You gently slip your iPod into your knit blazer pocket, taking your time as you walk down the empty school hallway. Cleaning duty is never fun, and you still have to wait for your friend Mia to show up, anyways~ why not take your time going to the janitor’s closet?

As you continue walking, the echoing sounds of a pop track and shouting voices grow closer, and drowns out the choruses of BigBang that you had plugged in your ears. You remove your headphones and peer into the slightly open door of the auditorium, where the commotion was coming from.

Past all the red velvet seats, lights shone the wide wooden stage, where 7 boys scattered about in dance formation. They disperse slightly, some collapsing on the floor.

Ah, yes. You’ve heard about these dancing boys. Infinite, they called themselves. Seatmates were always talking about their talent and good looks. For a first glance, they didn’t look too bad… You lean against the door, listening to them argue.

“Yah, Lee Sungjong!” You hear a voice shout. “Why do you think your hyung nags over and over!”

 Sungjong-ah! You smile to yourself. He was in your class. Bubbly and sincere, he was a good kid. But what could he possibly be reprimanded for? You listen intently outside the door.

“Good things are worth repeating.” You hear Sungjong say tiredly. “Sunggyu-hyung~! Sungyeol-hyung and Hoya-hyung keep messing me up ~!” You hear him whine and stamp his foot.

“Come on guys. We’ve only got a few days left before our audition. We have to make sure we give it our all.” I heard another boy say seriously.

Audition? For…an agency? As a group? Wow~

The Sunggyu boy looked seriously at Sungjong. “No more excuses. One more time, from the start of Dongwoo’s rap.” The Sunggyu boy said, pointing to a blonde-haired boy with long layered hair. They Dongwoo boy nodded, and everyone slunk back together, heads down, waiting seriously for the beat of the song.

 “And~ 5,6,5,6,7,8--”

Their bodies snapped into formation, synchronized down to the beat to the popping music. The Dongwoo boy with sharp, slanted eyes and long, layered blonde hair started rapping, snaking his way to the front of the stage, gathering a menacing presence around himself. He looked so…intimidating, with his rough voice and moving around like that… You grimace. He looks like a thug, you analyze critically.

“A night with your arms wrapped around, your breath rising sharply

That’s the best paradise, without you it’s a hopeless world”

A different boy took his place and did a fancy twist-split dance move, just like a professional b-boy.

Your mouth drops open in fascination, and you clap softly. These guys were good. There was no way they wouldn’t get in to that agency.

You scan the faces, trying to see if you recognize anyone else. There was a serious-looking boy that looked familiar…but no one else. You wonder why Sungjong never mentioned being part of Infinite…they were so popular among the female crowd….

Suddenly  Dongwoo’s sharp eyes latch onto yours and he pauses seeing you.

 Time stops, and you feel like your heart has too. You stay frozen in place, probably with a stupid expression on your face.

He slowly stands up, and a grin comes on his face, revealing beautiful, straight teeth, expression like the Cheshire Cat. He looked mischievous and….

 he winks at you.

You gasp, not quite sure if it actually happened, or if you blinked by mistake at the wrong time.

 “Yah! Chingu, a chingu!” You realize the music has stopped, and Sunggyu was looking up at you, pointing.

“Who are you?” He calls out to you.

You jump back, surprised at being caught. You feel a sense of red creep on your face, and heart beating, as if you were caught spying.

“Who is she?”

“Hey, I think I know her!” You hear Sungjong’s voice, but start down the hallway.

“You can practice with us~”

“Yah, we won’t hurt you~ come to me, lovely~” you hear a voice say as you already start jogging down the hall.

“Definitely not my type.” You say out loud in response to the greasy boy, but have Dongwoo’s wink and grin in your mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Finally, the cleaning was done.

“Bye, Mia~” You wave to your friend at the outside entrance of the school. “See you tomorrow!” You smile at your friend.

You start walking home, once again plugging in your Ipod, but start shivering slightly. It was so warm in the school that you forgot your jacket. The cold evening weather gets the best of you. It’s only 5:30, but the sun will start to set soon, and it’s already chilly…well, instead of going all the way to the front entrance, just go through the back door near the soccer field. You skip to the door, but slow to a stop when you spotted 3 boys, probably sunbaes…they were standing to the right of the entrance, laughing with a mean look in their eyes. You take in a breath, and quietly try to walk up the steps to the entrance, pretending to not hear their whistles and hoots.

Unsuccessful.

“Yah!” One of the boys called out to your turned back. You keep walking but your heart skips in nervousness. Just ignore them…

“YAH!” He repeated, this time more fierce. “Are you deaf?!”

You finally turn around, a lump in your throat ready to ignite tears. “I’m not deaf.” Then you turned back around towards the soccer field, figuring it would be worth it to walk home cold rather than try and get past those jerks.

“Then why don’t you say what you want to!” Another one of the boys shouted. They were laughing again.

“I just needed my coat.” I mumbled.

“Did you say something?!” The third boy barked.

Finally, you lose it.

“I JUST NEEDED MY COAT.” You shout back angrily. Without thinking, you start sprinting towards the soccer field in escape from those boys. As you hear their shoes pound the pavement, you run faster into the field. In a panicked mode, you know that they’re catching up quick. The tears start flowing freely, and your adrenaline rush is pulsing your legs, making your legs shaky as you try to speed up. You don’t even know where you’re going, or your way out of the field. You couldn’t feel anything. Your iPod is long gone; you dropped it in your haste getting to the field. You couldn’t feel anything, your senses are totally numbed.

You close your eyes, hoping that this whole incident was just a dream and that you would wake up with your head in your pillow. You didn’t want to open your eyes and see those boys chasing you.

Suddenly, you hear a voice. A wonderfully familiar male voice. The Dongwoo boy’s rough voice. It was a savior's voice in this kind of situation.

“STOP!” He shouted.

You open your eyes, and see a blurry picture of him against the rest of the blurry field. As your turned wildly around and BAM!

Your forehead hit something cold and metal. You fell down, surrendering to everything around you.

Your heart beat rhythmically fast, as if you had just ran a race—badum badum badum on repeat. The grass is cold and wet, and your forehead is throbbing painfully. But you lay there, unable to do much else than breathe there.

“Hey.” You hear Dongwoo’s voice quietly but deadly, among many others panting. “Leave her alone, will you? What has she done to you, ah?” You hear some pushing and crude language.

There was a silence, and you slipped into unconsciousness.

“Hyung, what do I do? It’s been 5 minutes already! Should I call an ambulance?"

You don’t realize how worn out you actually are until you open your eyes and see the empty soccer field and the setting sun. But…why was Dongwoo’s voice so close. Oh, ouch…as soon as you open your eyes, a pounding thudded in your forehead as you tried to lift your head. Not worth it.

"Ok. Araso, araso....Hey, hey are you ok?” He was supporting you, gently shaking you.

No matter how painful it was, you didn’t know him! He was a stranger. You leaped out from his touch onto the grass, your face burning with embarrassment. You touch your tender forehead, wincing.

“You’ve been unconscious for only a few minutes.” He said, getting up, offering a hand. You blink warily, still coming to your senses. Finally you take his warm hand and lift yourself up.

“Are you ok?” He repeated, a worried expression on his face, his hand still wrapped around yours.

“Yeah…” you say, your senses rushing back to you, and you shudder, feeling cold. The throbbing in your head continues. You awkwardly let go of his hand.

He laughed a funny cackling laugh. “You don’t really convince me. Let me help you.” His voice was very gentle and patient, a complete contrast from when you had heard him rapping on stage.

You would normally protest, but circumstances made you desperate, so your accepted his help. He firmly grasped your forearm, carefully leading you to the now empty school steps. You realized while walking what a long way you ran.

“You ran pretty fast just now.” He chuckled, as if reading your mind. “You ran into the soccer goal post,” He added.

“Oh.”

 So that’s what it was. You stay silent, hobbling along with his guidance. Finally you reach the steps.

“Where did those boys go?” You ask, breaking the silence.

“They left,” He said confidently, giving a small smile. “You don’t have to worry about them anymore.” He whispered, shaking his head and giving you another funny laugh.

You blush and look away, up at the sky. Purple and dark blue clouds pressed down on the orange sun. Already the air was dark.

“How does it feel?” Dongwoo asked, motioning towards your forehead. 

You couldn’t help but frown and scoff at his useless comment. “It hurts.” You emphasize.

“Oh, I guess it would.” He said, laughing again, looking sheepish. “Ah, I think I have…” He trailed off his sentence, unshouldering his backpack, and started to rummage through it. He finally pulled out a little box.

“First aid.” He gave a thumbs-up, nodding.

You couldn’t help but laugh. “What?”

 You stopped laughing and your heart froze when he slid next to you to face you seriously.

“Here’s…a band-aid…” He focused his attention on your forehead, leaning in gently to stick it.

His fierce eyes were hypnotizing. You held your breath, but his kind touch was like an electric shock to your system.

Wait, why?! His voice was precious to you just now becuase he saved you. His kindness was a courtesy, nothing with meaning behind it. Would it matter if it had meaning, anyways? What were you talking about....

“Girls should carry around these sorts of things~” He gently chastised, leaning back to look at his work. "Band-aids and stuff."

“You’re making you feel like a failure of femininity.” You say, trying to laugh, then biting your lip. “Thanks.” You finish quickly. “For everything.” You look down at your hands, twisting them.

“It’s nothing. By the way…was it you who was spying--”

“I wasn’t spying!” You interject, looking up into his face, turning red again remembering running away earlier. “I happened to hear you guys as I was passing by....”

You realize there are a few scrapes and cuts on his nose and cheeks.

“Did you fight with those boys?” You ask, kind of shocked, pointing to his injuries. He was willing to fight them off…. for you? Don’t let it go to your head, _______, you reprimand yourself.

“Guys shouldn’t taunt girls like that.” Dongwoo said, shaking his head seriously. "I just let them know that."

I knew it, you thought, unable to feel disappointed. In the name of girls everywhere he defended me.... “But, your face--” Without thinking, you reach out to touch a red scrape on his cheek, concerned. “Here--” you search your blazer pocket, and realize that you have neither your tissues, nor your iPod.

“Ah! My tissues…and iPod…I left it--”

“Not so fast.” He said, pulling out my silver lover.

I gasped, a smile finally able to spread on my face. “Thank you,” You said sincerely. “Thank you, Dongwoo-ah.”

He raised his eyebrows at you. “How do you know my name?” He grinned.

You try to ignore him. “That boy said your name when I watched you in the auditorium…My name is _______.” You bow slightly.

“Ah, _______-ah? He put his hands in his pockets leaning against the steps, nodding. “That’s a nice name.” He smiled again.

Why….why was it that this rapper….so charasimatic on stage with firerce eyes, could be so gentle and kind? It was a complex you couldn’t quite figure out, but….

All you knew was that you found it very attractive.

thanks for reading!~! let me know what you think :)