Feeling your body throb and ache as you reached to turn off the CD player, you cursed yourself for training this long. You were always the perfectionist, pushing your body to the absolute limits, and being one of the last to leave the SM training rooms at night. You pulled your coat over your gym clothes, ready to face the freezing night and drag your sore body home. Still wanting to run through the dance moves in your head, you set out with headphones on, blasting the music that you needed to practice the choreography to. If it hadn’t been for the music coursing through your ears, perhaps you would have heard them sooner. Perhaps you could have protected yourself. If it weren’t for your strained muscles and tense limbs, perhaps you could have run away… The first sign you heard of something being wrong was when your music was interrupted by a wolf whistle. Strange, you thought. This song didn’t have whistling in it, did it? As you glanced around, trying to adjust to the darkness surrounding you, you finally noticed the source of the whistle. Two boys stood to your left, and one stood to your right, smirking at you so frighteningly that you instantly felt a chill run down your spine.

“You look lost, babe,” one said, with no hint of warmth in the smile that crept across his harsh features.

“Maybe we can help you out?” The one on your right suggested, closing in from the side to trap you between the boys.

All you could muster out was a choked “S-stop, don’t,” wishing that you weren’t so exhausted, or that you hadn’t been so stubborn about practicing late into the night by yourself. One reached for your arm, trying to pull you with him. Stepping back quickly, you were startled when you felt yourself collapse into someone else’s chest.

Oh no. You thought. A fourth one? You immediately felt at ease, however, when you noticed that the faces of your three assailants’ had dropped: whoever was behind you clearly wasn’t one of them. Before you could think about it too much, the firm and familiar arms of Tao had wrapped themselves around you, spun you around and safely deposited you behind him, blocked off from the boys by his tall frame.

“She said stop,” he growled, slowly flexing his fingers. The fire in his eyes was unlike anything you’d seen before: where was the sweet boy who would steal your lollies after practice and whine when he made mistakes in the choreography?

The boy who seemed to be the ringleader of the three stepped forward, chuckling lowly to himself, before turning to his henchmen.

“Three on one… I reckon we can do this boys,” he boasted smugly.

He stepped forward, raising a fist aimed at Tao’s head. You flinched in fear, covering your eyes, not wanting to see what was going to happen to Tao. You were surprised, however, when instead of hearing Tao’s cry of pain like you expected, you heard a muffled grunt and a cowardly shriek from the thug. You turned timidly, only to see Tao expertly pinning down the boy. Thanks to his years of wushu training, he had swiftly brought down the boy, rendering him powerless but also making sure not to leave any lasting injuries on him. Leaning in to the boy’s ear, Tao hissed a threat that was too quiet for you to hear, but judging from the former’s terrified expression and Tao’s uncharacteristic manner of speaking, it was something that would make sure that these boys would never bother you again, or any girl, for that matter. The boy groaned when Tao released his arms, as he had been pressing down so hard. Slowly moving his arms to get the blood pumping through them again, the boy eventually got up, before staggering away, with his henchmen following him quickly, and rather pathetically. Turning to you as soon as they left, you immediately saw the old Tao that you’d always known, as his true sweet nature came out.

“Oh my God are you okay? That must’ve been so scary! Are you sure you’re not hurt? Don’t walk home alone again okay?” he fussed over you, eyes tearing up straight away at what you must’ve felt just then.

You laughed, utterly relieved that you could depend on Tao and amused that he seemed more scarred about the incident than you. “As long as you’re my personal bodyguard, I think I’ll be okay,” you said quietly, wrapping your arms snugly around Tao.