daybreak || minsung

Chapter 5

I opened my eyes. Jisung Han was in front of me, his gorgeous face very close to mine. He was kneeling over my outstretched legs, his hands framing either side of my head, positioning himself protectively over me, like armour.

His body didn't give an inch when the van slammed into his back.

I heard the groan of metal from the massive vehicle, and my truck shudder behind me. The windows of the van shattered, and a brief shriek escaped my lips.

It was a dead silent second before the mayhem started. I heard several people scream Tyler Crowley's name, scream my name. One person yelled for someone else to call 911. The van's alarm started blaring.

All I could do was stare at him, eyes wide with shock. I exhaled sharply when I realized I'd been holding my breath.

Then he spoke in a warm, calming voice. "Are you all right?"

I was speechless, and the world spun and drooped around me. I thought I was falling over, and I instinctively reached out and held his arm to steady myself.

He was freezing — like his flesh was carved from ice. My eyebrows must have shot down.

He took his arm away immediately, lifting his leg over mine and backing up a few feet. I watched him, and then cringed when I felt a throbbing pain pound on the back of my skull.

"Be careful," he said in reaction to my grimace. His hands raised for a moment, as if to comfort me, but he pulled them away quickly. "I think your head bumped into the metal." He looked guilty, as if he was the cause of it.

"I... I what?" I mumbled. "You... how...? I don't... what?"

"Take it easy." Who the hell said 'take it easy' anymore? "You look dizzy."

"Yeah, I'm dizzy — I was almost crushed by a van." Shock made me short with people. "Are you gonna explain how you did that?"

"Did what?"

"Saved me."

He flinched a little, and his eyes narrowed. "I'm... not sure what you're talking about."

I opened my mouth, and all that came out was a wheeze. "What? What the hell — the van literally crashed into your back."

He shook his head. "That's impossible."

I gawked at him. The image of the metal curving around him, a perfect cutout of his shoulders, was fresh in my mind. But when I looked back to the van, the dent wasn't there. It was smooth again, like nothing had happened to it.

Then I realized where I was. I was sitting in the hollow between my truck and the car next to it, instead of crouching in front of the tailgate where I'd been looking at my tires.

"Why — why am I over here? I was at the back of my truck."

"You were between the cars."

"And you stopped the van."

"That's not possible."

"And how'd you get over here so fast?"

"I was right next to you."

"You liar—"

"Minho," he interrupted, but his voice was soft — pleading, almost. "Not here. Nobody can know."

All I could do was blink.

Then they found us. Coach Clapp and Ms. Cope knelt down and pawed at me wherever they thought I should be injured. They told me an ambulance was coming, asked if I was okay — but I just kept staring at Jisung. He had been on the other side of the parking lot, and then he was suddenly saving me from certain death like a goddamn vigilante superhero...