*** COMPLETED *** Until the World Explodes (Han Seoul-Oh)

Chapter 5: "You're safe now, Audrey."

"Hey, Audrey, wake up," Han muttered in my ear as I stirred awake and rubbed my eyes. "We're here."

"Where?" I said hoarsely as I blinked my eyes open, stretching my arms out in front of me before climbing out of his lap and into the passenger seat. "What time is it?"

"It's almost 2 in the morning," he said as he watched me rub my puffy eyes. "We're gonna stop here for a few days until we get things figured out."

When I finally looked outside, there wasn't much where we were: a gas station, a decent sized hotel, a small convenience store, a Mexican restaurant, and a bank. There weren't any houses around, I noticed it didn't seem like a residential area.

"How did you find this place?" I questioned as we opened up the doors and got out. It felt nice to finally stretch my legs. "And where exactly is it?"

"It's a couple hours outside Tokyo. And I used to come here on a couple of those overnight business deals," He answered as he went around to the back of the car to open the trunk. "I have a lot I need to explain to you, I know, but I don't think 2 am is the right time."

"Absolutely not," I laughed tiredly as I rubbed my eyes again while shutting the door and moving to where he was. He handed me the bag I had packed earlier. "Isn't it going to look suspicious when we go in here in the middle of the night?"

"I know the guy who runs this place, so no," He laughed as I rolled my eyes - he seemed to know people everywhere we went. "I got in touch with him on the way here when you fell asleep. We've got a room for at least a week, and I can extend it if we need to."

He led me inside the hotel and took a left turn down a side hallway, stopping in front of the room at the end of the hallway. Han turned around and made sure nobody was around when he knelt down and grabbed the keycard out from underneath the plant that seemed to be conveniently placed. Once the door was unlocked, he led me inside and locked the door behind us before flipping on the light.

The room had two king sized beds, but I knew we'd only be using one of those. The bathroom was huge, with one of those fancy whirlpool tubs and a shower. The tv was placed on an entertainment center type thing, and surrounding it was a microwave, a mini fridge. The fridge and the cabinet next to it seemed to be conveniently stocked with enough food and drinks for the week.

"I see your friend put food in here already," I commented as I closed the cabinet. "If you don't have a cell phone at the moment, how are you getting in touch with these people?"

"This iPad that's connected to a non traceable network," he said as he handed it to me. "Only a handful of people who are associated with Mr. Nobody know about it. We can't be tracked when we use it, so it's safe to use."

I looked down at the device in my hand. It looked just like a normal iPad, I would've never known it was untraceable.

"Oh," I said as I handed it back to him. "So that's how you've been keeping in contact with people."

"Yes, and I have one for you, too," Han said casually as he pulled a second device - only this one was white - out of his bag and handed it to me. "I already set it up for you. You can use it for whatever you want, and when we get to where we're going, you can call your parents."

I bit my lip and nodded as I looked down at the iPad that was resting in my hands. Slowly, I swallowed the lump that was in my throat and set it down on the bed. "Sorry. I'm trying, I'm trying. This is just...a lot."

He rushed over to me and sat us both down on the edge of the bed. "It's okay," Han said softly as he put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me protectively into his side. "It'll take a lot to get used to, I know. I shouldn't have kept you in the dark on all this stuff. It's my fault, and there's nothing I can do to make up for lost time except teach you how to live off the grid."