"Ya!" Shin Hye called out to the loner sitting by the curb at the subway station.

The man, who was smoking, saw the two walking towards him. He sneered as he flicked the cigar stick and grabbed his baseball bat.

"De boss sez you oughta die," the man spoke in bad English like he was trying to sound so cool.

"Tsk, I teach English in school, and that is not how you pronounce words," Shin Hye cajoled him as she wiped her lip with her thumb.

"MWO???" the man ed. "Jugulae?"

"That's better," Jong Hyun sneered.

The man felt so insulted that he ran to hit them with the bat because his companions had been in jail. Jong Hyun knew that some of his homies had alerted the police of the incident when Shin Hye was shot, but Shin Hye did not know about this, not even Min Hyuk.

"Take this!" the man shouted.

As the two were about to receive the blow, Jong Hyun did a roundhouse kick and held Shin Hye's wrist.

"Run!" he commanded.

The two ran away as far as their legs could take them, but they were surprised that the thug was faster than they were. They saw that the man had a better form of an athlete, like he had been trained to run for miles.

"My lungs are so gonna burst!" Shin Hye complained in English.

"That's not how you pronounce words in English, Sweetheart," Jong Hyun .

Shin Hye scowled at him before stopping to run.

"Really, my lungs are gonna burst," she complained as she puffed.

The man was able to catch up with them, and as he was about to hit the bat on either of the two, Jong Hyun kicked the man with his long legs. Shin Hye turned around and beat the man with her fists, but the man was able to grasp her by the head and did a headbutt.

The two of them lay on the ground, collapsed.

"Tsh, how lame!" Jong Hyun shook his head at the attempt of the other man.

He wanted to laugh because of the stupidity of the other guy, but there was no room for laughter. He had to attend to his best nemesis before the other thug wakes up. He pulled her and carried her piggy back, but as he was about to walk, the other man woke up.

"This is going to be easy," the man said holding his bat.

Shin Hye awoke from the headbutt, and saw herself carried by Jong Hyun.

"I don't know who you are," Jong Hyun taunted the man. "Superman? Or the Incredible Hulk? Kekekekekek."

"Stop laughing at me!"

"Or you can be Blob from the Brotherhood!" Jong Hyun cajoled the other like the other was as bulky as the X-men character.

"Why you!" the man screamed.

The man was about to charge at Jong Hyun for making fun of him, but Shin Hye whispered to Jong Hyun to turn around. He did not know what she was thinking, so he turned around, and Shin Hye kicked the other guy on the face. The man fell on the ground, and the two troublemakers smirked.

"Daebak," Jong Hyun said in awe.

"So you think it's only you who has the brains?" Shin Hye .

"Ya, do not let anyone headbutt you again, arasseo?" Jong Hyun told her. "Remember that I should be your only nemesis."

"Possessive," she .

Jong Hyun blushed. Was he, like, acting like the possessive boyfriend?

"I'm not your boyfriend, Sweetheart," Shin Hye dryly told Jong Hyun before spitting out blood. "So stop bossing me around and telling me who I should fight with."

Jong Hyun smiled in spite of himself. It was a cold night, and his body was heating up, thanks to that little exercise. He also liked the warm body behind him, and he could feel Shin Hye's heartbeat from his back. It was so fast that he could not help but smile. As he carried her piggyback, he walked from the street down home.

"Hang on, Sweetheart," Jong Hyun said in a gentle and calm voice. "We're almost there."

Somehow, Shin Hye did not resist the invitation. She was so damn tired to even care that Jong Hyun was talking to her sweetly and lovingly.

Damn, if she had noticed it, she would probably get down and box him for looking at her as a girl.

To calm her thoughts, she thought about Yong Hwa and their first kiss. Her cheeks suddenly burned at the memory, and tears started to fall down her eyes.

"He will never look at me the way he look at Park Kahi," she thought as she bitterly shut her eyes.

Jong Hyun noticed her sniffles, so he asked her tenderly.

"Ya, gwaenchanha?"

Shin Hye was in no mood to argue or something. She suddenly realized she was still being carried by Jong Hyun, and she wished it was Yong Hwa who saved her and carried her instead... Yong Hwa, not Jong Hyun. And it suddenly came to her embarrassment that her female nature, which she had supressed, had surfaced right in front of Jong Hyun, and she hated it. She did not want to show him her weakness, and she only wanted to show it to Yong Hwa.

*****

As they got in the house, Yong Hwa was leaning on the wall leading to the stairs.

"Why are the both of you bloody again?" Yong Hwa asked coldly.

Jong Hyun did not reply to his hyung. Yong Hwa got down and took Shin Hye from the other guy, carrying her in bridal style to the second room by the stairs. Jong Hyun saw how the tomboy just allowed Yong Hwa to carry her instead of protesting like she usually did.

And it dawned on Jong Hyun that it was not only Min Hyuk who was his love rival. Pangs of grief stirred his heart, and he did not notice his lips shuddering as he looked at the two entering the dark room.

"You hurt me again, Sweetheart," he whispered.

~~~~