"Pft. What are you, her boyfriend? " a man who seemed to be in his late 30s, judging from his scruffy beard that was a bit gray at some ends, spoke. He held her waist and pulled out a switch blade as another man came out from behind him. This one was a little taller and looked more decent than the first, with his hair slicked back and his beard trimmed.

"Their just high schoolers. " the other man laughed pulling his blade out. "Just leave quietly and we'll pretend none of this happened."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I tend to the opposite of what others tell me to do. " Ilsuk smirked before running towards the old man, blowing a punch to his face.

"Don't forget me! " Hyun ran to the first man, kicking him down.

The tall man recovered from Ilsuk's punch and swung his blade at him. Another punch landed on the man's face, but he threw another towards Ilsuk. The shorter one kept swinging his blade in front of him and Hyelyn randomly with no sense of direction, hoping to scare hyun off.

"Hey! Watch it! " Hyun scolded the man as he got scratched by the blade. Before the man could do any damage to Hyelyn, Hyun quickly grabbed his arm, twisting it back and smacking him down.

"Where do you think you're going? " Ilsuk dragged the taller man back to the center of the alley with his leg right next to his buddy. "Now then, lets pretend this didn't happen shall we? " he touched their necks pressure point before they both lost their consciousness.

"Hyelyn, are you okay? " Hyun ran to her side helping her up. "Why didn't you yell for help? "

She looked at Ilsuk.

"Cause she can't. "

Her eyes flickered for a second, showing some alarm.

"What's that supposed to mean? "

"She...she's mute. "

"What?"

"She can't speak. She's mute."

For a few seconds Hyun just stood there, quiet and still.

"...mute? Yeah right. " he laughed as he looked to her. His smile faded seeing her serious expression as she avoided his eyes. "...are you serious... "

"What's wrong?" Ilsuk walked to him.

"Nothing..I just remembered I have to get back to class. " Hyun ran out quickly.

[Hyelyn's Room]

"Back when I was still in Canada I learned a little bit on speech impairments. Elective and Selective mutism. So when I saw you I realized that you might have one of them. I met up with someone andfound out that in your case it's elective. " Ilsuk explained to Hyelyn.

She stayed quiet as he continued, not knowing how to react. It was good that someone understood, but was it really good? It didn't seem bad, but didn't feel comfortable either.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else." he looked at her uncomfortable expression. "And... I'm sorry...about your mom. I didn't know."

She finally stood up and opened her bedroom door signaling him to get out.

"...If you ever want, I'll be right here." he exited.