~𝟳𝟬~

For the next two weeks, I was being tortured. And I understood why Lee Know had kissed me the last time we were alone together. For the entire fourteen days, we hadn't touched once. I was so starved for his touch and the tingles it left on my skin and his scent and his smile and everything about him, I thought I might just grab him and cling to him when I saw him in the halls.

By the second day, I went looking for him. Most of the time when I found him, he was with one of the other members, my plan having to be abandoned to keep up the act. The rest of the time when I found him, we would get called out on a mission right before we could greet each other. It drove me crazy. So much so that I considered telling the boys on my own so that we could just get to hug and kiss in front of the others.

Before we became official, I had managed to hold off on touching him for days at a time. But after things changed, it was like a switch had gone off. Something in me had changed, and that something was driving me up the walls. It was like I suddenly couldn't live without him. Like he was my air. And the worst part was, he didn't seem bothered by any of the same feelings at all. When I walked past him in the hall with one of the other members nearby, I would send him a very sad look, trying to get him to understand what I was feeling. But he would just smile at me, looking confused, before walking off.

...

A few agonising days later, I finally got a chance to be alone with Lee Know. We walked past each other in the hallway, the other boys all downstairs. When our gazes met, the both of us stopped. I kind of just stared at him, holding my breath, and waiting for something to happen that would pull us apart again. He slowly moved closer to me, taking my hand. His thumb gently brushed over the back of my hand, his eyes seeming to trace my face.

Just when I thought I would be able to spend some time with him, the alarm blared through the house, startling the both of us. I heard the boys moving up the stairs, so I acted. I stood on my tiptoes, pressing a quick kiss to Lee Know's cheek before running towards the operations room, leaving him there in a daze. I was the first in the operations room, and I noticed Lee Know was the last. Just as he stopped next to Chan, who in turn stood next to me, the black screen turned on, the commander's face there. I listened intently, managing to only get side-tracked once, stealing a glance at Lee Know. But somehow, the one time I looked over at him, he was looking at me as well.

...

I drew my brows together in confusion as I fastened the bulletproof vest around my waist. The commander had told us that we weren't allowed to use the suits on our comms for whatever reason, and when Chan tried to ask why, he dismissed us and turned the screen off. I was getting more and more suspicious of him by the day. I shook it off when Chan called us all over to get in the van and head out to our destination.

As I got in, I took the only open spot, which, very inconveniently, was next to Lee Know. When I sat down, my leg brushed against his, and the tingles that spread through my body were so noticeable that I shivered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth, and I just rolled my eyes. I got the feeling the drive was going to be a long one.

When we finally reached the place we were supposed to go, I was surprised to find it didn't seem deserted. It was a normal looking house, albeit a big one. It seemed in good condition, the garden neat and green, the windows glinting in the sun. We all went over the plan again before moving towards the house. Just as we were about a hundred meters from the door, bullets shattered the glass. We all ducked and sprinted to the house, ducking underneath the windowsills to hide from the bullets.

"Are we all spread out evenly on either side of the house?" I heard Chan say over the earpieces we were wearing seeing as we couldn't bring our comms. He was practically yelling just to be heard over the gunshots. I quickly counted all the people near me who were on the northern side of the house.

"It seems that way, Chan. There are five of us here, one being Han," I yelled over the noise, hoping he could hear me.

"Okay, on the count of three I want half of the groups to stand up and start shooting at the people inside, the other half breaching and going inside," Chan said over the earpieces.

"One... two... three!"

It was like all of us had thought that exact same thing, Han and Hyunjin standing up and shooting at the people inside, Felix and Changbin moving after me towards the door. We met Chan and Seungmin, Chan counting down again before we burst through the door. We all trained our weapons on the supposed people shooting at us, only to find automatic rifles hooked up to computer screens. Seungmin quickly took hold of a cable running along the hardwood floor, yanking it hard. All the screens suddenly turned black, the firing screeching to a halt. It became eerily quiet.

We started moving through the rooms one by one, splitting up to cover more ground. I went into a dark room, switching on the light when someone came barrelling into me, pushing me up against a wall. The rough surface of the brick wall dug into my skin as the person pushed me further and further up the wall. I took the grip of my gun, bringing it down hard on the back of the person's skull, dropping back to my feet as the guy collapsed out from under me.

I took advantage of his weakened state, binding his wrists and ankles with cable ties. As I stood back up, I realised my arm was stinging. I looked at it to find that all over the skin on my right upper arm were scratches and cuts from being shoved into the wall. Some cuts were deeper than others, blood oozing out of them, flowing down my arm to drip to the floor from my fingertips.

My gaze snapped up when I heard Chan calling us all out of the house. I quickly took hold of the man underneath his arms, somehow managing to drag him out onto the porch. As soon as I was near the members, they took the guy from me, all seeming surprised I got that big burly man out of the house on my own.

"Gosh Ava. And I thought I was strong," Changbin said, gently patting me on the back. I smiled slightly at him, but the stinging in my arm managed to distract me from him and all the other things around me. I looked at the wound again. It seemed like the blood had stopped, but there were dark red smears all over my arm and hand, and some drip marks still remained untouched.

"Seems you didn't get out as unscathed as the rest of us," a familiar voice said, my gaze snapping up to meet that of Lee Know.

He came to stand next to me, eyes trained on the wound on my arm. I wanted to pull away when he took my wrist, turning me back to face him.

"When we get to the dorms, I'm cleaning this up."

I tried to argue but he cut me off.

"I'm not taking no for an answer. I'm cleaning it up, that's final."

I shivered at the authority in his voice, but he didn't seem to notice. He let go of my wrist and I walked back over to the van. I got inside, him taking the open seat next to me. The whole drive back, our legs were pressed against each other. And for the first time in more than two weeks, I was finally skin to skin with the person who had seemed so distant.

...

Just when I was about to move up the stairs to my room, I heard someone clear their throat, turning around to see Lee Know with his arms crossed, eyebrow lifted. He looked at me as if to say, and where do you think you're going? I slowly trudged back to him, looking up at him.

"Didn't I tell you that I was going to clean your wound when we got to the dorms?" he asked softly.

"You did, but I assume you don't want to do it where everyone can see us. I mean, it has been more than two weeks since we were alone together," I whispered.

He caught on rather quickly, gently taking my hand and walking up the stairs, leading me up along with him. He walked into my room, me still tagging along behind. I let go of his hand, going into my bathroom and getting the first aid kit. Just when I came out, he walked past me, going into the bathroom. I furrowed my brows in confusion before taking a seat on my bed, examining the wound again.

Just then he came out again, carrying a bowl of water with a cloth drifting in it. He took a seat next to me, placing the bowl on the table and wringing out the washcloth. He shifted closer to me, gently dabbing the washcloth on my arm to remove the dried blood. The washcloth was warm against my skin, but not warm enough to burn. Just the right amount of heat to soothe me as he worked. However, when he gently brushed over the cuts to remove the scabs, I hissed in pain, the wounds stinging.

"Sorry, I know it hurts. But I have to do this. Otherwise, it might get infected," he answered calmly.

He leaned forward a bit, blowing air onto the cuts. It did a great deal to ease the stinging. Then he started the process again. This time I bit my lip and let him work, knowing that it would pass. Soon enough, he pulled the cloth away, dunking it in the water and wringing it out a few times until it was more or less clean. The water had turned murky brown from my blood.

"Can you hand me the first aid kit?" he asked softly.

I obeyed slowly, handing him the little white box. He opened it, taking out some antibacterial cream, a piece of gauze and a bandage. He squeezed some cream out on the gauze, gently laying it out over the cuts and scrapes before smoothing it over with his fingers. His touch was gentle, not causing me any more pain. As the antibacterial cream came in contact with the cuts, it stung again, but I just pushed it away, focusing on his intense gaze that was glued to my arm and how his fingers gently brushed against my skin as he wrapped the bandage around my arm, covering the gauze.

He was just about finished when I took his hand, getting him to look at me. His face was close to mine, so close our noses almost touched. But I didn't kiss him, knowing that if I did, I would forget about everything I wanted to say to him. I gently brushed my hand over his cheek before settling it on his neck, playing with the hair on his nape.

"Thank you. For cleaning me up and keeping me safe."

"No problem. It is my duty, what with being your boyfriend and all," he said softly, pressing a gentle kiss to my blushing cheek. Then he moved away, pressing an even gentler kiss on the bandage on my arm, making me smile.

"You know, I'm actually glad I wasn't there when you got hurt."

I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"Because I would have beaten that guy to a pulp if I saw him lay a finger on you."

If I had been standing when he said that my knees would have buckled, that much I knew. My heart skipped a beat at his words, and it gave me hope. Hope for what would happen when Damian showed himself. Hope that he would protect me. I smiled at him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. He leaned forward as I pulled away, lips chasing mine to prolong the kiss. Until he realised I had something to say.

"You don't understand how hard these past two and a half weeks have been for me. I felt like I would spontaneously combust if I didn't get to touch you or kiss you or do something. And what made it worse was you just didn't seem to notice at all. You didn't even seem to feel the same either. So, I just felt like I was suffering alone, and it was driving me up the walls."

A smirk spread on Lee Know's lips, and I knew he was going to tease me about my need for his affection. But I honestly didn't care. As long as I was near him, I was happy.

"Were you that starved for my touch? Does my touch have that much of an effect on you?" he asked, his smirk bleeding into his words. I could hear the playful tone in his voice clear as day, making me roll my eyes at his antics. Then, in what seemed like a millisecond, his playful smirk turned to a passionate look in his eyes as he leaned in, his breath ghosting over my ear.

"Truth is, I was feeling ten times worse. And now that I'm so near you, it's taking every ounce of self-control I have not to just kiss you until you get tired of me or until we get caught."

His lips brushed against the shell of my ear as he spoke, a shiver running up my spine in response. His words made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It was as if the air around us was filled with electricity, crackling around us as goose bumps rose on my arms and legs. I wrapped my arms around Lee Know's shoulders, burying my head in the crook of his neck. I inhaled his scent, his warmth energizing me. If I let go, I was almost convinced he would slip from my grasp, and I would spend another two weeks aching for his presence near me.

"I want to tell the boys," I decided in that moment, only realising I had said it out loud when he went rigid in my grip. He pulled away from me; his eyes wide as he looked at me. I saw hope flicker in his eyes, a smile spreading on my lips as a response. Then a crease formed between his brows, and the hope I saw dissipated from his gaze.

"Wait, are you sure? I don't want you making rash decisions because we couldn't be-"

"I'm sure. I want to tell them. I'm ready."

The hope returned to his gaze. It was only a flicker at first, but grew quickly, until he broke out in one of his beautiful smiles. He looked so happy. He gently pressed his forehead to mine, pressing kisses to both my cheeks and the tip of my nose. Then he closed his eyes, his smile still big and beautiful. I loved seeing him so happy. I pressed a kiss to his lips, and this time when I pulled away and he tried to follow me, I let him, his lips finding mine again in a kiss overflowing with passion and tenderness and care and joy and everything I felt when I was around him.

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

A/N

heyy guys ;)

sorry i was m.i.a. for a very long while, things got a bit busy here. but i'm back now, and this time i promise to let you guys know if i take a break from posting again so you don't all get worried that i won't finish this book. i'm here for the long run, and i hope you guys are as well :)

anyway, hopw you guys have been doing well and i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. see you in the next one <3