Chanyeol's blood was boiling.

It was like a dark fury had possessed him when he saw what was happening at the end of the warehouse. With thundering steps and a tightly clenched fist, Chanyeol hurled himself at Ryuk, causing him to lurch backwards and away from Nami. He didn't know what came over him or, where his strength came from but, he didn't hold back. 

He couldn't. 

It was like he was consumed by an insatiable rage that fomented his being, pulsating through his body like an electric current and, the only outlet for it was for his fists to connect with Ryuk's face.

The sound of pounding flesh reverberated around the warehouse as Chanyeol pummelled Ryuk to the floor, hindering him immobile. 

Chanyeol didn't care that his hands were covered with blood or that his knuckles felt raw. He panted, grunted with effort, his chest heaving, as the fury which overwhelmed him slowly ebbed away, at the sight of an unconscious Ryuk on the floor. 

He had beaten him up to the point that his face was almost unrecognisable.

With exhaustion creeping up on him, Chanyeol straightened himself up. He breathed out as he tried to calm his seething rage down, his head still spinning from the spikes of adrenaline that was still throbbing in his bloodstream.

"It's okay, Nami-ah. You're safe now... you're safe now..."

Chanyeol looked up from where he was standing and saw D.O cradling Nami in his arms. She was sobbing, her frail arms tightly gripping his shirt as her head was buried deep in his chest. She was shaking uncontrollably.

His heart broke at the sight of her.

Nami was wearing a pink dress that had been torn at the top. He noticed how her bare legs were covered in dirt from being on the ground and that her feet were bleeding where small shards of glass had punctured her soles. Her long, raven hair looked like it had been curled into large ringlets before it had been ruined. The face, that he had grown to love, was covered in blotches as her makeup had smeared from the large tears that fell from her almond-shaped eyes. Bruises shaped like handprints covered her arms where Ryuk had tried to restrain her.

He felt like shit.

Nami had gone through the effort of dressing up for him--for their date--and tonight of all nights he had failed her. He had failed to protect her for the second time.

Slowly, he took off his jacket and bent down next to D.O and covered her with it, his eyes brimming with guilt and yearning for her to look at him. "Nami-ah..." he tried to reach out to her but she flinched away, clinging even more to D.O as she continued to sob. She refused to meet his eye.

Hurt, Chanyeol retracted his hand and slowly got up. "I'll go and call the others" his voice sounded sorrowful. D.O gave him a brief nod as he continued to hold a vulnerable Nami in his arms, gently rubbing her back as he tried to reassure her that she was safe now.

With one last look, Chanyeol turned away, his hand covering his eyes as he walked outside to make a phone call. He needed to tell Suho and the others that they had found Nami and that they needed to do something about Ryuk.

~*~

D.O watched as Chanyeol walked away, his shoulders slumping with every step he took. There was no doubt on what Chanyeol must be feeling. He had seen how beaten up he was.

D.O peered down at Nami who was still shivering despite being covered by Chanyeol's jacket. She continued to sob on his chest, her cries were quiet but nonetheless painful for him to hear. He didn't like seeing Nami this way. He didn't like that this happened to her. He didn't like that he hadn't done anything to stop it.

Like Chanyeol, he was angry. But not just at Ryuk, but at himself too. If only he had done something differently, maybe he would have been able to prevent this from happening.

"I'm sorry, Nami-ah" he murmured as he held her tightly. "I'm sorry."

~*~

D.O's arms wrapped around me tightly as he held me in his embrace.

"I'm sorry..." he kept murmuring. "I'm sorry, Nami-ah..."

I clung to him closely as warm tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't stop myself from crying, even though D.O tried to comfort me with soothing words. My body kept trembling as I buried myself deeper into his chest as if by doing so, I could escape this endless nightmare and end up in a safe haven.

I want to go home.

At some point, I ventured to open my eyes again and I saw many pairs of legs surrounding me and D.O in a huddle. Different voices merged together as I slipped in and out of my consciousness. Their words sounded like a distorted radio.

"Is Little Umma okay?"

"What should we do now?"

"Hyung called the police, they should be here soon."

"Is that him? Do we know who he is?"

"Chanyeol-ah did that?"

"C'mon. Let's go. We need to bring Nami-ah home."

~*~

Xiumin rubbed his eyes wearily as he watched D.O quietly close Nami's door behind him. "How is she?" he asked as soon as D.O had turned to face him.

"She's finally calmed down" D.O replied. He glanced behind him as he gestured for him, Chanyeol and Xiumin to stand further away from her door just in case they woke her. "I got her to take a sleeping pill so that she could rest."

Xiumin nodded, "That's good. Hopefully, she'll feel a little better in the morning."

D.O looked at Xiumin grimly. "Hyung, I don't think Nami-ah will be okay for a while. Before she took the sleeping pill, she was so scared of being alone. Someone should stay with her in case she wakes up."

"I can do that" Chanyeol immediately replied. The pair looked at him. It had a been a while since Chanyeol had said a word.

They were finally back at the dorm and it was early in the morning. Suho and some of the other EXO members were busy speaking with the police while the others had gone back to sleep. Presently, it was only Xiumin, D.O and Chanyeol who were taking care of Nami. Chanyeol hadn't spoken the whole time they were in the car, on the way back home to the dorm.

D.O eyed him dubiously, "It's okay, Chanyeol. I can do it. You should get some rest."

"But you need to sleep too" Chanyeol replied. "You've done enough, D.O-ah. Let me take care of Nami-ah."

"No. I'll take care of her" D.O insisted.

Chanyeol retorted, "No. I will."

The pair glared at each other, neither one refusing to back down. Eventually, Chanyeol argued, "I'm her boyfriend, D.O-ah, so I should be the one to stay by her side."

"Well, you failed as her boyfriend" he snapped, his eyes the shape of half-moons. "You weren't there when she needed you."

Something in Chanyeol's eyes sparked at D.O's words as the tension between the pair became tangible. Xiumin quickly interjected, "D.O-ah, you should let Chanyeol-ah be with Nami-ah tonight."

"Hyung?" D.O was disappointed by Xiumin's words.

Xiumin explained, "Both of you are tired but you, D.O-ah, need the most rest as you have your film rehearsal tomorrow." He glanced at his watch and saw that it was already four in the morning. "Scratch that, in less than five hours."

D.O looked down glumly. He knew Xiumin was right.

Xiumin gave Chanyeol a quick glance before steering D.O away. "Just take care of her, Chanyeol-ah" he mumbled, before ushering himself and D.O back to their rooms.

~*~

Chanyeol tip-toed inside Nami's room and sat down nearby the head of her bed. He saw that she had a peaceful expression as she slept. Gently, he brushed away the strands of hair that was strewn across her face as he whispered his apology to her. "I'm sorry, Nami-ah" he kept saying over and over as he continued to eye her. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

He observed her silently as if waiting for her to wake up and tell him that she accepted his apology. But to no avail. Instead, his eyes trailed down her haggard face as he noticed the bruises on her neck and the cut nearby her lip. A wave of guilt overwhelmed him as he thought about how she sustained those injuries.

It was my fault.

Chanyeol covered his eyes with his hands as he tried to fight back the negative emotions that threatened to break his composure. It was a mixture of anger, regret, grief and frustration. His body inevitably trembled as he tried to get a grip on himself.

"I'm so sorry" he murmured again.

Thoughts raced his mind as he tried to accept what had happened that evening. It was meant to be the best night of his life. He was supposed to tell her how he felt about her and it was meant to be the beginning of their mutual love for one another. It was meant to indicate the beginning of their relationship: their real relationship. But he had gone and ruined it by failing to be there when she needed him most.

You failed as her boyfriend.

D.O's words were like thorns around his chest: it stung him. And as much as he wanted to defend himself, to say that those words weren't true, he knew that at the end of the day, D.O was right-- he did fail as her boyfriend. 

He should have been there for her. And yet, he wasn't. Didn't he promise her last time that he would protect her? That, if anything like what happened before happened again, he would be there to save her?

Chanyeol gazed at Nami again with mournful eyes. With his hand, he took hold of hers and gently placed it next to his cheek as he told her, "I promise I'll cherish you more. I promise that I will take better care of you and that I won't fail you again." With his lips, he kissed her palm as he finally murmured what he had been meaning to tell her all along, "And that's because I love you, Nami-ah. I love you more than you know."

And, with a heavy heart, he hoped that Nami still felt the same way about him as he did for her.

~*~

Author's Note:

Hi reader. Thank you for reading chapter 40 of Our Little Dorm Mother.

I know that this story took a dark turn but I promise you that it will all make sense later on.

Don't worry, there will still be good times to come and I hope you will still continue reading this story to find out what happens next.

For now, I want to ask you, will Chanyeol and Nami's relationship survive? Will Nami forgive Chanyeol for failing her for the second time? Or will she have a change of heart?

Find out next time!