“Hey, you bastards, look over here!” I heard a voice, a familiar voice. I blinked back my tears and my eyes widened to see hair full of auburn, eyes fierce and strong as that person held all seven bags – the three of them which I have left by the door in the neighborhood.

“Mi-ja…?” I whispered out, full of relief and yet, full of worry.

Key’s POV

“Mi-ja, you shouldn’t be here! They’re too dangerous for you!” I screamed out, my voice hoarse. I heard her ‘heh’ before running to my side, arms out, protecting me as she stood in front of the leader of the gang.

He sneered and stared closely at her face. “What is a pretty little girl like you protecting a weak, pretty boy like him?” I saw him reach out for her face. Don’t touch her, you bastard! I want to snarl at him, but Mi-ja did that for me as she bit onto his hand hard. He yelped and pulled it away, glaring at her. “Why you…!”

“Put that hand near me again and I’ll make sure I’ll bite harder this time.” Her voice was stern and serious, her eyes never wavering. I was stunned; is this Mi-ja? The Mi-ja I remembered 14 years ago?

His ugly face scrunched up as he examined her. Then he laughed. His gang followed him, all howling in laughter. “You…?! Fighting me?! You are a feisty, funny , that one!” I scowled, sitting up from my position. I wiped the blood away from my bottom lip before spitting out the remains out from my mouth.

“Just to let you know, before she was a novelist, my mother was a police officer, so she taught me some moves. Also, I’m a black belt in karate and I won’t hesitate to make you scream like a little girl.” Her words stopped the gang from laughing and stare her with a mixture of shock and annoyance. Then she smirked, “Don’t believe me?” She went into her fighting stance and without letting them react, she did a quick but strong, powerful kick to the leader’s face, making him fly backwards. “I’ve warned you,” was all she said as she was met with the eyes of an angry leader. She just smirked and pushed her glasses up her nose bridge.

I was then beginning to get scared, and before she can even make a move, I stopped her, grabbing her ankle. Mi-ja looked at me confusedly as the gang ran over to their leader. “Please don’t! There’s like, 15 men and I can’t let you do this alone!” I didn’t want to see her get hurt. It’ll be my fault for not being honest back at the café. I couldn’t bear to see her face full of bruises. Not her…not the small, little Mi-ja I knew…! Then I felt lips on my cheek, such warm, soft lips pressing against my flesh. I was stunned to see that it was her kissing my cheek. She pulled away and smiled while I reached up to feel the burning sensation on my skin.

“Did you forget? I’m a black belt – this is nothing,” then she stood up straight and looked at the gang who was readying themselves, eyes red and angry. “Plus,” she paused as she cracked her knuckles, “I’ll be your bodyguard, because I want to protect you and SHINee.” My heart swelled at her words. These…these are the same words she said 14 years ago… She looked at me, and smiled. Despite the fact that we’re in the dark in the midst of the night and the lights around us are dim, I can see her bright, brown eyes sparkling like stars as they turned into crescents, her pink lips curving. “That’s my job.”

I could only sit there in the corner of the alleyway as Mi-ja turned her head back to the gang. I crawled away, to avoid getting hurt in the midst of this. “So,” she stretched out her arms and legs, smirking at the angry men. “Who’s ready to go first!?” She screamed out, her voice bold and confident, never faltering as her strong eyes were fixated on them.

The leader growled and screamed, “Get her!”

I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes as she advanced into the fight, praying that she didn’t get hurt too badly. But all of this…what she had done for me and what she said to me… I smiled to myself as the memory came back to me.

No-one’s POV

A small, dark-haired male was sitting outside the field, in the school building as he was coloring something, sitting on the bleachers. He looked to about eight-years-old and he seems like he had a strong personality, the way his eyes were fierce as he was focused onto his work.

He heard cheers. He looked up to see the boys high-fiving each other after making a goal, the opposing clearly upset with the fact that they have lost. He could only roll his eyes at them and resumed coloring the bag pink. He grinned, satisfying with his work. “Perfect!” He said to himself, his feline eyes turning into crescents. Then he looked around the area, and with only a glimpse, saw a person with reddish brown hair from behind the fence, another area of the school, only for those who were in lower grade than elementary school. She’s short and small, but her posture is strong. His eyes widened in surprise at how she’s contrasting to her shy-looking appearance; her eyes were bright and her lips were pulled into a grin as she chatted to the kids. She’s young and may not understand much, but he knew that she’s different and seems like she’s not afraid to act out.

She’s perfect! He smiled to himself, a person I would want as a model when I get my own fashion label… He was surprised when the girl turned and met eyes with him. She smiled and waved at him. His cheeks burned red, amazed at how her cheeks were flushed rosy pink, and how her eyes turned into crescents, sparkling brighter than usual. He could only wave back shyly to the girl. Then he felt his paper snatched away from his lap. He looked and gasped to see the boys looking at his work. Then they sneered.

“Pfft, pink!? What are you, a girl?!” One of them said, laughing. “Kim Kibum, you always like pink – that’s just disgusting!”

Kibum growled and snatched the paper away from him before tucking it away into his bag. Then he glared at the boys. “Well, then why you are wearing pink underwear, then, hmm!?” He heard the boy gasp in embarrassment at this and pulled his pants up a bit more. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t know there was a rule that boys shouldn’t like pink, so get out of my face, jerks!” The group gasped in disbelief and murmured to themselves as Kibum up and walked off. But he was pulled back, and his bag was taken away. He gasped. “Yah…!” He screamed at the boys who were already taking out the papers. They all laughed at them.

“Your drawing is stupid. You can’t even draw so why bother keep them?” The tallest of the group sneered and purposely ripped one of his best works in half. His eyes widen and almost teared up when he saw his precious work torn into two and were just gone into the wind. He pushed him away and grabbed his bag, taking the papers abruptly before he screamed—no, he screeched. His voice went from his normal tone to high-pitched and it was loud enough to break an eardrum or kill a bird.

“You are an idiot! Umma liked that one!” And before he left, he stomped on his feet so hard that the latter fell and cried. Kibum turned back and glared before sticking out his tongue at the group. “Good luck getting over that pain!” He yelled again and finally left the football field.

The torn papers gently flew onto the wind before it died down, falling softly onto the ground by a person’s feet. She picked up the two piece of paper, holding them into her hands and piecing them together before she smiled at the picture.

“Hey, are you coming inside? The bell had rung!” A girl called out for her, waiting for her to come inside the school building as the bell had already rung for their art lesson.

She was taken aback from the sudden yell and held the torn pieces of paper to her chest and ran over to the group, “Ah, I’m coming!”

Kibum came out of the school, adjusting the strap on his shoulder before taking a right to walk his way home. However, he groaned when he saw the familiar group of boys and turned away, wanting to avoid them. They saw him and grabbed him quickly into an alley. The brunet grunted as he crashed onto the ground, his arm full of scratches. He looked at them with angry eyes.

“What the hell was that for!?” He screamed out, clearly pissed off.

“I must admit, you are a stupid idiot to hurt me like that, now,” the boy said with an angry frown. “Let’s see how you like this!” Before Kibum could respond, he felt pain on his cheek as he lay on the floor, holding his punched cheek. “Get up! If you think you’re better than me, come and fight me!”

He looked at him as if he was crazy. He knew that he lacked of that. But he stood up anyways, and tried to take a blow at his face. But his movements were too slow and the boy easily dodged his attack, letting the latter fall straight into his face. Kibum tried again, but failed once more. The group laughed at his pathetic attempts to try to fight him. He was failing. The brunet lay on the concrete, panting as he was covered in bruises.

“Look at you! You are so weak that you can’t fight! You may be good with words, but the fact that you act like a girl is nonsense!” He heard him scream in his ear. Kibum’s eyes teared up, hurt by his words. He was right – he was always weak and frail, he could never hurt a person even if he tried.

“Shut up!” He screamed out, but his voice cracked, and the tears that he was trying so hard to hold back eventually fell. They laughed at his crying appearance.

He knew it.

He knew something like this would happen one day – one would know the truth behind his strong façade. One would find out that he’s not everything as he seems.

He fooled them all and got hurt in the end – looks can be deceiving indeed.

Kibum closed his eyes, bracing for the impact when one of them raised his fist, attempting to strike him on the head, but then…

“Ow!” The boy who was about to hit him held his forehead. Kibum opened his eyes and was shocked to see him bleeding. He looked down and saw a pointy, bumpy rock lying before his feet. How…?

“Hey, you jerks, look over here!” An unfamiliar voice called out from behind him. He looked back to see a person coming out from the door of the barricade. His eyes widened when he saw the person stepping into the light. It was that same girl he saw earlier on the football field! Her hair was bob short and fluffy, bouncing with each step she took until she stopped in front of Kibum. Her cheeks took hold of freckles and her eyes were fierce. In her clenched hand was a rock. “You shouldn’t bully people!” Her voice was small and cute, but loud enough to show her boldness.

One of them sneered, “Look at you! What’s a little girl doing here interfering with our business?” Another said, shooing her away, “Go away, it’s none of your concern! You have no right to—” He was cut off when he was met with a punch in the face. “Wah!” they all cried out, stepping back and helping the boy who was holding his face. Then they looked at the girl whose eyes were burning.

She held his clenched hand, showing the rock and threatened to throw at them. “I’m not afraid to throw this rock at you, so scram! Or I’ll tell the teachers about this tomorrow! I’ll tell my police umma that you were hurting a kid!” They all scrambled, in fear of getting caught by the teachers – because getting told of by the teachers means punishment from their parents. Not only that, but after knowing the fact that her mother is a policewoman, she could easily get them into trouble with messing with a policewoman’s daughter.

Kibum heard her sigh in both relief and annoyance before dropping the rock that she had held so tightly into her hand. He was beginning to grow worried of the girl as he could see the cuts and bruises that formed on her palm after holding the rock too tightly in her head, the wounds pooling small beads of blood. Then she turned around to face him. He was once again amazed. There really was a huge contrast to her appearance and her personality. You could say that her bold face doesn’t suit her timid appearance, and that’s what amazed him the most. He was amazed by her courage to stand up for herself and act out without second thoughts. She outstretched her hand out to him.

“Are you okay, oppa?” She asked, her voice now soft and shy, matching her appearance. He was so stunned that he was taken aback. Then he shook his head sadly, “I don’t think so…” He touched the bruise forming on his lip and winced when he felt the sting. The girl smiled, “Want to come over to have Umma give you a Band-Aid?”

He was surprised by the girl’s offer but smiled back, despite the pain and gently took her wounded, bleeding hand, fingers wrapping around her soft palm. “Sure.”

Kibum winced when the girl’s mother gently dabbed the cloth onto his bruises. “There, there, it’s okay,” she soothed him when she heard him whimpering in pain. “There you go! It’ll heal in no time!”

He smiled as she placed Band-Aids onto the bruises on his face. “Thank you… I’m sorry for giving you a shock when your daughter brought me in.” She only shook her head, not minding the trouble.

“Don’t apologize, you were not giving me any trouble,” then she smiled. “My daughter is really brave and wouldn’t hesitate, so it’s not really a surprise that she’s getting popular with the boys~” She laughed when she saw his face growing red. “Oh, relax, I’m just teasing~”

He only stared at the ground, his cheeks burning red. “A-Ah…”

She smiled, “But I’m not lying – she had met some boys over the months nowadays, and they all liked her – and I’m sure you do too.” She finished off there as she got up from the couch. “Please be a dear and check up on Mi-ja in the kitchen, she’s taking a rather long time delivering the cookies and milk.”

Kibum only nodded and got up from his seat before going into the kitchen. Mi-ja… It was a name that suited her beautifully. His cheeks grew red thinking of her happy grin and her bright brown eyes. “Ah, oppa…!” Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he saw her struggling to hold the tray, the plate of cookies and milk slowly slipping. “Ah!” She had lost her grip on them but Kibum was quick. He grabbed the tray and held it steady, saving the cookies and milk from going to waste.

He sighed and slightly scowled at the red-head. “Geez, be careful! You could have gotten hurt!” He was being all motherly around her now, trying to make sure that she wasn’t hurt. She only pouted and huffed.

“Oppa~ I am okay!” She whined but Kibum wouldn’t let it be and took the tray from her.

“Whatever, I’ll hold the tray for you so you don’t get into any accidents! Hear me?” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. The girl pouted for a while, but then grinned and nodded. He smiled and walked back into the living room. Her mother was not there, surprisingly, and it made him wonder where had she gone, but shrugged it off as he set the tray onto the coffee table. The duo took a seat on the couch, sitting together. Kibum’s ears flushed red when he noticed that the girl – Mi-ja, he means – was sitting awfully close to him.

Then the awkward silence droned on between the two of them. Kibum could only stare at her and examine her petite figure. Then his eyes averted down to her hand that was wrapped around with thin, white strips of gauze. It was her who broke the silence and caught his attention.

“What’s your name?”

Kibum looked at her who was looking at him, her dark brown eyes sparkling with curiosity. Then he looked away and simply answered, “Kibum.” He paused for a moment before looking back at the female, “What’s yours?” Even though he already knew, he wanted to hear her say her name from her own mouth.

“I’m Mi-ja!” She chimed, grinning. He could see her white teeth and her eyes growing into crescents. Then he smiled. “How old are you, Mi-ja-ssi?”

“I’m five.”

“Wah~ you’re so young!”

She could only grin before asking, “What about you, Kibum-oppa?”

“I’m eight.”

“Wah~ you’re so old!” Kibum pretended to look offended.

“I am not!” Mi-ja giggled at his angry face.

“You’re cute~”

“Nuh-uh, you’re cuter~”

“Aniyo, you’re cuter, oppa!”

They both laughed until Kibum’s laughter died down into a small smile. Then a frown appeared on his lips. “What if I’m weak, Mi-ja?” he asked her, who tilted her head at him. “Would you still find me cute even if I can’t fight for myself?”

She nodded with hesitation. Kibum’s eyes widen. “But I wouldn’t go and date you, of course~” He pouted.

“Thank you for ruining the mood…” He sulked. Then he heard laughter and a small hand hitting his arm.

“Yah~ I’m joking~” She giggled, trying to cheer him up.

She’s the same as her mother! He could only think in disbelief.

“But even if you’re weak, I know you are strong deep inside.”

Since when was she wise!? He only clamped his mouth shut and let her continue.

“I don’t like seeing people getting hurt, so why should I be out of it than to step in? Kibum-oppa can’t fight, but if he tried, he can fight for the people he cares about.” Then she fiddled with her fingers before placing them onto his hand. “And if it’ll make your feel better…” she trailed off for a second, causing Kibum’s curiosity to grow. His eyes widened in surprise at her next words:

“I’ll be your bodyguard to protect you, oppa!”

He could only snicker to hide his embarrassment and appreciation. “Eh~ a little girl like you, is protecting me? Eh~~~” he mocked in disbelief. Mi-ja pouted at this.

“Yah, I’m doing karate! I may be a yellow belt, but I can still try and kick your !” She said, clenching her fists and punching an imaginary enemy in front of her. He could only laugh at this.

“Ara, arraseo, I get it. …Gamsahabnida.”

Mi-ja grinned, “You’re welcome!”

Kibum had never felt so comfortable around anybody before, and he never thought that he would feel so attached to this girl so quickly. When her mother came downstairs to say that she’ll be taking him home, he was instantly sad to leave her. Mi-ja felt the same, but always mask it over with a happy face as she sent him and her mother out the door. He looked back at the house, remembering its structure and large size. He didn’t want to leave her alone in that house… in fact; he wants to take her with him. But alas, time is cruel.

Kibum held the envelope that Mi-ja’s mother gave him before he and his parents bid her goodbye. They were so relieved to have him home and they all nodded in understanding when Mi-ja’s mom explained the situation and reason.

“Think of it as an early birthday present from Mi-ja. You’ll understand once you see it.”

Hesitantly, he peeled open the envelope and took out the paper. He gasped when he saw that it was his most precious work that the boys had ripped into two. It was lined perfectly, fixed with clear tape. “Gamsahabnida, Mi-ja…!” He whispered to himself, as he’s no longer at her house to thank her. Perhaps tomorrow he’ll thank her – if she’s ever there, that is… He turned the page over and saw the short message left from Mi-ja.

‘You’re very welcome, oppa! Also, your drawing is really nice! I admire you! I hope you like it!’ – Mi-ja.

He chuckled when her message ended with a cute smiley face. But like what? The drawing…? He was confused; he didn’t know what exactly she was talking about so he looked back into the envelope. His eyes widen as he took out the present. “N-No way…!”

It was a plastic bag, and inside it was a pendant that looked exactly like his drawing. It was a silver bracelet with swords, a kind that he loved. “How…how did she find this…? Or rather… did she make this!?”

He looked at it before smiling, his eyes growing teary as he felt touched. “Mi-ja…I’ll definitely grow stronger for you. Please…continue to be my bodyguard…” he whispered to himself as he held the accessory in his hands, feeling the warmth that it contained. It had Mi-ja all over it, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Key’s POV

I stared at her in shock as she singlehandedly took down every one of them. The men groaned in pain and crawled away from Mi-ja, who suffered some blows. There was an emotion of shock that filled their eyes. She smirked, despite the bruise on her lip and spat out the blood. She fixed her glasses straight and pushed them back up her nose bridge before pointing at them. “Any one wants to fight me more? I’ll give you twice the beating!” She grinned, her eyes still confident.

The leader of the gang could only squeak in fear before telling his men to retreat. I heard her sigh before I saw her legs about to give out. “Mi-ja…!” I screamed, scrambling onto my feet and catching her on time as she fell into my arms, her head on my chest. “Mi-ja, are you okay!?” I asked, clearly worried about her. She had suffered so much… all this for me… I want to cry… Her face didn’t have many bruises, but she had some blows on some parts of her body. At least she tried to protect her body – she must have been thinking about the Talent Showdown and she didn’t want to end up getting hurt too badly. She smiled weakly.

“I…I’m fine… Just glad that you’re okay, Key-umma…” She whispered out to me with a soft smile. I smiled back and brushed away the loose strands of her hair away from her face. “Ah, wae…? Why are you crying?” I was surprised and touched my own face, only to feel the wetness of my tears streaming down my face. I hadn’t realized that I was beginning to cry. Then Mi-ja reached out and wiped them away from me with a warm smile on her face. “Please do not cry for me, I don’t want to see my Key-umma crying like this.” I couldn’t handle it anymore. I hugged her bruised body close to me and buried my face into her neck, smelling her sweet scent of vanilla with a hint of banana as my tears fell, soaking her shirt. I felt her arms wrap around my neck and hugged me back, patting me in order to comfort me while I cried.

We stayed at a nearby inn around the area after I helped her to walk with her arm around my shoulder, her carrying three of the bags and I took four of them – I didn’t want to give her pain carrying one more than she should have, so I made her carry one less and added it to my hand. We sat in the bedroom, the medical kit on my lap. I paid deep attention to her bruises as I gently dabbed the alcohol soaked cotton onto the bruises on her face, holding her clenched fist into my hand as she tried to withstand the burns. She flinched slightly, but never made a sound.

“There…” I whispered as I finished, adding the bandage to her cheek as the last touch. Mi-ja smiled at me. My heart jumped up – even though she rejected me, my heart can never stop yearning for her. I guess it’s true, I thought with a smile. The Mi-ja I knew 14 years ago said that she wouldn’t date me. Even though she doesn’t remember that now, she did exactly what she said she wouldn’t do to me back then. Then I began packing away the kit. I could care less about my bruises; there’s not much to begin with, and I can easily cover them up with makeup.

It was getting too dark outside and we can’t afford to take a bus home right now at the moment, so we decided to sleep over at the inn for the night. I called my members and explained the situation to them before I could go to bed. I crawled into the bed and mumbled a ‘Good Night’ to Mi-ja before turning off the lights.

I tossed and turned in the bed but it was hard. I stopped and stared up the ceiling with half-lidded eyes. I heaved out a dreary sigh.

…I couldn’t sleep. I stared outside the window that peeked behind the curtains as the full moon shone down on me. I raised my wrist, the pendants of my bracelet shining underneath the moonlight. I smiled as I stared at the mini swords dangling, swinging this way and that before I put my hand on top of my stomach. I closed my eyes, trying to push myself into my world of sleep.

…Thump, thump, thump, thump…

I felt my body moving to the side. I opened my eyes to see Mi-ja sleeping beside me, her head on my chest. I stared at her face and was surprised to see her without her glasses. I never thought that she still looked pretty, the way her cheeks were flushed red beneath those faint freckles and her rosy heart-shaped lips were slightly parted apart. Even her soft snores were cute. I smiled softly and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her close as I felt her warmth. I closed my eyes, and thanks to her, I felt at ease as I went into a deep sleep.

Thank you… for being my little bodyguard.

A/N: And that’s the end of the story I MEAN chapter. Hehehehe….also! I’m sure you’ve noticed this or maybe not (or it could be just me) but this chapter of Key meeting Mi-ja is longer than the others meeting Mi-ja. I fear that the Jonghyun meeting Mi-ja will be shorter or longer than this chapter IM SORRY BUT GEEZ, KEY Y U INFLUENCE ME SO MUCH YO? D<

This is what happens when I think too highly of Key, goddamnit; he ruins my bias list like seriously him and his INSTAGRAM GAWD. 。・゜・ (ノД`) ・゜・。 THAT AND HE’S ALWAYS BEING BULLIED BY SHINEE OMO sometimes i just want to pop in and smack SHINee on the head and protects him. Thus, conveying my feelings into the story of Mi-ja wanting to protect Key.

Yes, all this is my true feelings – hey, I’m a very emotional person okay? I use my feelings to create a story. Why else would I write ‘Tranquility’ in Demon & Angel?

Anyway, other than that, I’m terribly sorry for the late update! I was pretty much focused on Demon & Angel because I wanted to focus on one story as trying to do two stories at the same time was just tiring. (I had a splitting headache for two days after that – I’m not kidding) But alas, I bring you a double update! (Because living without Wi-Fi is a stinking’ nut-job)

I do apologize if the next update is longer than usual – try living without Wi-Fi. I’ve lived without Wi-Fi for more than 2 months (currently 5) and ever since the broadband dial-up then just shut down from August, I’m back in the phrases of ‘no Wi-Fi’ again. (So if you add 5 before the broadband dial up (appeared) in UK and 2 months after the broadband dial up (shut down and need to pay for days to get it back up again) in UK = 7 MONTHS OF LIVING WITHOUT WIFI. It’s almost a year omg)

Yes it , I KNOW I FEEL SORRY FOR MYSELF TOO.

But I do hope you still continue to support for the story even though I’m a bad author who doesn’t update this one and only cares for the other. I’m sorry, but this story was the hardest to come up with ideas, I swear. It’s even harder to type it out urgh /dies. See you soon on the next chapter! AND IM SORRY FOR THE LONG AUTHOR’S NOTE WHAT IS THIS I DON’T EVEN—