~𝟳𝟯~

I stood in the dusty room, watching as two medics took the mercenary away on a gurney. Lee Know's arm was securely wrapped around my shoulders, and his head rested on mine. There was blood on the concrete floor from the man's wounds, but the medics said he would make it. Thankfully, we had managed to get Lee Know to stop hitting him just in time.

I looked up at Lee Know, who gave me a smile, but I saw the worry hiding behind it. And that worry made me think back to what had happened, and the memories came swirling back into my mind, making me take in a breath as I tried to push them down.

I watched as Chan cuffed the man's wrist to the side of the gurney, and then the medics wheeled him further away. As the medics were heading out of the building, we all started heading outside to go back home.

...

I had barely sat down on the couch in the dorms when the alarm went off again, making me spring to my feet and practically sprint up the stairs. The commander came on the screen in the operations room, and when his gaze settled on me, I saw his eyes widen slightly.

"Agent Noyes, what happened to you? It seems you were in a scuffle."

At his comment, I realised just how battered and bruised my body felt. I was sure there would be purple hand marks on my throat by the end of the day, and a splitting headache started to blur into my head. I pressed my hand to my temple, and felt something sticky, my fingers coming away red.

"On another note, I apologise, but I have to send you all away on another mission. We got information about a smuggling ring that we thought was dormant. It seems they have started doing business again. I want you all to shut their current operation down and round up as many of them as possible."

I listened intently as the commander spoke, but I could feel the tension in the room rise. When the commander finished the briefing, the room fell silent. The commander was just about to turn off the screen when I heard Chan speak.

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think it would be wise for Ava to take part in this mission. She was pretty beaten up in the previous mission."

"Agent Bang, I am going to have to disagree with you. I understand you want to keep your team safe, but I need all of you out there in the field. Besides, I'm sure this isn't the worst Agent Noyes has had to get through. She'll survive."

At that, the screen went black. My stomach churned as I noticed Chan clench his fists, the veins on his hands and forearms showing much more prominently because of it. I gently rested my hand on his shoulder. He slowly looked over at me, and I could see the anger leave his gaze as it connected with mine.

"I'll be okay. I promise. And besides, I'll have you all with me to help if something goes wrong."

I smiled at Chan. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before dragging his hand down his face.

"Okay, you can come, but I want you to stay near at least one of us at all times. That head wound could possibly be cause for concern, so I don't want you going off on your own. Understood?"

I nodded. We all slipped down the pole into the weapons room. I was talking to Changbin as I made my way over to the glass cupboard that I always got my weapons from. I grabbed the handle, and as I turned to Changbin to answer the question he had just asked me, pulled on it, only to find it wouldn't open. I turned to the cupboard, confused. I yanked on the handle, but it wouldn't budge. I tried wiggling it around, but still it wouldn't move.

"Let me try," Changbin said, taking hold of the handle when I let go.

He yanked on it, and it still wouldn't give way. He tried again and again, but nothing happened. The door didn't even move once. I heard someone struggling behind me and turned around to find Han dealing with the same problem. I walked over to a drawer, and it too wouldn't open. I tried every handle I could get my hands on, and yet none seemed to budge.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked aloud, turning to face the boys.

"I have no idea, but if we want any chance of catching the smugglers in the act, we'll have to get going, weapons or no weapons.

My eyes widened at Chan's words. My stomach dropped, and a staggering breath escaped my mouth. I calmed down slightly when Changbin wrapped an arm around my shoulders from where he stood next to me. I took in a deep breath. Everything will be fine. We can handle this, I said to myself, repeating it over and over until we got to the warehouse we were supposed to go to.

...

I gripped my side as I stumbled inside my room, nearly crumbling to my knees before I made it to my bed. We had all gotten a nice beating on the mission because we had nothing to defend ourselves with. I rolled up my shirt and cringed at the dark purple bruise forming across my ribs. It hurt to breathe, but I pushed the pain aside when I heard the alarm go off for the third time that day. As I slowly made my way to the operations room, my gaze met that of Chan, and he gave me a look as if to say we have some things to talk about.

...

We went on two more missions before we could finally just rest and try to recover from our wounds. It had gotten dark by then, and I was sore and cold and hungry. I hadn't eaten anything the entire day, almost having fainted twice on the last mission from pure exhaustion. I could barely stand on my own two feet, and I noticed a lot of the boys looked a lot like I felt. I dragged myself into the kitchen, trying to find something to eat. The first thing I found that was remotely edible was a packet of jelly beans.

I grabbed it and plopped down on the couch, shifting around to try and find a position in which I didn't feel my bruises pressing against anything. When I finally settled, I leaned my head back and popped a jelly bean in my mouth, chewing slowly. I noticed someone coming to stand behind the couch and lifted my gaze to see Changbin there. He took the packet of jelly beans out of my hand, not seeming too happy about my poor choice of sustenance.

"This is probably the worst thing you could possibly choose to eat right now," he said before walking off.

He stashed the jelly beans in a cupboard and called up the stairs for Lee Know. As the latter came trudging down the stairs, wincing when he reached the bottom, I saw the annoyed look he gave Changbin, but when he caught sight of me eyeing the situation, he smiled warmly at me, seeming to perk up almost immediately.

"Your girlfriend is hungry," Changbin said rather loudly as he passed Lee Know to go up the stairs, winking in my direction as he did so. I blushed at the mention of the word girlfriend, looking away. I heard Lee Know scoff, looking at him to find him sticking his tongue out at Changbin. Then his gaze found mine again. He came over to me, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to my forehead before walking into the kitchen.

"No, Lee Know, you really don't have to. I can do it myself."

"And what if I want to do it for you?" he asked, turning to smirk at me as I made my way into the kitchen to try and stop him.

"You're tired and probably sore from today. I can manage on my own. You should just go rest."

"How about we compromise? I make the both of us something to eat, and you can help me. How does that sound?"

I rolled my eyes, but decided it was the only way for me to feel less guilty about Lee Know making me food. So I nodded.

"Great. Now, could you maybe get me a bowl out of that cupboard above you?"

I nodded at him, but as I reached up towards the cupboard, I sucked in a breath through my teeth, clutching my side. I stepped back from the cupboard, pressing my hand to where the bruise on my ribs was, regretting it immediately after when the pain got worse. A hand came to rest on my shoulder and I looked up to find Seungmin's gaze flitting over every inch of my body until it landed on my face. Lee Know appeared in front of me, concern knitting his brows together.

"Where does it hurt?" Seungmin asked from next to me. I pointed towards my ribs, wincing again when I breathed in too hard.

Seungmin reached towards the hem of my shirt, but I grabbed his hand, stopping him. I looked at him, forcing a smile.

"I'm fine. I can handle this."

"You are definitely not fine," Lee Know said as he took my shoulders, my gaze meeting his.

"Look, I know you aren't comfortable with a lot of things, but we really just want to help. So, if there is any way for us to check your wounds without making you relive your memories, you have to let us do it. Please?"

I closed my eyes, wishing that my pain would just go away. But it didn't. Especially not when I sighed deeply, wincing as yet another flash of pain surged through my chest. My eyes turned watery, and I clenched my fists, wishing that I didn't have to do what they were asking me too. But I knew that they wouldn't back down any time soon. I also knew that they had no intention of hurting me. They were just worried.

I opened my eyes again, looking at Lee Know and Seungmin before taking in a long shallow breath so as to avoid any more pain from my bruise.

"Okay, I'll do it. But could you... could you please not... touch me?"

My voice was soft as I spoke, and I lifted my gaze to make eye contact with Lee Know as I said the last sentence, nervous and hesitant.

"Sure. Whatever would make you the most comfortable." He smiled at me, and it made me slightly less nervous.

I fiddled with the hem of my shirt before slowly rolling it up until just above my bellybutton. I pulled it up further, wincing because of the pain in my side. My gaze dropped to the bruise on my ribs, and I almost gasped. It was a lot bigger and darker than before, the purple stretching across my left side until just above my hip. I heard both Lee Know and Seungmin take in a breath at the sight of my wound, and I looked up to see them looking at each other worriedly. I was getting more and more worried the longer they stayed silent, until I couldn't take it anymore.

"What are you guys thinking?" I asked softly, making them both look at me. "How bad is it?"

They shared another look before Lee Know gently took my hands and brought them down, my shirt covering my bare stomach again.

"I think we should get you to a hospital. This isn't looking great," Lee Know said, still keeping my hands clasped in his.

That was what I was afraid of. I didn't want to make a fuss about something that I had handled before, but the boys knowing made backing out a lot harder.

"Please, I just want to go to bed. I really don't want to have to drag you guys to hospital over a stupid bruise."

"Ava, we don't mind at all. In fact, we want to do this for you. So you won't be dragging us," Seungmin said.

"Guys, really. I can handle this. I have handled a lot worse in my life, and you both know this. Just let me be."

I saw both the boys sigh, and Seungmin looked over at Lee Know, shaking his head. He left shortly thereafter, leaving me standing in the kitchen with Lee Know. The silence between us was deafening, and I wouldn't meet his gaze. His hand slowly clasped around mine, pulling me to follow him to the couch. He made me sit down, and sat down right next to me, still holding my hand in his. My eyes stayed glued to the floor.

"Did something happen today? Because you seem distant, like you had after you got the last letter from Damian."

I sighed, regretting it when the pain in my side flared again.

"Well, I did get strangled, so I'm thinking that might be a possible cause," I said rather sarcastically. I only realised how sarcastic I had sounded when I looked over at Lee Know and saw his gaze drop to his hands.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just... I guess I'm just tired."

"I get it. I mean, if I were you, I would have pulled my hair out of my scalp by now from having to wait for something to happen. But I want you to know, if you ever feel like it's too much or you just need to yell at someone to get rid of your frustration, I'm here for you."

I smiled sadly at Lee Know, gently brushing along his cheek with my fingers. I pressed a soft kiss to his lips before pulling him into a hug.

"Please, just promise me that whatever happens with Damian, you won't leave me," I whispered, hugging Lee Know tighter.

"Never. I will never leave you."

---------------

A/N

heyy guys ;)

this was quite a busy chapter, huh? :) a lot of fluff, some angst sprinkled in as well for some flavour (because i can and i like making myself cry :'). i hope you all enjoyed this rollercoaster ride of a chapter!!

i would love to hear all your opinions on the story so far or what your predictions are for future chapters!! you guys are welcome to leave a comment on two, or dm me privately on my insta (in my bio).

see you guys in the next one<3