Taemin watched Kyuhyun from his chair. The older male had been acting weird the last few days and he couldn't put a finger on why. Kyuhyun was never one to talk much, but the last few months they had spent together, they had gotten close.

Kyuhyun was in college, working as a part time for the high school to earn a little extra cash and a credit or two in school. Taemin was flunking math, the last period of the day. The younger boy always skipped because his dance club was right after it and he wanted more time to practice each day.

The school had finally had enough and appointed him a tutor. The first day Taemin and Kyuhyun had met they started off on the wrong foot. Kyuhyun had given the dancer a test, to see what he was having problems with. When Taemin aced it, Kyuhyun had asked why he was flunking if he knew it all. When Taemin told him the reason, Kyuhyun immediately scolded him. Taemin didn't like to be scolded, so he stubbornly argued with Kyuhyun that he would continue to skip class because dancing was more important.

Taemin smiled to himself, remembering the fight, he knew he acted like a spoiled brat. His mind then flashed to their fourth tutor session when Kyuhyun asked him to dance for him. Saying if it was such a passion of his, then Kyuhyun wanted to see if he was any good. Taemin had heard, mostly from the girls in school, that Kyuhyun had an amazing voice, but never heard anything about the older male dancing.

Taemin wasn't going to argue though. Any chance to dance, Taemin would do it. Taemin quickly put on his favorite song and began to sway with the beat. Kyuhyun had sat silent and expressionless as he watched the young dancer. Taemin couldn't tell if Kyuhyun liked it or not, but he kept going. He could keep dancing if no one stopped him.

Their two hour long tutor sessions were split in half after that day. The deal was if Taemin started going to math class, Kyuhyun would give him an hour of their time to work on his dancing. Kyuhyun admitted to not being able to dance well, but he felt he might be able to help in the long run.

As more sessions past, Kyuhyun would sometimes sing to the song's Taemin choose to dance too, fewer times, the older male actually danced a bit with the younger boy. Taemin liked those times. Being able to dance with someone he saw as a friend. Most of the kids in his dance club didn't hang out with him in school or after. He was always alone. Taemin, figured that's why he and Kyuhyun, besides the first meeting, hit it off well. They understood each other to a certain degree.

Taemin would try his best to teach Kyuhyun a few moves, going from student to tutor himself. Sometimes their tutor sessions would last for hours. When Taemin had asked Kyuhyun if it was too inconvenient for him since he wasn't getting paid for more than two hours, Kyuhyun had given him a little smile and ruffled his hair. That was the first time Kyuhyun touched Taemin. It had made Taemin pout being petted like a dog, but he was also happy. They were finally moving from tutor and student to friends.

Taemin wasn't sure if Kyuhyun had many friends growing up. He shut himself off to the world and didn't seem interested in anything but school and singing. The two never hung out anywhere else but Taemin's room. That was fine with Taemin though, Kyuhyun was opening up to him and he felt himself starting to trust in the older male.

Taemin chewed on the easer part of his pencil, Kyuhyun was grading his last test score, but it was taking him a long time. His phone kept going off and to the shock of Taemin, he would answer it. Taemin wondered if maybe Kyuhyun had gotten a girlfriend. The two never talked about that kind of thing, neither seeming interested in relationships.

Taemin felt a warm breeze creep into his room from the window and closed his eyes, his mind flashing back again to about a month ago. It had just started to get warm the day Kyuhyun had actually showed up at Taemin's school. Taemin almost laughed, remembering all the girls crowded around the windows pointing toward the front gates of the school. When Taemin finally had gotten outside, he saw Kyuhyun leaning back against one of the pillars at the front gate, his iPod in hand and earphones in.

Taemin had snuck up beside Kyuhyun and flicked him in the side of the head. Kyuhyun had jumped and quickly pulled his earphones out, smiling at Taemin. Yes, he flashed a full smile to Taemin, making the younger boy only stare at him. Kyuhyun had explained to him that he had gotten out of class early and decided to walk Taemin home. Taemin felt himself blush slightly and smile, bowing at the older boy for the consideration. As they fell in step next to each other, Kyuhyun actually was starting a small conversation, asking him how his day was and if anything interesting happened. Taemin talked back, maybe a little too excited, but Kyuhyun only smiled at the boy.

When they had neared the park close to Taemin's place, Kyuhyun stopped him and asked him if he wanted to have a small picnic in the park. His mother had gone crazy with making him a huge lunch and he wasn't able to eat any of it that day because of his class schedules. Taemin bounced where a stood, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He quickly agreed and they found a nice spot to sit and eat Kyuhyun's food. Kyuhyun more picked at it, while Taemin stuffed his face. When Taemin finally realized he had mostly ate Kyuhyun's lunch he was very mortified, blushing a deep red and bowing low at Kyuhyun apologizing. Kyuhyun only laughed at him and told him it was okay, that next time Taemin could bring the food.

The next time had been a few days later. Kyuhyun had waited for Taemin at the front gates again, this time a blanket in hand. Taemin had seen Kyuhyun from his class window; he had been almost staring out the window those few days, hoping with each figure walking by that it would be Kyuhyun. Taemin couldn't hide his excitement when the last bell finally rang and he ran from the room, almost knocking a few girls over. He bowed at them quickly, and then continued on his way, yelling apologies throughout the halls if he bumped into anyone.

Kyuhyun scolded Taemin when he saw him tearing out of the school toward him. He ruffled the boy's hair again, showing he was only giving him a hard time, as they made their way to Taemin's now favorite park. Kyuhyun laid the blanket on the ground and watched as Taemin kept pulling different containers out of his book bag. Kyuhyun had looked in the bag when Taemin was finally done and saw it was empty. Taemin explained that he had done all of his homework in his classes that day, and the three days before hand, so that he had more time to hang out with Kyuhyun.

A different type of smile had come across Kyuhyun's face then. Taemin couldn't be certain but it looked more genuine then the dancer had ever seen the singer smile. He wondered if anyone had ever done anything nice for Kyuhyun before. It was also the day Taemin started to call Kyuhyun, Kyu. Kyuhyun wasn't big on calling others by their nicknames, but when Taemin asked if he could call him that, the singer said it was fine, ruffling the boy's hair again.

Taemin felt that day, was the day their friendship had grown more. They often spent their time together at the park, Kyu bringing his iPod and speakers so Taemin could dance and Taemin always bringing to much food, which he would end up eating in the end.

But now, and the past few weeks, Kyuhyun became somewhat distant again; and always looking at that damn phone. Taemin wasn't one to get annoyed with things easily, but when he was with Kyu, there usually weren't other distractions. Kyuhyun normally turned his phone off and made Taemin do the same.

Taemin looked at his pencil, just now realizing he was chewing on it. The easer was gone and he sighed heavily, setting it down on the desk. Kyuhyun was on the last page of his test paper, his eyes looking zoned.

"Kyu," Taemin said, as hit the man's chair with the ball of his foot.

Kyuhyun started a bit, snapping his head toward Taemin, resting against the back of the chair. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and yawned.

"What's wrong?" Taemin asked, Kyuhyun had been yawning a lot the past few days. Taemin always thought it was school, but now he wasn't so sure.

"It's nothing," Kyuhyun said, turning his attention back to the paper.

"Oh, come on," Taemin placed a hang on Kyuhyun's shoulder. "It's me. If there is something wrong, you know you can talk to me about it."

"It's… complicated," Kyuhyun let out a slow sigh as he said the last work. "You wouldn't understand."

"I'm worried about you," Taemin said, sadness flooding his voice. Why didn't his close friend want to talk to him? Was he mad at Taemin for something or did Kyu just think Taemin was too young to get it?

"Well, stop being worried 'cause I'm fine," Kyuhyun almost snapped at Taemin.

Taemin withdrew his hand from Kyuhyun's shoulder. Kyuhyun had never used that tone of voice with the younger before and he really didn't like it. It hurt a bit.

"I'm sorry," Kyuhyun sighed, when he saw the hurt expression play across Taemin's face. "I'm just stressed and I guess I'm taking it out on you."

"Don't take it out on me," Taemin started, putting his arm around Kyuhyun's shoulders. "Tell me about it. I might not get it, but at least you will have someone to talk too. I will try my best to help."

"Have you had a relationship before?" Kyuhyun asked.

The question threw Taemin of guard and he stared at Kyuhyun. He shook his head no, trying to figure out where Kyuhyun was going to go with this.

"Then you wouldn't understand what I'm going through," Kyuhyun stated, his tone trying to be gentle. Even though Kyuhyun was for the most part, not a mean person, he had a tendency to sound mean.

"Are you fighting with your girlfriend?" Taemin asked, feeling a bit of anger forming in his stomach. Whoever Kyuhyun was with shouldn't be fighting with him.

"No," Kyuhyun almost laughed at the question. "Have you ever had someone hurt you really badly, and then come crying back for forgiveness, but what they did to you, you just can't forget?"

"Who hurt you?" Taemin asked, anger filling his words. He scanned Kyuhyun's face and arms to see if there were any marks on him. "How did they hurt you?"

"Never mind about it," Kyuhyun smiled and placed a hand on Taemin's head.

Taemin looked into Kyuhyun's eyes and threw his arms around the older boy's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. Even though Kyuhyun was smiling, his eyes looked sad. Taemin wished the boy would open up to him, but he excepted that Kyuhyun probably wouldn't

Kyuhyun stiffened from the initial contact, but relaxed and put an arm around Taemin's shoulders. He reassured the dancer that he was fine, and that their next session he would be back to normal.

But there wasn't a next session. Kyuhyun had called while Taemin was at school, leaving a voicemail on his phone, telling him that something came up and they couldn't meet that day. Kyuhyun never missed one of their sessions before, he never missed anything that was already planned out.

Taemin had a bad feeling forming in his gut and for the first time in his life, he left school on his lunch break, skipping the rest of his classes, and dance practice. He ran to the college Kyuhyun attended. He wasn't sure how big the campus was, but he was determined to find his friend.

Once he got to the school, he frantically looked around for a sign for the main office. Once he spotted it, he tore off in that direction, luckily no one was run over on his rampage. He was out of breath when he reached the front desk. Gasping as he tried to ask the lady behind the desk, if she could tell him where Kyuhyun was. He told her Kyu was tutoring him and he really needed to see him. She nodded and picked up her phone, dialing a few numbers.

Taemin chewed the inside of his mouth; it seemed to take the woman forever to hang up. She told him, he had left his afternoon class early, stating he didn't feel well and needed to go to the nurse's office. She pointed Taemin in the right direction and shook her head when he tore off down the hall again.

He skidded to a stop, having to grab the door to stop his momentum, in front of the nurse's office. He walked in slowly, not wanting to hit anyone that would be in there. The three beds that were lined up on the wall were empty. A male nurse sat at a small desk, filling out some papers.

"Is Kyuhyun here?" Taemin asked as he hurried over to the nurse.

"No, he hasn't been here in a few days," the nurse stated, confusing rolling across his face.

Taemin didn't stay to explain the situation, as he took off down the hall. He had to find someone that knew where Kyuhyun was. Everyone knew Kyuhyun; somebody had to have seen him leave.

Taemin rounded a corner and saw a group of girls sitting in a lobby area. Taemin b-lined it to them, startling all of them when he seemed to magically appear beside them.

"Do you know Cho Kyuhyun?" Taemin asked, gasping for breath again.

"Yes," one girl with long blonde hair stated.

"Have you seen him today?" Taemin asked, sending all of his attention on her.

"Yeah actually," she said, looking confused. "I saw him leave with three other guys. They said something about going to the fish market. I don't know why, but Kyuhyun didn't seem happy, but he still went. He never misses class."

Taemin only heard her say fish market and with a quick bow of thanks, he took off again. Taemin legs started to burn as he made his way down to the market. It took him fifteen minutes to get there from the school, while running. He had been running since he had gotten Kyuhyun's message. He would ask his parents for a bike for his birthday this year, he could find Kyuhyun faster with one that's for sure.

It seemed to take him forever to find Kyuhyun, even though the market wasn't very big. Kyuhyun and the other three guys with him had gone down a back alley way, away from the hustle and bustle of people. Taemin hide behind a big dumpster as he tried to listen in on the conversation they were having.

He wasn't able to hear much, but he could tell from Kyuhyun's body language that he was being a smart ass. Even though there were three guys in front of him, it only looked like Kyuhyun was talking to one of them. A few times the man tried to place a hand on Kyuhyun's cheek, which the singer would either twitch away, or push the hand away from him.

The talking formed into an argument. The other man was yelling now, Taemin heard his name, which seemed to upset Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun placed his hands on the other man's chest and pushed him away. Taemin heard Kyuhyun shout that he would never go back with him, not after what he did and to leave him and his friends alone.

That was when the blow came. The man punched Kyuhyun across the face hard, making the singer stagger back and fall to the ground. Kyuhyun put a hand over his cheek. Taemin wanted to run out and do something, but he wasn't sure what he could do. He was a dancer, not a fighter. He knew he didn't have any muscle on him. He would only get in the way.

The man smiled down at Kyuhyun, then lifted his right hand and motioned for the other two males to come forward. Taemin chewed on his lip, torn between what he should. He wasn't sure what would make the situation worse or help.

Taemin had to turn his eyes away a few times, when the other two men start to kick and punch Kyuhyun. Taemin was finally able to look back when he heard the commotion stop. His heart broke seeing Kyuhyun on his side. Kyuhyun's face was laying in his direction. He could see the singer had a split lip, a slit cheek and a split eyebrow. But what Taemin was more shocked to see was a silver metal bat in one of the hands of the attackers.

Kyuhyun slowly sat up on his knees and looked up at the man he had been talking to. That's what Taemin heard something that made his blood run cold.

"If I can't have you, no one will."

Taemin launched himself from his hiding spot, his legs carrying him to Kyuhyun. Taemin wasn't sure if he would get there in time as the saw that back being pulled back. Taemin flung his arms around Kyuhyun's head, trying to shield the man, right as he felt someone hard, hit him in his left hip.

Pain shot through his side, the rippled through out his entire body. It felt like all of his bones had broken at once. He felt himself falling, his legs unable to keep him up as he hit the ground hard, and darkness flooded him.

Kyuhyun ended the call after leaving Taemin a message. He didn't want to miss his tutor sessions with the boy, he finally had a friend; someone who cared about him and was genuine about it. He hated himself for bailing on Taemin.

Kyuhyun flipped to his text message screen and read the only one in there again. It said that HE was outside, waiting for Kyuhyun and that HE needed to talk to him.

Kyuhyun sighed and put his phone in his pocket, gathering his things before he walked up to the teacher's desk. Kyuhyun asked to go to the nurse's station, stating he thought he was coming down with something and needed to rest. The teacher nodded, used to Kyuhyun having to go.

It's not that Kyuhyun had anything deathly wrong with him, he just had a bad immune system and was always getting something. However, he truly was fine. He just knew that if he didn't go meet up with HIM, it would be worse later on.

Kyuhyun took the stairs at the end of the hallway, by passing the nurse's floor, and walked out to the lobby where he saw HIM, and two of his henchmen. The guys were flirting with the girls, giving them compliments and smiling at them. Kyuhyun felt disgusted that he ever dated him in the first place.

"What do you want?" Kyuhyun stated dryly as he got closer to the group.

"There you are Kyuhyunnie," Hangeng said happily and went to hug the taller male.

Kyuhyun took a step back and held a hand up to not let Hangeng get any closer.

"What do you want?" Kyuhyun asked again, annoyed that he even had to ask again.

"I think we need to talk," Hangeng said, looking mad at Kyuhyun's reaction. "Let's go to the fish market."

"Lead the way then," Kyuhyun said. He really didn't want to go with them, he wanted to finish his day at school and then see Taemin. Taemin was the only light he really had these days. Not after Hangeng.

Kyuhyun always stayed a few steps behind the three men as he followed them down the winding streets toward the market. He didn't know what Hangeng needed to talk to him about there, but he learned from his time with the man that if you didn't go along with what he wanted, bad things usually happened.

Hangeng and his henchmen led Kyuhyun to a back alley, away from the crowd of people. Kyuhyun stopped short when the other three came to a halt and turned around to face him.

"I understand that things went south between us," Hangeng started, flashing Kyuhyun his signature smile. That smile had worked on him before. "I want to try and work things out with you."

"So I'm just supposed to forget how you let your rival gang beat the shit out of me?" Kyuhyun almost spat the question out, rage starting to build up within him.

"Please, Kyuhyun," Hangeng snorted. "You're not that much of a bad ass to have that kind of attitude. I had to make it seem like I didn't have any feelings for you, but you should know that I still love you."

"Oh, right," Kyuhyun said almost laughing. "You never came to make sure I was alright, nor did you return phone calls or texts. It's been almost a year and you haven't spoken to me once. The out of the blue a week or so ago, you contact me and expect me to run back to you. I think not."

"Now you sound like a chick," Hangeng said rolling how eyes.

"And you are an asshole," Kyuhyun smirked.

"I'm gonna let that one slid since I understand that you are still angry," Hangeng said, sending a dangerous stares Kyuhyun's way.

"I've already had the shit kicked out of me before," Kyuhyun glared at him. "By a group of guys that could probably take down your whole gang easily. I doubt there is anything else that you could do to me that would hurt anymore."

"I know a way to hurt you," Hangeng shouted, as he glared at Kyuhyun. "You little high school friend. What's his name….Taemin I think? I've seen you two at the park a few times. He's cute. Are you getting any action with him?"

"Fuck you," Kyuhyun shouted. "You stay away from him. He has nothing to do with this you bastard. I'll kill you myself if you hurt him."

Hangeng took a few steps closer to Kyuhyun and without warning, punched him hard across the face. Kyuhyun staggered a bit then fell on down, his butt hitting the ground.

"I will do whatever the hell I please," Hangeng spat the words at Kyuhyun, as he lifted his hand and motioned the other two over.

Kyuhyun tried to get up, but felt a swift kick hit him in the stomach, making him drop to his side gasping for breath. A hand grabbed a fist full of his dark locks, pulling his face up as another hard punch was thrown. Kyuhyun fell to the ground again, as the two closed in, kicking at him. He felt each blow as it contacted with his body. His mind flashed back to the night Hangeng had let the rival thugs beat him. Their beating was far worse than this, but he knew his body couldn't take much more of it.

Just when he thought the beating wasn't going to end, the two men pulled away as Hangeng took a few steps forward. Kyuhyun didn't want to look week in front of him so he slowly pushed himself up onto his knees and looked up at his ex-lover.

"If I can't have you, no one will."

Kyuhyun's heart dropped as he saw one of the guys walking back toward him with a silver metal bat in his hands. So this is how he was going to die. He closed his eyes, tears starting to form as he apologized in his head to Taemin for leaving him and not being able to say goodbye. He sent a quick prayer to the heavens, asking them to watch over Taemin and not let him suffer too much.

Kyuhyun felt arms fling around his head, his forehead pressed against someone's stomach. Kyuhyun snapped his eyes opened just in time to see Taemin fall to the ground. He hadn't heard the bat contact with the boy, but he knew right away what had happened. His eyes followed Taemin until he was on the ground, where a lay motionless.

Kyuhyun watched him, waited for any sign that he was okay. One of Hangeng's henchmen swore and back peddled. Obviously not happy about what happened.

"Oh, who cares about the kid," Hangeng said. "Kill them both."

That was when Kyuhyun saw red. It was one thing to hurt him and try to kill him, it was another to hurt his Taemin. Kyuhyun stood, locking his gaze onto the guy with the bat. The kid didn't seem to know what to do. They hadn't expected for Kyuhyun to get up after the beating.

In a flash, Kyuhyun was in front of the boy, grabbing the bat with one hand and punching the kid in the nose with his other. The kid let go of the bat as his nose started to gush blood. He threw his hands over his nose as Kyuhyun set his gaze on Hangeng.

"Oh, look who grew a spine," Hangeng laughed, egging on Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun had never fought a day in his life. His charm usually got him out of most things, but the beating he took a year ago changed him a bit. He knew what things he would fight for and what things he wouldn't. Taemin was one of those things he would fight for.

Kyuhyun threw himself at Hangeng, hitting him in the shoulder with the bat. Hangeng cried out trying to back pedal away from Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun was quicker than the older remembered as the singer stayed right with him, whacking Hangeng across the ribs hard. There was a slight cracking noise and smiled, knowing that sound of broken bones. Hangeng landed in a heap on the ground, coughing and holding his stomach.

The other boy ran at Kyuhyun, trying to surprise him, but Kyuhyun had already turned his way. It didn't take long for Kyuhyun to find an opening and smack the kid across the back of his head with the bat.

Kyuhyun surveyed the scene around him. When he was satisfied that they wouldn't get up anytime soon, he walked over to Hangeng and stared down at him.

"Never come near me or Taemin ever again," Kyuhyun threatened in a deep voice. "I won't hesitate to kill you next time."

Kyuhyun threw the bat a few yards away from the bodies. He rushed as quickly as he could to Taemin's side. Kyuhyun dropped to his knees in front of the fallen boy. Taemin was still breathing, but was unconscious.

As gently as he could, Kyuhyun slid his arms under the boy's body and slowly got to his feet. Taemin didn't weight much, but Kyuhyun was now starting to feel the effects from his injuries. He hoped he didn't hurt Taemin further, but he had to get him to the hospital.

Taemin's head lay limp on Kyuhyun's shoulder. The older male looked down at the dancer, guilt ripping through him. Kyuhyun turned slightly to look at the three males on the ground, and then turned away, not caring if they were dead or alive, and rushed as fast as he could to the hospital.