The footsteps stopped outside her door.
Not passed. Not faded. Just stopped.
Xinyue's breath caught somewhere between her chest and her throat. Every instinct in her body went still, like prey sensing something just out of sight. Taehyun didn't move. That was the most terrifying part.
He didn't rush. Didn't panic. Didn't even look surprised. He simply stood there, one hand pressed to his side, gaze fixed on the door like he had been expecting this moment all along.
"Go inside" he said quietly.
Xinyue didn't argue this time. Something in his voice had changed - lower, sharper, stripped of anything human. It wasn't a suggestion. It was an order.
Her feet moved before her brain caught up for her liking, which she resented deeply. She backed toward her bedroom, heart pounding so loud she was sure whoever stood outside could hear it. The hallway felt too narrow, too exposed. Every step stretched too long. She reached the door. Stopped, then turned back.
Taehyun was still there - standing in the middle of her living room, blood soaking into his shirt, eyes dark and focused, as if pain had simply ceased to exist for him.
"Don't open the door. Not yet." she whispered.
He didn't look at her.
"I won't."
Not reassuring., not even slightly. Another sound came from outside. A shift of weight. A faint scrape, like a shoe turning slowly against concrete.
Someone was there.
Waiting.
Xinyue's fingers tightened around the edge of her door. She should go inside and lock it. Stay out of whatever this was, instead she decided to stay. Just long enough to see what would happen. Because apparently, her poor decision-making had no limits.
Then there was a knock. Soft.
Not loud.
Not aggressive.
But somehow worse.
Polite.
Taehyun's gaze sharpened. He didn't move toward the door. Didn't speak, just watched. The knock came again. Three times like it was measured. Whoever it was they knew exactly what they were doing. Xinyue's pulse climbed higher.
"Open up," a man's voice called from outside.
Calm. Almost casual.
Not someone searching but someone who is certain.
Taehyun finally moved slowly in a controlled space. Each step silent despite the injury he should not have been able to ignore. Xinyue pressed herself against the wall, watching, her breath becomes shallow. He reached the door.
Paused.
Then, without looking back, he said quietly…
"If anything happens, you leave through the window."
Her stomach dropped.
"That is not a comforting plan."
"It's the only one."
Before she could respond, he unlocked the door. The click sounded too loud in the silence, Xinyue's breath stopped. The door opened just a fraction of it.
Enough for them to see each other.
A man stood outside. Tall, clean and well-dressed. The kind of man who looked like he belonged in a corporate meeting, not outside someone's apartment at nearly four in the morning. Dark suit with no tie, hair perfectly styled in place and composed. His eyes slid past Taehyun. Straight to Xinyue.
And then…
Recognition. Not of her but of the situation. His gaze flicked back to Taehyun. "Boss," he said simply. The word hung in the air. Xinyue blinked.
Boss?
Taehyun didn't relax, but something shifted in him - just enough.
"Kang Dojin," he said. The man inclined his head slightly.
"I've been looking for you."
Xinyue's mind caught up the pieces, unwillingly. 'Boss. Looking for you. Gunshot wound. No hospital.'
"Oh…"
"Oh no!!!" she whispered.
She looked between them, the shape of the truth forming slowly. This wasn't just trouble. This was something much worse and she didn't like it.
Dojin stepped inside without waiting to be invited, his movements smooth and controlled. He took in the room in one sweep - blood, supplies, Xinyue, Taehyun - and something like approval flickered in his eyes.
"Seems you found help," he said.
Taehyun didn't answer. Dojin's gaze shifted to Xinyue. She felt it. Like it's Measuring, assessing and filed away. Not as a person, instead as a variable.
"That would be me," she said before she could stop herself.
Dojin's expression didn't change. "You're a doctor."
"Yes."
A beat later.
"Then you shouldn't have helped him."
Xinyue let out a short, incredulous laugh feeling the ungratefulness. "That seems to be a popular opinion tonight."
Taehyun's voice cut in, low and firm.
"Enough."
Dojin fell silent immediately. Not intimidated or afraid of it, but obedient like a dog. Like someone who knew exactly where the line was and had no intention of crossing it. That told Xinyue more than anything else had. This man - this stranger she had dragged into her apartment was not just dangerous indeed he was the in charge. Dojin stepped closer, his attention returning to Taehyun's injury.
"You're losing too much blood."
"I'm aware."
"We need to move."
"No!"
The word landed like a blade from her. Dojin stilled for the first time, something like tension crossed his face.
"This place isn't secure."
"It is for now."
Dojin glanced at Xinyue again and this time, there was something else in his gaze.
Like, concern. Not for her.
Because of her.
"She's a risk."
Xinyue straightened immediately. "Excuse me?"
"She knows too much already."
"I know nothing," she snapped. "Except that you people have ruined my apartment and possibly my entire week."
Dojin didn't react, didn't argue back; he simply looked at Taehyun. Waiting for his order. The silence stretched a little bit, then Taehyun spoke.
"She stays." His words were quiet, however it landed like a decision already made.
Final.
Xinyue felt something shift again - not in the room, but in herself.
A strange, sharp awareness. Of him. Of the way he said it. Of the fact that this man, bleeding and barely standing, had just made a decision about her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"She stays?" she repeated herself in disbelief.
Taehyun finally looked at her and for a second - just a second - something softer flickered in his eyes.
"You're safer here than out there." That should not have sounded the way it did. It definitely should not have made her feel…
No.
Absolutely not.
Xinyue crossed her arms. "You don't get to decide that."
Dojin spoke again, quieter this time. "He does."
And that…
That told her everything she needed to know. Silence fell again but this time it wasn't the same as before. This one felt heavier and charged. Because now she understood, not fully but enough. Enough to know she stepped into something far bigger than just a wounded stranger in the alley.
Dojin moved towards the window, pulling the curtain aside just enough for him to glance outside the apartment. "Two of them", he said. "Across the street.
Xinyue's breath hitched. "What?"
"Watching this building"
Her stomach twisted, Taehyun didn't look surprised. Of course he didn't.
"How long?" he asked.
"Since before I got here."
Xinyue stared at them.
"At least you knew you were being followed?"
Dojin didn't answer. Taehyun did.
"They're not following me."
A pause.
"They're waiting."
That distinction did nothing to make her feel better. Dojin dropped the curtain back into place and turned.
"We don't have enough time."
Taehyun leaned slightly against the table, his hand tightening at his side for a brief second before he forced it still.
"Not yet."
"You won't last long like this."
"I will."
Dojin's jaw tightened. Barely.
"You're not invincible."
"No," Taehyun said calmly. "But I'm still here."
The words weren't defensive. They were fact. Xinyue looked between them, something cold settling under her ribs. This wasn't panic, this wasn't chaos instead it was… controlled. Calculated. Danger, but organized.
Her apartment felt smaller now. The walls became closer. The air heavier.
"Okay," she said suddenly, her voice cutting through the tension. "Enough."
Both men looked at her. Then she he pointed at Taehyun and spoke.
"You need to sit down before you collapse and undo everything, I just did."
He didn't move.
She took a step closer. "I'm serious."
Still nothing. "Taehyun," she said sharply, "if you bleed on my floor again, I will personally throw you out of this apartment."
A beat. Then to her shock, he actually sat. Slowly and carefully.
But he listened. Dojin's eyes flicked between them. Something unreadable passed through his expression. 'Interesting'
Xinyue ignored that and moved toward the table, grabbing fresh gauze. "You," she pointed at Dojin, "stop standing there like a silent threat and help me."
Dojin blinked once. "You're giving me instructions?"
"Yes." A pause.
Then, almost imperceptibly, the corner of his mouth twitched. He stepped forward. "What do you need?"
Xinyue handed him supplies. "Hold this."
He did, without an argument. For a moment, the three of them existed in a strange, surreal balance. A doctor. A devil. And the man who answered to him. All standing in her living room at four in the morning like this was a perfectly normal situation.
Xinyue worked quickly, checking the dressing, adjusting pressure, ignoring the way Taehyun's gaze lingered on her face like he was trying to understand something.
"Try not to move," she said.
"You've said that before."
"And you didn't listen."
"Fair."
Dojin glanced at him briefly. "You're letting her talk to you like that."
Taehyun didn't look away from Xinyue. "She hasn't lied yet."
Xinyue froze for half a second. Then continued working, snice she had no idea what to do with that. Outside, somewhere below, a car engine started. Xinyue's head snapped toward the window.
Dojin stilled. Taehyun's hand tightened again. Everything sharpened. Every sound. Every breath.
For a moment, the world held itself still.
Then… The car drove away. Silence returned, slowly, carefully. Like it didn't want to disturb anything. Xinyue exhaled. Only then realizing she had been holding her breath.
"This is insane," she muttered. No one disagreed with her. She finished securing the bandage and stepped back.
"You're not going anywhere tonight," she said firmly.
Dojin opened his mouth. Taehyun spoke first. "No." The same answer, same certainty.
Xinyue stared at him. Then, after a second, she let out a tired breath and dropped into the chair.
"Fine," she said. "Then welcome to my apartment."
She gestured vaguely around them.
"Try not to start a war in it."
Taehyun's gaze met hers. And this time…
The almost-smile stayed a second longer.
"Too late," he said quietly.
And for the first time that night, Xinyue believed him.