You took a sip of your punch and placed the paper cup on the table. You scanned the large ballroom. At every corner, smartly-dressed people were conversing. You made a face. *Father's parties are the most boring thing on Earth.* You suddenly spotted Lay sitting on one of the couches and your big brown eyes lit up.

 

With nothing else to do, you manouvred towards where he was. As usual, Lay was surrounded by beautiful women. You cleared your throat but he was too preoccupied with entertianing his female companions to notice you. You rolled your eyes. "Yah, Zhang Yi Xing!" you called out.

 

Lay finally looked up and saw you. His lips curled into a charming smile, revealing dimples on either sides of his cheek."Annyeong, Byullie~" he cooed as he stood up and gave you a quick hug. After pulling away, he turned to his lady friends. "Mianhe," he began, "but my Byullie needs me now."

 

The women pouted but got up and left.

 

You plopped down onto the couch next to Lay. "Yi Xing-ah, I'm bored," you said.

 

"Is that all? You made me chase away my beautiful lady friends just to tell me you're bored?"

 

You knew he was only joking but punched his arm anyway.

 

Lay pouted and rubbed the spot where you had hit him. "Aish, my Byullie is so violent."

 

You didn't answer him but sunk into the cushion and sighed.

 

Lay knew exactly what was going through your mind at that time. He lightly bumped his head against yours and turned to face you. "Byullie-ah, let's get away from this boring party and go look for a real party."

 

You couldn't help but grow excited at his suggestion. "Chinchayo?"

 

Lay nodded. "I'll bring you some place fun." He stood up and held his hand out to you. You took it and he pulled you up to your feet easily.

 

The both of you were heading towards the exit when three familair figures blocked your path. 

 

"Agassi, where are you going?" Chen asked. 

 

You made a face. *I totally forgot about them.* "I'm just going out with some fresh air with Yi Xing," you explained.

 

Xiumin shook his head sternly. "Sorry, agassi, but your father specifically said that you are not to leave the party until it is over."

 

This time, Lay answered. "We'll only be gone for a couple of hours. Mr. Hwang won't even notice that Han Byul's missing."

 

"Sorry, doryeon-nim, but we can't let agassi out of our sight," Xiumin said.

 

You knew they were only doing their jobs but you couldn't help but get annoyed at them sometimes. You were even more annoyed at your father, who had hired these three to serve as your protectors since you were a little girl. They followed you everywhere you went and watched your every move carefully. Now that you were already eighteen, they still stuck to you like super glue. "Jebal, oppas. I promise to be back before the party ends," you pleaded.

 

"I promise I'll take care of her," Lay added.

 

With Lay's reassurance, Luhan finally gave you permission to leave. "We're trusting in you, doryeon-nim."

 

Lay nodded. "You know I won't let anyone lay a finger on my Byullie."

 

Once you were out of sight, you pumped your fists into the air. "I'm free! Kyaaa~"

 

Lay rolled his eyes but chuckled. "You sound like you just escaped from prison."

 

"I basically did," you pointed out.

 

Lay laughed. "You have a point."

 

"Where are we going?" you asked, your eyes glistening with excitement.

 

Lay smirked. "You'll see."

 

A fifteen-minute car ride later, you and Lay got off in front of a small building. There was a sign at the front of the building that read Five Star Club. Tons of youngsters queued up in front of the entrance. Standing at the front of the door was a scary-looking bouncer. He let a group of youngsters in and stopped the next bunch to ask for IDs.

 

"Yi Xing, where are we?" you asked, completely clueless.

 

"Byullie," he spoke, "welcome to your first nightclub."

 

Your eyes widened at his words. "N-nightclub?" The only time you've seen a nightclub was on television. Even though you had turn eighteen a couple of months ago and could go clubbing legally, your father never let you. He wanted you to maintain your image because it affected his as well. You were obedient and never attempted to go clubbing, but you had to admit that you were at times curious as to what nightclubs were like.

 

Lay took your hand and snapped you out of your thoughts. "Let's go inside," he said. Lay made his way to the entrance, dragging you behind him. A couple of youngsters queueing up uttered spiteful comments as the both of you walked past but Lay ignored them.

 

The bouncer stared at you and Lay in a way that made you quiver with fear. You swallowed hard and tugged at Lay's arm. "Yi Xing-ah, maybe we should go someplace else."

 

Just then, the bouncer bowed. You grew wide eyed. *Who is he bowing to?*

 

Lay smiled. "Annyeong, Ricky."

 

The bouncer straightened up. "Nice to see you again, Lay-doryeon-nim. And I see you've brought another pretty lady with you tonight."  

 

Lay wagged his index finger. "Don't call her what you call my other lady friends," he said sternly, "Ricky, this is my best friend Hwang Han Byul."

 

Ricky's eyes widened in realisation. "So you're the famous Byullie Lay-doryeon-nim always talks about. It's an honour to finally meet you, agassi."

 

Your cheeks flushed red at you stared at Lay. *He's been talking about me with other people and calling me Byullie?*

 

A few youngsters queueing up grew annoyed and groaned.

 

"Hurry up!"

 

"Who do you think you are keeping the line like this? The prime minister's son?"

 

Ricky shot a death glare at them and they shut up immediately. "Sorry about that," he apologised to you and Lay. Ricky stepped aside and let you and Lay enter. "Have fun, you two."

 

"Wah~" You couldn't help but stare at everything once you stepped inside the nightclub. True to its name, this was a five star club indeed. Everything was so fancy and expensive-looking. It was so different from that run down nightclub you saw once on a television show.

 

Lay smiled when he saw your reaction. "Nice isn't it? This is my favourite nightclub of all time." He was temporarily distracted when a girl in a tight black dress walked past.

 

You rolled your eyes but laughed. "Yah, Zhang Yi Xing, stop drooling."

 

Lay snapped back into reality. "Hey, Byullie, do you think you'll be able to take care of yourself for awhile? People here are pretty decent so you shouldn't get into too much trouble." His eyes followed the girl in the black dress wherever she went as he spoke.

 

You knew he had already switched from friend mode to womaniser mode and nodded. "Just go and flirt with your ladies."

 

"You're the best, Byullie. See you in awhile," he said and left.

 

You walked around the nightclub aimlessly for the first ten minutes. You had no idea what you were supposed to do. It was your first time at a nightclub, after all. Several men came up to you and offered to buy you a drink but you politely rejected. You didn't drink alcohol. As Lay said, they were decent enough to walk away without trying anything funny on you.

 

After an hour of doing nothing, you were bored. *Where is Lay?* You spotted him sitting by the bar with a few catty ladies surrounding him. "Stupid Yi Xing, you forgot about me," you muttered under your breath. The room was stuffy and so you decided you needed some fresh air. You found a door nearby and walked out of the nightclub.

 

You leaned against the brick exterior of the building and sighed. *I'm supposed to be having fun right now but my best friend is too busy flirting with women to bother me.* Just then, you heard heavy footsteps. You straightened up and your eyes darted around warily. "Is someone there?" you called out into the darkness.

 

There was no answer but you could hear the footsteps getting louder. They were uneven, but definitely getting closer. You squeezed your eyes shut in feat. *I've seen this in movies before. This is the part where I get murdered in a dark alley by some psycho.*

 

You were waiting with your eyes close for the person to stab you with a knife but it never came. Instead, you heard something bang into the brick wall followed by a cry of pain. Your eyes fluttered open and you squinted to see in the dark. A few feet from where you were standing, there was a body laying on the ground. Out of curiousity, you dashed over to the person.

 

You went onto your knees next to the lengthy body. You took out your phone and shined some light on the body. A gasp escaped your lips when you saw that he was bleeding profusely all over.

The boy winced as the light from your phone hit his face. "Get that thing away from me," he hissed.

 

You moved your phone away from his face and shined light onto his bleeing body instead. You felt your heart break seeing this stranger in so much pain. You quickly took out your water bottle and tissues. You wet the tissues and held it against the boy's wounds.

 

The boy hissed in pain and mumbled something incoherently in what you recognised as Mandarin.

 

You felt bad that you were bringing even more pain to the boy but his wounds needed to be cleaned. "Mianhe..." you apologised softly.

 

The boy bit on his lower lip to keep from crying out in pain. "It's okay. You can continue," he said.

 

And so, you continued cleaning the multiple wounds on his body and face. When you were done, you took out your scarf and wrapped it carefully over the deep cut on his right arm.

 

You were helping the boy sit up when you heard footsteps. *Who is it now?* you wondered as your eyes scanned the dark alley. However, you couldn't make out which direction the footsteps were coming from. The boy in your arms sat up weakly. "D-Duizhang..."