00:00 • Chanrosé

:10

The metal door at the top of the stairs swung open, hitting the wall with a harsh bang. Chanyeol heard her quick footsteps thud against the stairs as she descended. He turned his head and watched her unveil her knife from her thigh, kneeling down in front of him to cut his leg restraints. Jaehyun followed behind her, pulling out his own knife and working on the rows of zip ties that bound his hands and arms.

When Kyungsoo had connected to the team's feed, Chaeyoung was hesitant and guarded. She didn't believe anything until Chanyeol called over the in-ear that he was alive and fine. She ordered Kyungsoo to talk her into the room that Chanyeol was being held, sassing back to Kyungsoo when he called her mean.

She wouldn't look at him. Her face was tear stained and slightly bloody from the reopened cut along her brow. Her eyes were fixated on her job to free him. Chanyeol noticed her hands were shaking slightly, worrying him about her condition. Could she have been touched? He didn't want to even think about that, but seeing her in such shocked scared him.

"Chaeyoung..." Chanyeol quietly beckoned, trying to get her to look at him. She cut away at his restraints harshly, grunting softly with each saw of the cuts and ignored him.

He didn't blame her. Chanyeol himself felt like he was in a nightmare and a dream all at the same time. Thinking he was going to die and saying goodbye to the woman he loved, all while hearing her call for him as he waited for the end really messed with his mind and emotions. It felt surreal.

Jaehyun freed his hands at the same time Chaeyoung finished at his legs. Chanyeol stood up immediately, despise the pain and reached out to her. Her eyes finally lifted from the ground and burned into his own, seeing them glistening with fresh tears.

He still didn't blame her when her hand slapped across his cheek. It wasn't what Chanyeol was expecting as their reunion but she had always surprised him. Her bottom lip trembled, though her facial expression was hard with a crease in the middle of her brows.

The sting from her hand was still lingering when she pulled at his sweat and blood soaked shirt into a hug, her fingers gripping at his back.

Chanyeol sighed with relief, enveloping her frame into his chest and buried his head into her shoulder. He didn't care that Jaehyun was only feet away and she didn't seem to care either. Chaeyoung leaned into his embrace, he started to feel her own relief.

"Don't do that again." She warned, trying to sound feisty but the sniffle that came after it ruined her facade. Chaeyoung pulled away and looked up at him, wiping a bit of blood from his lip. Chanyeol watched her wall fall before his eyes, the anger disappearing.

Chanyeol cupped her face and brought his forehead to touch hers, "Did they touch you?"

"No," Chaeyoung shook her head, "I sunk knives into their chests before they could."

"That's my girl." He smiled softly, wiping a tear that had just escaped down her cheek. "No more tears, okay?"

"Not to break this 'moment' up but we have to get moving." Kyungsoo piped, slightly monotoned and seemingly bored. This pulled the two from their own little momentary world and back to reality. They had a man to kill.

Chanyeol could tell that both her and Jaehyun were trying to wrap their heads around the situation as Kyungsoo explained it. Especially Jaehyun, he asked multiple questions about this 'Shadow' position. Luckily, Kyungsoo kept the information that Chanyeol had been a Shadow to himself.

But Chanyeol knew that Chaeyoung was smart and intuitive, explaining why she was quiet while his old partner talked. He knew that she knew, but he hoped to get a change to explain that night to her.