She missed this. Just the two of them reveling in the silence that surrounded them. That's how it had always been with Chan. Their smiles and laughs into the open air were always enough. Albeit random, comforting to one another. The only sound made in the cold night was that of their shoes rubbing against the sand. They'd wandered to a park and almost telepathically agreed to sit on the sad lonely swing set. Their shoes made indentations into the sand as they slowly swung. "I'm happy you came to see me," she admitted after a few minutes.

            He gulped and nodded. "Me too." But the thoughts soon plagued him. The thoughts that had consumed him for quite some time. "I would have sooner, but you didn't want to see me." Her chest ached. "I tried, but you... " His throat stung from the impending emotions. "How are you," he suddenly asked.

            A small smile appeared on her lips once more. He always did that. Made a situation better. God, what had she did? How could she cut him out? "I'm good, better. How are you? You look good."

            He chuckled softly. "Ha, thanks. Not as good as you." They were so close, so close to being the way they used to be. But that just couldn't be, no matter how much they tried. Things were different now. Right? "I'm fine, could think of a few things that would make me better," he implied.

            She nodded knowingly and the silence enveloped them once more. "I know," she whispered after sometime. Jae couldn't avoid the guilt, it was true. "I'm sorry about Tao." She knew how hard it was on all of them. First Kris, then Luhan, and now Tao. He nodded in gratitude. "I know you tried to contact me. I'm sorry. I should have handled things better. I shouldn't have hurt you. Any of you, but you hurt me." He silently watched her. "I felt betrayed, angry. That stupid pact." She shook her head. "It wasn't fair. I don't know, a part of me hated you guys." She sighed. "And I blamed myself for being so senseless, for allowing any of us to get so close, to cause the situation itself."

            Chanyeol shook his head. "It isn't your fault. We shouldn't have made thoughtless rules like that. It's not your fault that we liked you." Her brow furrowed, slowly understanding what he was trying to say. He bit his bottom lip. "Despite it, I want you to know that I didn't agree to it. Knowing that I wasn't the only who liked you bothered me at first, but..." Her eyes watched him, transfixed by what he was admitting. "It's so childish to think that if I can't have you, no one can.". She swallowed her heart down, sweet Chan was one of them, one of the boys. "Especially knowing that you liked one of us."

            She thought of Kai and felt a pang. Had he really been the only selfish one? Why had she stopped talking to the boys? She had been selfish too. How had she been any different from Kai or even Kyungsoo? She took his hand. "Thank you."

            They stayed like that for a few moments. Hands clasped, silent. "Why Kyungsoo," he finally asked. Chanyeol had regretted not telling her how he felt. How his own heart had throbbed with affliction to see her every day and not be able to hold her. The pain became all the more surreal when he saw her move onto to Kyungsoo. He’d never expected her to wait, though it would have been nice. And now she was with another...

            Jae shook her head and sighed. "I don't know why, because I was stupid." She rested her chin on her hand, elbow on her knee. "So stupid." Her eyes wandered back to him from staring into nothing. She smiled, blushing slightly. "You know, I liked you first."

            His ears turned pink. "The drinks and jajang," he questioned perceptively.

            She laughed. "Yes, I'm not very good at the whole dating thing." Jae shook her head and swung the swing a little harder. His eyes were trained on her once more. "But maybe that's the way things were supposed to be."

            Chan's long legs swiftly made his swing pick up speed. "Maybe." He recalled Kyungsoo's scene, he was well aware that she had someone. That it was much too late for Kyungsoo and much too late for him. "You're happy though," he whispered.

            She tenderly beamed. "Yeah, I'm happy." Her skin tingled as she remembered Namjoon. All of her boys. She shook her head. "Perhaps I'm stupid for setting myself up in the same situation. But I'm pretty sure no one, but Namjoon likes me."

            His chest tightened at the sound of his name. "As far as you know," he teased.

            She chuckled tilting her head back. Her back straightened and she punched him in the arm. Chanyeol grinned and pushed her, making her sway in random directions. Their laughs echoed in the dark night. "But I'm definitely a lot happier, now that you're back in my life. You have no idea how much I missed you." His gentle smile consumed his face. He playfully pushed her swing once more, erupting another pair of laughs. Maybe things could be okay again.

*     *     *

            The sky was blue, cotton candy like clouds floating across. The sun light was bright, but not hot. It was a perfect intensity, instead of causing discomfort it added content, almost like hope. A small grin spread across Jae's face. The field she laid in was empty, the tall grass swaying slightly with the light breeze. "Does he love me," she suddenly questioned into the sky. Though witnessing this, though being the person to say this, Jae was confused. Who was she asking and who was she referring to? "Tell me, does he love me?" There was no response, only the sound of the wind picking up.

            "Wake up," a familiar voice whispered. Her eyes darted around her, searching for the owner of the voice. Her heart racing as she refused to believe it was who she thought it was. She could never forget that voice. Jae's warm, brown eyes trailed back toward the sky. "Wake up," the voice repeated with more urgency. Her fingers dug into the ground in panic, she didn't understand, she was awake. She wanted to call her sister's name, but before she could the voice came louder, "Wake up!"

            The warmth and brightness of the sun disappeared as Jae sat on her bed in her dark room. Her breaths were rushed and her heart racing. She gulped and ran a hand through her hair. "It was just a dream," she whispered. She closed her eyes, forcing her heart to settle.

            However, as her pulse returned to a normal speed, it abruptly sped up when she heard a strange noise come from the other side of her door. Her brow furrowed as she recognized the sound of her living room window opening. She was on her feet instantly. was dry. Could this be another dream? Had she just imagined it?  The creaking of floorboards under footfalls told her otherwise.

            She reacted instantly as she reached for the aluminum bat at her bedside. Her grip tightened around it and she swallowed her heart down. This was the security system Junmyeon had invested in. Jae momentarily shut her brown eyes as realization that she left her cellphone at the boys’ place hit her. She never did that. Of all the days. She released a heavy breath as she told herself never mind.

            Her eyes glued on the door knob as it slowly began to twist. “This is it,” she prepared herself. Her knuckles turned white with her iron grip. The young woman didn’t hesitate, as soon as a dark figure came into view, she swung. The assailant was surprised with a heavy blow to his skull. He was out cold on impact, however, to Jae’s misfortune he wasn’t alone. Another man tackled her to the ground.

            Jae’s head smacked harshly against the floor, sparking small dots in her vision. “You crazy ! What did you do,” he hissed as he checked on his companion. Jae struggled to stay awake, her mind in a fog. She whimpered softly as she felt her skull engulfed in a flame of pain. Yet in her state, she attempted to reach for the bat that had slipped out of her grasps. Upon noticing his friend was simply unconscious the intruder brought his attention back to the girl. “What do you think you’re doing?” He tugged at her legs, her fingers now what felt like miles away from her weapon. The stranger breathed heavily and pinned her to the ground, swiftly mounting her. He gave her a devilish grin as his eyes cascaded over her beautiful face. In her haze, she began to note his terrifying expression. “We were just going to steal from you, but after what you did.” He suddenly gripped her face instantly bruising her and glared. “And being as attractive as you are, I think we’ll have a little fun.”

            Abruptly processing his words Jae began to struggle. He chuckled, clearly much stronger than she was. “No, please,” she began to beg, only to have a hand muffle out her shouts. She began to cry as he kissed her neck. His scruff scratched against her skin. Her stomach heaved in disgust. “Please,” she continued to plea through her silenced mouth. She did her best to try and shove him off, fighting and screaming all at once.

            “Stay still,” he scolded as he began to tear her shirt open. The groan of his friend, momentarily distracted him. “Oh hyung, you’re coming to.” He laughed once more. “We can both have fun, I’ll go first if you don’t mind.” His smirk disappeared as she delivered a hard blow across his face. His hands instantly wrapped around and began to squeeze. Her head swelled with pressure, in fog throwing as many punches as she could.

            No. She couldn’t go this way.

            The man was distracted once more by another groan coming from his accomplice. Her arm forced it’s way forward, her palm shoving his nose into his brain as she’d learned in self-defense classes. He screamed and Jae took in a ragged breath. She hurled herself forward, head-butting the man. His yell intensified in pain as he held his bleeding nose. The man toppled backwards, releasing blood curdling shrieks. Despite the head ache and nausea, Jae scrambled for the bat and got to her feet.

            And as soon as her eyes had zeroed in on the garbage of a man, she swung. The pleasing sound of a thud filled the room. The five-foot five woman released a sigh of relief as she tried her best to gather her composure. Jae sniffled, wiping at her neck in revulsion. Her legs stumbled their way to the front door, the bat scrapping on the floor as she dragged it behind her. “Help,” she attempted to yell, but instead a raspy whisper escaped her lips. After only a few steps, she threw up, barely holding on to reality. She forced herself to the door, unaware that the first man she’d knocked out was getting to his feet.

*     *     *

            Yoongi rubbed at his eyes, followed by lightly slapping his cheeks. The sleepiness was beginning to hit him. He peered down at the time. How was it already half past one in the morning? He sighed, squinting at the lyrics on his computer screen. He gulped as his eyes covered the black words, completely aware of the source. “Your heart is only going further away. I can’t grab you”. He shook his head. “This love, like the dead leaves. Never, never fall”. The ivory skinned young man shut his laptop with a groan. He reached for his phone, pulling up her contact picture. A small smile formed on his lips as he stared at the girl that was making him absolutely crazy.

            He looked around the silent and dark living room. Most of the guys had gone to bed by midnight, with the exception of him and Taehyung. The other tall young man had been working on his own lyrics, but hit a wall about an hour ago and soon fell asleep. His long legs hung off the couch as he lightly snored.

            Yoongi smiled and took a quiet picture of his younger brother. He typed in the caption “Can’t hang” before sending Jae the image. He felt relieved as she couldn’t possibly take his late night message inappropriately as this was a running gag. They would always send one another unappealing sleeping pictures of the members. Along with any random thoughts that plagued them. They were each other’s life lines. Weren’t they?

            The sound of a phone vibrating from a distance startled him. He stood up, finding her cellphone under the pizza box on the coffee table. His cheeks warmed as he noted his contact name was Pabo, followed by a heart. His bliss however quickly dissipated when he noted important messages from her manager. He his teeth and scratched his head. She was such a fool.

            Without really taking a second thought, he put on his shoes and grabbed the car keys only meant to be used under emergencies. Well, he didn’t want her to get in trouble with her company. On some level this definitely was and emergency. Yoongi was in the car in a matter of minutes and considered giving her a call to let her know he’d be over when he softly laughed to himself. “Well I guess this is going to be unannounced.” He shook his head. The roads absolutely empty with the hour. “Pabo,” he whispered to himself. She could be so absent minded sometimes.

            He parked on the side of the road and briskly made his way to the door of the building. He rolled his eyes upon noting the “out of order” sign on the elevator. She really had to get a better place, at least soon she’d be with the other two girls in the dorm. Yoongi trudged up the flight of stairs to the third floor. He bit his lip, taking a look at the deserted hallway. As his knuckles inched toward her door a strange yelp caught his ears.

            The proceeding moments rapidly occurred. The door had swung open. Jae’s pale face suddenly appeared before him. She stood there, a glazed and terrified look on her face. His eyes caught the trickle of blood that had trailed from her head, down her neck toward her chest. She was breathing heavily, aluminum bat in hand. His own vicious reflexes taking over as he saw an unknown man a few steps behind her.

            Yoongi took the bat out of her hand. He charged the man, kicking him in the chest and not hesitating to bash his head with all his strength. The intruder fell to his knees and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Yoongi didn’t have to fully understand the situation to know that he was an unwanted guest, that had hurt Jae. He could taste his heart in his throat as his eyes had quickly picked up her wound, her ripped blouse, her intense fear. His hand tightened around the bat, all he could see was red, his enraged mind encouraged him to beat the man’s head to a pulp. However, he was broken out of his trance by her.

            “Yoongi,” she whispered.

            His adrenaline pumping, he caught her as her legs gave out. He took her frail, unconscious body in his arms. His hand trembled as he reached for his phone and called for the police. He broke the cardinal rule. The phone fell to the ground, he wept looking at her ashen, still face. The pained and heartbroken young man sighed, caressing her cheek. He let out a small cry as he tried to cover her exposed skin. He’d actually broken so many rules, but he didn’t care. “You’re going to be okay. I have you. You’re safe,” he softly spoke. He grasped the bat once more, ready to fight the world if he had to.

*     *     *

            The boys sat silently around a similarly quiet Jae. Very protective of her. Jimin had brought out his favorite blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Jin had made hot tea and placed the warm mug in her hands. Hoseok held her hand, being his usual ray of sunlight. Tae would sporadically mention something in attempt to make her smile.  Yoongi and Jungkook simply watched her, afraid to say anything or touch her. Namjoon held her in his arms, his chin on her shoulder, making soothing circles against her back. “Jae,” he finally whispered.

            She slightly jumped at the proximity of his murmur. The boys were startled as well, eyes wide. As if snapping out of her daze she looked at the concerned faces of her friends. Yoongi had saved her. The rest of her boys had peeled out of their dorm to meet her at her apartment just as they were going to wheel her out. Namjoon and Jimin practically lost it as they watched the men being carried out of her complex in handcuffs. Seokjin, the most level headed, told them to keep it together for the public. Face masks could keep them incognito for so long.

            “You’re a killer Noona,” Jungkook blurted out as her warm eyes met his. For a moment he felt the tears threaten his gaze as he noted what the doctor called a Subconjunctival Hemorrhage. Her usually tender stare was obscured by the blood pooled in her right eye. The bruises on her neck told a clear story. However, no one had been oblivious to the bloody men transported to jail.

            She abruptly began to laugh. Such an outburst made her somewhat dizzy from the concussion she had been revealed to have at the hospital. She placed her mug down and suddenly embraced as many boys as her small arms could take. They shook off their surprise and hugged her back. “Thank you.” They’d been there for her when she was released. They’d been the family friends she’d told her manager she’d stay with until her things were sent to the dorms and the girls returned from Busan.

             Yoongi’s eyes covered the forming bruise on her hairline. “You head butted a guy.” She chuckled, trying not to think of the event too much. At least not certain parts of it. “Maybe you should train us.”

            “A bat? Really? Who keeps a bat by their bed side,” Seokjin added.

            She laughed once more. “It’s the only security system I had.”

            As the oldest, Jin stood up and announced, “Well I don’t have a bat, but you can sleep on my bed tonight.”

            She shook her head. Namjoon swiftly stood up, registering who her roommate would be. “No, take my bed jagi.”

            “Take my bed Jae, I’m the cleanest,” Hobi offered.

            The boys quickly began to argue who’s bed Jae should take, Kookie’s being the softest, while Jimin’s was the firmest, but there was Tae’s which received the best air conditioning. “Stop,” she cut in. “I’ll take the couch.”

            “So many butts have been on that couch Jae-ah,” Yoongi protested.

            “ couches are my favorite,” she replied. “Now all of you go to bed. You stayed up last night and you have an early schedule tomorrow.”

            Yoongi sighed, the first to understand there was no arguing with this woman. “I’ll bring you a pillow.”

            “I have extra blankets,” Tae offered. This of course caused another fight over who would give her what. They all rushed to their rooms, leaving Jae and Namjoon alone.

            His eyes studied her. His throat tightened at the thought of ever losing her. He’d rather die than lose her. His fingers lightly traced over her bruised wrist, tears gathering in his eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” He shook his head. “I should have been there.”

            She took his hand. “Hey you couldn’t have known.” He placed his hands on each side of her face, gently caressing her bruise. A soft sob escaped him. “Joonie, I’m okay.”

            He gulped, the thought plaguing him so much. The image of the men, her torn shirt making his chest fill with hatred. “They didn’t hurt you beside these wounds, right,” he implied. “I mean they didn’t—You’re clothes were—God, tell me they didn’t—“

            The boys hung back in the hall, the question reaching their ears. They gulped, preparing for the answer. Namjoon’s fingertips trailed lightly to the markings on her jaw, another sign of forced restraint. She swallowed with difficulty, her eyes tearing up. “No,” she whispered. “They tried. I—I had to fight.”

            Namjoon nodded, sniffling. A small grin appeared as she wiped at his eyes. He pulled her in, holding her tightly against him. He laid several kisses on the top of her head. “I’m never letting you out of my sight from now on.”

            “Me neither,” Jimin cried and ran over joining in on the embrace. Quickly all of the boys followed. “We’ll be your body guards.”

            “Eat or sleep, we’re there Noona,” Jungkook croaked.

            “Stop,” she insisted in between tears and laughs.

            Without another word, they prepared for bed, all of them vowing to sleep in the living room. Namjoon held her hand tightly throughout the entire night. Letting her go became all the more impossible. He was beyond happy to have her by his side, but there was the unnerving fact that Yoongi had done what he was supposed to do. He saved her.