Sitting on the edge of the bed with his body hunched over his knees, Myoui Mina plucked his titanium-framed glasses off and rubbed his thin nose bridge. The soft sigh that escaped his lips was unsurprisingly loud in the still hotel room.

“Why are you sighing?” a voice he couldn’t be more familiar with asked as he felt its owner shift her body closer to his.

Exhaling deeply again before regarding the woman beside him, he replied with a question of his own, “Aren’t you being a little paranoid, Sana?”

Minatozaki Sana tilted her head with a confused pout, “What do you mean?”

On other days, Mina would have been tempted to claim those very kissable and supple pink lips but not today, at least not now. Raising his left hand, a light clinking of metal against metal sounded as Sana’s right hand rose with his action.

“This.”

Her round eyes fell on the chrome-plated contraption normally seen on arrested criminals linking their wrists together.

“And you were afraid of the others misunderstanding that we have an S&M relationship,” Mina deadpanned. “Where did you get this anyway?”

“Nayeon-unnie passed it to me while you were taking a shower just now,” his girlfriend answered matter-of-factly.

Massaging his tense furrowed brow, he mumbled, “I don’t even want to know why she brought handcuffs along.”

“Whatever it is, they will make sure you don’t escape my sight,” Sana beamed with a smile so bright that one would have thought she had just discovered the cure for AIDS. Wrapping her free arm around the doctor’s lean torso, she took comfort in his assuring warmth. “This way, I’ll know that you are safe with me.”

Too befuddled to even fake a smile, Mina simply rested his chin on her shoulder and sighed for the third time in the span of five minutes. As she nuzzled his neck, his mind drifted to the conversation they had with Officer Bae at the beach earlier…

Flashback

“So Seulgi took leave from work ‘cause she’s worried about you?” Nayeon asked the officer, smirking when the rosy hue on Irene’s cheeks darkened.

“Hey! What the f- Im!” Kang Seulgi protested, waving a balled fist at his comrade. Wiggling her eyebrows in response, Nayeon quipped, “Oh, you know what I mean.”

“I can understand why Mr. Kang is worried though. Ms. Bae is dealing with a this time,” Mina interrupted before the two pals could start a brawl.

“Actually, Seulgi has nothing to worry about,” Irene revealed. Her statement raised a few perplexed eyebrows. Tightening his grip on Sana’s hand, Mina was certain he would be worried too if he was in Seulgi’s shoes. Heck, his stomach was already in knots now, knowing that a could be lurking in the shadows and waiting for the opportunity to pounce on his pretty and defenseless nurse.

“The victims so far are male.”

There was a pregnant pause as the seagulls squawked nosily above their heads.

“Y-You are joking, right, Ms. Bae?” Mark blurted with a hopeful note in his voice, breaking out of the initial shock. The hunky man scratched the back of his head, messing up and getting sand into his hair. “I mean; which dude would want to other men?”

At Mark’s question, Momo’s eyes darted to Jun in reflex. The young officer’s well-honed senses sent an alert to his brain and he whipped his head around, catching the distrustful gaze.

“Hey, hey, you can’t be suspecting me, right?”

Momo merely looked the other way and his eyes stumbled upon his one-sided love interest hugging her boyfriend tightly, locking his arms against his body.

“Sana, we haven’t even understood the details. You can let go first. It’s hard to move like this,” Mina squirmed, feeling as though he had been strapped in a strait jacket.

Reluctantly, the slender arms relaxed and opted to wrap around his arm in a vice-like grip. The doctor sighed in relief and squeezed Sana’s hand gently.

“Irene-ssi is telling the truth,” Jun voiced, stepping forward. “The culprit’s targets are all pretty boys. I’m acting as the bait for this operation. On top of that, we’ve been trawling the beach this afternoon for possible suspects and targets and I chanced upon you guys. Mina and Momo fit his taste perfectly.”

The others gasped while Nayeon burst out laughing. But Mina only heard one dreaded sound, or rather the lack of it.

The steady breathing beside his ear halted.

“Sana,” he called his girlfriend who was frozen to the spot. The grip around his left arm tightened tremendously and a sharp pain shot through his body. “Sana, relax. You are going to break my arm,” the urgency in his voice was evident.

His teeth clamped down on his lower lip as her nails dug crescents into his skin which was rapidly turning white from the lack of blood flow. Glancing up, he discovered she was in a trance-like state and his words never stood a chance to enter her stalled mind. Fearing for his arm and his future which depended on it, he attempted to pry off her hand but the hold was simply too strong and he did not wish to risk breaking her fingers with brute force. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied Momo striding purposefully towards them with a grim look and before he could say a word to the older man, Momo slapped Sana hard across the face.

Nayeon’s guffaws died instantaneously while the rest gaped at the trio.

“Holy in’ rainbows… What’s wrong with people from Kansai?”

Ignoring Nayeon’s potty mouth, Momo stared at his childhood friend who had collapsed into Mina’s arms from the impact of the slap.

The bright red mark swelled on Sana’s tender cheek, shooting a deep pang of pain to Mina’s heart. Looking past his stunned beloved, Mina glared at Momo only to be met with a challenging gaze.

“Was that necessary?” Mina seethed, remotely aware of the cracks threatening to shatter his level-headed image.

“If you still wanted your arm in one piece, yes,” Momo answered none-too-friendlily. “This has always been how we do it.”

The spitefulness in his voice was hard to miss and Mina briefly wondered what had gotten into the normally mild man. However, before he could rebuke Momo’s claim, Mina felt movement against his chest and he looked down to find Sana snapping out of her daze and massaging her throbbing cheek.

“Momo is right. This is our way of keeping each other in check. Don’t be mad at him, alright?” she peered pleadingly at the rarely ruffled man. “And he meant well. I’d broken a broomstick in high school when a classmate scared me with a fake mouse during cleaning duty.”

Processing the little bit of history; Mina swallowed the anger bubbling in his throat and nodded stiffly. Turning to Momo, he warned in a grave tone, “Thanks for your help but next time, I will manage Sana myself. I won’t allow you or anyone else to hit her.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Momo folded his arms and angled his head, producing a menacing crack with his neck. This time, even Sana was taken aback by Momo’s oddly provocative behavior.

“Without violence,” Mina stated, narrowing his eyes at the taller man. “I’d rather have a broken arm than to hit Sana.”

“You are not answering the question.”

“I have no obligation to answer you.”

“Break it up, you two,” Nayeon boldly stepped in between both agitated men. “What’s wrong with you, Momo? This isn’t like you.”

Her words seemed to have an effect on Momo and he froze. He blinked and looked around; scanning the flabbergasted faces of his colleagues, Mina’s deep scowl and finally, Sana’s concerned brown orbs. Lips pressing into a thin line, he bowed slightly and walked away from the group, heading in the direction of the hotel.

“Momo…” Sana murmured, about to give chase but was stopped by Mina.

“I think its better that he doesn’t see you or me for the time being,” he advised her before calling Jun who was staring worriedly at Momo’s retreating back. The officer tore his eyes away from Momo and turned to Mina.

“Jun-ssi, can you pass me your mobile for a while?”

“Why?” Despite feeling puzzled over the sudden request, Jun still fished out his black smartphone from his pants’ pocket and handed it to the shorter man.

As Mina typed something on the phone, he told Jun, “You’ll see,” without looking up from the screen. When he was done, he returned the device to him. “Check your draft folder later.”

End of Flashback

---

Ding!

The doors of the hotel elevator slid open and Mina led Sana into the empty lift with luxurious black marble flooring. After pressing the button for the third level, he leant back against the polished glass wall, pulling Sana towards him and leaving zero space between their hips. It was going to be a long ride down since their room was on the twenty-fifth floor.

“You are going to develop wrinkles if you keep frowning,” he chided good-naturedly as his hands rested on her svelte waist.

With a soft hmph, she turned to look out the clear glass wall, staring at the cloudless night sky illuminated by twinkling speckles in the distance.

“You removed the handcuffs,” she mumbled almost inaudibly, still not looking at him, “and threw them away.”

“I promise I won’t leave your side tonight, alright?” he nudged her gently, hoping to regain her attention. The little action worked and she spared his handsome visage another glance. “Surely you can trust my words more than a pair of handcuffs?”

“Then are you going to follow me to the ladies?”

“If you don’t mind the police taking me away, I will.”

“It’s not funny!”

“And I’m serious here, Sana!” he cupped her cheeks with both hands, forcing her to face him. “I know you’ve been on the edge ever since what happened to me during the earthquake but you need to relax and get a grip on yourself. I hate seeing you cry for me, that was what I realized when I was pinned under the rubble.”

He paused when he detected the glistening sheen in her eyes. Softening his tone, he continued, “You are my priority now, Sana. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or me. Trust me, okay?”

All was quiet except for the soothing strings of violin playing in the elevator as Sana crumbled under Mina’s intense gaze.

“I’m sorry…” she finally whispered, placing her hand over his. “I just don’t want to lose you again. I’m so scared I can’t stop myself from doing all these silly things. Maybe I’m losing my mind.”

“No, you are not,” he broke into a small grin. “You just love me too much and I appreciate that.”

Studying his dashing smile, she popped a random question, “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Be so charming. You said I’m your first and only girlfriend. Were you lying?”

He gulped at the suspicious glint in her eyes and refuted her accusation hastily, “Oh no, you just make me a natural.” Glimpsing at the level indicator above the doors, he did a quick mental calculation. Two more floors.

Sana’s brows knitted together when she observed his widening grin but before she could ponder over his intentions, his left hand had slipped down to her back while h