The next day, Haeri got dressed with JongUp still in her house again. He didn’t leave again, and she had a feeling that he could get in trouble for not patrolling the streets. But she wasn’t ready to admit that she didn’t want him to do it either. 

It would be weird, it was nice having him around, nice to have his warmth around her when she was lonely in the mornings. Her parents weren’t even around anymore anyway, they stopped coming home for a while so all the food she had gotten for them was just sitting around. 

It was weird that they weren’t back for a while but Haeri wasn’t about to question it again. After all, the longer they were gone, the longer JongUp could stay at her place. “So I have an extra tutoring session with Chanwoo today, his parents request two a week when midterms and finals get close.” Haeri explained to him. 

“So I’ll meet you at the boundary then?” He asked her, straightening out his uniform. He could probably start leaving one around if he was going to keep doing this. But that would awkward as well. He didn’t plan on doing this all the time after all. She was someone who needed protection, he was just going out of his way to help her. 

“That would be good.” She replied. “Just be careful of Junhong at school. He will probably be watching you.”  

JongUp shrugged nonchalantly, “Yeah, but I can handle it. Besides, you should be more worried about yourself. You’re the vulnerable one.” He scolded her lightly but he didn’t mean it harshly. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Haeri said, as they headed towards school. It was bound to be another boring day, the clouds were overcast and she noticed that the sun wasn’t coming out anytime soon. This tended to be a bad omen for her, but she wasn’t necessarily superstitious.  

“I hope that nothing happens at school. Junhong or otherwise, boys are crazy about you. And guys are more courageous than girls are.” JongUp told her, his hand already in hers without her noticing. 

“I know, but we should be fine.” Haeri said, as they got closer and closer to school. She felt his hand linger in hers when he let go and she immediately missed his warmth. 

“I’ll see you after your tutoring.” JongUp said, slipping away before anyone from school could see them. 

She would be seeing him in class, but it wouldn’t be the same. He knew that, but that didn’t mean she didn’t miss him right now. It was weird to not have him around, she liked it, perhaps a bit too much. 

She sat down in the classroom, not even paying attention to the noise and she saw the white chalk markings on the board that explained the lessons she had to learn today. She did everything on auto-pilot, merely waiting for the day to be over. She managed to take notes as well as do the readings necessary to keep up with class.  

She said nothing when the teacher asked about the book, called on people for answers and she just sat there like the good student she was without having to constantly pay attention. The teacher didn’t even seem to care that she was on auto-pilot if he even bothered to notice. 

*ding dong* 

The bell rang for the end of the day and Haeri gathered her things together. “Are you okay?” Youngjae asked her. She was surprised that she could detect a small hint of concern in his voice. 

“Yeah, fine. Just tired since we have tests and stuff.” Haeri said lightly, “I have more tutoring because everyone else also had midterms.”  

“Don’t overwork yourself. You have to be on top of your game before you can even tutor other people.” Youngjae said. 

His concern threw Haeri off once again, this was highly unusual for him to really care. He usually wanted her to slip up, then he could take her spot. “Thanks, Youngjae.” She said politely, before dashing out to get to the library before Chanwoo did. 

Junhong took this as his opportunity, “Hey, Youngjae right?” He asked him.  

Youngjae turned to see who was speaking to him. When he saw that it was the new student, he relaxed. Someone that clearly needed help would be okay in his book. “Yes? Do you need help catching up with the lessons?” He asked. 

Junhong feigned concern for school for a moment, “Yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck, “I’m a bit lost and I know I’m supposed to ask Go Haeri since that’s what the teacher said, but I figured since you’re free now, I could ask you too.” He said. 

Youngjae smirked, “Of course, besides if I tutor you, that’s one less guy that gets tutored by her.” He said slyly. 

Junhong didn’t miss the change in character from Youngjae and that just meant he would be able to find more things whenever he finally got the chance to ask. 

Haeri sat down right before Chanwoo got into the library. He gave her a quick smile and walked towards their designated table. “Hello, noona.” He greeted her politely. 

“Hello, Chanwoo.” She replied. “So midterms.”  

“Yeah..” He said sadly, “They get harder and harder every year it feels like.” He took out all of his books for the work he needed help with and Haeri just smiled. 

“It does a little bit but you just need to focus on learning the concepts and you’ll be able to pass all of them with ease.” Haeri said. “What first?”  

“Math.” Chanwoo replied and she took out the math book, some paper and a pencil and they got to work. Several hours passed before they finally got through all three subjects that he needed help with. The sun was down again when they were done. 

“So is that guy going to walk you home, noona?” Chanwoo asked quietly to make sure they weren’t overheard. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said, “But I’ll be fine to walk home, Chanwoo, do not worry.”  

“I won’t.” Chanwoo told her, “He seems like a good guy, noona. You should keep him around more often.” He turned away in the direction of his house and left Haeri there a bit dumbfounded. 

How would Chanwoo know anything anyway? He had only seen JongUp once, what was he even talking about. Besides, JongUp was a good guy and she knew that already. 

She muttered to herself, going over the tutoring session in her head when she realized she was already on the boundary of her neighborhood. 

She took a step when she realized that JongUp wasn’t around yet. That was highly unusual, he was always there, but she finished about 30 minutes earlier than usual if that made a difference. But he said he would be waiting there from when the sun went down until she showed up. 

She moved into their neighborhood more and more, by herself, people were already in their old habits, selling and taking drugs in the slimy corners of their neighborhood. She noticed some guys falling over themselves up ahead and she could already feel the deja vu coming.  

This was all too familiar, whenever guys like this were around, she was always their target. They noticed her from afar before she could even do anything. Suddenly, she felt herself looking at a chest, a hand on the back of her head, protecting her from the wall and a very close body in front of her. 

“Shh…” He said and she knew immediately who she was with. Her heartbeat calming just slightly, the rush of hiding from the drunks and just waiting out their walking turned seconds into minutes as she felt how close JongUp was to her. 

This was probably what Chanwoo meant about keeping him around. Unless Chanwoo meant something else, but he knew the rules. He knew that Haeri wasn’t allowed to have certain things and a boyfriend was one of them. 

She shifted slightly, because of the awkward angle of her legs were starting to get uncomfortable and he moved her more into the darkness. “Sorry I wasn’t there on time.” He told her. 

“It’s okay. Something happened?” She whispered back to him, tilting her head up so she could see his face. The moonlight shone in her eyes but she could see the hardened gaze he had on her.  

Something obviously happened, she didn’t need to know what, but she could already see the open cut on his cheekbone from a previous fight of the night. He looked at her with disappointment, but more in himself than anything else.  

“It’s okay.” She told him again. “I’m fine. You’re here now.” She said, leaning up to him and pressing a hand against his cheek. She gently grazed his skin underneath the cut. He jerked, putting his hand over hers on his cheek. 

She held his gaze as he continued to stare at her. She felt frozen in place under his gaze and he leaned in closer to her. She hesitantly bit her lip as he moved his hand from his face to hers, cupping her cheek. 

She couldn’t hear anything around her and she thought her heart would stop. He moved in closer, pressing his lips against hers and she felt how soft they were. Softer than she ever would have expected, he went slow, nudging her softly, until she opened to him and he flicked his tongue into . 

He didn’t move too fast as she would have freaked out, but he himself couldn’t believe what he was doing. This didn’t make any sense, it was his job to protect her. He didn’t like that he was feeling possessive or that he went out of his way to stay with her.  

But he did, he liked spending time with her, talking to her, learning things about her. She was nervous, he could tell. Hell, he had never done this before either, but he just went with his gut instinct. After all, that’s what got him to the top in the first place. 

He pressed up against her more firmly, still cradling her head so she wouldn’t hit it against the wall and she gasped. Her hands clutched his clothes tightly at his chest and leaned into him. This was not what he had planned, they were just to wait for the drunks to pass and get to the house. He kept kissing her until he could tell she was getting light-headed and he pulled away. 

“Hey.” He said a little breathlessly, as he noticed she was still in a haze. 

She looked at him with glazed over eyes. “Hi.” She whispered back. 

“I like you.” He said the words aloud and never had he realized that it sounded so right until now. This was something bigger than him, bigger than just protecting her.  

He watched her hesitate for a moment, there was no way that she didn’t feel the same way. She wouldn’t just invite him into her life without feeling something. She couldn’t possibly be that naive. 

“Me, too.” She replied back. “But.” She mumbled to herself. 

“But what?” He asked her quickly, “Do you not like me in that way?” He asked her. 

Haeri shook her head vigorously, “No, no. I like you. But is it really fair for me to like you? You’re Moon and taking you away from the streets will be bad.” She said. 

JongUp smirked and she felt her heart leap out of her chest, “The only thing worth protecting on these streets now is you. So no. Now, come on. You want some company?” He asked, turning out towards the sidewalk and taking her hand in his. 

“Yeah. Always.” She said murmured softly, as JongUp led the way back to her empty house. 

Author's Note;;
YAY~ FINALLY? LOL.
i hope this is good for you guys as it is for me. ><
idk. ._. i feel like it might be rushed but then at the same time, i feel like they took 5EVER. ._. 
Meh. okay done ranting, enjoy :D