Daehyun slowly closed the door behind him, rubbing a hand across his face and rubbing his eyes wearily. It was another day gone by way too slow. The hours seemed to inch by, the minutes like a drunken snail. He ran a hand through his wet hair and winced. He'd smell like a wet dog if he didn't go take a shower. He eased off his soggy shoes, the worn leather squeaking as he lay them down, his damp socks next on top of them. 

 

Checking behind him that the door was safely latched against the raging storm outside, he slowly slid off his soaking jacket. 

 

It had been raining for about two days now, straight, unrelentingly. A few times thunder and lightning had made its way across the sky, but it had been mostly a downpour. It made it hard to teach anything to his students, as they were all either sleepy or already in dreamland. The school was a couple of inches away from being closed anyway, the waters almost rising to flood levels. He himself had difficulty thinking as he walked through the hallway towards his shower. He lived alone so he didn't have to bother with bringing a change of clothes; if he got cold he'd wrap a towel around himself. 

 

Turning on the tap, he adjusted the tap to just how he liked it, a little on the burning side. Sliding his pants and boxers down his length, he stripped himself of the wet black shirt, cracking his back slightly. He moved the curtain and closed his eyes, stepping and cringing a bit as the water hit him. 

 

It hurt so good to his chilled skin. 

 

He wasn't much for taking long showers, only really staying in long enough to clean himself and maybe a little bit of enjoyment of the water. He finished washing the soap from his body, lathered up his dark hair and closed his eyes again. Enjoying the feeling of his fingers in his hair, he settled in for a moment. He was always on full speed, so what was taking a few minutes to himself?

 

Eventually his impatience won out and he leaned his head back to rinse the sweet smelling foam from his hair. He was always partial to the smell of fruits.

 

Manliness be damned. 

 

He shut off the water and grabbed the towel hanging on the rack. But instead of putting it on he walked out of the room, rubbing it on his hair. It was almost unfashionable as it was now, a bit shaggy and falling into his eyes a bit. Yet so far he hadn't gotten any complaints from the school board, or the ladies. 

 

He was sort of popular with them. They liked to hang around him, liked to flirt, and he supposed his face was nice. He had a decent body. When he wasn't at school he liked to spend some time at the gym working out. He'd had a few love interests since his high school days, but nothing serious. He just didn't have that time right now. 

 

He decided to leave the lights off in his room. At this point, he was so tired he'd probably just drop right off. He didn't have to turn on a light to know what his room looked like. Just a bed with a blue comforter, a lone pillow and a small stuffed bunny a friend had given him. The thought lifted his lips a little bit. A special friend that he treasured dearly, maybe even a little in love with...Okay, a lot in love with. That was the only reason it was on his bed. 

 

The rest of the room was just a nightstand with a lamp on it, the paper reflecting like a lantern when . It had almost nothing on it, save for a book he was currently interested in. A dresser was to the right side of the door, it held his clothes that he wore on a regular basis. His fancy clothes were hanging in the closet, as were his shoes lined up inside it. He wasn't retentive, he just liked to know where things were.

 

A quick look to the clock confirmed it was eleven thirty, and he had to be up for a teacher's conference at seven am the next morning. Sighing again, he rummaged around in his top dresser drawer trying to find something soft to wear. All he wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep until he had to do it all again. 

 

The rain was starting to clash again, the sky lighting up with streaks, and a small smile curved his face. He always slept better when it was thundering. A few seconds later he had pulled a pair of gray sweat pants from the drawers and slipped them on. He waited only a fraction of a second until the predictable thunder roared in his ears. His smile widened-

 

Until he heard what sounded like a thump following it. Puzzled, he stopped, tilting his head to the side. After a moment of listening and the sound not coming again, he closed the drawer. Rubbing the towel harder in his hair, he hoped it would dry before he really fell asleep, or he'd have to tame it in the morning. 

 

Another clap of thunder and Daehyun yawned, visions of sleeping dancing around in his head. He dropped the towel in the dirty clothes. He'd have to do them tomorrow, or they'd over flow-

 

That sound again! What was it? It was from outside, but it was so faint. Was the rain banging something against his house? Or something else? He resigned himself to looking; after all it would probably continue to bother him all night. 

 

A once over of his bedroom revealed nothing. But the sound occurred two more times, so he ruled that out. He shivered. It was starting to get cold in only his sweat pants. He really wished he was snug under his covers by now. But dutifully he checked the hallway, curiously, as it was inside. His small kitchen only had one window, and he couldn't see anything out it. The sound was close now and he was zeroing in on it. It sound like it came from the living room. 

Maybe he didn't shut the door as well as he thought...

 

The rain was pounding now, the roar of the wind almost deafening. He regretted not listening to the weather reports like the other teachers who had gathered around. Did he miss something important? 

 

The door was safely latched, and he glanced through the peephole, nothing was out there. Nothing to make the noise he had been hearing, anyway. 

But just as he turned away, he heard it again. This time coming from the door. It was like a knock, he recognized it now. A faint, almost silent knock.

 

What the heck could be making that noise? 

 

Was it a tree branch? Something blown onto the porch? 

 

He was afraid to open the door. The wind was so strong he was afraid that he might not get it closed again. 

 

The tapping was contining, and it was becoming almost unbarable, something in him told him to open it, but another told him not to.

 

Something was wrong behind that door, something that would change things. He froze for a bit, his intuition screaming at him to do something. Anything to fix it.

 

But fix what?

 

His hand slowly reached out, hesitating on the door knob. As a math instructor, he was the most logical person you could ever meet. His mind was filled

with step by step thoughts, room for fun, he was always told he was a loud person...

 

But something was screaming at him to open the door as quick as he could, another part telling him to run away as fast as could. 

 

So he listened to the logical part of himself, there was nothing out there that could hurt him. It was making such a little sound, and it was getting weaker by the moment. 

 

It had to be something small.

 

So he turned the knob, taking a deep breath, and as it rattled around in his chest he peeled open the door. 

 

A weight fell right on top of him.

 

He stumbled back. It knocked the very breath out of him and reflexively he put his arms around it. He fell, hard, back on his wooden floor, making a loud thudding sound and a groan. It was crushing his chest, and it wasn't moving.

 

He eased it up, trying to distinguish what it was. 

 

It had hair, he knew. It was in his face, in his mouth. It tasted like mud. 

 

It didn't seem to be much of a threat and he began to see that this was a person! A very limp person... He eased them to the right, laying them gently on the floor. Just because he didn't know what was going on didn't mean he wasn't a gentleman. In fact, he was such a gentleman he didn't even look at how low cut the blouse of this figure was. Nor how short the skirt was. In fact, he never tried to look too deeply at anything in particular. 

 

Except... she was covered in mud. He kind of wondered how she got like this, her hair covering half of her face, dirty as all hell. Her clothes were ripped to shreds and around her arms and wrists were...bruises? He the right corner of his mouth inside and gently laid his hand on the bruise of her right thigh. Maybe it wasn't proper to touch her there, but those bruises looked fresh. 

 

They looked painful... 

 

He swallowed hard, about to move the hair from her face to figure out if he had a clue who she was. But his movement knocked her hand from where he had moved it, and it fell to the floor with a light smack. He would have ignored it for the moment, if he didn't catch something glinting dully in its grip in the

hallway light. 

 

He gently held the girl's fist in his own hand, turning it this way and that. She was holding on pretty tightly to the object, in fact, he could see a bit of smeared blood on her palm. Was it that important she had cut herself with it? 

 

He gently tried to pry her hand open, but the skin stuck to it and he was worried about hurting her more. It looked like she had been in trouble. He slowly eased the fingers apart from the metal looking material, and winced as the skin slowly parted, bleeding again. He got three fingers to open and the object fell out, clanging on the floor. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, and slowly reached over to pick up the small thing. It looked like a ring...

 

Daehyun's heart stopped beating in his chest.

 

It twisted so painfully in there that an audible sound issued from his mouth.

 

He knew this ring...

 

He knew it very well...