It was finally lunch break. Ji Kyung packed up her belongings, bid goodbye to Luna and her other classmates, then left the class shortly after the dismissal. She walked in light steps straight towards the lecture hall Myungsoo was in, and when she reached a junction, she felt someone grabbing her by the wrist and hastily took her towards the other direction. She was shocked by the sudden pull, almost about to scream for help until she realized it was her own boyfriend dragging her in urgent steps.

“M-myungsoo??”

She tried to speak, but was panting hardly due to all that jogging towards somewhere Myungsoo had in mind but has yet to tell her where was it. He kept running and ignored her call. In his mind, it was completely occupied by the idea of outrunning Byunghun so that he can be alone with his girlfriend. But really, he thought to himself, he was just desperately trying to avoid encountering the guy that constantly sends shivers down his whole body, as much as he could.

It was only until a few minutes later, he finally stopped in a field, and she looked around to find that they were now stepping in the "chill out zone", located at the very back of the university. This place was designed to be nature oriented, suitable for quiet studying and relaxing purposes. Students often come here to just sit on the patch of grass and take a break from their daily hassles.

The birds were chirping cheerfully and resting on the lush green trees and a cool, gentle breeze brushed across her face. Immersed in the quiet environment for a few seconds, she only got back her senses when Myungsoo let go of her wrist. Now, she noticed that her partner was no longer in a hurry, and the both of them were casually walking to their usual spot to take a seat on the grass. They sat down side by side, and by then, Ji Kyung finally took a deep breath and questioned Myungsoo about what just happened.

"Myung, why were you in such a hurry?"

Myungsoo was seen taking a deep inhale, before looking around as if checking for something. He heaved a relieved sigh after a while, but soon enough, he could feel his heart skipping a beat upon hearing Byunghun’s voice again. And then a heavy sigh came out from his mouth.

Who said I couldn’t catch up?

Myungsoo looked at the translucent figure sitting across the both of them, then looked at Ji Kyung. He was frustrated, very frustrated at the thought that Ji Kyung was unable to understand his situation. He couldn’t even find an explanation to tell her, so he just gave her a smile. She pouted for a second, so he playfully ruffled her hair and she crossed her arms dissatisfied. However, Myungsoo stopped fooling around with his girlfriend when he felt a glare directed at him, and then he remembered the presence of the intruder. The glare was icy yet burning at the same time, as if he was ready to kill.

Weirdly enough, a moment passed by and the glare was instantly replaced with loving gazes when he switched it onto Ji Kyung. It was at that moment that Myungsoo became jealous and angered for some reason, with his hands rolled up in a fist by itself.

“What’s with the look?” He groaned to himself.

Byunghun continued to stare intently at Ji Kyung without a word, and his eyes seemed to convey a sorrowful message that Myungsoo could not comprehend. Despite seeing how his eyes pouring with sadness, he couldn’t ignore that they were pouring affection too, so he decided that he was done tolerating that and pulled Ji Kyung up from the floor. Ji Kyung looked at him with a weird gaze.

“M-Myungsoo?”

Once again, he ignored her call and took her away from the place without an explanation. She followed with messy steps, now feeling worried and confused about what her boyfriend was attempting to do. Words were stuck in , so she sighed in defeat and followed quietly.

Stop right there.

He halted his footsteps, it was only then his conscious mind took back the control over him and he realized that they were about to step out of the university grounds. The intruder stood across them, with both his arms folded, and was glaring at Myungsoo. Myungsoo faked a cough, before fixating his eyes straight onto Byunghun’s without any sign of fear anymore.

“He’s just a mere soul, I shouldn’t be afraid anymore.” He thought to himself.

What are you to grab Ji Kyung away like that?

Upon hearing that, Myungsoo fumed and loosen his grip to Ji Kyung’s palm. He went over to Byunghun furiously, trying to grab his collar. Surprisingly, he was able to grab the man’s collar with both his hands, and he glared into his eyes fiercely.

“What am I you say? I’m Ji Kyung’s boyfriend!”

After listening to his argument, Byunghun began to laugh hysterically, which had successfully made Myungsoo quivered for a second or two, wondering why he was laughing that way. Myungsoo was completely dumbfounded by his reaction.

“Myungsoo! What are you doing?!”

Ji Kyung's voice rang in his ears, but he was still too occupied and mad with the mysterious guy in front of him so he could care less about answering her at that moment. Just after a minute or two, that guy stopped laughing and now Byunghun was looking at him with a contempt look and a smirk at the corner of his lips.

Oh look, a car is coming in great speed, you’re joining me soon, Kim Myungsoo.

He immediately froze at the statement. Indeed, when he shifted his focus away from Byunghun, he could hear the sounds of a car honking urgently from his right as well as Ji Kyung screaming his name. However, his body was automatically kicked into a panicked mode, so he could only look at Ji Kyung helplessly while both his feet were still rooted at the spot unable to move a step.

The next second after hearing her scream, Myungsoo could feel himself being pulled into her arms with great force. He quickly regained his composure after a short moment, and only then he realized that, he had made Ji Kyung worry once again against his will.

You are one lucky bastard.

The voice sounded. Myungsoo had his eyes focused on Ji Kyung, who was breathing in a fast pace, and tears were b from her eyes. He did not hesitate for another second before pulling her into a tight embrace, caressing her hair gently and whispered a “sorry” into her ears. They hugged for some time without a word, sharing the warmth of their bodies with each other and letting her express her pent-up emotions freely.

She inhaled deeply after crying in his shoulders for a short while. When they separated from the hug, she intertwined her fingers with his and flashed him the familiar sweet smile.

“It’s alright... We better go, classes are resuming soon and we haven't had our lunch.”

He patted her hair and nodded.

---

Later that day, the both met up at the school gate after their classes had ended. As they were walking hand in hand to the nearest bus station, she cleared to get Myungsoo’s attention. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Myungsoo... Honestly, what’s bothering you?”

She sounded genuinely concerned. In fact, she thought, he had been so out of character and almost had himself killed several times! However, Myungsoo didn’t give much thought to her question and only gave her a short, unimportant reply.

“Nothing.”

But in his mind, he knew he could only give her that response because she wouldn’t understand if he told her about Byunghun since she could not see him anyway. He carefully glanced at her expression after listening to his answer, and his heart ached when she looked disappointed. He had to mentally apologize and blamed himself for not being able to ease her concerns.

“Really? Alright.”

She replied coldly, followed by an upset sigh which made him feel worse. He tried to think of a way to lie and assure her that things are okay, so he tried to sound as confident as he could when he said, “Don’t worry too much, Ji Kyung. Everything’s fine.”

Nonetheless, he failed to maintain eye contact with her while making up a white lie to her, and she noticed that. They stood by the bus station, and none of them start a conversation like they usually would, letting an eerie silence surrounding them. The shuttle bus took only five minutes to pick them up, so they got on and maintained the silence all throughout their journey back home. Occasionally, Myungsoo peeked at Ji Kyung, but she had a blank expression on her face the whole time so he was clueless to her emotions.

Just when they were about to reach their home by passing through one more apartment building, something fell from above and landed right before Myungsoo’s face. He scooted backwards in shock, just enough to avoid the object and witnessed the fall. Ji Kyung screamed and jumped in surprise, and when she took a closer look at the object, she realized it was a vase. Myungsoo furrowed his eyebrows, looked at the shattered pieces of the vase on the floor, and put a palm on his chest in hopes to calm his maddening heartbeat. After taking a nervous gulp of saliva, his body gave away and he out once again.

“M-Myung!” She shouted.

---

What the hell, why aren’t you dying...

A voice reached his ears and woke him up. He slowly blinked open his eyes, replacing the blurry vision to a clearer one and tried to register his surroundings. There was a blanket covering him, and his hand could feel the softness of the mattress. He figured out the next second that he was on the bed in their home, and Ji Kyung was lying beside him with her eyes shut. Tears had drenched her face, he noticed, and she was still sniffling softly in her sleep. She looked just like a little child, so fragile and innocent, and Myungsoo couldn't resist himself as he leaned towards her face to kiss her forehead and pull her into an embrace to comfort her in his arms.

“Poor thing... Worrying about me every single time... And it’s all because of his fault.” He murmured to himself.

My fault?! She doesn’t even belong to you!

It was Byunghun’s voice again. He let go of Ji Kyung and moved his body to the other direction, only to find Byunghun standing next to the bed with his arms on his waist expressing frustration.

“What do you want?”

Myungsoo demanded in a stern voice. He figured out that Byunghun had tried to kill him again, and it was about time for him to protect himself, as well as to stop letting Ji Kyung worry about his safety.

I see you’re not afraid of me anymore... Maybe I can kill you soon enough.