“I’m always around you, / come to me without concern of others / I’ll protect you from all these wolves, / hurry and come here” -- B.A.P.; Dancing in the Rain

    Staring down at the photograph clutched between his fingers, Bang Yongguk let his eyes wander over the person shown within. He had already memorized her features, but it never hurt just to verify. She was his new target, and he would have to find her before her enemies did.

    Tucking it into a hidden pocket in his jacket, Yongguk hoisted himself up the side of the building onto the roof. From his perch, he could see all the lights of the city glittering below him. Travelling via rooftop was perfect, as humans tended not to look upwards, especially into alleyways. Staring across the shadowy rooftops, Yongguk caught sight of his target: the flashiest, most gaudy building in a 50 kilometer radius. It was a new club, and the hype it was receiving was enough to draw all sorts of customers, both savory and not.

    Yongguk shifted slightly, and suddenly jumped from his current position to the next rooftop. Luckily, the wind was barely blowing, and his specialized design allowed him to travel noiselessly. Hopping easily across the rooftops of buildings, Yongguk reached his destination, gazing down at the club in front of him. Loud music was easily heard, even from as far away as he was, and people milled about around the entrance. He would have to find his target among this messy, drunken crowd.

    Sliding down the side of the next building, Yongguk positioned himself where he wouldn’t be conspicuous. When he found the chance, he followed a small group of people towards the entrance. There was security there, but a quick flash of his fake human identification and Yongguk was inside.

    The music here was far louder than the outside, but Yongguk was able to tune his audio settings appropriately. Scanning the crowd, he made his way between the gyrating bodies and towards the center of the room. As predicted, it was completely jam-packed. Finding his target would be a bit of a hassle, but not unmanageable. Yongguk slid between two people, not registering the affronted glares they shot at him. Humans were too easily offended. Reaching the front of the room, near the DJ’s booth, Yongguk surreptitiously engaged his HUD to better search the crowd. It wouldn’t be visible to humans, but it was always best to be careful.

    A quiet beeping told Yongguk that his target had been sighted, and just in time, too. Near the door, he spotted what were probably the girl’s pursuers. He quickly turned his head to observe her. She was wearing a skin-tight party dress and tall heels. Perfect for the club, but not perfect for running, Yongguk mused. Regardless, Yongguk left his perch and pressed through the crowd, not minding if he bumped into the people on the dance floor. Finally, he was standing in front of her.

    “May I?” Yongguk asked loudly, grabbing her wrist without waiting for an answer. There was an exit door 6.3 meters to their right. It was the fastest way.

    The girl cursed and tried to extricate herself from his grasp, but he knew it was like iron; tight enough to hold her securely, but not enough to hurt her. Yongguk had his outer human skin to thank for that. Pushing the door open into the cool night air, Yongguk pulled the target down the set of stairs that led into a side alley.

    “Who the hell are you, and where are you taking me?” she hissed, still trying to peel his fingers from her wrist. Yongguk stopped abruptly, causing her to run into him.

    “I was hired to save your life. You can ask all other questions later. Follow my orders and you’ll live,” Yongguk replied shortly. Humans truly were troublesome. According to his calculations, the hired thugs would be out here shortly. They needed to move. The fastest way would be the rooftops, but he doubted she would be able to keep up there.

    Yongguk turned to her and stared her in the eye. She stared back, defiant and angry. “We need to run. Please remove your shoes.” With a snort, she complied, hooking the heels around the strap of her bag. Nodding slightly, Yongguk readjusted his grip and began running. The further they could get from the club, the better. A map of the area popped up before his eyes, and Yongguk scanned it for a safe point somewhere, anywhere. To his relief, there was a convenience store a few blocks away that had somewhere they could hide for a little bit and recuperate. Yongguk turned sharply around the corner, ignoring the slight gasp of pain from behind him. Right now, her safety was the primary objective; anything else was merely secondary.

    Finally reaching the convenience store, Yongguk pulled her in roughly. The store owner looked at him curiously, but Yongguk strode over, pulling his loaned wallet out of his pocket. Instead of flashing the fake ID, he flipped it up and showed the owner his proper identification.

Official Identification Code: PB828241

Given Name: Bang Yongguk

Certified Surveillance and Bodyguard Automaton, Version 2.4

Approved by the National Intelligence Service

The owner nodded briefly, his expression never changing. Gesturing to Yongguk, he led the two of them into a back room. Yongguk unceremoniously dumped the girl onto the ground.

“If you’re hungry, I am able to retrieve food,” he intoned, leaning against the wall. “For now, we must stay here for a short while.”

The girl glared at him, crossing her arms and settling against the opposite wall. “You still haven’t explained what’s going on, Mr. Holier-than-thou. Who are you? Where are we going? Why are we hiding? Why is my life in danger?!” At the end of her statement, her voice rose in a hysterical shriek, and she shook her hair out of her eyes furiously. Yongguk watched her, uninterested. Humans tended to have strange bouts of emotional distress, but he was sure it would pass. Nonetheless, she may resist further unless he explained at least the basic details. Sending a quick message to headquarters, he received an affirmative beep and a ‘go-ahead’ to divulge some of the information he had received.

“Would you like me to respond to your inquiries in the order you posed them?” Yongguk fixed his gaze on her, and she nodded sharply. “Very well. My given name is Bang Yongguk, and that is what you need to refer to me as. I am a surveillance and bodyguard automaton hired for your protection. At the moment, I am taking you to my headquarters, where you will be safe from your pursuers. This is the same reason we are currently hiding at this safehouse. They were right behind me, and if I had not arrived when I had, you may now be in their hands.” Yongguk paused for a little while, watching the conflict flash in her eyes. “Your life is in danger because you are the daughter of an influential politician. I will take you to meet him.”

“What?! The daughter of a politician?! Give me a break,” she laughed, voice still hysterical. “I was gonna let you stand here and feed me all this bull about being tailed by someone’s goonies, but now you drop the big bomb? Wow, I’m impressed. I didn’t peg you for a liar. Sorry to tell you, but my parents definitely run a dry cleaners.”

Yongguk shook his head slightly. “You were adopted.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “I bet you feed this story to all of the girls you abduct, right? I need to get back to the club. My friends will be worried about me.” She made a motion to stand, but Yongguk was there in a flash, pinning her arm against the wall. She made a noise of pain, but he knew that it didn’t truly hurt very much.

“If you leave now, you won’t be able to move five meters before you are taken and summarily executed.” The girl shivered under him, but Yongguk paid her no mind. “Stay with me, and you will be safe.”

She let out a shaky breath, and when the strength left her arm Yongguk let it drop. “This is actually real, I guess? Wow, that’s freaky.” She rubbed a hand against her feet, and it was then that Yongguk noticed that they were red and irritated, starting to bleed in some placed. Making his way to the door of the back room, he knocked lightly, and there was a moment of shuffling before the store owner opened it.

“Is there a problem, sir?”

“No, not at all. However, would you be able to bring us some adhesive bandages, alcohol swabs, a pair of tennis shoes, a pair of socks and some cup ramyun?” The store owner nodded quickly, hurrying off into the depths of the store. Yongguk manned the door until he returned a short while later, juggling the items in one hand and a hot cup of ramyun in the other. Yongguk took them from him with a nod, closing the door tightly and locking it.

Yongguk made his way over to the woman and handed her the ramyun. “Eat.”

Though she glared angrily at him, she still took the food from him and started eating. That was a start, he supposed. As she did so, he sat down on the floor, taking one of her feet in his hands. She jerked it away, looking shocked.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Fixing up your feet so that you can run later,” Yongguk replied sharply, taking it into his lap again. Wiping the cuts carefully with the alcohol swabs, he affixed the bandages and slid on the socks, setting the shoes next to her feet and pushing them off of his lap when he was done. She shifted unhappily, but set the empty ramyun container down next to her. Yongguk nodded approvingly, motioning to the shoes. “Put them on. We need to leave. We have already wasted enough time here.”

“Do you not need to eat or anything?” she asked cautiously, taking the shoes and wrinkling her nose at them before sliding them on. Yongguk stared stonily at her.

“Even for a human, you seem particularly obtuse. I am an automaton. I run on battery power, not human food,” he intoned, standing up abruptly. “Now we leave.”

Behind him, he heard her muttering to herself that ‘she wasn’t obtuse at all and what did obtuse even mean anyways...no one speaks like that’, but no matter. Whatever kept her entertained kept her “out of his hair”, as one expression went.

Exiting the convenience store, Yongguk led her along the alleyway. Though everything was all-clear on his monitor, Yongguk’s data sensors told him that this was not in the normal pattern that these people followed. He quickened his pace, pulling the woman behind him at a brisk walk. Though she seemed irritated by the pace, she held her tongue, and also did not sound as pained as she did earlier.

Sliding silently through the streets, the two of them pressed further onwards. Suddenly, Yongguk’s sensors caught a flash of movement. He spun sharply, but there was nothing around them. Just as he was about to continue moving, a warning blip appeared on his monitor. Suspects spotted.

“We need to run. Right now,” Yongguk growled, shoving the girl in front of him. She didn’t hesitate this time, just bolting straight in front of her.

“Where- where do we need to go?  I d-don’t know where we are!” she gasped out, breathing becoming uneven.

“Right now, that does not matter. I will tell you where to go.”

She gave him a nod the best she could, still running. Yongguk heard a few shouts from behind them and made an unhappy noise.

“Hurry, hurry!” he yelped, speeding up to the girl’s pace. He placed a hand on the small of her back and pushed her forwards, almost causing her to stumble.

“Hey!” she bit out sharply, catching herself before hurrying onwards. Sighing at her pitiful attempts, Yongguk yanked her wrist, sending her tumbling towards him. He stopped for a moment and hefted her into his arms before starting back down the street again. The girl’s body heat and heart rate were both elevated, but Yongguk wasn’t worried about that just now.

He could get used to this.