[CONTENTID1] Sixteen [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

You zoom through the night, scattered as a thousand little particles, seeming like nothing more than a dark gust of wind to any bystanders. Adrenaline and feral fear blend and build upon each other in your frenzied, scattered mind like wildfire, but your distress is thankfully unperceivable to the human eye, and there's no way anyone can recognize you, with the way you blend into the night sky. You fly across the lake, desperately placing distance between you and your would-be murderers.

It's so unbearably cold. You can't feel anything in your particulate form, but the cold seems to etch its way into your very existence. You need warmth. Anything to chase away the agonizing despair that threatens to overwhelm you.

How can I protect you? A deep voice suddenly echoes in your mind. I want to… I want to.

Namjoon.

And then you're whipping around, launching yourself towards campus instead of the neck of woods where you know Aorn and her vengeful gang of followers will never find you. It's risky, but you would do anything for a bit of heat.

You remember that Namjoon has DJ duties later this week, and is probably in the studio preparing, even at this time of night. You trickle through the cracks of the building and swarm into the studio. At the sight of familiar, silvery hair hunched over a desk, you instantly materialize again. But you're unstable and consolidate into your physical form too high, making you fall down from midair. The moment your knees hit the ground, you burst into tears.

"What the hell?!" Namjoon exclaims, jumping in surprise. He whirls around in his rolling chair, his eyes widening at your sudden appearance in his studio. His forehead creases at the sight of you with your clothing soaked in mud and torn into tatters, and your hair a wild nest on top of your head. His eyes lock on the tears streaming down your face, leaving tracks in the dirt. "___-ah?" he whispers, "What happened?"

But you can't stop shaking long enough to form coherent thoughts, "Oppa!" You gasp, "Oppa, please." And then you sink down onto the hard floor and curl your knees to your chest. At once, the feelings overwhelm you, and tears stream down your cheeks so quickly that they flood your mud-ruined clothing.

Namjoon doesn't hesitate to drop to his knees next to you, "___-ah… Sweetie, look at me. What happened?"

"I-I," you struggle for the words, but the soothing hands in your tangled hair give you strength, "Aorn," you finally admit, "She… she ambushed me at the lake. I thought… I thought I was going to—" A fresh sob chokes off your sentence.

The hands in your hair tighten at once, "She did this to you?" He asks in a gravely voice.

"Oppa… She tried to—she tried to… I—I didn't think I'd make it here," A loud hiccup punctuates the end of your sentence, and you can't continue.

"Shh, it's ok, baby," he shushes you when you to sit up and try to speak again, "Don't worry about that right now. Let's just get you cleaned up first, alright?"

Your entire body trembles too hard for planned movement, but you somehow manage a nod. Namjoon sighs and gathers you in a tight embrace, then lifts you up and carries you towards the bathroom, surprisingly you with the wiry strength of his slender arms. He closes the toilet seat lid, and sits you down on it before rushing to wet several paper towels with soap and warm water.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" He asks, gently wiping your face and neck with the paper towels.

"I—I don't think so," you say, wincing when you notice the black streaks on the paper from the thick mud coating you from head to toe.

"Good," Namjoon mutters darkly, "Otherwise I'd have to ing kill all of them."

"Oppa," you say, tightening your hand on his when you notice his knuckles turning white with fury, "Please don't leave me."

His expression softens at that, "Of course not, baby. Don't be scared. Oppa's here for you now."

Warmth that you've been so desperately craving blossoms in your chest. A fresh wave of tears choke you, and you move to bury your face in his shoulder to hide your weakness.

"Whoa, why are you still crying?" Alarmed, he gathers you in his arms and squeezes you until you can barely breathe, "You're safe now, baby. Nobody could ever hurt you when you're here with me."

"Thank you," you murmur into the crook of his neck, "Thank you, thank you."

"Don't cry," he coaxes, "I'm here to protect you… Why don't we get out of here and go take a hot bath, ok? My apartment's only a few minutes away from here."

"No!" You yell, jumping back from him at once.

Namjoon's eyebrows knit together in concern, "___-ah," he gently says, reaching out to you with one hand like he would to a frightened animal, "I just want to help you, ok?"

"No!" you exclaim again, your eyes popping open with fear, "I can't go there. He's there."

"He?" Namjoon repeats in confusion, "Who's he?"

"Hoseok-sunbae," you whisper with a shudder, "He was there, oppa… He watched the whole thing."

Namjoon's face hardens, "I can feel him nudging against my mind right now… He wants to talk to me." You stiffen in fear, suddenly staring at your fake-boyfriend with suspicion. He notices your change of attitude, and quickly backtracks, "There's no way I'm letting him in, though. He reeks of guilt."

You exhale deeply in relief, "I'm sorry, oppa. You shouldn't have to pick."

He snorts at that, "Pick? It's pretty obvious whose side I'm on. And it's not that cowardly 's. Come on, ___-ah, let's go to your dorm then."

"B-but men aren't allowed there," you protest, even as he pulls you to your feet.

He smiles faintly, "Let me take care of that."

"I really can't let you in," the security monitor on duty protests as Namjoon tries to cajole her for the third time. He's used everything from flattery to reverse psychology and at this point, you really don't think she'll let him in for anything short of a firstborn child. You awkwardly shift from foot to foot behind them, and try to straighten out your mud-stiffened hair.

"Come on, Eunseo-noona," he pressures, "For the sake of our friendship?"

Eunseo seems to falter under the brightness of his megawatt smile. But somehow, she manages to hold firm, "No, Namjoon. This is against the rules."

He sighs in exasperation. You take a step forward, ready to apologize and drag Namjoon out of the building. But then the lightning mage slams his palms on the window counter, "Alright, I didn't want to do this Eunseo, but you leave me with no choice," he growls, his eyes darkening, "I know about you and Subin-noona."

"What?" All the color seems to blanch from her face, "H-how? Who told you?"

"Does it matter? I think you should worry more about what I'll do about this information."

"Please don't tell him."

"Why? You don't think Subin-noona's boyfriend ought to know about your little affair?" He challenges.

Eunseo is silent for a long second, her teeth gritted and her nose unconsciously furrowed in a snarl. "Fine," she finally hisses, "You win, Kim Namjoon. Just get out of my sight."

His mouth splits into a -eating grin, both dimples lighting up his cheeks, "Thank you, noona. Enjoy the rest of your shift." He turns around and gestures for you to follow him to the elevator.

"Wait—Namjoon," Eunseo calls after him.

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