It was nearly a year later when Yoojin was enjoying a Saturday afternoon with her brother and her older cousin, Jeon Seokdae. He often looked after the two twins when their parents were busy and so they were quite close. The strong boy was tall with a sharp jawline on his wide face and black hair that dangled to his chin. After doing some studying, they played video games. The girl was sandwiched between the boys on the couch as they moved about like a puppet to their controllers.

However, what Yoojin was so giddy about was that she was having her first sleepover at Wooyoung's house later that night. Of course, her parents wouldn't let her go so she lied that she wanted to stay at Seokdae's house since she hadn't been there for a while.

"You sure you're alright to stay at this boy's house?" Seokdae asked Yoojin while they annihilated their enemies on the TV screen.

"Yeah," she replied. "Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."

Youngbin scoffed. "He was my friend first."

Yoojin giggled. When the three of them were together, the twins often bickered with Seokdae being the peacekeeper. Youngbin looked up to him a lot and relied on him.

As the game came to an end, Yoojin packed her bags for the sleepover. The two boys fake wrestled, and it ended up with Seokdae having a chokehold on Youngbin on the sofa.

"I'll get you next time," Youngbin promised as he struggled under Seokdae's muscular arm.

"That's what you always say," the older boy laughed, releasing Youngbin as he ruffled his hair. "But I'll keep teaching you to be as strong as me."

"At least I beat you at basketball the other day."

"I let you win."

"Yeah, right."

With a promise for a rematch another day, Yoojin was ready to go and Seokdae said that he would walk her to Wooyoung's house. They waved goodbye to Youngbin and headed off. It was dark outside already but luckily, Wooyoung's house wasn't too far, and the two cousins were together.

"Thank you for making us pasta for lunch," Yoojin said as they walked up a hill.

"No problem. I know it's your favourite," Seokdae replied.

Yoojin heaved her heavy backpack up her shoulders. The streetlamp flickered above. Suddenly, Seokdae's phone rang. He glanced at the contact and quickly picked up. Their strides were slow as they walked and Yoojin checked out the old houses in the narrow street. Her cousin froze and she immediately turned to look at him. Seokdae's face had darkened with worry as he desperately spoke into the phone.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," he said before hanging up.

"Is everything okay?" Yoojin asked him.

"Of course. I'll quickly drop you off and then I have to go somewhere," he tried to put on a reassuring smile, but his younger cousin was smart.

She knew that there was something going on and she feared that he had met the wrong people. Even though he tried to hide it, she had heard about the gang who blackmailed people for money but she didn't know what to do. She didn't know who they were and she didn't know how involved he was. 

"Just go now. I'll be fine. Wooyoung's house is practically a block away," Yoojin told him with a brave look.

"Are you sure?"

Yoojin nodded. "Just go already. I'll text you when I get there."

Seokdae was still hesitant, but he thanked her and ran back the way they came. Now all alone, Yoojin felt fear creeping up her spine. She wasn't scared of the dark, but this certain road was intimidating as there were hardly any working streetlights. Gripping her backpack straps, she marched forward with her head held high.

Then, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Was that a shuffle behind her? She gulped. The tall buildings seemed to loom over her threateningly. Yoojin sped up. That was when she definitely heard something behind her. She couldn't stop herself from looking back. Her eyes widened. A tall, lanky man stood a few metres from her. With his all-black attire and evil grin under his cap, he looked scarier than the Grim Reaper to this little girl.

Her immediate reaction kicked in and she started running towards Wooyoung's house. Che could see it just up ahead. The footsteps behind her pounded as fast as her heartbeat but she didn't risk a glance back. Yoojin didn't make it far. A shriek escaped her lips for less than a second before she felt a hand cover her mouth. Another arm snaked around her waist tightly. Even though she was young, she could tell that this man was drunk, and he reeked of alcohol.

Yoojin struggled with all her might, but it was hopeless as he dragged her into the alleyway on their left. He slammed her into the wall, causing her to gasp. Then as he pulled her backpack off her, she found an opening to quickly pull her phone out of her pocket. The man wrestled for the device, but she turned it on while kicking him wherever she could. Yoojin kicked the hardest she ever had, and she must've hit his groin as he stumbled back a bit. Wasting no time, she clicked on the call icon on her phone, which automatically opened to her recent call log. She pressed the first one without thinking – Wooyoung's number.

It rang for a bit and the man grabbed her with one arm while aiming for the phone with the other. He spat curse words at her but she wasn't listening. Yoojin dropped the phone – most likely due to her shaky hands. The man stepped back and aimed a punch to her head, but she dropped to the ground, her ear close to the phone. It was hard to tell if Wooyoung picked up, but she swore that she could faintly hear him talking.

Without thinking, she screamed the first thing that came to her mind, "Help!"

Her voice got cut off when the man tackled her on the ground. She yelped when her head hit the concrete. Her back was digging into the floor as the man sat on top of her. He slapped her. Yoojin's cheek burned as tears pricked her eyes. He slapped her again. She couldn't control the tears that flowed down her cheeks. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get out of his grip. Yoojin was just a small girl under this tall man. She wished it would stop.

Yoojin's never thought it would ever happen to her. In a dark, tiny alleyway, this drunk man was touching her. He started exploring her skin – places no one else had touched. But thank the lord that he didn't get to her private places. Before he could, he was knocked off of her. It was Wooyoung, seething with anger. The small boy ran forward and tried to punch the man, but he dodged. Towering over him, the man quickly punched Wooyoung and threw him down the alleyway like a bag of potatoes.

"What an annoying pair of brats," the man muttered, grabbing the crying Yoojin by the neck.

In a drunken rage, he kept hitting her and although she tried to block, it still hurt, and she couldn't breathe.

"Let her go!" Wooyoung yelled.

The boy kicked and punched the man, but the older guy simply pushed him aside. Nothing seemed to be going well that night. However, the light came shining through as another man punched the pervert and separated him from the kids. It was Wooyoung's dad. He was watching TV when his son had suddenly ran out of the house saying he had to find Yoojin. So, Wooyoung's dad called the police and searched for his son. He now stood protectively in front of the two children. The drunk man let out a string of curses and the sound of sirens ended everything.

The police arrested the assaulter while Yoojin went to the hospital with Wooyoung and his father. Yoojin was shaking but the boy comforted her, wishing he could make the memory disappear. After a long time, the young girl finally managed to drift off to sleep, her body exhausted from the terrifying night.

When Yoojin woke up, her twin and her cousin sat next to her hospital bed, leaning back with their eyes closed. The girl gradually sat up, stretching her neck. She tried to focus on her family instead of the pain. Slowly, the two boys stirred awake with the rising sun.

Youngbin's eyes widened as he leaned forward. "Yoojin! Are you okay?"

"Yoojin, I'm so sorry," Seokdae said with a shaky voice. "It's my fault. I should've walked you all the way there."

Yoojin tried to smile but her whole body ached. The memories of last night came flooding in and she shivered. The punches. The slaps. The touches that she could still feel all over her small body.

"It's okay, Seokdae. It wasn't your fault. I'm fine now," Yoojin told them. "Really."

"You're not fine, Yoojin. Don't try to hold it in. I know you're strong, but you can cry," Youngbin lectured.

"Same goes to you," the girl gave a tiny grin.

Her twin had the most responsibility and pressure from their parents, but he never cried or shared his feelings with her. When their father used to beat him up sometimes, she tried her best to comfort him. She didn't want him to feel alone. 

"Did mum and dad come?" Yoojin asked hesitantly.

The two boys looked at each other.

"They did. But then they had to go to work," Youngbin said.

Yoojin nodded, not surprised at all. Their rich parents didn't care about them – they'd probably come running if they caused trouble at school though.

"Yoojin!" someone shouted from the left.

Yoojin turned and found Wooyoung in the bed next to hers. He had just woken up. His hair was a mess and he had bruises and scrapes all over him, but he looked more worried for the girl. He immediately ran over to her side and enveloped her in a big hug.

"I'm so sorry, Yoojin. It's all my fault. I couldn't protect you," Wooyoung cried.

Yoojin sighed, patting the boy on the back. "It's not your fault. Why is everyone saying that?"

'It's my fault for not being stronger', Yoojin thought. 

"I promise you; I'll protect you from now on," Wooyoung vowed with his head down and his teeth gritted.

The boy wiped his tears and sniffled down his emotions. Last night was a nightmare – not because of what happened to him but because of what happened to Yoojin. His heart ached and it killed him that she had to go through those tortures. He was right there. He could've saved her. But he couldn't fight. He was weak. He was too weak to save his best friend, the girl who he had a crush on.

Wooyoung's fists tightened. From on now, he would make sure she never got hurt again. He would do anything. The innocent girl shouldn't lose her smile. 

The next few days, Yoojin stayed at the hospital and Wooyoung never left her side, even when he was allowed to leave. They highly recommended Yoojin to have some counselling sessions but she refused. However, due to her brother's pleas, she did two sessions and took some time off school. When she returned, things slowly went back to normal. But of course, nothing would be normal again. 

Wooyoung, on the other hand, had changed. Of course, he was still Yoojin's best friend who acted the same. But he decided to toughen up and spent lots of time at the boxing gym near his house, learning to fight. When he first showed up, the people at the boxing gym laughed, telling the tiny kid to go home. Wooyoung didn't give up and with his clear determination, they trained him hard. 

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I'm a lazy person. I hardly edit. And I don't usually do fanfics that follow the storyline because I'm too lazy (otherwise my determined self would want to get all the details right and I ain't got time for that). I finished writing this in roughly 3/4 weeks and I started a new stressful full-time job at the same time. So, it was very rushed, mainly cos I wanted to quickly get to the good fight later. 

*Pic is Youngbin, so Yoojin would kinda like a girl version but happy. I'm not going to choose a pic for Yoojin.