~1~

That afternoon Im Nayeon was in a hurry.

After class she had to stay behind for an urgent student’s council meeting and as Class E representative her presence was obligatory. And now she was going to be late to work. Damn it. She wished they hadn’t wait until the last minute to tell them about that meeting. She couldn’t be late again. The convenience store that she worked at had a very strict policy about getting on hours.

Her shift started in about 20 minutes. She had no choice she was going to take a shortcut through the alley. She hated to take that path at this hour it was getting dark  she knew that very few people passed by there. But if she ran through it she would get at the main street in less than 10 minutes. She had to try it.

The black haired girl holded her bag close to her body and straighten up her back. She counted to 3 before closing her eyes and running to the alley. If she walked really fast she would get out of that dark and dirty place undisturbed.

Or maybe not.

“JYPE High uniform uh?” The male voice stopped her in her tracks. Her whole body had frozen up.

They were seven boys wearing what she recognized to be YGE Academy uniform. She had heard rumors before, that everyone who went to that school was a delinquent or connected to some criminal activity in some way. This is why she knew she was in trouble. How would she get out of this? Should she run?

The one who had spoken seemed to be this gang leader. “Well, well, what do we have here? What a pretty little thing,” He said getting closer to her. Instinctively, Nayeon backed away maybe she could turn around and run back to where she had come. Feeling hopeful she backed away until two hands placed on her shoulders. Nayeon felt her heart stop. She was being cornered. The other six were blocking her way.

She was not going to cry.

Maybe if she kicked him…? “Don’t even think about it, honey” The leader said to her predicting what she was thinking. He slowly got closer to her retained body. Smirking all the way and clearly having his fun with this.

He roughly grabbed her chin up inspecting her face. “Well, guys it seems that the legends are true after all. JYP girls students are the prettiest” The others snickered at this. “My, my what am I going to to with a pretty thing like you?” His finger lightly touched her lips and she fought the urge to throw up. She closed her eyes, she had never before felt so powerless like she was feeling right now.

Then it all happened in a flash.

Suddenly her shoulders were free, her captor let go of her chin with a confused expression. Nayeon didn’t had time to turn around and see what had caused this, a strong and secure hold caught her wrist pushing her body behind him, her face meeting someone’s back. It took her a couple of seconds to understand what was happening.

Someone had saved her.

From this angle she could only see his silver hair. His hand still had her wrist caught making her stay closer to his body.

“Are you okay?” Her savior asked her over his shoulder. His voice was not warm but something in it made her feel safe.

She nodded before realizing that he probably couldn't see her. “I’m fine”.  

He nodded, turning his attention to the ones who had cornered her. “Can’t believe you decided to go this low”.

“Who are you to judge?” The other replied.

“I might be many things but I never had to force myself on an innocent girl” The silver haired boy replied. “They always come to me willing”.

“Is she your friend or something? Anyway if you want her we can share, I’m all for sharing with others. But you’ll have to wait for you turn though”

The silver haired boy jumped in on the other boy before he even had time to finish his sentence.. They ended up rolling on the floor exchanging punches and kicks. The other six boys stood there watching it didn’t seem like they were thinking in joining their fight. Someone cried out but Nayeon couldn’t see from whom it came from. The silver haired boy punched the gang leader’s hard which finally knocked him out.

“Take him and go” He said to the others boys who promptly were at their leader’s body dragging him out.

The silver haired boy waited for them to disappear. Only when they were alone he turned to look at Nayeon. Their eyes meeting for the first time. She felt her legs tremble under his hard stare. Who was he?

Now after the fight his silver hair was a wild mess but it didn’t make him look unattractive. No, far from it. Even his bloody nose and swollen eye didn’t do much to hide his handsome face. He was very handsome with his silver hair and sharp jaw. Suddenly, she felt like she knew him from somewhere. That she should know him. She felt like she had heard of him before.

“Are you okay?” He asked her again, this time his eyes were on her giving her a once over.

She nodded. Even though her whole body was still slightly shaking she was okay. He had saved her. “Thank you”.

He frowned suddenly looking angry.“What were you thinking into coming in here? Don’t you know that girls like you shouldn't walk alone in here?”

“I… I didn’t think. I’m sorry” She didn’t want him to get angry. The last thing that she needed right now was to hear someone screaming at her.

He seemed to realize it. He gave her an exasperated look, throwing his hands on his hair and messing them up even more. “Aish… It’s okay. Don’t make this face, they were waiting for me anyway. This wouldn’t have happened if I had showed up earlier”.

Nayeon smiled at this cute reaction, feeling a little more at easy now. “Thank you for saving me. Next time, I’ll make sure to stay out of dark alleys in the future” She said giving him a slight bowing her head to him. “I should go… I have… Uh… I should be at work right now”.

He nodded giving her a half smile.

She wished she could stay. Something about this mysterious silver haired boy has aroused her curiosity. She turned around getting ready to leave when she heard his voice again.

“Take care of yourself, bunny girl”.

~2~

After their first encounter, Nayeon couldn’t stop thinking about the him.

It was only when she went home later that day that it came to her. The person who had saved her could very well be Lee Taeyong. Could she be right? She had never seen the legendary boy before but he fitted the description very well: silver hair, handsome face and SM Academy uniform. Even though they were from different schools the rumors of all the bad things the silver haired boy had done managed to reach the gossip circle of her class. The name Lee Taeyong was legendary. He was legend. A legend for all the bad reasons.

She had never had much interest in gossip but she knew he was one of the hot topics between her classmates, especially the girls. She knew that there was a group of girls who were sort of in his fanclub. She didn’t know much about Lee Taeyong only what almost everyone her age knew: he was a gang leader, he was dangerous who liked to fight and had burned his middle school teacher’s car.

That night she had trouble in going to sleep. Images of the awful dark alley, those disgusting seven boys and flashes of silver hair and intense dark eyes kept playing in her head. So when she went to school the next day she felt like a mess. Not even three cup of coffee could have helped. She was half walking and half dragging herself to her seat when she overheard a group of girls conversation.

“Did you hear what happened to Hanbin?”

“Yes! I heard Lee Taeyong sent him to the emergency room. Do you know why they were fighting this time?”

“I heard that Taeyong wanted Habin’s girl and you know, what Lee Taeyong wants he gets” Another girl joined the group and she sounded so proud.

“I heard Taeyong almost broke his skull. He was almost in a coma,” Uh? They were definitely exaggerating the story here. “I heard that there was blood everywhere. I don’t about a girl but Taeyong came in because he wanted to see some blood”

“Where did you heard this from?” Nayeon butted in the conversation. This version of the story was wrong.

“This is the true version that came from YGE High”

“It wasn’t like that though,” This version of the story was wrong. The group of girls were looking at her suspicious. “Er… At least that’s what I heard” She said scratching her neck awkwardly.

“You seem to know more. Where is your source from?”

“Eer… From a blog?” Even she knew that she had sounded unsure. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom” Nayeon couldn’t get away from the girls faster enough.

Aish… Why did she had to get herself in their conversation? Why did she care about others said about Lee Taeyong though? She was sure that they wouldn’t see each other ever again.

~3~

Something had changed in Nayeon and she still couldn't pinpoint out what. Now when she walked by a street her eyes would be unconsciously looking for someone with silver hair. Her heart had even skipped a bit when she thought she had seen someone that looked like the person she wanted so much to see again.  By the time she and Lee Taeyong met again she had given up on the idea that the two of them could ever be in the same place again.

It happened when she least expected it.

She was in the middle of her part-time job shift at the convenience store. The place was empty like it always was at that time of the day when the little beeb sound warned her that someone was coming into the store. The automatic doors opened and Nayeon heart almost stopped beating on her chest when she looked up.

Lee Taeyong had just come in. This time he was wearing his school uniform and looked just like any other high school boy. The only thing giving his delinquent ways away was his bright hair. He walked straight to the drinking aisle without even giving a look in her direction. Even in this tiny store, he managed to walk as if he was in his own runway. Like he owned this store. Nayeon couldn't look away even if she tried, her eyes were glued to him, he was like a magnet.

He took his time in picking which drink he wanted and in the end he took a cold soda and grabbed 2 sushi rolls and made his way to her slowly dragging himself to the counter. Their eyes met halfway through his way to the cashier. She saw the cute way his dark eyes slowly widened in recognition. His surprised face made her heart flutter but Nayeon decided not to think about the reason why that happened. At least, not right now.

“Didn’t think I would see you again,” The boy said while putting the the soda and the sushi on the counter. “Have you been keeping yourself out of trouble, bunny girl?” He smirked at her.

She frowned at the nickname. He had called her this the first time they met too. “My name is Nayeon. Im Nayeon”.

Smiling at her, he reformulated the question. “Have you been keeping yourself out of trouble, Nayeon?”

The way he was staring at her… “I’m trying to…” She tried to keep the eye contact but it was too intense for her. She felt her face burning. This face was not the face of someone who wanted to keep her out trouble. She didn’t know if it was worse that she liked that idea.

“When does you shift end?” He asked her after paying. Why was he asking her that? As if they were close friends?

“Around 7pm. Why?” As expected he didn’t answer, giving her an enigmatic smile instead. Her eyes watched while he left the store and went to seat on one of the tables outside. He waved with his soda when their eyes met through the glass window showing that he knew that she was watching. Nayeon felt ridiculous. She tried to pretend he wasn’t sitting there but as it turned out ignoring Lee Taeyong’s presence wasn’t something that she could easily do.

Even though he was just sitting the silver haired boy still managed to look like one of those models she saw in magazines all the time. His face was perfectly sculpted. He looked like someone who should be in some company after party, drinking champagne with other very important people not here on her neighborhood convenience store.

She was incredibly nervous when it was finally time for her to leave work. Her manager came in threw a confused look between the two of them and for a second he looked like he would say something but in the end he didn’t. “Have a good night, Nayeon-ah and uh… you too kid”.

They left the story and Nayeon was greeted by the freezing breezy hitting her cheeks. It wasn’t surprising that the streets were completely empty. “Where do you live?”

“Just up the street” He followed her, walking by her side in silence. There were so many things that she wanted to ask but now that she alone with him, her mind was in a total blank. For the past two weeks she hadn’t been able to take him out of her mind. The silver haired boy was plaguing her thoughts and even her dreams. She would be lying if she said she didn’t want to see him again. She was curious about him too.

And now he was here and she was a complete mute. She wanted to know why this completely stranger, this boy that everyone else seemed to fear, was doing here walking her home. But she also didn’t want to. Her stupid heart that wouldn’t stop beating crazily on her chest every time he looked her way, was just content that he was here.

“Do you always leave this late from work?” He asked looking slightly worried. “Shouldn’t a girl like you have someone to take her home?”

Nayeon looked at him confused. “What do you mean by a girl like me?” Was she supposed to feel offended by this?

“A pretty girl like you. Pretty girls usually have boys around them,” He smirked at her and she felt her face heating up.

“The real question here is why a boy like you walking me home” She asked turning to him. He was taken by surprise.

“So you do know who I am” He said slowly, carefully eyes watching her.

“Yes, you’re Lee Taeyong”

“Have you heard the rumors about me?”

“Is it true that you burned your teacher’s car in middle school?” This was one of the many rumors of the infamous Lee Taeyong. His dark eyes hovering over her, studying her entire body before he nodded in reply.

“Yes, I did it. And I would do it again” Nayeon stood there in shock. She wanted to ask why he did it. What kind of person had been his teacher? What had he done to make Taeyong this angry until today?

“Do you care?” He's asked, his eyes never leaving hers. “The rumors and everything?”

Nayeon thought about the first time they had met and how he had saved her. Unlike all these rumors, he wasn’t the one who had been cruel and violent. He had only recurred to violence to defend her. In Nayeon’s heart this boy was a good person. Maybe she was doing the absolutely worst decision in letting this guy with so many rumours surrounding him get closer to her.

“I couldn't care less about other people say” But she had to trust her instinct on this one.

“Good” He said, trying to hide his embarrassment. Somehow, his cold exterior had melted completely now.

They had reached her house’s white gate and before she turn back to him to say goodbye he surprised her by grabbing her wrist. Nayeon felt an electric feeling running through her entire body by the contact. By the way his eyes slightly widened she was sure that he must have felt something too. He let her go immediately, hiding his hand on his coat’s pocket.  

“As of right now, every night after work I’ll walk you home” By the way he had announced it, she was sure he wouldn't take no for an answer. “Will you wait for me tomorrow?”

Nayeon nodded.

“Goodnight, Nayeon”.

***

He was true to his word.

Everyday without fail he would be waiting for her outside the convenience store. Those five minutes walking back to her home had become the most precious part of the day to her. Weeks had passed by and she had noticed how his nose and eyes were almost completely healed now. She was glad that he hadn’t got hurt again.

Now that she knew more about him, it seems that most of the rumors had been exaggerated. He wasn’t a saint by any means, some of oldest rumors seemed to be true. You didn’t get to build this kind of reputation by being a saint. He wasn’t one. But he also wasn’t the disgusting monster that so many seemed to think he was.

“How did you get that scar?” She had been curious about that scan under his left eye for ages now and finally she had gathered the courage to ask him.

Today Taeyong had taken her to cosy a coffee shop. They had started to spend a lot of time talking to each other now. It was so different from that first time when Taeyong had take her home, where they were mostly in silence. Now, they had started to be more comfortable around each other.

Nayeon could see the tough and impenetrable facade that the silver haired boy melt when they had moments like this. She cherished these moments the most, when she had the chance to see him acting like a normal boy. He had looked so cute when he accidentally burned his tongue because of the coffee. Yes, even him could look cute.

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