Onew's POV

I watched in horror as Taemin was knocked to the ground from the impact. Tears of rage sprang out of my eyes as I stood up. Thank god they weren't paying attention to me at that moment. I stood up and kicked the guy who had punched Taemin in the hip, hoping I left a mark.

Eyes were shifting from me to Taemin, unsure of what to do. While they were confused and helping their other member I grabbed Taemin's wrist and fled for his safety. He had to be safe, no matter how cowardly I would look.

He was running slowly and I had to keep in mind that he had injuries before I yelled at him for pulling us back.

"H-Hyung." Taemin panted behind me, breathless. "They a-aren't coming anymore."

"Really?" I breathed. That was easier than I had thought.

I turned to Taemin, smiling. But my smile fell when I saw the look of anguish on his face. I grabbed his small face in my hands and tilted his head gently so I could inspect what they had done. Great, it was already turning into a bruise.

"Minnie, does it hurt?" I asked softly, trying not to touch the darkening area.

"Honestly?" Taemin sighed. "It hurts. A lot."

"I'm sorry. This is my fault." I realized. I should have made sure he had gone. He wouldn't be hurt if I had just glanced back.

I brought my lips to his temple and lightly kissed it, watching Taemin's expression to make sure he didn't wince because of the pain.

"You should feel better soon." I smiled at him and released his skull.

"I just have a headache. I'll be fine." He assured me, smiling back. He looked at the ground and sighed deeply, "I guess we're missing class now, right?"

"We can't exactly go to class in our condition." I gestured to myself. I could feel my nose slightly bleeding and there were a couple holes torn in my shirt, exposing my stomach. I didn't even know how that had happened.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Taemin bit his lower lip.

"We can always skip..." I suggested but took it back when Taemin widened his eyes in shock. "N-Nevermind."

"Have you skipped before?" Taemin asked innocently.

"I kind of had to the year before I dropped out... I didn't want to break another bone." The last sentence slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"You broke a bone?!" Taemin immediately became worried and his brow furrowed.

"Just a couple ribs and my wrist. I'm fine now, Minnie." I reached up to ruffle his hair but remembered his fragile state.

He started to protest but I gave him a look that told him not to worry about it and he shut his mouth reluctantly. He was so cute sometimes, I just couldn't- Aish, Onew. Don't think of him that way.

"H-Hyung..." Taemin kicked at the ground with his shoe. Everything he did was so cute.

"Yes, Minnie?" I was rather proud of my nickname for him and he didn't seem to mind it.

"Is Minho Hyung bad?" He looked up at me with curious eyes. Ah, so he did notice Minho there. Well... I might as well give him the truth.

"No..." I shook my head slowly. "Minho isn't bad. He wouldn't hurt anyone, even though he has the strength to. He's never thrown a punch at me but he's always been there while I was getting punched. He's just there to make sure these guys do their job."

"Why does he do this?" Taemin asked cluelessly.

"Because... Kibum is his only friend." I noticed how bad that statement sounded. "Don't get me wrong. Minho has plenty of friends but him and Kibum are just... you know, a pair. The intimidation that Key creates is enough to scare off all of Minho's potential friends."

"You seem to know a lot about them." Taemin commented.

"I do." I sighed, nodding. "They used to look up to me. They used to call me Hyung and ran up to me everytime they saw me. They would want to eat everything I ate and wear what I wore. I was their role model. But then they discovered stuff outside of the small, safe world they knew and they changed. I'm just hoping they'll come back someday."

"How do you know them?" Taemin seemed very interested in this subject.

"Kibum is..." I stopped myself.

Tell anyone and you're dead, it will be the end of me and you if this horrid part of my life is revealed.

Key's words from when he was still a freshman ran through my head. I could trust Taemin, right?

"Key is what?" Taemin took a step towards me and looked up at me like a child.

Screw Kibum. He couldn't hurt me anymore. The words would be painful coming out though.

"K-Kibum is..."

Author's Note

Finally, an update. Sorry, I've been caught up in my other fic.

By the way, here's my new Jongki fic: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/58343