Sangyeon sighed as he found himself staring at his bedroom wall, again. He had been this way for weeks on end, and no one knew how to fix it - not even himself.

No one would dare to try, especially when the hostility between him and Hyunjae was still apparent.

A new hostility emerged when the brunette confessed he had saw Hwayoung that day, one that existed between the leader and the close sidekicks - Sunwoo and Changmin.

Maybe hostility wasn't the best way to describe the feeling, but Sangyeon couldn't help but feel as though the two had been incompetent and lazy, letting her get away when she sat right under their noses.

That feeling dimmed when he wondered to himself why he was so desperate to see her.

Maybe it was because he was used to seeing her face around now. He knew so much about her, yet there was so much left to uncover, and he couldn't leave it at that.

"But why?" He muttered to himself, closing his eyes to see a silhouette of the girl instead of a complete darkness.

The guilt would eventually eat him alive if he didn't get out of here sooner or later, but he still couldn't bring himself to move.

If they had found her, what would they say? What could they say, except for they were sorry and wanted her to know? She surely wouldn't care.

What could they say, except for that it was his orders?

That he had desperately sought to see the girl, originally for Jacob's benefit - but now it felt like there was something more than that.

"Just tell us why," he remembered how Eric pleaded to him two months ago. "Put it simply, why are we searching for her?"

"I don't know," his words repeated themselves in his mind for weeks now. "To say sorry, I guess."

"Well, she's gone," the younger said abruptly as Sangyeon recalled he shook his head. "I'm sure your apology won't mean anything now."

"But maybe it would," Sangyeon mumbled to himself in his empty room, closing his eyes yet again.

He remembered how Jacob convinced him that night to apologise to her. That she would accept his apology so gracefully, even though he didn't deserve it. Could she do it again, or was that selfish of him to hope?

A chap at the door struck the boy from his thoughts, turning to see Kevin standing in the doorway. "We're going out, would you like to come?"

"Is it safe?" The leader asked, sitting up as he patted down his sweatpants.

"It is," the black haired boy nodded, looking behind him as a couple of the boys walked past with their heads down. "From what we can see, they're gone too. I mean, Jaekyung."

Sangyeon nodded slowly, a small smile on his face. "Okay then, enjoy yourselves."

"You're not joining?" Kevin tilted his head as the elder shook his own. "Okay then - but you will next time, right?"

"Sure thing, kiddo," the boy nodded with a smile that was wider than any of the boys had seen for weeks. Maybe it was because Kevin was pushy at times, but in a comforting way. "See you later."

"Will I though?" The black haired boy peaked his head through the adjacent door. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I never do," Sangyeon muttered as he heard the door shut. "I never do..."

He was back to where he started, the twinkle of normality of the conversation he had just had was enough to make him crave more - but he couldn't.

Staring at his pinky finger, the boy pondered on the word 'promise'.

How she promised him she wouldn't get involved, that she would come back safe and wouldn't let herself be swayed by love.

How Hwayoung promised that night that she would do the right thing and apologise to Jacob, but now she was the one who needed to be apologised to.

Not only by Jacob, but by himself. And after weeks of sulking and self-deprecating, her kind acceptance of his apology that one time was enough to spur the boy to move.

His legs carried him to the car, his ears growing numb to the sounds around him as he focussed on one thing - and that was finding her.

"Fuck," Sangyeon muttered to himself as he exited yet another cafe, maybe the seventh one in this town he had tried.

His hands wanted to fly to his hair, yank the strands gently as he had a melt down by the side of the road - but he wouldn't do that. He had tortured himself enough these last few weeks.

He wandered the streets like a stray puppy, his eyes lighting up at the sight of any woman headed his way, only to be let down.

He knew he would find her here, that's exactly what Hyunjae told him, but where?

She would surely have a new place out here, maybe he could scope out apartments that looked more her style or a street that screamed danger like herself - but that was all too much. He just wished she would appear before him, make everything easy.

But that wasn't how it was supposed to be, for he was in the wrong. He must do the searching.

The minutes turned into hours, the sun setting over the strange city. It was so desolate, yet he couldn't find her.

Yet she found him. The boy who looked so out of place in the town that knew everyone who passed by. She thought if he was only smarter, he would have opened his mouth to ask.

She watched him as he kicked the stone on the curb, laughing to herself as he picked up the littered plastic bottle off of the concrete and searched for the appropriate bin.

He would fit right in here, although she wiped that thought from her mind as quickly as it entered.

He sulked all the way over to a car that she could only assume to be his, his head hanging low as he got into the car.

Why was he here? She wondered that whenever she saw his puppets in the heart of the town with their eager eyes searching for even a glimpse of her.

Why wasn't Jacob here? She couldn't help but wonder that when she saw almost every one of them apart from him. Surely he would want to say sorry, right?

"Where are my keys?" Sangyeon muttered to himself as he dropped them in the car, the darkness not helping his situation.

When he found them, off he went. He drove slowly, Hwayoung noticed that he was still lurking around, his eyes still hopeful - she could see that much through the window.

She chuckled to herself as she walked alongside the car that was far away, she could probably run quicker than the vehicle moved.

So that's what she did, she ran. She only slowed down when she reached the middle of the road, the headlights of his car almost blinding her as she blinked harshly.

As did he. His foot landed upon the brake harshly, causing him more damage than her.

"What? Tryna kill me again?" Hwayoung shouted, her lips tugging up into a smirk as the car lights turned off.

Out stumbled a boy she could barely recognise in the dark, up close. He was thinner than before, his hair was curly and truthfully messy. From afar, he looked better.

"It's you," Sangyeon muttered, narrowing his eyes at the girl. "What are you doing?"

"Just existing, before you almost ran me over," she shrugged, examining the boy. "God, you look rough."

He examined the girl too. Her hair was no longer dark, although her eyes remained the same. Intimidating, she still was, but just not as much.

"You look...." he mumbled, standing up straighter as though he didn't feel weak from her sudden revelation. "Different."

"Well, I am different now," Hwayoung nodded slowly. "It was probably that drug you got your puppet to dilute my vodka with."

"Please don't," he half-pleaded. His voice sounded weak, and he looked it too. The dark circles under his eyes was a rare sight to see, even for the girl who had only saw him a handful of times. "What's changed?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she motioned to his messy state. "I don't think I've ever seen you look this bad."

Sangyeon could only nod in agreement, he had let himself go just a little. He barely had the motivation to eat some days, the churning in his stomach causing him to feel full - of guilt. "That's a fair statement."

The two stood in silence, Hwayoung shoving her hands into her hoodie pockets. The boy noticed that her bare legs even looked thinner too, much like his own.

The air didn't feel awkward, per se, more so a tense atmosphere that would burst once one of them opened their mouth, although neither of them really wanted to.

The girl didn't feel as though it was her place, she had even flung herself in front of his car in an attempt to let him tell her the truth, tell her why he was searching so desperately for her.

The boy didn't know what the right words to say were. He could start with a simple "sorry", or he could change the subject completely - although he realised that he would only do so to linger here before her, and that confused him.

Now that he had her, why couldn't he speak?

"Well, get home safe," Hwayoung said abruptly, turning on her heels as the boy simply watched her walk away. "And you can drive a little faster than that around here."

Sangyeon stood still, his tongue dry as his mouth lay agape. She walked away so effortlessly, and although she had changed, the walk had never changed.

He remembered the first time he saw her as she had her back turned to him, making her way through the crowds as her eyes searched for trouble. Tonight, he searched for her, but she wasn't trouble.

"Hwayoung!" The leader called eventually, seeing the girl turn sharply yet so casually. "I have some things I need to say."

"Save them," she shook her head. "I gave you a chance to speak but you didn't. It's okay, though."

"It isn't," Sangyeon pleaded, jogging slightly as he found himself before her again. His chest rose and fell gently, a subtle reminder that he wasn't anywhere near as fit as he should be. "I need to apologise, for everything."

"You do," Hwayoung nodded, looking up at the boy whose eyebrows furrowed in sadness. "But truthfully I don't want to hear it, it means nothing to me now."

The boy looked on in confusion, the girl chuckling at his reaction. "If you didn't want to hear it, why did you run in front of my car?"

"I wanted to see you squirm," she shrugged as her lips tugged upwards slightly. "I enjoyed it, and I still am enjoying it."

Her words were lies, although she couldn't let her curiosity be the reason she had been so careless. She did want to see him in fear, she knew that he must've grown weaker over these last few months.

In an attempt to look more careless, the boy huffed, straightening his posture as the girl simply watched on in amusement. "Flustered men, I love to see it."

"So you haven't changed?" Sangyeon asked, tilting his head as the girl narrowed her eyes.

"Maybe I have," Hwayoung shrugged, patting the boys shoulder as she backed away again. "Maybe I haven't. I'm sure you'll find out."

With a turn of her heels, she walked away again, and he could only let her go.

For his team were right, he didn't know why he was chasing her.

And as his stomach churned at the sight of her turning the street corner, the realisation hitting that she was gone again - he worried that he was the only one who knew the answer everyone was so desperate to know.