Woohyun was barely conscious when he felt the person lowering him onto a soft bed.  He panicked when he felt someone undressing him.  He tried to struggle, raising his hands to push whoever it was away but it proved to be futile in his weakened state.

"It's okay," whispered a soft voice.  "I'm not going to hurt you.  I'm just going to change your clothes.  You're covered in sweat."

Woohyun didn't have much choice but to remain still as the person removed his clothing.  He was relieved when he felt himself being dressed in clean clothing.  He felt a gentle hand on his forehead.  The touch was comforting and he felt himself relax a little.  Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw the face of an older man looking down at him.  It took Woohyun a few moments before he finally recognised the man as the one he had bumped into the other night outside the restaurant.

"You should rest," said Sunggyu as he pulled the covers up over Woohyun's shoulders.

Woohyun nodded his head slightly as he closed his eyes and soon drifted off into a deep sleep.

When he woke up hours later, the sun was shining through the gap in the curtains.  Woohyun climbed out of bed and found himself dressed in clothes that were slightly loose on him.  He noticed that his clothes had been washed and were neatly folded and placed on the edge of the bed.  He quickly got changed.  

The place was rather quiet and he wondered where the man was.  He walked out of the bedroom and found the older man sleeping on the sofa in the living room, still dressed in his shirt with rolled up sleeves.

Sunggyu was startled when he heard footsteps.  He quickly sat up, about to reach for the gun underneath his jacket on the seat beside him, but stopped when he saw who it was.

"I'm sorry for taking up your bed," Woohyun apologised, feeling guilty that the man had to sleep on the sofa.

"It's fine," replied Sunggyu.  "But what's a young kid like you working so hard for?"

Woohyun lowered his head as he bit his lip.

"It's alright," said Sunggyu, seeing the hesitation on Woohyun's face.  "You don't have to tell me."

There was an awkward silence between them as Sunggyu kept his eyes on the young boy. 

Woohyun looked away.  "I should go," he said.  "Thank you and sorry for troubling you."

Woohyun headed out the door before Sunggyu could stop him.


Woohyun returned to his construction work that night as he did not want to lose his job.  He noticed a black car pull up on the other side of the road and watched as Sungjong and Sungyeol got out.  Woohyun was about to glance away when he caught sight of Sunggyu getting out from the same car.  Their eyes met for a few seconds before Sungjong pulled Sunggyu away.

"Do you know them?" asked one of his co workers, noticing Woohyun's gaze.

Woohyun shook his head.

"We were worried when he came and took you away last night but we were afraid to stop him," the man explained.  "Where did he take you to?"

"I had a fever and he just helped me," replied Woohyun.

"Well, you're lucky but it's best not to get involve with those people," informed the man.

"Who are they?" Woohyun asked.

"They're members of the Hyo clan.  That young one there is the grandson of the current leader."  He pointed to Sungjong.  "A real trouble maker.  It's best to keep out of his way.  The tall one is his bodyguard."  He then pointed to Sunggyu.  "And that man there is the right hand man of the clan.  Rumour has it that he's killed countless people.  He's a dangerous man you should stay away from."

Woohyun let out a small sigh of disappointment as he took one last glance at Sunggyu.  He found it hard to believe that the man he thought to be kind and gentle could be such a dangerous man.


When his shift ended later that night, Woohyun made his way to his old apartment block.  He was startled to find the same group of youths waiting in front of the building.  Woohyun sighed as he clutched at his side.  He wasn't sure if he could take another beating since his ribs were still healing.  He didn't even try to run when the group surrounded him.

"We missed you," teased one of the youths.  "Thought you left town but you're pretty brave to come back here."  He held out his hand.  "Be smart and hand it over."

Woohyun knew that another beating was unavoidable since he had not been paid and had no money on him.

"Do we have to beat it out of you?" asked the youth.

Woohyun saw the pocket knife in his hand as the leader of the group approached him.  He struck the knife down at Woohyun who raised his arm to shield his head and waited for the impact.  Several seconds passed and he had yet to feel any pain from the knife.  He raised his head and saw Sunggyu holding onto the sharp blade of the knife as blood dripped from the palm of his hand.  The leader immediately released the knife.  The rest of the youths stepped back.  Fear written all over their faces when they realised who had intervened.

"If you ever lay a finger on him again," Sunggyu whispered to the leader.  "I'll make sure you never see the light of day."

"I'm sorry," apologised the youth on the verge of tears.

Sunggyu threw the knife aside and watched the group fled the scene. 

"Are you hurt?" Sunggyu asked, turning to face Woohyun.

Woohyun shook his head.  "But you're bleeding," he said.

"Just a scratch," said Sunggyu.

He was a little surprised when Woohyun held his hand and examined it before pulling out a piece of cloth from his backpack.  Sunggyu watched tentatively as Woohyun wrapped his hand up with the cloth to stop the bleeding.  As if in a trance, Sunggyu reached out with his free hand and cupped Woohyun's chin, much to Woohyun's surprise.  Woohyun felt his heart beating faster as Sunggyu leaned in, closing the gap between them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note:

Wheee I'm back.  Was starting to get woogyu withdrawals.