Hyowon squinted at the sunlight. The time read 10:05 am. She yawned and looked over at Yongguk, who was still asleep. She lay her head on his bare chest, the soft palpitations of his heart were comforting to her. She thought of all the things she had said in her blind rage last night and bit her lip. I didn't mean any of those things, she thought to herself.  Unable to fall back asleep, she traced her fingers on Yongguk's abs and chest. He was so well defined, and her fingers moved across his body in a rugged fashion, encountering bump after bump of muscle on his abs. 

He looked so peaceful, sleeping like that. His black hair was all messy, courtesy of Hyowon; she had kept running her hands through his hair during their love making session. She couldn't help it that his hair was so soft, and despite his looks and voice he was really gentle and sweet at heart, which just made her want to hug him and ruffle his hair even more.  

Yongguk groaned. 

"Jagiya are you awake?" He asked, barely awake himself. 

"Mhm." Hyowon smiled at him gently. She kissed him softly. "I will make you some coffee." 

"Hyo...why don't we just stay in today? Until your night shift?"  Yongguk sat up in the bed.  

"That sounds good, babe. We have twelve hours to ourselves." Hyowon felt giddy again, like she had when she and Yongguk had first started going out. 

Hyowon and Yongguk had been together for four and a half years. They had almost rushed into marriage after Hyowon thought she was pregant, only a year after they had started going out. After that pregancy scare, the couple decided to wait out getting married until they felt truly ready. During those years, the couple struggled to find empolyment, and Yongguk had begun resorting to loans and theft for money.  Now after three years of messy conflicts and tangles, it was all coming back to Yongguk and haunting him with debts.  

Yongguk walked up behind Hyowon and grabbed her by the waist. Slightly surprised, she looked back at him. He kissed her neck and rested his head on her shoulder. 

"How's that coffee coming along?" 

"It'll get there..." Hyowon had started making pancakes while she was waiting for the coffee to be brewed. 

"You know I love you, right?" Yongguk asked, still holding on to her waist. 

"Yes. And I love you too." Hyowon turned around and hugged him. She felt his protective arms wrap around her and she couldn't have been any happier. 

 

It was now 4:00 pm. Hyowon was sitting in between Yongguk's legs, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. They had decided to watch a movie that had featured one of Yongguk's soundtracks.  

Hyowon felt a little bit nostalgic. She remembered the music sheets that littered the floor of their living room where Daehyun had stepped. She hoped Yongguk would go back to composing. It was the only thing that made him truly happy, and when Yongguk was happy, Hyowon was happy too.  

"Hey. This movie is boring." Yongguk smiled mischeviously. 

Hyowon let out a small laugh. She knew he wanted to go back to the bedroom and have fun. Already in just a shirt and some undies, she willfully agreed. 

 

9:54 pm. Hyowon lay on top of Yongguk. Both were sweating from the heat that the hot sun of Seoul had sent waves of during the day. They had been laying like this for quite a while, just enjoying each others' presence in silence, listening to each other's heartbeats. They quite literally had nothing but each other.  

"Gukkie~ I have to go." Hyowon should have already left by now. But today she didn't really care about how late she was. 

"I will go with you, and protect you." Yongguk looked her dead in the eyes. He wanted to prove that he was not a coward, and that he would live up to his promise of protecting her.  

Hyowon grabbed her skirt and tank top and automatically put her hair in an updo. She was ready in two minutes flat. 

"Shall we go?" Yongguk presented his arm like a gentleman. 

Hyowon put a hand to her face, slightly taken aback by his gesture. 

"Of course." She smiled to him. 

Just as the two walked out of the door, Yongguk stopped Hyowon. 

"I forgot my phone, I'll see you downstairs." He looked uncomfortable. He immediately regretted saying those words. 

"No it's okay, I will see you outside the gate." I didn't matter to Hyowon that he wasn't escorting her down the stairs, she would see him soon enough. 

"Five seconds." Yongguk kissed her and ran back into the apartment. 

Hyowon made her way out of the apartment. The night was eerily still. She shivered a little bit and looked around. What was taking Gukkie so long?

"Well, well, well..." A familiar voice made all of Hyowon's senses flash with alert. 

"Stop! Don't come any closer! I will have money by the end of the night, I promise!" Hyowon hated this, but it had to be done to get rid of him.  

"No." The man from the other night walked out of the shadows. "I want Yongguk to suffer. It's much better than money if you ask me." 

Hyowon brandished her keys. "Not a step closer, I'm warning you!" 

"Boys." The man signaled with two fingers. 

Boys?  

Hyowon suddenly screamed as two sturdy men grabbed both of her arms. She began kicking and flailing. She bit at any foreign flesh that she could reach. She put up a good fight at first, making ugly on her right bleed from her bite marks. But the two pug faced minions weren't dim-witted. They held her so that she couldn't bite them and so that her flailing would be in vain.  

"Let go of me." Hyowon grit her teeth. 

"Or what? You'll kick my balls again?" The man laughed. "I'm still angry at you for that by the way." 

Hyowon glared at him. If those two meatheads weren't holding her back, the man would have been a puddle of remains by now. 

"Okay guys. You can start by cutting her tongue off." 

Hyowon's eyes widened so much that if they were to get any wider, her eyeballs would pop out of their sockets. She began shaking uncontrollably. 

The minion on her right began choosing a knife. Tears streamed down Hyowon's face. 

"DON'T TOUCH HER." Yongguk ran with a bat at the first minion. He violently and repeatedly hit the minion until he was unconcious. The second minion threw Hyowon to Yongguk. He caught her and held her tightly against his chest with his free hand. 

"Connor, I'll get you your money!" Yongguk yelled at the man. 

"Oh nonsense. Do you know how many times you've told me that Mr. Bang? Do you?" Connor lit a cigarette nonchalantly. 

"If Hyowon goes to the club, she can cover the debt." Hyowon nodded desperately. Her eyes were wide open and full of fear.  

"No. Like I told your little girlfriend, I'd much rather see you suffer." Connor took a drag. 

"Fight me." Yongguk's deep voice sounded truly frightening in the dark with this atmosphere. 

"I don't think so." Connor gestured again. At least ten buff men came out of the dark. 

Hyowon felt Yongguk shift uncomfortably. She held on tightly to his arm. Suddenly, Hyowon heard noises from outside the alleyway. It was part of Yongguk's gang. 

Himchan, Daehyun, Youngjae, Jongup, and Zelo had all arrived, equipped with steel bats, knives, and guns. In the gang Yongguk had joined, these were the five men that he was in charge of. Hyowon knew each one personally, and couldn't have felt more reassured. 

One of Connor's minions began to attack. Hyowon was flung into the doorway, as Yongguk was tackled by a pug-faced elephant. Hyowon watched bitterly as the gangsters fought each other. 

The fighting went on for well over five minutes. Connor had made his way to the doorway where Hyowon, who had been searching for the keys, was standing. 

Connor grabbed her arm. She bit him and socked him. He flinched, but slowly regained himself and grabbed both her arms, dragging her out by force.

"It's the police! Someone called the cops!" Youngjae warned. The warning came too late, the cops had begun shooting. 

Most of the gangsters dispersed, only to be chased by dispatched officers. 

Connor continued to drag Hyowon along towards his van. 

Yongguk had to think fast. The cops were aiming for Connor, but there was no way they could do that without taking Hyowon down with him. Yongguk dashed towards Connor and Hyowon. 

Connor turned around and saw that the cops were aiming for him. He let go of Hyowon as soon as Yongguk reached her. 

"Hyowon, I'm here now, everything's going to be okay." Yongguk smiled crookedly. It was too late. The cops had already started shooting and Yongguk's back was totally exposed. He had no time to move Hyowon to shelter. 

"YONGGUK NO!!!" Hyowon struggled against him, to get him to move out of the way. He looked at her one last time, with eyes full of love and sadness, before a bullet struck his body. His body jerked forward and the lights in his eyes went out. A second bullet struck him, and a third. Hyowon was covered in his blood and trembling. Still violently shaking, she gently lay him on his back. 

"YONGGUK! YONGGUK DON'T LEAVE ME! I NEED YOU! I love you. Yongguk please." Hyowon sobbed uncontrollably. 

"I...was...brave...right? Jagiya?" Yongguk reached up and ran his fingers through her hair. 

Hyowon didn't respond, she couldn't. She simply nodded and kissed him many times. She held his head in her lap and tried to comfort him.

"I'll...always...be there for...you my love." Yongguk's fingers went limp. It was the last time he would ever carress Hyowon's hair. 

"YONGGUK!!!!!!" Hyowon let out a blood curdling cry, loud enough to wake up all of Korea. She felt as if a part of her soul had been violently ripped away from her. 

She sat there, motionless, numb, until an officer tried to drag her away from his body. She tried to put up a fight, but she was too weak and exhausted.  

"Five more minutes!" She pleaded. But the officer shook his head no and dragged her away from Yongguk.

"Bye Yongguk. I will love you forever." She whimpered to herself. "You proved over a million times that you are not a coward." Her words left a bitter taste in . She had no more tears left, but her soul felt as empty and endless as the pits of Tartarus.  

As Hyowon walked with the officer towards the police car, she could hear the movie with Yongguk's sound track from a neighbor's window. And she realized that Yongguk had not lied to her, he would always be there for her.