Wanted ||| Ateez

21

When they got to the airport, May parked the car and waited for Joe to wake up. He groaned several times as he sat up in the back of the car, then looked around, trying to figure out where he was. When he saw May, his eyes narrowed. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I am fulfilling your ask of me. I am going back with you, no tricks, no struggling."

"Where's the boy?"

May lifted her chin. "He's dead. I finished the job. There's no reason for you to go back there." She took a shirt out of her bag that they had torn about and smeared with some of Yeosang's blood. "I realized that I was wrong to try and leave that life. It's who I am." May felt disgusting saying those words, but she had slipped into her mask and kept her face neutral, even letting a small grin tug at the corner of her mouth.

Joe looked skeptical. He glanced at the shirt again then gave it back to her to stuff in her bag. "After you then."

They walked into the airport, buying the next tickets to America, and waited at the gate.

Joe took that time to report in. "Yes, Sir. I've got her. She said the boy is dead. Yes. Yes." He hung up and placed a hand on May's leg, keeping contact in case she tried to run. "He's looking forward to seeing you." He sneered.

May didn't say anything. She tried to ignore his touch, slipping into a state of numbness.

---

She stayed true to her word. She never tried to run, didn't question his orders, and staying close by his side the entire time back to the complex.

It was located deep in the Rocky Mountains, tucked away from civilization.

May fought back the shivers that threatened to give away how scared she was to be here as they drove to the front gate. It opened when Joe gave the password.

He was waiting on the front steps, hands clasped behind his back.

When she got close enough, May felt to her hands and knees, bowing before him. Joe made the same motion but rose much sooner than she did. She was waiting for his permission.

"Rise."

May stood and saw him smirk as he looked at her face, her nose specifically. She raised her hand to her nose and wiped away the blood that had started to run from it. Shit...

Then, with a single nod coming from their boss, Joe grabbed her hands and pinned them behind her back.

"Let go of me!" She tried to twist out of his grasp, but he was too strong.

"Joe tells me you've had a change of heart. That you want to come home."

"Yes, I do, so what is the meaning of this?"

"He also tells me he saw you getting quite close with one of the boys. First in Paris, and now back in Korea." Her boss said darkly.

"No!" May said quickly, earning her a slap across the face from the man in front of her.

"Don't lie to me." He growled, grabbing her jaw. "I have pictures. I should have known a bunch of pretty boys would have swayed you."

May hissed, then yanked her head out of his grasp and swung it forward to headbutt him. The momentum of the movement also threw Joe off balance and she pulled herself from his grasp. She spun on the spot and punched him, then pulled his knife from his belt.

Just as she turned to drive it home, she heard a deep laugh coming from her old boss. He rose to look at her, a dark expression crossing his face. "There's the spark I love. I don't think you want to kill me quite yet. Not before you can get the antidote."

May felt some of the color drain from her face. "An-Antidote?"

The man tapped his nose. "It's the first sign that your body is going through withdrawal. That cuff you so bravely removed from your skin? Electricity wasn't the only thing I designed it for."

---

Everyone in the dorm was restless. They knew May must have landed by now. No one wanted to voice their fears, instead choosing to dive into their work to distract themselves. But it showed that their minds were elsewhere. Wooyoung kept messing up on his dances, so did Yunho. San had lost his smile. Hongjoong fumbled through his rap parts and Jongho's voice cracked often.

The youngest had a constant pit in his stomach. He was so worried that something bad was going to happen. The feeling hadn't left him since her car disappeared around the corner.

I should have gone with her... I should have forced her to stay... How can I protect her if I'm not with her?

---

May stood there, staring at the man laughing in front of her. Then her rage took over and she ran up and placed the knife against his neck. "What did you do to me? Where is the antidote?"

"You really think I'd tell you? Joe, end her."

At that moment, May stepped to the side to dodge a punch from the other man. He lunged at her several times, but she ducked each one, constantly moving away from him. Her breathing quickened.

I have to find it. I have to get home.

Joe was relentless. He continued to force her away from his boss, but she could tell he was getting frustrated. His swings were getting wild.

When May saw her old boss walking back into the building, she clenched her teeth and dodged one more swing from Joe, ducking under it and bringing the knife up in an arch, cutting off several of his fingers. His moment of hesitation was all she needed to drive the knife into his heart.

She didn't wait to watch him fall, instead running after the other man. She could hear him laughing in the main entrance.

"Where is it?" She yelled at him.

He turned to face her. "I'll give it to you, if you really do come back to work for me. I knew you were no match for Joe, he was always pathetic."

"Shut up! Give it to me, or I swear, I will make you suffer." She felt blood running down her face again but ignored it.

"Pity. You don't have much time left. Once the effects kick in, it's near impossible to live through it."

May had enough. If there was a chance she could fight her way through it, she would. Screaming, she ran forward, swinging her arm in a frenzy.

He side-stepped each swing, still laughing. "Anger was always your weakness. It makes you blind. You'll never be able to kill me in this state."

"Wanna bet?" She snarled, taking her other hand and driving the knife she had pulled from his hidden pocket in his pants and plunged it up into his rib cage. "You taught me well. Find some way to distract your target, then catch them by surprise. That's why I was the best you had." His eyes widened, then she took the other knife and used it to slit his throat.

May fell to her knees, hands shaking, as she felt a sob escape her. She cried out, her anguish echoing through the hall.

A few of the other members who worked there came to investigate, pausing when they saw their boss laying in a pool of his own blood. They all knew who May was, and the fact that she was the one to kill him made them hesitate. They watched her walk out of the building and not look back.