11. Protecting You

“Congratulations, Jaehwan!”

“Well done, Jaehwan!”

“You were amazing on stage, you really nailed it tonight!”

“Kamsamida… thank you,” Jaehwan smiled and bowed politely as he thanked the cast members for their praises and pats on his back for his performance of Hamlet tonight, occasionally stopping to hug some of his hyungs and mentors. He had certainly learnt a lot from them, and despite taking up this role in the midst of VIXX’s comeback and tours, it was all worth the lack of sleep and the endless schedules to see the audience enjoying his performance.

Jaehwan finally made it to his dressing room and flopped himself on the couch and he heaved a sigh of relief. He would finally get a day of rest tomorrow before plunging back into schedules with VIXX and the musical, and he could not wait to head back to the dorm and fall into dreamless sleep.

The vibration of his handphone spurred Jaehwan to get up from the couch and head to the dressing table where it was charging. Jaehwan smiled as he read the text messages that came in – mostly from friends and acquaintances congratulating him on his performance, and amongst them one from his manager telling him that he’s out in the carpark waiting for him.

That is, until he opened the text message from Eunji – all the way at the bottom of the list – sent an hour ago while he was performing.

Jaehwan immediately dumped all his things into his backpack and sprinted out of the room.

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“Hyung!”

Jaehwan burst through the front door of the dorm and called out to the first member he saw. Hakyeon happened to be walking from the kitchen to the living room with a drink in hand, which he hastily put down onto the coffee table upon seeing Jaehwan charging towards him.

“Hyung, look!” Jaehwan his phone towards Hakyeon, panting. He had sprinted all nine floors up to the dorm after his manager dropped him off, not bothering to wait for the lift. “She sent me this text! And then I tried to call her, and tried and tried but there was no answer, and –“

“Hold on, hold on,” Hakyeon placed a hand on Jaehwan’s shoulder in attempt to calm him. “You’re not making any sense,” he told Jahewan kindly, as he took the phone that was into his face. “What happened?”

Jaehwan swallowed and took a deep breath, as Taekwoon and Hyuk, who were initially sprawled on the couch in the living room, got up and gathered around him, half-curious as to Jaehwan’s cries. It was Jaehwan after all – he tended to exaggerate at times.

“It’s Eunji. She sent me this text about two hours ago, but I didn’t see it because I was performing.”

Oppa, we just received a call saying that someone wants to kill us. We are in our practice room now and the police is coming. 8:34pm

Hakyeon, Taekwoon and Hyuk all looked at each other as Jaehwan continued. “I called her immediately after I read this, but she did not pick up. I have been trying since, but still no answer.” Jaehwan swallowed. “I’m worried, hyung,” he admitted looking at Hakyeon and Taekwoon. “What should I do?”

Hakyeon looked at Jaehwan. His face was contorted with worry, and his heart went out to his dongsaeng. His mind raced.

“Well… I think let’s not jump into conclusions or get too worried yet,” he told Jaehwan, in as confident a tone as he could muster. “Maybe she is busy helping out with the police investigations. I’m sure if it was something really serious we would have known about it by now.”

Jaehwan bit his lip as he nodded slowly.

“I could try calling Namjoo and see if she picks up,” Hyuk spoke up, heading towards the couch where his phone was. Hyuk and Namjoo were both 95 liners and really good friends. They knew each other before they both became idols, and Jaehwan half suspected that Hyuk secretly liked Namjoo too.

“That’s a good idea, Hyuk,” Hakyeon told him. He turned to Jaehwan. “I could do the same with Chorong too, if you want.”

Jaehwan shook his head. “You’re right, let’s not blow this up too big yet. Maybe it was just a prank and they are back to practicing… Let’s not disturb them.”

Hakyeon nodded. “Maybe you could drop Eunji a text instead? I’m sure she would reply once she sees it.”

Jaehwan nodded again slowly, and took his phone from Hakyeon, starting to type a text message.

Taekwoon placed a comforting arm around him. “Are you hungry?” He asked softly. “I can make you something to eat.”

Jaehwan shook his head and smiled gratefully at Taekwoon. “I’m okay.” He paused, before holding out his phone to Taekwoon. “Could you hold on to it for me? Just in case she calls back. I’ll go take a shower.”

Taekwoon nodded silently and took the phone.

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Jaehwan stepped out of the shower to see Taekwoon standing right in front of the door, his hand holding out Jaehwan’s phone to him like food on a platter.

“Did she call?” Jaehwan asked, hurriedly taking the phone as his towel slung around his neck.

Taekwoon shook his head. “She texted a couple of times. I thought that you will want to see it immediately.”

Jaehwan looked up from his phone and flashed Taekwoon a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he said simply, before hurrying to the laundry room to dump his towel and focus on the string of messages.

Oppa! I’m so sorry to have worried you. I am okay. But I was so worried and scared too. The police came and told us that the threat was real, because they received a phone call too. 11:03pm

The police and our management could not decide if we should stay at our practice room or go back to our dorms. But in the end they brought us back to our dorm and told us that they will provide more security for us tonight. 11:05pm

I really hope nothing else happens tonight >.< 11:06pm

Jaehwan quickly replied, indicating his relief that she was fine and safe.

Want me to come over? Jaehwan texted, glancing at his watch. Never mind that it was late, thank God he didn’t have any schedules the next day.

Her reply came almost immediately.

Yes please!!! 11:21pm

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It took Jaehwan a mere 20 minutes to get to Eunji’s apartment – he literally drove like a madman and nearly ran a couple of red lights. He prayed hard that the police would not catch him.

Eunji’s apartment security was heavily tightened; Jaehwan’s quick eye spotted an unmarked police car along the street, and several plain-clothes policemen strolling the compound and lift lobby. Thankfully, he had anticipated this and had called ahead to Eunji before he arrived. He was waved into the apartment compund with no questions asked, and Eunji met him right at the lift lobby to whisk him quickly away into the lift.

She threw her arms around him almost immediately after the lift doors closed and made the ascent to her dorm. Jaehwan was surprised, but reciprocated her hug easily, breathing in the scent of her shampoo on her head as she buried her face into his chest.

“I was so scared, oppa,” Eunji finally whispered.

Jaehwan’s heart tightened as he heard the trembling in her voice and the deep breath she took as if to calm herself down. He pulled Eunji even closer to him, as if squeezing her. He would mould her into his body if he could – if it meant that she would always be by his side to keep her safe.

“I know,” he told her softly, kissing the top of her head.

“I’m here now.”

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“Are you feeling better?” Jaehwan asked Eunji as they settled into her room about an hour later.

When Jaehwan arrived at Eunji’s dorm earlier, he was surprised to see all the other Apink members huddled in a circle in the living room. They greeted Jaehwan as he came in, but he could sense the fear in the room, and they were not as carefree and relaxed as they always were. He later found out that the members had agreed to sleep in the same dorm tonight (Eunji’s dorm), as they felt safer being altogether. Jaehwan sat with them for a while as they talked about what happened and the series of events, all the while having his arm around Eunji, giving her assuring squeezes on her shoulder.

Eunji nodded and smiled gratefully at Jaehwan as she sat down on her bed. “Thank you for coming,” she told him.

Jaehwan smiled as he took her hand and fell onto the bed beside her. “It’s no problem,” he replied. “I’m just sorry that I could not come over earlier –“ Eunji gasped as she sat up on the bed suddenly. Jaehwan quickly sat up too. “What’s wrong?” He asked worriedly.

Eunji turned to him. “I forgot that you had a performance today, and I called you to come over so late! You must be exhausted…”

Jaehwan chuckled and shook his head. “Eunji,” he started, pulling her hands and clasping them in his. “It’s fine,” he told her reassuringly. “You are what’s most important. If you had called me during my performance, I probably would have ditched it altogether and came straight here.”

Eunji’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t! You can’t!”

“Well okay, may not,” Jaehwan conceded. “Considering that doing that would probably make it the most scandalous news of the year. But it’s the thought that counts, right?”

Eunji rolled her eyes slightly, which Jaehwan counted as a step towards her being fine.

“Do you need to go back then?” Eunji asked, concerned. She threaded her fingers between his. “You’ll need your rest.”

Jaehwan shook his head. “I have a break tomorrow, I can rest all I want then.”

“Will your other members worry if you are not back soon?”

“Hakyeon-hyung and the rest know that I’m here with you. They were all worried too, and asked me to make sure that you and the rest of Apink were okay.” Jaehwan smiled released one of his hands from hers to tilt her chin towards him. He captured her lips in his and deepened it, feeling her melt against him.

“I was really worried,” Jaehwan admitted after they broke apart. “You should have seen me drive here,” he chuckled. “Besides,” he continued casually. “I think Hyuk was particularly concerned about Namjoo earlier too, so it’s just as well that all of you are staying in one dorm tonight.” He winked.

Eunji giggled. She and Jaehwan had been observing their younger members’ interactions, and drawing very juicy conclusions. However between the two of them, Jaehwan definitely had a closer relationship to Hyuk then Eunji had to Namjoo, but he was still unable to get anything much; Hyuk had vehemently denied any interest in Namjoo when Jaehwan pressed. Both Eunji and Jaehwan then came to the conclusion that “they are still kids”.

Eunji snuggled up to Jaehwan as they lay back down on her bed again. She pressed up against his side and laid her head on his chest, as he wrapped his arms around her and ran his fingers through her hair.

“That feels nice,” Eunji mumbled.

Jaehwan smiled, not stopping the motions of finger-combing her hair. “Just relax and enjoy it then,” he replied softly, before placing a gentle kiss on her head. He felt her nod against his chest.

“Thank you for being here oppa,” she whispered, closing her eyes and feeling safe for the first time since the phone call that night.

Jaehwan felt Eunji’s heartbeat calming and her breath evening out as she fell asleep. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and kissed the top of her head again.

“There’s no place I’d rather be.”

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Inspiration: Apink receiving death threats before their comeback