my muscles."

"Sounds like a good plan. I might do the same," he said as he rolled his shoulders back and twisted his head from side to side. He seemed just as stiff as I was, if not more so. I looked over at the vehicle my commander was locked in, feeling my load lighten. I blew out a breath.

"Maybe now we can finally take a break. And maybe I can relax a bit," I said, mainly to myself.

"That would be amazing. Being able to take a break from being an agent and just taking a breather," Felix said, making me realise I said my observation out loud.

"Yeah, Han suggested it to me last night when I went to check up on him. He's right. You all need to take a break. Ever since I became part of the team, and even before that, you guys have been working almost non-stop. I'd be exhausted by now if I were you."

I could sense Felix wanted to protest but was cut off when a car horn sounded. It came from our van. I gathered along with all the boys, and we got in, waiting for the long road ahead to get started. I sat next to Hyunjin, and he almost immediately struck up conversation with me. The whole way back, we didn't stop talking for a minute. He made me laugh. But every now and then I felt eyes on me. And I had an idea I was in for it when we got to the dorms.

...

When we got to the dorms, I helped the boys get all the prisoners into the holding cells below the house. At some point I noticed Lee Know was nowhere in sight, but I just brushed it off. Must be talking to Han, I thought. When we were almost finished, I went to stand in front of the only van still there besides ours. It was the one my previous commander was in. I took a breath before reaching for the door handle of the van.

Just as my fingers closed around it, a hand gently folded over mine, almost as if to stop me. I looked up to find Lee Know looking down at me. My skin tingled underneath his. I pulled my hand out from underneath his and backed away from the door, hanging my head to avoid eye contact.

"S-sorry," I stuttered. He shook his head and took my shoulder, stopping me from moving any further away.

"I stopped you because I thought you might need some help. With... him."

He motioned to the door of the van, and I nodded slightly. My hand was still tingly, and I rubbed my other hand over it.

"Thanks... I might need it," I said hesitantly.

He smiled at me slightly and opened the door. We both barely managed to catch my commander as he came barrelling out the slightly open door. Luckily we somehow got him restrained, dragging him to the holding cells. Just as we were about to lock him up, Chan stopped us.

"Why don't we start with him? I get the feeling he'll be very talkative," he said, sending my commander a glare. Lee Know assured me he could handle taking my commander to the interrogation room, so I broke away to catch up with Chan. I took his shoulder, making him turn to me.

"Are you sure you guys should start with him? I mean, out of all the prisoners, he'll be the hardest to break. He's had training in withstanding torture, and he's had years of experience-"

"Sorry to cut you off, Ava. But you haven't seen us when we interrogate. Besides, if we don't get it right today, there's always tomorrow."

I looked at him, uncertain. He just gave me a smile. I followed him to a door, walking through and smiling at him for opening the door for me. Some of the other boys were there too. I looked to the right and found a big glass window in the wall, looking through to find my commander sitting at a metal table with his hands still cuffed. I saw Chan go through a door connecting the two rooms. My commander looked up at him briefly before setting his gaze on me through the glass.

Even though I knew it was one-way glass and he couldn't see me, his gaze still sent a shiver down my spine. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, but I wouldn't budge. I held his gaze, my anger bubbling up in my stomach. I could feel my heart pounding, and I shrugged the hand off of my shoulder. I headed for the door connecting the rooms. I just took hold of the doorknob when someone clasped their hand over mine. I looked up to find Hyunjin there. I glared at him.

"Ava don't make me have to drag you out of here. Please. I don't want to do that, but I will if I have to."

"I just want to know why. Why he did this to me. To you guys. That's all."

"When Chan gets in here we can ask him about that. But for now, you have to stay out of there. He has too much leverage on you. You won't get anything out of him."

I pulled my hand out of his grip and sighed, knowing he was right. I took a seat next to Felix on one of the chairs in the room, gaze falling back on my commander. We watched for half an hour, the other boys all coming into the room to watch as well, anger simmering inside me all the while. My commander didn't budge once, just shooting a glance my way whenever Chan asked a question.

Chan showed a calm face, but I could see from the veins showing on his hands and forearms he was getting more and more frustrated. After a while, he came back through the door connecting the rooms, dragging a hand down his face and sighing. He suddenly banged his fist on the table next to him, making us all jump.

"Did he say anything?" I heard Seungmin ask softly.

"Nothing. Didn't even open his mouth once."

I stood up, squaring my shoulders.

"Let me try."

"No," he replied. I tried to argue but he just held up his hand to silence me. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why not?" I managed to ask before he stopped me again.

"Because I don't want you to go near him again. I trust when he tries something, we'll be able to stop him. But I still don't want you around him. You believed his lies once."

I frowned, hurt that Chan would think I would make the same mistake twice. I opened my mouth to argue, but he stopped me again, walking out of the other door into the hallway, Lee Know going after him.

"What the hell was that about? I know I made a mistake, but I know who he is now. Of course I won't fall for his lies again. I'm not stupid," I said to no one in particular, pacing.

"He doesn't mean that. He just want to keep you safe. Just try to understand, Ava," Changbin said. I nodded.

I turned to the door leading to the hallway. I opened it and walked out, squeezing past Lee Know and Chan having a conversation outside the door. I kept walking; past the holding cells, back up the stairs into the daylight. I tripped over the last step, landing on my hands and knees in the grass. I bent my elbows, resting my head on my arms on the ground. I let out a scream, trying to get rid of all the pent up frustration in my body. I kept screaming until my throat was sore. I sat up, running a hand through my hair. I was startled when I heard movement next to me, looking over to find Lee Know coming to sit next to me. I smiled slightly and sighed.

"I didn't think you could scream that loud. I heard you from the interrogation room," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh," I said, rather embarrassed. I pressed my lips together in a thin line, looking away from him.

"It's okay, though. We all have our good and bad days. And we all handle it differently."

"But I'm not supposed to be having a bad day. I should be celebrating. I mean we finally caught the man who was terrorising me. I should be happier."

He gave me a sad smile before moving slightly closer to me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. My body felt stiff against his, but as he gently held me, I could feel myself easing up. Just as I snuggled closer into his chest, I heard footsteps behind us.

I pulled away from him swiftly, averting my gaze from his. He gave me a confused and slightly hurt look that pulled on my heartstrings but looked up when he heard someone clear their throat behind us. I followed his gaze to find Felix there with his eyebrow raised and the biggest smirk on his lips.

"Chan wants to talk to you," he said to me before looking at Lee Know and raising both his eyebrows suggestively before walking back down the stairs.

Lee Know got up, extending a hand out to me to help me up. I swallowed before slowly taking it, feeling his skin glide against mine as his fingers wrapped around my hand. He slowly pulled me to my feet, not even straining against my weight. I touched the back of my neck and looked at the ground before walking down the stairs, hearing his footsteps follow.

When we walked into the room connected to the interrogation room, all the boys had smirks on their lips, making me blush. Felix probably relayed what he saw, I thought. I looked at the floor, going to stand in the corner of the room to draw attention away from myself.

"Back to business, guys," I heard Chan say, making me look up.

"I want us all to have a crack at this guy. The only way we're going to break him is by dragging this out as long as possible."

I felt myself perk up slightly at the possibility of getting to interrogate my commander.

"Ava don't look so excited. You're not part of the people who get to interrogate," Hyunjin said, making me frown at him.

"Why not? I know him better than all of you. I can help."

"You can't help us," he said.

"Give me one good reason why not."

"He wants you, so that is exactly what we are not going to give him," Chan said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I frowned again, pouting at them.

"I understand you want to do this but-"

"Just one chance, please. If things get out of hand, you guys can pull me out right away. Please just let me try."

Chan sighed, brushing his hair back. He shared a look with each of the members in the room before looking back down at me. I gave him my best determined face.

"Okay, fine. But if anything happens, you're done."

I smiled and nodded, turning to face the glass. Then my anger started boiling up again as my gaze met my commander's. I was determined to get him to talk, even if I had no idea how I was going to do it. I was sure of one thing: my hatred for him for hurting my members.

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A/N

hi guys :) hope y'all are doing well. i am honestly so surprised with how much the reads have gone up this week. thank you to everyone who has made this journey a possibility for me. and special thanks to chan_simp for voting and commenting so much. i really appreciate it.

anyway, what do you guys think will happen in the interrogation? will Ava get any information out of her previous commander? leave a comment on your thoughts and please if you see any errors feel free to let me know :) see you guys in the next chapter!