Hi people. This is a longish chapter to make up for the fact that the previous one was basically a filler... XD

I hope you enjoy this, let me know what you think :D I love hearing from you.

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1 Week later

Tao’s POV

I’ve been out of the flat less than twenty times since I first returned from the hospital, mostly Kris taking me over to other people’s houses in the evening to hang out and stop me going insane, but I haven’t left on my own yet.

Kris left this morning, slightly later than normal, which gave us a while to spend some time together after waking up, which was nice, but I’ve realised that we’re now running really low on decent food. I’ve been living on noodles every lunch time for what seems like forever and I’ve developed a strong urge to actually cook something.

I get into the elevator, making sure to check I remember the password and my key card. I double check my pockets for my wallet and phone. I’ve put everything in the inner pockets in my jacket which I’ve done up; call me paranoid but I’ve not been out into town for a while and the last time I did I nearly got killed.

I’ve not got my cast on anymore, and as I walk through the streets to the shop nearby I enjoy the free feeling I now have. My broken arm and ribs have been pronounced healed now, although I still get the occasional twinge from my fractured rib and I’m still careful. I’ve even started working out again, but obviously not to the extent that I used to. I choose much more gentle exercises and my stamina is slightly lower, but I’ll eventually return to normal.

I look around me as I walk, enjoying the chance to observe the life in the city. It’s weird seeing people around again, and I start to feel as though I’ve been living in a cave for ages. I enter the shop and grab a basket, deciding to limit the amount I buy to simply what fits in the basket considering the fact that I have to carry this home. I meander around the shop, taking my time and just enjoying being out. I pick up a few items that I know Kris enjoys whilst also trying to focus on collecting things that can actually be combined to make a decent meal.

At the checkout I’m relieved to find that the girl from my previous visit is not there today. She’d made Kris and me totally uncomfortable last time by asking if we were dating. That seems like forever ago. It occurs to me that I’ve been living with Kris for about five months now. Our relationship improved incredibly quickly considering what we started from. I expect the fact that we were seeing each other for basically the whole of the day, everyday for most of that time made it feel as if we’d been working together longer and maybe sped up our progress.

I pay and shoot the check out attendant a smile when she wishes me a nice day, before grabbing my two bags and heading back out onto the street. I decide to take a shortcut home when my ribs start to ache from carrying things for the first time in a while. I’m only about five or six minutes from home when I decide the sound of footsteps following me has lasted much longer than I’m comfortable with and I speed up slightly, subconsciously berating myself for acting so paranoid, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Sure enough, when I turn my head to glance behind me, I’m just in time to see someone duck into a doorway and out of sight. I frown and continue on my way, glancing around to see if there’s anyone else around, but it the street seems deserted and I curse myself for taking such an unpopular street.

I glance back and drop the bags, regretfully, but aware that my priorities are not to get hurt or… killed, and break into a run. I’d still been unsure if I was just being paranoid, but the fact that this guy suddenly sped up after me and whipped out a knife does not bode well for me. I start getting winded quickly due to my ribs and recent lack of hard exercise so I decide I have to face him.

I spin around suddenly after slowing down so he can catch up with me, and I lash out. His momentum prevents him from dodging, and I catch him full in the stomach. All the time I’m aware of the knife in his hand, so I move back out of reach to observe his next move. He staggers back before regaining his footing and glaring up at me. He spits out a curse as he regains his breath and I note with a sinking feeling that he’s Chinese and is therefore probably working with the same people who attacked us last time.

“What do you want?” I growl out, speaking in Chinese to be sure he understands me.

He just hisses in response and suddenly produces a white cloth from his pocket. I frown, suddenly filled with apprehension, when I smell the faint aroma of chloroform. I back away slightly, keeping my distance and scowling at him when he sneers at my reaction.

I make a split second decision that my best bet is to attack first to try and gain the upper hand. I’m well aware that I’m in the worst position here. I’m still not fully recovered from my injuries and this guy has a knife and chloroform. If I’m not careful I’m screwed. If he gets me, I might never see Kris again. That thought fills me with horror and I make my move, determined not to let him stop me returning home to Kris.

I lunge forward, suddenly closing the gap between us and gripping his right forearm, twisting hard and forcing him to cry out and loosen his grip on the knife. I then turn my body slightly so his incoming punch hits the right side of my back and not my rib. Although I let out a hiss of pain, I maintain my grip on his arm and finally manage to knock the knife from his grip. It goes clattering to the floor and I shove him away from it whilst creating some space between us.

He glares at me but doesn’t seem overly worried about losing his knife. He stuffs the chloroform cloth up his sleeve, leaving it slightly visible but basically keeping it somewhere close to hand whilst freeing up both hands.

I decide to try and keep him moving back so he stays away from the knife. I flicker my gaze over his stance and move forward, executing some offensive movements whilst remaining in a defensive mindset. As I observe his movements I conclude that he’s not as well trained as I am, but that there’s desperation fuelling his effort that seems to suggest that if he returns unsuccessful, he won’t last very long. As it happens, however, he’s not the only one with a reason to win this fight and I up the strength of my attack, determinedly thinking of Kris.

I slip suddenly on a wet part of pavement and skid forward slightly. I’m instantly on the defensive but he takes advantage of my momentary weakness and slams a punch into the side of my face. I stagger backwards, shaking my head slightly to try and regain focus again. I do so quickly, apparently faster than he was expecting because he seems taken by surprise and I catch him on the knee when I kick him.

He yells in pain when something crunches and I wince in sympathy when his leg gives out and he collapses onto one knee. He raises his arms, swinging out wildly but it’s pretty obvious he’s in a lot of pain. I reach out to restrain his arms but somehow he makes me slip again and pulls me down. I hiss at the impact with the floor.

Suddenly there’s a weight on my chest and something smothering my face. I instantly hold my breath, wincing as my eyes start to water and with the hand closest to him I hit out at his knee, using his weak spot as an attempt to decrease his strength. It seems to work and I shove him off. I flip us over and straddle his waist, bending his own arm back and forcing the chloroform down on his own face. He struggles violently but the chloroform starts working quickly as he’s currently gasping in pain from his knee anyway. Eventually he stops struggling and I confirm that he’s unconscious.

I move off him, kneeling next to him, and catch my breath. I’m sweating and my heart is racing. It had never occurred to me that I could be specifically targeted because of my connection to Kris. Eventually I calm my thoughts enough to glance around, checking that there’s no one else about. I reach inside my jacket and pull out my phone intending to call Kris.

Just before I connect the call I pause and change my mind; there’s no point in worrying him just yet, and really the person who can actually do something significant about this is his father. I walk back a few metres to grab the knife whilst I wait for him to pick up, and then return back to my attacker. He’s completely unconscious which is sort of a blessing considering how much pain he’d be in because of his knee.

Finally Kris’s father picks up the phone. He seems surprised to hear from me, but once I’ve explained the situation he says, “you did well calling me, I’ll get some people to you right away and we’ll get this guy taken somewhere where we can get some answers out of him when he’s patched up. How are you? Are you injured?”

“Just a few bruises, I’m fine. I’m just glad he didn’t win because I have my key card and other items on me that could give him access to the apartment. Maybe we should arrange some secured place to keep the cards inside the lobby so that there’s no risk of them being taken when we’re outside.”

I minimise the call screen on my phone, putting him on speaker phone, and send a quick text to Joon, one of Kris’s temporary body guards, to let him know what happened and that he should keep a closer eye on Kris until he gets home.

I hear him hum thoughtfully down the line and check my attackers pulse again as he replies “yes, I’ll talk with Kris about that. Have you spoken to him yet?”

“No, I didn’t see the point in concerning him yet, though I’ve just messaged his guards to warn them. We should get this guy somewhere first.”

I hear his approval in his voice as he replies, “ok, someone should be arriving soon to collect your attacker. I’ll fly over tonight so I can be in Seoul for when he’s interrogated. You get yourself back to the apartment and wait for Kris to return, we need to be careful now. Also, ask the other guards to stay there until we can be sure there’s no imminent threat to Kris.”

“Yes sir.” I reply, looking up as I hear the sound of a vehicle approaching. It comes to a halt next to us and, although it suddenly occurs to me that this could be more people who work with this guy, I recognise the men getting out. I’d seen them working for Kris’s father the couple of times I’d gone with Kris to the place where the attacker from the night club was being dealt with.

Two medics pull a stretcher out the back of the van and I step back to watch as they gently transfer the man from the ground onto it. I quickly describe where he’s received injuries, replaying the fight in my mind, and watch as they load him into the vehicle, automatically starting to check him over, putting him on oxygen and checking for wounds.

I hand the knife and white cloth over to the driver who comes over to me, Yongguk I think his name is, and explain what happened at his request. I also remember that he’s actually a police officer. He nods, recording my quick statement on a small device. I leave out nothing but talk quickly, eager to let them get on their way.

A medic calls out to me, asking how I am, and I inform them that I’m fine.

“You’ll want to get some ice on that though,” he says, gesturing to my face before returning his attention to my attacker. I nod, aware of the throbbing in my cheek from when I’d been caught off guard.

I turn and head back to the apartment when they start driving off. I curse my luck at how such a nice day had ended up like this. Looks like we’re ordering take away again too.

I’ve only been back for about twenty five minutes when I hear the elevator. I’m in the lounge, holding some ice to my face and considering the possible reasons why I’d been targeted. I turn when the elevator doors open, to see Kris and his two guards walk out. It seems his father decided to have him brought back here as soon as possible. At least he’ll be safe here and well guarded.

I stand up tossing down the bag of ice, and walk towards him.

“Are you ok?” I ask, scanning him quickly before flicking my gaze to Joon who nods, informing me that they came home undisturbed.

Kris just walks right up to me and pulls me into a tight hug. I can feel his racing heart beat calm down once he has me in his arms. “I should be asking you that.”

I smile slightly, choosing to ignore the gazes of his guards, before saying. “I’m fine. I can take care of myself you know. It’s my job to protect you, and it would be stupid if I can’t even protect myself wouldn’t it.”

He sighs, “You’re still recovering from the accident, don’t blame me for worrying.” He pulls back and scans my face whilst keeping his grip on my waist. He raises a hand and touches my bruised cheek gently, saying softly, “That looks painful.”

I shrug, pulling him towards the sofa and beckoning the other two over too.

We discuss the best way to arrange things whilst we wait to find out the reason behind my attack, which could take days; the best plan being having Joon and Youngbae share my room, whilst I sleep with Kris in his room. That way I’m with him constantly and they’re both close by in the adjacent room.

I don’t have Chanyeol’s number so I text Baekhyun, asking him to tell Chanyeol not to come here later, seeing as from what I hear, they’re pretty close these days. Kris had invited Chanyeol over but under the current circumstances his visit is not wise. I should have known not to text Baekhyun and to simply use Kris’s phone to text Chanyeol, but he was using it, because a few minute later my phone rings and I answer it to hear a worried Baekhyun.

“Tao, I’m actually with Chanyeol right now. What’s wrong? Has there been a problem? Are you and Kris ok?”

I hear him moving somewhere and it seems a door has closed or something because the background noise suddenly dies down. “I’m putting you on speaker phone,” he says.

I sigh, leaning back in my chair, and say, “we’re fine at the moment. I was attacked earlier by someone we believe to be connected with the previous attacks so we’re basically keeping Kris here until we can work out why I was targeted and whether there’s a risk to Kris.”

“Are you hurt?” I hear, surprised to hear Chanyeol’s deep voice asking it rather than Baekhyun’s. I’m uncomfortable with Chanyeol but if Baekhyun is ok being with him then maybe he’s not too bad anymore, “I’m ok thank you Chanyeol, just a few bruises.”

Kris glances up at me, surprised to hear I’m talking with Chanyeol. I address both of them again, “the main thing is that we can’t have any visitors for a few days until we’re sure nothing’s going to happen. It would be a risk to you and extra worry for us.”

“Ok,” I hear from the other end. Chanyeol says, “tell Kris its ok and we can just rearrange. And Tao, be careful and keep him safe.”

I nod even though he can’t see me, “I will.”

I hear the sound change slightly and then Baekhyun says, “It’s just me again, please be careful Tao. You’re my best friend, I don’t want you hurt.”

I smile, “don’t worry, we’ll be fine. We’ve got several other people here to help us if something happens. Oh, and also, when this blows over you’ll have to tell me what’s going on between you and Chanyeol.”

I hear the smile in his voice when he replies, “ok, I’ll tell you everything next time I see you. Stay safe Tao.”

“We will,” I say before hanging up.

I pass on Chanyeol’s message to Kris before joining them in their discussion.

“We can’t discount the fact that they must have people watching the building. This man evidently knew where I was and followed me. We need to be more careful from now on. This is getting more serious.”

There are murmurs of agreement and I hear Kris sigh. I turn to him, shooting him a quick smile. “Don’t worry Kris, you’ll be ok. We’ll keep you safe.”

“It’s not me I’m worrying about,” he mutters. “You’re still not fully healed; you need to take it easy. I don’t know what I’d do if you get hurt again because of me.”

I ignore the faint groans coming from Joon and Youngbae at our fluffy conversation and reply, “don’t worry about me, I wasn’t even aware of my injuries when I was fighting that man earlier. I’m totally healed everywhere except my rib which only aches occasionally, stop worrying so much.”

He pouts slightly, replying quietly, “I can’t help it.”

I smile slightly at his cute expression before shifting closer and touching his knee comfortingly, then turning back to face the other two. “You two are fine sharing a bed right? It’s a big bed so it shouldn’t be a problem.” They nod and shrug.

Kris’s phone rings and I head to the kitchen after hearing that it’s his father, to grab the menu for our favourite Chinese restaurant to decide what we all want before I call for a takeaway.

I head back in and make a quick list with Joon and Youngbae whilst Kris talks with his father. I glance up at him, hearing his tone darken, and meet his eyes. He’s looking at my bruise again and I shoot him a smile, hoping to make him realise that I’m ok but I’m not sure that it worked when he looks down and continues with his conversation.

I pick something that I know Kris likes and head to the phone on the wall to order. When I return afterwards, Kris has passed the phone over to Joon who’s evidently taking instructions from Kris’s father.

I sit down next to Kris, moving close when he automatically puts his arm around my shoulders. Joon passes the phone back to Kris who talks a moment before hanging up. There’s a silent pause as we all take in the situation. We’re basically stuck here together until there’s some progress by the people who’ve got my attacker with them.

I sigh and shift so that my head is resting on Kris’s lap with my legs stretched out along the sofa when I become aware of the ache in my ribs and my arms from where I’d blocked punches.

Kris glances down at me and I notice the worry in his eyes as he recognises this action from all the time I’ve spent in discomfort because of the accident.

“I’m fine, seriously.” I say, before closing my eyes and relaxing as he runs his fingers through my hair.

A while later the food arrives and Joon brings it up. We eat and spend a few hours watching a movie to pass the time. Eventually we decide to go to sleep and I grab some items from my room before heading into Kris’s room.

I’ve just finished hanging up my clothes for tomorrow in his wardrobe after chucking my pyjamas on the bed, when I hear him come out of the bathroom after showering. He’s got a towel around his waist and another small one in his hand which he’s using to dry his hair. I drag my eyes over his chest appreciatively, before enjoying the sight of him glancing away when our eyes meet, and the blush that spreads over his cheeks.

I tug off my shirt and put it in the corner along with my trousers so that I’m only in my boxers, before turning and walking up to him. His blush deepens as he stares at my exposed body and I lean in, kissing him softly whilst lacing our fingers together. I pull back and gaze into his eyes for a moment, trying to reassure him that everything’s going to be ok.

He finally rewards me with a smile and I smile back before kissing him quickly and heading off into the bathroom. I have a hot shower, enjoying the heat on my bruised limbs and cheek. I try not to take too long though, and when I return to the room Kris is in bed already, doing something on his phone. He glances up at me, smirking when it’s his turn to ogle me from his place of comfort.

I roll my eyes and dry my upper body before slipping on my sleeping tank top. I throw the small towel at his face, “stop ing,” and quickly slipping into my baggy sleep trousers before unwrapping the towel from my waist.

Kris puts his phone to the side, beckoning me closer, and I crawl over the bed before straddling his waist. He pulls me down, kissing me hard and I kiss him back, trying to convey my feelings to him without words. I run my hands over his chest, enjoying his small gasps as I brush my fingers against his skin.

Our kisses become too heated and we eventually separate, trying to remember that Joon and Youngbae are right next door. I smile down at him, gazing at his messed up hair and flushed cheeks. His lips are red and I decide that I like this look on him the most. He grips my waist with his hands, gazing up at me, and I feel my heart rate increase even more from the look in his eyes. We stay like that for a moment, him tracing circles on my hips under my tank top, and me tracing soft lines on his cheek and lips with my finger.

The atmosphere becomes peaceful, both of us having successfully pushed back the surge of lust that had filled us, just enjoying the moment, and he eventually pulls me down next to him. I curl up against him and he snakes his arms around my waist, holding me tightly as if afraid I’m going to disappear. I lean up and place a soft kiss on his lips before saying, “we’ll be ok.”

I place my head against his chest and feel him nod before saying, “I hope so.” He kisses my head, “goodnight Tao.”

I smile against his chest, “sleep well Kris.”

Hi, I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think about it :D

Also, I'm dedicating the fight scene to thatweirdo because I was on skype with her when I was writing it and she had to put up with me complaining constantly and saying "I have no idea what I'm writing" like every five seconds. Thank you wifey.

I LOVE YOU GUYS.

OH, btw, who else is reading Not Intended By EXObubz ??? It's the main one I'm actually following right now, because usually I like to read stories when they're complete....

Also, anyone here reading Ignis by Kaybee? It's Onho (Onew and Minho in case you didn't know). I'm just about to check if it's been updated because I swear I've been waiting for forever for an update XD

I'm rambling. I'll just post this now... XD