~POV Jisung~

For long minutes already, I had been looking at my cup of coffee as if I was trying to find a magic formula that would make me start that day all over again.

I was in another coffee-shop located on a building's 6th floor. It offered a beautiful view of Seoul I couldn't enjoy, even a little bit. I had been there for over an hour after spending an endless time wandering the streets without knowing what to do or where to go. If I didn't have that damn summons, I would have gone home to hide under my duvet.

I hated myself.

I had behaved like a kid with Minho. I had got angry with him and left without giving him a look, an explanation, without even saying goodbye. He must have thought I was crazy... even more after I made a fool of myself in front of him with that pen thing.

Exasperated, I grabbed my hair nervously. The place's atmosphere may have been Zen, I was a ball of nerves that could explode at any moment. Dear god... How was I going to talk to him normally again? I couldn't find an answer or rather, I could only see one... avoid him for a while.

It was cowardly and pitiful, but what else could I do? Apologize? What next? Was I magically going to be able to see him again as a mere student? Without remembering the attraction I had felt for him today? I felt like I had acted like a pervert... I hated myself so much... The more I thought about it, the more I came to an impasse.

I had left the coffee shop around 1.30 pm. It was a bit too early to go to the police station, but I couldn't bear to sit around thinking about it any longer. I felt like I was going insane. I couldn't swallow anything. Even my coffee, I had drank it just to not waste. My stomach and throat were tight and it didn't get better when I got there.

The building was located on Seoul's outskirts, not far from an industrial zone, in an area full of small apartment blocks quite old and run-down. From the train station, it was a good 20 minutes' walk to get there. There were few or no shops in the area. The mini-market where I was on the robbery day was more than 5 kilometers away.

Naively, having arrived earlier, I hoped I could be received immediately. But as soon as I entered the building, they had yelled at me bluntly.

"Your summons was for 3pm!" The policeman at the reception desk had bellowed. "You'll have to wait now!"

Of course... If I could have even a little luck today, it would have been too good. And I wasn't at my troubles end. Even after arriving early, I had waited ages. It was almost 3:40 pm when I had finally started to give my statement to a policeman who was only listening to me with one ear, in the same room as a woman whose husband was bawling nonstop.

I had to repeat what I had seen about twenty times and fill tons of paperwork. Then, I waited for my ID card to be returned. At that time, the brother of the suspected man had stormed into the police station to claim his bro's innocence. He had given us such an evil look I shuddered. But fearing the police, he had left when I was praying to finally leave.

It was almost 5pm when I was finally able to get out of there. The weather had cooled down and the sky was getting darker. Wishing to get home as quickly as possible, I decided to take a taxi but seeing none passing in the street opposite the police station, I started walking, hoping to see one pass soon. There was always loads of taxis in Seoul but of course, whenever I really needed it, I didn't see a single one.

As I turned around to see if there weren't any across the street, I saw a man a few meters behind me, walking head down, his hands in his parka's pockets. Realizing he was the robbery suspect's brother, I suddenly felt tense. His footsteps behind me began to worry me and I walked faster, opening a taxi search application on my smartphone. At the same time, I heard the man accelerating.

Without turning around, I turned in a small alley, realizing too late it wasn't a good idea. If the main street was almost deserted, here it was worse. My heart pounding, fingers trembling, I called a taxi, biting my lips realizing there was no answer. At this very moment, the man grabbed my bag' strap to pull me towards him before pushing me violently, back against a wall.

"What? You're running away? You weren't so scared when you went to say all that shit to the cops! You motherfucker!"

The man, tall and skinny, had however a lot of strength. Furious and now drunk, he put his forearm against my throat, while his other hand was holding my arm. No matter how hard I tried to get away from him, I couldn't do it. I was starting to run out of air and cough when I savagely kicked his stomach with my knee .

Caught unawares, the man had moved away far enough for me to push him away before I started running. However, in the panic, I had continued in the alley instead of returning to the main street. 

Disoriented, out of breath, I entered another dark and deserted alley without knowing what to do when someone put his hand over my mouth and pulled me behind bins and piles of boxes and cartons that were along a wall.

As this unknown forced me to crouch down like him, using the tarpaulin covering the boxes to hide us, I was about to bite his hand when, turning my face towards his, I almost stopped breathing. At once, seeing I wanted to speak, he pressed harder on my lips.

"Shh... Stay there. I'll take care of it."

What?! No !

What did he mean?! That he was going to fight that creep?! It was out of the question! I refused to let him put himself in danger. I refused to let the slightest thing happen to him, even less because of me. Panicked, realizing he was about to get up, I did the first thing that came into my head to stop him.

Without thinking, seized with an insurmountable impulse, I turned towards him and clinged to his neck, using all my weight to hold him back. My heart beating frantically, eyes closed, I bit my lips, holding him tight desperately when suddenly, footsteps rang out in the alley, not far from where we were...

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~POV Minho~

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What the hell was he doing?!

I had saw he was behaving strangely today, that's why I had followed him. I knew I shouldn't, but I hadn't been able to help myself. I had found him as he entered a building. I had waited outside for him to come out. Then, I had thought he would go straight home, but he had taken the train to go to that police station.

I had followed him discreetly and the more time passed, the more I felt he have his head in the clouds. I had waited for him to come out of the police station for hours before falling asleep on a bench and of course, that stupid squirrel had decided to come out at that very time. Afar, I had seen him walking, without even noticing this shady guy behind him.

I had run as fast as I could to catch them up and now, I wanted to smash that bastard's face. But before I could react, the squirrel had stuck to me, hugging me with a force I never thought he could have. He was hugging me so tightly it took my breath away. For a few seconds, I stood motionless as if time had stopped.

The squirrel's body was warm...

I could smell his hair's peachy scent and his heart beating so fast in his chest, stuck against mine. He was trembling, clinging desperately to my neck, as if the world's fate depended on it. I tried to get him away from me to be able to get up, but he was clasping me tighter when, all of a sudden, footsteps resounded in the alley.

Like a rabid dog, that asshole kept looking for him. He walked hollering, kicking the crates and bins while the squirrel shivered in my arms. Slowly, I put my hands behind his back to reassure him.

If this guy discovered us, I was ready to face him without any hesitation. When he knocked wildly into the bin in front of us, I brought the squirrel back against me, slipping my hand through his hair.

"AAAH! YOU LITTLE BRAT ! WHERE THE FUCK DID HE GO?!!"

The guy screamed like a hungry beast raving because of the alcohol. When he hit again the crates, some fell to the ground, threatening to get us spotted. But too busy going around in circles like a caged animal, he didn't go further down the alley. Then, he ran back into the main street while I sighed, stroking my neighbor's hair without even realizing it.

Several minutes passed this way, in complete silence, without me being able to utter a single word. I was listening to his breathing with my eyes closed as the afternoon was drawing to a close and that was enough for me. I didn't need anything else at that moment.

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~POV Jisung~

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Never before in my life, I'd been so afraid for someone. 

I was so scared and anxious it made me suffocate. I had prayed that this guy wouldn't see us, that Minho wouldn't fight against him. I held him tight so he wouldn't do something stupid. I had acted without thinking. But when he put his hands on my back, then one in my hair, I calmed down little by little.

Even when this man had knocked the boxes in front of us, Minho's presence, his gestures, the way he held me close to him... all of that had reassured me. I had felt protected, secure like never before. My neighbor's skin had a delicious perfume, masculine and floral, bewitching like a male dark lily. My head resting on his shoulder, I had waited, eyes closed, for this nightmare's end.

I wanted it to end and at the same time, it was the last thing I wanted. There, in that dark and dirty alley, behind those boxes and dustbins, I felt like I was at home because I was with him. My conscience kept telling me that in another world, another life, maybe... and I was killing its little voice again and again in my head, hopelessly.

"It's over..." He murmured suddenly, taking me back to that reality where I hated myself so much. "It's best we leave now."

Of course...

Slowly, with a heavy heart, I moved away from him. At that very moment, our faces were so close my whole body shivered. If he wasn't wearing that mask, our lips would have been just a few centimeters apart, so close it made me dizzy.

Lee Minho...

My student, still a minor...

Looking at his dark and beautiful eyes, I realized it was really an impasse.

What I felt for him was already beyond the red line of the forbidden.

I had no choice but to avoid him now, until those feelings that were beginning to born in my heart were totally destroyed...

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Hello sweeties ! ^^ I hope you're well and you enjoyed this new chapter ! I'd be super happy to know your opinion !! Feel free to read my new story too ! <3 Thank you soooo much for your support !! Take care of yourself !!  I love you all! <3

SaaheVer.