Seohyun looks around every each floor every time she reached there. Since it is past 12.00am now, she needs to make sure that no one saw her sneaking inside the building during curfew. It is really nerve-racking because her room is in 7^th floor and it’s tiring for her to climb the stairs. She can’t take elevator because people will suspect her and there is a CCTV there.

She finally reached the 7^th floor and she lost count how many times she is huffing and puffing to catch her breath after climbing for a lot of steps of stairs. This is crazy and a lot harder than walking on those hilly roads here.

Afraid if people found out about her, she tip-toes towards her room. At first, she doesn’t want to go back to her room at all but after being persuaded by Irene for a number of times, she decides to go back. She really doesn’t want to go back because Luhan is there. How is she going to face him after the kiss? She can’t understand her own feelings now.

Today, she has been thinking about the kiss that she couldn’t concentrate in her class. She is confused with herself. After the kiss, she felt angry and disappointed but those feelings faded and replaced with thousands of question that contradict with her feelings earlier. Why did Luhan kiss her? Why did she kiss him back? Why does she feel like something is pulling her to him? Why does her heart ache when she avoided him? Why this? Why that? All sorts of question are playing on her mind.

Seohyun stands in front of her room while contemplating the door. Should she enter her room? If she didn’t, where else she would go? She takes a deep breath and gets inside the room. Her mind is thinking that she won’t face Luhan because he might be sleeping now. Yes, he is probably sleeping right now. It’s already midnight.

She looks around the room in stupefaction. What happened to the room? Why the room is in mess? She looks up to see whether Luhan is there but he isn’t. Where is he? The papers are scattered everywhere and the table are disarranged from where it is placed before? She is so shock with the surrounding. What is going on here?

“Seo-Seohyun?”

Seohyun turns to where the voice is coming from.

“Yo-You’re back! I’m so glad that you’re back. I was worried about you.” Luhan came out from the bathroom and he couldn’t expressed himself how delighted he is now after seeing her standing at the centre of the room safe and sound. He walks towards there in difficulty without leaving the smile of happiness on his face.

Seohyun noticed that there is something off with Luhan. He looks so weak and limped heavily as he walks. He used the wall as a support and falls down when he tried to reach the table for another support. He groans loudly in pain.

Ignoring her intention to avoid him, she goes to him and tries to lift him up but every time she touched his shoulder, he groans loudly as he is having a pain of something. She looks at him worriedly and relieved a sigh when he finally managed to stand but he needs support. That’s when she smells something that kind of from an ointment’s smell.

“Unnie, are you okay?” Her face is clearly showed that she is extremely worried about him.

Luhan never leaves his smile even though he is in pain. He doesn’t care about that as long as Seohyun is safe and she is back. “I’m- I’m okay.” He said in a very slow whisper. No one is possible to hear that but Seohyun heard it.

“What happened to this room, unnie? Why does this room in mess?” Luhan’s smile fades away after she asked that to him. She noticed the changed expression of him and wanted to ask why when she saw something on his face. “Unnie, your lip is bleeding.” She pointed to that and squints after she saw something again. “Unnie, is that a bruise under your eye? What happened to you?” She could see under his eye is swollen with a little red color around it.

He is still smiling at her while she was looking at him in worried. “It’s nothing. Really!” He assured that he is fine but of course she didn’t buy that excuse.

“If it’s nothing, then why our room is like this? Why are looking like this?” She demanded for an answer for him.

He didn’t want to tell her what exactly happened that caused their room to become like this. While he is thinking, his knee slightly bends which caused him to flinch and scream in pain. Seohyun couldn’t help but to worry him more. She wanted to ask him but he is in pain now so she should help him that.

She puts her right arm around his waist while putting his left arm around her neck. To be honest, Luhan feels even more painful than before when she touched there but he doesn’t want her to know so he holds the pain all by himself.

She was about to guide him to the spiral stairs which leads to his bed but she couldn’t bear to hear his painful scream every time he took a step. “Unnie, I will let you sleep on my bed.”

Hearing that, he immediately shakes his head because he doesn’t want her to pressure herself. “Y-You don’t have to. I can sleep in my bed.”

“No, unnie! You’re really hurt. I can’t stand seeing you like this.”

Without waiting any longer, she leads him to her bed and after many struggles, he managed to lie on her bed. Seohyun sits on the floor and faces him just like what he did to her yesterday. She is totally forgotten what he did this morning because she feels hurt seeing him in pain although she doesn’t know what happened to him.

“Go to sleep in my bed, Seohyun. I’m sorry for taking your bed.” Luhan feels bad when she did this to help him even though he did something wrong to her.

Seohyun his head softly and gives him a gentle smile while shaking her head. “You don’t have to say sorry. You look in pain so badly. Can I ask you something?” Before she managed to ask him, her phone beeped indicating that there is an incoming message. It was from Irene. She is asking if she managed to reach her room safely and without getting caught.

She replies to her message and looks through her inbox. She is surprised that Luhan had sent her a lot of text messages mostly asking her where is she and he stated that he is worried of her. She feels bad because she decided to avoid him today but who knows that her action caused Luhan to be like this.

She goes through the messages when one of the messages caught her eyes.

From: Luhan
Seohyun, are you the one who is knocking the door outside?
Please tell me if that is you.
I’m afraid that the warden comes and checks our room.

Her eyes widen in shock after she read that message. Could it be?

“Unnie, did the warden come to our room?” Seohyun asked eagerly as she wants the answer now. “Unnie, tell me!” Luhan has no choice but to admit it. “Which one? Unnie, which warden?” Her voice rose a bit so that he will tell her the answer right away.

In one block, they have a lot of warden to do an inspection. Most of them observed from the CCTV to identify the students who went to other dorm or block. Seohyun is very lucky today but without her knowing something, there is a reason behind it.

“Tell me who is it, unnie!” Luhan didn’t give any answer or rather he doesn’t want to. Seohyun will freak out once she knows about it. “It’s the head warden, isn’t it?” Her words shock Luhan a lot. How does she know that he is the one? “So it’s really him.” She said in very soft voice. “I’m sorry, unnie.”

Luhan doesn’t understand why she needs to apologize when it’s not her fault at all. “You did nothing wrong at all, Seohyun. Don’t say that.”

“It’s my fault. If I come back before the curfew, you wouldn’t have to face him. He can’t be trusted.” The head warden is a rough person. It wouldn't surprise her if Luhan is beaten by him. But she still feels guilty about it.

“I know what happened to you, Seohyun. He was trying to you when you found him in your room to set up everything. Moonkyu, the bus driver was the one who saved you but he was fired because he entered the girl’s dormitory and assault on him.” Luhan told her that he knows her dark history.

She couldn’t believe that he knew about her story. But she wonders who told him since she didn’t tell him at all. “Who told you?”

“The drivers.” He answered shortly. Yes, the drivers told him and they knew his real identity.

~Flashback~

It was when after he took the last bus when he was at the office. Kyungsoo was the driver and Luhan was the only person in the bus. Once he saw the Block 9’s building, he pressed the bell so that the bus would stop but surprisingly, it didn’t. He was about to ask why but knowing that he is kind of scared of Kyungsoo, so he just let it be. Maybe, he just takes a walk from wherever the bus is stopped to his building.

However, the bus didn’t stop until the end. Kyungsoo stopped the bus at one place where he assumed to be the starting point of where the bus usually starts its journey. Luhan saw all the drivers were like waiting for Kyungsoo and once the door was opened, they got into the bus and Kyungsoo closed the door again.

Luhan gulped and shivered in his place because all the drivers were smirking at him and stared at him deeply. What did they want from him? He felt he is facing with a serial killer that was waiting for the right time to kill him.

“Nice to meet you, Officer Luhan! You are such a brave guy to come here.” Kai began.

Luhan looked at him and all of them were looking at him like they wanted to eat him alive. But how did Kai knew that he is a police officer? Most importantly, they knew that he is a guy?

“How- How do you know- about that?” He couldn’t believe that they found out that he is a guy. Guess he needs to say goodbye to this university now.

“Minseok is our friend too and he accidently blurt out by addressing you ‘he’.” Chen explained.

What? Minseok? His best friend? The one who covered him up from Seohyun? Why he didn’t say the same thing as what he said to Seohyun? Minseok just ruined his mission.

“And he also told us the reason you are here. You’re looking for the head warden, am I right?” Suho added and Luhan nods his head when he said that he is looking for the head warden.

“It’s not easy to find him, you know. Even if you didn’t manage to catch him, at least you should protect Seohyun from him. Poor girl. We still remember how helpless she was when that happened.” Sehun recalled on what happened to her when that happened. No one was on her side. At least the drivers trust her and willing to protect her even though she was cold before. She changed a lot and became open to them.

“What happened?” Luhan wanted to know what happened to her.

The drivers told him about Seohyun, Moonkyu, and the head warden. All those things made him become angry and hate to the head warden more. How could he do that to Seohyun! He framed her! Thank goodness that someone heard her screaming and saved her.

“Then, what happened to Moonkyu?” He was curious about him.

“He was fired because of trespassing and assault.”

Luhan couldn’t believe that he was fired when he was trying to save a student. The more he thought of it, the more he felt like this whole thing happened was a set up. The CCTV footage showed nothing because the camera was broken down. It doesn’t make sense at all. Everything that happened showed that not one person behind this. He probably had some accomplice.

“Luhan, to be honest, even though we surprised that you’re a guy, I’m telling you that we trust you so much. I want you to protect her will all your might. We tried to protect her but since we’re not with her 24/7, you will responsible for that.” Suho advised him.

Luhan nodded because that’s what he wanted to do in the first place. “I definitely will. I’m going to protect her and I will catch that bastard so that everyone will safe.” He said in determined.

~End of flashback~

Luhan wakes up in the morning and his body hurts so badly. He saw the sight of Seohyun the first thing in the morning. She is sleeping with her head and arms on the bed while sitting on the floor. He smiles and glad that she is safe. He couldn’t stop thinking of her and hoping that she didn’t meet that jerk.

He slowly gets up while biting his lower lip hardly to prevent him from making any painful sound while he is trying to move his body. The pain all around his body is no joke and he needs to check if his body is getting better. Without making any sound, he manages to get off from Seohyun’s bed without waking her up. That’s what he wants. He doesn’t want to disturb her sleep.

He takes her blanket in struggle and covers her up. His hands are shaking because he is holding the pain. Seohyun stirs a little but he relieves when she didn’t wake up. He doesn’t want her to wake up now.

Luhan managed to get into the bathroom with a support from the wall and right now, he stands in front of the mirror while looking at himself. His face is swollen and the purple-black bruise is starting to appear. That’s just his face. What about the rest?

He tries to take off his shirt but the pain is unbearable. His breathing becomes fast. He can’t do this anymore but he needs to know about his condition and lifts his shirt causing him to shriek. His eyes formed tears that was threatened to come out from his eyes.

While looking at himself in the mirror, he feels so helpless. His body is becoming worse than yesterday. The ointment didn’t help at all. It didn’t change anything. His body is full with bruises and swollen. He needs a treatment right now and without it, it will become worst.

He sits on the floor while grieving for his life. A tear is finally drops from his eyes and soon followed by another drop of tear and a sob is heard in the quiet bathroom.

It would be a lie if he said that he never cries before. Obviously he did, especially when he was young; when he was bullied by his own brother. The image of his frightened childhood comes into his mind. He still remembered how he was kicked and punched by his brother. His brother’s laugh and insulted words are playing in his mind. His parents didn’t help him either. He thought of running away from home several times but he didn’t know where to go.

After he is done with his school, he left home because he wants to change himself. He doesn’t want to be a coward and weak Luhan again. He wants to be strong and able to stand up on his own and he made it. He really did.

However, his encounter with his brother yesterday is totally changed everything.

~Flashback~

Luhan couldn’t believe that the head warden that he has been searching for is actually his own brother. All of sudden, he felt scared. For the past few years, he tried to get rid of his scaredy-cat attitude and he finally became a brave person after he became a police. But somehow, looking at his brother was like he is going back to his own self.

“Why am I not surprise to see you here? Or maybe I should say that I’m surprised that you didn’t come here a long time ago. This place is really fit for a chicken like you.” Lu Gao insulted him with all his might. He is totally enjoying humiliating Luhan. He is a sadist.

Luhan clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. Even though he is scared like crazy now, he has to fight back. “I’m coming here to catch you, you monster!”

Lu Gao didn’t flinch at all but rather he laughed at him out loud. “Aw, look at you! The chicken is trying to fight back. Why should I feel now? Scared? Ooh, I’m scared now. I need to run away from here because a chicken is trying to catch me.” He acted like he was scared and laughed again. He rudely pushed Luhan’s head which caused Luhan to trip backward.

Lu Gao entered the room and closed the door before he locked it. Luhan felt so little when it comes to his brother. His brother is really strong, fierce, and violent. No one was helping him when he was his brother’s target. Even his brother’s friends were ganged up on him to bully him.

“You dare to fight back to me? Let’s see how much you can fight back to me.” Lu Gao cracked his knuckles as a sign that he is ready for anything just to fight.

Luhan gulped a lump of throat when he understood what Lu Gao meant. He didn’t want to do a physical fight at all. He even hates that. But knowing his brother, there is no other way to stop him because he really loves to do that. He enjoys in hurting people especially to Luhan.

“Why? Are you scared to fight?”

“I don’t want a physical fight. I want to ask you something. Why did you do this? Why did you frame the girls and threatened them to do something that against their will?” As much as he is scared of him now, he wants to know why the girls became his victim.

Lu Gao laughed evilly. “Oh Luhan, you don’t understand. The young maiden is so fresh and delicious. I purposely chose the innocent and smart students because they don’t look like they know how to have fun. Their world is only filled with studies. Those girls need to be tainted so I willingly do that. I forced them to choose and they wanted to stay because they only cared about their studies! What a boring girl! But at least I have fun with them.”

Luhan felt disgusted when he explained to him of why he did that. He couldn’t believe that he did that to fulfill his needs and he even forced them too. When he thought about Seohyun, he finally understood why she is his target. Seohyun is an innocent, kind, and intelligent. Lu Gao would love to ruin that kind of person.

Lu Gao came closer to Luhan with a smirk. “I will make sure that I will ruin everything that you love. That includes Seohyun too.”

Luhan’s eyes widened when he declared that he will ruin Seohyun’s life. He can’t let him do that. Seohyun needs protection from Luhan. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth as he is trying to hold himself from explode but he knew that he can’t especially Seohyun is in danger.

“Don’t you dare to touch her!” He screamed and was about to throw a punch to Lu Gao but Lu Gao was fast to avoid it and punched him on his face.

He smirked because this is what he is waiting for. Without stopping, he beat and kicked Luhan repeatedly until Luhan is unable to stand up anymore.

Luhan lied on the floor feeling unable to breathe and he was in pain really hard. He felt hurt in his shoulder, knee, and ribs.

Lu Gao came closer to him and stepped on Luhan’s chest with his left feet. While smirking, he mocked him, “So this is what you called a fight back? You’re such a useless trash!” He left the room leaving Luhan in terrible state.

~End of flashback~

Luhan’s thought is disturbed when he heard someone knocking the bathroom door.

“Unnie? Are you in there? Unnie, are you okay? Unnie!”

Seohyun’s voice is heard and she sounded so worried with Luhan. He is trying to wear his shirt back but he is having a hard time to wear it. He can’t go out in this state because of the two reasons. Well, one is really obvious and the other one is because of his injury.

He tries to stand up and has to use the sink to lift him up. Then, he used the wall so that he could walk to the door without falling to the ground. Once he opens the door, Seohyun immediately goes to him and checks on him. Because of the sudden touch, he yelps in pain.

“Unnie, are you okay? Thank goodness! I was worried of you. You don’t know how terrified I am when you’re not on the bed. I’m glad that you’re here.” She hugged him tightly unaware that he is quite sensitive with touch right now.

He had to do nothing because he is trying to withstand the pain but he feels calm a little when she is worried about him. Soon after that, he feels like a drop of liquid on his shoulder and then he hears Seohyun sobbing. Did she cry? Why?

“Why are you crying, Seohyun?”

“I feel regret for avoiding you yesterday. If I didn’t do that, you wouldn’t have to suffer. I’m really worst! I didn’t look after you when you are in pain. I didn’t protect you when you are in trouble!” She said in between her sobs.

He looks at her while she is hugging him. Those words, it should be him. He is supposed to say those words to her. He had promised to her that he will protect her but after he found out about his enemy, he wants to give up on this. He really can’t do it. But hearing her crying like this, it reminded him about those drivers who told him that Seohyun cried when she didn’t get her justice about what happened to her.

‘I will make sure that I will ruin everything that you love. That includes Seohyun too.’

His brother’s words make him feel like he wants to go on with this. If he gives up now, Seohyun’s life will be ruined. He raises his arms and hugs her back.

“I will protect you no matter what will happen to me.”

Thank you for the comments!! It seems like the drivers found out that Luhan is a guy thanks to Minseok. LOL! And what do you think about Luhan's brother?

Anyway, I have a bad news actually. My internship will start next week and I don't know if I'm able to update this. I actually thought that I want to finish this story before my ineternship starts but it looks like I took a lot of time to update the chapters before (I'm sorry). I will try to update a new chapter within this week (if I manage to finish to write that chapter). If my new place has an internet connection and I'm not that busy, I will update this story. I'm sorry.