"Hi, pretty girl! How was your day?" Ryujin asked as you walked through the front door. "I'm making dinner! I thought I'd try and make us a romantic meal to share today."

"That's cool, thanks." You quickly replied as you hurried to the stairs.

Ryujin knew something was wrong.

You hadn't answered her question.

You hadn't come over to give her a kiss, which is the first thing you always do when you get home and she's already there.

You were rushing to go upstairs as if you were hiding something.

And with all that said, Ryujin just felt in her heart that something wasn't right.

She turned off the stove and dropped the knife she was using to cut stuff up before she rushed to you.

"Wait, don't go," She said as she wrapped her fingers around your wrist gently. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Come here. Give me a hug." She said and gently spun you around.

And when she did, she was in for a shock.

She gasped upon seeing your busted lip and black eye and when she looked at your hand that was in hers, she saw that you had a couple of scrapes and bruises.

"What happened, baby? Who did this to you?" She asked as she pulled you into her arms.

After the scary situation you just went through, feeling her arms wrap around you brought even more comfort than usual.

Tears stung your eyes as she rubbed your back and tried to get you to open up about who hurt you.

"Who did this to you?"

You sniffled quietly as you looked into her eyes.

She breathed out a heavy sigh.

She had the feeling that she already knew the answer.

"It was sasaengs, wasn't it?"

You wordlessly nodded your head.

"I can't believe this." She said as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Gently pulling at your hand, she led you to the table and had you sit down while she grabbed a wet cloth to help clean your lip.

"I was so scared." You quietly said and Ryujin's heart shattered at that. "They all swarmed around me on my way home. They started calling me names and I tried to just walk away but they started to hurt me. I didn't know what to do."

"Why would you try to hide it from me? You tried to go right upstairs. Eventually, I would've found out. I don't think you can hide a black eye or busted lip for very long."

You chuckled quietly before groaning as she wiped up the dry blood from your lip.

"You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. I was just so freaked out after what happened. I felt like I couldn't breathe."

"That's understandable." She said as she put aside the cloth. "Don't worry, I'm going to make sure that this never happens to you again."

"Ryujin, don't say anything. What if people get upset at you about it?"

"Who cares?" She scoffed. "You haven't seen yourself, Y/N. You're hurt and the second I saw you, my heart broke. You have a black eye, your lip was bleeding, and you have bruises and scrapes on your body! I don't care about what anyone says when someone hurt my girl!"

You just cracked a small, sad smile as you laced your fingers with hers.

"No one hurts my girl. Not ever." She said as she brushed her thumb across your palm. "I don't care what I have to do or say to get it through these people's heads but I will do it again and again if it means that they'll leave you alone."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me for taking care of you or protecting you. You're my girl. It's what I'll do for the rest of our lives." She promised as she kissed your forehead. "Does anything else hurt?"

"No. But can you hug me again? It makes me feel better."

"Oh, baby. Since when do you need to ask?" She asked as a smile tugged at her lips.

She pulled you back into her arms and kissed the crown of your head, swearing that she would make everything better.