'No!'

'Stop it, please!'

'Shut up, shut up, stop moving!'

'Stop!'

'Ow! You !'

'Stop it!'

'I've stopped!'

'Stop it, please!'

'Please!'

Mi-hyun didn't realise they had finished the ride and had come out the tunnel until she heard shouts and yells. She finally opened her eyes to find them wet with tears. God...

'You creep!'

She heard Hyorin shout it first then watched from the crook of her arms as she climbed into the horrid cart that had become a trap for the last minute, and tackled Minho in it, punching and kicking him. Minho's muffled voice slunk out from below Hyorin's weight.

'Geroff me, woman!'

'How-dare-you,' Hyorin snarled as she slapped him between each word. Kyungsoo and Ga-In ran forward to peel Hyorin off before she killed him and not a second later, a familiar smell wrapped itself around Mi-Hyun as well as two strong arms.

Baekhyun was trembling.

Whether it was from anger or shock, Mi-Hyun couldn't tell. Probably both.

A shaking hand ran itself over her hair, so different from the wandering ones touching Mi-Hyun just a few moments earlier. She wondered how she could welcome another man's touch so quickly, just after someone else had clearly violated her rights as a person and as a woman.

Finally feeling safe for the first time in what seemed forever, locked between Baekhyun's chest and his arms, she finally allowed herself to sob, clutching at his body like a dying woman.

~~~

He carried her, all of her, to an empty seat behind a building that had been boarded up. It was quiet here and nobody was nearby.

Mi-Hyun finally peeled herself apart from Baekhyun and dried her eyes. She couldn't meet his eyes, not after what Minho had done to her. She felt so dirty and all she wanted was a shower. Instead, she stared at the wet patch on his sweater.

'I'm sorry I made it wet,' she said, softly touching it.

'No, it's okay,' Baekhyun said quickly, grabbing her hand in his. There was something in his voice, a hoarseness (was it from seeing her in this state?) and she felt his breath stir her hair.

Mi-Hyun realised with a jolt that she was practically in his lap. That ever since she came out of the ride, they had been constantly touching, it was practically instinct to clutch him, to bury her heart inside his warmth and to hide from the rest of the world.

'I've never seen you cry before.'

He was hesitant, thumb her palm soothingly, trying to find a way to talk to her about the accident without probing too deep. Mi-Hyun drew a ragged laugh. 'I'm not much of a crying person.'

'I know,' he said. He was biting his lip. She was sure of it. That was honestly how well she knew him now. He took a big breath.

'I'm so sorry,' he said in a rush. 'I should've never let you go off with Minho. I had a bad feeling about him in the beginning but I just told myself that I was being paranoid and jealous-,' jealous? '-and I'm so, so sorry that this happenned to you and it never should have because you're one of the strongest people I know and one of the best and you don't, definitely don't, deserve it. At all.'

He finished his mini speech by drawing Mi-Hyun even closing to him. If she wasn't in such a state, she would've been in bliss right now. She finally looked up into his eyes. They were looking at her with such intensity, such devotion, and Mi-Hyun felt her chest jump at the thought that there might've been love in his eyes as well. Then those eyes travelled down and Mi-Hyun felt (from their pressed sides and thighs, their entwined hands, the closeness of their souls) him freeze.

Mi-Hyun looked down as well and saw with dismay, red clawings and ugly hickeys on her exposed collarbones. Minho had ripped her jacket. A wave of repulsion and disgust for her own body caused Mi-Hyun use her arm to cover it up. It was so shameful.

Baekhyun let out a huge breath and he tried to move her arm away. Something angry was growing in his eyes.

'I don't want you to see it,' Mi-Hyun mumbled. 'It's so ugly.'

Damn, she cursed herself. Those tears are coming back again.

Baekhyun's features softened at the sight of her tears and ever so gently, he leant down and kissed them away. Mi-Hyun's eyes widened at the touch of his lips on her skin and she realised that this was what she had been waiting for all along.

His fingertips probed until her arm moved away. He gazed at her skin was an unidentifiable expression before touching it gently.

'You're not ugly,' he said, looking deep into her eyes. 'You're very beautiful. And Minho's an .'

Mi-Hyun let out a small, broken laugh. But it was genuine.

She stared at their joined hands then looked at Baekhyun's face. He was simply looking at her. She knew without a moment's hesitation that Minho would never, ever be good as even a milllionth of this boy and she put her head on his chest again. She breathed him in and just let it rest there.

Above them, a bird started to sing.

A/N: Okay, so this chapter isn't nearly as long as any of the others but that's because I wrote it ages ago, right after the previous chapter. I then went on thishuge hiatus but when I checked this story, I realised I left you guys on this huge cliffhanger and I had already written the next bit... SO, I'm posting this little thing and when I'm ready to finish this story, I'll finish this chapter then hopefully the rest of the story :) Thank you as always for reading.