I took breath after breath but still felt like I was choking. Raw terror constricted my lungs as I stumbled back, away from the men who planned to abduct me. They were focused on their injured companion on the ground and didn’t pay attention to me anymore—a mistake that I used it to my advantage. I staggered blindly through the darkness to escape them and had no clue where I was going. My heart beat frantically in my chest, and my eyes roamed around restlessly. I tried to get a glimpse of the ruthless attacker who had ambushed us. Who was he? And where was he? If I was unlucky, I might just run right into his arms.

I whimpered when a dark silhouette suddenly appeared next to me, my body going rigid as I braced myself for the worst. However, the person wasn’t who I had expected and gently squeezed my hand. The streetlamps flickered on and the light allowed me to finally see my surroundings. Baekhyun stood next to me, holding my hand and observing me with concern, his gaze darkening when he spotted the angry red marks on my face. I was immensely thankful to see him, my eyes feeling glossy.

“Baekhyun,” I sniffled.

“They won’t lay a hand on you again, Hyorin.” The husky tone of his voice sent shivers over my back. After getting a better look at him, I noticed a splatter of blood on his cheek. The red fluid was prominent on his milky skin and made me realize who was responsible for the gruesome injury of the man on the ground. My eyes widened in horror. What had Baekhyun done to him? It wasn’t like I felt sorry for the man, but I was shocked about the level of violence Baekhyun had resorted to.

The other three criminals had spotted us and pointed their guns in our direction, forcing Baekhyun to act fast. He took my wrist and pulled me behind the black car. We crouched and he captured my gaze, his serious blue eyes petrifying me.

“You stay here. No matter what happens, don’t come out until I tell you to, do you understand?” he hissed, his firm voice not condoning any objections.

“Please be careful,” I whispered. His lips curled into a confident smirk, but it vanished as soon as he got up to run around the car. At first, I stayed where I was, but when I heard a gunshot followed by a scream of pain, I flinched. I peered around the car, watching the scene in front of me. Baekhyun was fighting them head-on, three people at once. He kicked one in the stomach and followed up with a punch to his face that made his opponent fall over. The man collapsed, and Baekyhun hit him over the head to make him lose consciousness.

The other two men accepted that they wouldn’t stand a chance in a fistfight and relied on their guns, intending to shoot Baekhyun. My bodyguard saw them, but to my astonishment, he didn’t move. The streetlamps flickered, and once more, the parking lot was pitch-black. I couldn’t see them anymore and hoped this wouldn’t be a disadvantage for Baekhyun. I knew he was strong and capable, but if he couldn’t see his opponents, he would be in trouble. I cursed, staying close to the car as I squinted my eyes at the darkness. My heart was pounding in my chest because I was worried about him.

Two gunshots fell, and the silence that followed was frightening. Had they… hit their target? I anxiously strained my ears and could have sworn I picked up a noise, a low grunt. A thud reached my ears and I heard someone curse, their voice distorted in pain. It wasn’t Baekhyun. The light of the streetlamps came back, revealing Baekhyun evading a punch from his only opponent still standing. My brow creased in concern—Baekhyun’s movements were different from before. They looked hesitant and not even half as agile. Something was wrong with him, but I couldn’t tell what it was. He landed another hit, cracking the nose of his opponent who ultimately lost consciousness.

Baekhyun’s fists were covered with blood, but he didn’t take notice, staring down at his fallen opponent. I got up and ran to him, concerned for his well-being. “Baekhyun! Are you okay?” I asked frantically, coming to a halt behind him.

He didn’t seem to hear me at first, but then he turned around in slow motion. When I saw his face, I was shocked to see it was splattered with even more blood than before. His blue eyes were delirious; burning with fiery madness. My breath hitched when his gaze landed on me. I couldn’t move, held in place by his heavy stare. Confusion mixed with fear at his odd behavior, my knees feeling weak all of a sudden.

“B-Baekhyun?” I whispered uneasily, taking a step back. At the sound of my voice, recognition flickered through his eyes, the madness fading away. The peculiar glow in his irises disappeared with it, and they returned to their normal color. I was hypnotized, unable to explain the strange phenomenon.

He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a pained curse. He staggered in my direction and when he fell forward, I hastily jumped to catch him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, slowly letting him down, not knowing what had happened to him. We sunk to the ground where I sat in a kneeling position, holding his body up and leaning his back against my chest. His head rested close to my collarbones, face distorted in agony. He groaned.

“Baekhyun, where are you inju…” I trailed off when my eyes found the reason for his pain. On the side of his torso, red stained his hoodie, leaving no doubt he had been hit by a bullet. “Oh my God,” I gasped, tears welling up in my eyes. “I have to call an ambulance.” Already reaching for my phone in my pocket, I was surprised when his eyes shot open suddenly.

“No ambulance,” he rasped, coughing.

“But Baekhyun, this is serious! You need professional help,” I reasoned.

“I don’t want… to… g-go to a… hospital,” he forced out, giving me a desperate look that had me pause. He seemed distraught at the thought of going there, but I couldn’t let him lie here. He needed help now.

“Please, Hyorin,” he added when he saw me unlocking my phone, the bright screen illuminating my face. “I… I won’t die.”

“How do you know that?” I snapped, losing my patience with him. His body felt frighteningly cold as it rested against mine and it scared the hell out of me. I didn’t want to lose him because some random criminal had shot him!

“I heal fast,” he muttered. “No hospital.”

I stared at him in disbelief, not understanding why he was so stubborn about something completely normal. When you were heavily injured, hospitals were the first place to go to. With trembling fingers, I took the soaked fabric and pulled it up carefully, not wanting to hurt him by accident. Scarlet blood soiled his skin, and the sight made me nauseous. I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat and tried to keep myself together. As far as I could see, the bullet had only grazed his side, not hurting his organs. It was a relief, but he could still die from blood loss if this wasn’t treated.

I gritted my teeth, looking at my smartphone and typing the emergency number, but hesitating to call. Baekhyun’s blood-coated hand weakly touched my wrist in an attempt to stop me. I met his distraught gaze, shocked when I saw the desperation in it grow. I had never seen this emotion on him, the sight tearing at my heart. The mere thought of going to a hospital seemed to scare him to the core, but I didn’t understand why. Doctors and hospitals existed so that people could be saved—nobody would do anything to him, yet here he was, pleading with me as if I wanted to lead him to the slaughter.

“Don’t do it, please,” he whispered.

“Damn it, Baekhyun,” I cursed, holding back a sob. My eyes were wet with tears. I was so scared for him, scared to lose him. “What do you expect me to do, then?”

“Just… just get me home,” he mumbled, his eyes closing.

“Not when you’re bleeding so much. I have to do something about it first,” I breathed, worriedly observing him. He nodded, relieved I gave up on calling the ambulance. “I’m getting the first aid kit from the car.”

Carefully, I let him down, laying him on the ground. He frowned, his lips twitching when he was hit by another wave of pain. I got up hastily and sprinted to our car. Ripping open the trunk, I grabbed the small box and ran back to Baekhyun. My knees almost gave out when I finally reached him and sat down.

“Stay awake,” I said strictly, touching his cheek with my hand, not caring about the blood which now stained my fingers. His eyes opened and focused on me, but it was apparent he was fighting to stay conscious.

I smiled tensely at him, opened the first aid kit, and cleaned off the blood around the graze wound. It was a lot, and seeing it worried me further. I cleaned it until I could properly see the injury. The blood was clotting already, which surprised me. This wasn’t normal. Although the bullet had only grazed him, the wound was nasty—it should take longer for the healing process to start. Frowning in confusion, I prepared an antiseptic and carefully applied it to the injury. He tensed and cursed under his breath, prompting me to take his hand to calm him down. He squeezed tightly and didn’t let go for a while until I had to fetch the gauze bandage.

“Do you think you can sit up? I’ll help you.” I put my arm around his back and supported him as I pulled him into a sitting position. He breathed out sharply, closing his eyes. My heart clenched seeing him suffer and I bit my lip when tears pricked at my eyes.

“Please hold out,” I whispered nervously while I wrapped his stomach. Lastly, I put a knot on the ends to make sure the bandage would hold until we were home. I let his hoodie fall over it, staring at the big red stain for a long moment. It was ripped where the bullet had pierced the fabric and I realized how close it had come to hitting his stomach. That would not have ended well. He must have tried to evade the bullet at the very last possible moment.

“Let’s go before they wake up—or before the police arrives and asks questions. Someone must have noticed the gunshots just now,” I said, eyeing the unconscious men nervously. Baekhyun might get in trouble for the excessive level of violence he had used against them…

“They… they won’t get up… any time… s-soon,” he rasped, the ghost of a smirk appearing on his pale lips despite the pain he was in. “I might have snapped… a few bones." I grimaced, not wanting to think about what exactly he had done to them. He’d fought like a devil earlier, using the darkness to his advantage—it had been disturbing to watch. I shuddered just thinking about it.

I reached a hand out to him and he wrapped his fingers around my wrist so I could pull him up. He swayed, but I was next to him instantly, supporting him so he could lean some of his weight on me. We walked to the car with slow steps. I helped him sit in the passenger seat and took the driver's seat. By the time I started the engine, he was breathing shallowly, gritting his teeth. His complexion had turned ashen, and the blood on his face paired with the white hair made him look like a demon.

“Can you hold out for a bit longer? If you really don’t want to go see a doctor… well…” I said concernedly. We had painkillers at home… not that they would help if he got blood poisoning or something equally dangerous.

“I’m okay,” he muttered, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. It was the last thing he said before falling silent for the duration of the drive.

It was late and the streets were relatively empty, allowing us to reach the mansion without running into problems. I parked the car in the garage. Unfortunately, my uncle was home since his car was he