A/N: I was away on holiday for a bit in a no-internet place so I'm very sorry for the late update. And thanks to the readers who haven't unsubscribed because of this. Have a great summer! (:

A Knight at Night

[Sehun's POV]

There was a strict rule concerning vehicles: you always had to check in the registration number of the cars before taking them anywhere, no matter what the situation, even if there were a nuclear explosion to escape from. Even if a victim was in potential danger..

But I had no time for that bull.

Before I knew it, I had snatched the abandoned keys to an SUV off the receptionist's desk while his attention was diverted to an important phone call and raced off to find it amongst the rest of the fifty-or-so cars.

It was dusty and slow, this old SUV. But I had no time to complain because there was a girl in danger!

The engine revved for a few long seconds before it came to life, and the headlights began to glow and glare at the thorny bushes it faced. I reversed the car and felt the area above my shoulder for the seat belt; then buckled it into place.

"1.35 minutes" I said monotonously after calculating the time it would take to get to the mansion, provided I got the distance right. Eun Mi's best friend's house was only about a quarter of a mile away from Security Tower 4, and with no time to waste, I hit the accelerator to gain speed.

All the while I chased the night and sped off, Suho's words repeated in my head again and again like the chorus of a song.

You know you can't start the official bodyguard work until you've reached eighteen.

I wasn't to be eighteen in at least two months..

But I'll show him!

I'll prove to them all what an excellent protector I can be!

It wasn't long before I reached the empty road leading to Haewon's house, and now I could see what the stubborn rich family they really were. The house was huge!

Thick black puffs of smoke sneaked out from one side of the roof. I stared at the shocking scene in horror, not wanting to imagine the possible fires that could have started on this side of the house.

I noticed one thing, however. It was quiet.

Dead quiet.

Shouldn't there be around a hundred fire alarms setting off by now??

I jumped out of the car and left the door wide open as I ran towards the mansion, eyes darting for all the quickest ways to break into the house.

No doubt I was heading for big trouble but that didn't bother me, just like a lot of things didn't.

I, Oh Sehun, am a bodyguard. And nothing can stop me now..

There were lives to save.

[Eun Mi's POV]

 I've never been so scared in my life.

Sure, there were meddling street youths and stalkers from time to time, but this was 100% worse.

I hate fires. They are your biggest, scariest nightmare and unlike bad dreams which can be forgotten and erased, fires can't. The damage will stick forever.

"Haewon, I think we should go the other way" I suggested and slightly pulled the rim of my pyjama shirt over my nose and mouth, nodding to her to do the same. "The smoke here is getting worse."

"But this is the closest way out" She cutely pointed to the direction of a burnt-black doorway. I don't know how she thinks we'll escape outside any safer, but I am NOT risking my life by walking straight to the fire itself.

We exchanged a look of panic as our bodies were beginning to warm up from the intense growing heat around us.

"Yes, but not any more it isn't!"

I grabbed her hand again and pulled her away from the source of flames. This was a seven-floored mansion with perhaps a thousand different exits and hidden ways out, but I couldn't find a single one in this darkness.

Except for the glow of the moon which blinked at us as we ran passed many of the large windows, there were no other light. The fire would have already tampered with the switches we left behind us and we had no time to stop and turn one on.

"Eun Mi!" My best friend screamed over the crackling of flames which were catching up behind. I don't even want to think how she wanted us to walk in through that door earlier. "Maybe we can jump out of a window!"

"We're six floors above ground level" I reminded her of her own house layout. Her palms were sweaty but icy cold in mine, yet I didn't let go of her. "The fire might not kill us.. but the fall obviously will!"

"Then what else should we do?! I don't wanna die like this!" Haewon panicked with a high-pitched scream, making my stomach twist and turn inside.

"I'm too young to die!!"

I didn't reply as I feared this just the same.

What happens if we're stuck inside with every possible exit burning in flames..? We'll be trapped in this box of fire which would eventually start to close in on us.

Okay okay. Don't panic, I told myself. Think.

What is the first thing you should do in an event of a fire?

Uh... Smash the glass and hit the alarms like crazy, of course!

My eyes darted all around in hopes of finding an alarm trigger. "I see one!" Haewon happened to know what I was thinking and hurried to a small box of red and glass drilled in the middle of a wall.

I followed after her, but then she suddenly stopped.

There seemed to be a problem.

And it was the last thing I could have wished for.

The fire alarm was smashed beforehand and the glass cover was hanging loosely off the box like the broken hinges of a door, as if it had already been activated.. Some of the glass laid brittle and sharp on the floor. Bits of black and green wire spiralled out of the alarm, its ends looking like it had been purposely cut.

Oh... .

I stared horrifyingly at Haewon as she stared in terror back at me. Tears were b in my eyes and I wasn't sure whether it was the smoke or this moment of what felt like betrayal.

Things were starting to get blurry – not that I could have seen that well in the pitch-blackness, in the first place.

I was so freakin scared and I wasn't afraid to admit it.

I might even cry; there weren’t even a fire extinguisher around to equip ourselves with. We were essentially dead.

"Yah! Eun Mi, don't cry!!"  

My best friend in the whole wide world shook my shoulders while tears fell down her own cheeks as well. I never knew I was crying too until she wiped away streams of salty damp teardrops from my face with the long sleeves of her nightgown.

We were shaking despite the hellish heat.

Maybe the window was the only way out.

But, to our misfortune and bad luck yet again, there was nothing big and heavy enough to smash the whole glass frame away.

I was so angry with myself for being unable to do anything and crying like a baby, that I think I might even throw myself at the window.

All we could hopelessly do now is crouch below the field of smoke and hope we're going in the right way.

I just wished that all this was a crazy hectic dream and I would wake up on the floor again in Haewon's probably-burnt-to-ashes bedroom and have breakfast in the morning as usual and leave to meet my father before the voting election ceremony starts....

Then the real nightmare kicked in.

The limited air in my lungs suddenly felt it was completely forced out; I was finding it more and more difficult to breathe. Any minute now and I would pass out..

How could I forget? I'm asthmatic!

My eyes were stinging while I rubbed them with dirty hands and now my vision was completely gone.

Coughs and chokes left my burning throat, and I'm pretty sure I lost Haewon entirely in the thick black smoke which was beginning to devour me. The incoming fire would soon do too.

Why am I so stupid? Why did I leave my inhaler? How could we survive and what was wrong with the bloody alarm systems?? Why did this all happen, anyway..?

I choked with what I thought was the last of my breaths, body collapsing to the ground.

"Eun Mi!"

I may or may not have heard the mental echoes of my name in my blurred mind.

Who would call a dead girl's name, anyway?

Strange thing was, it wasn't the voice of a girl.

Not my best friend, Haewon..

....But a boy.

A/N: Again, sorry for the late update and super-rushed chapter! I know things were going too fast but I hope you enjoyed reading anyway. XD Feel free to subscribe and comment! =^-^=