Wanted ||| Ateez

7

"Alice! You should show us around since this is where you're from!" Wooyoung said, bouncing up and down with San as they left the airport.

"Well, I'm not actually from LA..." She said, looking around nervously.

"Oh..." He said, pouting a little.

"Sorry. I'm actually from Colorado."

"Co-lo-ada?" He said, trying to sound it out.

May had to stifle a laugh as she saw the very confused look on his face. Then she heard the other members trying to pronounce the state name too.

"Oh my gosh, you guys are great." She said, crying and laughing at the same time. "You are missing the 'r'."

Her state name still echoed around her as they made their way to the hotel. Everyone split into their own rooms. May had been given a room to herself, thankfully, but she was still on the same floor as the members.

As they got settled, May took advantage of her alone time to pull out her files and sift through them, wanting to refresh her information. She still felt like she was missing something that would help her with her mission. She also made sure to check in for the day, knowing that they could be out late tonight.

The boys had the night off to explore the city and relax before the concert the following night.

May felt like they made quite the crowd. A lot of the staff joined them, so they moved in a large mob. It made her jumpy... There was too much noise and it overwhelmed her senses. She found herself constantly looking over her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Jongho said, coming to walk next to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She said, biting her lip and looking off to the side.

"You just seem jumpy." He sounded concerned.

"No, not at all. I-" Hands suddenly pinched her sides and she let out a yelp that felt like it echoed down the street. She spun around, ready to attack whoever had touched her, only to find Yunho and Mingi holding onto each other, laughing their asses off. "You guys!" She said, running up to smack them. They easily dodged her and ran down the street. Jerks.

She turned back around to see Jongho's shoulders shaking as he tried to suppress his laugh. He was pushing his lips together and trying to look anywhere but at her.

"I'll help you get them back later," Yeosang said, coming up with San and Wooyoung. "Especially Mingi. He's a scaredy-cat."

May muttered under her breath, causing the others to laugh again. If they had any idea what I would have done if I wasn't surrounded by people...

They'd be terrified of you. She didn't understand why, but part of her hated the thought of that. She looked at the smiling faces around her, and suddenly hated herself...

After dinner, the boys wanted to walk down the beach, and May wanted to see it too. She'd seen the ocean before, but she'd never had the opportunity to spend time staring out at the waves.

She could feel her jaw drop a little bit when she saw it. The sun was setting and casting gorgeous tones of orange and pink over the water. The waves moved lazily against the shore, and before she realized what she was doing, May had walked right up to the end. She couldn't go in because of the device around her ankle, but she could at least pretend.

The boys started going crazy, running around and threatening to push each other into the waves. San especially seemed to have lost it and Jongho was chasing him trying to get him to be quiet.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Seonghwa said, coming to stand next to May.

"Yeah, it is." She said, not looking away from the water.

"Have you never seen the ocean like this before?"

"No. Not like this." She could feel the taller watching her and glanced up at him. He was smiling, but it was on the verge of a smirk. "What?"

"There you go, dropping the tough-girl act again." He nudged her and went back to join the others.

May gritted her teeth and shoved her hands in her pocket before walking further down the beach. She found a bench to sit on and pulled out her notebook, writing down how much of a know-it-all Seonghwa liked to think he was.

She tensed when someone came to sit next to her, but she made an effort not to look over.

"Alice." The deep voice said.

"Joe. What are you doing here?" She said in English, trying not to move her lips.

"Boss is worried you're getting distracted. You don't normally take this long, and he sent me to assist."

"I don't need your help. This isn't like my normal missions; do you see what I have to work with?" They could hear the boys singing and yelling in the background.

"How hard is it to get the target on their own?" He had a very accusing tone to his voice.

"Very. They sleep together, rehearse together, and if it's not just them, then there is an army of staff around. The client picked a very bad time to put this request in. I'm doing the best I can." She felt herself getting angry. This jackass doesn't know anything about what's going on. "I report in every day, so Boss knows what's going on."

"And yet he still sent me to help."

May sprang to her feet and started to walk away. "I don't need your help."

Joe stood and grabbed her forearm, spinning her to face him. She couldn't help but shudder. Grey eyes peered at her from under a mop of greasy black hair, and he had several scars all over his face.

"Let go of me!" She said, trying to twist out of his grip, but he only held on tighter, causing her to whimper a little.

"Boss has too much faith in you. You're weak, and you're going to fail. I just know it." He pulled her even closer to him.

"I said let me go." She snarled and pushed against his chest.

"Hey! Let her go!" Suddenly Yeosang, Jongho, and Wooyoung were running in their direction.

"Finish the job quickly, or there will be consequences." Joe hissed, then shoved her away from him, sending her flying backward.

Wooyoung got there just in time to keep her from falling on her ass. "Alice, are you ok?" He asked as he helped her back onto her feet.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." She gritted her teeth and watched Joe walk away. Jackass.

"Alice... Your arm." Yeosang said, gently reaching out to take her hand.

She glanced down and saw that Joe had left a very nasty, hand-shaped mark on her skin that she knew would be purple in the morning. "I'm ok." She pulled down the sleeve of her jacket to cover it.

"Who was that man?" Wooyoung said from behind her.

"I don't know." May said quickly, starting to walk away.

"You mean he just came up to you and grabbed you?" Jongho ran in front of her to stop her. He looked worried.

"I-I guess. I th-think he was drunk, o-or something." May lost her words. Why do they even care?

"Come on, let's get you back to the hotel." Wooyoung took her hand, something she didn't really like but she allowed. He seemed to be the one that enjoyed skinship the most. It was usually with San though.

May didn't try to argue, although she did apologize for breaking up the party early. None of them seemed to mind, saying they needed to rest before their show tomorrow anyway.

The boys all walked her to her room. "Get some rest, ok?" Hongjoong said, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

May just forced a smile and closed the door. When she heard the click of the lock she sighed and slid to the floor.