Seungho is lying in his bed sleeping soundly when he feels a weight on his back. He moves a bit just to confirm it’s not just in his head. “Mir, leave me alone I’m sleeping” He mumbles in his pillow “Stupid brat” He adds

“Not Mir”

He opens his eyes and smiles “Alex hey” he turns his head trying to see her but there is no light.

She leans down practically lying on his back “Hey Ani”

“What brings you by now?” He lets out a deep breath feeling so much calmer than he has been ever since she told him Kei was coming.

“I missed you” She just says and rolls to his side. He moves his hand to her face gently her cheek “Well I missed you too”

“er” Alex chuckles

Seungho sighs “So cruel”

“I can go” Alex motions to get up but Seungho wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her right next to him “Not going anywhere” He smirks

She chuckles. Seungho smiles having missed her laugh so much that he didn’t even realize just how much.

“Sorry I haven’t called” she says in a low voice on the border of whispering.

“It’s okay” Seungho smiles and turns a little towards her.

“No” She sighs “You told me never to forget you and then I don’t call for a week. Granted you didn’t call me either” She pauses and Seungho just listens to her breathing “I thought you were mad at me”

“Why?” he frowns

“Because of… Kei”

“Oh” Seungho moves his arm from her and moves onto his back “I’m not mad at you that is for sure” He crosses his arms in front of him.

“Just Kei” Alex sighs

“What do you want me to say Alex?” Seungho says looking into the dark room “You know I can’t stand the guy”

“I know”

He feels her hands on his arm “I wish you would get over it” she mutters

He huffs “I wish you would remember what he did”

“I do” She says a little louder “I’m not sure I could ever forget what he did just like I’m not sure I could forget how much fun I had with him before that”

Seungho clenches his jaw

“I’m not asking you to be friends with him but if you could be, you know, not deadly enemies it would be nice” she chuckles slightly

“I don’t think so” Seungho just says well aware that it might make her mad. He hears her sigh “You are a sometimes” he feels her moving away from him and he closes his eyes cursing himself to hell while being certain he wouldn’t take back what he said.

“Alex?” he calls out in a low voice. He isn’t quite sure where she is in the room

“yeah?”

“Are you mad at me now?” He asks softly

“No” She says but sounds a bit unsure “I just don’t get why you have to be that hostile”

He sits up searches for the light switch. His hand manages to find it and he turns on the light covering his eyes with a hand for a sec to adjust to the sudden brightness. He looks around for Alex and swallows hard seeing her sliding down the opposite wall. Her eyes on the floor, brows furrowed and her jaw clenched. She looks messed up.

He frowns and jumps from his bed stumbling over to sit right in front of her where he cubs her face and looks at the huge red mark on her left cheekbone, a small cut over her brow plus another red mark on the left side of her chin.

He swallows and quickly examines her clothes. Her jacket is torn, he recognizes all the signs of fighting. He lifts her hand and sees how the knuckles are torn and bloody. She just looks at his hands as he feels her arms to check if she is hurting. She feels the pain but doesn’t want to show him how badly it hurts.

“Who did this?” He asks trying to sound calm even though he is getting quite worked up. The expression on his face goes from worried to scared. “This isn’t just from a fight. This looks more like a direct beating” He breathes heavier trying to calm himself.

“I…” She frowns and shakes her head “I shouldn’t have dropped by now” She motions to get up

“Alex, don’t do this” Seungho quickly grasps her wrist to stop her from leaving.

“Do what?” Alex mumbles and frowns.

“Why can’t you take better care of yourself?” Seungho pleads and shakes his head.

“I…” She closes and looks down “Sorry”

“Tell me what happened” He sighs

“I was just trying to find someone when one of those idiots who was after Choi recognized me and well they were 6, I was 1”

Seungho feels a stab in his chest “You got beat up”

She nods and frowns “I was too weak”

Seungho shakes his head “No Alex” he keeps shaking his head “Why didn’t you just run?”

“I tried” she frowns more looking ashamed of herself “I wasn’t scared” She looks at Seungho like she needs him to know she wasn’t a chicken.

He closes his eyes “You should have been”

“I just” She looks down “I knew I was too weak to take on all of them. I was gonna leave when I saw them but they cornered me and well” She shrugs and lowers her head “Yeah it was more a beating than a fight” she sighs.

“Where the hell were you? You shouldn’t go places they would go to!” Seungho almost yells but he doesn’t want to wake the others up.

“I’m trying to find the once who YongGuk” Alex frowns hard and looks at him “One of them comes there. I have to find him!”

“Alex…” Seungho pulls her towards him and wraps his arms around her. She leans against him and takes a tight grip on his shirt “I don’t want him to risk meeting them again” She mumbles.

Seungho leans his head against her “Alex what would you have done if you found the guy?”

“Cut his off” She says sounding just a bit too serious

Seungho holds her tighter “You can’t” He isn’t gonna ask if she is kidding. He knows she isn’t.

“He doesn’t deserve to have a ” Alex mumbles sounding pissed “He doesn’t even deserve to live!”

“I know” Seungho frowns “I agree” He her arm “But that wouldn’t really help YongGuk would it?”

“I don’t know” She mumbles “I can’t get those images out of my head” She hits herself in the head with a fist a couple of times “You have no idea”

Seungho swallows “Alex tell me about it” he really doesn’t want to hear it but maybe she’ll get some frustrations out if she talks about it.

“You don’t wanna know” Alex mumbles

Seungho looks down leaning his cheek against her forehead “Have you talked about it with YongGuk?”

“No. He talked to me about it but I don’t think he wants to know what I saw. It’s been a while though and I thought he was over it but then back that day when I was out thanking them for helping me” She looks up at him

“After the tattoo incident?” Seungho chuckles

“Yes” she smiles a little “When I found him in the park…”

“He was in the park?” Seungho frowns.

“Focus Ani” Alex gently hits him

“Sorry” Seungho says her arm again

“Well he was dusting himself off after having been tackled…” She starts

Seungho frowns “Why was he tackled?”

“He and Zico were playing football” She sighs “Any more questions?” She sounds less pissed now. Seungho shakes his head and then nods “one more” He smiles at her

“Sure what?” she looks at him

“Could we sit on the madras this is killing my ” He chuckles. Alex can’t help but laugh and moves away from him. He stands up “Maybe you should get into some clothes that doesn’t scream I’m-trouble-on-legs” he smiles softly trying to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

Alex nods. Seungho walks over to his closet and finds a t-shirt. He turns seeing her pull of her jacket with a painful expression. He just watches her knowing she intentionally tried not to show him how much pain she is in.

She tries to get the t-shirt off but ends up letting an involuntary yelp of pain. Seungho walks over “Let me help” She just nods and lifts her arms letting him gently move the t-shirt up over her head. His eyes scans her arms, red marks is covering the white skin. He can see some of the marks shaped like hands and he has to breathe deeply to stay collected.

He looks at the fabric she uses to hide her figure “You want that off?”

She nods and he starts removing the fabric “So YongGuk was dusting himself off” Seungho mumbles trying to get her to think about something other than the pain she must be having and himself to stop focusing on the bruises.

Alex sighs “Zico, wanting to help, dusted of his and YongGuk went ballistic yelling at him not to touch him there and just the expression on his face… he isn’t past it”

Seungho nods and clenches his jaw when a blue bruise on her side reveals itself as the fabric leaves her skin. It almost hides the tattoo. He swallows hard. There is hardly a space on her body not discolored in some way.

“He acted kind of weird too” She mumbles “I don’t get it. He is such a happy kid most of the time but then he gets all distant staring so strangely…”

Seungho didn’t really hear that part. He was way too focused on how frail she looks when stripped down to the sports bra and covered in bruised. No girl should look like this. He takes the t-shirt and helps her get it on. She smiles at him “Thanks” He her cheek and kisses the other. He looks to the door “We can sit in the living room if you want?”

She shakes her head “Might wake the others”

He nods and heads back to his bed sitting with his back against the wall. She crawls up next to him and he puts his arm around her. “What time is it anyway?” He looks after a clock

“It was 2:40 when I came” Alex mumbles

“What?!” He looks at her “In the middle of the night?”

“Yes” She nods “Sorry. I didn’t feel like going home afterwards” She mumbles.

He kisses her forehead happy that she then chose to come to him and not Kei. “They didn’t find out you weren’t a guy did they?” Seungho says fearing what they would have done to her if they found.

She shakes her head “They were too busy hitting and kicking to notice anything” She chuckles. Seungho frowns “Don’t laugh about it. It’s serious”

They are both silent for a while. Seungho keeps frowning trying to come to grips with Alex having been beaten. She wasn’t fighting, she was outnumbered and beaten. He can’t help but consider if this is gonna happen again. She already pissed of quite a number of people.

“Uhm do you wanna hear about that night” Alex mumbles and frowns holding on to his hand on her shoulder.

He looks at her “Yes” That she brings it up means she really needs to talk about it.“From the beginning when you left the club”

She nods and takes a deep breath “I thought they were just messing around” She says quietly “I was just having a smoke and walking around when I head laughing. I turned the corner and saw 4 guys. I just thought they were messing around” She looks up at Seungho “I was gonna walk away when one moaned so loudly that I knew what was going on”

Seungho looks down listening to what she is saying.

“He was violating him from behind” She frowns “And the other was ing his mouth and the last was just laughing and I snapped”

Seungho clenches his jaw.

“I yelled and they dropped him and then he just lay there shaking and struggling to breathe. I ran after them, I know I will recognize them if I meet them. I remember their faces as clear as it I saw then a minute ago. They had tied his arms on his back” She takes another deep breath “He was just a mess. There was blood and and he just lay there looking like he had given up and I was just so pissed” She frowns “I wasn’t very nice” She shakes her head “When I touched his shoulder he begged me not to hurt him. I told him they were gone… I should have taken him to the hospital, called the police but I didn’t and they got away with it. I’m not letting them get away with it!” She snaps

Seungho tries to get the mental images out of his head “You can’t go after them on your own”

She doesn’t say anything which he knows means she will.

He takes her hand with his free one and looks at it “You need to let this go”

“Oh like you let that thing with Kei go” Alex huffs

“It’s not the same” Seungho says sounding a bit angry “He hurt my best friend and sister” He looks at her hand

“Yeah that is way worse than someone I see that” Alex huffs again

“Me hating Kei doesn’t get you hurt!” Seungho looks at her.

“But it does” Alex looks at him “Maybe it doesn’t put another bruise on my body but it is so painful for me to see how you two insist on hating each other”

“See it’s not just me who hates him” Seungho mumbles.

“No but you are so busy saying he is so horrible you are forgetting how to be the bigger man!” Alex pulls her hand from him and crosses her arms.

“Alex I can’t forgive him for hurting you” Seungho tries to explain himself.

“Well I have….”

“No you haven’t” Seungho snaps “Back when you were really drunk you said that everyone is full of . That you trust someone and then they end up hurting you. You were talking about Kei, don’t you dare tell me anything else!” He looks her in the eyes making sure she knows how that he is serious.

She frowns and closes her eyes “I just liked him so much” She leans her head against his shoulder.

“Alex is okay to be show how much you hurt but it’s not okay to pretend to be fine about it when you aren’t” Seungho leans his head on hers. His eyes are open but he doesn’t see anything “You never said a word about it” he sighs “It doesn’t hurt less if you pretend not to care. I know” he frowns a little. If he didn’t have ByungHee to talk to about his past with Alex he wouldn’t be able to function.

“Just talk to me Alex” he whispers. He hears a sniff and moves his head to look at her face seeing a tear run down her cheek.

“Alex?” he says softly

Her brow furrows and she looks at him with watery eyes “My boyfriend cheated on me” She starts sobbing quietly. He pulls her closer letting her cry on his shoulder “I know”

She leans against him clutching his shirt with her bruised hands and just cries

He hugs her and feels a tear run down his own cheek with one thought going through his head. She never cried over him.