The tall man hunched over Aeri and touched her head and moved two fingers to her neck. He felt a solid pulse and blew a sigh of relief. The man glanced over at the body crumpled next to her. He pulled out a cellphone and punched #4 on speed dial. Bbrring bbring bbbringggg. The silence in the alley made the ring sound louder than usual.

"Ne?"

"Joon, its me. I found her but.... there's something else."

Muffled yells and words could barely be heard as the man's arm dropped down to his side as his other hand caressed Aeri's cheek and pushed back a tuft of hair from her forehead. A light beep signaled that the call had been disconnected. Heaving a sigh,  the lanky man stood up and stared into the gloom, waiting. Then he looked back at the figure on the ground next to Aeri....

Within 10 minutes, a car came hurtling down the alley, the flood lights as it pull forward and stopped in front of the scooter and the man. He threw his hand up to block the blinding light to his eyes and dully stared as he watched Joon got out of the car and flew to Aeri's side, who didn't notice anything else.

"Cheondung! What's wrong with her, is she alright?!"

"I think she's just shocked but she'll be alrig---"

"Well then let's take her to the hospital, right NOW!" Joon squatted to pick Aeri's limp body up when Cheondung placed a hand to still him.

"Hyung, let's take her to her apartment. She'll be alright. I have something else to do." Thunder limbered over to the scooter which had the body of the girl laid across it. He deftly picked her up and sat the girl in his lap before taking off. Joon muttered curses at him under his breath for leaving him alone with Aeri. But he was too focused on picking Aeri up and putting her in his car before he finally registered that there was a 2nd person that Thunder didn't clue him in on it at all!

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beep.............................. beep-eep.............................. beep.............................. beep-eep

Thunder palmed his cellphone for the 15th time in the last hour, checking for a missed call, a text, an email. Nothing. He got up and walked down the clinic hallway, nervously glancing only to see that the door to exam room 3 was still shut. The small sounds of the 24-hour clinic were louder than usual with the empty waiting room. Probably for the best, what if someone saw me here, he thought as he heaved a frustrated sign and fell back into the uncomfortable chair. Propping his head up on his hand and pulling his cap low, he closed his eyes for a quick cat-nap. If there was anything that could rush time, it would be sleep. What he didn't realize was that as he slept, someone walked out of exam room 3 and sat across from him with unrecognizing eyes.

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Aeri felt a warm hand on her forehead which felt so comfortable until it was taken away and replaced with something cold and wet. Wrinkling her nose, she shifted her head. "SSsshhhh, it's alright. I'm here."

She turned to see Joon gently smiling at her, sitting on a stool next to her couch. She couldn't believe it! Joon...... right next to me!!!! Eeeeeepp! How did he get in? How...... wai--  Her thoughts were distracted by Joon removing the cool towle from her forehead. He cooed at her, "Are you feeling better? You fainted and we couldn't get you to wake up. Are you stressed? Noona can't be stressed."  She thought This must be a dream! She gave a silly grin at him and closed her eyes. But as the darkness invaded her senses, so did her memories.

"The alley.... it was dark!" She shot up from the couch, dizzy from the sudden movement. "The girl, where's the girl?! I left her behind!" Joon pushed her back to a lying position and reassured her that everything was fine. Calming the distraught Aeri was difficult but since he had slipped a sleeping pill into her drink earlier when they first came in, she was more willing to comply with his request. Once Aeri had fallen back asleep, Joon stood up to address the 3 pairs of eyes that had been staring at him for the last half-hour since barging into the apartment.

"Annyonghasaeyo, cho Joon-imnida." He did a short bow to an old man and a young woman who stood holding the hand of a child who could be much older than 4 years old. "I'm sorry for bringing her home in such a state but we felt it best that she rest at home. She should sleep tonite but I'll be back in the morning to check on her." The old man harrumphed and crossed his arms, looking away from Joon. The young woman looked nervously and bowed back to Joon, "Kamsamnida, thank you so much for taking care of her! We didn't realize she would be so careless and we will discuss with her about her behavior."

Joon sheepishly looked down, "Welll agasshi, it wasn't like that really..."  But before he could finish a sentance, the old man took a step forward and rumbled, "That's my wife, it'd do you well to remember your manners!" Joon bowed apologetically a few more times and finally took his leave. As the door shut behind him, Joon breated a sign of relief thinking Boy her dad is one scary man but his wife? She looks more like Aeri's sister and so soft spoken. She was pretty too... He thoughts quickly turned to food as his stomach gave a small growl. But behind the doors, the mood changed dramatically. As the old man sat down in a nearby recliner, the young woman walked over to Aeri on the couch looking down at her. Within seconds, Aeri was grabbed by the hair and dragged off the couch. "You , you dare bring him in here in such a terrible state?!" The next few minutes lasted an eternity as Aeri sat and suffered through her nightly ritual of her step-mother's complaints and physical tirade of hatred. Hidden bruises were re-bruised, forcing small cries from Aeri as old sore areas were invaded by a non-stop pummelling of hands and whatever else her step-mother had in reach. "How dare you degredate us with your irresponsible and selfish actions?"

The old man who was Aeri's father looked away with disinterest, grabbed the remote and to a local new station. The small girl climbed in to his lap and asked, "Papa, why is unni always bad?" A flicker of sorrow passed through his eye but then hardened as the sounds of the beatings grew louder. He her hair, shifting the child away from viewing her mother's actions, and replied, "Bad people come from bad blood, don't forget that."

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Thunder twisted his hips against the hard surface of the chair. Waiting rooms are always uncomfortable and so cold! He pulled at the sleeves at his wrists tighter when he felt a heavenly warm breath over his face and is body instantly wrapped in a cottony cocoon. Uumm, this is so warm... As the thought crossed his mind, he reached up to pull the blanket closer when his hand touched something hot and clammy. Reality of the touch forced his eyes wide open and he quickly sat up, hitting something hard in the head. "Yeowch..." Thunder reached to his head to rub away the quickly forming knot and his eyes focused on a girl who fell back right in front of him. She put her hand to her chin and rubbed it.

Thunder jumped up, "Are you okay?? Why are you out here?" He reached down & pulled her up from the floor. She shook her head with a shy smile, waved her hands in front of her to fend off his helping hands, and sat in the chair next to him. in a moment of quiet, Thunder fidgeted in his seat before raising his eyes to the disheveled person next to him. "Let's go find a nurse..." his words trailed off as the girl shook her head. "Look. I don't know what your story is but its important that you come first. What's your name?" .......................... a long silence continued as hospital sounds continued around them. "I'm sorry. I'm Cheongdung, and you are?" The girl stared at her right hand, picking at a small callus on her thumb.

Thankfully a nurse quickly came around the corner with a worried look that instantly fell into a breath of relief, "There you are! Let's get you back to the room." Thunder stood up as the nurse grabbed the girl's shoulder and put out his arm to stop them. He questioned the nurse, "What's happened? Is she okay?" The nurse continued to pull the girl up and said, "She's seems to be fine but you need to fill out her paperwork, she didn't have any ID on her."

Confused, Thunder responded, "Well I don't have it either." The nurse stopped, causing the girl to stumble and turned her around. "Isn't that your oppa? What's your name?"

The girl pulled nervously on a loose string and shook her head. Thunder suddenly felt a nervous tremor as a thought came across his mind, She doesn't even know who she is!