Huang Zitao stared at himself in the mirror. His father was stood behind, his hands placed firmly on his son’s shoulders. Tao was brushing himself off, swiping his hands carefully down his clothes as he looked at himself, for the first time, almost admiring the smartly dressed reflection.
 

“You make a fine young man, Zitao,” his father spoke, smiling proudly at him in the mirror, “you are more than fit to take my place when you are old enough.” There were two things Tao hated about that sentence. The first, he hated being called Zitao, but he never told his father otherwise so as not to disappoint or upset him. The second, he hated being rich. His father would always tell him how one day he’d inherit his fortunes, have a wife and hopefully an heir to pass the money onto once it was his time.
 

His father was so proud of him, being not just his only son but his only child after his wife had passed to heaven a few years ago. It hadn’t affected Tao too greatly, of course he’d loved his mother but they’d never shared much of a bond – not like his father.
 

“I hope I will make you proud of me, father.” Tao smiled faintly, placing a small peck on his father’s cheek before walking away and down the stairs to leave the house. They lived in a grand house, a mansion. It was beautiful, although, Tao wasn’t one for such a fancy lifestyle. Whenever he was out of the house, he would try to make the most of it, acting as if he was a normal person with a normal life – not a man being waited upon hand and foot with a father already planning his future wedding!
 

He didn’t have the privilege of having friends, it was something he’d always wanted, but even as a young boy he’d never had any. As a rich boy, he was home schooled mostly by his father, so he never had the chance to meet other boys his age. The only boys he ever did meet were the sons of his father’s friends. They were all the stuck up type, brought up to be the best, well behaved boys, carrying it out to their young adulthood as if they owned everything. Tao hated them, especially Luhan. He was the most pompous, stuck up, obsequious, person he’d ever seen, always bragging that his father owned more money than anyone else’s. He was vulgar.
 

Tao thought through everything that had happened and was happening now in his life as he strolled out of the house, his head in the clouds as he thought alone to himself. He’d gotten so used to being alone that it never once crossed his mind that he would be happy with company, he was content with his loneliness. As long as he had his thoughts, he didn’t need anyone else in his life.
 

As he gazed mindlessly at the world going by, he didn’t realise a man following behind him. He wasn’t too close that it was obvious but he kept close enough to stay hot on his trail.
 

Suddenly, Tao stopped dead in his tracks as a group of men in hoodies started to close in on him. Looking around confusedly, Tao snapped out of his state and became fearful. He’d never been taught how to fight, he wasn’t supposed to, it was wrong for someone like him to fight. A man grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall, staring into his eyes coldly and making Tao tremble and whimper.
 

“W-what do you want?” he said nervously, “do you want money? I can give you money!” Tao was ready to yell but something was stopping him, it was like he didn’t have the ability to anymore, his eyes widening in terror and hands shaking nervously. “Please don’t hurt me!” Tears were b in his eyes as he spoke, his features paling.
 

Then, as if from nowhere, the man that had been following him was beside them both. When the man pinning Tao looked over, he was immediately knocked to the floor, so quick that Tao didn’t know what had happened and blinked in confusion. Soon, there was a fight starting before his eyes, fists flying everywhere from the mysterious man who seemed to be dealing heavy blows to the hooded attackers.
 

In a flash, they were all down, clutching where they’d been struck or looking in fear at the man. As soon as he gave a harsh glare to them, clutching his hands into fists again, they all ran as fast as they could away from the scene.
 

Tao stared for a few moments in stunned silence, afraid to speak, afraid to even blink as he gazed upon the man in front of him. He made his breath catch in his throat; he’d never seen anyone so handsome. His eyes were a dark, swirling brown like melted chocolate, his hair was pushed back nicely and his muscles  were pretty impressive, no wonder he could knock a person out in a punch.
 

Tao looked at him in awe, only now realising what the man had just done and quickly snapping out of the trance-like state. He started to feel scared again, what was to say he wouldn’t beat him up too? The man started to approach and Tao gasped, knowing he couldn’t move back any further as his back was already against the wall and was too afraid to move forward to try and run past him. He was trapped. For all he knew, he’d wake up on the ground with a black eye – maybe worse.
 

The man approached close until Tao could feel clouds of breath hitting his cheek. He closed his eyes tightly, hoping for the worst and not willing to fight back. A few moments of eerie quietness passed and Tao opened one eye to see why he hadn’t been struck yet. To his surprise, the man was just standing there, looking at him with soft eyes and a mischievously playful smile on his lips. Tao opened his eyes fully, feeling almost relaxed in his presence.
 

“I’m Siwon,” he spoke, his voice somewhat deep but soothing to listen to, just as his features were pleasing to the eye, “I hope I didn’t scare you.”
 

Tao blinked, absolutely astonished at the man in front of him. “I… I’m Tao.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, feeling as if it would’ve been easier for the guy to hit him so he didn’t have to deal with talking to a strange man that beats people up. On the plus side, he looked like an angel that had fallen from heaven.
 

After a while of awkwardness, Tao said, quite uneasily, “why didn’t you hit me?” The response was plain and simple, something that Tao didn’t yet understand. The reply was,
 

“I am your guardian.”