~𝟱𝟵~

Barely an hour later, the dorms were crawling with agents, courtesy of the commander. I stood leaning with my shoulder against my doorframe, watching the agents as they collected samples and searched through all my things. I hadn't noticed, but I was chewing on my nails, my mind far away from where I stood. I only noticed once someone took my hand, removing my fingers from in between my teeth. I looked over and found Lee Know standing there, a tender smile spread on his lips.

"Are you okay?" he asked, but immediately face-palmed right after he asked the question.

"Stupid question, sorry. Of course you aren't okay."

"Well, you being here makes it a lot more manageable," I said softly, smiling slightly when he looked at me.

I turned my attention back to the agents in my room, just having finished up and busy packing all their things and returning my room to the state it was in before as much as possible.

"Have they found anything?" I asked to no one in particular, not really expecting an answer.

"No, nothing yet. But Ava-" Lee Know took my hand, my eyes flitting over our connected hands before moving up to meet his gaze. "I told you that I would always protect you. And I intend to keep that promise. Okay? That guy won't hurt you again, I'll make sure of it. If it's the last thing I do."

I found my voice was gone at his caring words, my eyes tearing up. I gulped the lump in my throat down, smiling at him sadly. He opened his arms, folding me into a hug. I rested my head on his chest, my hands clutching onto the fabric above his shoulder blades. The steady rising and falling of his chest took my thoughts far away from my problems and from that moment, my mind elsewhere. Until someone spoke from next to us.

"Ava, the agents found something. You're going to want to come see this," I heard Chan say, turning my head to nod at him.

I snuggled into the hug and stayed there for a moment longer before pulling back. Lee Know quickly scanned around us with his eyes before gently stoking my cheek, my eyes falling shut and head tilting into his touch. I smiled up at him before pulling away, hearing him follow as I went downstairs. I found all the boys gathered in the kitchen, the sour spot in my stomach growing substantially at the worried looks on all their faces. I cautiously went to stand in between Chan and Han, making eye contact with all the boys before looking up at Chan.

"What... what did the agents find?" I stuttered.

The boys all shared a worried look, making me even more nervous. My fingers were clutching onto the countertop as I waited for someone to say something, anything.

"The agents... they found a scrap of clothing in one of the trees outside. It had blood on it. They tested the blood and... the results... it's your blood. He must have had a piece of your clothes and now he's using it to throw us off our game," Chan said slowly.

I couldn't get a sentence out, my breath stuck in my throat. I had no idea what to say. Why was he doing this? Why couldn't he just hand himself over and make the whole situation dissolve, I asked myself.

"But don't worry. I called Reilly and their team have a lot of new leads. And I have some more agents coming to help check the perimeter and keep you safe," Chan commented after a while of my silence.

I took some relief from his words, but my heart was still jumping around in my chest. I could still see the black words painted on my wall every time I blinked, like I had stared into a very bright light, the image imprinted on my brain. A thought crossed my mind.

"Wait, do we know for sure Damian did all this?" I asked hesitantly.

Just then an agent walked up to Chan, handing him a manilla folder. He quickly scanned over the information before turning to me again.

"They found his prints on the wall and on the piece of fabric. They are sure it was him."

My world was upside down. My breathing was ragged and uneven. I had barely even gotten back to the dorms and Damian was already coming for me. Deep inside my heart, I wished he would just kill me, so the members could be safe. So Lee Know could be safe. But the bigger part of me just wished I hadn't ever met the boys. Because I knew all too well that none of the things that had happened would have happened if they hadn't known me. And it broke my heart, because then I never would have met Lee Know. And I couldn't picture my life without him, or the others, anymore.

...

I was in the training room, taking all my frustration and fear out on a punching bag. My arms were burning and my shoulders felt like they could pop out of their sockets any moment. But I still didn't stop. Not until I heard something behind me. I swung a punch, and when I didn't hit anything, I threw another, this time making contact with someone's hand. I looked at the hand to find it attached to Lee Know.

I couldn't think of anything to say as he looked at me, my eyes wavering across the room instead of meeting his gaze. He gentle took the hand he had stopped, unfurling my fingers. My hand ached as it moved, my instinct kicking in and telling me to pull away from his touch. But somehow I managed to keep my hand in his. He slowly took the tape off my hand, and I saw his movements waver at the sight of my bruised knuckles. He rolled the tape into a ball and threw it on the floor, taking my other hand as well.

He unfurled those fingers, the tape coming off and joining the other rolled up ball on the floor. Both my hands were like a peacock's feathers, covered in splotches of deep purples and blues. He looked at my hands for an eternity, pain shooting up my arm every time I tried to move. But my feelings drowned it out. Feelings of fear. Of uncertainty. Of hopelessness.

I pulled my hands out of Lee Know's gentle grasp, walking towards the bench in the training room and taking a seat there. I massaged my hands, pressing down on the bruises and feeling the pain swirl in my body. Lee Know gently took the fingers that were pressing on my hand, my eyes moving up to meet his.

"Don't do that. You're knuckles could be fractured. It'll only make it worse."

I didn't respond. I didn't know how to. My mind couldn't parse the sentences drifting around in it, my emotions too tiring. Lee Know took a seat next to me and I leaned my head on his shoulder, needing the steadiness it provided. He gently placed a kiss on my forehead, my skin tingling where his lips met it. He rested his hand gently on my lower back, slowly tracing circular patterns on it.

As he rubbed circles on my back, his hand moved over to one side, nearly reaching around my waist. I shifted further into his touch, his hand moving onto my waist and staying there for a second before he pulled his hand back. I nuzzled my head further into his neck, trying to encourage him and relay the message that I didn't feel uncomfortable at all by his hand resting there. He didn't seem to get the message, instead moving his hand onto my shoulder. I sighed, content with his warmth, but slightly frustrated at his ignorance.

Until I heard the door to the training room creak open. I pulled swiftly away from him, training my attention onto my hands again. I looked up when someone came to stand near us, seeing Felix there. He had the biggest smirk on his face, his one eyebrow lifted as he stared at me and Lee Know. I started fidgeting nervously, avoiding eye contact as much as humanly possible.

"Channie Hyung said I might find the two of you here. He wants to talk to you, Lee Know Hyung. And he said that the agents cleaned your wall if you want to take a shower, Ava," he said, his voice filled with the emotion portrayed on his face of knowing something that other people don't.

"Oh, thanks," I said softly, still not looking at him as I walked past him and out the training room door, heading up to my room. I stopped on the threshold, the wall in front of my eyes as white as it was before. But I could have sworn I could still see the black letters painted on my wall. And those words rang through my head. Over and over until my body was covered in goose bumps and I locked myself in the bathroom to escape the familiar voices crawling back into my mind.

(Third person, Lee Know's perspective)

Lee Know moved to walk out of the training room when Felix took his wrist. His smirk was as big as ever. Lee Know stopped and turned to him, taking a step back. He was suspicious of the way Felix was acting, and his gut told him nothing good was to come of it.

"So, Hyung, you remember you told us about that girl you like when we were on vacation?"

"Yeah," Lee Know said hesitantly.

"How is it going with her?"

"Oh, well I haven't really talked to her much again, but I'm sure we'll start talking again soon. Why do you ask?"

"Oh I was just curious..."

Lee Know saw his smirk seem to falter for a second, but it came back just as quick.

"I should probably go find out what Chan wants to talk about," Lee Know said, turning and walking towards the training room door.

He hesitated as he heard Felix mumble something, not quite sure what he heard.

"What?" he asked, Felix repeating the exact same question right after him. He narrowed his eyes, Felix smiling suspiciously. Then he turned his back on him again, walking to find Chan.

(Third person, Felix's perspective)

Having seen Lee Know and Ava kiss, Felix was certain the girl Lee Know spoke of was Ava. He just didn't know how he was going to get the information out of the two yet.

As he watched Ava leave and then Lee Know turning to do the same, he had an idea. He was going to rile up his older friend a little, just enough to get him uncomfortable. So he spoke to him about the game of truth or dare on the vacation. He noticed how Lee Know took a step back when he turned to him, signifying his discomfort with the subject.

As he spoke, Felix tried his best to choose his words carefully, just hinting at the fact that he knew something, but not saying it outright. Then when Lee Know turned his back again, he had another idea. He just had to tease his Hyung a tiny bit more.

"I hope you enjoyed your moment with Ava on the beach, it sure seemed like you did," he mumbled, making sure he said it soft enough for Lee Know not to hear what he said, but loud enough for him to hear he was saying something.

When Lee Know turned around and asked him what he had said, he repeated the question in the most innocent way possible.

"What?" he asked, copying his Hyung.

The suspicious glare Lee Know gave him clued him in that he was successful. As Lee Know turned to leave for the third time, a smile spread on his lips. Maybe I should try this with Ava too, he thought to himself. Little did he know, that was the last thing she was worried about.

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A/N

heyy guys :) i am so sorry for this chapter and the cliffhanger ending of the previous one... i know ya'll are probably not very happy with me, but i hope you can forgive me ;P

anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and i'll see you guys in the next one <3