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THE ALLEY WAS DIMLY LIT, the only illumination coming from a flickering streetlamp nearby and the faint glow of the city behind them. The two teens stood back-to-back, their breaths sharp and shallow, as the three men closed in around them. The leader, a man with long, greasy hair tied back in a loose ponytail, cracked his knuckles with an ominous smirk.

"Wrong place, wrong time, wrong dojo..." he sneered, his voice low and gravelly.

Kwon stepped forward, his broad shoulders squaring, shielding y/n instinctively. "If you know what's good for you, you'll walk away," he growled, his voice like ice.

The man laughed, the sound dark and guttural. "Or what? You'll fight us? Three against... one and a half? Pathetic."

"Try me," y/n snapped, her radiant y/e/c eyes going cold.

But before the leader could respond, one of the goons lunged at her. She reacted on pure instinct, her body twisting as she sidestepped him, her knee driving hard into his ribs. The man let out a choked gasp, staggering back, but before she could follow up, another attacker swung at her.

Y/n ducked, the wild swing of the man's fist grazing the top of her head. She retaliated quickly, her elbow snapping upward to catch him under the chin. His head snapped back with a sickening crack, but the leader was already moving, pulling a crowbar from his jacket with a wicked grin.

Kwon saw the flash of metal and his blood ran cold. He surged forward, his fist connecting with the jaw of the man the y/h/c-haired girl had just hit. The attacker crumpled to the ground, groaning, but the leader wasn't deterred. He swung the crowbar in a wide arc, forcing Kwon to duck.

The sound of metal whistling through the air was terrifying.

Kwon came up from his crouch with a brutal snap kick, his foot colliding with the leader's jaw. The man staggered, spitting blood, but didn't drop the crowbar. Instead, he swung it again, this time aiming for the girl who was already engaged in a one-on-one.

"Y/N, MOVE!" Kwon shouted, his voice sharp and desperate.

But she didn't hear him in time. The crowbar connected with her cheek in a glancing blow, the force enough to send her sprawling to the ground. She cried out, her hand flying to her face as pain exploded across her cheekbone.

Kwon froze for half a second—a half second too long.

The sight of the girl on the ground, blood dripping from a thin gash on her face, did something to him. It was like a switch flipped, his mind going blank with a singular, all-consuming rage.

He let out a cry, the sound primal, and charged at the leader. The crowbar came down again, but this time Kwon was ready. He caught the man's wrist mid-swing, his grip like iron, and wrenched the weapon from his hand with a brutal twist.

The man barely had time to react before Kwon brought the crowbar down on his face with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed, the man's scream cutting off as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his face where a deep gash now marred his cheek.

Behind him, y/n was back on her feet as she swept the leg of the third man. 

Despite the blood trickling down her face, her eyes burned with fury. The second goon lunged at her again, but she was ready. Her fist connected with his nose in a sharp, precise jab, and the satisfying crunch of cartilage breaking followed.

"Not so tough now, are you?" she spat, delivering a swift kick to his knee that sent him collapsing with a howl.

The third attacker hesitated, his eyes darting between Kwon, who now held the crowbar like a weapon, and y/n, who looked ready to rip him apart with her bare hands.

"Get out of here," y/n snarled, her voice low and menacing as she knew exactly what Kwon was about to do. The man hesitated for a split second too long, and to no one's surprise, the raven haired boy didn't wait. He swung the crowbar at the man's side, the blow landing with a sickening thud. 

The man screamed, clutching his ribs as he stumbled back, collapsing.

The leader, still on the ground, groaned as he tried to sit up. Kwon loomed over him, the crowbar raised. For a moment, it seemed like he might strike again, but the girl's voice cut through the haze of his fury.

"Kwon- Stop!"

Her hand was on his arm, her grip firm despite the tremor in her fingers. He turned to her, his chest heaving, his eyes wild. For a moment, he didn't seem to recognize her. Then, slowly, the tension in his shoulders eased, and he let the crowbar drop to the ground with a metallic clang.

The faint wail of sirens reached them, growing louder with each passing second.

"Cops," y/n said, her voice tight. "We have to go. Now."

Kwon nodded, his jaw clenched. He grabbed her hand, his grip firm but not painful, and they took off running.

The sand was soft beneath their feet as they reached the beach, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore the only thing cutting through the pounding of their hearts. They stopped near the water, both of them bent over and gasping for air.

Y/n winced, her hand flying to her cheek as the adrenaline began to wear off and the pain set in.

"Let me see," Kwon said, his voice quieter now but no less urgent.

"It's fine," she muttered, brushing him off.

"Y/n, let me see," he repeated, stepping closer. The moonlight illuminated her face, the thin gash on her cheek glaringly obvious against her dewy y/s/c skin.

He reached out, his fingers brushing against her jaw as he tilted her face to get a better look. His hands were shaking, his breaths still uneven, but his touch was impossibly gentle.

Y/n frowned, confused by the sudden change in him. "Kwon, I'm fine," she said again, softer this time.

But he didn't respond. He couldn't. His throat felt tight, his chest heavy with an emotion he couldn't name. Seeing her hurt, seeing her blood—it was too much.

"That wasn't random," he said abruptly, his voice low but sharp, each word biting into the silence. "That was planned. They were waiting for us."

Y/n exhaled heavily, trying to calm the tremor in her hands. "It doesn't matter," she muttered, her voice edged with frustration.

Kwon spun to face her, his expression dark. "It does matter! Someone set us up, and we--"

"What are you going to do about it now, huh?" she snapped, cutting him off. "March back there and demand a rematch? We're safe, Kwon. That's all that matters right now."

The anger in her voice faltered, her words hanging in the air between them. Kwon stared at her, his chest still rising and falling with quick breaths, his jaw tight. She turned away, running a hand through her hair, and for a moment, it seemed the argument was over.

Then, as she shifted under the pale glow of the moon, Kwon saw it again—the developing puffiness around her cheek, the angry red slash where the crowbar had grazed her skin. The sight of it rooted him to the spot.

His breath caught, a wave of something primal and suffocating rising in his chest. The world seemed to tilt for a moment, his vision narrowing on that single mark. It wasn't deep—it hadn't even broken the skin enough to bleed much—but the thought of what could've happened, what almost did, made his stomach churn violently.

He moved without thinking, closing the distance between them.

Y/n flinched when his hands cupped her face again, without warning this time, his touch colder. "What..." she began, her voice uncertain, but the words died on her lips when she saw his expression.

Kwon's dark eyes were wide, almost unrecognizable in their raw intensity. He didn't speak, couldn't speak. The words were there, clawing at his throat, but nothing made it out. Instead, he simply stared at her, his thumb brushing lightly against the edge of the wound as if to confirm it was real.

Y/n frowned, her confusion growing. "I'll use raw meat," she scoffed, assuming his next words as he'd most likely play doctor again.

But Kwon still couldn't answer. His chest was too tight, his mind a storm of emotions he couldn't name, couldn't unravel. Guilt twisted sharply in his gut, mingling with an overwhelming wave of anger—not at her, not even at the men who'd attacked them, but at himself.

He should've been faster. Smarter. Stronger. He should've been more mindful of his surroundings, especially late at night in a foreign land...

But more than anything, more than the guilt or the anger, there was fear. A cold, suffocating fear that wrapped around his chest and squeezed until it felt like he couldn't breathe. The thought of of her getting hurt, of her blood on someone else's hands was unbearable.

Without warning, he pulled her into a fierce hug, his arms wrapping around her tightly, as though he could shield her from the world if he just held on hard enough.

Y/n froze, her body stiff against his. "Kwon?" she mumbled against his chest, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

He didn't answer, burying his face in her hair instead. The scent of her—sweat and faint traces of her perfume and, uh, shampoo? It grounded him, anchored him in a way nothing else could. His grip tightened, his body trembling slightly as he held her, silent and desperate.

"Kwon..." she tried again, her tone softening as she tentatively placed a hand on his back. "What's going on? You're scaring me."

He pulled back then, just enough to look at her. His hands came up to frame her face, his fingers trembling slightly as they ghosted over her skin. Under the moonlight, the scar on her cheek seemed more pronounced, a cruel reminder of how close they'd come to disaster.

His jaw worked, his lips parting as if he was about to speak, but no words came. How could he explain this? How could he make her understand the storm raging inside him when he couldn't even make sense of it himself?

Y/n's brows furrowed, her hand coming up to cover one of his. "Hey," she said softly, her voice steady despite the concern in her eyes. "It's okay. I'm okay."

But he shook his head, his expression twisting into something unreadable. It wasn't okay. None of this was okay. And the thought of her brushing it off, pretending it didn't matter, only made the ache in his chest worse.

"Kwon, talk to me," she urged, her fingers squeezing his hand.

He didn't. He couldn't. Instead, he leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers, his eyes slipping shut as he tried to steady his breathing. His heart was still racing, the phantom image of her crumpled on the ground flashing in his mind every time he blinked.

Y/n's hand moved to his shoulder, her touch hesitant but grounding. "Hey," she said softly. "I'm here."

It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Kwon opened his eyes, his gaze meeting hers, and for a moment, the world fell away. The fear, the guilt, the anger—it all faded, leaving only her.

And for the first time, he realized how fragile she was. How fragile they both were.

He exhaled shakily, his hands still cradling her face. The words he couldn't say lingered in his touch, in the way his thumbs brushed against her skin, in the way his eyes held hers as if trying to memorize every detail.

Under the glow of the moon, with the waves crashing softly in the background, Kwon realized something he couldn't bring himself to say: losing her wasn't an option.

Not now. Not ever.

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