Himchan made his way back from work, collar turned up and hands in his pockets, fisted around his keys like a knuckleduster. It wasn't much, and he definitely wasn't the strongest person, but one good swing and the keys could do some real damage. It was something the female teachers had mentioned once when talking about being out and about during the night. He didn't think he'd have to take the advice.

As he stared at the inky stains of shadows between the buildings, he wished he'd thought to buy himself a keychain torch, or a lighter (or a bottle of pepper spray, he added meekly). The glow of his phone would be useless and only attract a different kind of night dwelling street scum, and he quite liked not being mugged at knife point. Maybe he should take to carrying his guitar around on the off chance he needed a large weapon. The brief mental image of his beautiful guitar with the neck snapped and the body splintered immediately made him decide against that.

The darkness seemed to leer at him as he got closer to the warehouses. His eyes strained to pick out shapes in the black abyss and every sound was amplified until all he could hear was his own heavy breathing deafening him. His heart raced as his gaze fell onto the darkness between the two working streetlights. His hands felt clammy.

Just as he was about to turn back and call for a taxi, a deep voice called out.

“Himchan?”

He turned, eyes wide and face pale, like a deer caught in headlights and bleached out by the contrast. He watched the figure approach and it wasn't until that deep voice spoke again that he realised who it was.

“It is you. I didn't think I'd run into you again so soon.”

“Yongguk,” Himchan's mouth pulled at the corners into a weak smile. Relief washed over him, if only weakly.

“I didn't mean to sort of... Yell at you just then. I thought, you know, if it's you, and considering everything, I can always walk with you again if you want some company...” His voice got smaller the longer he spoke until he was coughing nervously, hands tucking into his back pockets.

Himchan couldn't help the grin spread across his face. How had this guy ever been so intimidating? “Well, I said I'd buy you a drink didn't I? There's a place we could grab a few pints nearby.”

“You don't have to buy me a drink,” Yongguk began, but Himchan waved him off.

“Nonsense. I said I would, and I will. I want to. Anyway, it'll be fun. We can continue our conversation.”

As it turns out, continuing conversation takes some effort on Himchan's behalf. Yongguk drinks slowly, and seems to run out of things to say very easily. But he can handle it. Besides, a little bit of alcohol always gets him chatty, and being in a warm bar with warm lighting makes him far more comfortable around this new person.

Also, he kind of likes this guy. Yongguk is only a little bit older than him, but seems much older. Now he could see the man properly, Yongguk's face is handsome in a way he's not really seen before. It's not a conventional attractiveness with his tan skin and slim eyes and crooked teeth, but that's what makes him handsome. He's masculine in a way that large dogs are masculine – cool looking, but also soft and gentle, and soft and gentle is exactly what Yongguk is like.

“So,” Himchan raises his glass, eyeing him over the rim, “I can understand if you're not allowed to tell me too much about the idols you train... But tell me about the idols you train.”

Yongguk laughs, and it's a genuine burst of humour that bursts and cracks through his shy exterior. “I can't say much, honestly. Idol protection and company contracts and all that.”

“Ah, come on. You must be able to tell me something! Just little things,” Himchan knows he sounds a bit whiny, but he's also laughing. He can't help but be curious.

“Well...” Yongguk grins a little at the demands, “I've been training this kid, he's really talented.”

“Any name I know?”

“Nah, he's not debuted yet. But I don't think he's far, the kid could probably break sound barriers with how fast he can rap.”

“Are you a fast rapper?” Himchan raised an eyebrow, trying to picture Yongguk speaking any faster than his slow thoughtful tone.

“Ah, it's not really what I do. I can do it, and I've worked to help idols learn how, but this kid takes it on another level.”

“Do you have any pictures? Recordings?” Himchan leaned his head on his hand, grin widening.

“Ahh... I don't know about a recording but he took a photo with me on his instagram, one second.” He pulled his phone out and tapped the screen a few times and scrolled.

Himchan leaned over the table curiously, hoping to catch a glimpse of what sort of stuff this guy did with his accounts. He only had the briefest glimpse of monocrome images before something brightly coloured nearly seared his eyes.

“Here we go. This kid has all the makings of an idol.” Yongguk turned the screen to display the image.

There was Yongguk, stood back as though he hadn't even planned to have the picture taken, all baggy hoodie and styled hair. In front of him was a teenage boy with huge sparkling eyes and colourful hair. The contrast between the two of them was almost hilarious.

“Aww, he's so cute! Look at his cheeks, I want to pinch them,” Himchan crooned, while secretly memorising the kids instagram to snoop out later on. If he was lucky, Yongguk would have been tagged in the picture and he could snoop on his account as well.

“He is pretty cute. He's from miles away as well, so he's really dedicated to his dream. It's good to see.”

“I bet. What about you? How did you get into music?”

Yongguk shifted, looking a little nervous. “My parents didn't want to me to go into music originally. I was failing most of my classes because I didn't care about anything else.”

Himchan frowned a little. He knew what it was like to want to pursue music, he knew the draw of the art, but failing class was a little excessive.

“Eventually they told me I could only become a musician if I made top marks in all my classes. So, I studied really hard and... Well, I made top marks and here I am.”

Himchan's jaw dropped a little. “You went from failing to top marks...? How did you even do that?”

“I studied really hard, and I really wanted to go into producing music. Somewhere along the line that turned into training idols.”

“That's... Really impressive. Like impossibly impressive.”

“Thanks?” Yongguk grinned, looking away shyly. He glanced down at his phone, about to lock it and put it away, when he blinked. “Wow, is that the time already?”

Himchan looked at his own phone. “Oh, ! It's later than I meant to stay out.”

They stood and sorted themselves out, draining their glasses and grabbing coats. When they stepped outside, the cold air buffeted them and the darkness of the night pressed on their eyes, blinding them. It took a few moments of standing outside the front of the bar and blinking before their eyes became accustomed to the low light.

“Which way do you go from here?” Himchan asked.

“Down, around the estate and a little up from there.”

“Past the flower shop?”

“Yeah.”

“I'm down as well but I leave off just before the estate.”

“Might as well walk together then.” Yongguk grinned, pulling his jacket zip up a little higher.

Just as Himchan went to answer, someone slammed into his shoulder as they left the bar. He stumbled and turned around a little, glaring. “Hey, watch it!”

“ off,” came the drunken slur of the man who'd crashed into him. He was scraggly looking and stank of alcohol. He snarled at Himchan. “How about you learn to keep out of people's in' way when they're walkin', huh? Stop standn' around doorways like a in' idiot!”

“Hey, back off him.” Yongguk took a step closer to Himchan, a frown creasing his brow.

“Who's this prick, your boyfriend?” the drunkard sneered.

Before Himchan could suggest they just walk away, Yongguk was stepping past him towards the drunk man with the same aura he'd had when they'd first met.

“And if I was? Would that bother you?” Despite his medium stature, he seemed to loom over the man.

The drunkard stumbled back a little, eyeing up Yongguk as though deciding if he should start something. Himchan couldn't see his face, but based off previous experiences he could hazard a solid guess. There was a moment where it seemed light a fight would start, then Yongguk reached back and grabbed Himchan's hand, taking him completely by surprise. Giving the drunk one last mean look, he dragged Himchan away with a mumbled “Let's just go.”

They marched until Yongguk was sure the drunk couldn't see them, then freed Himchan's hand. “Sorry about that, I can't stand it when people throw their weight around and say stuff like that.”

“I thought you were about to break that guy's jaw.”

“No I... I said before, I don't do well in fights...” He tucked his hands into his jacket and kept walking, not meeting Himchan's curious gaze. His stomach was tense with nerves and stress.

“So, was that your very unsubtle way of chatting me up, or do you like to pretend to be people's tough protective boyfriend?”

Yongguk's face flared up. “No! No, that wasn't what I was trying to- It just came out and- I just don't like it when people-” He didn't get far in his stumbled explanation as Himchan burst out laughing, head throw back.

“I'm messing you around. Hey, if it keeps creeps from following me home and drunks from starting fights, then I'm all good for the fake boyfriend dig.” Himchan waved a slender hand passively.

“That's not... What I was trying to do... I was just...” Yongguk mumbled himself into silence, his face still red with embarrassment.

“Hey, don't worry about it. You can just be my night-time saviour. My night knight in shining armour. My night angel.”

“All of those things... Sound really awful...” He watched in dismay as the other kept laughing.

“Hey, c'mon, humour me until we reach my turn off, at least.” Himchan slipped his arm around Yongguks, holding onto it. Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact Himchan was actually a pretty cool guy, but it didn't bother him too much. “Maybe some of your aura will rub off on me.”

He snorted. “What aura?”

“You know, this cool tough guy thing you have. Maybe people will see me as some deadly killer.”

“I don't really like being seen as a scary person... Definitely not someone who would hurt anyone.”

“Awh I'm sorry, I know now that you have a heart of gold,” Himchan rest his head on Yongguks shoulder and fluttered his eyelashes at him, “Which is good, because I look like a ken doll but inside I'm a stone cold .”

Yongguk couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. 

Soundtrack: Pat Benatar - Shadows of the Night