It was a rather slow evening for the small market, but it might have been due to the fact that Hankyung went to shop during the late hours of the day. In fact, Hankyung would have to blame his building mates for keeping him far from his duties since they had dragged him to eat with them since lunch and had not allowed him to escape their iron grip since.

He threw another box of cookies into his basket noticing just how heavy it was getting as it hung from his arm. He looked over the list he had a firm grip on in his hand, making sure he had everything he needed so he would not have to make another trip. His classes would start tomorrow and he knew he wouldn’t have much leisure time to spend as he wished.

Once Hankyung was certain he had everything in the basket, he quickly moved to the checkout line to pay. He quickly placed the basket onto the counter and the old man began to ring his items up. He reached into his jean’s pocket searching for the bill he had taken from his wallet before leaving and surprisingly by the time he came back up, the old man was ready and waiting.

Hankyung checked the amount he needed to pay flashing on the machine before handing over the bill; he found it a bit awkward just standing there in silence, but he remained quiet and shifted on his feet as he waited for his change to be returned. The ding of the cash register did, however, cause him to jump and stare at it for a second before he tried to calm his racing heart. At the moment, he just wanted to get out.

Quickly, once he got his change, Hankyung grabbed his bags and almost practically ran out of the small mart; it was just too suffocating to stay and he really did not like the aura that surrounded the old man. Once outside, Hankyung felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he quickly took in a deep breath of air before exhaling. 

The streets were practically deserted, no surprise there as he began to make the lonely walk back to the campus. It was a near silent night as he heard the soft taps of his heel with every step he took. The grip on the plastic backs tightened a bit when the silence was interrupted by a sudden thud from an alley up ahead. Hankyung froze for a second, his heart racing as he remained still not wanting to attract any attention towards himself if he could help it.

A near silent groan reached his ears along with dry laughter from various sources; Hankyung's shoulders tensed as his eyes focused on the shadows casted against the brick wall of the building on the other side of the alleyway. Three shadows where evidently hunched forward over something, what he wasn't sure. One of them suddenly seemed to stand a bit erect before a leg was swung back then forward causing him to hear yet another thud accompanied by a whine.

He shook for a second as his attention fell onto the pavement before him. Hankyung wasn't sure what to do for a second as memories flashed like a storm in his head; images of the teasing, the taunting and the painful words he heard being practically slapped onto his face rushed back. He shut his eyes tightly as the grip on the backs tightened even more. His eyes refocused as the thuds became more frequent and they fell onto the figures as they continued to swing their feet at whatever was unfortunate to be their target.

A sudden scream caused the grip on the bags to slack and they came falling to the cement; the movement stopped as hushed whispers began once the shadows seemed to turn towards the alleyway exit; Hankyung had to figure out his next move as the shadows began to slowly disappear while the footsteps seemed to be getting closer.

"Will you hurry!"

"Shut up! Someone's here," he heard being whispered as he quickly shoved himself against one of the stone buildings.

His heart was thumping, what he guessed felt like, thirty-five miles an hour and he swore he would be suffering a heart attack right now if he was not as healthy as was. He grabbed hold onto his shirt right above the location of his heart; the footsteps where getting closer. Squeezing his eyes shut, Hankyung tightened his hands into firsts before he saw movement at the corner of his eye and in a flash he reacted with his hand colliding against something soft and firm. 

A sudden cry of pain caused him to pry his eyes open; there on the floor was a man holding onto his face as two others seemed shock at the sudden attack from him. 

"Idiots, kill him!" hissed the one that was sprawling on the floor.

Immediately, the other two snapped out of their shock and began to attack Hankyung who quickly took a defensive position. When one of them swung his arm for a side swing, the college student took a sidestep before wrapping one of his arms around the attacker's and  elbowing his stretched ligaments. The attacker fell onto his knees at the sudden pain before Hankyung quickly kicked him away with a swing of his right leg. It was then that the last one tried to attack as well, but Hankyung grabbed hold of his leg and swung one of his sending the attacker to the floor.

Once on his feet Hankyung noticed that the first one he had hit was still holding onto his face, but armed with a switchblade in the other hand. He narrowed his eyes at the man before getting into a fighting position; he had to be careful if he did not wish to get stabbed, but he needed to test the skill of his opponent with the blade. Hankyung began to side step and the other followed; both were studying each other, but one kept his eyes on the face and the other, on the body.

When the man quickly rushed forward, Hankyung moved forward too, wrapped his hands around the wrist which held the blade before twisting the arm behind the attacker's back. The man cried as he was brought down to his knees, the blade no longer within his possession when the student quickly knocked him out cold. He laid him on the floor as the weight of the man proved to be a bit too much for his stature; it was then that he noticed that his foot was a bit sore after the kicking he did to the solid bodies that now laid sprawled in the alley.

"Ngh." he heard from behind him.

Hankyung immediately turned to face the source of the sound and to his shock, a young man no older than 17 laid on the ground holding his stomach. His face was obviously bruised slightly and his hands were covered in small cuts. He could only imagine the pain the kid was feeling and quickly rushed over, calling out to see if the male was still awake. He only received a muffled groan in confirmation as he turned the boy over to see his face and he couldn't help but noticed the cheeks that adorned it.

"C-can you hear me?" he asked, feeling a bit naive at asking such a question.

"Ngh...yes; it hurts," he hear the young boy mumble as he tensed in his arms.

"Where does it hurt?" Hankyung asked, trying to keep the boy awake as he contemplated what to do.

"E-every...where," the stranger managed as he winced again when he felt pain shoot throughout his body.

"I think I should call-" Hankyung tried but was cut off suddenly by the boy.

"N-no!...Just...pain killers; sleep...all I need," the younger one muttered wincing yet again.

Hankyung just stared at the boy in his arms, unsure if it was the right thing to do. However, it wasn't his job to decide whether or not to take him to the hospital against the stranger's will; he had no authority over him. Making a last second decision, he carefully lifted the boy from the floor and hoisted him over his back. It was awkward to get him on, but with a bit of trial and error he finally managed to get the body onto his after the sixth try. He carefully and cautiously made his way out of the alley; he had no intentions in getting any attention on himself.

Hankyung stopped when he reached his fallen bags and he slowly reached for them, making sure the boy on his back wouldn't tumble off of him. Once the bags were secure, along with the stranger, he slowly began to make way back to his dorm. He was praying to any worldly being who happened to be listening that he would not be discovered; it wouldn't be an ideal situation if he were seen carrying a limp body on his back in the dark and alone. It was then that he was thankful the streets were deserted.

Taking in a deep breath, Hankyung knew he just needed to get to his room without being detected by anyone; but that proved to be difficult when he had to keep his balance with a dead weight on his back, bags of groceries hanging from his hands, walking up the steps to his room on the third floor. He grunted a bit to himself, adjusted the man's weight on his back, tightened his clothed grip on the bags and began to ascend the stairs quietly as he could. No one needed to be awaken or alerted that he was in the halls.

The new student, however, failed to notice the pair of eyes from above as he slowly crept up the stairs. The brunette huffed before he disappeared into the darkness of his floor. It would be a while before Hankyung would even reach the floor; with one swift wave of his arm, the cameras on his floor were frozen and they would continue recording once the fool coming up the stairs closed the door to his room.

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Chapter 3 is finally posted up.

I will focus on this story and others that I have an outline for.

Please keep leaving comments for them because it makes me want to update quicker.

Please enjoy.

Deliagem