As sunlight faintly filtered in through the blinds in Onew's room, Sojin groggily pushed himself to a sitting position, careful not to wake the idol beside him. The mixture of guilt and apprehension had kept him from sleeping more than an hour or two and there was no chance of him falling back asleep now. He checked the clock beside him and saw that it was only 6:30 A.M. Letting out a sigh, he quietly got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom, grabbing one of Onew's sweatshirts on the way. He quickly changed into his jeans and the hoodie before brushing his teeth and fixing his bed head. Staring back at himself in the mirror, he could see that this whole experience was taking a toll on him. Dark circles had appeared under his eyes and worry lines graced his normally smooth face. He leaned a bit closer to the mirror, giving himself a determined look.

"Just four more days! After that, there won't be anything else to worry about!" he whispered to his reflection, clasping his hands together. Feeling a bit more calm, he checked to make sure he hadn't woken Onew up before silently exiting the bedroom. He continued to the living room, almost positive that no one was awake at such an early hour. As he reached the kitchen, he was surprised to hear movement. Praying that it wasn't the maknae, Sojin rounded the corner, smashing directly into Minho and falling backwards.

"Ah, Sojin! Sorry, I didn't think anyone was awake or I'd be more careful!" the rapper exclaimed, pulling Sojin back to his feet. The younger boy smiled, relieved that it was not the dancer waiting for him. 

"No no, it's my fault! But why are you awake so early?" he asked the rapper, looking the athletic boy up and down. 

"I usually go for a run now. It's not easy being the group's visual," Minho replied, letting out a laugh. "Do you wanna join today?"

Sojin's eyes widened at the offer. He still hadn't hung out with Minho as much as he would have liked, but he hadn't been running in years. Not to mention he shouldn't waste time that he could be spending with Onew. Still...the leader was sound asleep and a run probably wouldn't take very long. He looked up, meeting the taller boy's eyes.

"Sure! It'll be good for me," Sojin replied with a smile. Minho high-fived the younger boy then led the way out of the apartment, Sojin close behind. The jog started decently, Sojin keeping up with the rapper quite well. However, after about five-minutes, the younger boy started to feel the burn as sweat formed on his forehead. Minho seemed to take no notice, running forwards with a determined look on his face. Sojin did his best to keep up, but after another five minutes he slowly came to a stop, bending over and panting. Minho turned around with a confused look on his face, not a single drop of sweat on his brow.

"I'm....so...out of shape," Sojin managed to squeeze out between breathes. Minho stifled a laugh before patting the boy on the head.

"It's alright! It must be difficult if you don't do this everyday," the rapper replied. "I'll wait for you!"

Sojin shook his head. "I don't want to ruin your routine! Just go on without me. I'll meet you back at the apartment." 

"It's fine, Sojin. It's just one day and this is the only time we've gotten to hang out," the rapper replied, nodding reassuringly. The younger boy grinned at the rapper, charmed by his kindness, and agreed to carry on. However, just as the duo started to run again, Sojin came to a stop as his eyes widened in fear. Across the street stood the same men that had broken into his apartment weeks earlier. Minho turned around to see what had stopped his friend, following the younger boy's gaze to the two men.

"You know them?" asked Minho, walking back to Sojin. The half-Korean immediately grabbed the rapper's arm and began pulling him down the street. Where had they come from? Sojin hadn't seen them since the day he had barely escaped their clutches. It seemed as if the two men hadn't noticed them yet, but it was hard to tell with their sunglasses.

"Sojin! What's going on?" the rapper asked, following along with a look of confusion. "And why are they following us?"

Sojin froze in panic then looked over his shoulder to find the two men crossing the street behind them.

"They're the ones who broke into my apartment that one time! Run, run, run!" Sojin exclaimed, getting behind the rapper and pushing him forwards. Minho's eyes widened for a moment, but he did as he was told, breaking into a dash. Sojin followed, but quickly realized that the rapper was far faster than him. Thinking back to the day his apartment had been broken into, he remembered that the men had also been faster than him. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see that they were indeed gaining on him. To his surprise, Minho came to a halt in front of him.

"What are you doing? Go!" Sojin exclaimed, catching up to the rapper who had now turned around to face the men. He tried to grab Minho's arm and pull him along, but the idol wouldn't budge. Before Sojin could get out another word, Minho pulled his arm free and rushed the men head on, body checking one to the ground before grabbing the other by the collar and swinging him into the brick wall of the building next to them. Sojin stared in amazement at the men lying on the ground, dropped in no more than a few seconds. His gaze shifted to see an expression of seething anger on Minho's face.

"Don't mess with him again," the rapper stated, before turning to face Sojin. He placed a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, the anger in his face slowly disappearing as he looked him up and down and saw that he was unharmed. However, it seemed the fight wasn't quite over as the man who had been body checked suddenly rose to his feet with a scowl, obviously unpleased with having been defeated so easily. The half-Korean caught a glimpse of a sharp object glinting in the man's hand as he rushed the innocent pair. Acting out of instinct, Sojin pushed Minho to the side with all his might, the man's blade barely missing the rapper. The boy let out a cry of pain as a sharp stinging sensation overtook his left arm. Gazing down at the bottom of his forearm, he could see a shallow wound spilling blood. Gritting his teeth, he barely managed to step out of the way of the man's second swing, rather unaccustomed to fighting. Minho quickly swept the man off his feet with a sweeping kick from the ground before rising back to his own feet, fire in his eyes. The rapper stepped on the man's wrist, forcing him to release the blade, then picked it up and placed more of his weight on the man's joint. The man let out a cry of pain as his partner finally recovered and entered the battle. The second man rushed Minho, his red bow tie bouncing up and down as he closed the distance. His charge ended abruptly as Minho pointed the knife threateningly in his direction, the rapper's rage still building. 

"Sojin, go home and have one of the others take you to the hospital," Minho ordered, the downed man still whimpering in pain under the rapper's weight. Sojin looked down at his aching arm, the blood now running down his forearm, but couldn't bring himself to leave the rapper. It seemed people across the street had finally noticed the commotion, staring and pointing at the scene. If they figured out it was Minho, who knew what kind of scandal he would become embroiled in. 

"No, you have to leave! This can't be put on the news or you'll get in trouble!" Sojin exclaimed, grabbing Minho's hand with his uninjured arm. The rapper's expression wavered for a moment, registering that the younger boy was right. He suddenly brought the blade to the throat of the downed man.

"Touch him again and you won't be so lucky," Minho whispered, before throwing the knife into the street. Not wasting any time, the rapper made a break for it, dragging Sojin behind him. The younger boy looked back at the two men and was surprised to see that they were nursing their wounds rather than pursuing. As they rounded a corner, Sojin let out a sigh of relief. The few pedestrians at the scene seemed to be older, unaware that Minho was involved in the fight. To his surprise, Minho came to a brief halt and examined Sojin's injured arm.

"It's pretty shallow, but you shouldn't lose blood like this," Minho stated, releasing his grip on Sojin's hand and firmly grasping his own shirt. Sojin looked at him in confusion before his expression turned to awe as the rapper ripped off part of his shirt. He quickly tied it around Sojin's wound before pulling him along behind him once again. Out of all the Shinee members, Minho seemed to be the most able and competent, making Sojin regret that he hadn't spent much time with the rapper up till now. 

"Thanks for protecting us," Sojin stated hesitantly as he continued to be pulled along. Minho turned around, the anger completely gone and a smile in its place.

"No problem! We have to protect our maknae, right?" Minho stated, making a thumbs up sign. Sojin grinned back at the rapper, the pain in his arm finally subsiding. Within a few minutes, the duo had reached the apartment, immediately drawing the attention of the other members. 

"What's up with Sojin's arm?" Jonghyun asked, his eyes wandering slowly to Minho's ripped shirt. "And your shirt. Is that a fashion statement?"

Sojin glared at the lead singer, still a bit bitter from their previous conversation. Jonghyun pretended not to notice, wandering over to where Taemin stood, wide-eyed. 

"I'm gonna change shirts. You let them know what happened. I think you can avoid the hospital, but have one of them bandage you up," the rapper stated before heading to his room. 

"Bandage? Hospital?" came Taemin's voice, filled with worry. Before the dancer could make a move, Onew, who had remained silent, rushed over to the boy and examined the clothe. The leader's eyes widened as he saw that the clothe was dyed red and realized it was the boy's blood.

"Jonghyun! Get bandages!" Onew ordered as Taemin rushed over. The lead singer followed orders, quickly grabbing bandages and bringing them to the wounded boy, concern on his face. Onew removed the clothe and dragged Sojin to the sink, washing off the wound before applying the bandages.

"Sojin! What have you been doing?! Are you okay? What happened?" the leader suddenly exclaimed, a look of pure fear for the younger boy written on his face. Sojin looked from Onew to the maknae, who had followed them to the sink. Jonghyun made his way over, filling in Key, who had just emerged from his room, on what was going on. Taking a deep breathe, Sojin exclaimed what had happened, wrapping the story up as Minho came back out to the kitchen. Onew brought his hand to his face, letting out a sigh of relief. He grabbed the non-idol's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight anymore. If Minho hadn't been there..." Onew began. Sojin opened his mouth to object, but Taemin voiced his agreement. The half-Korean side-eyed the dancer before moving to Onew's other side, putting the leader between himself and the maknae. 

"I-it's fine! I think they won't mess with us anymore. Minho beat them pretty badly," Sojin stated. Onew shook his head defiantly, but before the leader could state his opinion, Taemin butted in.

"I'll protect you! Just stay by my side," the dancer stated abruptly. Jonghyun elbowed the dancer in the ribs, seemingly aware that now wasn't the time for flirting. Onew's gaze remained fixed on Sojin, so intensely that it seemed he didn't even register Taemin's comment.

"I'm serious. You're not leaving my sight until we figure this out," Onew stated. Sojin nodded, accepting any chance to spend more time with the leader. Still, this wasn't a great setting to work his way into Onew's heart. He could feel Taemin's jealous gaze burning into him and who knew what had happened to the hitmen. Just when he thought things couldn't get more complicated...

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