"Yah, don't stay up talking on the phone or something for too long, okay? Eat your meds and go straight to sleep or i'll hit you when i see you in school."

If Sungjong didn't have a massive headache, he would've rolled his eyes at the older boy. Sungyeol could be such a hyung sometimes.

"Yes hyung…" Sungjong drawls, climbing the front steps to his fancy 4-storey terrace house.

"Call or text me tomorrow if you still don't feel well enough for sch - " Sungyeol continues speaking, before Sungjong cuts him off with a, "Thanks for bringing me home, hyung! Be careful on your way back!" then proceeds to shut the door before Sungyeol could say anything else.

"… Aish! This kid! Someone should smack some manners into him. Sheesh," Sungyeol grumbled under his breathe, stuffing his cold hands into his coat pockets as he walked away from his best friend's house. As an afterthought, he turned around and stuck out his tongue at the direction of Sungjong's house.

His apartment was nowhere near Sungjong's place. In fact, it was in the opposite direction, on the other side of the neighborhood. He didn't usually walk the younger boy home, but Sungjong had said that he wasn't feeling well when they were practicing for their school musical earlier that afternoon, and Sungyeol felt responsible as a hyung so he decided to take him home. Besides, it was pretty darn cold and Sungyeol didn't want the younger boy to collapse in the middle of the street and freeze to death or something. To be honest, it wasn't often he acted as a hyung to Sungjong, but when he did, he made sure he did a good job.
 

-

-

Myungsoo walked hurriedly down the street, intending to get home where there was warmth as soon as he could. It really was damn cold. He reached the traffic junction and impatiently waited for the red light to turn green. Stuffing his cold fists into his coat pockets, he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet in an attempt to keep warm.

Maybe I'll stop by the convenience store and stock up on my stash of ramyun…

His stomach growled loudly at the thought of a steaming hot bowl of ramyun. Slightly embarrassed, he buried his face deeper into the scarf wrapped around his neck, until only the top half of his face could be seen.

The traffic light was taking a really long time to -

"UWAAAAAH!"

Startled, Myungsoo turned to see where that ear-splitting scream had come from. There! That alley!

Someone dropped a cup of coffee at the entrance of the alley and Myungsoo could see the backs of a few men as they dragged their poor victim to a wall. Myungsoo sighed. As much as he wanted to get home, he couldn't possibly leave a girl alone like that to get assaulted by four men. He may be a delinquent but he could tell the difference between what was wrong and what was simply immoral.

"Tch. Annoying."

He really was very hungry.

-

-

Sungyeol had no idea what the hell was happening. One moment he was walking on the rather deserted pavement and contently sipping his cup of deliciously warm coffee, and the next he was forcefully pulled into an alley he happened to be walking past, causing him to shriek and drop his coffee. He gasped when his back and head hit the alley wall painfully, then froze when a calloused hand clamped over his mouth, effectively silencing him.

"Well, well. We've got ourselves a pretty one this time, boys," a low, gravelly voice said. Snickers followed. Sungyeol slowly opened his eyes, which he wasn't even aware of closing, and looked around him. There were four men, two of whom were taller than him but all of them definitely had more muscles than him. One of the taller ones had his hand over Sungyeol's mouth while the other hand pinned both his wrists above his head. He could smell the alcohol in his breath. Apparently, they were all drunk.

Lee Sungyeol you're in such deep you don't even know.

His eyes widened when he felt hands moving down the front of his shirt. What the hell? Since when did they take off my coat? They are ing my shirt!

Freaking out, Sungyeol struggled with all his might against the man. He managed to kick the man restraining him in the shin and free one hand from his loosened grip, but one of the others punched him square in the jaw. Sungyeol couldn't even bend over or clutch his aching jaw, because in an instant, his wrists were once again restrained by the tall man. His head lolled as they continued ing his shirt with a renewed vigor. He was still disoriented from that punch, and couldn't manage anything more than twisting pathetically in the man's grip. He whimpered when they reached for his belt.

And suddenly two of the men are on the floor, screaming and clutching the sides of their bruised skulls.

"What the - ?"

"Oi. What do you think you're doing to that kid, huh?"

Sungyeol looked up to see the owner of that mysterious low voice. It was a boy, probably his age or younger, but Sungyeol couldn't see his face properly in the shadow of the alley.

The two standing drunkards snorted, glaring at the youth.

"And who do you think you are, punk?"

"Leave the kid alone," the boy said calmly, but firmly. The drunkard laughed, loud and raucous, but he let go of Sungyeol who immediately slid to the ground, clumsily buttoning up his shirt.

"I said, who do you th - oof!"

The boy had punched him, straight in the face, before the man could could complete his sentence.

"Why you - !"

Then fists were flying everywhere, and Sungyeol could only press himself as close to the wall as possible to avoid getting hit by a stray fist.

"What the hell are you waiting for? RUN!" the boy yelled in frustration, grunting slightly as he flipped one of the shorter men over another.

Dazed, Sungyeol merely stared at the fight going on in front of him, barely comprehending the boy's exclamation.

Whoa did I just - ? What the hell just happened? Did they - ? Were they - ? Damn my head hurts…

" - kid! Oi! OI! DAMNIT!" the boy made a sound of annoyance as he swiftly brought one of the drunkards' head down to smash against his raised knee. Shoving the groaning man towards his companions, the boy grabbed Sungyeol by the front of his shirt, hauling him up and forward and then they were running. They ran and ran, taking random turns and going into crowds in order to lose the drunkards.

Sungyeol had long legs, but his stamina . He could run fast, but he couldn't run far. In mere minutes, he was already slowing down, clinging onto the mysterious savior's sleeve in an attempt to keep running as he panted heavily. It was then that he realized that the boy's knuckles were bruised and bloodied.

'How hard did he hit them…?'

Sungyeol tugs at his sleeve, and the boy gives him a questioning glance as they slow to a stop in the middle of that busy street.

"Y-your hands…" Sungyeol tries to speak, but he was so out of breath he couldn't speak properly. He was shivering from the cold too, and he'd lost his coat back in the alley. The stranger looks down at his hand, frowns slightly then promptly hides his wound under his sleeve.

"Wait… let me see. I can treat it at home so - "

"It's fine," the boy cuts him off curtly. He scanned the area around them furtively, then fixes his piercing gaze on Sungyeol.

Sungyeol bites back a gasp. The boy was ridiculously good-looking. Sharp nose, not-too-thin lips set in a firm line, angular jaw, flawless complexion, casually mused dark hair with bangs almost covering one eye. But his most outstanding feature had to be his eyes. They were sharp and charismatic, like he could see through your lies and read your thoughts. They were the kind that could look at you blankly and you'd still feel like he was looking at only you. His glare was downright frightening, as he'd witnessed earlier, but at the same time, coupled with his other facial features, it only seemed to attract Sungyeol even more. The boy was slightly shorter than him, but damn he's hot.

Then he realized that the gorgeous boy he was ogling was stepping closer to him. Sungyeol automatically took a step back. The boy froze, quirking an eyebrow before smirking as he took off his grey knitted scarf and proceeded to wrap it around Sungyeol's neck. Stunned, Sungyeol could only stare at the smirking boy as he looped the scarf around his neck loosely a few times, until it reached his chin.

"Go home and don't get into anymore trouble, you brat." And then those beautiful eyes and y smirk were turning away from him and all he could do was stare, until he managed to choke out a, "W-wait!" but the boy was already gone, blending into the crowd even before Sungyeol could stop him. Realizing that he looked like a moron standing in the middle of the street staring at nothing, he sighed and walked in the other direction, to where his apartment was.

'What's your name…?'

-

-

Author's Note: Ta-dah~ Comments and contructive critisms welcomed. :)