Protectors Part 2

6 Years Later

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No!" Taemin slammed the fridge door shut as he turned to give his wife a cold stare.
"But oppa! I really feel like I should repay you people back for all you did!" Roi shouted in protest.
"That was our job to do so," he explained.
Roi put her hands on her hips and replied "So am I just part of the job to you then?"
Taemin smiled as he walked over to her and kissed her gently on the forehead, "Have you ever really thought that?"
Roi pouted and turned away, trying to look away from Taemin's cute expression that was melting her retaliation. He looked down at her in amusement.
"Are you trying to ignore me?" he smirked.
No reply.
Taemin slid his arms around her waist, pulling her right up against him. As he still received no reaction he bent his head down so that his cheek was next to her ear.
"I can change that," he whispered, making his lips brush against her ear. Slowly he began to plant soft kisses around her cheek, carefully making his way to her lips.
"Appa?"
Taemin and Roi both jumped as they heard the little voice coming from the door. They spun around to see the small figure of their four year old daughter staring up at them, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Mina! What's my little baby doing up at this time?" Taemin said as he bounced over to her and swung her up high then held onto her close. "Come on now, back to bed." And he began to walk back towards her room.
Mina yawned cutely as she rested her head on her appa's shoulder. "But I don't want to go back to bed."
Taemin tutted, "No, no. You have to go to bed so you can grow up big and strong! And me and your umma have a game to play."
"Can I play?" Mina squeaked out.
"Ah no. It's one of those silly grown up games. You wouldn't like it! You would think it was boring," he whispered as he placed her gently back into her bed, pulling the light pink covers over her.
"Oh...like taxes?.." she mumbled as she began to drift off.
Taemin kissed her head, Mina pulled her teddies close. "Exactly," he said, stroking her hair, "One of those boring grown up things."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minho grabbed hold of Linn's arm.
"I don't care how many times you bring it up, I'm not allowing it!" he said with a stern expression.
"Wae?!" Linn shouted, staring up into his eyes.
He looked down at her for a moment, locking eyes, before breaking away. "You know why..." he sighed.
"Oppa, I want a proper answer this time. Whenever I mention this you just disagree and never give me a reason," Linn said, placing her hands up on his shoulders. "I know there's risks..I know I could get hurt, but oppa I..."
"Risks?!!" Minho interrupted, looking down at her, his eyes blazing. "Hurt?!! Linn-ah do you think that's all? You could be totally destroyed! Everything you know and love just..gone!"
Linn stood there quietly as Minho collapsed onto the couch then continued, "I never want you to go through anything like that. I don't even want you to think of..."
"I still let you go on missions," Linn whispered.
"That's different. And don't try deny it! I've always been a protector, I know how to handle myself. Anyway, I've gone on far less missions since you arrived. I don't want you to worry. I stopped accepting more missions when we got married and ever since the twins were born I've only accepted the ones where my help was absolutely necessary," he explained.
He was right, she couldn't object, she knew it was the truth. She slowly walked over and joined her husband on the couch. His arm stretched out around her and pulled her close.
"You're the most precious thing in the world. If I ever lost you I could never live properly again. I would despise myself until the end of time," he whispered as he leaned his head on hers. "I just love you too much to let you go and risk anything happening to you."

~~~~~~~

The sharp ringing of the phone bolted Minho up from his sleep. Throwing Linn's arms off him he reached for the phone.
Linn groaned and turned away as she heard the soft mumbling of the quiet conversation.
"This one must be urgent," she said at the sight of Minho jumping up and running over to their walk-in wardrobe.
"I'm afraid so. I might be gone for a while, will you be ok?" he replied as he walked out, fully dressed with his emergency bag slung over one shoulder.
"As always," she smiled weakly. Minho gave his wife a goodbye kiss and made his way out of the room.
Linn followed him into the kid's rooms as he gave Hyunmin and Bomi a kiss goodbye and a reassuring "Appa will be back soon."
They opened the front door of their apartment to see directly across the hall Taemin embracing Roi saying a final goodbye. Only on very important missions were both of them called.
A small groan was heard from the end of the hall.
"Here comes the boss," Taemin chuckled.

The tall figure of Changmin was visible approaching them carrying a little sleepy boy in his arms.
"You don't mind, right?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of them.
Linn opened up their front door wider, "There's a spare bed in Hyunmin's room as always."
"Hynbae, you'll be good, won't you?"
Hyunbae nodded and ran back into his Appa's arms. He always hated whenever he had to leave him.
Changmin chuckled quietly as he held his only child close.
"I love you Appa," Hyunbae mumbled into Changmin's shoulder.
"I love you too," he replied as he pushed the boy away from him. "I want you to keep this safe for me until I return."
Hyunbae stared at his Appa in shock as he put a silver necklace around the six year old's neck. It was a necklace that he had never seen his Appa without.

Changmin cleared his throat as he kissed his son. Tears threatening to surface, he gave the boy one last hug before handing him over to Linn. He waved and gave a weak smile as he watched his son being led into the apartment. He let out a sigh of relief then turned away and walked briskly down the hall, his expression changing as the boss mask slipped in place, hiding the caring, gentle appa deep within.

Taemin and Minho exchanged worried looks as they walked together out of the protector's apartment building.
"Somethings different. Very different," Minho muttered quietly to his friend.
Taemin nodded, "There definitely is something we are not being told. What is he hiding?.."
"He's been hiding a lot of things and keeping to himself. It's all since.." Minho broke off. He didn't need to say anything further, they both knew Changmin's reasons.

~~~~~~~~~

"Yah! Get down!" a voice screamed while they edged their way through the warehouses.
A small siren rang out and they all dropped to the ground.
"Cover has been blown. You know what to do now," Changmin yelled as he loaded his gun. Giving Minho and Taemin a slight smirk he left the cover of the maze of containers around the warehouses that they had been hiding in and ran swiftly towards the action.
The two quickly followed. Best friends, they had always stuck together during missions. Behind their professional masked expressions they were worried. They had never seen Changmin so reckless. And now, he was no where to be seen.
Taemin then noticed a familiar shadow entering a small gap to the left of them. He pointed it out to his hyung and they both stealthily edged away from the fight that was beginning to break out and after Changmin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A ripple of laughter echoed around the wide space. The two men could hear the fight going on outside and it made them smile contently with every gunshot fired. The taller of the two was sprawled on an armchair, laughing manically and playing with a sharp knife. The other was busy gathering documents, a serious expression rooted on his face.
"Relax," the taller man called out. "It's not like they're gonna survive. They're outnumbered!"
The smaller man glared at him. "How can you just underestimate them?! Do you not remember the last time?!..Six years ago..Although the roles were reversed that time. We were attacking them.."
"Yeah and we walked away fine, didn't we?"
"You just about did!"
At this comment the taller man's expression hardened. "I don't know what you're talking about there.." he said, crossing his arms, displeased.
"Oh really?" the other smiled. "Well I recall you almost getting killed..by a woman!"
"Heechul," he said in a threatening tone, "I thought we weren't going to mention that bitch again. Especially since she took out half of our men!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..Well aren't you glad you managed to kill her before I dragged you out of there?"
"That's the only thing I'm happy about when I think of that day.." he mumbled.

The two snapped out of their nostalgia as they heard the sound of a gun being cocked behind them. Before either could react the cold tip of the gun pressed into the back of Heechul's head.
"That's enough from you two," a cold bitter voice echoed out.
"Oh, the boss himself coming on a mission! Now that's rare! I heard you barely leave the safety of your agency, Changmin. Even less then our lazy Heechul! Now we must be something special.."
"Quiet TOP!" Heechul spat, anger building up within him as his right hand man seemed to find this situation amusing.
TOP chuckled, watching Changmin closely. Although his voice spoke coldly and emotionless, TOP could see the pain that the Protectors boss' eyes were filled with along with a kind of..hunger.
Suddenly TOP flung his knife at Changmin. It sunk deeply into his left thigh.
Changmin fell to the ground, dropping his gun and shouted out in pain. The two men above him laughing at the sight.

~~~~~~~~~

Minho broke into a run, closely followed by Taemin. They recognised the pained voice that was now screaming in agony up ahead.
The maze of shelves ended and they found themselves in a wide space which seemed to have been used as an office. Ten metres away from them they saw him. Lying in a growing pool of his own blood and screaming as a tall blond man twisted a knife deeper into his thigh.
"Yah!" Heechul shouted when he noticed Minho and Taemin.
At this they both raised their guns at him and approached slowly.
"Back off" Taemin roared out at TOP who hadn't even glanced up at them. "I said Back OFF!" he repeated as he shoved his gun into the blond hair.
TOP laughed as he spun around and slowly walked towards Heechul. "Now," he whispered.

Heechul carefully reached down to his pocket and pressed the blue alarm button while Minho and Taemin's attention was focused on their bleeding boss.
All of a sudden twenty guys jumped out of nowhere, guns in all of their hands pointing at Taemin and Minho.
"You know what to do," Heechul called out to his men.
They nodded and circled around Taemin and Minho, backing them into each other. The demented grins spread across their faces hinted at what was to come next.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Something isn't right.." Roi said worriedly as her and Linn sat together watching the kids. Minhye was bouncing up and down on her knee. Taehyun and Hyunmin were smashing toy cars into each other while Mina and Bomi were dressing up the teddies in Minhye's clothes. Hyunbae sat to the side, scribbling something on paper with his fingers clinging tightly to the lily that hung from his appa's chain.
"I know," Linn sighed. "He did say he was going to be a while, but usually there's a phone call or an email or something!"
"Do.." Roi lowered her voice, glancing over at Hyunbae. "Do you think anything happened?"
"I think so..I can just feel it.."

That night Linn had just put the kids to bed when Roi knocked on the door.
"I think we should do something useful this time." she proposed as they entered the living room.
Linn nodded, "I can't stand it! Just waiting here, doing nothing."
"Well first we have to find out where it was they went and for what reason."
They sat there briefly, thinking. Suddenly Roi clicked her fingers. "I've got it! Tae left his laptop. And I have a fare idea what his password would be," she said. "I'll be back in a minute."

Fifteen minutes later they had managed to guess the password correctly and were scanning through the hundreds of documents hidden within Tae's laptop. Eventually they found one named "Operation H", the date on it said that he had downloaded it the day they left.
"This must be it then."
There faces dropped in horror as they read who it was the Protectors were after.
"T-them!! The ones who..who.." Linn gasped
"Tried to get us!" Roi exclaimed.
They shut the laptop quickly and knew what they had to do now.

"Has something happened?"
The two spun around to see Hyunbae standing in the doorway, a worried look in his face. "My appa..will he be coming back?"
"Of course he will!" Roi cried out, walking over to ruffle the little boy's hair. "Now why would you think something silly like that?"
"My umma never came back," he whispered.
"Well.." Roi started awkwardly.
"Your appa always comes back, doesn't he?" Linn quickly continued. "He's just very busy with this one. He'll be back, don't you worry."
Hyunbae nodded slowly. "Will he be back for my birthday next week?"
"He wouldn't miss it for the world!" Roi smiled.
"Now back to bed," Linn called and Hyunbae did as he was told, walking back to the room slowly, clutching the chain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure this isn't too much?" Linn asked again.
"Yes, yes!" Jaejoong laughed. "Me and Yunnie will have fun minding all these kiddies!"
Yunho nodded wildly, his eyes lighting up with the idea of looking after such kypota babies.
Hyunbae looked up at the two, "Tell my appa to get his butt home NOW!"
The two laughed as Hyunbae made them pinky promise before they left.

The sun was disappearing in the growing dusk as they arrived at the industrial estate. The large buildings grouped together around the stacks of containers made it hard for the two to know what direction to go. They had parked the car ten minutes away in a sheltered forest area.
Roi grabbed Linn and dragged her behind the nearest container.
"What?!" Linn whispered angrily as her head banged against the hard metal.
"Guards. They must be circling the area," she whispered back.
"Damn it. That definitely means something went on around here."
Roi nodded slowly, "At least Yunho gave us some of his old weapons from back when he was a Protector."
"Hopefully we won't need them," Linn tried to reassure herself.
The sound of two sets of footsteps made them jump. Quickly and as quietly as possible they started to move deep into the maze of containers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door slammed.
Minho sighed as he looked around to see the mess they had gotten into. He was tied to a chair with a throbbing headache as a result of a large bruise in the shape of the end of a pistol. His eyes began to focus and panic shot down through him.
"Taemin?! Changmin?!" he called out, barely keeping his voice steady.
He heard a groan from directly behind him.
"Hyung.." Taemin slowly mumbled out.
Minho sighed, half relieved. He turned around as far as he could limited by the rope confining him to the chair. Taemin was tied up back to back with him.
"Are you ok?" he whispered.
"I-I think I just got a knock on the head..you?" Taemin replied.
"Same."
"How are we gonna get out of this mess hyung?"
A laugh echoed out from the corner. Heechul stepped out of the shadow. "You two are adorable! You don't actually think you could possibly get away from this?"

~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up!" TOP shouted as he slapped Changmin.
Changmin groaned and he lifted his head up, taking in all around him. He was in a different room. This one was smaller and darker. TOP sat down in front of him smirking at the wretched look of the Protector's boss. Blood stain trousers reminded Changmin of what had happened.
"We didn't want you to die yet. That'd be no fun at all," he explained after following Changmin's gaze. "So we patched you up."
"What do you want from me?" he spat out.
TOP laughed. "What did you want with us in this first place? We weren't after anyone under your protection then all of a sudden you all come barging in and try gun us down. Now why would that be?"
Changmin stared coldly back, refusing to open his mouth.
"That's how it's gonna be, eh? Thought so.." TOP muttered as he slammed his fist into Changmin's left thigh, exactly where the knife had sunk into.
Changmin tried to stop a scream escaping from his chapped lips. Shutting his eyes tight, he lifted his head upwards and concentrated on picturing his family. How perfect they had looked all together. This only made him angry. It made him want to shout out at TOP. It had been him who had ruined it all.

TOP sat back in his seat, watching Changmin closely. How the man was taking all the pain, for what reason though..
"You know.." he sighed out. "I don't understand you Protectors. You think you're so great. It's not like you're actually saving the world! All you're doing is protecting some idiots that got themselves messed up in something.."
Changmin ignored his words. Repeating over in his head the memories of happy times.
"At least you're not all perfect. We had a great mole deep within your organisation supplying us with information. It's how we knew where to go that night six years ago," TOP saw Changmin twitch slightly and he knew he was gonna crack soon. "Oh, that was one good mole! They really knew how to deal with what was given to them. Worked very hard. Knew how to please us. Well, pleased me."
Changmin opened his eyes. He was confused. "What the hell was this guy up to?" he thought.
TOP smiled, "She died that night. I just had to kill her."
Changmin looked at him with disbelief, it couldn't have been her..no..
"And she really seemed like something more than just sex. Oh, Lily.."
At that Changmin bolted up. And screamed at him, ignoring the pain as he pulled against the ropes binding him. A look of horror in his eyes. "No, no. This can't be true!" he thought as his head couldn't comprehend this.
"Yeah..I found out she was cheating on me with you. So I made sure she didn't walk out of there that night alive," he bitterly muttered.
"She..Lily..No.." Changmin couldn't form a full sentence.
TOP got up and walked over to the door. "I guess she fooled us all in the end," he said as he shut the door behind him.

"No.." Changmin whispered in the now empty room.
Paranoia set in and he began to think over their whole relationship. Those times when she wasn't there. Where had she gone? Was everything a lie? What had he ever meant to her? And..Hyunbae?
He hung his head low and began to sob. His empty heart feeling like it was ready to burst from his chest at any moment.
"This was all a waste."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This one?" Linn called exhaustedly.
"Why would it be that one?!" Roi snapped.
"Roi~ah! We've been at this all night!" Linn moaned. "It's almost dawn and we still haven't found the right warehouse."
Roi sighed and looked around. After a moments thought she gave in. "I guess we'll look through this one then rest for a while. I want to ring and check on the kids."
"Yunho and Jaejoong will be fine with them," Linn reassured.
"Well...I'm gonna ring anyway, to wish Hyunbae a happy birthday."
"Omo!" Linn exclaimed. "I forgot he's turning seven today. We better find them and go back quickly then. I don't want this to be the worst birthday ever."
Roi nodded and they both climbed up and into the dust covered window that someone luckily left open.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Getting anywhere?"
"I think I've managed to loosen the one around my left foot."
"I can't seem to be able to move them at all!"
Taemin chuckled at this complaint. "You have fat feet hyung!"
"Yah!" Minho shouted but then he joined in the laughter. They had both had been through so much, knocked out, tied up that now the exhaustion was setting in and even in these circumstances anything made them break into laughter. Anyone else looking from the outside would swear the two had gone mad.
"Oh what's the use.." Taemin sighed, slumping back against his chair in defeat.

Suddenly they heard a bang as a door slammed at the bottom of the room hidden in shadows. They both stiffened as they knew what was coming next. They had spent their whole Protector lives being prepared for a situation that would end like this. But regardless of that, they didn't want to die.
A familiar high pitched squeal followed by a small "Ouch!" echoed from the darkness. The two men looked over at the direction of the noises, confused.
Then they heard it. A small, angry whisper, "I told you to make sure the door closed gently!"
"It wasn't my fault! Roi, the door slipped out of my fingers."

With this the two men called out the names of their wives, their hearts lift up from the previous despair. They ran as soon as they heard the familiar voices. Tears pricking their cheeks they grabbed their spouse tightly.
Minho smiled widely and began kissing each tear that fell down onto Linn's cheeks. Taemin buried his head deep into Roi's shoulder before looking up into her relieved eyes and crushing his lips against hers.
After a while the Linn and Roi stepped back to take in their surroundings. They almost screamed when they noticed the large, dark bruises on the men's faces.
"What the HELL.." Roi began to shout but cut off when the door closest to them burst open.
"What do we have here?" a guard called out as he strolled into the room, an AK-47 perched in his hands. "Now the boss won't be pleased to hear about this.."
He walked closer to the four of them and laughed at the sight of the two men trying to break out of the ropes to protect their wives.
"You know..there is a way that I could just let the two women free," he smirked. "Without letting anyone know you were here in the first place."
His hand reached out to stroke Roi's cheek and then Taemin flung out his loosened foot sending the guard straight onto the floor. Roi and Linn took this to be their time to shine. They took out their concealed pistols and jumped onto the guard while he was still down.
He groaned as they stamped down onto his back.
"Fuck!" he shouted out. "Do you Protectors train your family and all?!"
The two tied men laughed slightly. Their wives were in a league of their own!

~~~~~~~~~~

TOP took his place back on the seat facing Changmin. The dark room refusing to acknowledge that it was approaching midday. Relaxing back he stared into the dark, hollow eyes that fixed their gaze at the dirt covered floor.
"So...decided to open up a bit to us?" TOP spoke softly. "You have no one left after all. What's the point in keeping things to yourself now?"
Changmin didn't move. He just kept his head down and waited.
"Is this really how it's gonna be?" TOP sighed and when he got no answer he whistled loudly.
The door swung open again and some figures entered. Changmin still refused to look up to see who it was. Nothing mattered anymore to him.
A small sob escaped the lips of one of the shadows above him. Everything seemed to suddenly snap together. A flame rose up in his eyes as he raised his head to see the two people in front of him. A blond woman gripping tightly onto the small, shaking boy. Hyunbae.

"Now who do we have here..?" TOP sniggered. "Do you know him?" He turned to Changmin who retreated to his previous position.
"No," he said coldly. Although he regained his indifferent look, he couldn't hold down the light that was blazing strong in his eyes.
"Really?" TOP sighed. "Well then there's no need of the little brat. Hostage, you know what to do."
The woman, Hostage, nodded as she reached behind her and pulled out a dessert eagle and placed it on the terrified boy's temple.
"Well he doesn't seem to care for this boy. So we definitely have no use for him," TOP said, searching Changmin's face.

"Kill him."

The boy screamed loudly at these words and Changmin could no longer keep with his act.
"NO!!" he roared wrestling against his restraints and flinging his head up to meet the cold eyes of TOP. "Kill me instead. Kill ME!"
TOP raised an eyebrow. "Kill you. Instead of some little street kid? Why should we?"
"He's my son! And you know it! You can drop the act!"
"Oh really..?" he laughed.
"Just let him go. I'll do anything. Just..just.." he broke off.
"Hostage you can leave," he called but then added after seeing Changmin's relief "leave the boy with me."
Hostage let go of Hyunbae and left the room, swinging the dessert eagle around her fingers.

"Now..do you want to go to your appa?" TOP said lowering down to Hyunbae's level. As the little boy nodded he smiled and pushed him onto the ground. "Stay in that corner," he growled.
Hyunbae fell hard onto the cold, dirty floor and remained there, sobbing in the shadows as TOP approached his appa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow! These bloody ropes really just won't.." Linn muttered. "Finally!" The ropes fell on the ground and the two men were finally both free.
"Well that didn't take forever!" Minho teased as he grabbed hold of Linn and squeezed her tightly against him.
During the past while that both Roi and Linn had attempted to untie the complicated knots, Taemin grew very restless. As soon as he was set free he dived at Roi, knocking them both down to the ground. They both hugged each other close, giggling on the floor.

As an afterthought Taemin looked up. "Where's Changmin?"

The door creaked open again. This time it was Heechul and Hostage who stood there.
"I never knew TOP was such a good actor.." Hostage broke off.
"What the hell?!!" Heechul shouted as he saw the two free men and one of his guards knocked out cold to the side.
Hostage raised her desert eagle. "Looks like these need to learn a lesson boss," she said as she threw a pistol at him. He copied her stance and they both made their way towards the four.

At the same time Linn and Roi raised their pistols. Roi had a spare one, which she tossed into Taemin's hand. Minho leaped over to the unconscious guard and snatched up the AK-47.
"I think we know who is at an advantage here," he smirked.
"We'll see about that," Heechul muttered.

All hell kicked off as they battled. Each of them jumping to dodge the flying bullets that ricocheted around the room. One bullet whizzed right by Roi's head and she screamed with shock. Taemin raced over to his wife to see what had happened. He gave her a reassuring, "Your fine. I'll protect you."
"Ah!" Taemin's arm was hit. He shouted out in anger at himself being caught of guard. He gazed down at his wound, "Just a threw and threw. Practically a graze! Nothing to worry about."
Roi threw her eyes up. "Looks like I'll have to protect you instead!" she smirked.

~~~~~~~~~

Thud.
Changmin spat out the blood that was flooding into his mouth, just before his cheek was greeted by another fist.
"Enough?" TOP raised an eyebrow.
Changmin refused to answer. He kept a firm gaze on his terrified son crouching in the corner. He didn't want Hyunbae to see this but he realised that it was either his life or his son's and there was no choice in his mind.

TOP sighed, "I guess not then." He reached down to his belt and drew out his knife. The sharp blade that had penetrated Changmin's skin already traced down his bare chest. Every now and again TOP would press down the knife until blood began to drip. At the sight of each droplet Hyunbae moaned as if it was him who was being harmed.
Changmin gritted his teeth and stayed as still as possible as TOP applied even more pressure onto the knife, making it slice into his skin, bring forth more blood.
"How is he still taking this?" TOP thought to himself.

"I'm getting bored with you," he groaned turning on his heels to face the shaking child.
"No! I said I'll do anything," Changmin begged.
"Why aren't you screaming?" he blurted out. "Everyone screams. How are you so different?"
"Just him seeing me like this is enough suffering. I..I could never put him through anymore. Please." he pleaded. "Please..Just do what you set out to do already."
TOP faced him. The look of abject despair on Changmin's face made a slight feeling of guilt creep up within him. It was time.

He walked slowly towards the broken man and raised the blood stained knife.

"Hyunbae. Appa will always love you no matter what," he called out to the little boy, his voice shaking as tears began to stream down his bruised cheeks.

"Appa.."

TOP plunged the knife in. Changmin gasped and Hyunbae screamed at top of his lungs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What was that?!" Minho cried. "It sounded like a kid!"
Taemin finished tying Hostage and Heechul up beside the guard and stood up. "Let's go have a look."

The four made their way out the corridor and followed the sound of the high pitched scream to a large metal door. Minho pulled at it. It wouldn't budge. The other three joined in and after tugging at the jammed handle they managed to slide open the door.

"Hyunbae?!" they all shouted.

TOP turned around to see the four people standing in the doorway. He pulled out a pistol that was tucked into his belt and raised it up to them.
Taemin divided into the room and grabbed the distraught child. At the same time the other three pulled the trigger of their guns and each bullet sank into TOP before he could shoot his own weapon.
He collapsed onto the dirty ground, revealing to the others what he had been standing over blocking from their view.

~~~~~~~~~~~~


Minho gripped Hyunbae's shoulder as the little boy bent down. He carefully placed the bunch of lilies on the grave right beside the headstone marked "Shim".
"Everything will be fine from now on ok?" Roi whispered to him and wiped away the tears that were falling down his cheeks.

"All we were doing was getting ice cream. And then..then..he was just gone! We never knew that blond woman was with them..If we did.." Yunho whispered.
"We know. Don't worry. It wasn't your fault," Taemin sighed. "No one could have known any of this would have happened."
"Come on. Let's just comfort him. We'll get nothing out of standing over here blaming ourselves," Jaejoong mumbled.

Linn bent down to Hyunbae's level. "We have to go now, ok?" she gently spoke. "We can come back here later if you want. We have to go to the hospital now."
Hyunbae slowly nodded even though he wished to stay. Taking Linn's outstretched hand with his one free hand. The other was clinging onto the silver necklace that he hadn't taken off since he was first given it. He had promised to look after it and that is what he was doing.

The group moved slowly away from the grave and the large marble headstone now with the bunch of lilies placed beside it. The headstone marked "Lily".

"I'll tell appa about the flowers. Lilies are his favourite."

Random one I wrote Roi ages ago....

Once upon a time in a forest far far away there lived small children. They were the forgotten children,the ones who got left behind.

The oldest of them all took charge of everything. He was their leader. The middle kid was the weird one. And the last one was the cutest little kid the world has ever seen. The two older boys always looked after him. Yunho, Kiseop and Taemin!

One day they were wandering around the forest. Yunho was collecting the firewood, too big for the other two to lift. Kiseop was.supposed to be looking for any sign of food but was afraid of everything he found and so didn't go near it. At one point Yunho looked around to find Kiseop staring at a large bush with berries all over it. Kiseop just stood there. Yunho walked over to him and wacked him on the head.

"Yah! You're supposed to be collecting food! Look that's food!" he shouted.

Kiseop mumbled in reply "B-b-but what if there's some animal in there! It might reach out and grab me and pull me in and and.."

Yunho looked down at him and shook his head."Nothing like that will ever happen!" he said putting an arm around Kiseop and pushing him forward.

Suddenly they heard a loud scream from behind them. They spun round. "Where did Tae go?" Kiseop shrieked.

Yunho dropped the firewood and began running towards where the scream came from.

"How could I have been so stupid to let him leave my sight!" he thought.

Kiseop began to panic. He feared following the scream but then again didn't want to be left alone."Wait!" he shouted as he ran to catch up with Yunho.

Finally they reached the place where Tae's scream came from. There he was tiny and cute being held buy two older boys. He was crying as he tried to struggle free from their grip. Yunho ran at the two boys .And kicked one of them away. The other turned around in shock and began to counter every move Yunho was doing. Kiseop stood at the side rooted to the spot in fear. Tae was being held again by the boy who was kicked down.

Suddenly a large pinecone came flying from the largest tree and hit Yunho on his back. He spun around and saw another boy in the tree. He jumped down and landed right beside Kiseop, giving him a death glare Kiseop screamed and ran to hide behind a tree. The boy laughed.

"Who are you and what do you want with Taemin?!" Yunho roared.

The boy smirked."It doesn't matter. We have been in this forest for as long as you have. And yet you've never noticed before."

"So whydid you randomly decide to attack Tae then?!"

"He took something of ours."

They looked at Tae.

"What did you take?" Yunho shouted.

Tae began to shake."I-I didn't mean to.I didn't know!" he cried out as he held out a small gold bag."It was just lying there..and it looked so pretty!" he mumbled.

"Well it wasn't yours!" the boy shouted "Minho take it off him."

The boy who held Tae reached down and grapped the bag.

"You can let the little kid go now. As long as he really has learned his lesson!" the boy spat.

Tae nodded.

"Ok then.Let him go." the boy commanded.

Minho threw Tae on the ground. Tae fell into a large mud pit. The boys laughed Yunho looked at them in disguist as he helped Tae up. He threw his fist forward aiming at Minho. The other boy who had held Tae ran and knocked Yunho down. He continued to hit him until the other boy shouted "That's enough Eli!" He then retreated to his side.

Yunho lay on the ground,blood dripping from his nose. He looked up and saw hand now outstretched to him. He took it and got up.

"I didn't think it would go this far" the boy mumbled.

Yunho looked at him for a moment. He was slightly taller than him but he looked younger.

"They hurt Tae" was all that was ricocheting around his head. He punched the boy in the stomach. He fell to the ground.

"Quick run!" Yunho shouted as he grabbed Tae's hand.

Eli and Minho jumped at them but they managed to run off. Kiseop ran from behind the tree and joined Yunho and Tae.

The boy called from behind them "Let them go."

"But he hit.." Minho shouted.

"I guess I deserved that!"the boy laughed slightly.

"But Changmin! Your just gonna let them get away with all that! The little one did steal our.." Eli began complaining.

"Yes yes I know! But we have it back now anyway!" Changmin said. "And I doubt they even realised the thing inside it was the one thing that'll enable you to take over the world!" he called as the walked away with Eli and Minho in the opposite direct to the others.

Yunho shook his head."That guy is weirder than Kiseop" he sighed as he turned to find Kiseop stuffing his face with leaves.

"What?" Kiseop stared.

"Ok maybe he's not as weird as Kiseop!"Yunho laughed as he walked away holding Tae under his arm.

He looked down at him. He still had mud and tears all over his cheeks. He bent down and wiped them away.

"It's all ok now Tae!" he soothed.

"Thanks" Tae sniffed and then hugged him.

Kiseop then ran to join in the hug, tripped and fell into a hole. In the background an evil laugh was heard.

Roi-ah's birthday story!! ^^

Roi~ah’s Birthday Story! ^^

Intro

Taemin woke as the telephone went off beside him. It was 3.25am the bright screen informed him as below that the

caller ID flashed “Unknown number”.

He sighed and clicked the hang up button. It wasn’t the time for him to be answering phone calls, especially ones from an unknown caller.

He lay back into the soft pillow. Soon he fell back to sleep as the tiredness of the performance just a few hours previously caught up with him.

Part 1

It had been three long years. Enough time for him to forget. But he hadn’t.

All it had taken was two minutes. He noticed her first. She had been walking through the street surrounded by a group of friends, taking pictures and jumping excitedly. The typical tourists.

And then he saw her smile. A cute little grin that spread wide across her face. A sparkle in her eye shone brightly and that’s when it happened.

She met his gaze.

For a moment they stayed like that, transfixed in each other’s stare. Until one of her friends dragged her away from where she stood.

“Yah!” she squealed in protest.

“Roi~ah, come ON! Everyone has already gone into the shop,” her friend shouted.

She glanced back over her shoulder at the deep red cheeks of Taemin while he stood motionless. And then she was gone.

Roi, Taemin heard ricocheting around his head. He stood still in a daze.

What is wrong with me? He wondered, I’ve seen pretty girls before but this one she’s...she’s....different... She’s Roi...

Inside him he felt a strange sensation creep up within him. His heart felt like it was being tugged around his chest. He looked down and saw that his hands were shaking violently.

I must have her, his first thought. Straight away followed by, What if she doesn’t want me?

In all his confusion Taemin hadn’t noticed that his legs had already made up their mind and were crossing the road for him.

A large speaker system blared out one of his songs through the record store as the door shut behind him.

This might not be a good idea, he thought as he carefully looked around for fangirls about to pounce on him and more importantly her.

He edged through the aisles swiftly, scanning every cm for her.

Where did she go?!

Suddenly he heard a loud scream, coming from a few metres behind him. It was quickly followed by a

chorus of “Oh my GOD! It’s Taemin oppa!”

He wheeled around on his heels to see a large group of young girls running for him.

Taemin looked around in panic as the girls approached quickly. Before he could dart around the next shelf they had engulfed him. Hands were pressing all around him and each high pitched screamed seemed to stab his ears.

He tried to back away from them but they had circled all around him, tugging at his hair and snapping pictures of Taemin’s disgruntled expression.

“Aigoo ~ Taeminnie so

KYPOTA!” they all squealed as his famous pout surfaced.

He couldn’t move at this point. He could barely even breathe.

If Minho hyung was here he could rescue me, he thought. He could probably find me the pretty girl as well, Roi.

At this point Taemin got so claustrophobic, feeling so powerless against the large group of fangirls.

There is no escape!

A tear rolled down his soft cheek as realisation set in.

I’ve lost her.

The tear was follow

ed by a flood as he openly wept in front of the girls. Instead of helping the distressed teen they screamed and took more photos.

A large pair of hands pushed back the girls and grabbed Taemin from their clutches.

The shops security guard led the still weeping Taemin into the back room. He pushed him gently into a chair beside the manager’s desk and left to make sure the troublesome fangirls went.

The manager gave the teen a sympathetic smile as he pushed the phone towards him.

“So sorry for the inconvenience, sir. Would you like to like to call someone to come pick you up?” he gently asked.

Taemin sniffed and no

dded as he dried his tear stained cheeks.

“Ok. I’ll go get you a glass of water,” the manager said as he left Taemin alone in the room.

He brought the phone forward and typed in the first number that came into his head.

“Hello?” a voice answered by the third ring.

“H-hyung, help m-me,” he said through sharp breaths.

“Taemin~ah?! What’s wrong? Where are you?” the voice said, filled with panic and worry.

“I’ll tell you w-when you get here,” he whispered as he informed his hyung where he was.

“Ok, ok! I’ll be there in ten minutes!” he replied hurriedly as he hung

up.

Taemin let out a sigh of relief. He was going to be fine now.

The manager reappeared with a glass of water and Taemin slowly drank the cool liquid to calm himself down.

He should be feeling fine now. It was all over. But there was a deep worry creeping up within him.

Have I lost her forever?

A few minutes later the manager entered with a tall man standing behind him.

“Taeminnie!” the tall man called as he rushed over to his friend.

“Minho hung, you got here faster that I thought possible!” Taemin gasped.

Minho shrugged as he examined his friend’s swollen eyes, a worried look across his face. “Never mind that! Are you ok? The manager said that there was some ‘situation’. Taemin~ah, what happened?”

Taemin stood up from his seat and put a hand on his hyung’s shoulder. “I’ll tell you all later,” he said and then turned to the manager and bowed low, “Thank you for all of your help.”

The two left the record store and got into the car.

As they drove Minho cleared his throat, “So are you going to tell me what happened now?”

Taemin let out a long sigh, looking out the window as he said the first thing that popped into his head. “Hyung, what is love?”

Minho almost crashed the car as the maknae spoke.

“Emmm...” he stumbled upon the right words to say.

What the hell is up with this kid all of a sudden?! He thought to himself. Taemin crying...Questions about love...What happened?

“I mean. How do you...How do you really know if you’re in love? What sets it apart from other feelings?”

Minho stole a glance over at the teen who was still looking longingly out the window.

“I-I don’t know if I’m the person you should ask these things to...” he mumbled, embarrassed.

Taemin nodded in reply.

“What happened to you?” Minho asked after a while to break the awkward silence that had engulfed the car.

Part 2

The bright sunlight shone in from the window as the curtains were violently pulled open.

“Yah! Wake up you two!” Jonghyun shouted as Taemin bolted up from his bed and Minho lay motionless across the room.

It had been a very restless night for Taemin. His mind had refused to relax enough for him to sleep properly. It was nearly 6am by the time he had fallen into a deep enough sleep. For the two and a bit hours previous he would wake as soon as he drifted off a bit.

The day passed in one big haze for Taemin. By the time he had completed his schedule he collapsed on his bed, exhausted.

“What’s wrong with me?!” he wondered aloud, “Why am I losing sleep over –“

He stopped as Minho entered their shared room. He paused and looked over at Taemin sprawled on his bed.

“Is something wrong?” he asked as he sat acro

ss from Taemin on his own bed.

“Oh nothing, nothing,” he replied quickly.

“Was it that phone call last night?...You didn’t expect me to sleep through that shrill ringtone!” he added seeing Taemin’s shocked expression.

“That-that was an unknown caller. I didn’t answer it,” he stuttered.

“Ah, I see. Then what is bothering you?” Minho quizzed refusing to drop the subject.

“I don’t know..I guess..It’s just..” Taemin took a deep breath then blurted out, “the phone call made be start thinking again about that day. The whole thing replayed in my head. Her. Roi.”

“Oh,” Minho was taken aback by this answer.

Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn’t this.

“Hyung, I thought I could eventually forget. But it has been three years. Three years! And she still invades my mind. I have to find her.”

“Again? Taemin~ah you tried this before and it just made you even more frustrated! All you know is her name, well, in fact you don’t even know if that is her name.”

“Her friend called her that,” Taemin snapped. “And how do you know that it will turn out like the last time? You can’t predict the future!”

Minho sighed, “I just don’t want to see you get so upset like the last time. You’re 20 now, not a little kid. You have to let go eventually.”

Taemin jumped up suddenly. “Hyung, since I’m not a kid anymore I can do what I want. I’m going to

find her and nobody will hold me back from that!” he shouted as he stormed out of the room and out the front door avoiding the shocked looks from his other members.

Without thinking he got into his car and began to drive away.

A few hours later and darkness had engulfed the road Taemin was driving down. His eyes were drooping and he knew he had to stop soon or else he was going to crash the car. A hotel appeared down the road and he decided it would be a good idea to stop there for the night.

He pulled up the car and stepped out into the night breeze. He

shivered as he walked towards the main door. The place looked abandoned but it was worth a shot trying to see if it was open.

The dust covered the door made it difficult for him to see inside it. He tried pushing the handle but the door wouldn’t budge. It was abandoned.

He sighed as he walked back to his car. Maybe I’ll just sleep in here tonight, he thought as he shut the door.

A hand traced his chest. It moved in slow circles making his skin crawl. The nail slightly scratching his skin through his light t-shirt. But Taemin didn’t mind.

The hand had now reached his collar. It tugged at it and ripped it slowly making his bare chest visible for the whole world. The nails now scratched the pale skin, leaving slight red marks everywhere they moved.

Suddenly it stopped. Taemin wanted to call out and ask why but he was so relaxed he couldn’t do anything. The hand moved away from him momentarily then swiped down on his skin, slicing his bare chest, right above his heart.

Taemin tried to move away, shout or at least put his hands out to protect him but he was paralysed.

The hand continued to draw back then sla

sh his skin, getting deeper and deeper with each cut. He could feel his warm blood pumping running down his stomach.

Out of nowhere he could hear his phone ringing. Jerking awake and hitting his head of the roof of his car Taemin reached down for his phone in the passenger’s seat.

Rubbing his head where he had hit it he looked down at the small screen. Shining brightly it read “3.25am” and below that “Unknown number”. He went to click the hang up button when he stopped.

Wait, I turned off my phone when I left the dorm. How is this happening? He wondered.

Looking down at his chest he noticed that the top of his t-shirt was ripped and there was blood stains on it. He ran his hand down around where his heart was. There were large red marks covering the places where he was slashed in his dream.

I have to ring my hyungs, he thought as he reached for the phone only to find it was still ringing.

After a moment’s thought he answered it.

“Hello?” he whispered into it.

No reply.

“Hello!” he shouted being to get frustrated thinking it must be some weird joke somebody was pulling.

Finally he heard a small cry coming from the phone. It sounded like somebody was in pain.

“Who is this?” he demanded.

A small sob was his reply.

“A-are you ok?” he gently asked. What if it was someone who needed help?

A harsh whisper replied “You’ve finally arrived”

Taemin looked at his phone. He had to have imagined that. It was beyond weird.

“Come in Mr. Lee. We have been waiting for you,” the voice called out.

Taemin peeked outside the window and noticed that the lights had turned on in the hotel. The main door now wide open, eerily inviting him in.

“We can give you anything you desire, Taemin. Forget about your hyungs, they don’t believe in the power of love but we do,” the voice now seemed to be no longer coming from his phone but instead his head. It had developed a soft, calming tone that echoed around Taemin’s head.

“Maybe..Maybe I’ll just go have a look,” he said as he left the car and made his way to the entrance.

I’m probably still just dreaming.

The reception was lit brightly up and he had to blink a few times for his eyes to adjust. As soon as they had he noticed a small figure beside him. It was a little old woman with long nails and wiry grey hair.

Was it her who had scratched me?

“Now, right this way Mr. Lee,” she said, grabbing his arm and guiding him through the corridors before Taemin could protest.

They reached a large room and she pushed him forwards into the darkness. He stumbled with the un

suspected force from the little woman. He looked around as she carefully locked the door behind them.

“Mr. Lee, we can get you what you want. What your heart desires,” her voice seemed to multiply as she spoke.

“W-we?” Taemin spluttered out.

Out of the shadows more small figures emerged. They were circling around him as he backed away to the door.

“What do you want from me?”

The crowd continued to approach him and the old woman replied “We won’t be looking for much from you Mr. Lee only your soul.”

“My soul?!!!” he gasped.

“Well we are giving you your heart’s desire. Do you not wish to get the girl? The pretty girl you haven’t stopped thinking about. The one you call Roi?” they all said in unison.

Taemin reached back and tugged at the handle to find it was locked. Sweat began to fall from his brow as he panicked.

The hands reached for him and pulled him to the centre of the room. There was flashing of lights and shouts as they tugged at his clothes.

Just a nightmare, just a nightmare. Why does it feel so real though?

“Why are you doing this to me?” He cried out and received harsh laughing as his only reply.

He never felt so lost and alone. Nobody knew where he was and he was about to be ripped apart by some strange small figures.

This is it. This is the end.

A pair of hands parted the crowd and grabbed Taemin from their clutches. The darkness seemed to disappear as the hands held him firmly. A sense of relief filled him when the warm hands guided him through the hotel and out into the car park.

As soon as he exited through the door the light from within the hotel disappeared and everything seemed to be exactly as he had seen it the first time, dusty and abandoned.

The heat left him as the hands let go of him.

He spun around to see who had rescued him and there she stood.

“You!!” Taemin cried out, his jaw dropping. “How..How..What!”

Roi giggled as she looked up at his cute confused expression. “I’m psychic!”

“Really?” Taemin gasped.

“When it comes to you it seems I am,” she shrugged.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he mumbled shyly.

“Me too,” she whispered.

The two stood there for a moment, gazing into each other’s eyes just as they had the first time they met.

“I’m Taemin,” he whispered.

“I know,” Roi giggled. She looked up at his sparkling eyes and shivered as a gust of wind blew.

Taemin grabbed her by the hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

They made their way to his car, Taemin going into gentleman’s mode and opening the door for her.

As they drove away from

the dark, creepy hotel a thought popped up in Taemin’s head.

“How did you get there so fast?” he wondered.

“In a spaceship of course!” she replied.

“Ah..Thought so..” he said as he pulled into an empty rest stop.

If this really is a dream, I might as well enjoy it.

“Why are we stopping here?” Roi asked.

Taemin turned to face her puzzled expression with a mischievous smile. “Well, we’re in the middle of nowhere and...” he laughed quietly, “You’re all mine now!”

Linn-ah's birthday story!

February 14th, Valentines Day, more importantly Linn-ah's birthday! Here's her birthday story..


A bright red envelope slid under the door of Linn's dorm room. It had a large "A" scrawled over the front of it. Carefully Linn picked it up, curious about what was inside. She pulled out a yellow card with unfamiliar handwriting on it. It read:
"Linn-ah,
You haven't been here long I know. And we have not yet properly met. But I feel like I really want know you. Go to the large oak, at 9pm tonight. Please, I'll be waiting."

It had no signature at the bottom. There seemed to be no clue to who it was. Linn sighed deeply as she threw it in the bin. "Probably just some joke of somebodies," she muttered to herself. Although at the back of her mind she could hear a little voice saying that it wasn't just a coincidence that it was her birthday today. But yet nobody knew it was her birthday, she had only came to this school a few weeks ago and nobody had really bothered to get to know her. She was just the foreigner to them, a novelty, nothing more.

The clock on her wall told her it was now 8pm. She decided that she wasn't going to venture out of the school buildings at night for somebody who didn't even leave their name. Instead she made her way to the students lounge to waste the rest of her night. "This is the worst birthday ever," Linn thought to herself as she walked through the long corridors. She had received a phone call a few hours ago from her family and friends but it just wasn't the same being away from them all. Also some gifts arrived in the post but they didn't seem special without the people there handing it to her. Eventually she reached the noisy students lounge. She walked across the lenght of the room, aware of all the eyes on her. She ignored them and walked straight for a quiet spot beside a bookshelf. The large comfy armchair welcomed her as she sat down on it's colourful seat. She had picked a random book that and began to read. Straight across from her there sat a boy who looked to be buried deep into a book about football. Every so often however his large brown eyes peeked from over the top of the book to stare at Linn. "He must think I'm weird too," she pondered, "The strange foreigner all by herself again." She shook away that thought and began reading the book again.

"What are you doing in MY seat?!" a shrill voice demanded. Linn looked up. A skinny girl, slightly smaller than her, was standing in front of her with a chubby girl standing in her shadow. "Yeah! What are you doing in her seat?!" the chubby girl echoed. "Emm..I..well" Linn stammered. Not looking for any trouble Linn stood up. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was your seat," she said as she backed away from the armchair. The skinny girl pushed Linn away and said "Yeah well you better remember next time, foreigner!" The other girl, like a parrot, repeated "Yeah well you better remember next time, foreigner!" as she pushed her back as well. Suddenly a tall figure was by her side. It was the boy who was reading the football book. "What do you think you're doing?" he snapped to the two girls. They both looked down at their feet. "What has she done to you?" he questioned. The skinny girl then ran to him and threw her arms around his shoulders. "But oppa! I wanted to sit there! And the foreigner was in my way!" she pouted. He pushed her away. "Give her back her seat and then leave her alone," he commanded. "But but oppaaa!" she moaned. He then turned to Linn and spoke quietly "Are you ok?" Linn looked at him in amazement. It was the first time someone had actually taken the time to talk to her. "Eh..Yeah I'm fine.." she mumbled, embarrassed. The two other girls stormed off as his attention switched to Linn. "Don't let those two push you around," he said, "They're just idiots!" He smiled as he looked down at her then glanced at his watch, waved then left.

It was 8.50pm and Linn decided it was time to wander out of the students lounge. As she reached the door leading outside she suddenly remembered the letter left for her. The oak was just outside that door. "I could just go to look and see who it was who was waiting" she thought, "No. It was just a joke. I won't fall for it easily." She continued walking back to her room. On arrival she noticed that there was another envelope left on the ground. This one however was orange. She opened it and a red card fell out of it onto the floor. She picked it up and read:
"If you don't come I'll wait all night. For you I'd count all the stars twice. How about calling this making it even? Show up tonight do you need a reason?"
Linn began to feel as if this person was stalking her. The card joined the previous on in the bin. She felt that all this was too much for one night and so decided to go early to bed. "Worst birthday ever," was Linn's last thought as she drifted off into a deep sleep.

The clock read 5.30am when she her a tap at her door. Sleepily she got up wondering who would be waking her up this early. She pulled on some clothes and answered the door. There he stood. The boy who defended her, the football loving one. His eyes had dark circles under them as if he had been up all night. Never the less, he smiled down at her "I suppose I should have guessed you wouldn't turn up!" Linn was shocked. It was him who was sending the letters to her asking her to go out to the oak. "I-I didn't know it was you," she stuttered. He gave a slight laugh as he said "Guess I was being a bit too mysterious! You didn't even know my name yet, it's Minho." "Sorry," Linn said softly, "I thought it was somebody just playing a trick on me. I'm really sorry. Did you stay up all night?" Minho nodded slowly. "I'm really truly sorry!" she whispered apologetically. He smirked slightly. "Well do you want to make up for it?" he asked. Linn looked up to him suspiciously. "Follow me," he said as he outstretched his hand and took hers. He led her outside into the gathering light. They walked past the large oak tree and continued into the large clump of trees that cover the hill beside the school buildings. Eventually they reached the top where all land stopped as a large cliff opened up to a huge valley. He drew her closer to him as he saw her shivering in the early morning breeze. "I always wanted to bring someone up here," he breathed out as the sun began to rise up. "Why didn't you before?" Linn wondered aloud. He smiled and held her even closer, "Because no one was special enough." he paused and looked down at her, "Happy birthday Aislinn."

Protectors

This one is for Roi-ah and Linn-ah! As they are the ones who demand the most. ;P I think this is the best I have written.

Once upon a time in a land far far away, there lived a two girls. They both were living together in a foreign city. They had been visited by a tall man once a month since they moved. With every visit he had taken a lump sum of money with him. Payment for protection he had said. There were people after them, they had a rare pigment in their skin and their was some companies out there after it. The tall man seemed to run his own company. A protection for those who really needed it when nobody else would believe it. He was in charge of assigning people to "look out" for the girls. These people would live in the apartment next to theirs. Every few months the people would change. He said it was as the situations changed, different people were suited to different jobs. And so this was how they lived, in hiding, constantly being watched. They were allowed out of the house but were always followed and had to keep looking behind them. Forever in fear...

It was a regular occurrence by this point. A blue envelope was slotted under the door and the new "guests" had arrived, their protectors had changed. The last people weren't very inconspicuous. There was two large men who seemed to eat steroids for each meal, another man who could leap up and snap your neck before you could say "Hey" and a small woman who escorted them everywhere, muttering under her breath. In the letter it explained how their new protectors would live amongst them more than the others. Something must have happened, they must be more at risk. A knock sounded from the dark wooden door. This was highly unusual so the girls cautiously edged over to the door and whispered a demand to know the knocker's identity. There was a faint reply of the code they had been informed of many months previous, when all this mess started. "K.Y.H.D"

They opened the door and stared suspiciously at the four men standing calmly in the doorway. They all bowed and the tallest of all four introduced them. "We are your new protectors. My name is Minho. I will do my best at what is asked of me. They are Taemin, Kiseop and Dongho," he said pointing to the other three around him as each bowed low to them. The girls were confused, never before had this happened. The taller of the two cleared her throat, pushed back her short blond hair and said "Eh..Hello. My name is Linn and this is Roi." Taemin smirked as Dongho informed the two they were aware of that. "Well then. We shall be seeing you on a regular basis from now on. Goodbye," Minho smiled as they began to retreat from the door. "Wait!" Roi piped up, "Why are you doing this? No one before arrived at our door to introduce themselves." "We are not like the rest," Taemin replied and they turned and left.

A loud bang at the window woke Linn. It was three thirty in the morning and she was in the middle of a strange dream that had a dark van screech to a stop and men with large guns running from it. Running in the direction of their home. She sleepily dragged the bed covers off her as she went to investigate what had just hit her window. Throwing the curtains back she saw a hand stretched across the glass. The figure that possessed the hand was balancing perfectly on the tiny ledge that connected this apartment with the next. She looked closely at the figure as it knocked again. There was something familiar about it. She opened the window and the figure darted quickly in. He stood up from where he had landed and Linn realised it was Minho. "Quick," he whispered, "there's not much time. Follow me." He stretched out his hand. "What are you talking about? Has something happened?" Linn exclaimed. "No time. They're here. It's why we're here, now come on!" "What about Roi-ah?!" "Another protector is getting her. Now let's leave!" "B-but I'm not dressed!" Linn cried out. "Ok, but quickly! I'll look out the window." Linn was going to object but the seriousness in his tone made her feel she wasn't safe if he left the room. Quickly she threw on some clothes and turned to find him just as he had said, looking out the window. He had kept his word, she smiled to herself. She cleared her throat to let him know she was ready. "Ok, now let's get out of here FAST!" he said as he grabbed her hand and they ran from the room.

Roi shrieked as she woke to hear loud tapping at her window. The rushed knocks had woken her from a strange dream where a van had set off from a industrial park with a group of armed men who had a dark mission to fulfill. She crept slowly to her window, taking deep breaths with each step to steady her heart beat. She peeked out through the curtains to see a figure standing on the small ledge under her window. She felt calm at the sight of the figure. It didn't look harmful. She slid back the curtains and opened the window as the figure climbed in. He stood up tall beside her and smiled sadly. "The time has finally arrived. We must leave now," Taemin informed her. "N-no. This c-an't be r-r-right!" Roi stuttered. "I'm afraid so. Now, we have to get out. The others are waiting out in the hall. Change quickly" he replied turning around and putting both hands over his eyes. Roi looked around at her room, lost. She dived for a pile of clothes in the corner and changed, keeping one eye on Taemin but he never dared look. "Ok, let's leave," Roi announced as she finished changing. Taemin spun around and smiled down at her. He gripped her hand as he apologised "I'm sorry this has had to happen so soon." Then they bolted from the room.

In the hall they all met. Minho, Linn, Taemin and Roi. "Where are the others?" Roi inquired. Minho and Taemin exchanged looks as Taemin mumbled "They're already out in the front line." "The 'front line'?" Linn exclaimed, "What exactly is going on?" "They are here," Minho explained, "The people who want to use you as..." His voice was droned out by an earsplitting explosion. The men nodded at each other and they dragged them off to the closet beside the bathroom. "The doors are of no use to us now," Taemin shouted out. They entered the small space and Minho reached up and turned the light bulb clockwise once and anticlockwise four times. Suddenly the coat hanger pulled apart to reveal a slight dent in the wall. "Push!" he shouted. They all pressed themselves against the wall where the dent had appeared. After a moment the wall swung open to reveal a long staircase. They walked one by one down it, Taemin in front, Minho at the back. At the end of the dark staircase they found they were in the basement. Taemin ushered them to a manhole behind the bins as Minho looked carefully around for any sign of another person. "Go down this and you will find Kiseop and Dongho, they will lead you away." The two girls looked worried as Taemin spoke those words. "Why do you have to go?" Roi whispered. "Just. Just do as I say, ok?" he sighed as he smoothed Roi's hair softly. Minho ran over and called "They're coming!" They pulled of the cover of the manhole and helped Roi down first. "No! Why is this happening? We did nothing!" Linn said fighting back tears. "Don't worry. We will take care of these people. Neither of you will be hurt," Minho replied as he stroked her arm before she climbed down after her friend. The men placed the cover back on as they turned to confront the enemy.

The two girls shuddered as they were left in total darkness. Slowly, they climbed down the long ladder which seemed to go on forever. They both cried out as they heard the first shot from above. It had started. They wished they could stop and climb up the ladder to help them but they knew that they wouldn't be able to do anything, just be in the way. Eventually a small light could be seen from below them, they were near the bottom. Slowly they clambered off the ladder and into the dim light of the tunnel. Kiseop and Dongho were standing holding torches, their faces composed but their worry was betrayed by their voices. "F-follow us p-please." Kiseop stammered. They all looked up at the ceiling before filing out, the sound of the gunshots still audible. The dark tunnel stretched on and the girls began to get worried as the noise of the battle disappeared behind them. "At least when you could hear it, you knew they were still..still.." Roi broke off in tears, the only sound echoed in the tunnel. Kiseop put his arm around her, "Don't worry," he said soothingly, "They are our best agents. They will never be caught." Linn began to sniff behind them. "It's only because we are moving away that we can't hear anything anymore. That's all!" Dongho reassured Linn as he patted her shoulder. A few minutes later a sound could be heard again, this time it was an engine they could hear.

Finally they saw some natural light. It was already dawn. Kiseop lead them all out of the tunnel and greeted a large figure standing just beyond the exit. Their eyes focused and they saw who Kiseop was addressing as "Sir". It was the man in charge of the company, the tall man who had visited them a long time ago to inform them of their situation. "Sir, what has happen?" Dongho inquired. "Not now, later" the tall man replied looking at Roi and Linn with a slight concern in his eyes. "We want to know too!" Linn shouted out. "Yeah! We deserve to know what has happen!" Roi screamed at him. He looked calmly down at them. After pausing for a moment he then said "Get in the van. And you'll get to know everything." They did as he said, wanting to know what had happened as quickly as possible. They all climbed into the white van as the driver drove them off along the rising sun peeking out from behind buildings that surrounded the industrial area the tunnel had lead them to. "Where to begin..?" the tall man pondered, "Well I suppose you should know what really happened tonight." He rearranged himself in his seat and the girls noticed he winced as his left leg hit off the inside of the car door. "What happened to your leg?" Linn asked. "Ah, yes. Well did you you think there was only two fighting against those who wished to use you? I guess no matter how much you train you can't miss every bullet." He gave a weak smile as he said this and his hand slid up to a necklace he was wearing. "Even the great aren't invincible." At this he slightly stroked the little silver object that was hanging from the chain. He cleared his throat and lowered his hand. "They had finally gotten all the resources they needed to attack us and capture you." he continued, "Luckily we knew the attack was coming soon and sent some of our best to you. Unfortunately we didn't know it would be this soon." "B-but what about Taemin and Minho?" Roi stammered. "Yeah! Where are they? Did they..?" Linn asked quietly. The car slowed down and stopped. "Here we are, Sir" the driver announced.

The van was parked outside the entrance to a large white building, many storeys high. The door was quickly opened by a uniformed man bowing low as the tall man got out. They all followed him. He lead them through the building and up to the top floor. The place looked like an office building from the outside but on the inside it was much more full of life. It seemed to be more relaxed than your average company headquarters. They entered his office, a large room with paintings covering the walls, comfy sofas and shelves of books. It looked more like a living room or a cosy library than an office. He sat down behind an oak desk and gestured at them to sit. Kiseop and Dongho who had followed them up, bowed and left the room. He sighed deeply as a woman entered. She was a doctor. She quietly asked him a few questions, then handed him some painkillers and left. He took them all quietly and the turned to face the worried expressions that had been fixed on Linn and Roi's faces since this whole situation kicked off. "They're ok. In the next room in fact. We are not allowed to go into them yet though, they're being seen to." The girls breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes," he continued, "We had very few casualties in fact." As he said this his hand clasped the silver object again and a light drained from his eyes. "The enemy has been taken care of. You don't need to hide anymore." "We would like to thank you for everything you've done for us. You and your company have saved our lives!" Roi said as Linn nodded. "It's why this company was set up in the first place. To protect those truly in need of it." he smiled weakly at them.

There was another knock at the door. This time a man was there. "They're finished now. You're able to speak to them, Sir." They all jumped up at this news and went straight into the next room. Two hospital beds had been set up in the middle of the room. Tubes and machines were all around the two patients. Linn ran to Minho's side and grabbed his hand. "I told you we'd take care of those people, didn't I?" At these words Linn burst into tears of relief. On the other side of the room Taemin and Roi were both in tears as they held each others hand tightly. "It's all over now." Taemin whispered to her, "We're safe now." The tall man stood in the doorway, smiling slightly at the scenes of joy before him. A hand tapped his shoulder. "Just heard what happened." the man by his side whispered, "So sorry for your loss, Mr. Shim." Mr. Shim held close the necklace, pressing it hard against his skin as he tried to hold back his emotions. Tightening his grip on the little silver flower that hung from his neck, right over his heart. The little silver lily.