Chapter 12

Getting out of the tunnels was much faster than Wen expected. Day looked forward the whole time, adamantly refusing to let go of Wen's wrist as he tugged him along, saying nothing besides the occasional, "turn this way", "don't step there", and "oh my god what are you doing, I said don't step there!"

The lights changed colors every so often, and Wen was sure they were headed in the wrong direction. He didn't dare say that to Day, so he just followed along obediently. Finally, the lights flicked back to green.

Day didn't comment on this, just pulled Wen's wrist harder.

Eventually the tunnel Day led them down came to an end, and they were faced with a cement wall and a steel ladder heading up.

"Go," Day motioned upward.

Wen's eyes fell to Day's shoulder, noticing for the first time blood seeping through his shirt, "you're bleeding."

"Barely. Go up."

"You got hit by a disk."

"I got grazed by a disk. Now go, climb." This time Day pushed Wen forward until he started climbing, quickly following behind him.

Emerging in an alleyway tucked onto a quiet street, Wen immediately recognized his surroundings. He had been here plenty of times, and used this same grate to get into the tunnels; they were less than a 20 minute walk to his apartment. 

Wen felt himself cringe. He was the head of a powerful crime organization! Since when did he become so useless?

Day seemed to be thinking similarly. 

"You are so stupid!" he cried, shoving Wen with all his might. Wen was much stronger than him, but so caught off guard at Day's outburst that he stumbled backwards, only managing to catch himself on the brick wall behind him right before he fell.

"If you are going to call a manhunt for me, at least keep a few guards for yourself!" Day continued, waiving his uninjured arm in the air, "what if I did want to kill you, huh? Sending all your guards away would give me the perfect opening. How are you so successful when you are so STUPID?"

Wen's eyes widened in surprise. None of his men, not even Caid, had ever dared speak to him like this. Somehow, it wasn't insulting.

"Why were you even down there?" Day asked, stepping forward to shove at Wen again.

Wen quickly side-stepped to dodge him. "I was looking for you! I knew you would be down there."

Day gazed up at him and blinked. "I wasn't."

"What?"

"I wasn't down there." Day stared at him with an unreadable expression.

"But—you…we were both down there."

"No, I mean I wasn't down there in the first place. I was at the corner store, drinking slushies."

"Drinking…slushies?" Wen stammered.

"Yeah, but the store owner cut me off after 4, so I went to the other corner store. It's further away but the owner's more lenient. So I took a shortcut on the roofs and I saw you disappear down. It seemed like a stupid thing to do but it was none of my business so I didn't do anything. But then I got another slushie and started thinking about it, and I thought I would follow you just in case. And good thing too!"

"You…came after me?"

"Yeah, because you went down ALONE like an idiot."

"I'm sorry," Wen said, finding that he meant it.

Day paused his rant and sheepishly stepped back. "Well, okay," he mumbled, much softer than before, "but that doesn't change that it was stupid and you need to work on some emergency strategies."

"No," Wen clarified, "I meant for today. How I spoke to you—what I said, I was wrong."

"Oh," Day said softly, rubbing his neck awkwardly, "that's alright. I understand, I put you in a difficult situation."

"No!" Wen said loudly, then pinched the bridge of his nose when he noticed how aggressive it sounded. "I mean, no," he said softer, "you don't have to justify it. You did nothing wrong, I did, and I hope you will accept my apology."

"No need to sound so sincere!" Day said quickly, avoiding eye contact, "of course I forgive you, when you say it so dramatically."

Day bit his lip, shifting from one foot to another, "I'm, um, I'm glad you're safe. I should go, and, uh, I'll see you later, maybe." He turned without looking, attempting to slip away quickly. Wen was expecting this, and stopped him before he could.

He grabbed Day's wrist, and cleared his throat. Before he could think too much, he quickly said, "Let's go home."