The next morning I woke up to a broad chest as my pillow and an arm wrapped around me. The soft breathing from it was rhythmic and steady. I was still wearing the clothes from yesterday but the chest had no clothing on it. Picking my head up I see minhos sleeping face. It was soft and peaceful not stern and strict like before. The one thing that caught me was the many scars on his body. They were old but didn't look like animal scars. Maybe knife and some gunshot scars. Gently I ran my finger over one of the larger ones. I was so caught up in his beautiful scarred body I didn't notice he had woken up till the hand wrapped round me my hair. "I'm sorry." I mumble pulling my hand away from his chest. 

 

"Come lets get ready we have a busy schedule if we want to find a spot for you in the performance." he said ignoring my apology. I simply nodded and we both got up changing into different clothes. As we headed back out to the tent the tigers growled even before we got near them. Why do they hate me? "Have you ever ridden a horse?" he asked and I nodded. "We could use you as an acrobat on the horses." nodding again we went in and he got a big white horse named Maggie. She was very old but sweet. I helped slip on a piece of tack called a cirsingle that went on her back. Giving me a leg up he threw me up onto her back and attacked a lead to her bridle. He walked me around for a little while do I could get used to her movement. Finally he stopped her and helped me stand up on her back. Shakily I keep my feet on the side handles of the cirsingle. Walking around again I keep my balance gently extending one foot back and up in the air. "Now let's see If you can do this at a faster pace. Clicking to the horse she went off into a canter while I tried to stay on. She was fast but smooth. Trying to stand back up I set my arms to the side to balance myself. 

 

When I decided I could do something crazy I grabbed the handles and hoisted my feet into the air holding my legs still. "Wow. Look at you." heard a voice say and saw umma. "I think you will do great as a vaulter. Minho can help with the other horses." I nodded bringing my legs down as Maggie started walking. Jumping off I bow to umma as jonghyun walked in. "Jongg we just found a new acrobat to work with the horses."

 

"Great. Excellent. Now we should be good for tonight's performance. Why don't you two go wash up the tigers and see if they will be ok with some sort of act with you Taemin." he said as my eyes widened with fear. I was about to say something but minho beat me to it. 

 

"No that's not a good idea jonghyun. You saw what the tiger tried to do yesterday. Every time he gets near them they try to kill him." he said taking my wrist and pulling me back. 

 

"Well we need another act for the tigers. Im sure you'll figure something out Minho. Key I need your help with the bills." he said pulling key away. Minho was silent was we went into the animal tent with all the animals. Leaving me in the middle he went up to a tigers cage and looked him in the eye.  It growled as Minho sternly growled back. stopped and looked away before Minho unlocked the cage. 

 

"Minho. Minho? What are you doing?" I say frightened. Opening the cage he lets the tiger jump out and  it bounded toward me. My heart beat quickly as I fell backwards and backed up to the wall of the fenced tent. He growled but only looked at me as he stopped in front of me. I couldn't breath. Fear took overly body as I trembled. I wanted to run but I couldn't move all nerves in my body frozen. Minho had walked up behind the tiger and spoke in some sort of African language. I think it was Swahili. The tiger walked away to the other side of the fenced enclosure but carefully watched me. My muscles wouldn't relax as I stared at it fear very evident. 

 

" he won't hurt you. Not while I'm here." he says quietly grabbing my arms and trying to pull me up onto my feet. My body followed but I couldn't comprehend what was going to happen. 

 

"No no no. Please Minho. Please no." I frantically whisper as he pulls me over to the tiger. My legs were so shaky that I could barely stand. Minho had to Hold me up. 

 

Finally he sat down and pulled me into his lap. Rocking me back and forth he rubbed circles into my back while several tears fell from my eyes. "I won't let him hurt you. I'll protect you." he whispered as the tiger sat in front of us, watching. Looking up at its enormous size I cringe at the thought of it trying to kill me. When it didn't move I buried my head into minhos chest while he took my hand and held it out to the tiger. I was expecting my arm to be gone but all I felt was a wet tongue my hand. In fear I jerked it away. The one noise I didn't expect was it to whimper. Looking up at it. His ears were down and tried to give me big puppy dog eyes which only made him scarier. "See he only wants to be your friend. His name is Oska." Minho says in my ear as I just look at the beast. It laid down in front of us and stuck his head on my lap. Frightened I try to squirm out of minhos arms to escape to a safe distance from the tiger. He tightened his grip on me not letting me leave. "It's ok. It's ok Minnie." Minnie? Where did that come from? "he only wants you to pet him." only pet? He must be crazy. That cat will chew off my arm. Gently he takes my hand and places it on top of the tigers head. Instead of growling he let out a purr. Surprised I didn't move while it purred and rubbed his head on my hand. 

 

"Ok. No more Minho. No more." I whisper pulling my hand back. He nodded and said something else in Swahili. The tiger obeyed and walked back to his cage. Setting me down on the ground he went to close the cage before he walked back over to me and picked me up bridal style. Carrying me back to the trailer he set me down on the bed while he went to go get me some water. I was still shaking as he returned handing me the water. Taking a sip I set it to the side and hugged my Legs. Minho sat behind me and wrapped his arms around my body trying to comfort me. 

 

"I'm sorry it had to be done. Jonghyun has Cameras in here as he sees everything. When he sees how afraid of the tigers you are key won't let him make you work with them. You can stick with the horses and possibly help Jinki with some clown stuff. That's ok right?" he asked and I nodded. At least that was the last time I would have to do that. Wrong. "But you still need to face your fear of the tigers. For now we will work once a week with them." shaking my head I tried to get out of his grasp. 

 

"No Minho. I can't go near them. I don't know why I just. I just can't." I whimper. 

 

"Hey hey. It's ok. We won't rush into anything. Ill make sure everything goes smoothly." he hugged me close. His warm embrace was so inviting and convincing that I eventually nodded. What have I gotten myself into?