Time seemed to freeze almost as hard as the ice gathering in the gutters of the buildings around them.  Semi just stared, beginning to shiver from the cold and more shocked at the fact that Xiumin had just randomly shown up with a gun rather than the fact that he was pointing it at her.  After all, she’d known he was capable of killing people because he’d told her so himself.  She just hadn’t expected to be on his hit list quite so soon.

The fingers on his free hand twitched sideways twice, almost like he was gesturing to her to move away – which, she belatedly realised when Junhong hauled her off to the side and there was a loud bang! as the gun went off, was exactly what he had been doing.

There was a thud and she turned to see a body lying almost exactly where she’d been standing a moment or so before.  Xiumin looked at the gun with approval and surprise and then raised it again.

“Put the knife down or the next bullet is going through your hand,” he said in a calm voice.  A feral, barely restrained excitement gleamed in his eyes.

Unnerved, Semi huddled into a trembling Junhong.  They both looked back the way they’d come to see the man who’d grabbed Semi there.  He’d come to a halt and was eyeing Xiumin nervously.

“Nuh-uh,” Xiumin said with a playful smile.  “No running.”

The man turned to bolt anyway.  There was another loud bang and he collapsed with a screech of pain, clutching at his knee.

With a sigh, Xiumin tucked the pistol away and strode over to him.  “I did warn you.”

He crouched beside the man and took his chin between his thumb and forefinger.  Semi tried to ignore the blood spreading in the snow under the man’s knee and ended up hiding her head in the crook of Junhong’s arm with a squeak.

“I don’t know what just happened,” Junhong admitted in a confused whisper.  “Do you know what just happened?”

Semi just shook her head.

“I recognise you,” Xiumin told the man, turning his head from side to side and then letting it go.  “Luhan said Daesung was having trouble with you.  Who are you actually working for?”

The man spat at him with a hateful glare.

“Okay,” said Xiumin.  “Fine by me if you don’t want to talk.  You can just tell the police instead when you wake up.  They’ve been looking for you for a while.”

“W-wait—!” the man tried, but Xiumin knocked his head sharply against the wall, rendering him unconscious.  Grimacing at the blood on his hand, Xiumin straightened up and returned to Semi and Junhong.

“Which one of you has the knuckleduster?” he asked.

Junhong looked too frightened to speak.

“That guy over there’s got his cheek pretty much ripped open,” Xiumin went on.  “Nice hit.”  He glanced over the pair and then down the street.  “The police are going to be here any minute now.  Can I have Semi back, please?”

“H-huh?”  Junhong blinked at him, tightening his grip protectively around Semi so hard that she squeaked with alarm.

“Look, I’m not sure whether those guys were after her or you or just thought you were two random passers-by they could prey on, but Semi’s freaking out and I need to get her out of the snow before it gets worse.”

Junhong looked from the dead body to the unconscious man and back to Xiumin, very trepidant.

“Who are you?” he demanded in a shaky voice.  “How do you know Semi?”

“I’m—”  Noise from police officers entering the street from both sides interrupted Xiumin and he sighed.  “Just give her to me, please.  I’m her husband.”

Clearly dubious and only comforted by the presence of the police, Junhong let Semi go.  Xiumin immediately wrapped her up in an embrace.  She was trembling uncontrollably, and he pressed her head to his chest and breathed deeply to encourage her to stop hyperventilating.

“You were lucky,” he murmured.  “Turns out Do Kyungsoo was monitoring the cameras in the area in case Luhan showed and he spotted you and your friend.”

The only response he got was a whimper of “there’s blood in the snow”, and he realised that her recent predicament wasn’t necessarily the reason she was so wound up.

“You don’t have to look at it.”

“It’s still there!”

Guessing it was car-crash-related, he resorted to rubbing soothing circles on her back and looked around for inspiration.  He found himself nose to nose with a fuming Chen.

“You—!”

Xiumin shut him up by ing the pistol he’d nicked at him.  “Here, I don’t want Byun Baekhyun killing me.  Taemin will probably have a sore neck when he wakes up.”

“You could have done him some serious damage, knocking him out like that!”

“I know.  I could easily have killed him.  What does it tell you that I didn’t?”

Chen opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a young, bewildered police officer approaching him.

“What do we do with the dead one, sir?” she asked, gesturing to the body.

“Dead one?” Chen repeated, looking around.  His gaze followed the woman’s pointing finger and he whirled back to Xiumin.  “Did you shoot him?”

Xiumin grinned mischievously.  “No, I just pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger and he spontaneously dropped down dead.  Amazing, isn’t it?”

Chen closed his eyes.  “Oh my God,” he breathed.  “I refuse to deal with you right now.”  He turned back to the waiting policewoman.  “Get him bagged up and over to the forensics.  You—” he jabbed Xiumin’s shoulder, “—are coming back to the police station with me.  And Semi’s friend and Semi.  We need sta