No One’s POV:

Shownu had been wary of Sun Ah’s change of attitude for quite a long time. But he had been letting it slide hoping that it would just be his over thinking and nothing more.

But the amount of injuries she had, on each day and the way she reacted when he or his friends treated them was speaking otherwise. Though he decided to keep an eye on her after that, he was still unknowingly not that serious about it until the day he saw it with his own eyes.

She was getting harassed by a group of boys. He rescued her from the situation and brought her back to the hospital but all the way there, his mind was occupied with so many other thoughts.

Somehow this side of him gave Sun Ah the chills. If not for the comfort his hand on her hold gave her, she would probably have started crying or worse would have had a mental breakdown.

As they got into their room, she saw Kihyun sleeping on his bed and Minhyuk sitting at the desk and reading something. It wouldn’t even have been a few seconds since they both got into their room, before the door flung open once again and Hyungwon walked in.

“Shownu hyung, you have come?” he asked, while letting out a yawn. “Looks like I.M and Jooheon had got themselves into trouble again. Wonho hyung was looking out for you.”

Shownu let out a sigh, “Give me a minute, Hyungwon-ah.” He said before taking Sun Ah over to his bed and making her sit there. “Guys, could you give us a minute?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair while Minhyuk and Hyungwon looked at each other before nodding their heads and heading out. Shownu now turned towards Sun Ah and said, “We need to talk, Lee Sun Ah.”

Just his tone alone sent shivers down her spine as she never got to see this side of him. “How long were you planning to keep this a secret from everyone?” he asked while she remained silent. “Shouldn’t you have at least spoken to me? I really didn’t expect this from you.”

He shook his head in disappointment as he paced a little in front of his bed while she followed his every movement with her eyes. He suddenly came to a halt in the middle, “How long has this been going on?” he raised his voice a little which startled Sun Ah.

“At least tell me now what has been happening to you before it’s too late, Sun Ah-ya,” he sighed a little, worried of the worst case scenarios while she remained silent, just staring down on her lap.

“I think I should inform your parents about it. That would be the best thing to do.” Sun Ah started shaking her head vigorously. “Then at least speak to me, Sun Ah-ya.” He pleaded for the last time.

He had been pleading her for nearly an hour now and all she did was remain silent. “You are leaving me with no choice, but to let your parents know Lee Sun Ah.” He said as he turned around to walk out.

But she caught hold of his wrist and softly whispered “No,” as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Will you speak?” she remained quiet while still holding onto his hand.

Without uttering anything else, he gently loosened her hold on him and just walked out of the room, without looking back at her even once while Sun Ah wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees, worried of letting out any sound as she sobbed.

Kihyun who had woken up with all this commotion long ago, was in a dilemma whether to get out of his bed or not. But he heard a whimper come from her direction. So he sat up while cursing Shownu under his breath.

He walked up to her, but instead of sitting beside her, he grabbed a stool and sat down near Shownu’s bed. She gently lifted up her head and peeked out to see Kihyun looking at her worriedly.

She quickly wiped away her tears and sat up straight, acting strong but Kihyun knew better. He hesitatingly reached out to her and patted her head. “Shhh, it’s okay. I will speak with Shownu hyung.” He said, gently patting her head.

She nodded her head and gave out a slight smile which made Kihyun stare at her in amaze. He knows how hard it must be for her but she was still staying strong. He consoled her for a few more minutes before walking out to have a word with Shownu.

Shownu had actually walked out for two reasons. One being he was a bit angry and he didn’t want to show it on her. While the other being, the issue Hyungwon was talking about.

After he was done resolving the issues, he was walking back to his room when he encountered Kihyun. Without giving him any time to explain his side, Kihyun scolded him left and right at the way he handled Sun Ah.

When he got back to his room after listening to Kihyun’s lecture, he found her sitting in the far corner of the bed, blankly staring out the window that she wasn’t even aware of his presence.

But once she did, she jumped out of the bed and hugged him tightly, taking him aback. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she whispered against his chest. “You are the only friend I have. I know I should have told you. But I was somehow scared.” She said, trying to suppress her sobbing.

He knew he was just a friend and wasn’t expecting anything more than that but somehow the word ‘friend’ coming out of hurt him more than he thought it would.

It took him a long time to comfort her, nearly pacifying her, like he sometimes did to the kids in the children’s ward. After all that, she finally told him everything that had happened. Well, almost everything, except for the fact that this all started because of Miyeon.

“Your brother is alone now. The other girl has left,” Minhyuk knocked on the door and announced.

She hugged Shownu once again. “Thank you. Will talk to you again later. And please don’t tell my parents about it.” She pleaded with puppy eyes and he nodded, sighing in defeat.

She hugged him tightly for a moment before joyfully running out the room, thanking Minhyuk with