Hours had passed since Wooyoung's confession and Seonghwa still couldn't get his thoughts straightened out.

Presently, he was sitting out he side of his bed, with his head in his hands, while Wooyoung slept peacefully behind him.

After neither of them had anything else they wanted to or could say, they had curled up in bed together. Wooyoung had spent a little more time crying but did a good job trying to hide it so Seonghwa didn't want to say anything and embarrass him.

Once the younger was sound asleep, though, Seonghwa had sat up and moved to his current position. He couldn't get his mind turned off, so there was no way he was going to be able to sleep.

Wooyoung's confession had really rattled him. He had no idea the boy felt this way and he didn't know what to think. Wooyoung was his father's... Seonghwa hated thinking of the word 'plaything' right now, but there was no better way to describe it. His father had chosen Wooyoung as his personal whore and that's how it had always been.

The Pack did a lot of shady things that used to be considered illegal, so growing up Seonghwa had never questioned his father's motives. Sure it had seemed wrong... but he was raised to do a lot of bad things.

After tonight though... and seeing just how his father had treated Wooyoung, it had Seonghwa's stomach churning.

He turned around so he could look at the sleeping boy. Wooyoung's blonde hair was disheveled and either clinging to his forehead or fanning out behind him. His eyes were red and puffy from trying and he even had his lower lip sticking out a little bit. One had was opening and closing next to him as if trying to find something to hold on to.

'Because I love you.'

Seonghwa sighed and shook his head before grabbing a fistful of his hair. He really wanted to ask Wooyoung why. He had done nothing to deserve the boy's love... And he probably never will, but he did want to try.

When Wooyoung had said that, something deep inside Seonghwa had stirred. It was something he had never experienced before and there was no way he could even begin to describe it, but... it had made him want to tell Wooyoung that he loved him too. Which wasn't right at all...

What a mess this was turning out to be.

Seonghwa was about to give in and lay back down when a knock interrupted his thoughts.

Wooyoung sat up immediately and pulled the covers up to cover his mouth as if they could act like a shield.

The couple locked eyes for a moment. Wooyoung's seemed to tremble with fear and he pushed himself against the headboard.

After taking a deep breath, Seonghwa moved to put a shirt on and walked to his door. He kept it locked at all times and thankfully even his father didn't have a key, so he had his privacy. But the pounding of his heart in his chest told him that the fear of it being his father on the other side was very real.

With shaking hands, Seonghwa undid the two chain locks he had and then turned the deadbolt before opening the door.

His fears had been right.

Seonghwa was immediately shoved out of the way when his father came storming in the room, his face beet red and hair standing on end like he had been tugging on it. "It's all ruined. We need to be prepared to leave. I can't believe this has happened! That worthless piece of shit!"

"Father, calm down!" Seonghwa said, standing so that his father would be forced to look at him and keep his back to where Wooyoung was now cowering in the far corner of the room. "What happened?"

"It failed. They've got him." His father snapped.

"Him... You mean San?" Seonghwa felt the color drain from his face and his mouth opened. "What did you do?! WHAT HAPPENED?"

"Don't raise your voice with me!" His father's voice was low, but very dangerous. "You have no idea what this means."

"Then maybe you should finally tell me!"

The man in front of him paused and looked scared for a split second. Then he took a deep breath and ground his teeth together. "I can't lose you again." He whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Seonghwa hesitated and took a step back. He had always been by his father's side. Why would say that?"

"I can't... I can't go through that again, I—" His father had started turning in a circle, and before Seonghwa could stop him, he spotted Wooyoung in the corner.

The air in the room instantly shifted and Seonghwa watched his father shudder where he stood. Then he snapped his fingers twice and Wooyoung whimpered.

"Stay there." Seonghwa said, holding a hand up and moving to stand between Wooyoung and his father. "I won't let you take your anger out on him any more, this has gone far enough." Seonghwa squared his shoulders and clenched his fists.

Instead of the anger he expected to see, fear once again returned to his father's expression. "Don't tell me he's ruined you?" The man whispered. Seonghwa almost didn't understand and was about to ask when his father started to shake his head. "No, I won't let him take you from me again. You're MY son, you don't belong with him!"

Before he knew it, Seonghwa was being shoved to the side as his father rushed past him. He fell to the ground and tried to catch himself with his hands, but it happened so suddenly that he missed and landed straight on his elbows. "Father! No!" He called out.

Wooyoung was trying to control his tears while looking for a way out. He lunged forward to slide under the bed right as he was about to be cornered.

"Get back here you filthy little snake! This is all your fault! I should have just killed you when I found you again! I won't let you ruin everything I've built!"

Seonghwa couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was like his father had lost his mind and was spewing nonsense.

Wooyoung pulled himself out from under the bed and started running for the front door. He sent Seonghwa a pleading look at where he was still on the ground and ran past when Seonghwa made no move to stop him.

But when his father came, Seonghwa stuck out a leg to trip him, only then did he push himself off the ground and run after Wooyoung.

There was no turning back now. Wooyoung had to escape. He he was caught by anyone, he would be put to death.

And right now Seonghwa blamed himself for everything that had happened.

If only he hadn't answered the door...

If only he had just treated Wooyoung the way his father expected him to...

If only he had stopped the abuse years ago...

There was no way for him to atone for what had happened, but the least he could do was help Wooyoung escape.

"SEONGHWA!" His father roared behind him.

"Wooyoung, don't stop running." Seonghwa urged when he caught up to the boy. He saw the shocked expression on Wooyoung's face, but didn't let that stop him.

In fact, it urged him to grab Wooyoung's hand and start pulling him down the long hallway of their secret base.

It was late enough at night, and Seonghwa knew his way around like the back of his hand, that they didn't run into anyone. He even did a good enough job ducking through doors and taking side hallways that he didn't hear his father behind him either. And if he were to guess, when his father lost sight of them he probably went straight for the surveillance room.

They probably had ten minutes before the alarm was raised and every Pack member would be on high alert.

Seonghwa took a risk and ducked into one of the armory rooms to grab Wooyoung a suit. "Put this on, quick." He said, shoving it and a pair of boots at the boy.

He didn't know why, but Seonghwa found himself slipping one on as well. It was uncomfortable with his clothes on underneath, they were meant to be worn as a single layer or the bottom layer, but he would make due.

Then he started grabbing whatever guns and knives he could off the wall and strapping them to his belt, legs, chest, and back. The suits were equipped with magnets throughout, so in a pinch like now, everything would stick to the suit until proper holsters could be used.

Wooyoung stood in place, stunned, as Seonghwa gave him the same treatment, then yanked him from the room.

By now, they had maybe five minutes if they were lucky.

One of the side exits was close, if they were even luckier, there wouldn't be anyone patrolling that area right now.

"Faster, Wooyoung. Pick up your feet!" Seonghwa urged. He felt Wooyoung squeeze his hand in response but there was a small whimper that came from him as well.

Seonghwa remembered that only hours ago his father had beaten Wooyoung pretty severely, so he had to be hurting right now... But they couldn't stop.

Not if Wooyoung wanted to live.

And he didn't argue either.

By the time they reached the door, a red light started flashing in every corner of the building.

"Dammit." Seonghwa looked around for anyone nearby, then pulled Wooyoung behind him. "Don't stop, but be prepared to defend yourself. Father's raised the alarm. He probably knows where we are. And if he doesn't, then he will soon."

Once more he didn't receive a response, but he didn't need one. The couple started running up the stairs that led to the outside world. It was an arduous task that had Seonghwa breathing heavily as his legs begged him to stop.

It was times like these that he was thankful for the adrenaline coursing through his body. The fear of being caught kept him fleeing and able to push through the pain.

Three flights left...

"Freeze!" Several people yelled below them.

Wooyoung cried out when several bullets sped past them and started ricocheting off the railing and walls. For a moment Seonghwa was worried he might have been hit, but then he remembered Wooyoung was wearing bulletproof armor. If he had been hit, it would have been in the head and they would not still be moving right now.

One bullet flew into his chest and Seonghwa felt the air expel from his lungs at an alarming rate. He stumbled forward and slapped his own hand to where the impact had happened.

Wooyoung tugged on his arm to help him stand and started pulling him forward.

Two flights left...

"Don't let them get away!" His father's voice came over the speakers.

Seonghwa ground his teeth together and surged forward. The narrow stairwell made every single sound echo around them and he could feel his head pounding as a result.

One flight left...

The door was in sight.

"Wooyoung, I want you to run and don't stop, ok?" Seonghwa said as he pushed the door open. "Get away from here and don't look back."

"What about you?" Wooyoung glanced at the stairs the back at Seonghwa. He looked like he was in so much pain, but a small flicker of pride rushed through Seonghwa when he saw the brave face the boy had on.

"I'll hold them off."

"No, I don't want to leave you..." Wooyoung took his hand again. "Come with me, please." He begged while pulling.

Seonghwa didn't know what to do. This was his home... It was the only life he had ever known.

The people chasing them got closer and the gunfire continued.

Wooyoung screamed and dropped Seonghwa's hand to clutch his shoulder while doubling over. Witnessing the sudden pain he was in, Seonghwa's body reacted before his mind could catch up.

He started pulling Wooyoung behind him once more and ran straight for the vehicles parked along the side, choosing a lard SUV to take.

The red alert had been sounded out here as well, so more men started flooding from the surrounding buildings.

Seonghwa didn't wait for either of them to be buckled before he turned the key, left in the center console for Pack member use, and slammed on the gas as soon as the engine had started.

A few men dove out of the way when they sped forward, a chorus of squeals and screeches followed them as the tires tried to find traction.

Several others tried to block the gates at the end of the long drive, but Seonghwa kept the gas pedal all the way down and smashed through the gate.

He could feel his vision threatening to black out on him as he tried to focus on the dark road in front of him. He knew that others would follow. There was only seconds for them to make their escape.

"Woo, take a knife and jam it into the dashboard. We need to get the car offline otherwise they can track us."

He glanced over and saw Wooyoung pull one from his chest and glance down at it for a moment as he wrapped each of his delicate fingers around it. Then he spun it around and jabbed the dashboard several times.

The lights flickered on it before going out completely.

That just bought them a little more time.

Seonghwa sped down he long driveway that led to the main portion of the city, then after weaving through the streets, he picked a side alley to turn down where he could hide in the cover of night once he turned all the lights off.

Now all that joined them was the sound of their ragged breathing and their hearts beating so hard he was afraid his might burst.

Especially when one single thought flew through his head.

What had he done?