Two figures stepped out from within the darkness, so quickly and silently that it was almost as if they'd risen from the shadows themselves. Through my hazy vision, I could dimly make out the outlines of their tall and slender bodies, but, cloaked by the obscurity of the night, wasn't able to distinguish the features of their hidden faces. They were both dressed head-to-toe in dark clothes, which made them even harder to tell apart from the matching background. Still, I knew that they were male- at least, one of them was. He was the one who'd called out in the quiet voice, just as my head was about to be slammed into the wall a second time.

The man bared his teeth at them, but with a bit of an unsteady air as the alcohol's effects had still not worn off. "No, what do you think you're doin' here? This is me and girlie's place to have fun." He tightened his hold on me and gave me a little shake, as if to show me off and emphasize his point.

One of the figures stepped closer, shortening the distance between the three of us. However, he faced the man in such a way that I still wasn't able to get a view of his face. All I could see was his short, mussed up hair, locks as inky as the black sky blanketing the heavens above. And yet, even with the back of his head facing me, there was something weirdly familiar about this guy. His clothes, his physique, his ghostly pale complexion, all gave me a nagging feeling like I should have recognized him, should have been able to recall him from someplace...

"Hyung..." his shadowed companion murmured, but was ignored as the boy took another deliberate step forwards.

"Obviously, you don't know," he said to the drunk man in a flat, almost inaudible voice, "That this area here is our turf."

With a speed that didn't match his quiet tone, his fist shot out from his side and punched the man square on his face. My assailant cried out loudly in pain, releasing his vice-like grip on me. I struggled to keep my balance, supporting myself against the wall behind me. Staggering back, the man clutched his now bleeding nose. He let out a string of profanities that would have impressed even Sungyeol. "Why, you little punk! I oughta kill you for even touching me! When I get my hands on you-"

He never got a chance to finish his threat. Just as quickly as his first hit, the boy's clenched fist punched him again, this time lower in the stomach area. As the older man doubled over, the boy grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed his knee into his gut, causing him to choke out and wheeze for air.

"Kill me, if you can." Still speaking in the same expressionless tone, the boy struck his opponent one last time before kicking him away. "But just know that whatever happens here on this street, Infinite never forgets."

I watched as the man swore and ran away as quickly as he could intoxicated, tripping every now and then over his stumbling feet. The tension I didn't know had collected inside of me relaxed itself, and I let out a small sigh of relief. I didn't want to admit it, but that had been a terrifying situation to be in. Heck, I had just almost been ! Maybe the lectures parents gave about wandering the streets at night had a point to them after all. Letting out a shaky breath, I turned to face my unknown rescuer, opening my mouth to give my thanks-

"Ugh!"

Dizziness suddenly rushed to my head. My knees buckled a few times before giving out, causing me to wobble and fall towards the ground. I braced myself for the coming impact, expecting the hard pavement of the sidewalk to meet with my face. But before it could, my saviour turned around with lightning speed and caught me in his outstretched arms.

"Hyung! Is she okay?" His friend hurried over to where he was now crouching, half-carrying me and cradling the back of my bloodied head. His companion peered anxiously at my face. From this distance, I could faintly see that it was a boy around my age, with flawless skin and features so pretty he could have made a beauty queen wither in jealousy.

"No. Her head's bleeding," was his hyung's short reply. He, too, glanced down to observe my pale face. The pain was becoming almost too much to bear now. It tugged and clawed at my mind, bringing me closer to crossing the line between reality and the dream world. But as my rescuer looked down at my form, I fought to stay conscious. I just had to get a proper look at his face, and figure out why he'd looked so damn familiar.

His eyes met mine. As I stared back up at him, slowly starting to lose my focus, it was like a missing piece of the puzzle was clicking into place.

'Ah,' I thought vaguely, thinking past the screaming pain in my head, 'It's him. The guy from this morning.' The lone person whom I'd seen in the alley on my way to school, the one who'd merely stared before silently walking away, leaving no trace of his being there at all. 'I wonder what he's still doing around here, in a place like this...?'

With this thought in mind, I let yourself succumb to the darkness within, falling almost with a sense of relief into a hazy state of unconsciousness.