Sublime [\sə-ˈblīm\] adj. - Characterized by nobility; inspiring awe

“Why are you so quick to leave? I wanted to spend a little time with the guest that has come nearly every day this week,” Jaemin stated with a sultry grin as he glided to Mihyun in a snake like manner.

“The feeling is not mutual,” Mihyun replied simply without batting even an eyelid.

Jaemin’s smirk only widened at Mihyun’s cold words and attitude. He took a step closer to the girl and caressed her face with a single finger. “Your hostility towards me only makes you even more alluring.”

Before Mihyun could swat the offending hand away, Luhan did it for her. He stepped in front of the girl with narrowed eyes and lips curled into a small snarl. He didn’t know where his sudden confidence and courage stemmed from, but he knew that he wouldn’t allow the man to lay a single dirtied finger on Mihyun. He wasn’t in love with her romantically, not at all, but the girl gave him a sense of security and protection that he used to only receive from Sehun. Therefore, he felt as if it were his obligation to return the favor.

When Jaemin’s eyes narrowed dangerously, Mihyun was quick to tug Luhan backwards and away from the attacking fist.

“You will not harm a single hair on his body unless you would like to be sued,” Mihyun stated with a calm tone. She hated using her family power as her shield of defense, but she would discard her pride if she was able to recieve safety for the others in exchange. “I should remind you that he is now registered under the Han family, you pathetic excuse of a man.”

“What did you call me?” Jaemin growled as he gripped the collar of Mihyun’s dress to pull her towards him. “Don’t give me useless threats, you . I won’t hesitate to take your and your little pets’ lives.”

Mihyun didn't even flinch. “It seems like now it is you who are making the useless threats. A bit hypocritical of yourself, would you think not?” she asked calmly as she stared boldly into his eyes.

Jaemin’s eyes flashed in anger, and he pulled his fist back to attack Mihyun.

Truth be told, Mihyun honestly wanted Jaemin to impose harm onto her. That way, she could report his brutal attacks and have his sinful placed under great scrutiny. That is why that she calmly stared straight into his eyes, allowing his fist to come forward despite the fact that she could have easily evaded the hit.

There was a sharp pain as Mihyun felt the clenched fist collide with her left cheek, and despite the throbbing skin, Mihyun could have nearly grinned in victory. He wouldn’t be able to escape the box she would corner him in.

Jaemin grinned, feeling victorious with the sudden silence his fist imposed on the girl. “Now you have nothing to say, huh? I guess you’re starting to regret talking back to me, aren’t you, ?”

Mihyun rubbed her jaw gently with two fingers and cocked her head to the side. “My apologies. My silence was due to the fact that I wasn’t able to comprehend how much you hit like a girl.”

Another flash of anger lit up on Jaemin’s face, and his face twisted into a nasty sneer. “Well, I guess you need another fist to teach you a lesson, don’t you?”

Mihyun simply stayed silently as she wearily eyed the approaching fist, hoping that it would hit the other cheek to make her appear twice as battered when she went to report his attack. She had fibbed just the slightest bit when she stated that he hit like a girl, because truth be told, the punches did certainly leave a painful after feel. The fact that she stated that he hit like a girl wasn’t much of an insult, either, because despite Mihyun’s fragile exterior, her fists still packed quite a punch. Nevertheless, she gritted her teeth and tucked away her pride; her pain was worth the trouble the bastard would have to go through as result.

The second punch never came, however, and Mihyun’s eyes widened in surprise when Jaemin suddenly hit the wall behind him. Mihyun’s head darted to the side, and she shot forward to stop the new presence from going in for another punch.

“Chanyeol, you will stop right now!” Mihyun exclaimed frantically as she blocked the other’s fists with her hand. “Calm yourself this instant.”

“Mihyun, move aside! I swear to god!” Chanyeol exclaimed, nearly mad as he tried to move forward to land another fist onto Jaemin.

“Chanyeol! Chanyeol, please, stop it!” Mihyun exclaimed as she stood firmly in her spot to stop the other from approaching. Her words failed to persuade the other to cease his attacks, however, and Mihyun sighed. She was left with no choice.

Before Chanyeol could fling his fist forward, Mihyun kicked at the back of Chanyeol’s knee to send him flying backwards. She gripped onto his arm as he was flying down, and shoved him to the side so he slammed against the wall. She grabbed his arm and gently twisted it as she held it against his back.

“Chanyeol, calm down, please,” Mihyun whispered gently as she soothingly rubbed his upper arm. “I won’t let you go until you calm yourself.”

Chanyeol’s anger had vanquished rather quickly, replaced almost immediately with absolute astonishment that the tiny girl was capable of overpowering him so easily.

“I’m going to let you go now, please don’t attack him,” Mihyun stated quietly as she let go out Chanyeol’s arm. She immediately bowed when he slowly turned around to face her with furrowed eyebrows of confusion and a hint of amazement. “I’m sorry, Chanyeol. I hope that didn’t hurt.”

“I-It didn’t, not really,” Chanyeol blushed as he scratched the back of his head, feeling extreme embarrassment wash over him at the fact that he had been beaten by a girl.

“You’re going to pay for that!” Jaemin growled as he held onto his aching jaw. “Don’t think you won’t receive a punishment for that, Noye.” Jaemin spat out the word as if he had tasted dirt when the word passed his lips. He sent them all one last chilling glare before he hobbled down the path in the other direction.

Mihyun let out a sigh of frustration as she watched Jaemin disappear around the corner. She had stopped Chanyeol because of the actions she was afraid Jaemin would take out on the Noye. Jaemin wouldn’t be able to touch her or Luhan in the public eye because they were protected by her family name, but that wasn’t the same case for Chanyeol. Under the eyes of the state, Chanyeol was just another trouble making Noye who attacked a higher up and deserved punishment for it.

“Chanyeol you foolish boy,” Mihyun muttered under her breath as she ran her fingers through her hair. “You will be punished now. Why did you physically act against him, Chanyeol? You should have held your fist.”

“But he hit you!” Chanyeol exclaimed childishly as he pointed to your bruising cheek.

A small smile spread across Mihyun’s face, and she found herself unable to continue to scold the boy any longer. “I will see what I can do to evade your punishment. Come on, let’s go back to your room.”

She turned to Luhan who had been frozen in his spot, shamefully staring at his feet. “Luhan? Come, let's go.”

Luhan responded with a curt nod before darting forward, not daring to raise his head from shame. He was such a coward, really. He had watched as Jaemin attacked her, and simply watched once more when he made movement to attack once again. The sudden burst of courage he had experienced disappeared as quickly as it had come, and he found himself unable to protect her, even when his brain had been shouting demands and profanities at himself to move. He had been standing no more than a feet away from the two and made no movement to stop Jaemin, yet Chanyeol, who had been located far away from the group darted forward to stop the advancements on the girl. He was a coward.

He glanced behind his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Mihyun’s bruised cheek. A huge coward.

“Did you two have a nice talk?” Sehun asked as he climbed to his feet to greet the pair at the front of the cage. He moved forward to hug Luhan, but his jaw dropped in horror when Mihyun walked in with her swelling cheek. “YAH! What happened to you?!”

He cupped the girl’s face into his hands, making sure to put less pressure against her bruised cheek, and stared at the swelling flesh. “Who did this to you? I swear to god I’ll kill him.”

“You will kill nobody,” Mihyun replied calmly as she pulled Sehun’s hands away from her face. “It is fine. This idiot over here already hit him.”

“Did he bleed?” Sehun demanded as he glared at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol gave him the thumbs up, and Sehun’s mood lighted the slightest bit with that satisfaction. “Who did it?” he demanded once more.

“It’s nothing, Sehun, just don’t put any thought into –”

“It was that bastard, Jaemin,” Chanyeol answered quickly, looking innocently away when Mihyun shot him a dirty look.

“Sehun, Sehun, Oh Sehun you will rid yourself of that expression as of this moment,” Mihyun demanded as she observed the narrowed eyes and pressed lips of the other. “You will not do anything to harm Jaemin, Sehun, or I would have taken this hit for nothing.”

“What?” Sehun asked with confusion expressed through an arched eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“Contrary to my appearance, I am not a weak and useless girl, Sehun. I am fully capable of protecting myself, and would have easily overpowered Jaemin if I needed or wanted to,” Mihyun responded with a small shrug.

“Then why?!” Sehun demanded as he pointed angrily to her bruised cheek.

“Because,” Mihyun responded calmly to the angered boy. “I am protected by my family name, Sehun. And my family name will do much more damage than my fist could ever do. Do you understand?”

Sehun stared at the girl incredulously. She was willing to accept an attack to her face just so the other would serve the punishment? Was she ridiculous?

“You…” Sehun muttered as he clenched and unclenched his fists. He ran his hand through his hair and stared down at the small girl with an expression comprised of disbelief and admiration. “You’re so dumb.”

Mihyun smiled at Sehun’s words, wincing gently when the stretch of her cheeks caused a small jolt of pain to shoot through her facial muscles. Sehun’s expression immediately fell once he registered the act of pain, and he quickly went to the corner of the room to retrieve the medical aid Mihyun had stashed in the hole the other day.

She opened to protest the use of things she had brought for them on her, but closed it once she caught the warning glance Sehun gave her, almost daring her to make any attempt of refusal. When Sehun stepped forward to force her to sit down, she quickly skittered away. She couldn’t allow Sehun to do anything to soothe the wound if she wanted to get all eyes on her. She had to look as victimized as possible if she wanted the bastard to be well punished. After all, how could he possibly raise a hand against a petitle girl as timid and delicate as herself?

“Yah! Mihyun!” Sehun exclaimed with a glare as he watched her sprint to the front of the cage.

She held up a hand and gave them all a small wave goodbye as she called out, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Before Sehun could even begin to chase after the stubborn girl, she had disappeared from sight.

“That little brat,” Sehun huffed under his breath and he begrudgingly tucked the medical care back into its respective corner. He eyed Chanyeol who was laying down on his blanket, and concern for the other consumed him.

“Hey, Hyung,” Sehun stated quietly as he sat down next to him. “Are you going to be okay?” Sehun and Chanyeol both knew that if Chanyeol actually landed a punch on the punk son of the owner, he definitely wasn’t going to get off punishment free. He could only hope that Mihyun would actually be able to free the other of his future sentence.

Chanyeol didn't respond and simply his side to face the other direction.

Sehun his dry lips, and his eyes darted to the figure and back to the palms of his hands. "Do you... do you regret it?"

This question got an actual verbal response from Chanyeol, and the tall male sat upright as he smacked the younger on the back of his head. "Are you kidding me? The only thing I regret is not landing a few more punches on his ugly face."

Sehun let out a soft chuckle, and patted Chanyeol on the back in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "She'll save you. Trust in her."

Chanyeol's face immediately fell, and his long bangs shadowed his eyes as he slowly shook his head. "She'll try... I know she'll try, but... not even she can save me now."

Sehun opened his mouth to respond with words of assurance, but there was a little voice in his head that told him not to. He wanted to trust in the girl he had hardly known for a week, but the little voice told him to hold his tongue. He didn't want to feed Chanyeol with false hopes of freedom and protection if Mihyun wasn't capable of actually providing it.

The next morning came without a word of punishment, and Sehun almost believed that Chanyeol was going to be saved. He knew, however, that Mihyun had failed when a guard suddenly marched into their cage, causing them all to jump with a start.

The guard slowly opened a scroll to read the content aloud. “Park Chanyeol you have been given the punishment to be publically whipped in one hour’s time. This is due to your defiant behavior towards the head of the Noye house, and should serve as a warning. The next time this is to occur, you will be publically hung. We will come to fetch you within the hour.”

Eyes filled with panic immediately darted over to stare at Chanyeol, who paled at the sound of his consequence for acting out against the owner’s son. “H-How many times?”

“30,” the guard answered in return before he his heels to march out of the cages.

Chanyeol took a deep gulp of air and closed his eyes. Thirty whips.

“They can’t do this to you, hyung,” Jongin cried in outrage. He waved his clenched fist in front of his face. “We’ll stop them!”

“Kim Jongin, remember the promise we all made,” Chanyeol stated firmly as he stared into the eyes of each and every one of them. He might have sounded strong on the outside, but on the inside he was shaking like a coward.

Thirty whips. The most he had ever received was 10 one time when he tried to steal bread a while back, and that many already made him ache for weeks.

“J-J-Just wa-wait f-for M-Mi-Mihyun, sh-she’ll do s-so-something abo-about i-it-it,” Kyungsoo stated as he nodded his head eagerly.

Chanyeol sadly shook his head. “No, she can’t. She can protect Sehun and Luhan because they are registered under her family name, but not me. I’m just another Noye here that has no connection to her under the law.”

The 5 of them fell silent for they knew that Chanyeol’s words were the truth. Mihyun had no control over this; there was a limit to even her power.

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t arrive any time soon,” Chanyeol sighed as he ran his hand through his knotted hair. “If she were to interfere with these matters, she as well would receive a punishment.”

The cage fell silent as each of them grieved for the unfairness that was to be imposed on their friend. One hour’s time passed on like that, and by the time the guard had returned to pick up Chanyeol, he had managed to somewhat mentally prepared himself for the pain he was to go through soon enough.

“I hate these bastards,” Jongin muttered through clenched fists as he watched Chanyeol disappear around the corner with a guard holding each side of his arms.

“W-w-we al-all d-do,” Kyungsoo whispered as he laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t want to watch,” Baekhyun stated quietly as he sat down on his blanket. He buried his face in the palms of his hands and miserably repeated, “I don’t want to.”

“Come, Baekhyun,” Sehun replied as he pulled the other to his feet. “It’s going to hurt to watch, but just think about how much it’ll hurt Chanyeol, even more if we don’t stand firmly in front of him to give him the support to tough it out.”

Baekhyun opened his mouth to protest, but reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. It would be selfish of him to not attend just because he didn’t want to go through the pain of watching Chanyeol suffer.

Baekhyun, Sehun, Luhan, Jongin, and Kyungsoo stood silently side by side as they watched their dear friend receive whip after whip to his , now shining with blood. They wanted to fight back, only god knows how much they did, but they couldn’t. Because they knew they would lose against the weapons of the guards and only end up getting beat themselves.

It was a promise the 6 of them had made a while back. The promise that if one of them were to get beat, none of the others were to interfere. Interference would only result in more people to have wounds to be tended to, and that would be of no good to anyone.

As he watched his hyung receive whip after whip to his back, Sehun’s nails dug into his palms as he clenched his fist tighter and tighter. He took a step forward with the thought of damning that promise to hell, but stopped when Baekhyun placed a shaky hand on his shoulders.

“Don’t, Sehun. He wouldn’t want you to,” Baekhyun whispered with a shaky voice.

That was enough to get him to stand his ground. If he was feeling as miserable as he was, he could only imagine how Baekhyun must feel. Baekhyun, who had known Chanyeol his entire life; if he was capable of standing his ground, then Sehun would be to.

At his side, Kyungsoo was sobbing into Jongin’s shoulder as the other wrapped a protective arm around the small boy.

“Just ten more hyung, just ten more. Come on, you can do it,” Jongin was muttering under his breath.

The six boys watched as their hyung passed out, tired and bloody from the all the whips he had received. Displeased with this, the guards ordered for a bucket of water to be poured over Chanyeol’s head. A few slaps were given to the soaking face, and Chanyeol regained consciousness once again.

Sehun was honestly a little disappointed that Mihyun had not come to save the day. He didn’t blame her, of course, but he had somewhat liked the idea of being able to rely on the girl presenting solutions to all of their problems. She had done so on multiple occasions, so the expectation had come almost unconsciously at that point.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?”

Sehun’s head, along with 4 others, jerked up at the sound of the familiar voice.

A smile spread across his face as he watched the small girl push through the crowd until she was standing right next to Chanyeol and the guard enacting the whipping. Chanyeol would be saved.

“I asked,” Mihyun repeated herself with a hard glare. “I asked what the hell do you think you are doing?”

The guard glanced around nervously as if he were to find the answer among the crowd of Noye faces. He recognized the girl as the only child under the Han family name, and knew that she possessed powers to kill him over ten times if she wanted to.

“He’s enacting a punishment instated by I,” Jaemin’s voice came to the guard’s rescue as he stepped off the cushioned chair he had been seated on as he watched the wicked entertainment. “There is nothing wrong with that, for we are completely justified to punish the wrong doings of Noyes.”

“Not this particular Noye,” Mihyun responded with a hard voice. She calmly reached into her bag and pulled out a file of papers. “I, Han Mihyun, inheritor of the Han corporations, am suing both you and this establishment for ownership of half of your territory.”

Jaemin’s eyes widened in surprise before being quickly replaced with anger. “What?!”

“Are you deaf? You are being sued on multiple accounts. First, the unauthorized physical and verbal assault of me, Han Mihyun. Second, the establishment is being under attack for the unauthorized physical cruelties imposed on the Noye under the Han family name, Luhan. And I guess the latest one to add to the list is the fact that you have broken the code of protection imposed on this particular Noye, Park Chanyeol.”

“What are you talking about?!” Jaemin roared as he held up his hand to attack Mihyun once more.

“Would you like to add a fourth account to the list of attacks? I would be happy to receive ownership of 3/4s of this company if you choose to continue as you do,” Mihyun stated firmly without even blinking against the hand. “This Noye is protected under the code of law, and your public beating has broken it. If you flip to the third page you will find the plea of protection for this Noye approved by the state government. I suggest you contact your lawyer quickly, and unhand Chanyeol from this punishment.”

“It’s impossible for him to have gotten approved for a plea of protection! He’s not even a citizen of the state, he’s just a dirty Noye!” Jaemin exclaimed, outraged.

“Do not underestimate the power of the Han family. Due to the fact that Chanyeol aided in the protection of myself against your assaults, he has been approved for protection against unauthorized means of punishment,” Mihyun stated. “It’s outlined on the 3 page as I stated earlier. Are you uneducated? Would you like me to read it aloud for you?”

Jaemin let out a loud growl, “You’ll pay for this you filthy ," before spinning on his heels to stomp away from the punishment grounds.

Mihyun watched with firmly crossed arms until Jaemin was completely swallowed up by the crowd before turning sharply on her heels to Chanyeol’s side.

“I’m so sorry, Chanyeol,” Mihyun murmured as she cupped the boy’s sweaty face into the palms of her hands. “Just hang on for a little bit longer and I’ll get you treated.”

“Jaesuk, quickly!” Mihyun called out to her driver to help her carefully transport Chanyeol’s body. A hand placed itself onto her tensed shoulders, and she spun around to look at the relieved faces of the other boys.

“Where are you going to be taking him?” Baekhyun asked in a quiet voice.

Mihyun noticed how pale Baekhyun’s face had faded, and softened at the sight.

“I’ll keep him safe,” Mihyun responded, giving Baekhyun’s hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance. “I’m going to bring him to the hospital to get treated. Jaesuk, hurry!”

“Handle him gently, Jaesuk,” Mihyun chided as Jaesuk carefully pulled Chanyeol to his feet.

“Agassi, he will get blood all over the seats, are you sure?” Jaesuk asked with uncertainty, hesitating in front of the car door. He simply nodded his head politely and proceeded to help Chanyeol into the car when she shot him a sharp look.

“I’ll be back with news on his condition, soon,” Mihyun promised as she quickly made her way to join Chanyeol in the back of the car. She was stopped by a sudden hand, and glanced back to see Sehun staring at her with an incomprehensible expression etched into his face. “Sehun?”

“Take care of him for us,” Sehun simply stated in a small voice before he pulled away.

Mihyun smiled knowingly and promised to abide by his words. Even though Sehun didn’t care to show his affection for anybody other than Luhan, she knew that his care and concern for the others still existed.

She gave the boys a final wave goodbye before slipping quickly into the car. The 5 boys stood there unmoving, and watched as the car turned a sharp corner to disappear from sight.

“D-d-don-don’t wo-worry, h-h-hy-hyung. Mi-Mihy-hyun wi-will t-t-ta-take ca-care of Ch-ch-ch-chan-chanyeol h-hyun-hyung,” Kyungsoo sniffed as he patted Baekhyun’s back reassuringly.

“Come on,” Sehun stated quietly as he turned the other towards the cages. “Let’s go back. Mihyun is taking care of him now.” As the others slowly went in, Sehun took one last glance back at where the car had disappeared with a lightened heart.

That fragile, 5 foot girl was capable of doing what none of them could. She was capable of providing them with the protection that they couldn’t even provide for each other.