Sehun sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, still caked with gel and hairspray from a few hours ago. As an idol, he was used to getting dolled up day after day, but shooting scenes for a music video had the tendency to tire him out. He moved his hand down to the sore spot on his neck, rubbing it gently as he made his way down the empty street. Sehun loved taking walks at night like this, the solitude giving him time and space to just think. He glanced at his phone: 9:08 PM. It seemed early for it to be so dark, but fall had already come, so the days would keep getting shorter.

Sehun had lifted his foot off the ground just enough to kick at a small pebble, when a noise behind him made him stop. It was almost like the sound of a shoe scraping against concrete. He turned, but there was no one in sight. Had he really heard the noise? Suddenly, a hand was over his mouth, grabbing him from behind and pulling him into the darkness of a narrow alleyway. It spun him and slammed him against the wall, one hand now fisted into his shirt and the other holding a blade against his throat. He leaned his head back as far as he could, his breath coming shallow and ragged.

"Oh Sehun?" A voice growled from behind the knife. Sehun wanted to swallow, but didn't dare move. "It's a pleasure meeting you in person. I'm a pretty big fan, you see." He laughed, and others joined in. Two of them.

"Wh.... What do you want?" Sehun croaked, struggling to find his voice. The man grabbed Sehun by the hair and slammed his head into the wall. He made a startled noise of pain and blinked his eyes, the edges of his vision starting to black out.

"Stay ing quiet!" The man hissed. The knife dug deeper into his skin.

"What do you want from me?" Sehun choked out. He didn't want to die so easily, without a struggle.

"You don't listen, do you?" He threw Sehun's head against the wall again, but this time released his hair and let him fall to the ground. The man sent a hard boot flying into his ribs. He wheezed and sputtered, gasping for breath. After another hard kick the man bent down, grabbed Sehun by the neck and hoisted him back up against the wall. Sehun knew all too well by now that this wasn't your average robbery, that this man had a reason to target him.

His consciousness started to slip as a hand around his throat cut off his air supply. He thought he heard someone yell, but everything sounded so far away. Suddenly the hand released its grip and his lungs filled again, his chest heaving and throat raw.

"Who are you?" The man snarled. Again the knife was pressed underneath his chin. Sehun shifted his eyes to see who had joined them. A man stood at the entrance to the alley. He was tall with a mess of russet hair, and upon meeting Sehun's eyes, exhausted and pleading, he dropped into a stance.

"Not another step! One move and I'll cut his pretty throat!" Blood started to well around the knife, streaking down his neck and soaking into his shirt collar. Sehun winced and held his breath, and the new stranger lunged. He was so fast that the man didn't have time to react before the knife was knocked out of his hand and a foot was planted into his chest, sending him flying.

"Yo..u.... er! Get him!" He coughed, but his men were already rushing the attacker. The red haired man was ready, and met the first one with an ankle hooked around his neck, dragging him down and grinding his face into the dirt. He aimed a punch at the second lackey's face, but he dodged it. The red haired man grunted as the other landed a solid punch to his left cheekbone, but reciprocated by knocking his feet out from under him and pressing his shoe into the man's throat.

"Are you ok?" He asked Sehun, who was sitting hunched against the brick wall. Sehun gave a slight nod. "What's going on here?" He sends an icy glare to the leader who was still on the ground, fists balled up in rage. When he didn't get a response, he pressed his shoe harder into the windpipe beneath it, earning a strangled yelp from the man laying defeated on the ground.

"Tch..... Lets get out of here," their leader growled, dragging himself off the ground and backing away, not breaking eye contact with his enemy until he'd disappeared from sight. The man removed his foot and let the other slither away, running to catch up with his leader.

"Bastards," he muttered as he went to crouch by Sehun. "Can you stand?" He placed a steadying hand on Sehun's back as he did his best to slowly rise off the ground.

"Ugh," Sehun grunted and wrapped a hand around his torso. His ribs hurt. His head hurt. Breathing hurt. He blinked his eyes hard and looked up at the man who had saved him. "Thanks, I....." The man smiled.

"Don't mention it. I'm glad you're alright. I'm Tao, by the way." Sehun struggled to take a few shaky steps forward. As he did so, the world started to spin, and he could no longer keep his eyes open. The last thing he saw before he out were Tao's hands reaching out for him.

 

//

 

Tao was also the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. He didn't recognize the room he was in, but Tao was leaning over him, cotton swab in his hand, dabbing away at a small cut on Sehun's cheek. The antiseptic stung, making him flinch.

"Oh, you're awake," Tao said as he gently patted a bandage over the cut. He immediately began to soak a new swab, as there were more wounds to attend to.

"Where...?" Sehun started, peering around the room. He was on a couch, Tao was perched on a stool beside him. The light hurt his eyes, so he squeezed them shut and let his head fall back against the couch.

"My apartment. I live just up the street from where you were attacked." ....Attacked? Oh, that's right. Sehun's whole body started to ache as he gathered his thoughts. Someone had tried to kill him while he was out for a night walk. "You should be more careful. You're an idol, right? I've seen you on T.V. before." He trailed the cotton bud down the long slice on his neck. Sehun hissed and flinched again. "You're lucky this cut isn't deeper." He pressed the swab into the wound again. For emphasis, maybe.

"Why would someone target me like that? It didn't seem like they were interested in money." Sehun finally spoke up.

"Haven't you been watching the news lately? All those rumors about 'idol terrorism.' I guess they're true." That does ring a bell, actually. Sehun had brushed it off as being just another bull story.

"! They're probably worried sick about me, I'd told them I'd be back in a few minutes," Sehun sat up abruptly and winced as his body protested.

"Who?"

"My group members, they don't know where I am." Slowly, painfully, he managed to pull himself into an upright position.

"I'll take you home." Tao suggested, setting his first aid kit down on the coffee table behind him. He eyed Sehun's shirt, filthy and covered in blood. "Want some new clothes first?"

"No, I can just change when I get back." Sehun was sure he looked like a total mess, but he really just wanted to be home.

 

//

 

The ride from Tao's apartment was fairly short. When they arrived at Sehun's building, Tao got out of the car and walked him to the door.

"Thanks. For saving my life and all." Sehun awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. A simple 'thanks' obviously wasn't enough, but he didn't know what else to say. Tao smiled and gave a quiet laugh, and reached out a hand to ruffle Sehun's already-messy silver hair.

"See you soon, Sehun." And he was gone. Sehun stepped onto the elevator, a little puzzled by Tao's last statement, and got off when it finally reached the 12th floor. When he opened the door to his dorm, he was greeted with half a dozen sighs of relief and a firm embrace from Jongin. His friend let go after a moment and stepped back to examine Sehun.

"My god, what happened to you?" Everyone in the room stared at him in shock. His pale skin was bruised, his clothes were covered in blood, and his posture was hunched as he still couldn't manage to stand up straight.

"Don't scare us like that!" Their manager, Suho, pushed forward and gripped the taller boy's shoulders.

 

Sehun went through a verbal playthrough of what happened.

Afterwards, Suho just smiled to himself and muttered, "Tao, huh?"

 

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a/n: thanks to everyone who read!! this is my first time writing taohun, so it might be a little rough around the edges. i'll try to update as often as possible, but life likes to get in the way of things. comments mean a lot to me!!! thanks again *blows kisses*