𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍 //𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝑲𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝑭𝑭//

~𝟱𝟵~

Barely an hour later, the dorms were crawling with agents, courtesy of the commander. I stood leaning with my shoulder against my doorframe, watching the agents as they collected samples and searched through all my things. I hadn't noticed, but I was chewing on my nails, my mind far away from where I stood. I only noticed once someone took my hand, removing my fingers from in between my teeth. I looked over and found Lee Know standing there, a tender smile spread on his lips.

"Are you okay?" he asked, but immediately face-palmed right after he asked the question.

"Stupid question, sorry. Of course you aren't okay."

"Well, you being here makes it a lot more manageable," I said softly, smiling slightly when he looked at me.

I turned my attention back to the agents in my room, just having finished up and busy packing all their things and returning my room to the state it was in before as much as possible.

"Have they found anything?" I asked to no one in particular, not really expecting an answer.

"No, nothing yet. But Ava-" Lee Know took my hand, my eyes flitting over our connected hands before moving up to meet his gaze. "I told you that I would always protect you. And I intend to keep that promise. Okay? That guy won't hurt you again, I'll make sure of it. If it's the last thing I do."

I found my voice was gone at his caring words, my eyes tearing up. I gulped the lump in my throat down, smiling at him sadly. He opened his arms, folding me into a hug. I rested my head on his chest, my hands clutching onto the fabric above his shoulder blades. The steady rising and falling of his chest took my thoughts far away from my problems and from that moment, my mind elsewhere. Until someone spoke from next to us.

"Ava, the agents found something. You're going to want to come see this," I heard Chan say, turning my head to nod at him.

I snuggled into the hug and stayed there for a moment longer before pulling back. Lee Know quickly scanned around us with his eyes before gently stoking my cheek, my eyes falling shut and head tilting into his touch. I smiled up at him before pulling away, hearing him follow as I went downstairs. I found all the boys gathered in the kitchen, the sour spot in my stomach growing substantially at the worried looks on all their faces. I cautiously went to stand in between Chan and Han, making eye contact with all the boys before looking up at Chan.

"What... what did the agents find?" I stuttered.

The boys all shared a worried look, making me even more nervous. My fingers were clutching onto the countertop as I waited for someone to say something, anything.

"The agents... they found a scrap of clothing in one of the trees outside. It had blood on it. They tested the blood and... the results... it's your blood. He must have had a piece of your clothes and now he's using it to throw us off our game," Chan said slowly.

I couldn't get a sentence out, my breath stuck in my throat. I had no idea what to say. Why was he doing this? Why couldn't he just hand himself over and make the whole situation dissolve, I asked myself.

"But don't worry. I called Reilly and their team have a lot of new leads. And I have some more agents coming to help check the perimeter and keep you safe," Chan commented after a while of my silence.

I took some relief from his words, but my heart was still jumping around in my chest. I could still see the black words painted on my wall every time I blinked, like I had stared into a very bright light, the image imprinted on my brain. A thought crossed my mind.

"Wait, do we know for sure Damian did all this?" I asked hesitantly.

Just then an agent walked up to Chan, handing him a manilla folder. He quickly scanned over the information before turning to me again.