Dark brown, almost black, eyes are burning as Tao runs down the street. His short black hair seem to float in the wind as he turns to look to the right, and then to the left, before he runs across the street. He´s a bit out of breath and sweat is slowly falling down his face. Even though he looks calm on the outside his mind is in turmoil. The strong sunlight makes the back thuds in his ear gleam as he rushes down the street just as if someone is hunting him.

“This is___, she´s working as aninterpreter. If there´s anything you don´t understand, ask her.”Their manager told them one day.

“Hello.” She bowed, her hair framed her face nicely as she faced them all. “I´m ___, it´s nice to meet you. My Chinese isn´t perfect so please forgive me if I say something strange…”

Tao glanced at her with a pair of curious eyes but she didn´t seem that special to him.

A ragged breath leaves his dry, slightly open lips as he speeds up. He´s got a feeling that time´s of the essence.

He remembers how happy she was when she told him an old friend of hers will come to town and wanted to meet her. She didn´t say it, but it seemed to Tao that the person that she´d meet wasn´t exactly a friend but a former bully of some sort who wanted to apologize.

Tao tries to reach her on her phone again but nothing, he reaches her voice mail immediately and it makes the uneasy feeling in his stomach get worse. A quiet curse leaves his mouth as he hurriedly puts his phone back in his pocket. She was supposed to meet him to help him practice one hour ago. Something must have gone wrong since she´s usually very punctual. A grunt can be heard as Tao decides to jump over the bench standing in his way instead of walking around it like normal people. Some teens stare at him as he runs by without sparing them a glance.

“Isn´t that EXO-M´s Tao?” The whisper dies as he turns the corner.

Tao knows where she was supposed to meet up with her old friend and he´s taking the quickest route to get there but his mind is still telling him it isn´t enough. What if she gets hurt?

“You´re amazing.” She commented with a soft smile on her plump lips.

Tao looks at her and nods as a thanks in silence. It was awkward for him to be watched while he trained. He just finished his daily two hour training session as he realized she had been sitting there, watching him, for God knows how long. 

”Have you ever been in a real fight?”  She asked him.

”No.”

She seemed a bit surprised, happily surprised, at his short but honest answer. Tao was aware of that people think he´s a delinquent because of his daunting eyes and dark style but this girl seemed to not be afraid but to be genuinely curious about him.

She was the first foreigner that tried to understand him as he struggled during his first days in Korea. She helped him to find his way, grocery shopping, and learn both Korean and English without ever asking something from him. She might have seemed plain to him in the beginning but he soon saw her in a different light. She´s kind, caring and responsible but also very naturally beautiful at least in Tao´s eyes. He soon fell in love with her. He fell hard. He was always the EXO member that said he was still too young to think about it and that he rather focus on his career, but he is the first member to fall in love and the others of course noticed. Tao unconsciously started to show her his true side, his cute side, and she didn´t judge him.

Sweat glues his fringe to his forehead as he turns the corner. Dark eyes narrow as he spots the place she mentioned yesterday. He reaches the café but she´s not there. A wave of surprised fangirl screams washes over him, but Tao is quick to leave. Where could they have gone?

He´s mentally planning what he should do if she´s in trouble. He knows that she isn´t the kind if girl who´d want him to fight for her.  That´s only cool in books.It was also a girl she´d meat and usually, you´d think girl fights aren´t that dangerous, but Tao knows better after watching a lot of Korean drama. He has to protect her. He will use his fists if he has to even though the enemy might be a girl.

He starts looking around like crazy after her. Dark, daunting eyes narrow dangerously as he sees how one girl and a guy holds her against the wall in a painful grip in a small alley. Tao speeds up even more as he runs towards them. His mind is blank. The girl gasps as she notices how Tao is closing in on them with a raised fist. There´s a look of both pleasure and fear on her face. A grunt leaves the guy´s mouth as Tao charges, and they drop her.

“Tao!” He hears her call his name with fear and surprise.

The other girl, the one that´s behind this, backs away while screaming while the guy tries to keep his cool. Tao glares at him as if he´s telling him to leave now and avoid getting hurt.  She has never seen him look like this before, it´s a bit scary, so she backs away a bit while hoping there won´t be a fight. With his pride hurt, the other guy charges at Tao and he hits him in the face.

“Stop it!”

Tao wipes away some blood from his broken lip, before he decides it´s time for self-defence. His eyes turn dark, darker than two black holes, as he starts to protect himself and the girl he holds dear. It doesn´t take long before Tao is sitting on the other´s back, pushing his head to the dirt while ordering him to give up and leave. This without inflicting any actual damage to the guy, but, only showing his superiority when it comes to fighting.

The guy gives up after a while of useless struggling, and he leaves with his head held low in shame. The girl stares at him as if she can´t believe what happened before turning to her with a hateful stare.

“Remember what I told you.” She threatens her hatefully.

Tao takes a step forward as he glares at her and she turns instantly quiet. The girl glares back with the last of courage she has left before she and the guy leaves in a hurry. Tao snorts at this. What hateful people. Dark eyes soften as he turns to the girl he tried his best to protect and he finds her sitting close to a wall, tear falling down her cheeks. Dark eyes widen at the sight.

“Are you hurt?” He asks her as he helps her get back up on her feet.

“No…” She shakes her head, looking at the ground.

He regards her in silence for a while. It´s clear that she´s hurt, maybe not physically but mentally, but she seems to hesitate to admit it.

“Then why are you crying?” Tao asks her.

Tao´s eyes widen a bit as she suddenly hugs him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He can feel how she´s shaking, trembling, since their bodies touch. His gaze darkens as he pulls her deeper into his embrace as he holds her. She must have been frightened and so alone. The girl, who has been so strong around him, suddenly feel so fragile. Something horrible must have happened.

“I never wanted you to get hurt because of me!” She shouts into his t-shirt.

Tao´s eyes widen in surprise at this and his chest gets warm as her words sinks in. She pushes away from the hug, and uses a napkin to take away the blood from his lip. It hurts a bit even though she´s really gentle.

“I´m sorry…” Tao murmurs.

“Don´t apologize, that makes me feel worse.” The girl forces a smile to her face. “It was all my fault. I´ll buy you some ice cream so you can get down the swelling…”

Tao takes her hand as she´s about to walk way. She doesn´t complain so he takes a firmer hold of her hand as he joins her. They walk in silence, both caught up with their own emotions, but they stay connected through their hands. It´s a bit of comfort. She takes him to a small ice cream stand close to the river and she buys a popsicle for him. They sit down at a bench hidden by the threes and she gently presses the ice to his broken lip.

“Ouch…” Tao winces.

“Sorry…” She murmurs. “So, hold it there… the swelling will probably go down.”

Tao takes the popsicle and holds it against his throbbing lip. He looks a bit miserable as he glances at her from under his fringe.

“Can I eat it?”

“Yeah, of course.” She smiles gently.

Tao starts at it, and he looks a little like a lost child while doing so. A comfortable silence spread between the two of them but Tao´s mind is racing. He wonders why the two seemed to hate her so much. He glances at her.

“I won´t force you to tell me what happened, but I want you to stay away from those people in the future.” Tao tells her, as he breaks the silence.

“Yes, I will…” She sounds sad but she smiles at him with gratitude. “Thank you, Tao. I´m… happy… you´re with me.”

Tao looks at her with a gentle look in his eyes. This takes her by surprise, because that look is very rare, and she looks back at him in silence. He stops the ice cream and leans closer to her slowly. Her eyes widen a bit, but she doesn´t back away as he kiss her cheek. A blush grows on her face and Tao becomes a bit embarrassed all of a sudden.

“I´ll always be with you, if you´ll let me.” He murmurs shyly, as he averts his gaze.

Tao turns to look at her again with a shy smile on his face and she returns that smile whole-heartily. A soft giggle leaves her pinkish lips as she rests her head at his shoulder. Tao blinks at the sudden closeness but he doesn´t complain. He at his popsicle in a quite content manner as he looks at something in the distance. The two of you are comfortable in each other´s presence and it seems as if the girl finally decides to tell Tao everything.

“She, threatened me… and said that I´d get hurt if I didn´t quit my job at SM.” She breaks the comfortable silence.

Tao´s eyes narrow at the sudden confession.

“It seems like she was one of those… crazy fans… that won´t let any girl be close to her favorite idol. I had no idea. She contacted me when she heard about my job …”

A deep sigh leaves her lips.

“I won´t let you quit.” He tells her boldly.

“I don´t plan to.” She smirks up at him.

Tao finds his confidence and he takes her hand in his bigger one. She squeezes his hand gently.

“So, who was her favorite idol? Maybe we should warn him.” He scoffs, being sarcastic.

She turns eerily quiet at this and the humor in the situation is lost. Tao looks at her with curious eyes.

“It was… you.”

Tao´s eyes widen at this and he shows his anger and discomfort with a violent shake of his head. The girl regards him warily in silence.

“I just didn´t want her to get close to you after hearing what she thought… and that lead to the fight. The guy with her, I don´t even know why he was there, but…”

“You tried to protect me?” Tao asks he wide-eyed.

“Tao, you know, I care about you. “ She tells him. “Of course I´d try to protect you.”

He grins at her broadly. “I guess we should just, stick together?”

“We should.” She agrees.

Tao smiles down at her gently, but his smile faces a bit as the mood changes. The two of them inches closer to each other slowly, carefully, until there´s not a lot of distance between them. She touches his cheek gently, her fingers are cold, and she brings their faces closer together. His heart beats loudly in his chest but this time from something else but fear. His black eyelashes flutter as he close his eyes, he feels her fingers touch the piercings on his ear… and then their lips meet. It´s a soft, quite uncertain liplock at first but Tao decides to take this chance and tell her his feelings through action. His lip itches and burns, but not as strongly as his chest, especially when he feels how she answers to his kiss eagerly.

The lack of oxygen forces them to pull apart.

I´ll protect her. Is what goes through Tao´s mind as he stares into her bright eyes.