Nervously you peered through the dark into the direction of which In Jung was supposed to come. You were right on time, knowing she would get off that bus anytime now and the both of you would be able to walk back home together. It was a usual habit of yours. Whenever your roommate had to work late, you would make sure you’d go pick her up at the bus stop. In Jung got scared rather easily and as her friend you wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. She deserved that after working till 11pm. And normally you gladly did this for her, but today something felt slightly off while you stood there. The lights of the small supermarket you were standing in front of were shining brightly, offering enough light to stand there in the dark without looking suspicious. Unfortunately, two guys who arrived shortly after you and sat at the small table in front of the store, looked more than just shady in your opinion. More than once you had noticed their stares into your direction and heard their whispers, carried to you by the wind. Needless to say that made you feel very uncomfortable.

Carefully you peeked behind you, spotting a young guy about your age in the store together with the owner. Okay, so at least you weren’t here completely on your own in case something happened. No. You didn’t want to think like that and possibly scare yourself. Such thoughts were only good to make oneself paranoia about things you usually felt at complete ease with. In Jung would be here anytime now and everything would go as planned… Like it always did. – bleep -  The short sound let you know you had received a text, pulling your thoughts away from any paranoia you had about those two guys. With a relieved sigh you noticed it was In Jung. But her text caused you to groan lightly as you read it; she was going out for a drink with her co-workers and they would drop her off in front of the apartment. Great.  Just great. Not only did you have to walk back on your own, you had to do it after feeling so paranoid about those guys. And judged by the looks they were still giving you as you carefully glanced into their direction, you were right to feel like that about them. Damn, In Jung really did have terrible timing. Now the trick was to avoid letting them know you were walking back on your own. But how?

in a big breath you turned to face their direction. You had to pass them on your way home; going the other way was a ridiculous detour you weren’t in the mood for. You just wanted to go home and cozily watch a movie and enjoy the rest of your evening. ‘Be brave’ you told yourself, holding your handbag close to you and taking a step into their direction. Their eyes flared at the sight of you moving. They knew that if they wanted to do something, now was the time. Bracing yourself for whatever it was they would do, whether it was following you or attacking you right now, you took another step into the direction they were sitting. One of them got up, grinning at you in a way that disgusted you and made all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. “Hey there pretty g-“  … “Okay I’m back jagiya!  I picked the strawberry flavored and the watermelon flavored, you like those, don’t you? Which one do you want?” A cheery voice asked you as its owner stepped out of the store and right in front of you. The young guy you had spotted earlier was holding out ice cream to you, smiling encouragely as he did so. At first, you wanted to look around and tell him he must’ve been mistaken or something. You were definitely not his ‘jagiya’. But as you saw the wink he gave you, things clicked together. He was your ticket out of here.

 “Don’t stare at me like that silly. I know it took me a while to decide which ones to pick. Quite frankly, I forgot your favorite flavors…  That’s why I couldn’t choose.” He grinned sheepishly. God, he was good at acting this part. You almost believed him yourself and couldn’t help but think he was really cute while doing so. Thankfully, his continuous talk granted you with the opportunity to recover and jump into the conversation without looking suspicious. “I knew it!” you said, conjuring a smile onto your face as you did so. You could see the creepy guy stand behind him, frozen in shock at the turn of events. “I was honestly surprised you remembered both of them! Admit it, you cheated right? You probably texted In Jung! She would know my favorites.” You giggled, while taking one of the ice creams from him. “I did not! It took me a while but then I thought of it! Yaaa~ you’re my girlfriend, you shouldn’t doubt my sincerity!” the guy continued on, lightly poking your arm with happy light flickering in his big eyes. Meanwhile, you didn’t fail to notice how the guys had turned to sit down again, still staring at the two of you with baffled faces. You easily noticed the annoyance and anger in their eyes, combined with defeat. Hell yeah.

“Yeah yeah, whatever you say.” You laughed, opening the ice cream and it. “Aish this girl.” He smirked, surprising you by taking your hand in his. You almost pulled back, but luckily refrained from doing so. It would’ve ruined everything. “Let’s go home, shall we?” he said, pulling you more into the direction you had already been going in, past the two guys that were still staring. It was odd how those two seemed so completely different from the one holding your hand. They felt like bad news, like you suddenly couldn’t breathe anymore when you saw the darkness in their eyes as they stared at you full of anger and lust. But he was like a sunflower on a sunny day, his eyes lit up with honesty and warmth; you couldn’t help but feel comfortable around him. Even the feeling of his warm skin against yours, tickling your palm, told you this guy was okay. Still, you common sense told you to be careful and the moment the two of you disappeared behind a corner, you pulled your hand from his.

“Thanks. I’m glad you did that for me. But I’ll take it from here. ” You said, politely bowing at him to show him your gratitude. You really were glad he helped you out of there, but right now you figured he’d be glad to actually continue his evening. “Nah, it’s fine. My pleasure really! I can walk you all the way home if you want. Is it far from here?” he replied sweetly, looking completely at ease, even though you two just met. Strangely enough, he also made you feel as if you knew him for years now. Instantly you felt something tug at your heart, a strong sense of enjoyment as you considered his suggestion. The idea of spending more time with him excited you and almost made you say yes without a doubt. But you calmed yourself down instantly, you couldn’t let him get to you so easily.  So instead you smirked at him. “I don’t even know your name.” you remarked, watching realization dawn on him. “Ah yeah! Chanyeol! My name is Park Chanyeol. And yours?” he replied happily, an expectant look on his face. “________.” You returned the favor, glad yourself that you now knew this mysterious boy’s name.

“Wow, such a beautiful name! It really fits you!” he said in a tone that showed you he was genuinely excited about all of this. You felt a smile tug at the corner of your lips, though you prevented from giving in too much. Yeah, he was cute and all, but he really was just a guy you met on the street. Even if he saved you back there, you didn’t actually know him. You had to ignore the little tingles you felt spreading all over your skin as he looked at you so enthusiastically. “Well thanks. That’s nice of you to say. So uhm, I’ll be going now.” You said, taking a few steps away from him as you gave him an awkward little wave. The thought of leaving him just like that was far from pleasant, but what else could you do? “Hey wait! Come on, why don’t you let me walk you home!? Something can still happen even if it’s just for a few blocks!” Chanyeol yelled after you, making you turn around at him with wide eyes. “Are purposely trying to make me paranoid or something?” you complained, feeling a bit agitated because he reminded you of the feeling you had not so long ago with those creepy guys. It frustrated you, hating to feel scared because of low-life like them.  “No, but you never know and if I join you, there’s more chance that nothing will happen! I’ll be like you’re knight in shining armor!” He joked with a huge smile on his face, but that emotion was not mirrored on yours.

“Are you saying I can’t defend myself?” you glared at him, annoyed with how he made it sound as if you were weak. He had touched a sensitive spot. “Don’t think because you helped me back there, that I’m some helpless little girl, okay? I can take care of myself perfectly fine! With or without a damn ‘knight’! ” you said, tone turning slightly more snappy than before. This was the first time you saw the happiness vanish from Chanyeol’s face ever since he popped of in front of you. Straight away you felt a bit bad for lashing out at him… “That was not what I meant! You’d be a perfect knight yourself!” he quickly spoke. The weird reply and the regret instantly tempered your annoyance and almost making you chuckle. Judged by his lame reply, you knew your anger had caught him off guard, though the way he had phrased that last sentence gave you so much new material to reply.  “A knight? Really? I am a medieval man now?” you said, faking your frustration now. The look on his face was just too precious when he felt right for it. “What? No! No no no no no, that was not….What I… I just meant that you look like a warrior! Yes a warrior! Wait that didn’t come out right either.” he said, starting to get really panicky as he realized he wasn’t saying the right things at all. And the way you had your eyes narrowed at him, only encouraged him to continue on. “Oh damn this sounds weird. Look, I’m just trying to say that you don’t seem like a weak girl at all, neither do you look like a warrior or a medieval man. Actually, you’re really pretty so I’d never say that,..” he blurted on like a fool. He had no idea his last words made you feel really warm inside. “I didn’t save you because I thought you couldn’t handle it yourself or anything. I just thought that this late at night, you’d rather do something nice like watching a movie instead of dealing with those guys.” Chanyeol continued on, scratching his head as he smiled hesitantly at you. Your narrowed eyes were long gone now, having you stare at him with a gentle smile on your face. He had worded the exact thing you had in your mind earlier; how you just wanted to watch a movie and that you were grateful he had given you the chance to do so without dealing with those idiots first. And he had called you pretty… It made you realize he perhaps had given up a nice quiet evening like that himself, only to help you out… purely out of the goodness of his heart. And here you were, making him nervous on purpose because it was funny.

Somehow, you suddenly felt you definitely needed to return the favor. And maybe that way, the evening could turn out as wanted for the both of you. “Well actually, a movie sounds like a great idea right now. How about you join this not-medieval-looking- pretty –girl and we watch it together?” you suggested, seeing a bright light flash through his eyes once he realized what you had just said. “Really?” Chanyeol spoke. “Really.” you said, daringly taking his hand back and pulling him with you. His eyes widened as he looked from your hands to your face, and back. “In case the guys show up again.” You mumbled, feeling a bit ridiculous for giving such a lame excuse when you actually felt like holding his hand. There was something comfortable about this contact with him, even if it caused him to walk around with the biggest freaking smile you had ever seen on someone’s face. And as the two of you sank down in your couch, still holding those hands together, you realized that for once you indeed felt completely at home…. And safe, with your knight in shining armor.