"Pack your essentials," Elian said urgently after he finished a few important calls.

"What?" I put down my fork and brownie plate and stood up in utter shock. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't have time to explain, Alena. We need to run away." This was the most panicked I had ever seen him.

"Run away? Where? Why? I don't get any of it."

He grabbed my shoulders and said, "Alena, just listen to me, okay? We have no other option except running, so just go and pack your essentials in five minutes."

"I don't know what happened. But doesn't running away mean we are guilty?" I tried reasoning.

"Yes, but they won't give us any chance to explain. The orders are to shoot at sight. You and me."

My heart clenched at what he said. "What?" I asked, staggered. "That's not possible. I never did anything to deserve an order like that. Surely, the cops aren't that bad—"

"They are. You just don't know because you have never had to face them like that. I'll explain everything to you later. Just know that the situation is bad, like really bad, and we have to run away," he ordered.

I understood a part of what he was saying, but I was still too shocked.

"Alena?" he called out, and I looked up at him dumbly. "Get a move on, will you? Start packing your things."

I tried to open my mouth to reply, but he was already striding towards my bedroom.

"You know what? If you want to stay there standing like a statue, be my guest. I'll pack your things. You just be ready to get the hell out of here when I say the word," he informed me, and that's when I came back to reality.

"What? You can't just barge into my bedroom without permission!" I hollered after him as he entered my bedroom.

"Alena, this is a crisis. Who cares about courtesy?" he exclaimed and opened my closet. He took out one of my travel bags from the lowest shelf and placed it on my bed.

"Just how the fuck do you know where I keep my travel bag there?" I exclaimed.

"Will you stop sweating the small details, Alena?" he asked, exasperated.

"Why do you keep calling me by my first name?"

"Like I said just now, don't sweat the small details."

I just gaped in disbelief as he started packing my bag, putting in everything that I might need, like some of my clothes, comfortable shorts without which I couldn't sleep, medicines—

Just then, the calling bell rang up, and my heart almost leaped out of my chest.

"Shit, they are here," Elian let out.

"Who are here?" I asked in fear.

"The cops."

God, what did an innocent sweet person like me ever do to deserve this?

Okay, not the time to freak out. Be calm, Alena.

"So what do we do now?" I asked, trying to regain my composure.

Elian took out his gun, and my eyes widened.

I immediately ran to him and made him lower his gun. "No, you won't kill them."

"I have to. If I don't, they will kill us," he reasoned.

"I'm sure they will listen if we just surrender quietly—"

"Surrendering is not an option. They won't believe us unless we have concrete proof, and right now, we don't. So either they kill us or they capture us. After they capture us, the torture they will put us through to get the truth out will be inhumane, Alena. It might have been okay if it was just me, but I can't let that happen to you at any cost." He took out his other gun and said, "So, it's kill or be killed."

I couldn't believe anything that was happening.

Just a few minutes ago, Elian and I were sitting in my living room, sharing brownies, and now, we were one of the most wanted people in the state for something I had never played a part in.

How could the firearms trucks go missing? How could our firearms malfunction at a military camp? How were there illegal explosives in it when I myself checked everything?

Was that why I was being chased down? Because I was in charge of that entire assignment? And Elian was the CEO of our company? What about the others who were involved in the assignment, though? What was going to happen to them?

"What about—"

"Questions later. Right now, our priority is to escape," Elian said, taking cautious steps out of my bedroom.

I followed him just as quietly and said, "Okay, I'll do what you say. But you won't kill them."

"Alena—" I cut him off.

"No. You won't kill them. They are just cops. They are doing their job. They have families, okay? Think about that and don't shoot them where it can kill them."

Elian reluctantly looked away, clearly not liking the plan.

"I will run away with you, wherever you say. I will trust you blindly and even jump off a cliff if you ask me to. But you have to promise me that you won't kill any of the cops," I said firmly.

He contemplated for a moment before sighing. "Fine, okay. I promise."

"Cross your heart?" I asked.

His lips twitched up slightly as he said, "Yes, cross my heart."

"Good." I smiled.

"Okay, now listen to my plan carefully."

I hid behind my couch, alongside Elian, while the cops outside were trying to break the main door.

I felt bad for my poor door, which I would have to fix whenever I got back here, but I had to obey the plan for now. We had to stall time for our backup to come.

But Elian's backup was clearly late since the cops had managed to break in through my door.

"Shut your ears," Elian whispered and wore his mask. He was going to wear a mask so that the cops had no concrete proof that it was Elian who shot them. After all, they didn't know he was even here.

I nodded numbly and raised my hands to press them against my ears. I even closed my eyes in fear. I couldn't explain just how scared I was at that moment. My life had turned into a thriller movie, and all I had was my boss to count on.

There was no guarantee that we would come out of this alive. We might just die here—

I felt a pair of soft lips on my forehead.

I opened my eyes and found Elian looking straight into them; there was a gentleness in his expression that I couldn't recall ever seeing before. "Hey, we will be fine. I won't let anything happen to you ever again, Alena," he said in an assuring tone.

Before I could comprehend the meaning behind his words, he was already pulling away from me and putting back his mask to stand up and start firing at the people who entered the living room.

It was over way sooner than I had expected.

There were only four of them, after all. They probably expected me to be alone at home. They were all groaning on the floor, blood oozing out some of their shoulders, hands, or legs.

I felt bad for them, but I didn't have much time for sympathy as Elian grabbed my wrist and ran out of the apartment.

We took the stairs, instead of the elevator, and reached the garage. It seemed easy until we found another police car entering the garage.

"Shit," Elian cursed, and we hid behind a random car.

"What are we going to do now?" Elian's car was parked a little farther away, and his driver was missing.

"Wait," he said and typed something in his phone—the phone he used for his illegal business. He had already turned off his regular phone. "One of my men will bring us a bike here."

"A bike?" I asked in horror. "I have never ridden a bike before."

"No, you have countless times," he responded.

"No, I haven't." What was he talking about? If I said I hadn't ridden a bike that meant I hadn't.

"Geez, fine." Just then, he received a message. "Shit, they are not allowing anyone to enter the garage. Seems like we have to get out of here on our own."

"How do we do that?" I asked cluelessly, and he showed his guns again. "You're going to shoot all those people?"

"At least I won't be killing any of them."

Before I could even protest, he was already out and firing his gun while I shut my ears.

When he was done, he tugged at my wrist again, and we both ran out of the garage onto the sidewalk of my apartment complex. There was a black motorcycle waiting with keys inserted and two helmets.

We hurried up to the bike and put on the helmets. Elian got on it first and looked at me expectantly.

"Hop on. I swear you will be fine," he encouraged.

I looked down at my pencil skirt for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Screw it all," I muttered and sat on the bike sideways.

Elian started chuckling, but it seized when I wrapped my arms strongly around his waist from behind. I didn't know why I went for his waist instead of shoulders, but this definitely felt more secure and protective.

"Start the bike now, will you?" I said, and he nodded before turning on the ignition keys and roaring the motorbike to life.

As we started down the familiar streets of my neighborhood and the wind slapped against my face, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of nostalgia.

But that wasn't possible, right? After all, I had never ridden 7ukb a bike, let alone with a guy.

When we were out of my neighborhood, I inquired, "Where are we going?"

"I have no idea."

"You can't be serious."

He just laughed in response.

"How can you laugh at this situation?" I hollered and hit his upper arm lightly.

"Don't worry, I have got a couple of places in my mind. But before that, hold on tight because we have got chasers," he announced before speeding up drastically.

I looked over my shoulder, and my eyes widened at the sight of two police cars chasing us. I turned to the front and let out, "We are now really fugitives, aren't we?"

"Yep."