Aeri realised she wasn’t alone the next morning. At first she was scared, but the memories of the night before came back rather fresh in her mind, despite the fact that she knew she was drunk. She still remembered the decisions she made, and she still didn’t regret them, she remembered holding onto Baekhyun’s wrist as he walked away, and she remembered him turning back just as her eyes drooped and she fell asleep. Checking the clock on the bedside table, she realised it was earlier than she thought, being only 5am, and so, she fell asleep again, her eyes closing lightly and darkness taking over her again.

Baekhyun remembered vividly what happened the night before as if it had only happened a minute ago. The kiss had changed everything, it had caused him to fall for her further, to suddenly feel as if he needed to protect the girl lying beside him from her abusive boyfriend, and he was determined to do so. Whether she regretted the events of the previous night or not, he wanted to be her saviour.

Her small, frail hand was still latched onto his wrist, slightly loose, but hanging on all the same. At first, he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t stop thinking about the harsh bruise on her right cheek, and the man who gave it to her. When he did stop thinking about that, his thoughts moved to the first time he met her, saw her. She looked to have been crying, which now that he thought about it was most probably her boyfriend too, her eyes were rimmed red and her voice sounded croaky, though she tried to suppress it. Her face was still beautiful to him nonetheless.

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