It was back in their sophomore year of high school when Jooheon became even more protective of Min than he already was. And it was thanks to his then friends—or at least people he thought were friends.

It annoyed him that people would often comment on her looks. Though he agreed his cousin was beautiful, he hated the idea of guys actually finding her attractive. The thought itself made him cringe. She was like his older sister and her would never want to imagine, let alone actually witness, her being with someone who she coould be affectionate with. He was kind of like a kid in that sense... he honestly found it gross. But more than that he just never wanted to see her get hurt. He could honestly say it would kill him if he ever had to see his amazingly strong and brave cousin fall apart over some guy who wasn't worth it if he couldn't even recognize and appreciate her worth. To Jooheon, Min was valuable. She was a treasure any guy would be lucky enough to find and keep. And because he had that vision of her for himself, he believed that every other guy should feel the same. Min was his everything when he had nothing, so she only deserved the best because there was no one as amazing as her. Even he had unreasonably high standards and expectations for himself because of her. So when his own friends, who should've known better, crossed the line, he knew his cousin was never going to be safe or free from heartbreak. Min deserved to be protected and he took a vow early on in his youth that he would be the one to protect her.

Throughout most of middle school and highschool Min was incredibly popular. It had a lot to do with the fact that after puberty hit during summer break, transitioning between elementary to middle school, Min came back with newly developed curves, for lack of a better word.

"Her face might be a five but her body is a ten. I'd hit it."

"Think she'd let you? She might only look cool."

"Are you kidding me? I've seen the way she looks at me. Besides, you know what they say. The smart ones are freaks in the sheets. I bet she'd put out no problem. They all do."

It was after basketball practice when Jooheon had just walked back into the locker rooms after taking a shower. It was then that he heard one of his friends, Jackson, make the comment to their other friend Minho. Flinging his white towel over his bare shoulder, Jooheon fished his clean shirt from his locker and chuckled to himself with a shake of his head when he realized his friends were once again listing off the girls they would take to bed if they had the chance. He personally found it tasteless and wasn't the one to add into the conversation, but listening in was inevitable and, though he hated to admit it, somewhat entertaining just because of how moronic they sounded.

Closing his locker door and slipping into his shirt, Jooheon asked "Who are you two idiots talking about this time?" before he began rubbing the towel through his short locks to quicken the drying process.

"Some chick in the upper class," Minho shrugged as he also got dressed.

Jooheon hummed and nodded as he threw his towel in the laundry bin. "Someone I know?"

"Very well, actually." Jackson sniggered. Jooheon furrowed his brows, not really catching on to what he meant by that when Jackson volunteered to connect the dots for him. "I'm talking about Min." Jooheon's eyes narrowed in an instant. He didn't know if it was that Jackson had just been talking so crudely about his cousin, or the fact that he admitted to it so blatantly that made him snap, but it did. And before he could make sense of what had just happened, Jooheon had thrown a powerful punch against his teammate's jaw without a second of hesitation. "WHAT THE WAS THAT FOR?" Jackson yelled from the ground as he pressed his hand to the side of his face, Minho watching from the side with his jaw agape and his eyes wide open in shock.

Jooheon stepped