Sasaeng Sister

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/50904175.

Rating: Not Rated

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/M
Fandoms: ENHYPEN (Band), ATEEZ (Band), Stray Kids (Band), 방탄소년단 |
Bangtan Boys | BTS
Relationships: Park Sunghoon (ENHYPEN)/Original Female Character(s), Lee Minho |
Lee Know & Original Female Character(s)
Characters: Lee Minho | Lee Know, Park Sunghoon (ENHYPEN), Bang Chan (Stray
Kids), Kang Yeosang, Choi San (ATEEZ), Jeong Yunho (ATEEZ), Yang
Jeongin | I.N, Han Jisung | Han, Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Hwang Hyunjin,
Kim Seungmin (Stray Kids), Seo Changbin, Kim Hongjoong, Song
Mingi (ATEEZ), Jung Wooyoung (ATEEZ), Park Seonghwa, Choi
Jongho (ATEEZ), Jeon Jungkook, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Additional Tags: Suspense, Thriller, Fanfiction, Mentioned Other K-pop Artist(s), K-pop
References, kpop, K-pop Industry, Celebrity culture, Sasaeng Fan(s),
Dark, Dark Comedy, Angst and Humor, Humor, Some Humor, Crime
Scenes, Violence, Abduction, Dysfunctional Family, Family, Dark Side
of K-Pop, Sibling Bonding, Mystery, Action, Plot, Fluff and Angst,
Angst, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Lee Minho | Lee Know Is Bad at
Feelings, Park Sunghoon Is Whipped (ENHYPEN), Protective Park
Sunghoon (ENHYPEN), Protective Lee Minho | Lee Know, Community:
crossfandom, South Korea - Freeform, Stalker, Trauma, Dealing With
Trauma, Feelings, Danger, ATEEZ Storyline Event, Mentioned Bangtan
Boys | BTS Member(s), Mentioned BLACKPINK, Stray Kids Angst,
Mentioned Stray Kids Ensemble, Mentioned ENHYPEN Ensemble, Lee
Minho | Lee Know-centric, Shy Park Sunghoon (ENHYPEN), Park
Sunghoon-centric (ENHYPEN), K-pop fanfiction,
Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Blood and Injury
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2023-10-17 Updated: 2023-12-27 Words: 75,449 Chapters:
33/?
 Sasaeng Sister
by Sankeepsmewarm

Summary

Filina moves to Korea to live with her stepfamily. Soon she finds out that her stepsister is
entangled in suspicious activities and her stepbrother is a member of a famous K-pop group.
Filina's life gets even more complicated when she develops a crush on a fairly recently
debuted idol who, despite danger, helps her reveal the dark secrets of her stepsister.

TW: VIOLENCE, some scenes might be disturbing to sensitive audiences.

[Mentions or implications of panic attacks, ed, sa, self-harm, and suicide]
 Chapter 1
Chapter Notes

Author's note:

Hello!

Before we begin, I want to mention that:

Although the story is heavily inspired by the real world and real people, all of my
characters are works of fiction, and their actions are imagined and separate from any real
people and their actions. Because this is fanfiction, I use real names of famous people
and companies, but everything that happens in this story is purely fictional, and no hate
is intended towards any real people or organizations. I do not dislike any idol whose
name I've used in the story.

Also, be aware that this story contains violence, and some scenes may be disturbing to
sensitive audiences. There will also be mentions or implications of panic attacks, eating
disorders, SA/SH, self-harm, and suicide, but with no overly graphic descriptions. Some
of these are ONLY mentioned or implied.

Take care of your mental health and do not read if you think these topics might trigger
you and make you feel uncomfortable.

For those of you who want to continue reading, I hope you will enjoy this suspenseful
story. :)

*** This story is protected by copyright laws. DO NOT COPY***

My friends called me unlucky because, back in high school, I was cut off the running team
due to a time difference of only 0.01 seconds, lost my phone the first day of sophomore year,
and broke my leg a week before senior prom. However, when people called me unlucky, they
thought of more than just missing out on interscholastic competitions, losing items, or
wearing a cast at an overhyped dance. They thought I was unlucky because of my family
situation.

Mom had taken all information about my biological father to the grave. She had passed away
when I was only seven, leaving me with an unrelated stepdad. That is why even my friends
pitied me. After jokingly suggesting that I was the unluckiest person in the world, their
eyebrows always curved down a little.

I hated the way people looked at me, so I avoided talking about my family. Unfortunately, our
town was small enough for rumors like that to spread anyway. Mom had always been a
person of interest to the gossip ladies who lived in our neighborhood. Before she died, some
kids at a nearby playground shouted "gold-digger" whenever we walked across the park.
Adults at Walmart used to raise their eyebrows at mom's dresses and high-heels. Even after
she died, some girls at school shared looks when my iPhone 10 was replaced by an iPhone 11
pro max. They never said it out loud but clearly remembered that my mom had married Mike
for money.

Sometimes even I believed the rumor because there wasn't much to love about Mike. He was
a Korean businessman who spoke only Korean to me because he thought Americans were
dumb for knowing only one language. At home, he had always pretended not to understand a
single word in English, claiming I would thank him later.

Now was the time to thank him.

I was on a flight to Seoul.

Mike had remarried. It had happened all of a sudden with no warning or even a wedding. One
day, he had simply announced that he had fallen in love and had decided to tie the knot with a
woman I had only met via a video call.

I had feared that the only remotely close adult in my life would forget me, but Mike hadn't
abandoned me. He had arranged everything so that I could come and live with my new step-
step family in Gangnam, even though I had turned eighteen last month and was technically
not his concern anymore.

It would have been nice to travel with him, but he had moved a week earlier because of his
busy work schedule.

Traveling alone wasn't bad either. There was something soothing about it. Or then I just
imagined a good side to loneliness because it was such a big part of my life. I had pretty
much lived alone for the past few years because Mike was always away on a work trip.

It would change now. I had siblings. A stepbrother and a stepsister. According to Mike, they
were not much older than me and still lived with their mother.

I leaned my head against the airplane window. We flew above clouds. It was a perfect place
to dream about a brand-new life. A good life. I could make better friends in Korea and apply
to Korean universities.

My daydreams were disturbed by a fellow traveler. Next to me, a young man wearing a white
face mask had been dozing off for a while now. Previously he had jerked awake every time
his head dipped, but now, deep in sleep, he leaned closer and closer to me.

I inched as far away from him as possible and took out my phone to watch something on
Netflix. Right when the logo lit up the screen, his head fell on my shoulder. I didn't dare to
move. I hated talking to strangers. It never came naturally. The rest of the flight would have
been unbearably awkward if I had woken him up.

On second thought, it would have been even worse if I let him stay like that.
The only option was to act as if I hadn't noticed him, so I leaned my head against the window
and pretended to sleep.

I prayed he would wake up quickly, but while I waited, his head resting heavy on my
shoulder, my daydreams turned into real dreams.

Startled, I woke up to the sound of something hitting the floor. My phone had slipped from
my hand.

I hunched over to grab the phone, but the movement woke up the young man sleeping against
me. He twitched away from me, mumbling sorry first in Korean and then in English.

"It's okay," I said in Korean while reaching for the phone that had slid under the seats in front
of us. I tried hauling it closer with my foot.

"Did I drop your phone? I'm so sorry," he said and bent to get it for me.

He was a lot taller than me, and the phone was easier to reach from his seat, so he grabbed it
effortlessly. Right then the plane hit an air pocket. We jumped up and down like on an
amusement park ride. The man was still in a bent-down position and smacked his face to my
knee.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

He handed me the phone.

"Yeah, it didn't hurt much," he said, but there was a red stain on his face mask.

At first, I planned to ignore the blood, but when the stain grew bigger, I had to say something.

"Uhm... I think you're bleeding."

"Really?"

He took off the mask and used it to stop the nosebleed.

I offered him napkins.

After a while, he managed to suppress the bleeding and wipe his face somewhat clean. There
were small stains of blood on his cheek though.

He searched his pockets multiple times, probably looking for a wet wipe.

"Do you happen to have a face mask?" he asked.

"No, sorry," I answered.

Then it hit me. I knew his face from somewhere.

He turned his pockets upside down, but a face mask didn't magically appear.
"Okay, don't worry. It's okay," he said more to himself than to me.

"Are you Korean?" he asked suddenly.

"No, but I'm moving there to meet my new stepfamily."

I didn't usually speak about myself, especially with strangers, but I had a feeling that this boy
would be sad if I just gave the shortest answer and ignored him for the rest of the flight. Also,
he was very handsome. He had dark brown hair, almost black but not quite, and nearly too
straight a nose to be real.

"Sounds exciting. I hope you like Korea, and your new family."

"Yeah, me too. What about you?"

He raised his eyebrows.

"Am I Korean? Yeah. I am. My name is Sunghoon."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Filina."

I couldn't remember any Korean celebrities called Sunghoon, but there was something
familiar about his dimples and thick eyebrows.

We talked about USA and Korea mostly. I even shared some of my embarrassing school
experiences. Time passed quickly in conversation. After an hour or so, he revealed that he
was part of a K-pop group called Enhypen.

"We debuted last year. It's been pretty hectic."

"Is that why you wear face masks?"

"Well... we had some unpleasant experiences at airports. But this time no one will expect to
see me there. But yeah. You never know."

I handed him my dark blue scarf.

"You can use this."

"Thanks... but doesn't it look a bit weird. It might attract attention," he said while trying it on.

"It honestly looks pretty good."

He smiled and removed the scarf.

"Well, then I must use it. Thanks. I will give it back if we ever see again."

"Fine, but you can keep it, in case we never meet."

The plane landed then. Sunghoon put the scarf back on. It felt like the end of our friendship. I
knew I would never see his face again, not face to face.
We hardly talked while exiting the plane and getting our luggage.

He found his suitcase first.

"Have a nice time in Korea," he said as a farewell.

"I will. Good luck with everything," I answered.

He waved a little and turned to leave but then came back.

"We have a concert in Seoul. You should come and get your scarf back."

"I would love to, but I don't know if I can."

He looked down, embarrassed.

"Yeah, okay. I don't really have tickets to give you or anything. But if you come, I'll have the
scarf."

I smiled.

"Okay."

He left for good this time. I stood watching him recede. My high-school friends would have
considered me lucky for meeting a celebrity. However, I felt sad watching him go.
 Chapter 2

Mike had sent a chauffeur to drive me to my new home, a luxurious detached house shielded
by a tall iron fence. The building was huge, its windows wide and dark. Evidently, my step-
stepmom was even wealthier than Mike. A black Porsche, a white Rolls Royce, and the
newest model of Tesla decorated the front yard.

The chauffeur led me in.

"Do you need help with the baggage? I can carry it to your room if you like."

"No, thank you. It's not that heavy," I said, desperately needing a moment to myself.

He bowed and left me alone in the entrance hall.

One of the walls was a full mirror. My reflection looked out of place in such a modern and
empty room. There weren't even any shoes in sight. Hesitantly, I left my trainers in one
corner before entering a living room-kitchen area.

On the wall hung a TV as big as some screens at small movie theaters. A white leather couch
gleamed like it was brand new, too perfect for everyday use.

The kitchen was just as grand. My eyes fixed on a girl, or a young woman, eating salad at the
counter. Her hair shone as if she came straight from a shampoo commercial. She munched
green leaves unbothered by my existence.

"Hi! I'm Filina. I think your mom... and Mike have talked about me."

She glared at me. Her eyes were perfectly lined with dark makeup.

"Yes, I heard you were coming. But remember that I am older than you."

"Sorry... I haven't talked Korean with that many people," I said, fixing my language to a more
polite form.

She sipped water from a tall thin glass as I stood awkwardly by the fancy couch. She must
have known I felt uncomfortable but showed no sign of empathy.

"Uhm... can I take some water?" I asked.

The girl didn't even lift her eyes. Her manicured nail tapped the phone screen slightly every
time she slid her finger up and down. She scrolled through something like an Instagram feed.
I took a better look as I passed her on my way toward the sink. It was not Instagram. She was
reading a message thread, and it wasn't just any chat forum. Someone was offering money to
find out where BTS's Jin lived.

I opened three different cupboards before finding one of those thin glasses the girl used. It
took me a while to figure out the tap, but eventually, I got cold water.
The girl frowned at me.

"I knew you were that type of a person."

I turned to face her.

"What do you mean?"

"Bet you would drink straight from the Han River."

I gulped the last of my water.

While I drank, the girl lost interest in me. She crunched over her phone like a hardcore
sasaeng, probably eager to find out the location of Jin's house.

"Are you Hari?" I asked after a long silence.

"Yes. I'm Hari. And your room is upstairs."

My heart sank a little. I had been excited to have a big sister, but she acted like a troubled
teenager. How was I supposed to remember to address her as someone older than me when
she behaved like that. Had Mike really said she was 23 years old? The girl had no manners.
She could have at least shown me the way to my room.

I dragged my suitcase upstairs but came to a halt when I reached the upper floor. My room
was behind one of six identical doors along the hall. I sighed and knocked on the first one.

"Mmm... what?" someone mumbled from inside.

"Hi, it's Filina. I'm looking for my room," I said.

"What? I can't hear you. Open the door."

I cautiously peeked inside.

My stepbrother hurriedly covered himself with a blanket. He sat on his bed, hair all messed
up.

"Oh... It's you," he said, kicking a pair of boxers behind a beanbag chair. "I forgot it was
today."

"I just got here. Do you know where my room is?"

"Oh yeah... It's the last door on the right. But... Sorry about this," he said and grabbed a T-
shirt from a writing desk. "I'm Minho."

He wouldn't have needed to introduce himself. Everyone knew him.

Shit.
Mike should have warned me! If I had known beforehand that my new stepbrother was Lee
Know and not just any Lee Minho, I could have practiced a proper reaction. Now my eyes
nearly popped out of my head.

And I had thought meeting a K-pop idol on a flight was unreal! This was wild! Thankfully, I
had never been that into Stray Kids, so I managed to calm myself down and casually
introduce myself.

I liked Minho instantly. He was the opposite of Hari. At least based on first impressions.
However, I might have judged Hari too harshly. There was no way Lee Know's sister was a
sasaeng. What I had seen was most likely a protective sister making sure Minho's personal
information didn't circulate on the internet. Maybe she had been stressed out and unable to
deal with a new step-sister at that very moment when I happened to walk in.

I decided to give Hari another chance, but before facing her again, I locked myself in my
room, which had everything an 18-year-old girl could wish for. There was a neatly organized
walk-in closet full of expensive clothes. Dresses, jackets, skirts, and shirts hung on one side.
Hoodies, jeans, sweatpants, and shoes were arranged on the other side. I gasped when I
opened a drawer that contained pieces of jewelry. Some of them had diamonds as big as the
nails on my pinky fingers.

Mike's new wife, Ae Ri, was filthy rich. No wonder she wasn't home. She was somewhere
either making or spending money.

During the first week, Ae Ri and Mike hardly visited their home, and Minho was off to his
idol activities, so I was left alone with Hari, who didn't seem to do anything important with
her life. She watched dramas in the living room, worked out in the backyard, and had salad in
the kitchen. There were times she abruptly disappeared to her room or got a call and quickly
rushed to a bathroom or any other vacant room nearby. I tried to talk to her sometimes, but
she wasn't a great conversationalist.

One day she lounged on the couch next to a popcorn bowl. It's Okay Not to Be Okay played
on the massive TV, but she focused on her laptop. I sat a couple of feet away from her. She
pushed the bowl closer to me, which meant she was in a good mood. Hari had offered me
popcorn once before, when we had binge-watched Page Turner in total silence.

I ate a handful of popcorn.

"You missed a funny scene," I said.

Hari glanced at the TV.

"Mm... I've seen that already."

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm buying tickets to a concert."

I inched closer to see the laptop screen.

"Which concert?"

Hari clicked a ticket sale website.

"Enhypen. They're pretty new."

Heart pounding, I quickly swallowed a popcorn whole.

"I know them."

"Yeah? Do you want to come along?" she asked.

Hari's sudden kindness took me by surprise. For a second, I forgot Korean and could only
smile like a happy kid on their birthday, until the popcorn got stuck in my throat. I coughed,
eyes watering, afraid I would miss the opportunity if I didn't answer fast enough.

"I would love to go to the concert," I said between coughing.

"Cool. I'll take VIPs that include a meet and greet."

I was about to burst with joy, but then I came to my senses. Sunghoon might have forgotten
me. Likely he had. And it was ok. I could still like him and cheer him on like any other fan.
He deserved that.

Hari's phone rang.

Like usual, she hurried to the downstairs bathroom. Thankfully her payment went through
before that, and I saw proof of two Enhypen tickets with my own eyes.

"I fucking told you! You fucking idiot!" Hari shouted at someone on the phone.

Her anger raised my curiosity. I drifted closer to the bathroom but couldn't make out the rest
of what she was saying until I nearly pressed my ear against the door.

"How fucking precise information do you want," she said. "That's what I mean. There are
only a handful of people who can access that. It's fucking valuable."

The door hit my face.

Hari pushed me out of the way.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Were you eavesdropping on me?"

"No. I was just walking by," I lied and touched my hurt cheek.

Hari scowled at me.

She literally gave me chills. The Enhypen concert didn't sound as fun anymore. Not with her.
 Chapter 3

Even though I had to go with Hari, I counted the days to the Enhypen concert. One night I
listened to their newest EP on repeat and tried on every single dress Ae Ri had bought for me.

At half past one, I finally decided to set a blue dress aside, ready for the concert day.

I took off my headphones and tiptoed to the upstairs bathroom, careful not to wake anyone
up, especially Ae Ri and Mike, who had complained about people watching the TV too late
and heating up noodles at ungodly hours.

When I was about to grab the door handle, I collided with someone.

It was Minho coming out of the bathroom. He jumped backward, nearly tripping.

"Shit", he said and pressed a hand on his chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I said.

His cheeks were red as he stepped out.

"No... You didn't scare me. I was just in my thoughts."

Although he denied it, he looked shaken.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

Minho nodded.

"Everyone around me has been so jumpy lately that it must have rubbed off on me," he said
jokingly. "There were some issues with fans at our dorm. And at JYP," he explained.

"Oh no... that's awful."

"Nah... It's not that serious. They are handling it. And it isn't really that big of a deal," he
added.

"But it doesn't sound nice anyway," I said as I entered the bathroom.

We looked at each other, unsure of how to end the conversation. Finally, I wished him good
night and closed the door between us.

After that encounter, Minho often said goodbye to me before he left the house. I, in turn,
asked about his day once he came back late at night.

Sometimes he didn't come back at all, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. That's why I
was surprised to see him walk through the front door on a Thursday night. He looked
exhausted. Good thing I had ordered pork and side dishes.
"Are you hungry? You can take this if you want," I said.

He dropped his training bag and came to the kitchen.

"You don't need to share. I can take somehting for myself," he said, searching the fridge.

"There's nothing good. Just take this. I'm pretty full already. And I don't even like that green
and red stuff," I said, pointing at two kinds of cabbage mashes.

Minho took a plate and sat across from me. He scooped some cabbage on his plate but didn't
dare take any pork because there were only a few pieces left.

I placed all of the remaining meat on his plate.

His eyes grew wide.

"You don't want any?"

"You can have it."

He smiled, eyes twinkling.

"Thank you."

We discussed a new dance choreography he was planning with a couple of JYP

choreographers. He promised to show me later since I liked dancing and could give my
opinion.

Hari disturbed our conversation. She took a seat next to Minho and snatched the biggest piece
of pork from his plate.

"Hey! That's mine," Minho said, but Hari stuffed the whole thing in her mouth.

She grinned, cheeks plump.

Blood boiled in my veins.

"That's not cool. He is hungry," I said.

Hari poked Minho jokingly with her chopstick.

"He can have the other piece."

Minho lowered his head, clearly upset. The other piece was smaller than a raspberry.

"We can order more," I suggested.

Hari shook her head.

"Look at the time. No one should eat at this hour. Especially him. I'm doing him a favor," she
said and snagged a dumpling from his plate.
I took my phone to place another order, but the restaurant had already closed.

"It's okay. We have a lot of side dishes," Minho said and refilled his plate with the bad stuff.

Hari poured herself red wine.

"So, little brother, how's life?"

Minho glanced at her.

"Good."

"Didn't you say earlier that Stray Kids will collaborate with Ateez soon? Was it a dance
project or something?"

"Mm," Minho mumbled.

Hari rolled the foot of the wine glass between her fingers.

"When will you film it?"

"Beginning of next month, I think. Why?"

She patted Minho's head like one would do if he was a dog.

"Just wanted to catch up with you. We haven't really talked in a while. Do you already know
where they will film it?" Hari asked a dark glint in her eyes.

She clearly had an ulterior motive, so I had to butt in.

"You don't need to know the location."

I might not have been the biggest stan, but if there was one K-pop group I had fangirled over,
it was Ateez. Hari had no business lurking around them. After all, she had talked about
sharing precious information with someone on the phone and even spent time on sasaeng
websites.

Hari stood up, hands on her waist.

"Who the hell do you think you are to disrespect me like that? Go upstairs," she commanded.

Minho stared at us, baffled.

Hari leaned close to my face.

"Go."

Minho slammed his hands on the table.

"She doesn't need to go. And I don't even know where it will be filmed."
He took his plate and stomped upstairs.

I followed suit, leaving Hari with the leftovers.

In my room, I worried that she might cancel my Enhypen ticket as revenge. Still, I couldn't
bring myself to go back and apologize for something I didn't feel sorry for. Instead, I checked
if there were still tickets on sale.

There weren't.

I had to go with Hari.

Luckily, on the concert day, she acted as if we had never quarreled. She even let me share the
car she was taking, a limousine. Either Ae Ri owned one, or Hari had rented it so that we
could sit as far away from each other as possible.

Weirdly, at the concert, she stayed near me.

Our seats were right in front of the stage, yet she looked bored as if she had been dragged to
the event by an ENGENE little sister. Even a glance at her ruined my mood, so I ignored her.

Sunghoon was amazing. All of them were good. I began cheering spontaneously after each
song.

He didn't see me in the audience. It was probably for the best. I felt embarrassed just thinking
about our eyes meeting and him actually recognizing me. Wouldn't that make me one of the
many fans trying to get his attention? In fact, that was exactly what I was. But did it matter?
No. Not really. Sunghoon would be happy to have a new fan. Yet, the meet and greet made
me nervous.

I met Jay first. He smiled at me and was pleased to hear that I had enjoyed the concert.

Ni-ki nodded politely over and over again when I complimented his dancing.

Jungwon thought I wanted to hug him because I had a habit of moving my hands when I
talked, especially when I was nervous. He wrapped his arms around me very lightly, afraid to
be too intimate.

The next member was Sunghoon. I waved at him like I would do greeting a friend.

"Hi, you were so good!"

"Thank you," he said, not recognizing me. I guess it was understandable. I wore a lot more
makeup now than I had worn back then. Still, I felt disappointed.

"You guys will be great. I can tell," I said, just to use up the minutes I had with him.

He looked at me for a while.

"Did you come for the scarf?"

My heart galloped.

"No, I came for the show," I said, beaming.

"Really? I'm glad. But I actually have the scarf," he said and beckoned a staff member to get
it.

He handed it over.

"Thanks again. It was helpful."

As soon as I got a hold of the fabric, I felt a folded piece of paper in it. I took it out to put it in
my purse, but before I was able to do so, Hari grabbed it.

"What is this?"

I tried to pull it out of her hand.

"None of your business. Let it go."

She yanked the paper, and it ripped into two. Unsatisfied with only her piece, she dragged me
closer and tried to force my hand open. I shoved her away.

People around us took a step back. A staff member guided Enhypen into safety.

Hari swung at me. I managed to dodge the hit.

Determined she stormed to grab my hair. I pushed her head back roughly from beneath her
jaw.

Just as I was about to get the upper hand, a muscular security man seized my arms.

There were four men separating us.

"She stole from me. I'm not violent," I explained, raising my hands as a sign of peace.

They didn't listen. One of them pulled me toward the exit. I stumbled, nearly turning my
ankle, but they kept dragging me.

The men dealing with Hari had it harder. She was frantic.

"Let go! Don't fucking touch me!" she screamed and tried to wrench free. She even hit the
corner of her eye with a security man's elbow.

"I'll sue you!" she threatened. "Did you hear me? I'll fucking sue you!"

After escorting us outside, the men kept asking our names, probably to ban us from ever
coming to another Enhypen concert.

"I should be the one asking names. You hit me," Hari argued back.

Face red with fury, she called our chauffeur.

When the glamorous limousine curved next to us, the security men backed off. They stopped
asking questions and let us get in the car.

I felt like crying but couldn't let Hari see my tears, so I stared blankly through the window.

I hated her. She had ruined everything. Sunghoon would forever remember me as a crazy
bitch who fought at their meet and greet rather than a nice girl who gave him a scarf.

Hari slid gradually closer to me from the other end of the limousine.

"What was that?" she asked.

"You tell me. You were the one attacking me!"

She frowned.

"Where's the other half?"

"I dropped it when they grabbed us. So, thanks a lot," I lied.

I had slipped the paper in my bra. Hopefully, it was still there.

"Why would you drop it!" she exclaimed. "And, why did he even give it to you? Do you
know him or something?"

I turned to glare at her so abruptly that she actually flinched.

"Yes, he gave it to ME, so give it back."

Hari cracked up.

"Did you try to scare me just now?"

She couldn't stop laughing. The angrier I got, the more she found it funny. She even wiped
tears of joy when she moved to the farthest place from me, crossed her legs, and took out the
ripped paper. Chuckling, she folded it open.

I considered dashing at her and snatching the paper, but she would have had enough time to
eat it or pull some other crazy shit like that, so I had to witness her reading it right in front of
me. She made surprised noises and covered her mouth as if Sunghoon's message included
scandalous secrets.

Once at home, I searched for Mike to complain about Hari, but he was at work.

When he finally came home, he and Ae Ri sat me down. They asked me to try to get along
with Hari.

Mike looked pained when I told them about Hari's behavior and habit of visiting sasaeng
websites, but Ae Ri nodded calmly, unfazed by my accusations.
"She sees a therapist. I hope you understand that she is going through a lot right now. I
believe you can get along. You're both adults."

They claimed to have had a serious conversation with Hari, too, but I doubted it had had any
effect on her. Especially because there were no consequences to her actions. Ae Ri made one
phone call, and all news about a fight at the Enhypen concert was taken down.

Hari was untouchable.

 Chapter 4

I read my half of Sunghoon's letter.

"-ut I decided to write something in case you

- ame across that way, but I am pretty shy

- was nice. Our chat on the plane really

- touch, this is my private Instagram.

-ng21282"

My cheeks flushed when I thought about him writing the letter and folding it in my scarf.
Heart racing, I opened my Instagram, but it was impossible to find his account, knowing only
the last seven characters.

I walked past Hari's room multiple times that day, hoping to search for the other half of the
message, but she was always around. I even contemplated sneaking in at night when she was
asleep. However, I never seriously considered doing it.

Because I didn't get a chance to sweep her room that day, I couldn't sleep at night. I kept
guessing the name of Sunghoon's account, to no prevail.

A loud bang stopped my heart for a second.

My thumb hovered above the phone screen as I froze in place, listening to the noise coming
from downstairs.

Something creaked. Then there was another bang and glass shattering.

An alarm went off.

Mike and Ae Ri weren't home. They had left for a spa weekend. It was Friday, so Minho
could have been in his room, but I hadn't seen him. Hari was the only one who was for sure
inside.

Hands shaking, I called the emergency number.

The operator assured me there was no reason to panic as the Police were on their way, but it
didn't calm me down. After all, the Police could only help once they actually arrived. I didn't
see blue flashing lights when I peeked outside the window, nor did I hear any emergency
vehicles nearing our house.

The handle on my door squeaked. I stared in horror as someone from the other side pressed it
down.
"It's me. Are you alright?" Minho whispered, slowly pushing the door open.

His eyes which were already naturally big were now even bigger. I could see the white
around his irises.

"I called the cops," he said, walking restlessly back and forth in my room.

"Me too."

He nodded.

"They would have already come upstairs if they wanted to hurt us," he said, but it sounded
like a question.

"Yeah," I agreed, although I feared he was wrong.

Minho sat on my bed, fidgeting with his phone.

"I got a weird message on Bubble."

"What did it say?"

He checked the time on his phone.

"Might be nothing. There are always some weird ones."

"Did they threaten you?"

"Not exactly."

He stood up suddenly.

"Do you think Hari is okay?"

I wasn't that worried about her, which after thinking about it, made me feel guilty.

"She wasn't in her room?" I asked.

Minho looked down.

"I didn't check."

No way... He had come to me first, although I was just a stepsister, and Hari was his actual
biological family. Did it mean that he was more worried about me or felt safer with me? No
matter the reason, knowing that he cared about me warmed my heart. I had liked him from
our first encounter, but watching him now, I realized he had become dear to me. I wished
nothing bad would ever happen to him, so I didn't let him go check on Hari.

"I think she is fine. Let's just wait for the Police."
The Police arrived an hour before Mike and Ae Ri, who had been automatically informed
about the antitheft alarm system going off. The officers suspected it was just a random break-
in, and Ae Ri confirmed that three of her antique vases and a jewelry box had been stolen.

Later, Hari claimed she had slept throughout the incident, only waking up to the police sirens,
yet, she appeared the most frightened. She relentlessly complained about feeling unsafe at the
house, so Ae Ri sent her to live with an aunt for a few days.

It was good news to me.

Her room was free to inspect.

Hari had hung purple and blue string lights on her walls. It looked rather beautiful. Next to a
grand-sized bed, there was a modern nightstand with two narrow drawers. I checked them
first. They were nearly empty aside from a dozen odd earrings and a couple of rings.

Sunghoon's message wasn't on the writing desk either. Instead, I found a notebook with a list
of phone numbers, addresses, and words written in code language. Before placing the
notebook back in its place, I snapped a photo of the page just in case it had something to do
with her shady behavior and could be used as evidence later.

In the corner of Hari's walk-in closet, I found the black leather purse she had used at the
Enhypen concert. In its smaller pocket, there were menstrual pads and receipts. Makeup and
sunglasses were stuffed into the largest compartment. A folded piece of paper was stuck to
the side of an eyeshadow palette. It was the other half of Sunghoon's message!

I rushed toward my room to fit the two halves together and finally read the full message, but
as I stepped out of Hari's room, I faced Minho's surprised gaze.

"Uhm... Mum wants to talk to you," he said.

"Okay. By the way, I went to Hari's room just to get something back that is mine," I explained
and changed my course downstairs, where Ae Ri waited for me.

She put her phone down.

"Mike said you are still shocked about the break-in. He doesn't like you staying here all by
yourself. I was thinking that you could stick with Minho for a while now that Hari is at my
sister's," she said. "How does that sound? It would be good for Minho too."

"Do you mean that I should follow him to work?" I asked, unable to grasp that she offered me
such an exciting opportunity.

"Yes. I'll talk with Minho and his manager, but it should be fine."

"Yeah, I can do it," I said, hoping I didn't sound too excited.

I should have been scared rather than excited because Mike had never had a problem with me
staying home alone. He knew something about the break-in that I didn't. It must have been
targeted, not random like the Police assumed. However, sticking with Minho sounded great.
So, despite the ominous feeling gnawing at me, I was glad to comply with Mike's wishes.
 Chapter 5

I fixed Sunghoon's letter.

It said:

"Hi,

I'm not usually brave enough to do this kind of thing, but I decided to write something, in
case you make it to our concert. I don't know if I came across that way, but I am pretty shy
around new people. However, talking with you was nice. Our chat on the plane really cheered
me up. If you care to be in touch, this is my private Instagram.

@sungsang1282"

I typed in hurry, accidentally sending a follow request to a user whose account name was
similar to Sunghoon's. Eventually, I realized my mistake and found @sungsang1282.

He was slow to accept the request. Of course, not everyone used Instagram every day. Still, I
felt disappointed the next morning when he hadn't followed me back.

I kept checking my phone, although it was the first day of sticking with Minho. Visiting the
JYP building should have been interesting enough to get my mind off Sunghoon, but I
couldn't help myself from occasionally tapping the Instagram logo. I didn't want to miss any
notifications.

I met the other Stray Kids members in a comfy break room. They introduced themselves, and
Felix even asked me a couple of questions.

"So, you come from the USA. Sweet," he said in a lower voice than one would expect of a
boy so delicate. He looked adorable with his round freckled cheeks. If I had given in to my
intrusive thoughts, I would have squeezed them. However, once Felix spoke, I remembered
he was a few years older than me. A young man rather than a boy.

Felix didn't have much time to chat because the members had to go and fit different clothing
options for the nearing dance collaboration with Ateez.

Minho forgot to tell me where I should have waited for him, so I stood awkwardly near the
break room exit as the members left for another room.

Changbin was the last to leave. He stopped to hold the door for me.

I hesitated.

"I should probably stay here if you guys are fitting clothes."

"Oh..." he said and began to go. "But there are a lot of people anyway. I think you can come.
We change behind a folding screen."
It still felt weird, but I followed him to a big room that smelled of perfume and hair gel.
There were sofas and chairs on the sides. Along one wall, there were seats facing mirrors like
at a barbershop.

Minho had been waiting for me.

"You can sit here," he said, pointing at one of the corner sofas.

I sank into its cushion. The seat wasn't comfortable at all, but at least I didn't have to put on a
strap shirt that scratched my underarms. Bang Chan had to wear that. It hardly covered his
upper body.

"It does bother a little. But I think I can wear it," Bang Chan said to a custom designer.

Minho and Hyunjin complained about their clothes, although their garments looked fine.

"This will rip if I jump," Minho said, stretching his pants. "Look, I already broke them."

Hyunjin, on the other hand, suggested that the custom designers sewed the sides of his shirt,
to make it less revealing.

I enjoyed watching the stylists work but felt like a creep whenever they adjusted some of the
Stray Kids members' low-cut or even through-cut shirts and other weird designs like Bang
Chan's strap shirt.

I ended up scrolling my Instagram, eyes drifting to the right corner where notifications were
shown.

"Did you already sign the confidentiality contract?" a man asked me.

"Yes."

"Good. You are not taking a picture, are you?"

"No", I said, perplexed by his intimidating stare.

The company had made clear that I was not allowed to take pictures or share any information
attained at the JYP building or at a site of any activity arranged by the company. Luckily the
man believed that I hadn't taken a picture and left me in peace.

The confidentiality rules felt weird at first. However, during my first week, I understood why
they were so strict. I saw things other people didn't know about JYP or Stray Kids and heard
information that could have made headlines had I sold it to the news.

Once at the very end of an unhealthily long dance practice, Han said that Hyunjin looked
funny during his solo part and that they should change some of the moves. Hyunjin discussed
it with their choreographer in good spirits but later burst into tears mid-song. Han quickly
explained that he had only criticized the choreography, not Hyunjin's dancing. However,
Hyunjin, apparently, didn't even cry because of the comment. At least, that's what he said.
"Hyunjin gets a lot of hate at the moment," Minho explained to me later in our car. "He
recently returned from a hiatus."

I learned things about the other members too. I.N.'s actual name was Jeong-in, and his mom
called him daily, usually at a bad time. Han was called Jisung. He watched nature programs
even during the smallest of breaks. Bang Chan had to get his curls straightened every
morning for their daily vlog. Felix often played mobile games to pass the time, Changbin
slept whenever he found a comfortable place, and Seungmin hummed Blackpink's songs
when he was lost in thought.

I learned something about Minho as well. He was insanely passionate about dancing and
loved the other Stray Kids members. He didn't show affection in the most conventional ways,
but through our conversations, I realized that he cared for them deeply.

We talked a lot during car rides, so in two weeks, we grew pretty close.

We even worked out together in the mornings, although I hated the early wake-up.

Minho's personal trainer was hilarious. Sometimes I had to drop my weight and collect
myself when he hyped Minho up for walking on a treadmill. You never knew if the man was
joking or seriously thought that Minho needed cheering to complete his warm-up.

During the second week, I saw Ateez a couple of times. They practiced the collaboration
choreography with Stray Kids at the JYP building.

Dance practices were extra entertaining when Ateez joined in.

San would have clicked with Minho's personal trainer because he hyped everyone up even
more energetically than the PT. San shouted eeys and oohs while he danced and while he
watched other people dance.

I wished I had more courage and time to talk to Ateez, especially Yunho, Yeosang, and
Hongjoong, who had been my favorite members ever since I started listening to Ateez's
music.

Before I knew it, the last day of collaboration arrived, and I still hadn't talked to them.

It was the filming day.

Stray Kids, Ateez, and I got into a private bus headed to the filming site.

I was the last to climb in.

It was my chance to say something to the Ateez members, so I dragged my feet as I walked
from the back of the bus toward the front. I planned to talk to Hongjoong, but when I got
close to him, I couldn't get the words out.

He noticed me looking and began to stand up.

"Do you need this seat?"

"No! No, I was just..."

"Do you want to sit next to me? It's free," he said so politely that I knew he would have
wanted to sit alone but was too kind to say so.

"I mean... I will probably sit with my brother."

"Aha. I heard you're Minho's sister."

"Yeah. I just wanted to say that I think you're an amazing rapper, and I love Ateez's songs."

It came out awkwardly, but he thanked me, smiling so widely that I guess he wouldn't have
minded me sitting next to him.

I felt a bit dizzy, so I motioned forward. I needed to keep going.

To my dismay, Minho had already sat with Han. The only free seats near them were at the
very front. It was kind of embarrassing since I had walked through the whole bus seemingly
just so I could talk to Hongjoong. I should have taken the other door.

Like in the limousine, the bus driver was in a separate cabin. No wonder the front seats
weren't popular. The wall that separated the passengers from the driver was so close that I
couldn't tie my shoelaces without bumping my forehead.

My thoughts drifted back to Sunghoon, who still hadn't accepted my follow request.

He obviously wanted nothing to do with me after seeing me fight with Hari.

I decided to stop thinking about him, but when I wasn't calculating the chances of him
accidentally having missed my follow request, I thought of worse things. Restless, I plucked
at a hangnail that jutted out from around the side of my thumb.

After about twenty minutes of traveling, I was tempted to turn around and glimpse at the
members behind me, but I already felt nauseous facing the front. I would have thrown up If I
looked back. What kind of an idiot had built a wall that kept passengers from seeing the
windscreen. Watching the road would have prevented motion sickness.

Oh no...

The queasy feeling in my stomach got worse by the minute. My mouth started to water. I felt
really sick.

There was a bathroom facility at the back.

Shit.

I had to go. Quickly.

I rushed toward the toilet, swaying on the aisle.

The bus turned suddenly, and I involuntarily sat on Yunho's lap.

"Sorry," I mumbled and wobbled up.

Wooyoung laughed at Yunho's flustered face but became serious once he glanced at me.

"You okay?"

I nodded, already on my way toward the bathroom.

Once I closed the door behind me, it started. I barely managed to open the toiled lid before
vomiting. It was disgusting. I couldn't stop gagging until only bile was coming up.

The process of discharging and cleaning myself took about half an hour. Although my
stomach settled, I was afraid to leave the bathroom. It took ten more minutes to decide
whether I was ready to face the other people who had seen me hurry into the bathroom and
whether I could survive the rest of the trip without the toilet.

I had probably thrown up under some Ateez members since the bathroom was lower than the
seats. Hopefully, they hadn't heard anything.

I climbed the steps to the aisle, listening to the engine rumble. It was louder than I
remembered. Good.

At least the people sitting above the bathroom hadn't heard me because they were both fast
asleep. Jongho rested his head on Seonghwan's shoulder, and Seonghwa leaned on Jungho's
head.

Felix and Hyunjin were also sacked out, slowly falling off their seats. Hyunjin had already
reached a very uncomfortable sleeping position, jaw pressed to his chest.

It was unsettlingly quiet until I passed Mingi, who snored, mouth gaping.

The further I walked, the more I felt like something was wrong. No one was awake besides
me.

I strode toward Minho. He was napping too.

"Hey... Minho," I said, hesitant to wake him up.

Maybe all of the boys simply used the opportunity to rest. Idol life was exhausting.

Still, I had the eerie feeling familiar from nightmares.

Han slept his head on Minho's thighs. It should have looked cute, but it didn't. It looked
wrong.

My hands began to sweat.

"Minho, wake up," I said and shook him by the shoulder.

He was completely unresponsive.

"Hey! Wake up!"

Without thinking, I pulled Han up from Minho's lap. I yanked him pretty roughly, but he
didn't crack his eyes open, not even a little.

They were both unconscious.

Heart racing, I scanned the back of the bus for the managers who were supposed to come
with us, but they weren't there.

My hands trembled.

We had been kidnapped.

 Chapter 6
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

I pressed two fingers on Minho's neck, checking his pulse.

His heartbeat was still stable.

"C'mon, wake up," I whispered for what felt like the hundredth time.

Minho's eyes rolled back when I lifted his eyelids. He was totally out of it.

Han had also proven his deep state of sleep, so I moved to the seats behind them, where I.N.
had folded over, head between his knees. I pushed him to a seated position grabbing his
shoulders.

"Please, wake up," I said, shaking him quite aggressively.

He opened his eyes for a second but then slumped against the backrest.

"No! I need you to wake up. Both of you," I said and pushed Bang Chan, who sat beside I.N.

Bang Chan shifted to a more comfortable position, which was a good sign. He became my
primary target. I crunched over I.N. to give Bang Chan a proper shove. He slapped my hand
away, murmuring in his sleep. I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Bang Chan, you have to wake up now."

He jolted awake, eyes wide open.

"Shit! Am I late?" He took in the surroundings, head spinning from left to right. "What is
this? We aren't even there. Why did you wake me up?"

"You were drugged. I think all of you were."

He wrinkled his brow.

"What? That's kind of lame." He poked I.N. "Are you in on it?"

Bang Chan peeked over the seats in front of us where Minho and Han sat.

"Minho, did you put her up to this?"

He pressed his hand on Minho's head and moved it around teasingly.

A new kind of frustration rushed over me.

"It's not a prank. I've tried waking them up already."

He considered trusting me after Minho bumped his head into a window and kept sleeping.

"It can't be," Bang Chan said, abruptly slapping I.N.'s cheek.

He slapped a little harder.

"No... this has to be a prank," he kept saying, but his eyes wandered around, not focusing on
anything. He was panicking too.

Bang Chan slapped I.N. a couple of times more.

Finally, the poor boy woke up drowsy-eyed and red-cheeked.

"Would you stop? That hurts," I.N. muttered.

"Thank God you're alive," Bang Chan said. He turned to look at me. "Should we just slap
everyone awake?"

Waking up the others had been my plan from the start, but I wasn't too sure about the
slapping. Especially since Bang Chan told me to take care of the Ateez members while he
directed his attention to Changbin, who lay curled up on two seats.

I lingered close to I.N. He was still trying to wrap his head around the situation. The boy just
sat there baffled, not saying a word. Since he was in a zombie-like state, I proceeded with my
duty and moved toward the back, where most Ateez members sat.

I came across San and Yeosang first. I reached for Yeosang's shoulder when someone tapped
on my back. Heart jumping, I pivoted around.

A tall man stood so close to me that I saw his chest before his face. It was Mingi, his fist in
the air as if he had just knocked on a door.

"Have you... My phone. Have you seen it?" he asked, eyelids drooping.

"Uhm... No."

He continued wobbling toward the front.

"Mingi, maybe you should sit down for a while," I said as he stumbled and fell on his knees.

He crawled on the floor, grabbing Felix's shoe.

"I'm just looking for my phone," he said.

They had definitely been drugged. Mingi was so loopy he felt the need to lift both of Felix's
feet to check if his phone was under them. For all I knew, he might have mistaken Felix's
shoes for his phone.

He had the right idea, though. We needed to call for help.

I pulled my phone out and dialed the emergency number, but the call didn't go through.
No signal.

No wi-fi, either.

There was nothing I could do. Waking up everyone felt like a bad idea, having seen Mingi's
search for his phone. As an afterthought, Bang Chan had acted borderline crazy, too, eager to
slap everyone.

I passed Yeosang and San because they weren't that big.

Yunho was tall. If they had all gotten the same dosage, he could have recovered faster than
some of the others. Then again, Mingi was tall, yet still creeping on the floor.

Despite my doubts, I shook Yunho awake.

He blinked, stretching his arms as if woken from a good night's sleep.

"Woah..." he said, leaning away from me. "What are you doing?"

I explained the situation, and he took it seriously.

"We are already somewhere remote," he said as he looked out the window. There was forest
on both sides of the road.

Compared to Bang Chan, Yunho looked like a professional nurse when he tried to wake up
the person sitting beside him. He shook Wooyung gently, then rubbed his forehead and
cheeks. After clapping his hands near Wooyung's ear, Yunho stepped to the aisle and laid
Wooyoung on his side.

Yunho put his hands into the pocket of his hoodie, then tapped the sides of his jeans.

"Shit. Where did I leave my phone? We should call 112."

No one else had their phones except me. The more people woke up, the more it was
confirmed that someone had taken their phones. Although there was no service, I held tight to
my iPhone. After all, the kidnappers didn't know about it.

We had traveled narrow forest roads for a few hours when most of the guys woke up. We
gathered at the back. Some still hoped it was a prank, but everyone knew that no company
drugged their idols for fun. I mean... you never knew, but at least no company would have
filmed it as content. Fans would have been outraged.

"You keep saying they wouldn't drug us, but what if no one was drugged in the first place,
and you are all acting. I sleep when we travel, and they know that. This would be a good
prank," Changbin said.

Han was close to tears.

"If this is a prank, please stop already. It's not fun."

He glared at everyone one by one to see if they were lying.

Changbin shook his head, amused. He chuckled.

"Jisung, when did you become such a great actor," he said, elbowing Han jokingly.

"You are the one acting! Please, stop! This is not funny," Han said, tears rolling down his
cheeks. "Is this the reaction you wanted?" he exclaimed. "Your prank was successful. Are
you happy now?"

Sniffling, he marched toward the front and sat farther away from us.

"We're gonna die," Yeosang said.

It could have been a joke referring to the fact that we bickered among ourselves when we
should have been planning an escape, but he looked dead serious.

Wooyoung shivered.

"Don't say that."

Yunho crossed his hands.

"Yeah, let's not joke about this."

Yeosang blinked fast.

"I wasn't joking."

Hysteria spread like wildfire. Felix's hands shook as he gripped the side of a seat for balance.
Hyunjin hunched down, head in his hands.

My chest felt tight.

Next to me, Minho sat rigid like a statue. I grabbed his hand, and he squeezed it.

"Let's not give up," Seonghwa said. He was the first to speak in a stable voice after people,
one after another, neared their breaking point. "Did San wake up already?" he asked,
successfully directing everyone's attention away from dying.

At least until Yeosang spoke again.

"We should check that he is still alive."

Wooyoung kicked his shin.

"What's wrong with you."

Yeosang stood up, rubbing the hurt spot under his knee.

"I am serious. Everyone else is already awake."

While Yeosang went to wake San up, and Changbin went to comfort Han, Hongjoong
proposed a plan.

"Let's hide at the back. When they open the doors, we run out at the same time."

"Sounds like chaos," Bang Chan said. "But it might work."

He spoke in such a nonchalant way that it seemed like a comment he could have made at the
studio, discussing song production. Bang Chan was surely running on autopilot, still groggy
from the drug. Otherwise, he would have realized that Hongjoong's plan was garbage.

"No, it won't work," Yunho and Jongho said at the same time.

They suggested we act sleeping and place the best fighters near the doors.

"That way, we can surprise the kidnappers when they enter," Yunho explained.

However, the best fighters didn't come forward.

"Felix knows taekwondo," Seungmin said after a while.

Felix looked at him, eyes wide as if it was the first time he heard of such a sport.

"I mean, yes... But I've never fought anyone outside of competition. I never did self-defense."

"I know taekwondo, too."

San stood on the aisle as energetic as ever.

"I also taught a self-defense course once. I can do it," he said.

No one objected, but I feared San hadn't fully grasped the situation. I bet he would have
stayed silent, knees shaking like everyone else, had he been awake through the long hours
when we had imagined worst-case scenarios and unintentionally agitated each other's fears.

Yunho agreed to take the front seat with San because confronting the kidnappers had been his
idea in the first place. Mingi and Changbin prepared to attack anyone coming from the back
door.

"If no one comes from the back, I'm going to run," Hongjoong announced and sat near the
door.

Jongho had a new plan of his own. He hid in the bathroom while everyone else prepared to
act sleeping.

This time Minho let me sit next to him. I held onto him like he was my lifeline.

"I'm so sorry," Minho whispered. "You're here because of me."

I tightened my grasp on him.

"It's not your fault... but... I was wondering... Could Hari have something to do with this?"

Minho's muscles tensed. He closed his eyes.

"There's no way she would do something like this."

"It's just that... she asked about the collaboration. And the filming day. And I overheard her
speaking on the phone about exchanging valuable information."

Minho looked at me, his eyes dark and sad.

"She's my sister. She wouldn't hurt me", he assured, but his voice sounded strained as if
someone was choking him.

That's when the bus lurched to a stop. It was our cue to act asleep.

The door at the front buzzed open.

Heavy steps climbed up.

A loud yell, almost like a roar, startled me. I opened my eyes to see what had happened.
Apparently, the scream was a part of San's self-defense technique. He had just jumped a man
who had entered the bus.

The kidnapper wore a balaclava mask and moved confidently. He recovered quickly if the
attack had even caught him off guard in the first place.

San hit the kidnapper's throat but missed the vital spot. The kidnapper pinned his hands down
with what looked like a violent bear hug. The masked man was much bigger than San but
struggled to keep him in place.

That's when Yunho charged at the man from behind. He wriggled his arm around the
kidnapper's neck, ready to strangle him.

Two more men dashed in. They pulled Yunho's legs so that he couldn't touch the floor. He
basically hung in the air, holding on to the first guy, who muscled his way out of the
strangulation.

Yunho lost hold of the man's neck but gripped the back of his shirt instead.

San kneed the first kidnapper. The man crouched, shouting in pain, but as he went down, so
did Yunho, who lost his grip on the man's shirt. The other kidnappers dragged Yunho out. I
saw his hands as he desperately tried to grab onto anything on his way down the stairs.

Bang Chan and Seonghwa rushed to help San and Yunho, but a sound of a gunshot stopped
them in their tracks.

"Stop fighting if you want your friend to live," a low voice shouted outside.
 San froze. The masked man shoved him against the wall and twisted his arms behind his
back.

"Hey... I can't breathe," San pleaded as the man pressed him closer to the wall, forearm on his
neck.

Despite the plead, the kidnapper pushed harder, so San had to thrust him backward with his
hip.

Someone pointed the gun inside the bus. I saw the pistol tip just before it fired.

The boys behind me and Minho shrieked. I think I did too.

The bullet hit a LED light in the ceiling above San. He ducked as pieces of plastic rained on
him.

"Come outside, one by one, and no one will get hurt," the same low voice commanded.

We had no choice but to do as they said.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for reading my story ^^

What do you think about it so far?
I would love to hear your comments. :)
 Chapter 7

One at a time, we walked to the front of the bus, where a man duct-taped our hands behind
our backs and hooded us with a thick fabric bag.

I couldn't see anything through the cloth as I carefully climbed down the stairs.

Someone tucked a rope under my arm.

They bundled us together with the rope as if making a necklace out of real people. I figured it
was more of a row than a loop since we were commanded to follow the direction of the cord.

We moved as a train of people. When someone tripped, the rope moved down, scraping my
arm all the way from the underarm to the duct-taped wrist.

The person walking before me stumbled. I stepped on the back of their shoe.

"Sorry," I mumbled, although everyone bumped into each other all the time.

"Filina? Did they hurt you?"

It was Minho. He had been ordered out the bus before me.

"No. Did they hurt you?" I asked back, concerned because I hadn't seen anyone get hurt
except San and Yunho. The fact that Minho feared I had been hurt made me think that he had
been hurt.

"No, I'm okay," Minho said.

"No talking! Keep walking!" a kidnapper shouted.

Although we couldn't talk anymore, I felt safer knowing Minho was close to me.

We were brought inside. I could tell by the musty smell and the way our steps echoed off a
hard floor.

Someone pulled the rope loose. If my arm hadn't been scratched bloody by then, it sure was
now. I winced as the moving rope burned my skin.

Before anyone moved, I inched closer to Minho, turning my back toward him so that I could
hold onto the hem of his shirt. I didn't want to lose him.

More people came in. They pushed some blinded idols out of their way, forcing them to
stride to gain balance.

"Take those two," a voice said near me.

Someone grabbed my arm. I expected them to take Minho as well, but the person in
command hadn't referred to the two of us. I clutched onto Minho's shirt till the very end, but
it didn't help. They yanked me away.

"Where are you taking her?" Minho asked, stepping behind us.

"Let me come with her! Please!"

His shouts echoed in the hall as I was dragged deeper into the building.

They took me into a room. The door must have been heavy because its hinges creaked loud
and for a long time. The kidnappers struggled to get it open. My escort tossed me in like I
was cargo. I hit my knees on the concrete floor before tumbling to my side.

Someone fell next to me.

I was scared to move.

Staying put was a mistake. I should have crawled further from the door because more people
were thrown in, and they all tripped over me. There was a choir of grunts and groans as they
stumbled down.

The door slammed shut behind us.

I shook the bag off my head as I rose to my knees.

After my eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, I could make out gray concrete walls that
enclosed us into a small space. The size reminded me of my bedroom back in the US,
approximately 200 square feet. There was no other resemblance between my old bed
chamber and this windowless basement room.

There was no furniture, just a single pale light bulb that hung from the center of the ceiling.

Kneeling on the cold stone floor hurt. I got up, staggering a little since my hands were still
tied behind my back.

Six other people crawled on the floor, some trying to stand up, others shifting to a more
comfortable sitting position. None of their clothes looked like Minho's.

He wasn't there.

Of the six idols accompanying me in the room, Yunho was the first to remove the bag that
covered his head. Strands of dark hair stuck to his sweaty forehead as he pulled the hood off.
He observed the room, facing each wall at a time. There was a small cut on his jaw. It was
swelling

Our eyes met.

He quickly turned to grab a bag from someone's head who squirmed on the floor like a dying
fish.
It was Felix. He fluttered his lashes as if there was dust in his eyes.

While Yunho reached to unmask someone else, his foot touched a member wearing white
ripped jeans. Based on the clothes, I thought it was San. However, based on his reaction, I
wasn't sure. He squealed like a mouse caught in a trap and backed away from Yunho as if his
life depended on it.

"Shit! Shit! What was that?" San yelled, shaking his head aggressively to get rid of the bag
that blocked his vision. Apparently, he could be a fierce fighter one minute and a scaredy cat
the next minute.

"Relax. It was just me," Yunho said as he tried ripping the tape that tied his hands behind his
back. "Help me," he commanded and shoved his hands close to San's face.

San balked away.

"What do you mean? What am I supposed to do?"

Yunho sighed.

"Try something. We need to get out of here."

San bit the tape with his corner teeth. Unfortunately, it only crinkled.

After nibbling the edge of the tape for a while, San spat on the floor.

"Pull your hands apart. I can't rip it if it's loose."

While he tried to tear the tape, Bang Chan and Hyunjin took off their head bags. They moved
closer to Felix, forming a Stray Kids corner. All three members eyed San, who struggled to
break Yunho free from the hand-ties.

Bang Chan opened his mouth, hesitant to say what was on his mind. Finally, he spoke as San
spewed small pieces of tape all around the room.

"I was thinking... It's just a suggestion, but maybe we shouldn't spit on the floor since we
don't know how long we have to be here," Bang Chan said, trying very hard not to sound
rude.

Yunho glanced at the Stray Kids members.

"Yeah, San, don't eat it. Just rip it nicely."

San shouldered Yunho away from him.

"You rip it nicely."

He stood up, moving his tongue around his mouth, trying to get a piece of tape out. After a
while, he managed to catch the bit of plastic between his teeth. I expected him to spit it out,
but I'm pretty sure he swallowed it. Bang Chan must have seen it, too, because his cheeks
reddened.

"I didn't mean to... you know...," he started to say, but a loud bang cut him short.

The sound came from Yunho's hand-ties. He had used brute force to snap the remaining tape
around his wrists.

"Hey, go in line. I can free your hands," he said.

A new voice spoke.

"We shouldn't do that. It's a waste of time."

I had completely forgotten the sixth idol, who sat alone, legs crossed next to one of the walls,
still wearing a bag over his head. His voice confirmed that it was Yeosang.

"If we want to stay alive, we should comply with anything they say. And they didn't say we
could take these off."

Yeosang had a point. Hyunjin thought so, too, because he reached for a head cover that lay on
the floor next to him.

Felix shook his head.

"I think it's good that they see our faces. They need to remember that we are humans like
them. We should speak to them about things they can relate to. I think that's the best way to
survive."

Hyunjin had just picked up a head cover with his mouth. He held it between his lips until
Felix's words sank in. Suddenly he dropped the cover as if he had found out that someone had
cleaned a toilet with it.

Yunho clenched a ball of tape in his hand.

"The best way to survive is to escape. We don't know what psychos these people are. They
might want to kill us."

Bang Chan tilted his head.

"Wait a minute... We are worth a lot. They want ransom money, which means that they don't
just want to kill us."

"Exactly. They don't JUST want to kill us," Yeosang echoed.

San nodded, not realizing the emphasis on JUST. Within seconds he turned into the confident
version of himself.

"I like that idea. The ransom money."

He talked as if he was the one kidnapping someone and gaining money in the end.

We all, except Yeosang, stared at him.

"What?" San sighed. "You know what I mean. It sounds good to us."

Yunho bowed to free San's hands. He used his belt buckle to slit the tape.

"I know what you mean, but it still doesn't sound good," Yunho muttered.

Yeosang shifted his position.

"It sounds very bad, actually. There are too many of us."

San's hands were now free, but the scaredy cat version of him resurfaced. He crossed his
arms, or more like hugged himself, completely forgetting to help untie other people.

"What do you mean, too many of us?" San asked in an accusatory voice.

Yeosang looked like a creep, sitting in a meditation position, hands behind his back and a bag
over his head.

"It means that they can kill some of us and still get money."

Hyunjin squeezed his eyes shut.

A shiver ran through my spine.

They would kill me first because I was not important. People wouldn't care if I disappeared.
Only Mike would mourn me. He would wear the same ink-black suit he used at Mom's
funeral.

A memory carried me away.

We were driving to spread Mom's ashes. Mike cried in the car. He tapped my shoulder when I
asked if we would meet her again in another world.

"One day, we will find out. But isn't this world beautiful!" He pointed at the restless ocean on
the right side of the road. "It's you and me now. We still belong in this world. Let's be happy
and stay here for a long time. Where ever your mum is, she will be cheering us on."

That day Mike had been as gentle as ever.

My eyes watered when I thought about leaving him alone in this world. We were supposed to
stay here together. Had he forgotten, now that he had Ae Ri?

I missed Mike. I missed spending time with him and being a real family. I knew he still loved
me, but we had grown distant in recent years. That's why it would have been better if Minho
survived. They could continue being a happy family, and I could meet my mom again.
I hated myself for giving up like that, but at that moment the ragged walls seemed to close in
on me.

"Filina? Do you want me to cut your ties?" Yunho asked.

"Sure," I said, although my mind was still wandering far away.

He held my wrist with one hand and cut the tape with the other hand. His fingers brushed my
skin lightly as he made sure not to poke me with the belt buckle.

The tape snapped.

"Thank-" I began to say, but a rattling sound at the door stopped me.

Someone was coming in.

 Chapter 8

When the door opened, it looked as though heaven waited on the other side. I squinted, yet
still couldn't see anything from the blinding light.

Gradually I made out four black figures.

They rolled a spotlight into the room.

One man carried a camera stand.

"What the f-," Yunho muttered beside me.

He took a step toward the door, probably to bolt.

Yunho's escape plan was ruined because more kidnappers came in, wearing all black. Faces
covered, the men seemed separate from the real world, as if they weren't people at all.

Three of the masked men carried guns. One pistol. Two rifles. They pointed them at Yunho,
who quickly backed away from the door.

One of the kidnappers snatched the belt from his hand. The buckle nicked Yunho's fingers as
it slid from his grasp.

"Aish..." he hissed, shaking the hurt hand.

"Get in line!" a kidnapper ordered. "I see most of you have saved our time."

He pulled off the bag Yeosang was still wearing and harshly cut the tape that fettered his
hands.

"I SAID GET IN LINE!" the man shouted.

I rushed towards the other side of the room where the Stray Kids members already stood side
by side. The Ateez members also dashed in that direction. San and Yeosang bumped into
each other, blocking my way. I was just about to bypass them when one of the kidnappers
pulled me back. They yanked my shirt so hard that the collar choked me.

"I told you there was a girl," one of the men said.

"Shut up. That's pointless now," another grunted.

The man with a pistol strode toward me and pressed his gun to my head.

No...

God, please no.

I took back my previous thoughts. I didn't want to see my mom that badly. Not yet.

The Ateez and Stray Kids members stared at me in sheer panic. Bang Chan stood out of the
line, hands extended, like attempting to tame a wild animal.

"Let's talk about this first," he said.

"There's nothing to talk about. You do whatever we tell you to do, or I will shoot her," the
man said, pulling me closer to his chest. He bent his arm around my throat and pushed the
gun to my temple so aggressively that my head tilted to the opposite side.

"You will play a fun little game in pairs. One of you will stand against the wall surrounded by
balloons, and the other one of you will throw darts from this line until all the balloons burst."

The man drew a white wobbly line with a chalk pen.

Yeosang had been right. They didn't JUST want to kill us. They wanted to play with us first.
These people were maniacs.

Hyunjin sweated just seeing the pink, purple, and white balloons. He wiped his forehead,
whole body shaking. There was no way Hyunjin would have hit any balloons in his terror-
stricken state so that job fell on Felix.

Felix's hand trembled as he received the sharp and heavy darts.

I dreaded to look. Hyunjin and Felix shouldn't have been paired up in the first place.

"I'll be careful," Felix said, but his voice quavered.

The sickest part of this all was that the kidnappers filmed it. A couple of masked men set up
the camera and directed the spotlight to the petrified idols.

Hyunjin leaned his back on the wall, hands and legs spread, as the kidnappers attached
balloons around his frame.

He was not supposed to move, but the first bang startled him, and he flinched.

"I can't do this... please... I can't do this..." he whimpered but readied himself for the next
throw by squeezing his eyes shut.

Bang.

Felix was surprisingly good. He concentrated his tongue between his lips.

My breath got stuck in my throat. I could inhale properly only after each successful hit.

A balloon next to Hyunjin's head burst. He screeched and crouched down, covering both of
his ears. His sobs broke my heart, but I could only hope he pulled himself together. If he
didn't, I would die.
The choke hold around my neck tightened. Pressure built up behind my eyes. I couldn't
breathe.

"I told you not to move. Do you want me to kill her now?"

Hyunjin straightened up.

"No... no... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please. I apologize."

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he stood against the wall. Eyes shut, he winced and
shrank a little every time a balloon popped. The loud noise seemed to frighten him almost
more than the sharp darts. When a dart hit his leg sideways, he didn't even flinch. However,
he did press his lips together like he was about to puke or pass out.

Also the other idols waiting for their turn could have collapsed any minute. Their faces were
pale, and their expressions anguished.

I must have looked the same.

My legs gave out, but the man held me up, squeezing me roughly.

I heaved a sigh of relief when the last balloon popped, and Hyunjin dropped to the ground,
whimpering. Felix cried, too, but tried to comfort Hyunjin, patting his back.

Bang Chan stared at the kidnappers, jaw clenched and eyebrows furrowed. He was pissed off.

It might have been because Bang Chan was so angry, or then he simply never had good aim,
but for some reason, his darts flew dangerously close to Yunho.

My heart jumped every time the sharp tip hit his trouser leg. Once a dart made contact with
his stomach sideways and dropped on the floor. Because of the inconsistency in Bang Chan's
throws, I was startled even when a dart smashed into the concrete wall a meter away from
Yunho.

"I'm going to try better. I just can't seem to aim if there's no force," Bang Chan said, sweat
dripping down his face.

He wiped his hands before grabbing a new set of darts. After aiming for a long time, he threw
a dart straight into Yunho's right arm.

Yunho cried out in pain but kept his position. The sharp point had sunk deep enough to stay
stuck, and the dart jutted on his arm for the rest of the "fun little game."

Bang Chan threw even worse after the incident. He lost all confidence and kept apologizing
before the darts even hit anything.

"Can we change who is throwing?" he asked, but the men didn't let them.

Bang Chan got more and more desperate, and Yunho terrified. He froze as though life flashed
before his eyes every time Bang Chan sent a dart his way.
"Return them," the kidnappers commanded after the last balloon lost its air, and all the darts
lay around the room.

Yunho had survived, albeit with a dart on his right arm and a small scratch on his left ear. He
pulled the dart out of his flesh. Blood sprang up immediately and colored a red spot around
the little hole in his shirt sleeve. Although the wound was deep, it didn't bleed fast. He
pressed it with two fingers like one would do after a blood test.

I contemplated not watching when it was San and Yeosang's turn. They were so unpredictable
in their everyday lives that an abnormal situation could turn whichever way.

I expected horror as San placed himself against the wall, stiff as a statue.

Yeosang closed his other eye targeting one of the balloons.

He hit the very center of the balloon.

I had completely underestimated him. Yeosang was the wild card. He calmly aimed and
demonstrated a throw before sending the dart straight to its target. If there had been points
painted on the balloons, Yeosang would have hit the bull's eye nearly every time.

San surprised me too. He successfully mixed his confidence with his cowardice. He was too
scared to move but too confident to tremble. If the camera had zoomed in on him, people
could have believed it was a picture rather than a video.

Yeosang popped the balloons one after another. Towards the end, I didn't even fear for San's
safety.

They finished the challenge in record time. San helped Yeosang collect the darts lying
around. He was obviously terrified of what had just happened because his mind was not
present. He picked up remnants of balloons until he realized he should have been taking the
darts instead. To correct his mistake, he accidentally dropped the few darts he had managed
to collect and kept the balloon trash. After a while, he blinked very confused because there
were only broken balloons in his hands. He crouched to get the darts and slipped them
temporarily into his pocket.

When Yeosang and San handed over the darts the nightmare game was officially over. I
relaxed a little but soon had my heart jump up my throat. At least, that's what it felt like when
my phone buzzed. It was in silent mode, but the vibration hummed against my body. I had
tucked it under the waist of my jeans so that it was covered by the hem of my oversized t-
shirt and wouldn't budge in my pocket.

The kidnapper shoved me further away from him, still holding me at gunpoint. Shit. Did he
hear the sound? He must have noticed that I had a phone.

He glared at San, not me.

"Come back here."

San turned around, eyebrows knitted together.

"Me?"

"Yes. You. Come. Here."

San walked up to him like a soldier under commands but kept his head low.

"What did you plan to do with it?" the man demanded.

San glanced at the man but hardly lifted his head.

"With what, sir?"

The man snorted.

"You are incredibly stupid, aren't you?"

In the line where the other idols stood, Yeosang's eyes widened. He quickly walked behind
San and pulled something out of his back pocket. It was a dart.

Yeasang bowed deep and extended both arms, palms up as if creating a tray for the dart he
offered to the kidnappers.

"We forgot to give one back. It was a pure accident. We sincerely apologize for this mistake."

"You may be sorry, but this prick did it on purpose," the man said, moving his gun from my
direction to San.

San paled.

"Sir, I didn't realize one was still in my pocket."

"We should have already taught you a lesson after your first mistake."

"I'm not going to try anything. I swear, " San said, hand on his heart.

"Take him."

Four masked men dragged San towards the door.

At first, he was too startled to fight back, but as they neared the door, he began protesting.

"Wait! Please, I'm not going to try anything stupid anymore! It was an accident. I didn't try to
steal the dart! Please! I'm telling the truth!"

Leaning away from the men, San tried to wrestle his hands free. He managed to yank his left
arm from their seize, but the kidnappers pushed him down and bettered their grasp on him.
As a last attempt, San clenched onto the doorframe.

"Please! Just listen to me!"

One of the other kidnappers marched to help his accomplices and hit San's fingers with the
butt of their rifle. With a shriek, San was pulled out of the room.

Immediately after the door slammed shut behind the kidnappers, along with their filming gear
and San, I pulled my phone out. There must have been service, or else I wouldn't have gotten
a notification.

A user named @sungsang1282 accepted my follow request and followed me back. At any
other moment, I would have jumped around with a stupid grin, but now I had no time.

I dialed 112. It didn't go through. There was no service.

I tried again, testing different corners of the room, but none of my calls connected.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

Two more Instagram notifications appeared on my screen. How was that possible?

I pressed the notification just to see if I really had an internet connection.

"@sungsang1282 asks to send you a message:

Hi 👋
Is this your real account? Someone followed me before whom I thought was you. Or did you
change your account?"

My phone had connected to Wi-Fi!

It disconnected.

It connected again.

I didn't have time to waste, so I typed a message to the chat that was already open.

"Yes, Sunghoon, it's me Filina. Can you call the police for me! I'm with Stray Kids and
Ateez. We got kidnapped and are held in a remote place in a building basement. They have
guns."

Instagram failed to send the message.

No!

The Wi-Fi was gone.

 Chapter 9

"Could you check if the Wi-Fi is back?"

This time it was Felix who asked.

There was nothing else to say, so we talked about the Wi-Fi. Yeosang, Felix, and Bang Chan
believed that the kidnappers' camera generated its own Wi-Fi, and the men had forgotten that
it was set to have no password. Hyunjin, Yunho, and I thought that one of the men carried
some kind of a module, and they simply didn't know we had a phone, so they didn't care to
have a password.

What we knew for certain was that the Wi-Fi had worked when the men had been in the room
or close to the room.

"What time is it?" Yeosang asked.

I tapped my phone.

"Almost nine."

San had been with them for three hours.

My stomach clenched. I didn't want to think about it. None of us did. That's why we had
talked about Wi-Fi for so long.

Yeosang covered his face with a hand.

"I should have noticed that all twenty darts weren't there. And I should have handled the
situation better when I saw the one in his pocket. And also, when they took him, I could have
said something. I could have begged..."

Felix sat on the floor, leaning his back against a wall. He hugged his knees, head lowered.

"No. Don't blame yourself. You were the only one who tried to help. How did you even
manage to stay so calm?"

Hyunjin bit the inside of his lip.

"Yeah. I was completely useless. Couldn't even think straight."

The bulb light flickered, adding to our desperation.

Yeosang inhaled deeply.

"I pretended that we were in a simulation. Tricking my mind helped me function, but maybe
if everything had felt more real, I would have fought harder for San. I'm so stupid," he said.
Yunho paced to the door and back.

"You are not stupid. San is probably fine..."

He turned his back to us, secretly wiping away a tear or two.

Suddenly, he stopped moving.

"Filina, is there Wi-Fi now?"

I hurried to open my phone. It slipped my grasp. Luckily, I managed to catch the phone from
the air. Never before had I swiped the lock screen away with such urgency.

Just then, the iron door creaked.

Someone was slowly pushing it open.

My phone nearly dropped again as I shoved it under my shirt, pressed between my hip and
the waist of my jeans.

I lowered my shirt only a second before a group of kidnappers entered the room.

Two men carried a limp body between them.

No.

A cold wave rushed through me.

No. No. No...

My heart thumped against my ribcage as if it was under great pressure and had to force itself
to beat one more time, again and again.

I needed to lean on the wall because my legs went slack.

He couldn't be dead. It was not possible! They couldn't kill a famous idol just like that!

The kidnappers dropped him, and he fell in a heap. His head landed on his arm but slowly
slid down, cheek pressing against the stone floor. He looked innocent, the way people do
when they breathe softly in deep sleep, oblivious to the worries of the world. But San wasn't
sleeping.

His upper lip was cut and swollen. Drops of blood trickled down from the corner of his eye
as if he was crying crimson tears.

I covered my mouth, unable to think of the pain they had put him through.

Red stains bloomed all over his white jeans.

I blinked and blinked as tears welled up my eyes. The world blurred. The sight was easier to
bear half-blind because I didn't want to see San lying lifeless on the cold stone floor, but I
also couldn't look away.

Yunho crouched over San, testing his pulse. He pressed his fingers against San's wrist.
Eyebrows drawn together, he pulled San's hand closer, desperately trying to find signs of life.
Yunho's face paled as he reached to touch San's neck.

The kidnappers let Yunho examine San freely, so Yeosang ventured closer. He dropped to his
knees, sobbing.

"I'm so sorry," he said, brushing back a lock of hair from San's forehead.

The Stray Kids members hovered around, shocked.

"He's alive," Yunho whispered. Either he couldn't get any voice out, or he was afraid that the
kidnappers would hear and finish the job.

They heard anyway. One of the men chuckled.

"Yes. He's alive. So, wake him up for the next game."

Oh no! The kidnappers were setting up the camera again.

Yunho tapped San's cheek.

"San. San. It's Yunho. Can you hear me?"

"Better get him up before we start, or I will shoot him dead. That's what happens to everyone
who doesn't complete the next task," the kidnapper, who carried a pistol, said in a low
growling voice.

Until then, Bang Chan had stepped left and right on the same spot, hesitant to do anything,
but now he kneeled.

"C'moon. There's no time for gentle strokes. Let's lift him," he said, pushing San's head up,
hand behind his neck.

Yunho helped Bang Chan heave San to a sitting position against a wall.

Yeosang sat beside San, holding his shoulder so that he didn't slump.

"San, wake up. You're a mountain. You can do this."

"Yes. You can do anything, right?" Yunho said and gave an encouraging slap on San's thigh.

San groaned in pain. He opened his eyes slightly, or one of his eyes since the left one had
swollen shut. When he recognized the people around him, he wept.

"Yun..." he began to say, but it came out as a raspy sigh.

Yunho leaned closer.

"Yeah. I'm here. It's gonna be okay. We just need to get through one more..." he searched for
a good word, "one more unpleasant thing. But we can do it."

Yunho and Yeosang lifted San's arms on their shoulders to haul him up. It was harder than
expected because San couldn't fully straighten up, and his legs wavered as he tried to step.

Yeosang dried San's teary cheeks with his shirt sleeve.

"Are we hurting you? Just say if we are hurting you."

"I'm... glad... to see you again," San whispered barely audibly.

Yunho sniffled. He held San tighter but avoided any tender spots.

"We will help you now. Don't worry."

They needed to help him a lot. San struggled to keep his head up. Now and then, his fingers
twitched uncontrollably as a reaction to some overwhelming pain that left him catching his
breath. He surely couldn't have stood on his own. He probably couldn't stand long even now
that his band members supported him from both sides.

Bang Chan squinted his eyes, scanning the room.

"Hey, can we already start the next thing?"

The masked man who had spoken most and who carried the pistol laughed.

"Sure. I like this new attitude," he said. "Get in line."

He was obviously the boss because someone brought him a chair. The man sat on it, legs
crossed.

He pointed at me.

"You, come here."

I dragged my feet to him.

"Watch the show with me," he said, motioning for me to sit on the floor beside him.

"Boys, show us some aegyo. Do it one by one until I'm happy with what I see. Don't look sad.
You will get a bullet straight through your brain if you cry."

He grabbed a strand of my hair and whirled it around his fingers.

"Don't you cry either. It might piss me off."

I pinched the sides of my pinky finger so I could concentrate on the pointless pain rather than
the fear that clutched me.

"San will start," Bang Chan said, but the boss shook his head.
"No. You will start."

Bang Chan performed an embarrassing rhyme. He pressed his fingers to his cheeks and tilted
his head left and right.

"You don't look happy," the man said, aiming at Bang Chan. "Do it smiling."

Bang Chan had smiled the first time too, but now he grinned like a lunatic. His eyes gleamed
dark. They expressed a mixture of anger and fear.

"Why can't you be happy?" the man asked.

Bang Chan did it again and again. His shirt was soaked in sweat when the pistol guy finally
approved his performance.

San was allowed to be the second performer. However, he had already tired himself during
Bang Chan's aegyo. Yunho and Yeosang carried most of his weight, and the boss wasn't
pleased with that.

"Let go of him. He needs to do it alone."

San staggered when his band members stopped holding him. He took a feeble balancing step,
wincing. Regardless of his state, he forced a smile on his face. Watching him hide his pain
killed me inside. I wanted to call an ambulance and see him get treated, but I couldn't even
check if my phone had been connected to the Wi-Fi because there were too many kidnappers
in the room. Behind me stood people with riffles. Next to me sat the pistol man. It was the
worst possible place.

The aegyo that San came up with included finger-hearts, pouting, and waving. Considering
his injuries, he did it surprisingly well, but it didn't impress the pistol man. He wanted to see
more feeling and energy.

The fact that San lacked energy said a lot about his state. He never looked weak while
performing. However, now even a simple finger heart looked sloppy. His aegyo sentence was
cut short by a sharp gasp. San leaned forward, hands seeking support from the knees.

The pistol man twirled the gun around his finger.

"I don't want to see this. I want to see pure joy."

San couldn't inhale without wincing. He breathed in small heaves, which limited his speaking
abilities. After failing to say 'love' without panting, he gave up talking and just moved his
hands.

Before long, he staggered, falling knees first on the concrete. He tried pushing himself up,
but his elbow gave in, and his forearm hit the floor.

Yunho rushed to help him, but the pistol man pointed San with the gun.

"Don't help, or he is disqualified."

Yunho backed away, nervously pinching his bottom lip.

San shuddered as he tried to get up but only managed to crawl on all fours.

"Hey! Look at me! I can't see if you are crying!" the man yelled.

San's head drooped even lower until the ends of his hair touched the floor.

The pistol man squeezed the back of my neck.

"Go lift his head for me, will you."

I felt his stare on my back as I walked to San and crouched before him.

"You can do it. One more time," I whispered and cupped his face up.

His cheeks were wet. I quickly swiped the tears away with my thumbs.

"Stupid bitch," the pistol man muttered. "I can't fucking see through you."

I moved aside, pushing San from his shoulder so that he ended up in a kneeling position.

"He's not crying," I said as I returned to my place.

Before I could sit down, the man grabbed me by the collar. He dragged me close to his face,
scrutinizing my expression.

"What about you? Are you shedding a tear for your idol?"

His eyes were brown and narrow. They were normal human eyes, and it scared the shit out of
me. It would have been simpler if the kidnappers had been monsters that never set foot in
human civilization.

In reality, you wouldn't know if a man like him sat next to you on a train or stood behind you
in a cash line. I might have even lived under the same roof with a psycho like him. My gut
feeling kept insisting that Hari had something to do with all of this.

The man let me go.

San was doing aegyo, kneeling. He was doing it one more time just as I had told him to do,
but the pistol man didn't even watch. That was when I nearly lost control of my emotions.

San's hands looked doleful as they formed a trembling heart.

He hadn't noticed that the pistol man wasn't paying attention. For some reason, it broke me
more than when the kidnapper criticized everything about his performance.

The other idols were also on the brink of crying.

Unable to stay put, Hyunjin hunkered down, dragging a hand through his hair.
Palms together, as if praying, Bang Chan pressed his hands to his nose.

Yunho couldn't even look in San's direction. His eyes glistened.

The only way to avoid crying was to think of something good. The first thought that came to
my mind was a car ride with Minho. We had joked about how his manager drank coffee and
left his cup in the most ridiculous places. Sometimes he accidentally finished other people's
drinks, too.

Thinking about Minho backfired. I started to worry about him. Had the kidnappers hurt him
like they had hurt San? Or had they done something even worse to him? What if they had
killed him?

No.

I needed to think of something else.

I needed to think of something utterly good.

Sunghoon.

He had such a sweet way of raising his eyebrows and nodding his head to show that he was
listening. I never had to doubt if he was truly engaged in our conversation or not. He also
smiled a lot. Just thinking about him gave me butterflies.

I wished the Instagram message had gone through. I should have also written that whoever
had followed him before wasn't me.

Damn.

It was Hari, for sure. I should have definitely told him to block that person.

Bang Chan's voice dragged me back to reality.

"He did it well. How can he even do it better than that if you don't tell him what he needs to
change."

"You're right. That was good. But you ruined the performance for me. Do you want to be the
next person to visit the other parts of this building?" the pistol man said. He tilted his head.
"San, do it again. Hopefully, your friend won't ruin it this time."

San gave his all. Immediately after the pistol man approved his aegyo, he slumped down.

"Let him stay there," the man said before anyone had time to help him. "Felix, you're up."

Felix gulped, looking at San, who shivered on the concrete floor. Felix's eyes watered
unexpectedly. He fluttered them in panic and quickly began performing. He squeezed his
hands in fists one finger at a time, grinning like a cute comic book character. However, his
eyes kept welling up.
The pistol man turned to me. He poked my shoulder.

"Is that crying to you?"

I shook my head swiftly.

He scorned.

"Are you sure?"

I stared at the man, jaw jutted.

"He is just fluttering his eyelashes to look cute."

"I'm not sure about that," the man said and lifted his pistol. He looked me straight in the eye
as he blindly aimed at Felix and pressed the trigger.

My heart stopped.

Gunshot filled the room with an echoing bang.

The bullet dug a hole in the wall before clattering on the floor. On its way, the bullet had
scratched Felix's neck, leaving a small wound under his ear.

"Dang. I thought it would hit," the man said, sighing disappointedly. "Guess you'll have
another chance, Felix."

Felix used his chance well. He framed his face with his hands and winked, then continued
mimicking some other cringe-worthy moves.

The rest of the idols performed a cute dance or a song pretty professionally as if they were
taking part in yet another promotional activity. It showed how they had already learned to put
their emotions aside and present a happy front for the camera. Thank God they had mastered
that skill.

When the stupid game was over, I couldn't hold back anymore. Little sobs escaped my
mouth. I suffocated them with my hands.

Luckily, the kidnappers didn't care anymore. They were already packing the filming gear.

One after another, we all broke down in tears. Felix, Yeosang, and Yunho kneeled around
San, trying to help him in any way they could. Yeosag's shoulders shuddered as he cried. In
that state, he could only hover a hand over San's body, afraid that even a light touch would
cause him pain.

Yunho carefully lifted San's shirt, revealing a deep purple bruising that covered nearly all of
his abdomen. I saw it even from afar.

Yunho pressed a hand on his mouth, sobbing louder.

"It's okay... We did it," San said. "Why are you crying?"

It was too much. A high-pitched yelp escaped my throat. I curled up, hugging my legs.

I couldn't do this anymore.

We had to get out before someone died.

Bang Chan patted my shoulder.

"Hey, everything will be okay. Our companies are looking for us with the whole of Korea's
police force. I'm sure of that. We need to stay strong only for a little longer."

He must have felt responsible for me because he was the Stray Kids' leader, and I was
Minho's sister. I appreciated his attempt to comfort me, but I couldn't stay strong anymore. I
needed to get out. Now.

I walked up to the pistol man, who supervised moving stuff out the door.

"I- I need to use the bathroom."

"Oh... I forgot to bring you a bucket. Don't worry. You will get one soon."

"Please, I can't wait..." I looked at him pleadingly. "I'm the only girl in here. Can't you make
an exception?"

He yawned, stretching his hands.

"Fine." He pointed at a tall masked man. "Take her to a bathroom."

Bang Chan stared at me, brow furrowed, as the man escorted me out of the room.
 Chapter 10
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Criminals were often caught because they made one little mistake. I swore letting me into a
bathroom would be that mistake for these psychopaths.

A masked man guided me through an echoing hallway.

We passed multiple iron doors.

The building didn't seem functional for anything except holding hostages. The bathroom
confirmed my beliefs. It was not one separate room like in normal houses, but the kind of
thing you found in public spaces. There were two toilet stalls and a shared area for washing
your hands, perfect for guards who kept watch over people locked behind those gray doors.

Seriously, the basement rooms couldn't even work as underground shelters because they
weren't deep enough. We hadn't taken the stairs up or down, yet there was a window in the
bathroom. It was small and close to the ceiling.

I might have fitted through.

It didn't matter though. Even if I had been able to squeezed through the window, the man
would have stopped me before taking the first step that way. He eyed me incessantly, alert to
even the smallest of my movements.

I got into another one of the stalls.

It had a window too!

I shut the door. The man opened it before I had time to lock it.

"You need to keep it open," he said.

"I can't pee without privacy. Please, let me close it. I won't lock it."

He narrowed his eyes but let the door fall shut. He held the knob from the other side, standing
so close that his feet peeked inside the stall.

I peed, although I didn't really have that big of a need since I had puked everything out in the
morning. While I sat on the toilet, I tried connecting to Wi-Fi, but there wasn't one.

Shit.

Sending online messages had been my plan.

My gaze landed on the window. I could have reached it if I climbed on a small sink under it. I
had never understood why there needed to be one in the stall and one outside of it, but it
made perfect sense now. The sink was a stepping stone to freedom.

I quietly pulled my pants up. Unfortunately, the jeans swished against my skin.

"Are you ready?" the man asked from the other side, opening the door slightly.

"No! I'm not done!" I shouted.

There was a bar of soap on the sink. I quickly dropped it into the toilet.

The plop fooled the man, and he shut the door again.

"This is so embarrassing," I whined. "Please don't listen. I will open the tap for privacy."

He chuckled.

I hoped that the flowing water covered the noises I made as I climbed on the sides of the sink
and opened the window.

A fresh breeze blew on my face.

The window was only slightly above ground level, so coming down on the other side was not
a problem. The hardest part was to climb through.

As I pulled myself up, my foot hit the stall wall.

The man must have heard it, so there was no point in being quiet anymore. Only speed
mattered.

I reached outside. Wet grass stuck between my fingers as I crawled forward.

I had to turn sideways to squeeze my hips through.

Right after I had wriggled the widest part of me out, the kidnapper grabbed my feet. He
cursed as I swung my legs. They hit something solid.

He swore some more, letting go of one leg and dragging me harder by the other.

I pushed myself further out, taking support from the window frame. I even managed to get
my free leg out.

Suddenly I fell face first on the ground. My foot had slipped out of the shoe that the
kidnapper held.

"Stop right there, or you will die!" the kidnapper shouted, a white Adidas trainer in his hands.
He tried grabbing a new hold of me, but I rolled to the side where his arms didn't reach.

I ran until I stumbled.

My foot landed badly in a small pit. It was too dark to see where I stepped, but I couldn't
slow down.

Speeding up again, I examined the area.

A thick forest surrounded the building.

Hopefully, I wouldn't get lost in there forever because that would have been nearly as bad of
a fate as being captured again.

The air hung heavy like before a storm. No stars shed light on my way. It would have been
pitch-black without the lit windows that shone from the upper floor of the building.

Closer to the forest, I noticed a flicker in the shadows. Multiple small lights danced before
me. Did they have red fireflies in Korea?

I stopped running as a familiar scent wafted my way.

Cigarette smoke filled my lungs with its bitter poison.

One of the red lights flew down, dying on the ground.

I took a step back, sneaking behind a tree.

A cold rubbery thing touched my arm. I shrieked as someone yanked me from behind.

"What are you doing here?"

I felt a cigarette-scented breath on my neck. It made my skin crawl.

Despite fighting back, I was taken upstairs to a room with actual furniture. A shabby sofa
grumped as three of the smokers slumped on it.

The man, who had caught me, shackled my right hand to a radiator. The handcuffs looked
solid, something the Police would have.

The boss entered the room. This time he wore a normal face mask that covered only his nose
and mouth.

"What is all this fuss about?"

"She tried to escape."

His piercing gaze fell on me.

"Who are you exactly? And why are you here in the first place?"

Heart pacing, I decided to lie.

"I am Hari."
He tilted his head. Was there a glimpse of recognition in his eyes? Had he really gotten
information from a girl named Hari?

"And why were you on the bus?" he demanded.

"Because... I'm Lee Know's sister."

The man closed his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. He sneered, running a hand through
his hair.

"You stupid bitch. That's not why you came. To make sure we don't hurt your darling
brother?" He threw back his head in laughter. "Come on." He jabbed me with the tip of his
shoe. "We promised not to hurt him, and we always keep our promises. Don't even try to hide
it. I know why you came. For the thrill, right?"

I couldn't stand the expression on his face. He was the craziest person I had ever encountered.
Yet he looked at me like I was a delusional psycho beyond saving. He pitied me for being
insane but simultaneously calculated how he could use my instability to his advantage. His
eyes gleamed.

"I am right, aren't I?"

"What then if I came for the thrill. I had enough of it. Let me go."

"But the thing is. You were actually scared. And it looked like you cared about the boys."

"You're a fucking idiot. Of course, I wanted them to think they could trust me. Now open
these handcuffs," I answered, imitating Hari's disrespectful way of talking.

He snapped his fingers a few times as if commanding an idea to pop into his head.
Eventually, one did. He squinted his eyes, smiling behind the mask.

"Do you know what will be thrilling? How about experiencing this from the safe side? You
can help with the next game. You'll love it."

I hesitated. Not a single atom in my body wanted to help arrange the next sadistic game, but I
accepted the offer because he would have forced me to do it anyway.

The boss left to prepare things for the game and took a few of the smokers with him.

Only one man stayed in the room with me. He lay spread out on the sofa, gradually rolling
over, back turned to me.

I pulled my phone from my pocket using my left hand which was still free.

The phone had automatically connected to Wi-Fi.

It was kind of sad that during all of this time, only Sunghoon had sent me a message. Of
course, Mike and Ae Ri could have sent millions of actual SMS, but only the ones through
the internet reached me.
I should have uploaded Kakao Talk when Mike had asked me to. He had deleted WhatsApp
from the phone he used outside of work, claiming that everyone used Kakao Talk in Korea. I
didn't have his new work number saved on my phone, so it was pointless to send him
anything on WhatsApp.

Mike didn't have an Instagram account, either. So, I opened my chat with Sunghoon.

I pressed 'try sending it again,' and the message I had written earlier finally went through.

He saw it immediately.

He was typing.

Oh no!

I sent a message to stop him.

"don't write my phne will buzz"

Bzzz.

Too late.

"Is this a scam?" he asked.

I quickly tapped the microphone icon next to the typing bar and hid my phone behind my
back. The handcuffs clanked against the radiator as I moved.

"What are you doing?" the man groaned, turning to look at me with slitted eyes.

"Hate these shits," I said, jingling the cuffs once more.

He sighed and fell back into a comfortable position.

"Did you turn the radiator on?"

"No."

"Check if you did. I heard a buzz. It's freaking hot already."

"Ups... your right. Now it's off."

I waited for the man to fully relax before I sent the audio file to Sunghoon.

I wrote a quick text along with it.

"call the police. there is a big forest. we traveled for about 4 hours from Seul. Last couple of
hours only forest roads. People are hurt. pls don't aswer to me anymore"

My message sounded bizarre. There was no guarantee he would call the emergency number,
so I googled how to contact the Korean police via the Internet.
 The phone lagged. No results came up because the connection was unstable. I refreshed the
page but had to hide my phone before it worked because of stepping sounds outside the door.

Good thing I was careful because the boss marched in, carrying a large cardboard box.

"Hari, are you excited for the next game?"

Chapter End Notes

If you are waiting to see someone mentioned in the hashtags who hasn't appeared yet,
don't worry. They will appear eventually. ;)

Any comments so far?

Who is your favorite character?

 Chapter 11

The kidnappers placed different colored bottles on three trays. One red, one yellow, one blue,
and one green bottle on each.

"Not green for the room of four," the boss snapped at his subordinates. He replaced the green
bottle with a purple one, nodding in my direction. "We made a promise to this princess."

I gulped.

"So, my brother is in the room of four?"

"Don't worry, you don't have to serve his room. You will take a tray to the friends you made."

I stared at him, jaw clenched.

"I didn't make any friends. I just need to go back to my life after this. So, don't be surprised if
I act like you forced me."

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, humming slyly.

"Mm... I understand. We are in the same boat. You would get locked up, too, if we got
caught. You know that, right?"

Sweat tickled my back. It dripped down my spine.

"No one is going to get caught," I said, hardly hearing my words from the rapid heartbeat that
rumbled in my ears.

"True. Now come and get your tray."

On the tray, there were six different colored bottles without a tag or label. The only thing
written on them was 300 ml, a little more than one cup. My eyes fixed on the green bottle
placed on the right line next to a purple and a black bottle. The green must have been
poisonous because they couldn't let Minho drink it. They had removed the green bottle from
the tray for his room since they had promised not to hurt him.

I contemplated dropping the tray as I followed a bunch of masked men downstairs, but I
couldn't risk angering the boss. He was already suspicious of me.

We were in the windowless room sooner than I knew. I had completely disconnected from the
surroundings. I couldn't remember walking through the door. Weird that my legs had
successfully carried me there because they felt like jelly.

The air was stuffier than I remembered. I had gotten used to the ventilation upstairs, so the
difference felt drastic. It smelled like sweat, blood, and... urine. I guess the kidnappers had
brought a bucket for the idols as promised.
"Are you alright?" Bang Chan asked, leaping up from the floor.

They had been sitting together in one corner. San was the only one laying down. He rested
his head on Yeosang's lap.

I pressed my lips together, nodding a little.

"I'm fine."

It came out shakier than expected.

Bang Chan eyed my body up and down, stopping at my feet.

"Are you sure?"

Oh... shit. I still wore only one shoe.

The boss clapped his hands.

"Camera is ready. Let's begin!"

He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"As you can see. A pretty waitress came by to bring you drinks." He pointed at the tray like
exhibiting a famous piece of art. "The rules are simple. Choose a bottle. And drink it. No
throwing up. If you do, I will watch you lick it from the floor. The game ends when you have
swallowed every drop." He glanced at San. "And everyone is taking part."

He motioned for me to place the tray on the floor.

As I crouched to place it down, I made eye contact with Yunho. The kidnappers were behind
my back, so I formed a "no" with my lips and pointed at the green bottle so discreetly that he
most likely didn't notice. What could he even have done with the knowledge? He could have
chosen a person to be sacrificed... I had been stupid to even try to warn him. Now he would
blame himself if someone else drank the poison.

Before Yunho could do anything, Yeosang grabbed the green bottle.

"Wait," Yunho said.

"Why? I like green. You can take red or black. I like them even more."

"Why don't you take red or black if you like them more?" Yunho asked, trying to steal the
green bottle.

Yeosang looked at him sharply as if Yunho had just insulted him.

"Because you should always be considerate and leave the best options for others."

"Maybe others don't want red or black. Why would they be the best options? Especially the
black one. It looks suspicious," Yunho said, reaching for the green bottle.
"I can take the black one," Hyunjin, Felix, and Bang Chan said simultaneously. They stared at
each other, surprised by saying the exact same thing.

Yunho was right. Black was basically the color of death. It often represented something bad
or special in games, for example, in the pool. However, the black bottle resembled a can of
Pepsi. So, I guess it wasn't surprising that it had so many takers.

"I thought I would take it because it's my favorite color, but I can take another one, too,"
Felix said.

"Same," Bang Chan and Hyunjin said in a choir.

They stared at each other again, brows furrowed.

Yeosang opened the green bottle, but Yunho rushed to close it.

"No. The rules said we need to choose a bottle and drink it. So, let's do that together. We can
share all of the bottles. No one should drink a full bottle of anything, just in case."

"You want all of us to die, just in case?" Yeosang retorted and removed the cap from the
green bottle.

He placed the bottle mouth on his lips, but Yunho snatched it before he could take a sip. A bit
of liquid splashed on Yeosang's hands.

"Thank you, now I have to lick it."

Yeosang and Yunho glowered at each other, ready to throw hands or, at least, wrestle for the
green bottle. Yeosang already shifted closer to Yunho to get his drink back, but San's weak
whisper prevented their fight.

"We should do what Yunho said. If something seems really poisonous, I can drink it."

"Why on earth would you drink it?" Yeosang exclaimed, still riled up.

San leaned against a wall. The others had seated him there, but he slowly drooped down.

"I don't know", he said.

But he did know. We all did. He thought he wouldn't make it anyway.

After a sad silence, Bang Chan lifted the yellow bottle as if giving a toast.

"Let's choose this one first and circle it around until it's empty."

He took a sip and gave it to Felix, who followed his example.

The kidnapper-boss didn't mind the bending of the rules. He leaned back on his chair, rapping
the armrest, impatiently waiting for the idols to suffer.

Everyone looked fine when they finished the yellow bottle.

They chose red next.

"I feel a bit funny," Felix said after gulping some of the unknown liquid.

"It can't affect so fast," Bang Chan said, taking the red bottle from him.

I believed Felix. Either the yellow or the red bottle contained a kind of sedative because the
idols relaxed notably. They passed the next bottle faster than any other and didn't wrinkle
their noses before sipping.

"Three down, three to go. We can do it," Bang Chan said, lifting his fist up.

"Hwaiting!" Huynjin shouted and jumped up to perform a goofy dance.

"I told you I felt funny," Felix said, reaching for the black bottle.

It contained something bitter.

They coughed after even a little sip. Sounded like San nearly drowned. He gagged, then tilted
his head back, forcing himself to swallow the liquid.

Yeosang scolded him.

"Don't drink that much. I don't want to help you lick anything from the floor."

They took their time to finish the black bottle. It got passed around a couple of rounds more
than the previous ones.

The idols squirmed in discomfort when they finally set the empty bottle aside. Their faces
were paler than before. I felt nauseous just watching them.

"Let's do this quickly," Bang Chan said.

He reached for the green bottle, but Yunho quickly grabbed the purple bottle.

"Let's drink this first."

"Tastes like liquor," Felix said.

Bang Chan's face crumpled as if in sudden pain.

"This is a lot stronger than any soju I've tasted."

Hyunjin massaged his temples, eyes rolling back.

"Who said it was a good idea to mix alcohol and drugs? We should have all drank one bottle
alone."

"It's just a little amount of everything. We should be fine," Yunho said but pressed his hand
on his heart as if worried that it beat too fast.
They shook their heads, groaned, and winced to get the liquid down until only the green
poison was left. Yunho couldn't delay drinking it any longer. The optimistic part of me hoped
that Sunghoon had called the emergency number and a group of police special force officers
would storm in before the green bottle was passed around, but there were no police officers
nearby. The idols would have to swallow every drop of that poison.

"Best for last," Yeosang said.

Yuho narrowed his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," Yeosang said. "I know what I'm talking about. It tasted sweet,
like energy drinks."

Right. Yeosang had slurped the liquid from his hands earlier when Yunho had splashed it.
Maybe whatever was inside the green bottle wasn't bad in small quantities. After all, Yeosang
seemed to be fine.

The green bottle was passed around.

Yunho drank first. He looked at me, puzzled because I had warned him about a sweet drink
that didn't cause any immediate effects.

Maybe I had been wrong. Or the kidnappers had fooled me to see if I would try to help the
idols.

They began another round.

"Urgh... This doesn't feel good," Felix said, hunching on all fours. His neck tendons tensed.
"Oh... God..." he groaned and pulled down the collar of his shirt. His face was all red.

"Shit... It really doesn't look good," Hyunjing said and did the sign of the cross before taking
another sip.

He hesitated to hand the bottle to San, who already struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Give it to me. It's my turn," San whispered when Hyunjing was about to pass it to Yeosang.

San extended his arm to take the bottle. I hadn't noticed before, but his wrists were raw from
being tied up. Some rough material had skinned them bloody. He gulped down way too much
of the poison. I moved involuntarily because I had such a strong urge to take the bottle away
from him. Thank God, Yeosang grabbed it from him.

The poison began to kick in. Some of the idols broke a sweat. Others just panted, faces
reddened.

"We drank all of them," Bang Chan said. "Isn't it over now?"

The boss applauded them.

"Yes. Congratulations."
San fell to his side, juddering. He rolled on his stomach, pushing himself upward, forearms
on the ground. Grunting, he crawled forward as if he could have escaped the discomfort by
moving to another place. He puked light red liquid on the floor. I hope it wasn't blood.

Felix gagged too. He curled up into a ball, like in one of those yoga positions.

"Aaaashh...I feel like dying..."

I had failed them. My plan to escape had been useless. Even if I had managed to hide in the
forest, it would have taken a long time to get help for them.

I couldn't run away alone. San wouldn't survive any more games. Maybe none of them
would.

I needed to get them out, and the idols in other rooms too. Some of them might have been in
worse conditions than San. There was no guarantee they were all even alive.

I went to collect the empty bottles. As I kneeled to place them on the tray, I glanced at Bang
Chan, who wiped drops of sweat from his neck. He sank his hand in his curls, pushing the
hair back from his clammy forehead. I inched closer to him, pretending to reach for a bottle.

"I'll try to leave the door open. If I can't now, I'll do it later," I whispered.

His eyes widened. He couldn't reply because one of the masked men walked closer, but Bang
Chan had heard me, and that was enough.
 Chapter 12

I lingered outside the cell room door, hoping to leave the bolt lock open without anyone
noticing, but the boss waited for me to step beside him.

"That was entertaining," he said.

I did my best not to shudder.

"You said it would be nicer from the safe side, but it felt the same. Everything was still a
surprise to me. I didn't even know what each bottle contained. Does that mean you don't trust
me?"

He slapped my back.

"I trust you because you simply cannot betray us."

Although he most likely referred to some dirt they had on Hari, his words weighed on me.
What he said felt true, like it was physically impossible to go against the kidnappers.

What if I didn't betray them?

As far as I knew, they had kept their promise not to hurt Minho. Would the kidnappers truly
let us go, in the end, if I stayed loyal to them? A hot wave of guilt rushed over my face as I
thought about saving only myself and Minho. How could I even consider letting these
monsters play their games with the other idols? I must have been going insane!

The boss led me upstairs to the comfy room with good air and homely furniture.

"Stay with her," he said to a masked man.

"Yes, sir. Do you want me to handcuff her again?"

The boss smiled at me, his lips curving behind the balaclava fabric.

"No need for that. She is one of us."

There were no worse insults than that. I decided to show them that I indeed could betray
them. I would do so as soon as possible.

They let me move freely in the room but didn't let me leave it. When I tried casually walking
out, the masked man pinned me against a wall.

"If you walk to the door one more time, I will handcuff you again."

Afraid to lose the advantage, I sat on the couch, trying to come up with a plan.

The man began to make coffee. There was a machine on a corner table and a stained pan.
Soon the strong scented liquid dripped through the filter.

A loud rumble emanated from somewhere outside the door.

"Hey! Quickly! Someone, come and help me! Fuck! Is someone in there?! I'm dropping the
damn camera," a male voice shouted.

The man, who was responsible for me, rushed to help the other man on the stairs.

After the door slammed close behind him, I jumped up.

There wasn't much time, but I had an idea.

A familiar cardboard box stood in the corner of the room. Inside were a few leftover bottles
from the last 'drinking game'.

I took out a red and a yellow bottle because one of them had to contain something sedative.
The idols had loosened up after sipping from these bottles. Hastily, I removed the cap from
the red bottle, ready to pour its contents into the coffee.

I halted.

Both of the liquids wouldn't have fitted in the pot. The coffee would have gotten diluted too.

My palms sweated, listening to the sounds of the men on the staircase.

Hands shaking, I opened the water tank of the coffee maker. There wasn't much water left.
The coffee was almost ready. I poured all the liquid from both bottles into the tank and took
out the used filer with its smudged coffee powder. There were multiple used filters in a bin
near the table. I pushed the freshly used filter under some of the other trash. Then I spooned
coffee powder into a new filter.

Before I could press the button that starts to make coffee, I had to get rid of the old coffee in
the pot. I poured it into the yellow and red bottles. I did it on top of the trash bin because I
was in a hurry, and a lot of coffee spilled. It burned my fingers, but I fought through the pain,
biting the inside of my lower lip.

I shoved the empty pot under the filter and started the machine again.

Only a few seconds after setting the bottles back to their places, two men came in.

"Why did he want them there?" asked the man who had stayed with me before.

"For the night, I guess," the other one responded.

They sat on the sofa.

"I made some coffee," the man said.

"Nice. Need to stay awake," the other man responded. He sighed, checking the time. "Gotta
go soon. I'm guarding the front."

They rose.

"Oh... It's still dripping."

"Fucking old machine."

I kept my hands behind my back, wiping the coffee on my jeans.

When they finally filled their cups and started sipping, I prayed they couldn't taste anything
wrong.

"Girl, do you want some?" the first man asked.

"Uhm... Do you have tea? I don't drink coffee."

They laughed.

"I swear... the new generation is something different."

I figured there was no tea because the men ignored me again. They complained about how
tired they were and how they only had a couple of cigarettes left.

"But the pay is good. Never made that much driving a bus before."

The other man stretched his arms.

"The pay is goooood."

His eyelids drooped a little. He shook his head to stay alert.

"I need more coffee. You want a refill?"

The other one gave his cup to him.

They shared the remaining drink.

Whatever I had put in the water tank started to affect them.

"You like music?" asked the man who had talked about driving the bus.

He searched his pockets until he found a key chain. He jingled it to a beat and sang an old
folk song.

The other man, who had been in the room with me first, mumbled along the lyrics. He leaned
his head on the backrest of the sofa, gradually falling asleep.

"Dance with me," the singing man said to me.

"I don't know how to dance," I said, but the man grabbed my wrists and spun me around, all
the while belting out false notes in an old man's choir voice.

"Hey, you, play this," he said, offering me the keys. "I'll show you some moves."

I jingled the keys, regretting my choices. I should have made the coffee with the poison.

Stepping back and forth, the man lifted his hands. He wiggled his hips, pivoting around. The
spinning got to him, and he fell on his butt.

Laughing, he lay down on the floor.

"Phu... I'm getting old."

I took my chance to flee.

Either he didn't know that I wasn't supposed to leave the room, or then he was too high to
care, but he let me go.

I squeezed his keys in my fist as I tiptoed towards the staircase. On my way, I heard talking
voices from another room. One of the speakers had a commanding tone that sounded like the
boss. Thank God he was upstairs and not in any of the cell rooms.

My heart raced as I sneaked downstairs.

The narrow hallway on the basement floor echoed. The lights flickered, creating tremoring
shadows in front of me.

I made it to the iron door without bumping into any kidnappers.

The bolt screeched as I unlocked the door. I pushed it with all my weight. It didn't open fully,
but the gap was enough for people to fit through.

Bang Chan peeked outside, eyes wide.

"It's Filina," he said to the people inside. "Let's go."

The idols seemed to have sobered up a little, but their faces were still pale. Their eyes were
red and gleamy. Everyone else could walk normally, except San. He leaned on Yunho for
support. Technically, Yunho more or less dragged San behind him until he decided to carry
him on his back.

"This way takes you outside. But I don't know if there are guards," I said, pointing in the
right direction.

Bang Chan took the lead.

The others followed him.

Yeosang turned around.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'll go and find the others."

"I'll come with you," he said.

I was glad that he came with me. We nodded good luck to Bang Chan's group. They nodded
back. Then we went the opposite way.
 Chapter 13

We found another iron door bolted from the outside.

Yeosang pushed it open.

The room was dead silent. No sounds came out.

I peeked inside, heart racing.

A group of people hunkered around a lifeless body.

No...

Before I could recognize the person who lay on the floor, someone appeared in front of me,
nearly giving me a heart attack. Hongjoong leaned his elbow on the wall right before me. He
stood, legs crossed, one in front of the other. The relaxed position reminded me of cowboys
in Western movies.

"Shh..." he hushed and pressed his index finger on his lips. "Wooyoung is sleeping."

"Don't mind him. He is not okay," Jongho said from the other side of the room. "Neither is
Changbin."

Changbin's eyes darted to Jongho.

"What... what do you mean? I'm not intoxcisfaded! Can't you see I'm saving Wooyoung," he
said and demonstrated how he patted Wooyoung's leg.

Changbin began to stand up to show what else useful he could do, but Seungmin and I.N.
pulled him down.

I took a step closer to see Wooyoung's condition.

He shivered beads of sweat on his brow. His hair was wet, like after a shower.

"W- what happened to him?" Yeosang asked, rushing past me.

Jongho hovered his hand on Wooyoung's mouth, feeling his exhales.

"He drank something that made him scream in pain. Looked like a demon had possessed his
body,"Jongho explained, shuddering. "Then he stopped breathing. We had to give him CPR."

"Did he drink from the green bottle?" I asked.

"Yeah."

Jongho snapped his head up as he realized what I had said.

"Did you have to play that drinking game too?"

Before we could answer, I.N. spoke.

"Did they move you two here, in this room?"

"No, we are escaping. And we need to hurry," Yeosang said.

He lifted Wooyoung's upper body, grabbing him from under his arms. Jongho and Seugmin
helped him from the sides. They ended up carrying Wooyoung between them, his hands on
their shoulders.

Everyone rushed to the door except Hongjoong. He giggled when Changbin staggered out of
the room.

"Come on, we need to go," I said, extending my arm to guide Hongjoong out.

He didn't understand my gesture. Instead of walking in the right direction, he kissed the back
of my hand in the style of medieval knights.

I flicked my hand back.

"Seriously, Hongjoong, we are in danger."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Ooh! In danger! I have never been in danger before!"

It would have been easier to knock him unconscious and carry him, but it wasn't really an
option. So, I pushed him out the door.

Yeosang had already told the others which way to go, and they were receding at a good
speed.

"Hurry up. Follow them and be quiet," I whispered to Hongjoong as we sent him after the
others.

I.N. waited impatiently until Hongjoong reached them. The youngest had to guide both of the
intoxicated idols.

I prayed they got out discreetly. If they didn't, there was no hope for the people in the last
room.

Yeosang and I ventured deeper into the building. The hallway darkened the further we
walked. Every other lamp had burned out, and most that still worked flickered.

We pushed two doors open, only to find empty rooms.

Steps echoed somewhere behind us.

I pressed my back against the wall, hiding in the shadows.

Yeosang turned his ear toward the sound.

Our nervous breaths hummed in the hallway. There were no other sounds, so Yeosang
continued walking.

I followed him but couldn't shake the feeling that someone was close behind us.

A shadow moved in the corner of my eye.

I snapped my head in that direction.

It was a lamp that was about to burn out.

I was getting paranoid.

We passed three doors where the bolt was open. There was no point in checking unlocked
rooms, so we kept going.

"What are you looking for?" someone asked, poking my back.

I spun around, hands in fists, ready to protect myself.

Yeosang pushed me aside and grabbed the kidnapper by his collar.

Damn.

I had not expected that. Yeosang had always acted compliant and apologetic around the
kidnappers, but now he interrogated the man.

"What happened? Did they catch the others?"

Damn.

I had not expected this either.

It was not a kidnapper, but Hongjoong, who had followed us. His features stayed hidden in
the dim light, but I recognized his voice.

"What is this behavior, Kang Yeosang? Let go of me. I'm the captain."

Yeosang loosened his grip.

"You were supposed to go with the others. Where are they?"

"Somewhere there," Hongjoong said motioning toward the direction where he came from. "I
couldn't leave you two in danger. How could you possibly survive on your own?"

His words echoed in the hallway.

"Stop talking so loud," I hissed.

Yeosang pinched the bridge of his nose.

"We have no choice but to take him with us."

He spoke so low that I hardly heard him, although I stood beside him. Hongjoong, however,
had no difficulty hearing. He crossed his arms.

"Are you kidding me? No choice but to take me? I am good at this," he said.

"Good at what?" Yeosang asked sharply, clearly stressed out by the situation.

Hongjoong grinned.

"You name it. I'm good at everything."

He didn't even try to whisper. At that moment, it was hard to remember that I had ever
fangirled over him. I just wanted to shut him up. Of course, being high was not his fault, but I
couldn't help it. All my frustration got directed at him. I pressed my hand on his mouth before
he could continue speaking. I hadn't planned to shove him hard, but the impact pushed him
against one of the unlocked doors.

"Listen to me. I'm trying to find my brother. If he or anyone else gets hurt, it's your fault. So
don't speak a word from now on."

I instantly regretted the harsh words but couldn't take them back. Tears stung my eyes as I let
go of him.

Hongjoong straightened his shirt.

"Of course, I take full responsibility since I am the captain. But I'm telling you. I am good at
finding things too. See, I even found this," he said, picking a piece of gravel from the floor.

I could not deal with him.

I just couldn't.

Yeosang pulled me back. He patted my shoulder soothingly.

"Let's move forward."

We did. I let Yeosang deal with Hongjoong and concentrated on finding Minho.

Whenever I heard a noise, I glanced behind, scared to see kidnappers running our way.
However, it was always just Hongjoong walking casually like a model, stepping one foot in
front of the other.

When we finally came to a bolted door, loud yells echoed in the hallway behind us. This time
it was not Hongjoong. The kidnappers had found out about our escape.
 Chapter 14

Running steps and shouts reverberated in the hallway. The noise made it seem like the
kidnappers were everywhere, all at once, although I didn't see them yet.

"Come on! Push it," I said to Yeosang, who had frozen in place.

He came to his senses and helped me open the door to the room where the last four idols
were held captive.

Mingi, Han, Seonghwa, and Minho stared at us in panic.

Once they realized we weren't kidnappers, their jaws slacked.

"What's going on? What happened?" Seonghwa asked.

Minho rushed to me. He had never hugged me before, but now he squeezed me tight.

"You are okay. You're not hurt?"

I gripped his shirt, subconsciously drawing him toward the door because we really needed to
go. He didn't expect me to pull him forward, so our embrace turned into a mess. We
stumbled, arms and legs tangled.

"They are coming. Minho, they are coming", I whispered.

I was so frightened that my vocabulary had shrunk. These words were the only ones making
sense right now. Soon even that sentence became a meaningless string of sounds because I
repeated it over and over again.

Minho pressed his hands on my shoulders.

"Okay, we are going now. Don't panic."

How could I not panic when the kidnappers were running to us as we spoke and Hongjoong
stalled our escape? He went to shake hands with Han, tapping Mingi and Seonghwa on their
chests as he passed them. He behaved as if there were no worries in this world. I panicked
even more when I remembered that the kidnappers had brought yellow and red bottles to the
room of four, too, which meant that one of them had drunk the same thing as Hongjoong.

It might have been Han. His eyes drooped. However, that wasn't the most concerning thing
about him. His clothes had bloodstains, and he hissed in pain when Hongjoong shook his
hand. There was a puncture wound on his palm. I gasped as I realized that a dart had pierced
through it.

Seonghwa's trousers were also a little bloody, but he seemed okay. He was the first to move.

"Let's go!" he commanded, leading people toward the door.

He even guided me, pressing a hand on my back.

"Come on, Filina, Minho."

I smelled a hint of alcohol on his breath. Had he really drunk the same thing as Changbin?
That man had seen double, whereas Seonghwa had merely turned into a kindergarten aunty.

"Hongjoong, take my hand if you can't go in the right direction on your own," Seonghwa
said, dragging his captain out of the room.

It was not completely a good thing that Seonghwa took control of the situation because he did
everything without thinking. He led everyone farther away from the exit.

Yeosang ran behind them in the hallway, waving his hand.

"Not there! Not there! That's the wrong way!" he whisper-shouted.

I pressed Yeosang's hand down when I caught up to him because I realized that Seonghwa's
mistake could turn into a blessing.

"Actually, that way is better. We can go out through a bathroom window," I said.

I ran in the lead to show the way. Minho jogged beside me. I kept glancing at him to make
sure he was still there.

The kidnappers were close. Their shouts grew louder and louder. We would have gotten
caught if we had gone the same way as the people from the other rooms.

When we got to the bathroom, I began to open the stall door to show them the way out. By
then, Seonghwa had already climbed out the first window, which was too high for anyone
else but him and Mingi.

"All clear," Seonghwa said, extending his hand to the next person.

Mingi made room for Han. He squatted, offering his leg as an elevation so that Han could
step on his thigh to reach the window. Mingi's penitent expression implied that he was the
one who had hit Han with not one but multiple darts.

While Mingi helped Han, I climbed through the other window. Hongjoong and Minho
followed my example.

A cool night breeze tousled my hair as soon as my hands and knees touched the ground.
There was a storm coming. Heavy rain drops already splashed on my head and shoulders.

The wet weather made the grass slippery. Our feet slid as we ran. I still had only one shoe, so
it was worst for me. Running with only socks would have been better than this, but there was
no time to stop and throw the shoe away.

We were close to the forest when I fell. Minho dragged me up but didn't stop or properly help
me on my feet. He kept going while pulling me along until I managed to run again.
Farther away on the right, two flashlights illuminated trees. The shafts of the lights moved to
the ground, then back to the forest.

They were searching for us.

My blood ran cold when I heard a sound I had only ever heard in movies.

The banging of gunfire.

Minho dove on the ground, pushing me down with him. I hit my face on a branch.

"It's not here. They are not shooting at us. We need to keep going," Seonghwa said
somewhere ahead of us.

"Don't tell me we lost Hongjoong," Yeosang said next to me.

He and Minho were the only dark figures that I recognized.

"I'm not lost," Hongjoong said farther away.

I turned my head toward his voice, but instead of Hongjoong, I saw Mingi. He was
piggybacking Han.

"Hongjoong is there. Go get him," I said to Yeosang when I finally made out a figure near a
thick tree.

However, it was not Hongjoong because by the time I finished my sentence, Hongjoong
stood before us, but the dark figure remained by the tree.

My heart flipped. Not only that, but all my insides twisted into a knot.

We were going to die.

As my last act, I reached for Minho. I should have ducked or sprinted into the shadows, but if
I had to die, I wanted to hold his hand. He had cared for me like a brother I had never had.
Some naïve part of me thought that everything would be okay as long as he stood by my side.
That was probably what it felt like to be a little sister. I was fortunate to have experienced
that, even though only at the very end of my life.

Minho squeezed my fingers as the dark figure moved closer and turned into three people.

Two men carried one between them. They were Jongho, Wooyoung, and Seungmin.

A relieved sob escaped my lungs. I almost collapsed as the stress released but quickly pulled
myself together. We were still in danger. We still needed to find a way to civilization.

"If we find the bus, I think I have the keys," I said.

The idea gave everyone new energy, except Wooyoung and Han, but they were carried by
other people anyway, so it didn't matter.
It was easier to tramp through the forest when we had a clear goal.

We walked towards the road, or the direction where we believed it to be. The bus couldn't be
far from there.

Yeosang stopped abruptly.

"They caught us," he said.

"What? What did you say?" Minho whispered.

Yeosang tilted his head.

"I can hear them right behind us."

Minho hurried past him.

"Then we should go faster. Why did you stop?"

"No. We need to hide," Yeosang said. He lay down behind a small hill and yanked
Hongjoong there too.

I heard a crackle. Yeosang was right. Someone was very close.

The others heard it too.

We all slowly got down.

"Seonghwa left alone. He didn't hear us," Mingi whispered.

No one replied because a flashlight scanned the area near us.

"So, are we allowed to shoot or not? They are so fucking vague with the commands," a male
voice said.

"Why the Hell would they give us guns if we weren't."

"I meant, are we allowed to shoot to kill."

"I don't even care at this point."

A stick snapped under a heavy step.

"We are so fucked up if we don't find them"

They walked past us.

We waited until it got silent again.

Mingi, Jongho, and Seungmin stood up first.

"Hey! There are three of them!" a kidnapper shouted.

They opened fire. Their bullets thudded into the forest ground.

Mingi, Jongho, and Seungmin ducked, sprinting in different directions. They didn't come
back to our hideout.

I was too scared to look, but based on the sounds, the kidnappers ran after them.

The rest of us stayed hidden behind the hill. No one made a sound as we listened to the
gunfire that gradually moved farther away from us.

"We need to move," Minho said after what felt like hours of laying paralyzed on cold wet
ground.

My limbs were numb. I couldn't feel my feet until the unbearable tingling began that always
comes after poor circulation.

No matter how uncomfortable it felt, I didn't complain.

No one did.

We didn't talk as we set off.

Minho carried Han. Yeosang carried Wooyoung, and I made sure Hongjoong didn't wander
off.

It was only the six of us who experienced a miracle.

We stumbled upon the bus.

 Chapter 15

One of the keys opened the driver's door. The bus had likely been renovated from a truck or a
big van because there were two passenger seats in the front cabin. All in all, three people
could sit in the driver's compartment.

Minho climbed in.

"We can all fit in here."

He moved over the gearbox to the passenger's seat to open the door on that side, but it was
jammed. He wrenched the handle to no prevail.

While Minho fought with the door, Yeosang started the vehicle. He pressed multiple buttons;
one wiped the windscreen, and another turned on the hazard flasher. The lights blinked only
for a second before Yeosang quickly turned them off. He tried some more buttons, and the
doors to the back compartment opened with a whiz.

"Some of us should go to the back," Yeosang said. "We can't all fit in this small box."

Hogjoong and I jogged to the back. We had left Han and Wooyoung waiting there on the
other side of the bus.

While we ran to them, the engine stopped. Yeosang must have turned it off because there was
no use keeping it running until we were all safely on board. After all, the kidnappers could
have heard the motor rumbling.

Hongjoong had apparently sobered up a little because he helped Han into the bus without
anyone telling him to do so. He even buckled him up.

I went to Wooyoung, who was left on the ground like a forgotten toy.

There was no time to wait for stronger people to carry him, so I heaved him up myself. He
wasn't even that heavy, but it was difficult to get a good hold of him since all his muscles
were relaxed. If my grip loosened even a little, he slid down, limp like a rag doll.

Hongjoong gave me a hand. Together we dragged Wooyoung up the stairs into the bus.

I knocked on the wall that separated us from Yeosang and Minho, who were still in the front
cabin. For some reason, they had sat there rather than helped me with Wooyoung.

"We are all on board. Drive," I said, although they probably couldn't hear.

I knocked on the wall again.

Hongjoong gave up putting a seat belt on Wooyoung.

"Maybe they can't hear. Go in the cabin with them and tell them to drive."
I jumped down the stairs and sprinted to the driver's door.

The reason why they hadn't started to drive became obvious as soon as I got there.

Yeosang stood at the open door, his upper body hunched into the driver's legroom. He
reached his hand under the seat.

Minho moved impatiently on the passenger's side.

"Did you find it? Can you see it?" he asked.

Of course, they had lost the key. Why did I ever think we could successfully run away? It was
impossible. We could never get away! We would end up like...

No. I pushed the thought away. The others could have survived. They must have escaped into
the forest somewhere.

"I found it," Yeosang said, jingling the keys.

That's when a strong flashlight pointed at us.

"They are trying to take the bus!" a man shouted about a hundred feet from us.

Shit!

Shit!

Shit!

The kidnappers were running closer.

I scrambled up into the driver's seat. Yeosang had climbed there faster than me. He already
sat behind the wheel, inserting the key into the ignition. I crawled over him, trying to get to
the passenger side. Minho pulled me, but the hem of my shirt got stuck in the gear stick. I
tried to free myself. Minho didn't notice. He kept pulling me, so I fell headfirst into the
legroom. In the process, my feet hit Yeosang in the face. He didn't care. The adrenaline was
too high for pain. He continued starting the car.

The engine rattled.

Yeosang drove backward, flattening some saplings on our way. We nearly hit a full-grown
tree too. Its branches scratched the windows. The screeching sound sent chills down my
spine.

I sat on the passenger's seat next to Minho when a sharp snap startled me.

A bullet flew through the car window. It left a small hole in the glass.

Minho pushed my head down.

The bus bounced up and down as Yeosang sped up on the bumpy ground. He steered toward
the road, leaving the kidnappers behind.

A loud bang came from the passenger's compartment. Someone, likely Hongjoong, banged
the wall behind our seats.

"See what's happening back there," Minho asked.

I stared at him, confused.

"How?"

"There's a peek window behind your seat."

I turned my head.

Sure enough, a small darkened window let the driver see the passenger's compartment. From
the other side, the wall looked solid. Hongjoong had no idea that I watched his panicked face.
He was shouting and knocking on the wall. I couldn't make out his words.

"Something's wrong," I said.

Minho glanced at the side mirror.

"You didn't close the back doors. Yeosang, close the back doors!" Minho shouted.

I leaned over Minho to see what he saw.

Two kidnappers run after us. One man reached the backdoor. He held onto the door frame,
pulling himself on board.

Yeosang sped up, and the bus jolted even more. It worked against the kidnapper, who dangled
half outside. He was struggling.

Yeosang pressed a button that closed the doors, but there was a safety mechanism that didn't
allow the door to shut close when something was in between. The door re-opened
automatically.

There was nothing we could do. It didn't help that only the injured and Hongjoong were at the
back. They couldn't fight back.

Only a second after these thoughts, the kidnapper flew out. I saw a glimpse of Hongjoong's
boot. He had kicked the man!

Wow...

I had been wrong.

They could fight back. Good thing, Hongjoong had sobered up.

"Close the door now! The man fell down!" I screamed.

Yeosang pressed a button, and the doors closed.

We reached a road and drove along it, hoping to see a house or even a guide sign that would
hint at the place where we were.

The car drifted from the right lane to the left. Yeoasang drove recklessly but not even close to
the maximum speed. He was obviously not the best at controlling cars. In a normal situation,
Minho and I would have probably asked him to pay more attention to the road. Now we sat in
silence, keeping an eye out for possible pursuit cars.

"I lied that my name was Hari," I said.

Minho's chest heaved. He breathed faster, not looking at me.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I gained their trust with that. They knew her."

Minho stared at the road, clenching a grab handle.

"How-"

He swallowed the rest of the sentence.

"They had promised her not to hurt you. They told me they wouldn't because of a deal she
made with them. Or something."

Minho's shoulders tensed. His face looked pale and clammy. My heart ached, seeing him like
that.

I lay my palm on top of his slightly trembling hand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you. But I felt like I had to," I said.

He drew his hand away from me, turning to roll down the side window. A blast of air blew on
my face.

"Minho... I... It..." I began to say, but I didn't hear myself from the roaring wind.

"Could you close the window! It's distracting!" Yeosang yelled.

Minho was gasping for air. His shoulders moved upward with each shallow breath he took.
He began rolling the window up, as Yeaosang had asked, but couldn't finish the job. His
hands were trembling now for real. He turned his back to me and Yeosang, pressing his
forehead to the half-open window.

"You think this happened... because of my sister?"

I put my hand on his back, petting him with my thumb.

"It's not your fault."

I pulled my phone out.

"I'll call the police immediately when there's a signal."

Yeosang changed gears. The engine thundered.

"Good plan, but could you please close the window. This is already hard as it is. Especially
because I don't have a license."

Minho turned to look at him.

"You don't have a driving license?!"

Yeosang stepped on the gas.

"No. But Yunho taught me how to drive a stick shift. We had some cars in our music video
once."

Suddenly it made sense that the bus didn't stay on the right lane. Yeosang's lack of skill also
explained why we sometimes slowed abruptly, even in the most gradual curves.

"Why didn't you say before? We should change the driver," Minho said.

Yeosang sighed, relieved.

"That would be nice."

He slowed down. Before he could pull to the side of the road, headlights flashed in the side
mirror. A black Jeep drove behind us. It approached at a dangerous speed.

"Go, go, go! They are following us!" Minho shouted.

Yeosang pressed the gas pedal, gripping the steering wheel. The speed indicator climbed up.

I held my breath as we came to a steep curve.

Yeosang cut through the side of the road. The bus jumped up and down. Little stones flew
around. Some of them pinged the widows and the sides of the car. A sizable piece of rock hit
the windscreen. It fractured the glass near the steering wheel, making driving even harder.

Amazingly, Yeosang managed to get us back on the road.

"They are shooting!" Minho screamed.

I looked at the Jeep through the side mirror.

A man pushed his upper body out of the moving car and aimed at us with a gun. He fired.

The side mirror we were looking at shattered into small pieces. I shrieked. Minho quailed too.

Yeosang glanced at the mirror on his side. He pressed his lips into a thin line.
"Are they getting closer?" Minho asked.

Yeosang took a better look.

"I think so..."

As he estimated the distance between us and the Jeep, he subconsciously turned the steering
wheel to the left. The bus drifted to the wrong side of the road.

"HEY! LOOK AT THE ROAD!" Minho shouted at the top of his lungs, gripping anything he
got hold of, which was my thigh and the grip handle in the ceiling.

I screamed too, but my sentence wasn't understandable. Even I couldn't say for certain what I
had intended to say.

Yeosang fixed the direction, but he was a bit too late.

A loud smash shook the whole vehicle. Despite hitting something, the bus kept moving
forward.

Minho pressed a hand on his chest.

"Shit! Did we just hit a traffic sign?"

"Yes. And it took my side mirror," Yeosang said, head pushed forward, eyes glued to the
road. "It had the name of some town or something."

I opened my phone.

"Did you read it?"

"How could I have read it. It basically flew past us."

In the corner of my phone screen, there was a signal bar. A signal bar! Hands shaking, I
dialed 112.

An operator answered immediately.

"We were kidnapped, and now we are escaping."

They asked my name.

"Filina. Filina Young. I'm with Lee Min Ho and Kang Yeo Sang, and..."

"Wait a minute. Don't hang up."

My heart pounded. I was scared that the call would cut off.

Another voice spoke on the phone. This time it was a man.

"Filina. You were kidnapped along with the members of the groups Stray Kids and Ateez. Is
that correct?"

"Yes."

"We are currently locating your cellphone. Are there people who are hurt?"

"Yes. Not all of us got into this bus. Yeah... uhh,... We are driving a bus, on some mountain
roads. There is forest everywhere. And a black Jeep is following us. And they are shooting at
us."

He asked more questions about the people on the bus and how many were hurt, but I kept
talking about the black Jeep. I don't know what got into me. I guess I was terrified because
we couldn't see the pursuit car that could have driven beside us any minute now. When that
happened, we would be shot dead for sure.

"Miss, is there another person who can talk to me?" the man asked.

I shoved the phone to Minho. His eyes widened.

"Yes. sir. Lee Min Ho," he said to the phone.

Minho had answered about twenty questions when we came to a curve at a too-high speed.

The brakes screeched.

We crashed into a tree.

The sudden stop jolted my head forward. I wore a seat belt, so I was fine, but Yeosang and
Minho didn't. They hit their foreheads on the windscreen. Luckily, the bus had almost
stopped before the crash, so the impact wasn't deadly.

"Ouch..." Minho moaned. "Where did I drop the phone?"

He crunched to search for it from the floor. Thank God he did because a bullet flew through
the window and sank to his headrest only a second after he bent down.

The black Jeep parked on the side of the road in front of us.

We hid in the legroom, listening to gun-crackle and the snapping sounds of bullets hitting the
engine bonnet and the windscreen.

Even the sky turned against us. Rain tapped on the car hood, making it hard to differentiate
the sounds of bullets from the storm. It poured so hard that the side window turned into a
waterfall.

I couldn't see outside, so my eyes fixed on something pink that peaked from between the two
passenger seats. It was the corner of my phone case.

I pulled the phone out.

The emergency call was still on.

"Hello? Hello? Is someone there?" the operator or police officer asked on the other side.

"We cr- crashed. We crashed into a tree! They a- are shooting at us!" I stuttered in response.

"Can you turn the speaker on? I want to talk to all of you."

I did as he asked, but when I pressed the speaker icon, the phone screen dimmed. My battery
was running low.

The call lagged, delaying what the man said.

"Don't panic. We already know your location. Two police helicopters and a medical
helicopter will be there in 15 minutes. Stay in the car. See if th-"

The operator got cut off because my phone shut down.

Minho did exactly what the man had told us not to do. He panicked.

"See if what? What do we need to see?" Minho grabbed the dead phone, pressing its side
buttons. "Fifteen minutes! They will kill us before that!"

Yeosang tried starting the car, still hiding in the legroom. The engine sputtered, soon fading
into silence. Yeosang turned the key repeatedly, but the car only made a weird clicking sound.

"They would get to us if they wanted to," he said. "I don't understand why they haven't yet
busted these windows in? Do they think that we have a gun or something?"

I nodded a little.

"You are right. They shoot from afar."

Minho bit the inside of his cheek, brow furrowed.

"Maybe we do have a gun."

He pressed his back as close to the seat as possible, making room in front of the glove
compartment. He opened the flap, and to our surprise, inside the recess, there was a handgun.
Minho examined it, clicking the safety lever off.

"Be careful," I said.

He clicked the safety back on, pulling the magazine out to check if there were any bullets.
The chamber was full.

"Okay. Now we can hold our position for 15 minutes," Minho said.

Yeosang eyed him doubtfully.

"Do you know how to shoot?"

"Can't be that hard."

Minho had barely finished his sentence when the window on his side was smashed in. Pieces
of glass and water splattered over us. A masked man hit the window repeatedly with a rock
the size of his fist until the hole was big enough for a human to go through.

Minho raised his gun to shoot the intruder, but the kidnapper was faster. He grabbed Minho
by the hand that held the firearm, pulling him out through the broken window.

Minho's legs were still inside, but his upper body dangled out in the pouring rain. I hugged
his legs, pulling him back in. The intruder dragged him in the opposite direction with violent
jerks, simultaneously twisting the gun from Minho's hand.

Suddenly, the gun went off with a loud bang. The kidnapper groaned in pain. He let go of
Minho, who quickly hoisted himself back in the car.

"I think I shot his foot!"

He was out of breath, and his eyes were wide. Water dropped in them from his soaking wet
hair. He fluttered his rain-beaded lashes and pushed his hair back.

"Hopefully, it takes about fifteen minutes for them to come up with another plan," Minho said
as he lowered himself into the legroom.

Yeosang peeked outside.

"Even ten minutes should be enough."

After about five minutes, the bus jerked. I looked through the peek window to see how the
guys were doing at the back. Not well. The kidnappers had nearly destroyed the first door to
the passengers' compartment.

"They are trying to get to Hongjoong, Han, and Wooyoung!" I exclaimed.

Minho took a look as well.

"I have to stop them," he said. "At least I can distract them until the choppers get here."

He was about to put his head out the broken window, but I pulled him back in.

"No! What are you doing?! They will shoot you. Get down! Please."

Minho cast a dark look my way.

"Didn't you say they promised not to hurt me?"

I clenched his wrist.

"Stop. Minho! They think I'm still Hari. They think the deal is off!"

Minho turned to look at me properly. He squeezed my arm just beneath the shoulder.
"Let me help them. I have to do it. I have to fix this. I..."

His voice broke, distracting me. Subconsciously I softened my grip on him, which was a
mistake. He used the opportunity to climb out the window.

I heard a heavy thud as he landed on the ground.

My heart raced, and a tight knot formed in my gut.

I have to fix this. That could have been the last thing Minho ever said... He was an idiot! As
if he could have fixed anything by getting himself killed!

"What do we do? Yeosang! What do we do? He just jumped out! What do we do?!"

Yeosang stared at me, still in the same position as before. He crouched under the steering
wheel.

"Do- do you want me to go out and..."

"No!" I said quickly. "I don't know-."

A gunshot paused our conversation.

There were four more reports.

Then we heard the whirring of a helicopter. The Police had come to save us!
 Chapter 16

A group of police officers had rappelled down from a flying helicopter. Now they were
shouting and shooting outside.

The black Jeep took off, tires squealing.

Running steps splashed on the wet ground. Someone walked close to the broken window, and
a radiophone crackled.

"Group 4, can you hear me. Helicopter D follows an escape vehicle. Where are you?"

"We are driving Road 56 toward the north," a distorted voice replied.

The walkie-talkie rustled some more.

"Work with Helicopter D to stop the escape vehicle. They will give you directions. The
vehicle is a black Jeep Gladiator. Four armed men."

"Copy that. We will contact helicopter D."

The police officer on the other side of the passenger's door grabbed the handle, which was
jammed. He yanked it with full force. Because the door didn't open, he peeked in from the
shattered window.

"Hi! Everything is all right. You are safe now. We will get you out of there."

Yeosang opened the driver's door.

"Ohh... well. You can just come out as well," the police officer said. "I thought you were...
Never mind..."

He jogged to the other side of the bus to see that we got out safely. Then he guided us toward
a medical helicopter that landed on the road a couple of hundred feet from us.

Four people waved red lights to show the landing spot. The propels chopped the air, blowing
a strong wind on our faces.

I turned to look behind us to find Minho, but the night concealed everything except the KNP
SOU officers, who wore bright headlamps. Raindrops drew white lines in their spotlights,
making the scene look like a murder site from a noir movie.

"Did you see my brother? He was outside!" I asked the officer, who took us toward the
helicopter.

"Don't worry about the others. Everyone will get help."

"Please, let me check that he is okay! Did you see him? He tried to fight the kidnappers."
"Yes. We saw him. It's better to wait until the medical personnel can help him."

My heart sank like a cold stone.

"Is he hurt?"

Before the officer had time to answer, I dodged his guiding arm and ran back toward the bus.

Three police officers stood by a figure who sat on the ground, leaning against a tree trunk. I
recognized him even before a headlamp illuminated his outline. One of the policemen
hunkered in front of Minho, gripping his wrist sternly.

"Let go of the gun. You don't need it anymore."

Minho didn't register what was said to him. He squeezed the black metal handle, staring into
nothingness. I rushed toward him, but a tall female officer blocked my way. She pushed me
farther from Minho, hands extended like preparing to hug me but never actually committing
to an embrace. I tried peeking at Minho from behind the woman.

"Minho! What's going on? Are you okay?"

My words woke him up from the trance-like condition. His eyes locked on mine. Since his
attention was directed elsewhere, a police officer forced his hand open and collected the gun
into a plastic bag. Minho glanced at the men around him, confused. He began standing up,
but the officers pressed him down.

"Easy! Don't move. We need to wait for paramedics."

Soon enough, people in orange uniforms showed up. Some of them hurried into the bus,
carrying Wooyoung out on stretchers. Han and Hongjoong were wrapped in blankets that
reminded me of aluminum foil. They plodded toward the helicopter.

Two paramedics came for Minho.

"He was shot near the chest area," a police officer told them.

I would have passed out then and there if someone hadn't supported me from the back. The
person holding me up lay a light blanket on my shoulders. I was too busy staring at Minho to
acknowledge my helper.

"Okay, let's see where the bullet hit you," a paramedic said, kneeling before Minho.

An orange back blocked my vision. I stepped closer to see what they did to him, but the
person who had given me a blanket ushered me toward the helicopter. My legs were too weak
to resist.

They run their hands up and down my body, touching and tapping.

"Do you feel pain anywhere?"

I shook my head.

"Not even here?" a man asked, pressing my ankle.

"Oh yeah... It does hurt a little."

Another paramedic appeared next to me.

"No major injuries here?"

"No."

"Good. But we need to leave."

"Yes. Is he stable?"

"For now."

They didn't specify who was stable. Wooyoung? Or maybe Minho? Questions and worries
piled up in my head until I felt dizzy again.

A gray-haired police officer joined the two paramedics. He nodded in my direction.

"Can I borrow her?"

"We are taking off. Some of them need intensive care. Urgently."

"But not all of them," the police officer said. "Is she okay?"

"She has only minor injuries."

"Leave her with us. An ambulance will take her to a throughout check-up later."

The paramedic scratched the back of his head.

"Sure... I guess... Yeah... We can do that."

They didn't ask if I wanted to stay behind with heavily armed special case officers. I certainly
did not! However, I had no choice because the older policeman pulled me toward a police car
that just arrived.

"Call me Senior Inspector Suk," he said as he knocked on the hood of the police car.

A bulky man with a thin mustache came outside. Officer Suk tapped the younger man on his
back.

"This is Inspector Toh. And that woman behind the wheel is Assistant Inspector Ryu."

I nodded, gulping.
Senior Inspector Suk opened the back door for me, motioning for me to get in. His
mannerism reminded me of a polite taxi driver. I sat on the back seat, inching farther, when
he followed me into the car and sat beside me.

"Let's talk a bit. I know you're scared, but you are not in danger anymore," he said. "You sent
a message to a friend, mentioning that you were held in a basement. Correct?"

I nodded.

He referred to Sunghoon, right? A friend. Had Sunghoon called himself that? My friend.

"We haven't found the building yet. A helicopter is searching the nearby area, but it would
help if you took us back the same way you drove here. Can you do that?"

"I... can try," I said, although thinking about going back made my chest tighten.

"Good," Senior Inspector Suk said and patted the driver on her shoulder.

She took the hint and started the car.

A police helicopter followed us. Technically, they followed my directions. The road looked
different when driving back. My palms sweated. What if I messed up?

As far as I remembered, Yeosang had always turned left unless the road to the right had
looked wider. There hadn't even been that many diverging points since the road snaked
around a mountain most of the time.

"Right from here... I think..." I said when we came to a small road that probably led to the
place where the kidnappers had parked the bus.

Senior Inspector Suk's radiotelephone hissed.

"We see a building," someone from the helicopter informed.

"Search the area with a heat camera."

"On it."

We drove forward. Long slender weeds and saplings created stark shadows on the road bank.
I hated this place. Somewhere in the darkness, masked men were lurking, ready to attack. I
didn't see them, but I felt their malevolence.

A man stood in the middle of the road shading his eyes from the headlights. Assistant
Inspector Ryu hit the brakes. Inspector Toh took his gun and prepared to face the man, who
rushed toward us.

"That's Yunho! Don't shoot him!" I yelled.

Yunho panted. His face was covered in beads of sweat. He held onto the opening car door.
"We... need... help...."

Senior Inspector Suk got out. He ordered officers from other cars to gather around him. Then
he turned his full attention to Yunho.

"Who needs help specifically?"

"San... I left him... behind those trees. He can't move."

A group of officers went to secure the area. Soon after, an ambulance arrived.

Senior Inspector Suk strode around, giving orders. Then he came back to the car.

"Thank you for helping us. We don't need you here anymore. You two will go with this
ambulance."

Yunho and I followed his command and traveled with San. He was tied to a gurney. The
ambulance personnel busied around him, giving him air with a bag valve mask.

"Make sure he gets oxygen, but let him breathe on his own," a paramedic said to another.

"But he doesn't breathe well."

"It's probably because of a fracture."

"Do you think the lung is punctured?"

The shortest paramedic ran her plastic gloved finger on San's leg.

"Are these cuts under the jeans?"

"We can't do anything about them now... Give him saline."

"What about something for pain?"

"No... Look at his eyes. God knows what he's had."

The orange uniforms faded into an abstract piece of art where colors were the only thing
making sense. Everything happened in a haze. I felt like I was about to faint but never fully
blacked out.

They gave me water and something that tasted like sugar and salt.

We were taken to the closest hospital but later flown to a private hospital in Seoul.

They took blood tests until my arms got numb from all the poking and pressuring.

I wanted to drop on the floor and stay there. I had never felt so exhausted.

I didn't even notice when they came, but all of a sudden Mike and Ae Ri were by my side.
Mike hugged me, patting my back.
"My little girl. You're safe now," he murmured into my hair.

I sniffled.

Mike smiled the kind of heavy hearted smile that is both happy and sad at the same time.

"It's okay. You can cry. I have tissues."

I sobbed on his shoulder, and he held me like I was the most fragile thing in the world.

"They said you can come home," he said, nudging me. "Shall we?"

"What about Minho?"

Ae Ri stroked a hair from my wet cheek.

"They will keep him here for a little longer. But he will be okay."

Mike gently guided me out of the cold white room, but I was not ready to go home.

"What about Hari?" I asked.

Ae Ri studied me, slightly narrowing her eyes.

"She is home."

"Why? She can't be there... I need to speak to the police."

Ae Ri snapped at me.

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Mike's jaw dropped.

"Hey... she's been through a lot."

His voice got lower than usual. It was the tone he used when he was hurt but wanted to sound
strong and masculine to cover it up.

Ae Ri leaned her head back, closing her eyes. It was her way of suppressing unwanted
emotional bursts. She tugged my shirt lightly, straightening a crinkle.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice, but Hari has nothing to do with this. I know you
hate her, but don't drag her into this out of spite."

"I'm not! She has a lot to do with this. I will not go home if she is there. I can't! I need to
speak to the police."

Ae Ri glanced around, making sure no one heard me.

"Don't shout at me! Especially in my hospital. Everyone knows me here, and I would rather
not let them see how I quarrel with my stepdaughter."

Wait... what? She owned this place! Didn't she work in the field of media or politics or
something? I guess she could own a hospital too. No wonder she had so much money.
Honestly, I would have believed if she had clamed to own half of Seoul.

Despite Ae Ri's piercing glare, I turned to a police officer who roamed the hallway.

"I need to give urgent information about the abduction case. A witness statement."

The policeman tilted his head.

"Oh... yes, you are the girl I was looking for. I needed to ask you to come to the police station
tomorrow at six."

"I need to speak to someone right now. It's urgent."

Ae Ri pressed a hand on my shoulder. She smiled and bowed to the policeman.

"I'm sorry about this, officer. Tomorrow will work fine. She is still quite shocked about it all."

I talked over her.

"No. Please, I need to speak to Senior Inspector Suk immediately."

My voice rose high in the end because Ae Ri dug her fingers under my collarbone. She
pinched like a hawk.

The officer eyed us for a second.

"Let's get you to the station then, if it's urgent," he said. "But I can't guarantee that Senior
Inspector Suk will be there."
 Chapter 17

I waited for Senior Inspector Suk in a small interrogation room at the police station. The
clock visors clicked past three. I had thought that they released me from the hospital the same
night we were rescued, but it was already the next day, and I hadn't slept a wink.

My head spun. I massaged my temples, hoping to release the dull ache that had lasted so long
that I had forgotten what it felt like to not feel pain.

"Hello there. You wanted to have the interview right away. How are you holding up?" Senior
Inspector Suk said as he entered the room with a round-faced woman officer.

They sat on the other side of a black table that reminded me of every K-drama with a police
plotline.

Senior Inspector Suk put on dark-framed glasses. He looked like a good-natured teacher
rather than a cop when he opened a file and flipped through papers.

A knock on the door disturbed his shuffling of the sheets of paper. He turned to look at a
tanned slim man who entered the room.

"I'll replace Inspector Mun. This is classified as a high confidentiality case," the entering man
said.

The round-faced woman jumped up, blushing. She bowed before fleeing the room.

"I'm Superintendent General Kang from Seul Metropolitan Police agency, criminal
investigation," the man said, straightening his tie. "Tell me everything you remember starting
from the morning of the abduction."

The last thirty hours had mixed up in my head. It was impossible to recall the chronological
order of things. I jumped from moment to moment, suddenly returning to mention another
detail I had previously forgotten.

"The kidnappers said they had promised Hari that they wouldn't hurt Minho," I explained
once I got to that part.

Superintendent General Kang leaned his forearms on the table.

"Did they say that exactly? Did they use her name before you introduced yourself as Hari?"

"They said they had promised me not to hurt my brother, and they thought I was Hari."

Kang scratched his neck, sucking his lips like he was suppressing a yawn.

"It sounds like the man played mental games with you."

"He spoke to me as if he knew Hari from before," I insisted.

"And what was his immediate reaction when you introduced yourself as Hari?"

I paused to think. The kidnapper had not recognized the name at first. However, his dark eyes
had twinkled in realization later, when he had remembered Hari.

"It didn't take him long to recognize the name. And when you think about the phone call that
I overheard at home. Hari must have been involved," I said.

"I understand why you feel that way, but we look at the facts here. Not your feelings. We will
take your sister in for questioning because of our protocol. However, I suggest you work on
that relationship in family therapy," Superintendent General Kang said, chuckling at his own
wittiness.

Senior Inspector Suk didn't find it funny. He raised his eyebrows and coughed a little.

The interview left me close to tears. I felt like a fool, although my doubts about Hari were
reasonable. Superintendent General Kang had certainly been a bully in high school and
continued his ways at the workplace because his gaze was condescending at best and
judgmental at worst. There was nothing positive about the way he acted. I think he was the
one playing mind games with me, but I couldn't call him out, and neither could Senior
Inspector Suk. For most of the interview, the lower-ranking policeman sat quietly, hiding
behind a laptop screen.

Utterly defeated and humiliated, I returned home with Ae Ri and Mike.

I slumped into my bed, covering myself with a fat blanket.

***

Mike was in my room when I woke up the next day. I had slept nearly seventeen hours.

"Here is your phone. And I brought you something to eat."

He placed a tray on my bedside table. The smell of green tea filled my room with its homely
aroma.

"Thanks," I said.

I connected my phone to a charger and opened Instagram as soon as the power agreed to turn
on. Sunghoon was still at the top of my direct messages.

"Thank you for calling the cops, although my message was all over the place. We got rescued
the day before. I'm home now.

And block that person who impersonated me.

Wait, don't block her. Send me the name."

Sunghoon read my DMs immediately.

"Thanks for telling me. I was worried.

Would you mind seeing me in person?"

Why was he like this? As If it would have been very troublesome to meet him. Of course, I
didn't mind seeing him in person. Some people literally paid to meet him, and he knew I was
one of them since I had been at the Enhypen meet and greet. Now, I had an even better reason
to see him. I wanted to explain that I was not a crazy person fighting at concerts and lying
about getting abducted.

I began typing my answer, but deleted it all when I saw three dots indicating that he was still
writing.

"It's just that I feel like I need some kind of closure. I've been so unsure of what's happened to
you that I will keep thinking about it unless I see that you are really fine."

I stared at the message. Did I see that right? He used the term CLOSURE. The text would
have been sweet if it wasn't for that horrid term.

"Yeah, let's meet," I wrote without any emojis. I didn't want to be too friendly because he
already wanted to get past our friendship.

He sent me an address and a time suggestion.

Mike crossed his arms.

"Who are you texting? Your food gets cold."

"A friend that I will meet in the evening," I said and ate some of the noodle soup to make
Mike happy.

I was still full from the soup when Mike dropped me off at a small beef restaurant. He eyed
the place, lowering his head to see through the passenger side widow.

"I would like to meet that friend of yours."

"Don't worry about him. He is very nice, and I will probably never see him again after this."

Mike furrowed his nose.

"I don't understand young people."

"It's not a young people's problem. It's just me," I said before giving him a sneaky grin and
slamming the door shut.

Mike reached to open it again.

"I'll be waiting here! And don't you dare leave anywhere with that one-day friend of yours!"

I waved at him, happy to see the funny side of him after a long time.
The restaurant had heavy wooden furniture. Sunghoon probably liked the place because the
backrests of the chairs were so tall you could eat in peace without being seen from the other
tables.

I spotted him at a corner table, flipping a menu. He wore a cap that shaded his features.

"Hi," I said, taking a seat across from him.

Sunghoon lifted his gaze, placing the menu on the table. His eyes met mine. The sudden eye
contact was too intense for both of us. He quickly pushed the list of meals toward me, and I
turned to watch it with pretended eagerness.

"I'm happy to see you healthy and... well," Sunghoon said.

"I'm not doing that well, actually."

"How... why...? I mean, obviously, you can't be well after all that..."

I had forgotten how awkward he was sometimes. It didn't help that I was even worse. Talking
to acquaintances was a nightmare. However, being awkward together wasn't that bad. It made
me feel like we were close in a weird way.

"My brother is in hospital... I don't even know if everyone survived. And I shouldn't even talk
about this."

The CEO of JYP had sent me an email asking me not to share any details of the abduction
case except with the Police.

Sunghoon poured water into two glasses.

"There was no news about the whole thing. I didn't know if it was true because the Police
never contacted me again," he said.

"It was very true," I said, sipping the lemon-tinted water. "But the police are a bunch of
idiots."

Sunghoon swallowed water down the wrong way. His face reddened as he tried to gulp
before coughing. He covered his mouth with a napkin.

"Sorry."

I didn't know how to reply, so we sat silently until a waiter took our order.

Sunghoon must have regretted meeting me in person. He stared at the table surface, not
moving an inch, as if time had stopped.

"Why do you think that?" Sunghoon asked, raising his head.

"Think what?"
"About the police."

"Remember the girl who attacked me at your meet and greet? Hari is my stepsister. She is
probably the person who followed you, pretending to be me. I think she also worked with the
psychos who abducted us, but the Police don't believe me, and now I have to continue living
in the same house with her."

I had begun my rant in a pissed-off tone, but towards the end, my voice squeaked, nearly
breaking.

Sunghoon straightened his back, ready to lean over the table to comfort me, but instead of
gently patting the back of my hand, he took his glass and whirled it.

"I'm sorry to hear that. She seemed crazy."

"She is. Let me see the fake account she made."

Sunghoon pulled out his phone. It was the newest model of Samsung that was advertised at
nearly every bus stop. He turned the screen toward me. @YunglingFia had over a hundred
followers and ten posted pictures. The first ones were stolen from my old Facebook account
that I had abandoned years ago. The latest posts were from my Instagram. I had never seen a
couple of the nature pics.

"No way..." I said. "Hari must know how to hack. She didn't even know me back in 2016. Did
you see the dates?."

The first photos were posted five years ago.

"That's why I believed it was you," Sunghoon said.

"Still... How could you think so low of me? This person is clearly a bitch. Did you even read
the captions?"

He tried to pull the phone back.

"I didn't know you that well."

"Wait... did you talk to her?" I asked, moving to his direct messages.

He yanked the phone from me.

"Please, let me see. I need to understand why she is doing this," I pleaded.

Sunghoon scrolled the chat, reminding himself of what he had said to Hari. He blushed so
hard that his ears turned red.

"You have to understand that I thought it was you... And you seemed really nice on the
plane," he muttered, handing me the phone.
Their conversation started relatively normally until Hari demanded a picture of his face to be
sure it was him. Sunghoon sent a selfie of him waving. Hari then told him he looked hot, and
Sunghoon sent a winking emoji.

I glanced at Sunghoon, who pretended to give his full attention to the waiter who brought our
meals. Sunghoon's cheeks were rosy, and when he noticed I was watching, he quickly looked
down as if intrigued by the beef on his plate.

From there, their conversation only got worse. Hari asked if Sunghoon wanted to meet her,
and Sunghoon suggested a place similar to the restaurant that he had chosen for our meeting
place. However, Hari said she was paranoid about people seeing them together. She used
crazy fans that would send her death threats as an excuse to meet at a hotel instead, but
Sunghoon didn't like the idea. He started to respond with shorter and shorter messages.

"It's not like we have to do anything, although it's a hotel. Unless you want to 😉," Hari
wrote.

"I'm actually too busy rn," Sunghoon replied.

It was the last message he had sent.

Hari explained something about being drunk when she wrote some of the more suggestive
messages. She apologized and asked if Sunghoon would still meet her at a restaurant.

"I don't know what she ultimately wanted to achieve with this conversation," I said as I
returned the phone to Sunghoon.

He wiped his hands hastily on a napkin before putting the phone back in his pocket.

I cut the beef on my plate, sawing it violently with a dull knife.

"Did she try to make you dislike me, or did she plan to meet you for real?" I pondered out
loud.

Sunghoon chewed a big piece of meat and raised his shoulders, unwilling to discuss the topic.

I lowered my fork.

"Why are you so embarrassed? You seemed nice even when chatting with her."

He raised his eyebrow, another corner of his mouth curving up a little.

"Really?"

"Yes. You turned her down pretty quick."

He flicked his hair from his eyes.

"I don't know... It's humiliating that she tricked me."

I nodded.

"At least you know what kind of a person I'm dealing with. I wish I could go somewhere and
forget all this for a second... Her especially."

"You want distraction?" Sunghoon asked.

"I guess..."

"How about you come with me to a party. It's kind of an afterparty to an award show. The
invitation said that I could bring someone."

That surprised me. The fact that he asked me such a thing distracted me already, so how
much more distracting would it be to attend a party with him. A bang of guilt halted my
thought proses. Minho was in hospital, and some of his band members could have died... yet
here I was looking for a distraction.

"Maybe I shouldn't. Won't people assume... that we are dating or something?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"No... I don't think so. I was thinking of taking my little sister, but I'm scared she might act
like a fangirl when she sees some other idols."

"And you don't think I would."

"You wouldn't."

True. Back in the US, I had pretended not to recognize Thimotée Chalamet when he had
passed me on the streets because I had been too scared to ask for a selfie. At that time, he had
been my biggest celebrity crush. Whenever I told that story, I explained that I had ignored
him because I wanted to give him privacy, but, in reality, it was only because of my social
anxiety.

Speaking of anxiety, I got a bad feeling about a broad-shouldered man who eyed us from
another table. I tried to ignore him like I had ignored Thimotée, but my palms sweated. I
clenched them together under the table.

Had the Police caught all the kidnappers? What if this man was one of them.

Sunghoon placed his cutlery on the empty plate, accidentally dropping his knife on the floor.

I flinched.

The bulky man stared at me. His dark eyes merged with a nightmare in my mind. I couldn't
breathe. I forgot how to. It felt like I was back in the forest, waiting for my death. Listening
to gunfire.

"Are you okay?" Sunghoon asked, his voice grave with worry.
I gasped for air, slowly getting the gist of breathing again.

"That man. He's spying on us," I whispered.

Sunghoon glanced at him.

"He's my bodyguard."

I eased out a long exhale.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

My eyes stung. The kidnappers had dug a whole new version out of me. I had always felt a
bit restless, like being nervous was imprinted in me, but I had never felt this fragile. There
was no reason to cry, but tears were already fighting their way out.

I stood up before getting too emotional.

"I will come to the party. It was nice to see you."

Sunghoon rose to his feet, puzzled by my sudden parting words. He spread his arms, taking a
step towards me. Midway, he gave up the idea of hugging me and let his arms drop, fingers
tapping the sides of his thighs. Embarrassingly enough, I had already taken a step toward
him, ready for an embrace. So, we ended up standing unnaturally close but not hugging. He
fixed the situation by quickly wrapping his arms around me.

"See you at the party then. Take care. And tell me if Hari does something weird. Maybe I can
help somehow."

I nodded, then quickly rushed to cry in Mike's car.

 Chapter 18

I visited Minho at the hospital every day during the week he had to stay there. The bullet had
hit him a little down from the shoulder, missing all vital organs. He had been luckier than
some other idols because his condition never got critical. San had been to an urgent surgery
because of inner bleeding and nearly died on the operating table. Many of the Ateez and
Stray Kids members had had their stomachs pumped clean from poison and drugs.
Wooyoung was still under observation since it was uncertain if some of his organs had been
damaged to the point of failure.

Amazingly, Mingi, Seungmin, and Jongho had survived without serious injuries. Although
the kidnappers had chased them with guns in the forest, Jongho was the only one of the three
recovering from a bullet wound.

Most importantly, no one had died. I kept repeating that whenever I felt like darkness
attempted to swallow me whole.

On the day Minho got released from the hospital, I came to get him with Ae Ri. She went to
another room to talk with a doctor, leaving me alone with Minho and Felix, who stayed in the
same room.

Felix always looked so miserable that I had bought him chocolate. From what I understood,
his family lived far away. The company might have concealed the abduction even from his
parents because no one ever came to see him except other members who had survived with
fewer injuries.

His arms had lost a lot of muscle in just a few days, or then he had always been skinny. Even
a box of chocolate looked heavy in his hands.

"Thanks," he said, smiling weakly.

Felix tried to push himself up to a higher sitting position, but his legs were bandaged from
thighs to ankles, which made moving on a soft bed difficult. His hands sank into the mattress,
consuming all the force that should have moved him up. He gave up and pressed his head
against a fluffy pillow.

Minho sat on the side of his bed, looking at Felix.

"We'll come to see you."

Felix sucked on a piece of chocolate, chewing the last bit before replying.

"They said I can leave soon. I need to come back for another operation, though."

The surgeons had removed seven bullets from his legs. Some of the bullets had fractured
bones in ways that required follow-up surgeries.
"They said I could dance again if it goes well. But it might take some time."

"I'm sure it will go well. They said it isn't too difficult an operation," Minho said.

Ae Ri entered the room. She wished Felix a rapid recovery and led Minho out of the room,
hand on his back. It could have been a sweet moment between mother and son had she done
it slowly, but she rushed. Ae Ri needed to get to work, and it showed. She didn't let Minho
take his time as she hurriedly ushered him towards the parking lot.

Her phone rang on the way to our car. She took the call.

"Yes. That's good."

"Of course."

"Let's talk about it later. This is not a good time. I will be at the office in an hour."

She drove the car herself. Minho sat beside her in the passenger's seat. Ae Ri tapped his knee,
eyes on the road.

"I'm so happy to get you back home. I talked to your manager. You got a few days off. And
he gave me a schedule for your crisis counseling." She glanced at me through the rare view
window. "I hired a therapist for you, too, Filina. I paid for five weeks in advance, but you can
see her as long as you want to."

"Mmm... Thanks," I said, although I didn't like the idea.

There was nothing wrong with seeing a therapist. I had done that before after Mom died.
However, I had a problem with the particular therapist Ae Ri had chosen for me. The same
person dealt with Hari and her issues. Who knew what kind of relationship they had. I had
heard of cases where a patient had completely manipulated their therapist. Since there was a
slight change that the so-called crisis counselor told Hari what I said during the sessions, I
didn't open up.

I saw the therapist twice that week. I didn't mention the abduction, not even once. On top of
my doubts about the woman, I was unsure If I was allowed to talk about the case. The JYP
CEO claimed that the confidentiality contract that I had signed enclosed this kind of situation
and, therefore, I could not speak of the incident. It was kind of funny actually because the
contract talked about activities arranged by the company. You could hardly say that the
kidnapping fit in that category.

That week, Mike was home more than before. It was nice until I realized he wouldn't let me
go to a party with Sunghoon. He hated Sunghoon. Not that Mike knew anything about him.
The hatred was caused by a misunderstanding that didn't get solved, no matter how many
times I told him that Sunghoon was NOT the reason I had cried for an hour after meeting him
at the beef restaurant. Mike didn't seem to wrap his head around that.

If he didn't return to his busy life by Saturday, I would need to sneak out to get to that party.
Minho was the only person in our house who knew about my Saturday plans. He wasn't
coming, though. No surprise there. I doubted anyone from Ateez or Stray Kids would attend.
They weren't going to the award show either. Even if they had gone there, Minho would have
definitely headed straight home after the formalities and locked himself in his room like he
did these days.

He let me in whenever I knocked on his door, but there were times when he was so gloomy
and unsocial that I didn't feel like staying with him for long. To be honest, I was worried
about him.

On a Friday night, his door was ajar. I saw a Minho-sized lump on his bed.

"Hey, which one do you like more? The red or the turquoise?" I asked as I entered the room.

I presented my clothing options for the party. A long red evening dress hung from my right
and a greenish-blue lace dress from my left hand.

"Minho? Are you sleeping?"

A feeling similar to déjà vu, but more ominous, froze my body. I broke out in cold sweat.

"Minho..."

I dropped the dresses and ran to pull his blanket off. He didn't turn to glare at me like he
should have.

No, no, no, no....

I shook him desperately, tears in my eyes.

"What are you doing?" he grunted.

I hugged him, crying like a little kid.

"Are you okay?" Minho asked, patting my shoulder awkwardly.

I pulled away.

"You scared the shit out of me! Why do you sleep so heavily?"

Minho turned his back to me.

"Probably the painkillers."

I sat on the corner of his bed, listening to his breathing. Gradually, my hammering heart
slowed down.

Minho yanked his blanket to cover himself, but it didn't reach over his waist because I sat on
the bundled cloth. He groaned, kicking me off the bed. I jumped to my feet, hurt by his
impassive behavior.
I crunched to take my dresses with me. No matter how much I loved Minho, I had to admit
that he could be a prick sometimes. He hadn't helped me with the outfits and didn't seem to
care even though I cried.

I marched through the door, thinking of slamming it shut behind me, but Minho's voice
stopped me.

"Are you sure she was involved?" he asked, barely audibly.

He was talking about Hari. The Police had taken her in for questioning, but they still didn't
believe she had anything to do with the case. I was the only one who kept insisting that she
was dangerous.

"I do. But maybe I'm wrong."

"I hope you're wrong."

I walked back inside his room, closing the door behind me.

"What kind of relationship do you have with her? Be honest with me. Do you think she is
dangerous?"

Minho wrapped the blanket tighter around him.

"I don't know."

"You don't know what kind of relationship you have?"

"I don't fucking know anything. Let me be."

I blinked. He had become too brotherly with me. This was technically a fight... I felt bad
about pushing him to talk about Hari, but I was also pissed off because he used harsh
language with me. Besides, he had talked about Hari first.

Although annoyed and a little offended, I decided against slamming the door. Minho was
going through a lot. More than anything, I felt bad for him.

In the hallway, I bumped into Hari. She ignored me, acting as if I didn't exist. She took her
pretending so far that I feared she would walk through me. Our shoulders collided when she
passed me because she didn't give way.

Living under the same roof with her was draining. I definitely needed distraction.

Thankfully, there was the party.

 Chapter 19
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

I regretted choosing the red evening dress when I sneaked out on Saturday night. The color
was used in warning signs for a reason. If Mike had happened to walk past a window just
then, his eyes would have fixed on me galloping across the front yard in my stilettos.

Sunghoon's car waited for me on the side of the road. All its windows were tinted. There was
no time to check where Sunghoon sat because the whole night would have been ruined if
Mike had seen me leaving in a car like that. I quickly got in through the closest back door,
hoping that the seat on that side was vacant.

"Wow! That was fast. And you even wear heels," Sunghoon said from the other side of the
back seat.

He always surprised me with the things he said. Usually, boys complimented their party date
on their looks after the wow-comment. But I guess admiring my speed was more honest than
that.

"I used to run," I said.

"Did you compete?"

"No."

"Maybe you should have," he joked.

We talked about our hobbies on the way to the party. He had figure skated up until last year.

"Do you miss it?" I asked.

"I don't have time to," he said. "Now I get to dance, a lot."

"I like dancing too. I know a couple of Blackpink's choreographies."

"They will probably be there."

"What?"

"At the party."

"Blackpink?"

Sunghoon laughed at my widening eyes but stopped smiling when I told him that I might act
like a crazy fangirl after all.
"I have a lipstick. They can use it to write autographs on my arms."

"That's not even funny," he said, although the corner of his mouth curved up. He shook his
head, chuckling at the thought. "I will send you away if you cause a scene."

"I won't. Seriously, I won't. I will ask them to do it in a bathroom where no one can see."

Sunghoon burst out laughing.

"Honestly, I'll be kind of disappointed now if you don't get any autographs."

We both knew I would never dare ask such a thing. I felt nervous already at the front door,
where a security man checked our IDs, and a coatroom attendant took our phones for
safekeeping. Even celebrities weren't allowed to take filming or recording devices with them.

My dress was glamorous and expensive, but it looked minimalistic next to all the sparkling
miniskirts and dashing pearl gowns.

Most people there were K-pop stars, their faces powered pale and smooth. More or less,
everyone around me fit the Korean beauty standard. At least, that's what it felt like when they
were all dolled up.

Heeseung and Jay appeared in front of us. I only noticed them when they began talking
because they merged into the pretty crowd.

"So, this is the friend?" Jay said, raising an eyebrow at Sunghoon.

Heeseung jabbed Jay with an elbow, pushing him aside. Then he introduced himself as if he
was the only person there.

At first, Heeseung seemed nicer than Jay, but later, Jay complimented my dress, immediately
winning all the points. I had just started to feel insecure wearing the sleek red thing, but his
comment boosted my confidence.

Ultimately, both boys were nice, although I was too shy to speak much. I also couldn't
concentrate on what they said because I needed to pee.

When I couldn't bear the expanding bladder any longer, I excused myself and left the boys
talking about how they had caught Ni-Ki holding a shot. Ni-Ki had claimed that he had only
kept it in his hand for Shinee's Taemin, who had asked him to hold it while he tied his shoes.
Jay didn't believe him, but Heeseung thought it was very possible. They kept going in circles,
discussing how to make their maknae stay in line or make Jay trust people, depending on
who was talking.

In the bathroom, girls had gathered in front of a wide mirror to fix their makeup. After
relieving myself, I became one of those girls. I put my handbag on the counter while applying
a layer of powder to my rosy checks.

When I was about to put the powder back in my bag, I noticed it was replaced by a black
purse with a golden buckle. A girl that had washed their hands a moment ago must have
taken my bag and left their expensive Channel on the counter.

I grabbed the purse and rushed outside. She couldn't have gone far.

Soon, I spotted my handbag in a manicured hand. A girl held it while briskly making her way
through the crowd. She turned to greet another girl, revealing her side profile.

Jennie?

No way!

Blackpink's Jennie had stolen my purse, accidentally, but still...

People pushed me around, making me lose sight of her.

I found Jisoo and Lisa instead. They chatted with none other than BTS's Jin, Jimin, and
Jungkook.

Taking a deep breath didn't steady me at all. Nothing could have prepared me for this. Still, I
forced myself to walk up to the group of famous idols.

"Uhm... Hi... I'm..."

What the shit was I doing!? Why would I introduce myself? I only had to say that Jennie had
taken my purse and left hers in the bathroom.

All five idols turned to look at me, waiting for me to continue.

When I didn't get a word out, Jimin pressed his hand on his chest.

"Hi, I'm Jimin." He leaned forward. "What did you say your name was?"

Lisa and Jisoo also sensed my nervousness. They smiled encouragingly, tilting their heads in
my direction.

"I'm Filina, Lee Know's stepsister."

Shit! What again? Why had I added the information about being Lee Know's stepsister? I
guess I had felt the need to justify my presence at such a grand celebrity party. Also, I had
introduced myself like that countless times at the JYP building during the past month, so
calling myself Lee Know's sister kind of rolled off the tongue.

The BTS boys exchanged glances.

Lisa and Jisoo stopped smiling.

"Is that Jennie's purse?" Jisoo asked, her tone suddenly cold

"Mm... Yes... That's why I came. She accidentally took mine."

Lisa snatched the purse from my hand.

"Did you buy a similar bag and put something in here?" she demanded, moving
intimidatingly close to me.

Jimin hurried between us.

"Lisa... uhm...She is not who you think she is."

That's when it clicked. Jisoo and Lisa thought I was Hari because I had introduced myself as
Lee Know's sister. But how did Jimin know that?

He smiled apologetically.

"So, is Minho here?"

He looked past me, searching the crowd with his inherently melancholic eyes. Hopefully, his
wistful vibe originated from just the appearance, not from the fact that he was actually sad.

"Minho couldn't come," I said.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Oh! So... you have recently debuted?"

"No. I came with a friend."

"Okay. Well, say greetings to Minho. He used to be our backup dancer."

That's why the BTS members knew Hari! They must have had negative encounters with her
because out of the three of them, only Jimin could act kind and chat with me after hearing
that I was Lee Know's sister.

Jin didn't even listen to our conversation. He had finished a glass of soda and now tried to
suck an ice cube with a straw. The cube fell on the floor. He stepped on it like nothing had
happened.

Jungkook, on the other hand, listened to every word I said. He leered at me like I was his
archenemy.

"So, you claim Minho has two stepsisters now? Why did we never hear of you?"

Wait... what? Two stepsisters? Was Hari a stepsister?

Jungkook mistook my baffled expression for the helpless look people have when they get
exposed. He snorted.

"So, you lied? Did someone ask you to come and talk to us?"

"No. And... I am actually a step-step sister. I am new to the family."

Jungkook opened his mouth to say something, but Lisa spoke before him.
"This is definitely Jennie's purse. She has my baby picture here."

She touched my shoulder.

"Sorry, for not believing you. We'll help you find your purse."

Jisoo and Lisa took me to Jennie, and we switched our purses. Jennie apologized multiple
times. She was so kind that I almost asked for an autograph. In the end, I held my tongue
because the whole encounter had been awkward enough.

After the Blackpink members left, I stood in a corner for a good fifteen minutes, collecting
myself.

Then I went looking for Sunghoon.

He wasn't at the bar or the lounge area, so I entered a big hall where people danced.

The DJ played a slow ballad.

"There you are!" Sunghoon said, coming to me from a hallway.

We dodged swaying couples and ended up on the dance floor.

"Why did you come here? Do you want to dance... with me?" Sunghoon asked.

"Well, it wasn't why I came initially, but I love this song."

He looked at me like I had read a clue from a crossword puzzle.

"So... You do want to dance?" he asked for reassurance.

I took him by the hand.

"Yes. If you want to."

Sunghoon placed his palm on the small of my back.

"I want to, but I'm not good at dancing to this kind of song."

"What do you mean? You're a figure skater and a K-pop idol. I'm pretty sure you can lean
from side to side in rhythm."

He smiled.

"I sure hope so."

I moved my arms around his neck like everyone always does when they slow dance, but
Sunghoon twitched, dazed by the sudden closeness. He shifted his hands on my waist like he
didn't know what to do with me. I quickly widened the gap between us because I feared he
felt uncomfortable.
"We don't need to dance."

He blushed.

"Don't say I'm that bad."

"You're not bad at all! You're just a bit stiff."

We laughed at how terribly unconvincing my compliment sounded, and he began to loosen

up.

Suddenly his chest hit my face. Sunghoon tried to make room for me, but someone pushed
him from behind. Together we stumbled toward a round standing table. Its sharp edge pressed
against my back.

Whoever had bumped into Sunghoon did not back off. It couldn't have been only the crowd
because we had moved a couple of feet to escape the crush, yet the jostling continued.
Someone cornered us on purpose.

Sunghoon took hold of the table, trapping me between his arms. He gained his balance that
way and held his ground against the force that pressed him to me. He turned to face the rude
person who had not even apologized for shoving us.

My jaw dropped when I saw the couple behind Sunghoon.

Hari danced with a boy who was even taller than Sunghoon. He was rather handsome with
his dark features.

Hari looked me straight in the eye while tossing her hair and tilting her head seductively.
Even her dancing was extravagant. She moved her hips in a circle from left to right.

She was disgusting. How had she even gotten to the party?

"Let's go," I said to Sunghoon, pulling him towards the exit.

Hari began dancing differently. She took steps front and back, making her butt wiggle. She
extended her leg to one of those salsa-like steps, deliberately tripping Sunghoon.

Sunghoon staggered, nearly falling, but quickly straightened up. He adjusted his suit coat and
marched so close to Hari that she had to limit her movements. He probably remembered her
from the meet and greet because his eyes blazed in anger.

"What's your problem? Could you at least apologize? First, you slam us against that table,
and now this."

Hari smiled. She lifted her arm, fingers caressing Sughoon's jaw. Sunghoon slapped her hand
away. He didn't even hit her that hard, but Hari cried out in a pretentiously high-pitched
voice.

Only then did the tall boy turn his attention to Sunghoon.
"Are you mad!? Why would you ever hit a girl?" he said, grabbing Sunghoon by the collar.

Sunghoon gripped the boy's hand, pulling it down.

"I didn't really hit her. You didn't see what happened."

"But I hearded it," the boy said, getting heated. It didn't help that he was drunk. His breath
reeked of alcohol, and his eyes were lazy. He also made obvious grammatical errors. When
he muttered something to himself, it didn't even sound Korean.

Sunghoon tried to wrench free. He took a quick step back, twisting his body to the side. The
sudden movement only dragged the tall boy off balance, and he hit his teeth on Sunghoon's
forehead. It was unintentional, but from Sunghoon's perspective, it must have felt like the boy
attacked him.

Sunghoon shoved the boy aggressively.

"Did you just bite me?"

The boy sneered.

"You wish."

Sunghoon's eyes darkened, but he calmed himself down.

"You're embarrassing yourself, Lucas. Let go of me. People are watching."

His words seemed to agitate the other boy even more.

"That's not my name. And stop acting like you are the good guy here. I'm telling you, don't be
violent."

"Let me just walk away," Sunghoon said.

They glared at each other until the boy, whose name was not Lucas, pushed Sunghoon free.

"Who was that?" I asked Sunghoon when we walked away.

"Lucas from NCT."

"But he said it wasn't his name."

Sunghoon glanced behind his shoulder.

"Probably isn't, but I don't know his real name."

We stopped at a bar area.

I sat on a stool.

"Did you recognize that the girl was Hari?" I asked.

 Sunghoon nodded.

"I could never share a house with her."

I lowered my gaze.

"I would move out, but..."

"Why don't you just expose her? She should take responsibility for what she has done."

Sunghoon was the only one who believed me about Hari. However, he was too optimistic.

"I kind of lost hope in exposing her because Ae Ri seems to have connections to the higher
ranks in the Police."

Sunghoon crossed his arms.

"If there's enough evidence against her, the Police have to do something, even if they are
corrupted. Especially if that evidence is made public." He turned to look at me. "I think we
should dig all her dirt up."

"You think so?"

"Yes."

"Then, let's do it."

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for kudos! :)

Also, I would appreciate any comments. Do you like the story so far?
 Chapter 20

After hearing that the members of BTS, especially Jungkook, disliked Hari, Sunghoon
wanted to talk to them.

Jin and Jungkook stood around a table on the side of the dance floor. There was a third
person with them, whom I hoped was Jimin because he had been the easiest to approach. To
my dismay, it was RM. I sighed, preparing to meet yet another person who would get weirded
out by me.

We approached them, but right before they noticed us, Sunghoon pulled me aside.

"Wait... what do we say to them? I feel like I'm going to embarrass myself," he said,
starstruck by the older idols.

"Just ask for an autograph," I teased him.

He gave me an annoyed look.

"They know me... But we are not so close that I could walk up to them like this."

"Why not? Aren't they from the same company?"

"Yes, technically. But... it's like they are on another level... I started to dream of becoming an
idol after going to their concert."

"They don't care about that. Besides, it doesn't matter if you embarrass yourself. They will
probably start to dislike you anyway because you hang out with me."

Sunghoon furrowed his brow.

"You said they disliked Hari, not you."

"They assume we are the same."

He eyed the BTS members.

"All the more reason to talk to them."

Determined, he marched to their table, but all courage drained out of him once the older boys
greeted him. In his black and white suit, Sunghoon resembled an awkward penguin who
bowed his head too low. Sunghoon really honored the BTS members like they were an
inferior species.

"What's up, Sunghoon?" RM asked, sipping a drink.

Sunghoon glanced at me, then placed his crossed hands on the table like a professional
interviewer.
"What do you know about Hari, Lee Know's sister?"

Jungkook snorted, letting his gaze glide over the celebrating crowd. He looked for someone
else to hang out with, an excuse to leave.

RM didn't seem annoyed by our question. He shook his head, probably thinking of some past
occurrence with Hari.

"Let me just say. Don't get involved. I really don't recommend it."

Sunghoon pulled me closer to the table.

"We are trying to expose her for a crime. If you have anything that could help us..."

"Good luck with that," Jungkook said before Sunghoon could finish. "The Police have
already proven that all our evidence is bullshit. So, I don't think you have any use of our
information."

Sunghoon blinked, surprised.

"So, you know something."

RM put an arm on Jungkook's shoulder to calm him down.

"She is a weird person. I remember she used to come to see Minho at our concerts. They let
her backstage sometimes. She had an obsessive kind of crush on Jungkook."

Jin placed his glass on the table.

"What do you mean had?" He looked at Jungkook. "Doesn't she still follow you around?"

"Sometimes," Jungkook admitted.

"She always finds out his phone number, no matter how often he changes it," Jin explained.

RM chuckled, but not in a happy way, more like he was amused by the craziness of that girl.

"Didn't she lock you out of your hotel room once? To go through your stuff? She even knew
how to open your phone."

Jungkook fiddled with his fingers, cracking the joints one by one.

"Yeah, and it was not illegal at all, according to the Police."

The music got louder, and the beat faster.

"They said there wasn't enough evidence for even a restraining order," RM added. He had to
shout over the thumping bass. "You should probably-"

A man hopped on the table as if it was the easiest and most normal thing to do. He slid his
hands down his body and thrust his hips like a stripper on stage. Then he laughed as if it had
all been a joke and jumped down, wrapping a hand around RM's neck.

"NAmjoooon! Why are you sulking in the corner?"

I recognized him when he turned to grab a bottle from the table. It was Jackson Wang. He
chugged the remaining alcohol, raising the empty bottle once he finished.

"LET'S BLOW UP THIS PAAARTTYYY!"

He dragged RM and Jungkook to the dance floor.

Jin stayed with us for a minute. Then he waved his hand and walked to another table.

"That was... interesting," I said.

Sunghoon stared at the empty table.

"At least we know we're on to something."

We strolled around the venue for another hour. I tried to spot Hari in the mass of people, to
spy on her, but there was no trace of her.

"It must be late. I think I need to go," I said when the soles of my feet began to hurt.

Sunghoon agreed. He gave me a ride back home, or his driver did.

"Should we meet again sometime?" Sunghoon asked before I stepped out of the car.

"Yes, that would be nice. Also, I will send you a picture of Hari's notebook. I had completely
forgotten about it. But it looks suspicious."

"Okay. We can figure out what it means the next time we meet."

I hugged him spontaneously.

"Sounds good. And thank you for doing this with me."

He rubbed my back.

"No problem."

I felt warm and safe in his embrace, but I needed to pull away because Mike would have
killed me if he had seen me get out of an unknown car. Sooner or later, he would surely stand
by the window, pondering why a suspicious vehicle was parked in front of our gate. So, I
rushed out before it happened and dashed to the front door.

The house was silent. A snap from the shoe closet door sounded intense in such stillness.

I left my heels on a shelf and closed the closet door in slow motion.

My throat felt dry, so I tiptoed into the kitchen to drink something.

Ae Ri and Hari always bottled purified water and kept it in the fridge, but I was too tired to
look for it, so I headed to the sink. Mike said the tap water was fine.

Movement in the living room got me by surprise. A shadow stretched toward the kitchen.

"Did you have fun at the party?" Hari asked, her white face emerging from the darkness.

I forced myself not to shudder.

"Yes. Did you?"

"Very."

She carried a yellow melon from the counter to the kitchen table.

"You should be careful dating an idol," she said.

I held my glass with both hands, forgetting to drink.

"I'm not dating anyone."

"Sunghoon is toying with you. That's why you should be careful."

I narrowed my eyes. Sunghoon didn't even know how to slow dance. How could a guy like
that toy with me?

I threw the rest of the water in the sink.

"I think you should worry about your own problems."

She opened a drawer beside me and picked up the sharpest and longest kitchen knife.

"I'm trying to be nice. That's why I'm warning you."

She approached me suddenly.

I stepped back, but she trapped me against the counter, holding the knife as if prepared to stab
me. She pressed her thumb on the end of the handle so that her hand wouldn't have slipped
even if the blade had hit something hard, like a bone...

"Don't fall for him. You might get hurt. I'm saying this as your older sister."

I held my breath until she backed off.

Sweat trickled down my neck.

The red dress seemed to suffocate me. All I knew was that I needed to get rid of the flowy
hem that stuck to my legs.

Heart racing, I fled to my room.

Anger and fear swelled up in my chest.

Sunghoon was not a player. Not in the slightest! I didn't let Hari's words affect how I thought
of him. She just wanted to ruin every single friendship I had.

But she couldn't.

I wouldn't let her.

The following morning, I listened to Enhypen in the shower.

"Turn that shit down! Other people are trying to sleep!" Hari shouted, banging on the door.

I turned the volume up to block her whining.

"Fever! Fever!" I sang along louder than I typically would.

"Fuck you!" Hari yelled, kicking the door one last time.

I don't know if it was a good idea to piss her off, but I was angry and therefore didn't give a
shit.

When I came out, Minho walked from his room with a towel on his shoulder. I felt bad for
taking my time. I shouldn't have looped the song for ten extra minutes after I was done.

Minho gave me the weirdest of looks.

I tightened the towel around me.

"What? It's normal to listen to music in the shower. And I really like that song."

"You mean that Song-hoon."

It was kind of funny, but I didn't want to give him the pleasure of a smile.

"It's Sunghoon," I corrected him as I walked to my room.

Minho was right, though. I did like Sunghoon. I couldn't wait to meet him again, although it
wouldn't be a date. We were going to call the numbers Hari had listed in her notebook. There
was nothing romantic about that.
 Chapter 21
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

That week, Sunghoon had no time to meet me. He apologized and promised to find a day for
our detective activities the week after.

Although Hari was untrustworthy, she had planted a seed of doubt in me. I feared Sunghoon
didn't want to meet me.

Watching Minho's life had taught me that day offs were a luxury for K-pop idols, yet being
busy seemed like an excuse.

Speaking of day offs, Minho needed to get back to work, which was too soon considering his
injury. In addition to crisis counseling and physiotherapy for the shoulder, his schedule
included rehearsals for a promotional performance at some big show that the company
couldn't cancel.

Only Felix was allowed to skip the event. JYP Entertainment published an announcement
saying they were sorry to inform the fans that Felix would not take part in the performance
due to an injury. They assured them there was no reason to worry because he would rest well
and come back fully recharged and healthy.

I didn't follow Minho to work every day anymore, but I went to see the performance.

The show featured multiple groups and solo artists.

I enjoyed each song.

Bewhy's rap flow got me jamming to the beat, and Itzy's fight-infused dance choreography
blew my mind.

I might have been biased, but nothing compared to Stray Kids. A mixture of sadness and
pride moved me as I watched them perform. They hid all the pain and discomfort caused by
their injuries. Han wore black gloves that covered his stitches, and Minho used both hands
while dancing, although, at home, he never lifted his right arm without wincing.

A group of girls next to me gasped. I thought one of the Stray Kids members had flashed
their abs to make the girls gush that way, but it wasn't that.

The girl beside me looked at something on her phone. She covered her mouth in disbelief.

I leaned closer to see what made her react that way.

On the phone screen, Felix framed his face with his hands, forcing a smile, eyes welling up.

His aegyo video from when we were kidnapped had been posted online!
"What is that? Where did you find that?" I asked the girl.

She turned the screen toward me.

"Someone posted this on TikTok, but they found it somewhere else. Can it be a new concept?
Or an acting thing? Other members are doing it, too."

My heart beat rapidly, the sound echoing in my ears.

I searched the video using my TikTok account and texted Minho's manager.

He came to get me backstage.

The manager massaged his scalp, leaving his hands behind his head at a loss for what to do.

"How...? It's all over the internet!"

He was about to make a call, but his phone rang.

"Yes. I saw it too," he said. "An emergency meeting? But the boys need to go and thank the
audience at the end of the show."

He paced around the small hallway.

"Of course. I understand. We will come after."

I followed him to a room where the Stray Kids members patted their sweaty faces with
towels.

"Don't tell them yet," the manager said in a low voice. "We will speak about it after the
show."

Minho walked up to me, drinking from a big water bottle. He held it with only his left hand,
which meant he was in pain.

"Did you see our performance? What did you think?"

I smiled, although my heart hammered in distress.

"You were the best, but I felt a little bad knowing about your injuries."

"It doesn't even hurt anymore," Minho said, rotating his shoulder and trying hard not to
grimace.

I must have looked troubled because Minho put his arm down, eyeing me quizzically.

"What is it? It only hurts a little. I swear. You don't need to worry about me."

"It's not that..."

"Then what is it?" he stooped on my level to catch the line of my gaze.

I adverted the eye contact.

"Let's talk after the show. You still need to go out there, right?"

"Something is clearly bothering you. Tell me. I won't stop asking until you tell me. Did
Sunghoon do something that upset you?"

"No... It's the videos. From that building. Some of them are published online."

His mouth gapped open.

"What- The videos- Did you say that- Which of the videos?" he staggered.

"I don't know. I only saw a clip of Felix."

Minho flopped onto a couch, his eyes blank.

"Everyone will see me like that..." he mumbled.

I shouldn't have told him.

"Everyone will be on your side. They will hate the kidnappers as much as we do."

Minho covered his eyes with the heels of his hands, leaning his elbows on his knees.

His manager gave me a death stare from across the room.

Yes, I knew I shouldn't have said anything. But I couldn't lie to Minho. Besides, he went on
the stage and bowed to the audience just as professionally as the others, despite knowing the
bad news.

Bang Chan clenched his fist when the managers told him about the videos. Wearing a dark
performance costume and black eyeliner, he looked like a villain ready to take revenge.

"What will we do about it?" he asked.

"We are holding an emergency meeting," a man said, checking the time on his wristwatch. "
The cars are waiting to take you there. Change your clothes and get ready."

I, too, needed to attend the meeting because I had been abducted along with the idols.

Ateez and their management were also present.

Relief washed over me as I saw everyone alive in one room. Even Wooyoung seemed to have
recovered from the poison. He sat across from me wearing a hooded jacket. He leaned on the
backrest in a bad posture and kept his head down.

Another good thing I noticed was that San walked on his own. He wasn't completely healed
because he sat down so slowly that Mingi didn't realize the seat was about to be taken and sat
there himself.
Hongjoong pointed at San, saying something to Mingi, who jumped to his feet and kindly
helped San down.

A staff member removed an empty chair beside me, making room for Felix and his
wheelchair.

When everyone had settled down, a crisis management team began their presentation.

"Short clips of each member doing... what looks like aegyo have been circulating online.
Especially Felix's clip has received attention because fans are linking it to the company
announcement about his injury. The PR team has tried to take the clips down, but this has
exploded out of our control."

They showed a screenshot of Felix's video, which already had over 70 million views even
though it had been up for only a few hours.

Felix sighed, closing his eyes.

"News outlets are speculating about the leak of these videos, and the Police have not
commented on the matter since we have agreed to keep the investigation private. Now, we
must decide how much we will share with the public."

Neither Stray Kids nor Ateez members said much. They stared at the presentation stagnantly.

The management got polarized into two teams. Some believed the companies should work
harder to take down the videos. Others pressed that an announcement about the abduction
was necessary.

"But it will affect their image."

"These videos have already done that. And what is so bad about being a victim of a crime?
It's not their fault."

"People will blame JYP and KQ for letting it happen. It will ruin our company image and
affect other idol groups."

"Well, we must take responsibility because the abduction happened on our watch. We should
have taken better care of the security, and that's why we need that announcement."

One very vocal and insensitive man even pointed out that the abduction brought Stray Kids
and Ateez a lot of attention, which was ultimately a good thing as more people would know
about them and potentially find their music.

In the end, the crisis control team outlined an announcement, which admitted that the idols
had been abducted but were safe and well now.

They made us sign a contract, agreeing not to disclose any information about the injuries of
any individual (including yourself) or other personal medical information found out during
the abduction or its aftermath. We were asked not to share the duration or time of the crime.
Basically, the only thing we could say to an outside party was that we had been kidnapped
and then saved by the Police.

When we finally exited the cramped room Yunho pat my shoulder.

"Hey, Filina. Thanks for saving us back then."

I turned to look at him.

"I didn't really... do much."

Hongjoong stopped next to us.

"Seriously, we would still be there if it wasn't for you ." He scratched his neck. "And sorry
for making it hard for you. People got hurt because..." He shook his head, trying not to get
emotional. "I really didn't help in the escape."

I remembered how I had pushed Hongjoong against the door in the dark hallway and blamed
him for everything. My eyes watered.

"What do you mean? You literally kicked ass later in the bus," I said, hoping to lift the spirits
with humor, but I was still on the brink of tears because I regretted taking it out on drugged
Hongjoong. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you. It was not your fault."

Hongjoong smiled, his eyes glistening.

"Don't worry about that. You were right to be mad at me."

He gave me one of the most considerate hugs I had ever experienced. He didn't get close at
all but rubbed my upper back and shoulders reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it, okay. We will always remember you as our savior," he said with a bit
of a wink.

The encounter with Hongjoong warmed my heart. I thought about it in the car when Minho
and I drove back home.

Minho didn't talk. He leaned his head on the window. His eyes looked lifeless as if
temporarily turned blind.

For a while now, I had tried to find the right time to tell him about my plans to expose Hari,
but there was never a good moment. I feared he would react badly, considering our latest chat
about her.

The journey seemed longer than typical because we didn't talk.

When we got home and opened the front door, an unknown male voice spoke from the living
room.

I walked toward the sound.

"As you can see, Lee Know and Felix are not in the same room. The abductors use different
light to film them. Based on the reflection in Lee Know's eyes, the lamp is a kind of spotlight
with a rectangular shade. Let's watch the video one more time, and I will show you..."

Hari lay on the couch, holding a remote control. Her eyes were glued to the TV that played a
video of Minho moving his hands up and down like an excited kid but with puffy eyes and a
scared look on his forcedly smiling face.

Behind me, Minho froze, not taking a step closer. His chest heaved rapidly.

"Turn that off!" I yelled to Hari.

She had enough decency to stop the video, or so I thought. In actuality, she had paused it only
to skip back a few seconds. She replayed the part where I had disturbed her.

I marched to snatch the remote, but she hid it behind her back.

"Chill! It's just a YouTube video."

I lounged for the remote control and got a good grip on it. Unfortunately, Hari held it firmly.

We wrestled for it, yanking and twisting.

At some point, Miho had disappeared to his room. He didn't stand near the kitchen anymore
when I pinned Hari down, pushing her against the couch.

I sat on her, wrenching the remote from her hand.

She sneered at me.

"You crazy bitch. Why don't you hit me too? Would love to see how that turns out for you."

Punching her tempted me, but I stood up and turned off the TV.

My head jerked back.

Hari pulled me by my hair.

She whispered straight into my ear: "Let that be the last time you touch me, or I'll end you."

She tugged me backward so violently that I lost my balance and fell.

I sat on the cold floor, pressing a hand on a painful spot on my scalp.

Hari was deranged.

I sent a message to Sunghoon.

"Let's meet asap. Hari needs to be stopped."

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for reading!

Any comments? Would love to hear what you think. Even if it's critique. :}
 Chapter 22

Sunghoon asked me to meet him at his grandpa's place on Friday.

That day, Minho was at the studio, and Mike and Ae Ri were at work. Hari, too, was
preparing to leave somewhere because she took over the upstairs bathroom, where she
applied makeup and ironed her hair.

I had been ready for an hour, sporting a neat ponytail, jeans, and a T-shirt. My curved and
colored lashes made me pretty enough to meet Sunghoon but not too dressed up to seem like
I had prepared for a date. For the final touch, I dabbed a bit of perfume on my wrists.

Sunghoon should have come already. I peeked outside, hoping to see his car drive down our
street.

The doorbell rang.

The sudden noise startled me, and I spilled nearly half a bottle of perfume on my hands.

Crap!

Why did Sunghoon come to the door? Last time he had sent me a message that his car had
arrived.

I ran downstairs before Hari could.

On the way to the front door, I grabbed a piece of paper towel from the kitchen and dried off
the spilled perfume.

All that rushing was unnecessary because Hari didn't come to see who was at the door.

And it wasn't even Sunghoon.

The doorbell camera showed a man who moved restlessly, shifting his weight from left to
right. He kept his head low as if he knew about the camera. The man wore a hood that
covered his features. When a car drove past our house, he pulled the hoodie's drawstrings to
hide more of his face.

He rang the bell again.

I backed off, remembering the time someone had broken into our house. Either this guy was a
burglar, trying to find out if someone was home, or he was one of Hari's shady friends. I was
unsure if the latter was any better.

I ran upstairs. This was the first time I turned to Hari for help.

"Some weird guy is at the door. I'm... I'm scared that he's a thief or something."
Hari marched downstairs to check the situation.

She turned around when she saw the doorbell camera.

"It's just Lucas," she said, climbing upstairs, back toward the bathroom where all her beauty
products were spread out.

I followed her halfway up.

"Why won't you open the door then?"

She pointed at her eye.

"I'm not done with the mascara. Besides, he deserves to wait outside."

"Why? Are you not friends anymore after he sobered up?"

Hari peeked out of the bathroom, giving me a dirty look.

"He's my boyfriend."

I stared at her, unable to hold my tongue.

"Then you should know that his name is not Lucas."

"Fuck you," Hari muttered and disappeared into the bathroom.

I returned downstairs and opened the door for Lucas.

He hurried in as if running from danger.

"Shit, I was scared someone might see m..."

He stopped talking when he noticed me.

"Hi, uhm... have we met before? I'm..." he said, eyes darting to the kitchen living room area
behind me.

"Yeah. We met at the party. I'm Filina, Hari's stepsister."

He nodded but kept looking everywhere but me. He gulped so loud that I couldn't help but
look at his throat as his Adam's apple jumped.

"Is she here?"

"She's getting ready."

He stood in the corner of the hallway, shifting uncomfortably.

"You can come and wait in the living room," I said.

He raised his brows.

"Sorry?"

"You can come to the living room."

"Oh... Thanks..."

Lucas took off his Gucci trainers, stepping on their heels.

He followed me cautiously, taking nearly the exact steps as me. I had to tell him to sit on the
couch because he was afraid to touch anything. It must have been his first time at our house.

As I waited for Sunghoon, I went to grab something to eat.

The perfume scent in my hands made everything taste weird. I tried washing the odor away,
but it was stuck on me. In addition, I heard Lucas fiddling with his rings in the living room,
and it distracted me.

He dropped one of the rings. It chinked on the floor.

I shouldn't have glanced his way because our eyes met.

"Uhm... Do you want to drink something?" I asked.

"I could take some water."

It would have been impolite to offer him tap water, so I grabbed one of those refilled bottles
Ae Ri always stored in the fridge.

I poured Lucas a glass and took it to the living room.

He accepted the water, grinning happily and thanking me as if I had done something great for
him.

Suddenly, he coughed, nearly spitting the water out.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He took a small sip.

"This is not water."

My heart stopped.

"What?"

The first thought that came to my mind was that Hari attempted to poison me or something.
However, that was farfetched because she knew I mostly drank from the faucet.

"It's soju," Lucas said.

My cheeks flushed. Damn perfume. I would have noticed the alcohol scent if it hadn't been
for the rosy odor that had numbed my sense of smell.

"Sorry, I'll give you another glass," I said and went to get the soju away.

He waved his hand, signaling I didn't need to take it.

"You don't have to bother. I like soju," he said and took another sip.

"But you asked for water. Now... it feels like forcing you since you didn't actually..."

Hari walked down the stairs just then.

"What are you forcing him to do?"

Shit. That was the worst timing. Knowing Hari, she could have created unnecessary drama
out of it. She was clearly annoyed that I even talked to Lucas in the first place.

Lucas glanced at Hari.

"She just gave me water," he said and chunked the remaining alcohol as if it really was pure
H2O.

I had not expected him to lie to Hari, especially about such a dumb thing. Hari could easily
smell the alcohol in his breath if they got close. Possibly for that specific reason, Lucas
walked to the kitchen and refilled the glass with tap water.

I couldn't help but smirk at the fact that Hari had slandered me for drinking from the faucet,
yet her boyfriend did the same thing. They were obviously not a match, and their relationship
seemed toxic already.

Hari glared at me. She knew what my expression meant.

"Let's go upstairs," she said to Lucas.

I waited for five minutes before following them.

I slowed my pace outside Hari's room to eavesdrop, but a western rap song covered any
sounds they made.

Sunghoon sent me a text. He was in front of our house, so I left Lucas and Hari in peace.

We drove to Sunghoon's grandpa's modest apartment twenty minutes outside of Seoul.

The old man greeted us excitedly at the front door.

"Hello! I'm so happy to see you!" He turned to Sunghoon. "How do you say that in English?"

"She knows Korean," Sunghoon said, ears reddening.

"Nice to meet you too," I said, although I had not prepared to face anyone from Sunghoon's
family. It was more a shock than a pleasure to meet him.

The old man smiled. He shook my hand, patting the top with another hand. Then he turned to
his grandson again.

"But I want to say it in her language. Sunghoon, how do you say welcome to my house, be at
home?"

I didn't dare translate that for him because he intended only Sunghoon to hear.

Sunghoon glanced at me apologetically, then half whispered to his grandpa.

"You can say it in Korean."

"No, tell me how to say it. You have studied English with that Jake and that other Jake."

"Jay."

"Yes, oh! Jay! That sounds so English. Come on, how do you say it?"

Sunghoon had brought his grandpa some food from his mum, and they went briefly into the
kitchen to continue the conversation.

"I am not good at English," Sunghoon said in a hushed voice.

"Don't lie. I have heard you on video. Tell me how to say it."

The old man kept insisting until Sunghoon tried to translate the requested sentences.

"Nice you here. And something like. Stay in comfort."

I bit my lip so I wouldn't smile when they returned to the bigger room. The old man spread
his hands like a theatre actor preparing for a monologue. He mumbled a completely
incomprehensible line that remotely resembled what Sunghoon had said in the kitchen.

I thanked him in English, and he beamed proudly.

Sunghoon explained to him that we would go to the guest room because we had something
important to do.

His grandpa furrowed his brow.

"Leave the door open then."

"But it's-" Sunghoon began to say.

"Sunghoon! I will not let you stay alone in that room with a girlfriend."

Sunghoon blushed, awkwardly laughing as if treating the old man's comment as a joke would
have made it less embarrassing.
"We are not dating..."

"Ha!" His grandpa smacked his hands on his thighs. "All the more reason to leave the door
open." He shook his head. "Not even dating. Sunghoon, I'm really disappointed in you," he
muttered.

"Fine, we'll leave the door open. Slightly," Sunghoon said, his face nearing the color of a
tomato.

He showed me the way to the guest room.

"Sorry... I had no idea he would be like that."

"Don't worry. He is kind of cute."

Sunghoon raised his eyebrows.

"My grandpa?"

He snapped his head toward the ajar door, where a pair of curious eyes spied on us. His
grandpa loitered on the other side, peeking through the gap.

"Okay, okay. I will go watch TV," the old man said defeatedly.

Once the sound of his steps faded, Sunghoon showed me a burner phone he had bought.

Before we began calling the numbers from Hari's notebook, we pondered about sending the
picture to the Police instead.

"Let's see if calling even leads anywhere," I said. "For all we know, these could be
Jungkoog's old numbers."

We recorded the whole thing, just in case.

The first number was out of use.

The second person answered but didn't say a word.

"Hi, it's Hari," I said.

Someone breathed on the other side.

"Can you hear me?" I asked.

They hung up.

We failed multiple times. Sometimes, I didn't mention Hari, but people were still suspicious
of a random caller.

We changed our strategy. Sunghoon called the next number.

"Hello," a male voice answered.

"Hi, I am calling to ask about a person who wants to make a deal with me. I think you know
her. I want to make sure she is trustworthy."

"Who is this?"

"You don't know me."

"How do you know me then?"

"I have my ways."

"Geez, you're creepy. Then who is the person we are talking about."

"Lee Hari."

They hung up, too.

After more failures, I tried impersonating Hari again, and someone fell for it.

"Yeah, what now?" he said on the other side of the line.

"About the Stray Kids Ateez thing," I said.

"Yeah. What about it now?"

"The leaking of the videos," I said.

"Oh... that... So, short clips are open on the dark web, like advertisements. People need to still
pay to access the full videos. I wonder if the cops have paid to get the videos. Can't imagine
them having good enough hackers to get them otherwise. Not to mention, find out who
receives the money. It's a freaking maze. Believe me. I know my stuff. They can't do it for
sure. Oh yeah, about the leaking. Some rando downloaded the free snippets to YouTube, and
it went from there."

Sunghoon and I stared at each other. This was huge. Heart pounding, I tried to come up with
the next thing to say.

"Okay, and-"

"Wait... Holy shi-"

They hung up.

Sunghoon took the phone.

"Did he realize it's not Hari?"

I panicked.
"Can they track a burner phone? Should we destroy it?"

"Let's make one more call," Sunghoon suggested and dealt a number.

My mouth was dry. I coughed, preparing to higher my voice to impersonate Hari's whiny
tone.

"It's Hari. I'm using a burner."

"HAriii, did you get his camera roll? I'm impatient," a slurring female voice said.

A low base thumped in the background. The club music made it hard to hear the woman.

"Uhmm... not yet," I said.

"Don't be a bitch. You said it's easy to get. Were you lying again? I thought we were friends!
Is this the same as that time when you didn't share all of Minho's pics? I know, for a fact, that
you didn't because he is your brother, and you felt bad. And I let that slide. I really want
these, and my birthday is coming up. You know that I've been depressed..."

"I forgot whose camera roll you wanted?"

"Shut up. I'm not in the mood. Just let me have it before my birthday. Okay? Luv ya. Gotta
go."

She hung up.

The call left me baffled.

"This should be enough for the Police to start an investigation. Right?"

Sunghoon nodded. He removed the SIM card and folded it in half.

We emailed the picture and the recording to Senior Inspector Suk, who had given me his
contact information in case I remembered something new about the abduction.

We wrote a message explaining what the evidence was about.

For the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful.

Hari would definitely go down.

 Chapter 23

In the morning, I made myself cheese toast for breakfast. The house was quiet until Hari
stomped down the stairs. I feared she would attack me because there was such urgency in her
steps, but instead, she went straight out the front door, not even taking anything to eat on the
way.

Hopefully, the Police had called her in for another questioning.

I read the news on my phone. Reporters wrote about the abduction of two famous 4th
generation K-pop groups.

Multiple hashtags relating to the case trended on Twitter. Most tweets were empathetic. Fans
said they cried when they saw the clips and hoped the boys were okay.

Among the sweet messages, there were tweets by anties and other stupid people.

"This is what idols do, honey. Go back to school if you can't handle a little aegyo," someone
wrote under a GIF where Felix almost cried.

"I would kill myself if my bias looked like this doing aegyo," another tweeted, referencing a
picture of Bang Chan grinning like crazy, eyes dark with anger and a finger pressed to his
cheek.

The most liked comment said: "He's a maniac. What did you expect?"

Some people were as insensitive as to make fun of the way San was kneeling down in his
clip.

"Kidnappers: Do aegyo!
San: Proceeds to do an exotic dance."

I felt sick to my stomach. San was obviously taking support from his thighs to stay up. There
was nothing suggestive about his movements, even when the video was slowed down. On top
of that, he was severely injured. Everyone watching the clip could see his split lip and
swollen eye.

People were cruel. Some didn't seem to understand that idols were humans, not public
property.

All the hateful and tasteless comments made me lose my appetite.

I pushed the last slice of bread away.

The stairs creaked.

Minho must have been home. Good. I wanted to tell him the truth about his sister. Actually,
not about his sister, but his stepsister. Funny how Jungkook, out of all people, had told me
that Minho and Hari were not biological siblings.

"Good morning," I said when I saw Minho in the corner of my eye.

He stopped midway through the stairs.

Wait... That was not Minho.

Why was Lucas still here?

Based on the way he froze, he probably wished to turn invisible. However, standing still on
the stairs only made me pay more attention to him. I couldn't help but stare and analyze his
sheepish expression.

I pitied him for dating Hari. Objectively, Hari was pretty, her face enviously symmetrical, but
there was nothing good about her personality. No one should have dated her. Did Lucas even
know how shady she was?

"You should be careful with your girlfriend. She might leak your personal information," I
said.

Lucas came down the last few steps, looking at his feet.

"We are just friends."

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"She said you're her boyfriend."

He turned his gaze toward me.

"I'm not."

I don't know what got into me, but I wanted to find out what was going on between the two.

"But you stayed overnight."

"Yeah, I just slept with her," he said.

My Korean might have been better than his because it took him a long time to understand
what he had just said. His cheeks turned red before correcting himself. "What I mean is, I
stayed with her for the night, but we didn't sleep."

He was making it worse for himself because I couldn't help but wonder what they had done if
they hadn't slept.

"No... that came out wrong. We did sleep," he continued explaining. "But not together."

After all that denying and admitting, I wasn't sure if he himself remembered what he had
done last night.
"Please, don't tell anyone I was here?" he asked.

"I won't spread it," I said. "But no matter what you do with Hari, you should stop for your
own good."

My words implied that I didn't trust him about the just-friends thing, and he noticed the
doubtful tone. His shoulders hunched a little as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks for not telling," he mumbled, eyes fixed on the entrance hall where he was headed.

I walked after him, out of habit, to see a guest out.

"Is she a good friend to you?" I asked.

He quickly put on his shoes.

"Bye," I said as he fled out.

The door shut between us before I could hear a reply from him.

I think I left a terrible impression on him. At this point, Lucas might have liked Hari more
than me, which was stupid but understandable, considering my nosy questions and the fact
that Hari could act nice to lure people close to her.

Luckily, the Police were about to reveal her crimes and expose her true self.

I wanted to talk to Minho before that happened.

Unfortunately, Hari came home before Minho. She drank red wine in the kitchen, so I went
upstairs.

Whenever I thought the front door opened, I rushed downstairs to greet Minho, but often my
ears had been mistaken, and there was no one in the entrance hall.

Each time I came to look for Minho, Hari glared at me, raising an eyebrow. She sipped her
beverage as if enjoying the show, which was me running up and down the stairs.

When Minho finally came home, I greeted him with a hug. He was tired and hungry, as usual.

"I want to talk to you about something," I said while he went to get a ready-made sandwich
from the fridge.

"Okay. Should we go to my room?" he asked.

We were almost at the stairs when Hari grabbed Minho by the arm.

"I want to talk to you too. Why would you go with her? After all, she is only a step-
stepsister."

Hari made my blood boil. How dare she? She had hurt Minho in unspeakable ways, yet she
thought she was a better sister than me.
I pulled Minho in the opposite direction from Hari.

"You two can talk later," I said, staring her down. "Besides, you are just a stepsister, which
isn't that different from me."

Hari glared at me, gripping Minho's upper arm.

"What did you say?"

"Jungkook told me. So, yeah, the secret is out."

Hari slapped Minho. It happened so suddenly that I hardly registered the movement. Minho's
head jolted to the side as Hari's palm hit his cheek.

"Did you fucking say to Jeon fucking Jungkook that I'm only a stepsister to you? Why tell
hell would you lie about that?"

Hari shoved Minho, and he staggered farther away from her.

Minho clenched his fists, mushing the sandwich in his hand.

"Because you're crazy! It's better if people think we aren't related."

Hari's eyes turned sharp and cold.

"Keep telling yourself that I am the weird one. Have you not seen that even STAYs think
you're too intense? I can send you a few edits of Lee Know being scary as fuck."

Minho's jaw tensed. He hurled the sandwich straight to Hari's face. She gasped as the bread
fell on her chest, leaving a trace of white sauce on her cheek.

"You little piece of shit," she muttered, taking the sandwich and charging at Minho.

Hari rubbed the crumbling sandwich on Minho's face. He crouched to escape the treatment
but didn't see anything from the bread and stumbled backward.

I yanked Hari away from Minho, sending her staggering on her heels. She twisted her ankle
and fell but quickly pushed herself up, wiping hair from her sauce-sticky face.

"I told you not to touch me again," she said in a chilling voice.

Then she limped into the kitchen, opening and slamming cardboard doors.

Minho ran upstairs, locking himself in the bathroom.

I waited for him in the hallway, listening to water splashing.

He had calmed down when he finally came out.

"You wanted to talk about something," he said, drying his face and hair on a towel.
I followed him into his room.

"Yeah."

He sat on his bed, expressionless. Maybe he was still angry.

"It's about Hari," I said.

"Fine. I'm listening," he said and rolled over to lay on his stomach.

He turned away from me, grabbing a pillow and tucking it under his head.

I had to basically talk to his back.

"Hari seems to really be responsible for the abduction. We found out that she has also leaked
photos from your phone in the past and-"

"Who we? Jungkook or Sunghoon? I can't keep up with your boys."

He was still mad. Not maybe specifically to me, but his mental state was not ideal for a
conversation.

"Sunghoon," I said.

"Okay. So, you still think Hari is responsible. That's no news to me."

"I know. But this time, we have proof."

I played the recording where I spoke with Hari's friends on the phone.

The call with a female at a club was unclear because of the background noises. However, the
conversation with the other person was loud and clear. He talked about the dark web and the
site where you could pay to see the full videos of abducted Ateez and Stray Kids members.

"That doesn't mean she is responsible. The guy speaks as if he has dug up the information for
Hari, like some private investigator or something," Minho said.

He was still in denial, but to my terror, he was right about the call. After Minho pointed it
out, I couldn't find anything the man said that truly proved that Hari was behind the illegal
site on the dark web. It sounded like the man explained what he had found out rather than
what he had set up. Shit! This ruined everything!

"But I do think she is dangerous," Minho continued.

He sunk his face into the pillow.

I think I heard a muffled sniffling, so I pat his back.

"Can you tell me about her?"

He kept his face buried in the pillow.

"She's just unstable. That's all."

His voice came out quiet.

"Can you even breathe like that? You don't have to hide that your crying," I said.

"I'm not crying," he said into the pillow.

"I can hear that you are."

He turned his head to the side, still not looking at me, but at least he wasn't suffocating in the
pillow anymore.

"We used to be closer as kids. Hari wanted to be an idol, so she used to dance all the time.
She got me into it too. I liked being with her back then, although she already had weird habits
like lying to get attention."

He paused.

"I didn't see her much after she turned twelve because she went to train to become an idol. I
think something happened to her there. She debuted, anyway. I mean, she had her first
showcase with a group. But then she had a mental breakdown and was even hospitalized for a
while. And after that, she has been sometimes better, sometimes worse."

I sighed.

"I feel bad for her. But it's not right that she gets away with everything. She's been harassing
Jungkook for years. And although you don't believe me, she has something to do with the
abduction."

Minho sobbed for real now, unable to hold back or hide the overwhelming emotion.

"It's my fault. She got worse again after Stray Kids debuted because I got what she always
wanted... And I think maybe I shouldn't have... I would be okay even as a backup dancer."

"It's not your fault. And, from what I've heard, Hari was wild already when you were a
backup dancer."

He hid his face under the pillow.

"Even then, I didn't help her at all." His voice broke. "I hated her... And I feared I would
become like her because we have the same inheritance. I really wished she wasn't my sister."

I petted his back some more.

"You're not like her. And what she said about the STAYs was bullshit. Your fans love you."

"I know," he said barely audibly. "But I still... I still love her. Somehow."

"I can understand that."

His eyes were puffy when he turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry for being a shit brother to you as well."

"You are the best brother I've ever had," I said.

"Well, the bar is low," he said, laughing a little. "Seriously, I'm sorry for lashing out
sometimes," he said and hugged me.

"It's okay. I'm sure everything will be cleared out about Hari and the abduction. Then we can
deal with whatever the truth is," I said, cheek pressed to his shoulder.

In his embrace, I felt like everything would turn out well.

However, that feeling changed into hopelessness later in the evening when I received an
email from Senior Inspector Suk.

The Police had listened to the recording but still didn't suspect Hari.

"There is no reason to believe that your sister is involved in crime based on the calls. It's a
different case if someone comes forward and sues her for stealing and leaking pictures. As of
now, there is no proof that she has leaked anyone's pictures without permission."

The Police let Hari off the hook once again.

Sunghoon and I had been blinded by our perspective. We hadn't noticed that the proof was
not as solid as we had imagined.

We needed to keep digging.

 Chapter 24

Before going to sleep, I went to say goodnight to Minho. We ended up talking for a couple of
hours.

It was close to midnight when his stomach growled, and I realized he hadn't eaten anything
because his sandwich had been smeared on his face.

"Let's go for a night snack," I said, but Minho didn't want to because he needed to lose
weight.

He had already gotten skinnier after the abduction.

"I'll get you something. It's not healthy to starve yourself," I said and tiptoed downstairs,
hoping that Hari was not in the kitchen anymore.

She wasn't there. Instead, Mike and Ae Ri sat on the couch. They didn't notice me.

Ae Ri leaned her head on Mike's chest.

"I feel like I have failed both of them. I can't do anything about the videos. Usually, I can take
down bad press, but now, I need to watch how torture videos of my child circulate online..."

Her voice quavered.

"I shouldn't have let him become an idol after all. I gave him permission on one condition.
That he lives at home and not at the dorm... I thought then we would stay close and what
happened to Hari would not happen to him... But I shouldn't have let him become an idol."

Mike stroked her hair.

"You let them follow their dreams. You couldn't have known."

"It's not even that. I was never home. I... I was always busy. And their dad... I should have
divorced him as soon as I realized how toxic our relationship was. I think that living with him
affected Hari too."

"Now we are here, and we move forward," Mike said.

Ae Ri burst out in tears.

"They called Hari in for another interrogation today. Did you know that?"

Mike offered her a tissue.

"Does she have something to do with it then?"

Ae Ri blew her nose loudly. She was ugly-crying. I had never seen her that vulnerable.
"She can't have done anything that serious..."

Ae Ri wiped the corners of her eyes.

"And... she would not survive in prison. She... she is so fragile. Her condition would get
worse."

"But you can't cover up her mistakes. You know that, right?" Mike said.

He adjusted his position and saw me at the stairs. Ae Ri followed his gaze. She quickly
smiled at me, acting like she had not just bawled her eyes out.

"Filina, is something wrong?" she asked.

"No, don't mind me. I'm just grabbing something to eat," I said and hurried into the kitchen.

I made a sandwich slowly because I wanted to hear more. Unfortunately, Ae Ri and Mike
changed the subject.

It was already 2 a.m. when I actually went to sleep. I had planned to call Sunghoon about the
Senior Inspector's email reply, but it was too late now. Talking with Minho and bringing him
food had messed up my schedule.

***

I called Sunghoon the first thing in the morning. He couldn't believe that Hari was left off the
hook again.

"What will we do now?" he asked.

"We need to continue digging her dirt up. Which reminds me of something that might be
useful. Guess who was at our house?"

"Who?"

"Not-Lucas," I said, feeling a bit guilty for revealing Lucas' secret. I had promised that I
wouldn't spread it. However, telling Sunghoon was not spreading it far. He wouldn't tell
anyone.

"Really? So, they are actually close?"

"Hari claims they are dating, but Lucas denies it."

"Weird."

"I think Hari lied because she is jealous of us. She thinks we are dating."

"She thinks we are dating?" Sunghoon echoed.

"Yeah."
Someone spoke to him on the other end. It sounded like Jungwon. Sunghoon coughed.

"I need to go. But we should meet soon to discuss our next move."

"Okay. See you soon," I said.

I got a call immediately after hanging up. It came from the Police station. They wanted to
meet me.

***

My palms sweated as I walked to a waiting room at the station. I feared that Hari had lied
about me, and the Police had asked me there for an interrogation.

Three familiar figures stood in the hallway. I recognized my favorite Ateez members
immediately.

Jongho, Yunho, and Hongjoong waved at me.

"Did they ask you for another interview, too?" I asked after greeting them.

Hongjoong shook his head.

"Not all of us. Just San and Jongho." He tapped Yunho on the shoulder. "We are here for
emotional support."

I looked at Jongho.

"Why did they call only the two of you?"

"I don't know why they called San, but they asked me to identify a kidnapper. Remember, I
hid in the bus bathroom? After you were taken away, one man found me by accident. He
wasn't wearing a mask."

San must have seen something, too, when they were beating him up in another room.

I relaxed a little. The Police had probably called me for the same reason. After all, I had seen
the faces of some of the kidnappers. For example, the two men whose coffee I had spiked.

Yunho furrowed his brow.

"Are you okay? You look quite pale."

"Yes..." I began to lie but changed my mind.

Why did I keep my doubts about Hari to myself? It helped no one but her.

I told them everything about Hari and her possible involvement in the case.

They were shocked.

"Wow... That's... terrible," Hongjoong said.

He gave me his phone number and promised that Ateez would always be there to help.

Their kind and supportive words already helped. I felt much better when I entered the
interrogation room. San came out before I got in. He nodded to me as we passed each other.
His eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Poor guy. The Police had made him recall the horrid
events once again.

The interrogators in the room were unknown to me. They placed headshots on the table and
asked me to recall if I had seen any of the men during our abduction and what had been their
role.

"This is the bus driver," I said, pointing at a picture of a slightly overweight man in his late
forties.

The police officer sitting on the right leafed through papers, searching for information about
the bus driver. He dropped the file, and all sheets of paper were spread over the floor. He
rushed to gather them.

I looked at the papers that had flown near my feet. They contained information about two of
the people in the pictures. Next to their birthday was the day of their death. Both had died on
the day we were rescued.

Shit! Had they killed themselves rather than gotten caught. Or had someone killed them so
that they wouldn't snitch?

"Are they dead?" I asked because there was no point in acting like I hadn't seen.

The police officer who did the talking sighed deeply.

"Yes... One of them shot his accomplices and then himself. We are trying to figure out how
many people got away. So, most importantly, we need to know if the boss is among these
men."

I stared at the chubby-cheeked man who had sung folk songs and jingled his keychain. That
man had died that day. It gave me chills.

"Did you catch anyone alive?" I asked.

The officers shared an embarrassed look.

"You are here to give us information, not the other way around."

Their reply confirmed my guess.

The Police had no one to interrogate but us, the victims.

Senior Inspector Suk had asked me to leave the investigation to professionals. However, they
didn't appear that talented in catching the culprits.
I covered the lower part of the pictures, trying to see if one of the men had dark piercing eyes
like the boss.

"I'm not sure... I don't think there is a picture of him. But I can't be sure. I saw only his eyes
and forehead."

They tanked me and let me go.

In the hallway, I spotted Senior Inspector Suk. I was angry at the whole police force for not
doing their work properly. I was especially angry at Senior Inspector Suk because he seemed
like a decent person, yet he didn't dare go against corruption.

"I got your email," I said to him. "But I don't understand why you don't look further into Hari
and her contacts."

Senior Inspector Suk pressed his lips together, forming a thin line.

"We are doing our best."

"Did someone tell you not to follow any leads linked to Hari?" I asked bluntly.

He glanced behind his shoulder, making sure no one was close.

"I'm telling you this only because you are so persistent. It's true that we are not following
every lead linked to her because it is deemed unlikely that she has anything to do with the
case. On top of that, I have received orders not to concentrate on small things like stealing
pictures or leaking them. Those are minor offenses compared to an abduction."

"So, people are allowed to do minor crimes."

Senior Inspector Suk snorted.

"Of course not, but those cases will be dealt with separately, and as of now, we have no
reason to charge her with anything. Good day to you," he said and marched off.

I was fuming when I came back home. Senior Inspector Suk's words confirmed that Ae Ri
had made sure that her fragile girl wouldn't go to prison, no matter what kind of crimes she
committed.

I was in a bad temper for a long time.

Throughout the week, Hari kept giving me sly glances, the minor offender that she was. I
couldn't stand staying in the house with her, so I followed Minho to his work again.

Stray Kids was recording a new album, so I mostly sat in a waiting room and watched TikTok
videos.

I ate dinner with them when they took a break.

Han explained and even demonstrated how his voice had cracked when Bang Chan had asked
him to scream some ad-lips. Everyone else laughed except Minho. He stared at his phone.

I peeked at the screen.

"What is it?"

He lay the phone on his thigh.

"Well... Jungkook asks for your Instagram account."

"What?"

"Do you want me to give it to him?"

"Yes. Obviously."

He side-eyed me, typing to Jungkook.

"Obviously, huh?"

I hit him with an elbow.

"It's not what you think."

My phone vibrated.

@Ian1234 followed me on Instagram. It must have been Jungkook's private account.

He didn't send me any message explaining that it was, in fact, Jungkook, not until 4 a.m. in
the night when I was already sleeping in my bed. His message woke me up.

"Hi, this is Jungkook. I thought about what you said."

He sent a picture of himself asleep, hugging a pillow.

"Found this pic online a year ago. It's from our dorm. Back then (when someone broke into
our dorm) Hari told me I looked pretty when I slept... and some shit like that. So, it was
definitely her, who broke in and took that pic, but there was no proof that it was her, so the
cops said they couldn't do anything about it. If you find the original somewhere in her files
that proves she took it... then I guess she could face charges."

"Damn... That's crazy. But thanks," I replied.

"Yeah. Np. I just wish she would finally get out of my life... If you and Sunghoon try to
expose her for real lmk if I can help."

An idea popped into my mind.

"Do you know Lucas? He might know something about Hari, but we have no way of
contacting him."
"Lucas from NCT?"

"Yeah."

"Jackson's holding a party next weekend. I could ask Namjoon to ask Jackson to invite him
and you two. Jackson likes Lucas anyway. I think they're both from Hong Kong or
something. So, inviting him shouldn't be a problem."

It was a decent plan, but Lucas didn't like me or Sunghoon. We had both pretty much pissed
him off with our hatred toward Hari. It would have been hard for us to make him talk.

"Lucas is friends with Hari. Could you talk to him at the party? Maybe he'll listen to you," I
asked.

"I don't really wanna talk to Hari's friends..."

"Yeah. Sorry. I understand. We will talk to him. You don't have to."

I sighed.

There was no way Lucas would open up to me or Sunghoon.

Maybe some of the Ateez members could have helped as Hongjoong had promised?

I sent him a message, asking if he would be up for a party and willing to try to talk sense to
Lucas and make him reveal what he knew about Hari.

Hongjoong answered in the morning. He promised he could come with Yunho as Ateez was
still taking a break and recovering.

"We aren't busy at all. It gets weirdly boring most days," Hongjoong wrote.

I asked Jungkook if Yunho and Hongjoong could also come to the party. He replied
immediately with a thumbs-up emoji, although it was early morning and he had been awake
at 4 a.m.

Had he slept at all?

Luckily, Jungkook's sleep-pattern was none of my concern. All I needed to think about was
how to make Lucas talk about Hari at the party.
 Chapter 25
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Hongjoong was no joke when it came to detective activities. He was a great addition to our
little "Let's Expose Hari" club. He suggested that he and Yunho could come to the party mic'd
up and with earpieces. Ateez had used the equipment when they had filmed hidden camera
content for their YouTube channel. If we connected the devices to mine or Sunghoon's phone,
we could listen to Hongjoong and Yunho's conversation with Lucas and help them from afar.

The four of us were supposed to go early to the party to set everything up and plan how the
Ateez members could approach Lucas. However, Hongjoong and Yunho got stuck in a traffic
jam. They sent a message saying they would be late.

Sunghoon and I had to do all the groundwork.

There weren't many guests when we arrived at Jackson's mansion. A few people strolled in
the garden, and three young men sat around a pool dipping their feet in the water.

Jackson greeted us on his front terrace. He wore black designer shorts and a tailored silk coat
that hung open, revealing his abs.

"Hey! You are those Jungkook's friends. Nice to meet you. Drinks and snacks are in the
kitchen."

Never in my life had I imagined that I would be known as Jungkook's friend. I didn't mind,
though. It made me feel like a celebrity. I subconsciously acted like one, smiling politely and
thanking Jackson for the invitation as if attending such parties was normal for me.

When Jackson directed his attention to another guest, Sunghoon and I headed inside to look
for a place where no one could hear our plans.

We found a room upstairs. On our way there, people stared at us and whispered. They
thought of only one reason why two people sought a room at a party. Sunghoon didn't notice
their curious looks or didn't care. He showed no hesitation when he closed the door behind
us.

There was a bed in the middle of the room. We sat on it.

Sunghoon pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket.

"Okay, so, should we make one of them act like they used to date Hari?" he asked, clicking
the ballpoint pen.

I considered it, chewing my lower lip.

"Not bad... Yunho would fit that role."

"They should say that she leaked Yunho's pictures, so Lucas will be afraid that Hari will do
the same to him. Maybe he will then turn against her."

Sunghoon was more devious than I had expected. Lying that much sounded extreme.
However, I let him write it down because we were desperate.

After about twenty minutes of planning, Sunghoon put the paper beside him on the bed .

"I think we have a plan."

I reached over to look at his notes. As I moved, my hair got stuck in Sunghoon's shirt button.

"Sorry," I mumbled, trying to free myself carefully without messing up my braid.

Sunghoon took over the job of releasing my hair. His fingers pushed mine away as he turned
the button. He had a better view of the mess than I did, but it felt like he was ripping a chunk
of hair off my scalp.

"Ouch! Don't pull!" I yelled.

"Sorry... I'm not trying to. But it's all tangled up."

His voice reverberated in his chest. I could feel it. That's how close we were. I sat beside him,
but my upper body hovered on his lap, the side of my face pressed against him.

Twisting my body like that began to hurt after a while, so I slid off the bed. It was a mistake
because I still needed to keep my head near him. Instead of sitting beside him, I crouched
before him, my neck tilted to an awkward angle. On top of that, I couldn't see where I put my
feet, so I stepped on Sunghoon's shoe and lost my balance. Scared to fall and lose a good
chunk of hair, I sought support from the bed. Since I couldn't move my head and look where I
put my hands, I grabbed Sunghoon's thing instead of the bed frame. It wouldn't have been so
bad had I placed my hand near his knee, but I touched his very upper thigh.

He gasped.

"What are you doing?"

I quickly took my hands off him.

"Sorry, I' was trying to move to a more comfortable position."

I went down on my knees because crouching made my leg muscles ache. However, kneeling
got me farther from Sunghoon, and I was about to lose my hair again.

"Aaa...aaaa... Can you come closer?" I asked, pressing the painful spot on my scalp.

Sunghoon spread his legs and shifted closer to the edge of the bed.

"Why did you move in the first place? This is a far more uncomfortable position," he
muttered.
He was right. I basically kneeled between his legs. Luckily, he kept untangling my hair like
nothing had happened.

After a while, he did something stupid. It felt like he twisted the button instead of unknotted
my hair.

"Don't do it like that," I said.

"Maybe it would be easier if I took this off," he said, unbuttoning his shirt.

Right then, someone opened the door.

Jungkook gaped at us, quickly stepping back and shutting the door.

"Don't go!" I exclaimed because I didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

We had been invited to the party thanks to Jungkook. He needed to know that we had
certainly not wanted to come so that we could get intimate in Jackson's mansion.

"Jungkook, don't go!" I said again.

He cracked the door open, but only a little so that he couldn't see inside.

"Why? Is everything okay?"

"Can you help us?" I asked.

"Uhm... I'm not into that..."

My cheeks burned. I had never felt so embarrassed in my life.

Sunghoon didn't seem to listen to my conversation with Jungkook. He muttered in his

thoughts.

"I'm so stupid. Of course, I can't take this off."

He had realized that my hair would have needed to go through the buttonhole for him to
remove his shirt. The problem occupied the whole of his mind, so he paid no attention to the
fact that Jungkook had completely misunderstood our situation.

"We really need a hand," Sunghoon said, only making matters worse.

Jungkook lowered his voice.

"If you can't do it, just don't do it. You can practice somewhere more private."

Sunghoon stopped twiddling with the button, shocked by Jungkook's reply.

"Practice... What are you talking about?"

"Sorry, man. I was not trying to offend you or anything. It's normal that it doesn't always
work the first time with someone. I mean... I don't know anything about you two... Forget the
last thing I said."

I pushed Sunghoon's hands away to open my braid, which I should have done already. The
braided hairdo was ruined by now, so I would have needed to put my hair down anyway.
Unfortunately, it was too late for that remedy. Sunghoon had twisted the button so many
times that my hair had gotten knotted around it. I couldn't unbraid the mess.

"My hair got stuck on his button. Can you just come and help us untangle. We are in bad
positions to see it closely," I explained.

The door opened, and Jungkook came in, peeking through his fingers. Since we had clothes
on, mostly, he let his hands fall beside his thighs.

"Why do you make so big deal out of it?" He asked and casually ripped the button off
Sunghoon's shirt.

Sunghoon stared at the place where the button had been.

"This... was my favorite shirt," he said, covering his bare chest.

Jungkook flipped the button like a coin.

"You can sew it back."

Sunghoon closed his shirt, but it looked stupid with a missing button. Reluctantly, he
unbuttoned the shirt halfway down.

"Now we should find a good place," he said, crossing his arms to cover the exposed skin.

"Yeah..." I said, turning to look at Jungkook. "Do you know a place here where you can have
a bit of privacy, but someone can also peek in and remain unnoticed?"

Jungkook wrinkled his brows. His mouth opened while his upper lip raised slightly, showing
his teeth. The expression resembled a half grimace as if he had heard something borderline
disgusting.

"You have weird kinks... I'm not going to help you with that."

"It's for a conversation with Lucas. I told you we will talk to him about Hari," I said.

Jungkook laughed, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh, that... Sure! There is a summer house in the garden. It's more like a room outside."

He took us there. The small building was perfect for our purpose. It was the shape of a
hexagon with huge windows on each side. A thick bush blossomed near one of the walls,
offering a spying spot for Sunghoon and me.
Nice. We had a place and a plan for the conversation.

We only needed Yunho, Hongjoong, and Lucas to show up.

The best place to see when they arrived was on the terrace.

Sunghoon and I sat on a modern swing chair near the front door. Our shoulders touched, but
we didn't move farther from each other. I kept my hand on the seat between us, hoping that he
would place his hand on mine or something. However, Sunghoon was too occupied to hold
his shirt shut. Who would have thought that an idol could be so insecure about such a thing,
especially someone whose chest was as lean as his?

I guess celebrities had their standards too high. Everyone around me seemed to strive for
perfection. A group of girls thinner than Victoria's Secret Angels passed us.

More idols like them came to the party. A fancy car after another drove through the gate,
leaving behind a stunning young man or a gorgeous young woman.

I reached my neck, trying to identify every new arrival.

Lucas came at half past nine. I didn't recognize him at first because he appeared a different
person from our earlier encounters. He was not awkward as he had been at our house or
angry as he had been at the award-show afterparty. When he spent time with other idols, his
smile never left his face, not even when he mistook someone's chauffeur as his friend. Lucas
laughed it off with the stranger. Nothing seemed to embarrass nor agitate this version of
Lucas. When one of his companions said something that made the others in the group cover
their faces in second-hand embarrassment, Lucas grinned benevolently. He didn't seem to
understand the concept of cringing. It was hard to believe, but he was an all-around happy
guy. The cheerfulness even spread around him.

Maybe the saying about opposites attracting was true because why else would a guy like him
stay friends with a bitter person like Hari?

At quarter to ten, Hongjoong and Yunho arrived.

I briefed them on our plan. They connected their mics and earpieces to my phone and left to
get Lucas to the summer house. They must have felt indebted to me or wholeheartedly
believed this was the way to catch the culprit who had organized our kidnapping because not
many people would have done what they did for me. Most people wouldn't have went so far
even for a close friend.

Hopefully, I didn't waste their time.

While they followed Lucas, Sunghoon and I prepared to hide behind the bush near the
summer house.

"Oh no..." Sunghoon said.

There were people inside the summer house.

Jennie and Rosé from Backpink and Irene from Red Velvet chatted on the cushioned chairs.
One of them giggled. Soon, the other two caught the laughter. It didn't take long before all
three of them rolled on the floor. Something was hilarious to them.

However, I didn't find the situation funny at all. We had to empty the summer house of
people before Hongjoong and Yunho came there with Lucas.

"What do we do?" Sunghoon asked.

"I don't know... We can't just ask them to leave, right? That would be rude.... Shit.... Why do I
always have to embarrass myself in front of Jennie?"

"Why don't you do some more of whatever you did in that room? Got me out pretty fast,"
someone said behind us.

Jungkook, of course. He had come to check on us "out of curiosity."

"I shouldn't have come... Your unfunctional plan gives me anxiety. Why are you still standing
here?" Junhkook said, pushing us toward the door. "Get inside and do your thing. It's as
simple as that."

I shared an awkward glance with Sunghoon before we both looked at Jungkook.

"Why don't you help us?" I asked.

Jungook smirked.

"I already told you I'm not into that."

It was a joke, but only he laughed.

Wind opened Sunghoon's flowing upper shirt. He wrapped it around his chest.

"Seriously, Jungkook. Aren't you friends with them?"

Jungkook slicked his hair back.

"Fine. Let me show you how easy it is."

He knocked on the wall.

All the giggling stopped as the girls looked at Jungkook, who leaned on the doorframe.

"Do you want to play beer bong or something? With me and a couple of others."

The girls looked at each other, sharing their thoughts silently.

"Thanks for the invitation, but we are in the middle of something. We might come later,"
Rosé said, and the others nodded.

Jungkook tapped the wall with his fingers.

"Oh... Fine... I... I'll tell Tae and Jimin... Th- They asked me to ask you," he stuttered and
rushed away, not even looking at me and Sunghoon.

I guess Jungkook wasn't that close with the girls after all. Also, he wasn't as smooth with
women as I had thought.

Sunghoon sighed and crossed his arms.

"Great. He isn't helpful at all. He didn't even give me the button. How am I supposed to sow
it back if it's in his pocket somewhere?"

"Calm down. It's just a shirt," I said, spying on the girls in the summer house. "Getting them
out is more important."

"Well... Do you want to... do what Jungkook sugges-" Sunghoon began to say.

"No! Of course not. It's a stupid idea," I said, cheeks burning.

Sunghoon coughed.

"Yeah... that's what I thought as well."

He made his way toward the bush that was supposed to be our spying spot.

"Why don't we just scare them off?"

He hit the wall.

I crouched behind the bush.

"Sunghoon, this is so embarrassing. They will see us."

He hit the wall again.

The girls inside screamed.

"Oh my God! Someone's in the bush! That's so creepy!" Jennie yelled.

"Why does something like this always happen at Jackson's party?" Irene complained as they
ran out, heading to the pool where most people were partying like crazy.

Luckily, no one came to check the situation, and no one came to hang out in the
summerhouse before Hongjoong, Yunho, and Lucas arrived.

The three of them were in high spirits, bantering as if they had become best friends in that
short time while Sunghoon and I had waited behind the bush.

Lucas sat on one of the benches inside, his back toward us, which was great because it
allowed us to peek through the window without him noticing. Hongjoong and Yunho sat
across from him. They saw us.
Hongjoong drank from a beer can.

"By the way, I heard you know Hari. Lee Hari. Where'd you meet her?"

The atmosphere changed. I could tell Lucas' smile dropped, even though I only saw him from
the backside. He twiddled with his rings, gaze lowered.

After a moment, he lifted his head so relaxedly that it seemed practiced, rather tense than
easygoing.

"Yeah, I know her. But can't remember when I first met her."

Hongjoong nodded.

"Right. It's just that..." He lowered his voice. "I'm not sure if I should tell you... I mean...
How close are you?"

"We aren't that close," Lucas said, but he touched his lips or nose, which was a clear
indication of lying.

Hongjoong leaned toward him as if sharing a top secret. He was a natural actor. I didn't even
have to help him through the earpiece.

"Did you know that she used to date Yunho?" Hongjoong asked.

Yunho looked uncomfortable but nodded once he remembered that he had agreed to act as
Hari's ex-boyfriend.

"Oh... When?" Lucas asked.

Yunho glanced at me, seeking help.

It was my time to be useful, but I didn't know much about Hari.

"Say vaguely that a few years ago," I whispered to the earpiece.

"Vaguely-," Yunho began to say. "I mean... the dating was vague. It was on and off."

Hongjoong looked at Yunho pityingly as if recalling an unpleasant memory.

"She really screwed him over. I'm still angry at her. Yunho was in a dark place for a long
time."

Yunho was quick to add that he wasn't affected by Hari anymore.

Hogjoong shook his head.

"But you are, though... All your private pictures that she leaked are still on the internet for
everyone to see."
Yunho shifted closer to Hongjoong, probably secretly poking or pinching him to make him
stop inflating the case.

"Luckily, I didn't have any pictures that would have embarrassed me or ruined my image," he
said.

Hongjoong pulled out his phone.

"There were some bad ones. For example, this picture is pretty bad," he said, turning the
screen toward Lucas.

Before Lucas could take a proper look, Yunho snatched the phone from Hungjoong.

"What do you mean? I look handsome in this one."

"I agree," Lucas said. "It's a pretty good photo."

Hongjoong shoved the phone back into his pocket.

"Well, that's not the point. She leaked Yunho's private information and pictures. I hope she
won't do that to you."

Lucas nodded.

"I don't think she will."

"Did you know... about the things she has done?"

"No... I don't know her that well," Lucas said. He stood up. "I think I need to go. It was nice
talking to you."

I spoke to Yunho and Hongjoong through the earpieces: "Don't let him go. He is lying. We
need to make him talk. This might be our last chance."

Yunho rushed to block the doorway.

"Sorry, but this is important. Do you know of anything illegal that Hari does?"

The angry Lucas I had met at the afterparty came back. He tried forcing his way through the
door even though Yunho stood there.

"I already told you we aren't close," Lucas muttered.

Yunho looked at me, uncertain of what to do. Lucas followed his gaze, and to my horror, our
eyes met.

"What the fuck..." he said and pushed Yunho aside.

Lucas marched out, heading towards me and Sunghoon. He clenched his fists but luckily
stayed so far that he couldn't have hit us even if he had wanted to.
 "What the hell do you want from me?! Can't you just let me live!?" he shouted.

He was so angry that spit splattered out along some of the words. Also, his neck tendons
tightened, and his face got red.

"Was that even true? About Yunho?"

I slowly rose from the bush, fully aware that we had been caught red-handed, doing
something very weird. Lucas was angry for a good reason.

"Hari has done other things. She-" I began to explain but shied away when Lucas stepped
closer.

Sunghoon rushed between us.

"Don't come near her."

Lucas' eyes darkened, but he backed off.

"I thought you wanted to talk to me," he said, throwing his hands up. "But fine. Let's not talk.
Oh right... You never wanted to talk to me. You just wanted to lie to me and spy on my
reaction."

"It's not like that. We want to expose Hari for actual illegal shit. And, yes, we wanted to find
out if you would help us," Sunghoon replied.

I moved from behind Sunghoon to see Lucas.

He put his hands on his hips.

"Well, I don't want to help you. If someone should be exposed, it's the two of you," he said
and left.

"Do you even know what she has done?! She almost got people killed. And she is stalking
idols, and..." I said, but Lucas was too far away to hear me.

We had messed up. Lucas was angrier than ever, and if he was a closer friend to Hari than he
claimed, he would tell her that we tried to expose her.

My hands shook just thinking about facing Hari after this.

I was in trouble.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for kudos! <3

Would love to hear your comments ;*
 Chapter 26

I had put Hongjoong and Yunho in an awkward situation, possibly ruining their reputation
among SM idols. Hongjoong assured me they weren't angry with me, but they left the party
soon after the incident, so I knew they weren't happy with me either.

"I feel terrible..." I told Sunghoon.

It was an understatement.

I felt sick like we had committed a serious crime.

"Don't worry about it too much. Lucas seems to be fine. Look at him," Sunghoon said,
pointing at the pool area where Lucas shotgunned a beer.

Maybe Lucas was a good friend of Hari's, after all. He always flew into a rage when someone
spoke ill of her. He must have gotten defensive because he knew about Hari's shady business.
If that was the case, there was no reason to feel bad about cornering him.

"He's wasted," Sunghoon said.

"How? It hasn't been long since we talked to him, and he was pretty much sober back then."

"Well... I think that's his third can in like... five minutes."

Sunghoon was right. Lucas stood unsteadily. His movements reminded me of a staggering
zombie when he wended his way toward the house.

Sunghoon looked guilty even before saying anything, so I knew he was about to suggest a
bad idea.

"Should we talk to him now?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"He would fight you."

"I'm not scared."

"But it would be pointless."

Sunghoon strolled toward the front door, suddenly stopping.

"What about Jungkook?"

"What about him?"

"Would Lucas pour his heart out to him?"

We looked at each other like mischievous kids who had thought up the most catastrophic idea
but decided to try it anyway.

Jungkook had said he didn't like talking to Hari's friends, but what about Hari's drunk friend,
who wouldn't remember the details of their conversation later?

Unfortunately, Jungkook was also drunk when we found him.

"What? I don't want to see her. Why is she here?" he said when we asked him to speak to
Lucas about Hari.

In his current state, Jungkook was incapable of understanding the situation, so we gave up.

Despite failing plan B, things worked out in our favor because Jungkook went to the kitchen
for another drink, and Lucas happened to be there, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

Jungkook took Lucas' filled glass.

Lucas reached for the drink.

"Excusemethat's mine," he slurred.

Jungkook moved the glass so that Lucas grabbed thin air.

"Sorry. You're not welcome here anymore," Jungkook said, sipping the whiskey.

Lucas' jaw dropped, and his eyebrows jumped up.

"Why...? What did I do?"

Jungkook glared at him.

"You brought that bitch here. Take her and leave, please."

Lucas leaned on the kitchen counter, turning to scan the room. His eyes locked on me.

"Ahh... You mean her... I definitely didn't. I wouldn't... seriously, man... I would never. I
never did invite her."

"Not her, stupid. She's not a bitch," Jungkook said and narrowed his eyes. "I'm talking about
Hari. Go find her and leave."

Jungkook tended to misunderstand what people said to him. Sure, he was drunk now, but we
never said Hari was at the party. At least, this time, his selective understanding of situations
benefited us because we got to see what drunk Lucas thought about Hari.

Lucas picked up another glass.

"Huh? Hari's here?"

Jungkook stole Lucas' new glass even before he got to pour anything in it.
"She's everywhere... I'm not even kidding. She appeared even in my sleep paralysis. So, for
fuck's sake, I don't want to see her at this party."

Lucas reached out for the empty glass and managed to take hold of Jungkook's hand that held
it.

"I feel you, man. But I'd like that whiskey."

"You don't feel me. You're her friend."

"I literally feel you right now," Lucas said, staring at their conjoined hands.

Jungkook shook Lucas' hand off him.

"You're such a creep. Like your friend."

Lucas lost his balance due to Jungkook's sudden movement. His eyelids drooped as he took
support from the counter.

"No, man. I really understood. She can be creepy." Lucas patted his cheeks, acting a
pantomime of what he was about to say next. "Especially when she puts so like really white
powder. And she looks like a ghost. For real. Like for real white."

Jungkook gave Lucas a glass and poured it full.

"Yeah. You're right. She's a ghost."

They drank together, steering off to other topics.

Even in a boozed-up state, Lucas hadn't revealed much about Hari. He spoke of her
somewhat cautiously, like she was a person he wanted to keep to himself. A secret girlfriend,
perhaps. Sure, Lucas had called Hari creepy, but only regarding her way of applying makeup.
A comment like that meant they had known each other for a long time.

Now that I thought about it, Hari often whitened her face with lotions and powders. Only
good friends or siblings could have noticed that. I bet a handful of people had seen Hari
without makeup, and apparently Lucas was one of them.

We left Jungkook and Lucas in the kitchen.

There was no reason to come up with plan C, so Sunghoon's chauffeur drove me home.

"It was not a complete failure. We learned something new," Sunghoon said when we parked
on the side of the road in front of our house.

"Yeah. We learned that Lucas thinks that I'm a bitch."

Sunghoon tilted his head, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on... Why do you care what he thinks of you?"

"I was joking. Though, it was pretty shocking."

He leaned an elbow on the seat before him.

"I think Lucas knows what Hari is doing but wants to keep it a secret."

I nodded.

"I thought so, too. He immediately guessed, or knew, that Yunho lied about dating Hari.
That's how close Lucas is with her."

Sunghoon squeezed my upper arm gently.

"Be careful now. After this, Hari will probably know that we are investigating her."

I assured him that I would be careful.

However, at that moment I didn't think of Hari. I was mostly afraid that Mike saw me getting
home at such a late hour.

I sneaked into our house, running from shadow to shadow.

In the living room, a movie played on low volume.

Ae Ri and Mike never let anyone watch the TV late at night. They somehow sensed when it
was on, even if we muted it.

An old woman shouted on the screen. She was mourning a child at a funeral. Ae Ri would
have definitely stormed down by now if she had been home. There was no way she would
have let that old lady bemoan in our house after midnight.

I tiptoed toward the stairs because only Hari could have watched a dark movie at that hour,
and because our parents didn't seem to be at home. Facing Hari was dangerous if there was
no one else near by.

I glanced at the couch, prepared to see her sitting in the dim room, entertaining her psychotic
thoughts.

I was surprised to see Minho sleeping on the couch. He was alone. His hand had slid over the
edge. His knuckles touched the floor.

After changing into more comfortable clothes, I returned downstairs and heated a bowl of
noodles.

The TV cast its bluish light on Minho's face. His brow furrowed, and his eyelids tremored as
he moved his eyes to see a restless dream. He shuddered. No wonder. The air conditioner
worked at full power, yet Minho was barefoot and wore only a T-shirt and shorts.

I got him a blanket from an armchair and tucked him in. I wrapped another blanket around
myself and sat on the free end of the couch.
At some point, I fell asleep watching the murder movie.

When I woke up in the morning, no one was there.

I expected someone to come home at least in the afternoon, but even Hari had somewhere
else to be. The house was empty for the whole day.

An uneasy feeling followed me around. I kept checking the clock, wondering when someone
would come home.

I texted Minho. He was going to stay at the dorm that night.

Mike said he had an urgent work trip. He had left a note on the kitchen counter, but I hadn't
noticed it.

Ae Ri messaged me, saying she would stay at the office overnight.

Half past eleven p.m., the doorbell rang. My heart skipped a beat.

I didn't want to open the door because it was most likely Hari, and she might have wished to
kill me or at least threaten me, depending on what Lucas had told her. Besides, she had the
key.

There was no reason to exit my room when only the two of us were at the house.

The doorbell rang repeatedly.

Shit.

She was angry.

The doorbell sound echoed in the house, getting sharper and sharper each time.

I ran downstairs because Hari might have forgotten her keys, and I didn't want to make her
angrier than she already was.

The doorbell camera revealed a man in dark clothes.

I gasped, covering my mouth. A strange man was even more terrifying than Hari. My heart
thundered as I took my phone out, ready to call the emergency number.

Before I dialed any number, I recognized him.

Lucas.

There was no doubt about his identity now that I looked closer. Lucas kept his head low, like
the last time he had been at the door. He moved restlessly, changing weight from one leg to
the other.

I opened the door slightly so he would stop ringing the bell. I didn't intend to let him in, but
he entered anyway.
Although he had confidently invited himself in, he didn't make proper eye contact.

"Hari is not home," I said.

His gaze wandered about.

"I know."

Something was off about him. He was unfocused. Indeed, he seemed overwhelmed by an
urgent matter that, despite its urgency, threatened to slip from his memory.

Was he paler than last night at the party?

"Please, Filina, don't expose Hari. It won't do any good to anyone," he pleaded suddenly.

"It will do good for many people," I said without thinking.

He came closer to me as if he could have reached me with his nonsense that way.

"You're wrong. It will only hurt me."

There was such desperation in his voice that I paused before stepping backward.

"It will hurt her. As it should. She can't go around doing crimes and not get punished."

Lucas rushed closer but stumbled on a threshold and stayed on his knees.

"Please, don't expose her. She will get out of it. You know that her mum can make any story
the truth. I... I need this job. Please," he begged, connecting his palms as if about to pray.

"So, you have also done something illegal?" I asked.

He leaped up and grabbed my wrist.

"It's not that. It really has nothing to do with you. I... I will do anything if you promise not to
expose her."

Lucas tightened his grip on my wrist. It began to hurt, and I became overly aware of our size
difference. He could have crushed me if he had wanted to.

"Let go of me," I said, pulling my hand.

He squeezed harder.

"You don't understand... You can't expose her."

I grabbed his wrist with my free hand, intending to twist his arm and pull myself free.

His sleeve was wet.

Not wet.
Sticky.

My palm got red after touching him.

"Wh- what is this?" I asked. "Did someone hurt you?"

He let go of me.

"It's nothing. It's not bad. I accidentally scratched it on my way here," he said, but his eyes
were wide as if he was just as shocked to see blood as I was.

"No. That's not nothing if it goes through a hoodie like that."

I stepped forward to check his arm, but he moved backward.

"It's not important right now. What's important is that you understand that you can't expose
her. As I said, I will do anything... If she is bothering you or Sunghoon, I will talk to her. I
will fix that for you."

"I don't want you to talk to her. I want you to tell me everything about her, and then I will see
what I can do for you," I said.

He looked at me, processing my words.

I used his moment of hesitation to grab his wrist and pull the bloody sleeve up. To my
surprise, his arm was already bandaged, and the blood came through the gauze.

"Didn't you say you scratched your arm on the way here?" I asked.

He blinked rapidly, not because he was about to cry but because he didn't know what else to
do.

"I had... bandage... with me," he said, lowering the sleeve.

He was such a terrible liar. Also, he seemed dizzy. He nearly tripped when I pulled him
toward the downstairs bathroom, where Ae Ri kept first aid supplies and medicine.

Lucas attempted to walk in the opposite direction.

"It isn't serious. You don't need to do this."

He tried to escape my hold but found himself weak after losing blood. Also, he couldn't twist
the injured arm without feeling pain.

I dragged him closer to the bathroom sink and pulled his sleeve up.

He tried to wrench free.

"I can do it myself," he said as I started to unwrap the soaked bandage.

"Fine. Do it yourself," I said, letting go of the bloody hand.

He wasted no time in covering his arm with the sleeve again.

"I can do it when I get back home. We have some other things to discuss. Like-"

I spoke over him.

"I will expose Hari unless you tell me everything and convince me not to do so. I also want to
know what happened to your arm."

I pushed his sleeve up, holding his arm tighter than last time. Then I hurriedly unwrapped the
bandage.

He resisted, but I managed to force his arm under the tap.

The blood washed off, revealing a cut that followed the line of his most visible vein. The
injury was the length of half the forearm.

I froze, staring at the wound. It was obviously self-inflected. He had hit the vein dangerously
at the wrist but missed by little most of the way. If he hadn't, he would have died by now.

I closed the tap. Blood oozed out of the cut immediately. It dripped in the sink, leaving red
spots on the white marble.

"What happened?" I asked as I tried to shut the cut with steristrips.

He sighed, closing his eyes.

"Don't tell anyone."

"No one made you do it?"

He hung his head low, not meeting my gaze. His dark hair covered the little I could see of his
eyes.

"Fine... I'll convince you not to expose her," he said, changing the subject.

He hid his arm from me and attempted to stitch the cut with the steristrips, but using only one
hand didn't get him far. He ruined one of the strips and bloodied his fingers.

I took the pack of steristrips from him.

"Let me do it. You can concentrate on convincing me."

He didn't say a word for a while, but when he did, he kept going at it like he desperately
needed me to get his perspective.

"I had been a trainee for a year when my dad's restaurant went bankrupt. The company gave
me all I needed for living, so it didn't cost anything to my parents, but I also couldn't help
them. I made no money, and my trainee contract was pretty long. I couldn't leave before the
contract ended unless I wanted to pay for all the living costs. The training was... hard. They
scolded me a lot. I'm pretty sure most of the teachers hated me for some reason. I thought I
could never debut. I felt like I was wasting my time, but I also couldn't afford to leave. I felt
like I was trapped."

He drew a long breath.

"They said I could debut soon if I spent time with some of the shareholders, or sponsors, or
some investors I don't know. Have dinner with them and such. They say it's part of the
training really. Idol's need to learn to be polite, right. And I was desperate to move to some
direction because I didn't want to train for many years and gain nothing all the while my
parents worked their butts off."

He flinched when I accidentally pinched him as I tried to fix one of the steristrips that had not
stuck well because of blood.

"They gave me Hari's number," he continued.

I paused.

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"She's a shareholder, I guess. And one of those people who want to meet the idols. Anyway, it
wasn't too bad. We just met every now and then and acted like we were friends. Or, you
know, I was just nice to her."

I wrapped a new bandage around his arm.

"But she wasn't nice to you, was she?"

Lucas stared at me for a while.

"She wasn't that bad. She's not even that much older than me."

"Wait... How old were you?" I asked.

"I think I was seventeen when I first met her. I've known her for almost six years."

"Did they make you see her even after the debut? Or did you actually become friends?"

"It's not like that. I told you she wasn't that bad. Not at first. But... She gave me gifts and then
said I owed her for that, although I never asked for those gifts. When I made that deal, I didn't
understand everything perfectly. I'm still not that good at Korean... Anyway... I didn't make
much money the first few years, so Hari kind of helped me. I realized it was part of what the
company wanted, too. When I started to make money and got busy and all... I wanted to stop
seeing her. The company didn't mind, but Hari didn't like the idea. And... That's when she
became difficult, more difficult than before. She... she threatens to leak something and make
everyone hate me if I stop seeing her. I know she's using me in many ways... Like, she wants
me to take her to celebrity parties for one, and I can't say no.... However, I can manage all
that. I need my job to help my family, and she will end my career If I stop seeing her."

I taped the bandage tail to make sure the wrapping stayed in place.

"Sounds like she should be exposed. Or are you planning on seeing her for the rest of your
life?"

Lucas laughed as if I had said something funny, but his eyes watered.

"She will get bored of me. I'm not special to her or anything."

"That's wishful thinking. She hasn't gotten bored in six years. I honestly think that exposing
her will help you."

"No, it won't! My career will be over if you expose her. She won't be hurt at all, but I can't
come back from that. If the police investigate this, they won't find any links to my company.
It will look like I first messaged Hari just because I wanted to. And... It will look like I sold
myself for money and gifts.... and... That's not something an idol can do..."

He dropped to his knees.

"My parents still have some debt. And I will have to compensate for schedules and pay for
many brands if I ruin my image. Why do you need to expose her? Does she see Sunghoon,
too?"

"No... I didn't even know about this whole sponsor thing. She did something else illegal.
Have you heard about the Stray Kids-Ateez kidnapping case? Did she speak to you about it?"

Lucas rose slowly, staring at nothingness.

"You didn't want to expose her for this? You didn't even know about this?"

He lowered his head, pressing the heels of his palms to his temples.

"I thought... I thought you asked all those questions because you knew," he said, voice thick
with regret.

He wouldn't have told me anything if he had known that I was grasping at straws. He
probably wouldn't have cut himself, either.

I washed my hands.

"So, do you know anything else shady that she did during those six years you knew her?"

"No. She never talks about her stuff."

Lucas might have lied. He must have hoped Hari never got caught with anything because
then his relationship with her would have stayed hidden from the public.
Lucas moved toward the door, but I stepped in his way.

"Don't protect her. The police will hide your identity if it comes to that. This is your ticket to
freedom."

For a second, Lucas looked angry, but then his face crumpled up. He quickly hid his eyes
with a bent elbow and turned around. I hadn't expected him to break in front of me, although
the cut in his arm spoke of severe desperation.

Suddenly, he cried so hard that his breathing hitched, and his shoulders shook.

"Can you... let me be alone?" he whispered.

I went out, closing the door behind me, although I was afraid to leave him like that. He was
not well. Not emotionally or physically.

I kept my hand on the door handle, listening to muffled sobs.

"Lucas," I called after a moment of silence.

Something clattered on the floor.

I wrenched the door open.

Lucas crouched on the floor, picking up the first aid supplies.

"S-sorry. I dropped this."

"It's okay. I will clean that later," I said, taking a pack of plasters from his hand.

A pair of scissors lay at his feet. I might have been paranoid, but I quickly checked that they
were clean.

Lucas stood up, swaying a little.

I jumped to support him, holding him from the upper arm.

"You should go to the ER."

"No. I'm fine."

"You might not see it, but exposing Hari is good for you. I won't mention your relationship
with her, but I will find proof of other things she has done."

I explained to him everything I knew about Hari on our way to the front door.

He avoided looking at me, but I could see he was shocked by the possibility of her being
responsible for the abduction case.

"I'll tell you if I hear or see something about her involvement with that," he said.
"Thanks! Could you give me your contact or something?"

Lucas took his phone out, but the screen stayed black when he tapped it. He put the phone
back in his pocket.

"Sure. Let me write it on your phone."

I handed it over.

"Is your driver waiting outside?"

"I'll take a taxi," he said, concentrating on typing his number.

"But your phone is dead," I said.

"Oh... true... I'll..."

"I'll call you one."

When the taxi arrived, he disappeared into the night.

My heart squeezed. I had an uneasy feeling about letting Lucas go by himself.

He wouldn't go to a hospital for sure.

I opened the door, trying to see his figure.

"Lucas! Wait!"

I spotted him near Ae Ri's beloved cherry tree, about fifteen feet from the front door. He was
making his way toward the gate.

He turned to look at me.

I stepped outside on the front porch.

"Uhm... What's your name? For the contact info?" I asked although that was not the reason
why I had stopped him.

"Yukhei," he said.

"Yukhei, promise me to get home safe. And get that cut checked."

He stared at me until a car drove past our house, shocking us with a sudden wave of light.

"I'll be safe," he said and left.

I sat on the front steps until I realized it was scary.

I couldn't stop thinking about the cut.

Lucas had said he would be safe.

I could trust him, right?

 Chapter 27

I walked around restlessly, unable to stay in the same room for long. I tried watching the TV
but didn't remember what I had seen after ten minutes of staring at the screen.

I went into my bedroom but couldn't sleep or even lie down. My thoughts kept going back to
Lucas, I mean Yukhei.

I still called him Lucas in my head.

In my contacts, his number was saved under Yukhei(Lucas).

I called the number to confirm that he had made it safely home.

The call got diverted to voicemail. An automatic recording informed me that I couldn't leave
a message because the voicemail was full.

I was partially responsible if something had happened to Lucas because I had let him go even
though I had known that he wasn't okay.

Why had I called a taxi instead of an ambulance?

I tossed my phone on the bed.

It felt like I had been charged with bad energy, and nothing consumed it. My anxiety only
grew the more I tried to exhaust my body and mind with basic chores that should have
calmed me down.

There was nothing to do in the kitchen. The dishwasher had already been emptied, and all
surfaces were wiped clean.

Out of the need to do something, I grabbed a glass and walked to the sink. I wasn't thirsty,
though.

On a whim, I opened the fridge and took out the soju. I had never tried it before. In fact, I had
never drunk much of anything alcoholic.

I hadn't had many friends in the US, and no one had ever invited me to drink with them. It
was ultimately a blessing since many kids I had known were total wrecks. One of my
classmates had crashed their parents' car when he was drunk and faced some time in the
Juvie. Most girls I knew had broken their hearts multiple times a semester because they and
their boyfriends had hooked up with other people at drinking parties.

So, I had never wanted to get drunk. I still didn't. I only wanted to taste the bitter taste of
alcohol.

I got what I wanted. Soju was painfully bad. I had to mentally prepare myself for each gulp.
Doing something unpleasant worked. I thought of only the burn in my throat.

I poured myself another half-empty glass.

It might have been a little more than that, and I might have gotten a little tipsy because I
didn't hesitate to call Sunghoon when I felt like it.

"Hey, what's up?" Sunghoon said on the other end of the line.

My emotions got the better of me, and I burst into tears.

"Lucas is dying because of me."

Sunghoon moved to a quieter space where there weren't other people talking in the
background.

"What? Are you okay? What happened?"

I snuffled.

"His phone is dead. And he could be dead too."

"Are you talking about Lucas? Sorry, I don't understand what's going on. Did you call the
police?"

Sunghoon sounded concerned. I couldn't help but cry more because I was so grateful for
knowing him. He was always there for me.

"I didn't call the police. I only called you. I didn't want to call anyone else because I missed
you. I... Oh yeah... I actually called Lucas first, but he didn't pick up. Then I called you."

"Are you drunk?"

"Noo...."

Someone said something to Sunghoon in a commanding tone.

Sunghoon covered the microphone. His voice got muffled, but his words came through.

"Yes. I understand. I'll be there in a minute."

That someone in the background spoke over Sunghoon. I could only make out their annoyed
intonation.

"I know. I'm sorry. I will come soon," Sunghoon said to the other person.

Sunghoon took his hand off the microphone, and I could hear his voice well again.

"Is someone there with you?" he asked.

"Don't worry. I know you're busy. Just go," I said and ended the call.
I realized too late that I hadn't said bye before hanging up. Sunghoon must have thought that I
was upset.

Calling back was a bad idea because he was not supposed to be on the phone. I sent him a
message instead.

"Sorry. I guess I m a little drunk after all. I didnt hang up because I was mad or coz I don't
like you or somethin. I like you and would never hang up if you werentv busy."

I got a reply.

"..... Filina. Did you drunk call someone?"

Oh, shoot! I had accidentally messaged Minho.

You: No. Im just jokign. Not drunk rly.

Minho: Kkkkkkkk :DD Did you call Sunghoon or Jungkook?"

You: How to delete message in cacao?

Minho: Did you try to google that and accidentally send it to me?
Minho: Don't dip your phone in cacao

You: I didnt google. I asked my brother a question. and cacao was just atypo

Minho: c and k are not close in the keypad though. And why bother deleting the text? It was
kind of sweet. You can copy it and send it to the right person. Unless you want to fix your
mistakes.

He was right. The easiest thing was to forward the message to Sunghoon.

You: I forwarded it.

Minho: To Sunghoon or Jungkook?

You: Both.

Minho: Noooooo! Whyyy?

You: Obviously only Sunghoon.

Minho was dumb for thinking that I had something going on with Jungkook. He would have
probably believed I had gotten secretly married to Jungkook if I had claimed so.

Minho: But why did you forward it? Sunghoon can see that you sent it to someone else first.

I hadn't thought of that. I quickly sent Sunghoon another message.

You: I sent this to my brother first. But the message was two you
You: to* you
You: only for you, not the two of you

Sunghoon saw my message. He typed for a long time.

"Hahaha.. :D Okay. Let's talk later because this is too much for my pride. Seems like I'll be a
second choice in everything when you're drunk."

He must have considered not sending the joke, but I was glad that he did.

You: You're always the worst.

Sunghoon: :(

You: the first*

Sunghoon: ;)
Sunghoon: Let's talk later

***

Getting drunk had been a bad idea because it had actually gotten my mind off Lucas, and I
had completely forgotten about him. When I woke up with a headache in the morning, I not
only felt ashamed of my sloppy messages but also guilty of going to sleep without checking
on Lucas.

I texted him, asking if he was okay and safely home, but he didn't see it.

Minho's door was closed.

I peeked in to see if he had gotten home.

Hari sat on Minho's bed, hunched over his laptop. She shut it down before I managed to see
the screen.

"What did you do with it?" I asked.

Hari placed the laptop on Minho's writing desk.

"What do you think? Hacked all his accounts?"

"Did you?"

She walked out, bumping into me.

"No."

Some people gained pleasure from lying by telling the truth. Hari could have been one of
those people. Or then she was provoking me and succeeded.
I followed her downstairs.

"Are you jealous of him? Is that what it is?"

Hari picked up her purse from the couch and set her hair in front of a mirror.

"Why would I be jealous of him?"

"Because he is an idol."

Hari laughed as she went out the front door.

"I would never want to be an idol."

I went after her because I had lost my patience. It was time to take action and put some
pressure on her.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

Hari walked to the Tesla that had stood in the front yard useless for all that time I had lived
with the Lees. She got in and drove away.

Luckily, our chauffeur was there, wiping dust off the Rolls Royce side mirror.

I rushed to him.

"Can you take me somewhere right now?"

The man shook the fancy cloth he had used for cleaning the mirror. It looked similar to the
fabric for wiping phone screens and spectacles.

"Of course. Where would you like to go?"

"Can you follow Hari?"

"Of course," the man said, smiling politely.

Hari's Tesla had already disappeared when we drove to the first crossroads.

I slumped in my seat.

"Don't be sad. I can track all of the Lee family's cars," the man said and opened a tablet that
showed us a map and the location of the Tesla.

"Have you traced someone before?" I asked.

"Yes. There was a time we had to keep a close eye on Hari."

"Really?"
"Yes. Shadowing is not new to me. However, it is still very exciting. Almost like being a
private investigator," the man said in such a flat tone that it could have been irony.

However, some part of him must have enjoyed tailing Hari because he hummed and tapped
his finger on the gearstick. I hadn't seen him that lively before.

He stopped at a hospital. The one that Ae Ri owned.

Hari had parked her Tesla near the entrance.

"Wait for me," I said before getting out of the car.

Hari was not in her Tesla, so I entered the hospital.

I spotted Hari in the reception. She carried a heavy plastic bag and talked to one of the
hospital workers.

Did she have a medical appointment?

My heart sank when I thought of another possibility. What if Lucas had nearly died because
of me, and Hari had come to visit him?

I hid behind other people and made my way closer to the reception. A tall house plant gave
me enough cover to eavesdrop the conversation Hari had with the receptionist.

The receptionist reached her hand over the counter to get the plastic bag from Hari, but Hari
moved it behind her back.

"I can take it to the staff lunchroom for you," she said.

"Would you? Thank you again. We are so happy to know how deeply your family cares about
our well-being," the receptionist said, dipping her head to honor Hari.

Something was fishy about the situation. First of all, Hari was not sweet, and she didn't think
of anyone's well-being. She clearly had a selfish reason to get to the staff lunchroom.

I followed her to the second floor. There was a public bathroom along the same hallway as
the staff room. I went into the bathroom but kept the door open a little. Through the gap, I
could see Hari knocking on the staff lunchroom door.

A white-coated woman opened the door for her.

Hari lifted the plastic bag to direct the doctor's attention to it.

"Hi, I am Lee Ae Ri's daughter. Here are some sweets that my mother wanted to give to the
staff. It's just a little something to thank you and cheer you up since you do valuable and hard
work here."

The doctor thanked Hari and told her to leave the bag on one of the tables.
Hari entered the room as the doctor hurried off.

I took my phone to record Hari's weird behavior. I filmed the closed door until she marched
out.

Following her discretely was hard while filming. The camera shook and didn't catch much of
Hari.

She looked over her shoulder.

I quickly hid behind a corner.

Luckily, she didn't see me.

I managed to follow her into the wing for patients who needed extra privacy, such as
celebrities. Stray Kids and Ateez members had been treated there after the abduction.

It wasn't easy to stay unnoticed in the special wing because the place was dead silent
compared to other parts of the hospital. Miraculously, I managed to film how Hari used a
keycard to enter one of the rooms.

She must have stolen the card from the staff room.

Once she was inside, I ventured closer and filmed the number plate on the door.

I kept recording even when Hari was inside the room because I needed to be ready when she
came out. Also, the exact time Hari spent in the room might have been important proof later
on.

There was no place to hide in the special wing, only a couple of lush armchairs that provided
some cover. I crouched behind one of them, although the chances of Hari seeing me were
high. Attempting to hide was still better than standing in the hallway.

Steps echoed in the hall.

Someone walked toward me.

Oh, crap.

Crouching behind an armchair hadn't been the best idea.

A heavily built man pulled me up by my arm.

"What are you doing here?"

I tried to take distance from the stranger, but he squeezed my arm.

He noticed my phone and tried to seize it.

I held it as far away from him as possible.

"I'm filming a promotional video for the hospital. My mother owns this place!"

"No, you are not. Give it to me," the man said.

He didn't wear a hospital uniform, but his features were familiar. I had seen him somewhere
before.

My heart stopped.

He was one of the kidnappers.

The flight or fight mechanism didn't work. I couldn't do either of those things. My body
completely froze.

The man shook me.

"How did you get here? And how did you know to come here?"

I couldn't speak. Good that I even breathed.

The man took out his phone.

"I have to report this. You can't film at a private hospital."

It didn't make sense. Why would one of the kidnappers report such a thing?

Then it clicked in my head. I didn't know the man from the remote building where we had
been held captive but from JYP Entertainment. He was one of the other Stray Kids members'
managers. I had never talked to him but I had seen him once or twice.

"I'm Minho's sister," I said. "Don't you really know that our mother owns this place?"

The man narrowed his eyes.

He didn't believe me, so I video-called Minho.

"See. I'm not a stalker or anything," I said, showing him my phone screen where Minho's face
appeared.

"Can you tell this man that I'm your sister?" I asked Minho.

"What the fuck are you doing now?" Minho replied.

The manager grabbed my phone.

"Please don't swear, Minho. There was just a minor misunderstanding," he said and ended the
call.

I snatched my phone back and continued filming the door.

"You should be concerned about a real stalker who entered that room with a stolen keycard
about five minutes ago," I said.

The manager's eyes widened.

"What? Someone's in the room?"

He ran to open the door with his key card.

I followed him without permission because I wanted to capture Hari red-handed and get it on
the video.

Hari was not there.

The only person in the room was Felix, who slept, unaware of any visitors.

The manager stormed at me.

"Stop filming! Was this your plan all along?!"

"No! I swear! She must have come out when you distracted me in the hallway. I can show
you the video."

Thankfully, he agreed to watch the video.

The majority of the content was shaky, and you could hear my heavy breathing throughout. I
had filmed a lot of walls and floors, but there were also snippets of Hari marching toward the
celebrity wing. Most importantly, the video clearly showed Hari entering Felix's room.

The manager bit his lip and furrowed his brow. He pulled Felix's blanket down to examine
him.

"Do you know why she would come here?" he asked as he checked for any marks under
Felix's hospital cloak.

I turned to look elsewhere when he opened the clothing. My eyes landed on the bedside table
where there were a couple of comic books, a wristwatch, and a phone.

"Is this his?" I asked, pointing at the phone.

The manager picked it up.

"Yes."

He turned it on.

"There is a passcode."

Hari or her friend knew how to hack, so a passcode might not have held her back. However,
Hari was so messed up that there were endless possibilities for what she could have done in
the room. The phone was just my first guess.
Felix looked like an angel as he slept. How could anyone have wanted to hurt him? His blond
hair pooled on the pillow, framing his pretty face. He really was prettier than most girls. Even
straight after surgery, he would have been fit for a photoshoot.

The thought of a picture led to an idea.

"Does his phone have face ID?"

The manager moved the phone above Felix so that it could scan his features.

The lock screen disappeared, and the home page opened.

"This is bad," the manager said as he explored the phone.

"Felix has something bad there?"

"No. He has contacts, pictures, and saved passwords."

The manager began to make calls. He contacted someone from JYP Entertainment before
calling the Police.

I had to stay and talk with the police officers who arrived soon after. They questioned me in
Felix's room because the manager didn't want many people at the hospital to know about the
incident. Even if it was to avoid unnecessary rumors, I found it uncomfortable to talk to the
officers as Felix lay unconscious on the other side of the room, and the manager stood next to
his bed, arms crossed.

After my witness statement, the police officers discussed the case with the manager.

I stood awkwardly near the door, uncertain if I was allowed to leave or not.

"Filina?"

Felix had woken up. He squinted his eyes.

I was the first thing he saw after surgery. It made me feel uncomfortable because I didn't want
to break the bad news to him, but I also didn't want to act like nothing had happened.

"Uhm... "

"Is Minho here too?"

"Mmm... no... But I think he will come when he can."

"Oh... Well, thanks for being here. It would have been lonely to wake up alone. I really
appreciate you coming."

He was still groggy but somehow maintained a perfect idol image. I bet no one had ever
needed to teach him manners. The guy was inherently polite.

I nodded, accepting the commendation that I didn't deserve.

I felt bad for not telling him the truth, but how could I have admitted that I hadn't come to see
him when he thanked me so sweetly?

He smiled at me, his eyes turning from bleary and tired to bright and excited.

"Did you bring chocolate?"

It took me a long time to decide how to answer.

"I will bring you some," I said.

He blushed.

"I was just saying something. I am more grateful for the visit than chocolate, really."

I shook my head, showing that his gratefulness was misplaced.

"I have to admit that I didn't come here for a visit at first. I would have come if I had known
that you wanted me to... Your manager can tell you what happened."

Felix turned his head. His eyes rounded at the sight of the police officers.

I didn't stay to see how the manager explained the situation to Felix because I was in a hurry
to buy him chocolate.

Felix was embarrassed to receive a huge box of handmade chocolates when I returned, but I
couldn't have left without getting it for him.

Looking at Felix, I felt deeply sorry about the incident, but I couldn't help but also feel happy
that Hari was in trouble.

The Police might not have investigated her involvement in the abduction case, but they had to
look into her stalking behavior, which was a good start.
 Chapter 28

I apologized for making the chauffeur wait.

He had sat idly in the Rolls Royce for nearly five hours.

"Don't worry. It's my job," he said, starting the car.

I still wanted to explain what had caused the delay.

"It became a police case. Hari got caught breaking into a patient's room."

The chauffeur adjusted the rearview mirror.

"I'm sorry you failed to keep her out of trouble."

"I didn't fail. I wanted her to get caught."

His forehead creased.

"Oh... congratulations then."

He wore sunglasses, making it difficult to discern if he was being ironic again. His voice
remained as monotonic as before, but the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly, hinting at
his satisfaction with Hari's capture.

As I contemplated his hard-to-read demeanor, my phone chimed. It was an alarm set to

remind me of a therapy session.

I didn't feel like talking to anyone right after delivering an exhaustive witness statement, but
Ae Ri had agreed to end my sessions if I attended all the meetings she had paid for in
advance.

And so, with a reluctant sigh, I gave my chauffeur the address to the therapist's office.

I had visited the place every week since the abduction. There were seven therapists or
counselors operating within the building, so it was common for multiple clients to have
appointments simultaneously, and we had to wait together in a lobby.

I opted for a chair in the corner of the waiting area, hoping to distance myself from the other
clients.

A woman who held hands with a middle schooler observed me from the corner of her eye.
Her lingering glances filled me with self-consciousness. I thought I looked fairly average, but
she watched me as though I was someone particularly pitiable.

Maybe my anxiety showed.

I always felt uneasy before a session because I knew I would have to think about the
abduction again and recall what had happened back then.

Every few minutes, I checked the time, eagerly waiting for the digits on my phone to show
4:30 p.m., the scheduled start time for my session.

It struck me that Lucas hadn't seen my message.

I dialed his number, only to hear the same recording from yesterday, indicating that his
voicemail was full.

Cold sweat prickled on my forehead.

My heart pounded as I hesitated, my finger hovering over the emergency number.

There was no reason to make the call. If Lucas had gone missing, his company would have
alerted the police, and the authorities would have checked his call history, discovering my
calls and messages. They should have contacted me by now.

Additionally, Lucas didn't want anyone to know about our conversation from last night, and
there was no way to explain his disappearance without divulging the entire story.

Moreover, there were people around me, their curious glances fixed upon me.

I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs refused to cooperate. It felt as though I had
developed severe asthma within seconds.

My chest hurt.

I reminded myself that what I experienced was just a panic attack, but my stubborn mind
didn't believe it.

A heart attack.It felt more like it because my heartbeat kept racing.

I feared this time I would die for sure because I couldn't...

I clutched the edge of my seat, lowering my head to conceal my face from the others in the
waiting room.

I hated this. I hated waiting in the lobby.

The first time I visited the building, Ae Ri had brought me in through a side door, and we had
waited in a private room. That space was reserved for clients who paid extra for privacy. Ae
Ri had decided that I didn't need it since I wasn't famous, although she would have had the
money.

I gazed at the locked door that led to the private waiting room, where I would have preferred
to sit.
A cleaning lady appeared from somewhere and opened the door with a key. She was about to
push her trolley into the private waiting room but stopped to check a crumpled piece of paper
that must have contained the list of rooms she had to clean that day. She reverted, heading to
another room.

The door she had opened slowly began to close. I seized the opportunity and slipped into the
private room. I knew it was wrong, but I needed breathing exercises to calm myself down,
and I felt embarrassed to perform them in public.

"How many times do I have to explain that we are working for the same client? Telling me
everything benefits her," a male voice said.

The door between the private waiting room and my therapist's office was slightly ajar, and I
could hear what was said inside.

I recognized the therapist's nasal tone. She sounded annoyed.

"I'm a therapist. I can't discuss my clients."

I trusted her a bit more after hearing that. Perhaps I could have shared more of my troubles
with her.

The male voice replied: "And I am her lawyer. I need to know the truth so I can defend her."

"I don't want to disclose more than is necessary and I've already answered multiple
questions."

"You do realize that you can be summoned as a witness in the court. So, I think this is very
necessary," he persisted.

"I have a client coming in fifteen minutes."

"Then why waste our time?"

"I'll give you ten minutes."

The sound of a scraping chair momentarily halted their conversation. I envisioned the lawyer
drawing closer to the therapist.

"Has Hari ever said or done anything that made you concerned she might physically harm
someone or that she has physically harmed someone?" he inquired.

I pressed my hand against my mouth. My earlier suspicion that they were discussing Hari had
just been confirmed. The excitement and shock welled up inside me, and I couldn't help but
smirk. It seemed that Hari might actually go to court this time.

The therapist responded to the lawyer: "Yes. I have had concerns, but during the early stages
of recovery, many individuals express negative emotions in concerning ways."

"Did she explicitly express a desire to harm someone?"

"No, but her discussions about people and her history of self-harm made me contemplate the
possibility of her causing harm to others and herself."

"But you never believed she posed a genuine threat, as you didn't feel the need to report it?"

"I think people hurt each other more often than we realize, and it usually goes unpunished by
law."

"Could you please refrain from speculative responses? Just tell me if you reported anything
she said because you were concerned she might harm herself or someone else."

"I did not report anything."

"Has Hari ever mentioned an intention to harm idols?"

"It's challenging to determine intent," she replied cautiously.

"Has she?"

"You must understand that Hari was once an idol herself, and during that time... I don't want
to reveal too much of her personal struggles, but, as you can imagine, the entertainment
industry can be harsh on young girls. Hari had a very unfortunate experience as an idol. She
started training at a young age and faced various forms of abuse. Her trauma from being
objectified and devalued runs deep. Currently, her only way of coping with the past seems to
involve believing that idols deserve such treatment. She thinks that the abuse was not
directed at her but at the idol she once was. Now, she has distanced herself from her idol
identity, and I'm concerned that she finds empowerment in assuming the role of the aggressor,
at least mentally. She can only accept herself by believing that she is superior to idols.
Furthermore, she exhibits symptoms of a delusional fan who thinks she can dictate her idol's
persona because she believes idols have no right to control their own lives. However, I cannot
confirm how her way of thinking and speaking about idols translates into actions. All I've
observed is her lack of respect for idols, and her frequent derogatory comments about them."

"So, has she talked about intending to hurt idols or not?"

"No, she hasn't, but I..." she began to say.

"I do not need you to speculate. Stick with the statement," he interrupted.

"Fine."

"Has she discussed any specific idols?"

"She never uses their real names, so I do not know who they are."

"So, she has talked about specific idols using self-made nicknames?"

"Yes."

"And, has she spoken about harming them in any way?"

"No, but judging by her way of speaking of them, I have concerns..."

"Stick to the statement. If you're called as a witness, refrain from mentioning your concerns.
They're irrelevant"

"But you wanted to know the truth so you can defend her."

"I am finding the truth. Your concerns aren't factual."

"Right... But, I am a professional."

"So, she never spoke of harming them?"

"Mmm."

"Yes or no?"

"No," she confirmed, "not directly. But I suspected someone may have been emotionally hurt
by her actions."

"But she never admitted to harming or intending to harm anyone."

"No, and that's precisely the issue with her."

"In court, that's not a problem."

"We're running out of time," she remarked.

"Alright, two more questions. Did she ever discuss tarnishing someone's reputation?"

"No."

"What about obtaining their personal information against their will?"

"No."

"And..."

"That's two questions," she reminded him.

The man let out a sigh.

"Alright, I'll be in contact. Thank you for your cooperation."

Judging by the sound of his steps, the lawyer approached the door that separated me from
them. I didn't have time to flee the private waiting room, so I put my AirPods into my ears
and quickly sat on one of the nearby chairs. I leaned my head against the wall, making sure
my hair didn't cover the earbuds.

A man with slicked-back hair and a strong jaw halted after closing the door behind him. He
had noticed me and the fact that the door hadn't been properly shut during their conversation.
I pretended not to notice him, or more accurately, that I didn't care to glance at him.

He tilted his head, attempting to catch my gaze. He had the appearance of a gangster or a
shady businessman.

"Excuse me," he said, shifting a black leather briefcase from one hand to the other.

I stared at nothing, even though I could hear him perfectly well. My AirPods weren't even
connected to my phone.

"Miss," he said, evidently trying to ascertain if I had overheard his conversation with the
therapist.

I raised an eyebrow, removing one of the earbuds.

"Huh?"

His expression eased.

"Never mind."

I casually placed the AirPod back in my ear, but when the lawyer left for the hallway that led
to one of the backdoors for celebrity clients, I quickly returned to the lobby, ready for my
therapy session.

That time, I shared more about my life with the therapist because I knew now that she was
one of the few people concerned about Hari's behavior. For the first time, I felt slightly better
after the appointment.

Still, I didn't feel at ease. One thing in particular bothered me: Lucas.

As time passed without a response to my message, I became certain that something bad had
happened to him.

I decided to call the emergency number if he hadn't replied by nine, but when the time came,
I considered other options to confirm his safety.

I googled NCT and discovered they had over 20 members.

Minho must have known at least one of them.

I knocked on his door.

"Who is it?" he mumbled.

"Filina. It's important."

Minho opened the door for me, wearing the clothes he usually used as pajamas.

"Do you know anyone from NCT?" I burst out.

"Yeah... why?"

"Who do you know? Do you have their contacts, like phone numbers or something?"

He stared at me with skeptical eyes, a gaze I'd never seen from him before. As I sat on his
bed, he walked farther away from me, hugging himself as if feeling cold.

"Don't do that," he said, leaning against his writing desk.

"Do what?" I asked, checking if I had accidentally pulled his sheets or dropped his blanket.

He spoke quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Don't be like that."

My heart felt heavy. There was a clear disdain in his expression. He was disappointed in me,
and not only that, but he was also wary of me, choosing not to sit next to me on the bed.

I gulped, deciding not to cry no matter what, but it broke my heart to see how fast he could
build a mental barrier between us.

"What do you mean? Don't be like what?"

He rolled a corner of a carpet with his toes.

"Don't be like Hari."

I couldn't lift my gaze because I would have either snapped at him or broken down in tears.
How could he think I was anything like Hari?

"I'm not collecting their contacts because I want to have them. I just need to make sure
someone from NCT is okay."

Minho picked up a white angry looking plushie bunny from his desk and dropped it absent-
mindedly on the floor.

"Yeah? Who?"

I stood up.

"Are you seriously doubting me?"I asked, daring him to look at me with his now ice-cold
eyes.

Minho scrutinized me, his gaze sharp and alert.

"I asked, who? Who do you know from NCT that you need to check on."

"Lucas," I replied.

Minho let out a mocking laugh, kicking the bunny plushie across the room.
"So, it's Lucas now. When did you become friends with him, too?"

"You're..." I began to say, intending to hurt him with words, but I stopped myself in time.

Obviously, he had never had a decent sister before. How could he have trusted me? He was
speaking from a place of trauma. He might not have realized it himself, but his reactions
stemmed from much more than just my behavior.

I returned to my spot on the bed.

"I don't need their contacts. It's enough that you call them and ask if Lucas is okay. That's all
I'm asking. And no, I don't have anything going on with Lucas. He has been hanging out with
Hari. That's why I'm concerned."

Minho's expression softened.

"He's been hanging out with Hari?" he echoed.

I nodded.

Minho sat on the bed next to me.

"I have Jungwoo's number."

Just as he was reaching for his phone, Lucas(Yukhei) sent me a message.

"Sorry for answering late. I got safely home. And I realized I have proof of something Hari
has done but I don't want to say what it in a message. Can you come and pick it up from our
dorm?"

I let Minho read the message because I didn't want to lose him, and he wouldn't have trusted
me otherwise.

I texted Lucas: "Good. I was worried. When can I come?"

He answered immediately.

"Can you come now?"

I hadn't even agreed to meet him yet, but Lucas sent me the address to his dorm.

Minho looked at the time.

"It's pretty late."

"You can come with me," I said.

I shouldn't have invited Minho because Sunghoon offered to come with me when I called him
about Lucas' message. I couldn't say no to Sunghoon because we were a team and had
planned to take Hari down together.
He sounded busy, though.

"I can make it in thirty minutes... I think. I will take a quick shower. We are just finishing a
dance practice. And I have to grab something to eat and fill out one form... It won't take long.
I'll be fast. Actually, it might take forty since I have to get someone to drive us there."

"I can pick you up. I already have a driver," I said, since the chauffeur had taken a liking to
me and told me that I could call him whenever.

I was about to inform Sunghoon that Minho was coming too, but Sunghoon was in such a
hurry that he ended our call before I got the chance.

"We will first pick up Sunghoon, then head to Lucas," I told Minho as we got in the car.

"Oh... Can't wait to meet him," he said, sliding into the middle seat.

Shit. Minho wanted to sit between me and Sunghoon. It didn't sound like a good idea
knowing Minho. He was bad at regulating his emotions, and he had been disappointed and
angry just a moment ago, which meant that the unpleasant feeling lingered within him for a
while still.

I texted Sunghoon.

"It's okay if you can't come this time. I mean... You sounded pretty busy. If you don't have
time, you don't have to."

He was indeed so busy that he didn't even see the message. I could imagine him rushing from
the shower to fill out a form while munching on a protein bar or something.

Sunghoon saw the message when we had already parked outside his dorm building, and I
could see him near the front door. He walked toward our car, eyes glued on his phone. He
didn't bother texting back because he could soon reply face to face. The problem was that I
had assumed he would have seen my message earlier and decided not to come, so I hadn't
said anything about Minho joining us.

Sunghoon hopped into the car.

"Of course I'm coming. Do you think I'd let you go and meet some other guy without me?" he
said jokingly.

His expression shifted from a smirk to horror as he realized he hadn't said that to me but to
Minho, who looked at him judgingly.

"My sister can meet whomever she wants."

Sunghoon briefly met my gaze. His cheeks turned red as he ran a hand through his damp hair,
which looked darker than usual.

"It was a joke..."

"Well, it's a bad joke if you have to explain that it's a joke," Minho commented.

I peeked at Sunghoon from behind Minho.

"I got the joke. I think Minho doesn't have a sense of humor."

Minho furrowed his brow, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it abruptly. He
forced a fake smile and turned towards Sunghoon, extending his hand for a handshake.

"I'm Minho, her brother."

Sunghoon shook Minho's hand with a shy nod.

"Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm Sunghoon."

Minho held Sunghoon's hand a bit longer than necessary, scanning him from head to toe.

"You two must be close."

Sunghoon mumbled, "Yeah, we've become good friends."

Minho turned to look at the road behind us.

"You just hopped in her car without a manager or anyone."

Sunghoon glanced at me.

"Yeah... I trust her."

Minho leaned against his seatback.

"Are you even allowed to date?"

My eyes widened. I hadn't expected Minho to pull such a protective brother act. Poor
Sunghoon. He was one of the sweetest persons I had ever met, yet both Mike and Minho
seemed to have something against him.

"Minho, what's the matter with you? Can you please behave? You are making us feel
uncomfortable."

Minho shot me an odd look, hinting that my confrontation had stung him a little, yet he
wouldn't back down.

"Maybe someone should ask you that question if it makes you uncomfortable," he retorted.

I sighed. He was on his worst behavior. I should have seen this coming since I had witnessed
him kick a soft animal in his room. When Minho got to that point, it took at least an hour for
him to calm down and have a civil conversation.

Sunghoon spoke up, trying to defuse the tension.

"I'm allowed to date. I just can't get caught. That's what our company said."

Minho stared at Sunghoon, his gaze intense.

"And what if you get caught?" he asked.

Sunghoon blinked helplessly. He was totally caught off guard by the whole situation. I should
have informed him beforehand that Minho was joining us.

"Then... I guess..." Sunghoon began to say. Suddenly his expression changed as if he had
remembered something he had previously forgotten. "What do you mean if we get caught?
We aren't even dating."

Minho snorted.

"Then why do you care if she meets some other guy?"

The earlier joke seemed to have genuinely upset Minho.

For a moment, Sunghoon was too stunned to speak. He couldn't even form a sentence.

"I.. It was..."

Minho shifted his attention seemingly away from Sunghoon but still directed his words to
him.

"Wear a seat belt," he said.

It took Sunghoon a while to process the sudden change of topic. He hurriedly pulled the
seatbelt strap, causing it to jam. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He seemed even more
nervous than when we had slow-danced at the after-party. Thankfully, after a couple of
attempts, he managed to fasten his seatbelt.

We drove in silence. I contemplated saying something to lighten the mood but couldn't come
up with anything.

Minho kept his eyes on the road.

Sunghoon stared down at his hands. I hadn't noticed the dark circles around his eyes before.
Maybe he had worn makeup all the other times I had seen him. After all, we had mostly been
to parties, or he had come straight from a schedule. Now he had just come from the shower.

"I'm sure you two will get along when you get to know each other," I said, attempting to
break the silence.

Minho didn't react, but Sunghoon managed a weak smile, signaling that he was fine, although
he clearly wasn't, as he soon returned to staring at his lap.

The chauffeur met my gaze through the rearview mirror. He shook his head slightly,
suggesting it might be best to let them sit in silence for a while.
We didn't say a word until the chauffeur parked the car near a building that didn't look
particularly luxurious or shabby; it was a basic block of flats.

"So, NCT's dorm is here," Sunghoon said as he got out of the car.

Minho followed him out.

"I think Lucas lives with WayV."

I circled around the car to join them.

"He lives with who?" I asked.

Minho waited for me.

"A subunit. Did you think over twenty guys would live in the same apartment?"

Sunghoon read the list of surnames near the front door. The NCT members weren't listed
there, which wasn't surprising because it would have led all their fans to them.

I dialed the code that opened the front door for us.

Minho's eyes widened as the door buzzed open.

"Lucas gave you the code? Is he mad?"

Considering our past differences, Lucas seemed to trust me more than I had expected.
However, I didn't think he had given me the code because he trusted me but because his
company didn't allow him to leave the building. If I were responsible for him, I wouldn't have
let him leave either.

Lucas had told me to call him when I reached the apartment door so he could give me the
thing he couldn't mention in a text message.

"Their apartment is on the third floor," I said.

We took the stairs.

The third floor had dimmer lighting and heavier-looking doors than the lower floors.

"Are you sure it was the third floor? These look more like maintenance rooms and such,"
Sunghoon observed, reading a sign on one of the doors.

Something did seem off.

Minho walked further down the hallway.

Had we entered the wrong building?

I double-checked the message Lucas had sent me.

"It says it's the third floor. Apartment 34."

Maybe Lucas had betrayed me.

You should never trust desperate people. They were often too deep in the dark to recognize a
glimmer of light when someone showed it to them. Lucas must have thought he had a better
chance of keeping his secret and career by siding with Hari.

Someone ascended the stairs. It could have been a janitor or a resident in the building, but
listening to the thud of shoes on the floor below us gave me goosebumps. Whoever it was,
they began to climb the last set of steps to the third floor.

Lucas sent me a message.

Thank God.

He must have noticed that he had given the wrong address or floor.

Lucas(Yukhei): Don't go there! I didn't write those texts!

 Chapter 29

Someone had lured us into the building using Lucas' number.

"We shouldn't be here," I whispered, backing away from the stairs as the footsteps of an
unknown arrival grew louder and louder.

A tall, rugged man with a scarred face appeared in the hallway. Unlike us, he didn't hesitate
to take action. He charged toward me and kicked me in my stomach.

My phone clattered to the floor as the blow threw me backward onto Minho and Sunghoon,
who had rushed to my defense, albeit a bit late.

The air escaped me, leaving me gasping for breath. I knew that the kick had temporarily
paralyzed my diaphragm, but it felt like permanent damage. I desperately needed oxygen but
heaved nothing.

Sunghoon tried to help me up, but I couldn't move because of the searing pain in my lungs.

In my peripheral vision, I saw the man elbow Minho, tossing him to the side.

This man was a ruthless fighter, someone who liked playing dirty.

Before I could register what he held in his hand, he charged toward us, a knife aimed at
Sunghoon.

Sunghoon stepped back, but he wasn't fast enough to fully dodge the stab. His flannel jacket
remained bloodless, though. So, the blade must have only scratched him.

I regained my ability to breathe, so I began shouting at the top of my lungs.

"Help! Someone help! Call the police!"

Although we were on the maintenance floor, I hoped that someone, anyone, would hear my
desperate pleas.

My throat hurt, but I kept calling for help.

Sunghoon grappled with the man, mostly evading his attacks and controlling the knife-
wielding hand. Despite Sunghoon's efforts, the man managed to strike him, leaving a cut on
his cheek.

That's when Minho got back on his feet and joined the fight.

Together, Sunghoon and Minho wrestled with the attacker.

I noticed Sunghoon's phone peeking out of his back pocket.

I reached for it, careful not to distract him.

As I got hold of the phone, the man with the knife delivered a sharp knee to Sunghoon,
sending him stumbling backward and eventually tumbling down.

With Sunghoon momentarily out of the fight, there was an opening for the man to target me.
He struck my hand, smashing Sunghoon's phone onto the floor, its screen shattering into
pieces.

There wasn't time to pick up the broken phone. Just thinking about it nearly cost me my life
because those few seconds were enough for the man to attempt to stab me.

The knife would have pierced my heart if Minho hadn't been there to grab the attacker's hand.

Shocked by the near-death experience, I stumbled backward, tripping over Sunghoon's foot
as he tried to get up as fast as possible.

It was chaos. I didn't know who was trying to do what or where I should have gone. Minho
and Sunghoon appeared just as disoriented. They were busy trying to avoid getting stabbed.
The best way to do that would have been to run, but they couldn't get away from the attacker
because he constantly had a tight grip on one of them, clutching their clothes and even their
hair.

The attacker blocked our way to the stairs, so, our only chance of survival was to either lock
him or ourselves in one of the rooms.

I pushed and pulled the nearby door handles, but none of them budged. Every door on the
maintenance floor was locked.

The next time I glanced over, I noticed that Minho's and Sunghoon's hands were bloody.
They retreated toward me, heading for the end of the hallway.

Thankfully, it wasn't a dead end.

We came to an elevator.

It was a long shot that we could get in without the man, but I still pressed the button to call
the cabin.

As the doors opened, Minho kicked the man into the elevator.

It would have been a perfect opportunity to run to the stairs had the man not grabbed Minho's
leg and pulled him into the elevator with him. The attacker lifted the leg, causing Minho to
fall headfirst to the floor. Although Minho fought back, the man drew him closer, almost as if
toying with him. He controlled Minho's hands with a rough grip from behind and pressed the
knife to his throat.

"Get in the elevator," he commanded.

"Don't listen to him. Run away!" Minho shouted but fell silent as the man put more pressure
on his throat, sinking the knife into his skin.

This attack wasn't Hari's doing. She might have been involved in some way, but she hadn't
given the orders because this man would have gladly slit Minho's throat. He followed our
movements alertly, prepared to kill. Not only that, he seemed to hope for a reason to spill
some blood.

Minho's eyes widened as the blade cut the surface of his skin.

I rushed into the elevator before the man took things any further.

Sunghoon hesitated. Or so I thought at first. Upon closer observation, it became clear that he
wasn't fully present. He collided with the open elevator door, nearly tripping over the
threshold.

Was he badly injured or just in shock?

Either way, it didn't look good for us. I wished Lucas had called the police, but I doubted it. I
could imagine him stressing over the messages, but it was hard to picture him actually
contacting the authorities because he was too scared to lose his career. Most likely, he hoped
that nothing would happen to me despite the messages.

The man pressed a button, sending the elevator to the top floor. The cabin jerked as we
ascended.

I eyed Sunghoon worriedly, nudging him closer to me.

"Are you hurt?" I whispered.

Sunghoon shot me a horrified look, but his expression didn't reflect fear. Instead, it reminded
me of people who realize they've left their wallet at home. That was concerning because it
suggested that he was so shocked that he didn't even notice that he was scared.

"Sorry, are you okay?" he answered as if the thing he had forgotten was not a wallet but the
simple act of making sure I was okay.

I didn't notice any major injuries on him, just some cuts on his hands and the one on his
cheek. It was possible that he had hit his head, but more likely he was just overwhelmed by
the danger, hence walking around like an airhead.

My side stung every time I moved, but I didn't want to mention it because he was in such
state.

"I'm not hurt," I said.

Sunghoon nodded, shifting his focus to the attacker.

Maybe Sunghoon wasn't as shocked as I had initially thought. It was entirely possible that he
appeared absentminded because he was thinking of a plan to save us.
The man with the knife spoke abruptly, moving the blade against Minho's neck.

"I've killed twenty people with this."

Minho didn't even dare to blink.

We couldn't escape as long as the knife was at his throat, so I attempted to negotiate with the
attacker.

"Can you let him go? We will do as you say anyway."

"Fine," he said.

I should have known that it wasn't that simple.

"Sunghoon, come here," he commanded.

He must have noticed that there was a 50 percent chance Sunghoon had come up with an
escape plan.

"How do you know my name?" Sunghoon asked as he approached the man, clearly analyzing
the situation rather than being shocked senseless.

The man chuckled, swiftly shoving Minho away and taking Sunghoon in his place.

"Aren't you humble for an idol?"

It was true that the knifeman could have recognized Sunghoon because Enhypen was a fairly
famous group already, but I considered another unsettling possibility: the person who had
planned the attack had expected Sunghoon to be with me. If that was the case, the man had
prepared to kill both Sunghoon and me. That's why he wanted to have the knife on him, not
on Minho, who wasn't his primary target.

A cold rush of shivers coursed through me.

Indeed, this man was here to kill us, which was why he had taken us to the highest floor. He
planned to push us off the roof.

Once the elevator doors opened, the man dragged Sunghoon out.

I pressed the button that should have taken us to the ground floor, but I didn't think it through.

The man positioned his body between the closing doors.

"Didn't you say you would do as I said?"

As a demonstration of the consequences of my actions, he kicked Sunghoon, aiming at the

spot in the leg with one of the biggest nerves. Sunghoon yelped as his leg went numb.

"Will you do as I said?" the man asked, lifting the knife so that Sunghoon had to tilt back his
head to avoid getting cut.
The man used the blade to trace the line of Sunghoon's jaw.

"Will you?" he asked again, lifting an eyebrow.

I nodded and pushed Minho out of the elevator because I wasn't sure if the threat had any
effect on him.

We still needed to climb some stairs to get to the roof.

The man went first with Sunghoon, which was foolish because Minho and I could have easily
run away. However, I couldn't leave Sunghoon at the knifeman's mercy, so I guess it didn't
really matter who walked first.

Minho pulled me back.

"You should go get help," he whispered so quietly I had to read it from his lips.

I shook my head, replying just as quietly.

"You're faster. Go."

His eyes moved from left to right as he analyzed my expression. He wanted to be sure I was
planning on surviving, no matter what.

I took his hand to assure him.

"I'll stay alive."

I didn't know if I could keep my promise, but Minho believed me because he wanted it to be
true. He glanced at me one last time before sprinting away so suddenly that even I was
startled by the abrupt squeak of his shoes against the floor.

The man with the knife heard it, too. He reacted swiftly, but not the way I had anticipated. He
simply pushed Sunghoon down the stairs!

Sunghoon's limbs struck the edges of the steps as he tumbled down, eventually crashing at
my feet.

"Minho! Help me get him! We can all escape!" I shouted, trying to pull Sunghoon up to his
feet.

It wasn't easy because it took Sunghoon a moment to recover from the painful fall.

Minho appeared behind me. He grabbed Sunghoon by the arm, forcefully dragging him
toward the elevator.

The knifeman caught us before we reached the elevator because getting Sunghoon up and
moving took time, no matter how little Minho paid attention to his wincing.
The man had counted on Minho coming back to help, which meant that he was smart after
all; he enjoyed taking risks and following his instincts. The harder we made it for him, the
more his eyes gleamed with excitement.

I shrieked as I felt his fingers wrapping around my neck. The cold knife blade touched my
skin just above the vital veins.

"Come on. Get to the roof," the man said in a chillingly calm voice as he pulled me against
him.

To my dismay, my brother and my friend obeyed blindly. Sunghoon limped a little, but
Minho helped him up the stairs. They didn't even consider running away when my life was at
stake. How stupid of them.

"Run away! Go and get help! Don't go to the roof!" I shouted, but they didn't listen.

"Minho! Don't be stupid!"

"Sunghoon! Please, don't go to the roof!"

The man chuckled, his breath tickling my neck.

"I should have picked you from the start," he whispered in my ear. "You are the perfect
hostage."

He followed the boys, dragging me up to the rooftop.

It was cold at that height. A cool breeze cut straight through my clothes, making my teeth
clatter.

I noticed Minho and Sunghoon a little to my right, but it was so dark that they appeared as
faceless figures.

Although you could hardly see where you stepped up on the rooftop, Seoul pulsed with life
below us.

The beauty of the city lights felt absurd in such a situation. Somewhere in the distance, an
emergency vehicle rushed to save someone other than us. The siren wail died down, leaving
us with only the howling wind.

I couldn't just let the man pull me to the edge without resisting, so I struggled with all my
might and shouted out into the night: HELP! WE NEED HELP!

The wind swallowed my words.

I suppose I was reaching out to God since no one else could hear me.

It's okay... we will be fine... I kept telling myself, desperately holding on to the gradually
fading hope.
Dying, when you really thought about it, didn't make sense.

I couldn't die the same day that I had bought Felix chocolate and opened up to my therapist
for the first time! How could a day like that mark the end of my life?

Not waking up the next day was an impossible thought.

However, deep down, I knew that death always blindsided us. It had a way of leaving people
confused even long after it had taken someone you knew. You couldn't wrap your head
around the fact that a person you had laughed and cried with no longer existed. Dying just
happened, no matter how wrong it felt. There was no logic to it.

My old therapist had explained that it took a lifetime to come to terms with losing a loved
one. But she had also emphasized that this didn't mean life couldn't be fulfilling and beautiful
after a loss. I guess it essentially meant that we would only truly understand death when it
was our time to go. Before that, we just forgot about it every now and then.

I wanted to return to that oblivious state, where it was possible to forget.

I didn't want to die.

My eyes burned, but this wasn't the time to cry.

The man with the knife clenched my clothes, half carrying me toward the edge.

Minho and Sunghoon hovered close by, nervously waiting for a moment when the knife
wasn't directly on my neck.

That moment arrived when we were about six feet from the edge. For a brief second, I didn't
feel the blade on my skin, and they seized the opportunity, just as I had hoped and feared they
would.

I didn't see how they attacked the man, but I could hear him grunt in pain. He turned around
to use me as a shield, trying to move toward the edge despite the disturbance. He seemed to
want to push me to my death, although killing me with the knife would have been much more
efficient.

Once we reached the edge, I understood why he was so insistent on pushing us off the roof.
The fall was so great that whatever crashed down would be mangled into such a mess that no
forensic pathologist would have been able to discern a few cuts and bruises sustained before
the fall. Could the attacker have planned the murder so meticulously that no leads were left
pointing at him? Would people really believe Sunghoon, Minho, and I had jumped?

No. It was impossible.

The man pushed me, causing me to bend over a railing that was supposed to keep people
from falling. While he did that, I scratched his face, collecting his DNA under my nails.

"The police will find you if you kill me," I said, but he just laughed.
"I don't think they will."

He tightened his fingers around my neck, using only that one hand to hold me over the
railing.

"Come and get her! You want to save her, right?" he taunted, clenching the knife in his other
hand, ready to slash anyone who dared to come to my rescue.

"Come on!"

Sunghoon and Minho lunged at him simultaneously. They attacked with such force that I
feared all four of us would tumble over the railing.

Sunghoon clutched the hem of my shirt, pulling me away from the edge. At the same time,
Minho managed to make the man drop his knife. It fell over the edge, vanishing into the
darkness below. The ground was so far away that we couldn't even hear the sound it made
when it hit the asphalt.

The man hastily pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around my neck in an attempt
to strangle me. I kicked his groin with the heel of my foot, causing him to loosen his grip on
me.

With Sunghoon's assistance, I broke free from his hold.

Minho was still grappling with the man. As they fought, they moved to the left, drifting
farther away from me and Sunghoon, all the while dangerously close to the edge.

Panic surged within my chest.

"GET AWAY FROM THERE! LET'S RUN NOW! MINHO, COME AWAY FROM
THERE!" I screamed, not even caring about the saliva splashing out of my mouth.

Sunghoon hurried to aid Minho.

Although Minho didn't attempt to kill the man, he shoved the man with such power that he
bent over the railing, his back arching against the iron pole.

I covered my mouth as the man swayed on the edge, gripping Minho as if he wanted to take
at least one person down with him.

After Sunghoon got there, the man was about to fall for real.

I swear that Minho and Sunghoon didn't try to push him, but as they wrestled for their
freedom, the man went over the railing.

Minho and Sunghoon froze in shock.

For a moment, I felt both relief and horror at the fact that we had killed him, but then I
realized he hadn't truly fallen. He clung to the railing and swung himself right back onto the
roof. He used the surprise moment to reach for Minho's leg, gripping it firmly from around
his thigh and using that hold to flip him over the railing.

Minho attempted to grasp the pole, but he couldn't reach it. His hands found nothing as he
desperately searched for anything to hold onto.

My heart stopped, and I wished it never started to beat again.

 Chapter 30

The last I saw of Minho was the tip of his white sneaker as he fell off the roof.

There had been a time when I hadn't known him: when I had played with Barbies in my
spacious bedroom, Minho had danced with his sister somewhere in Korea. When I had sat in
a stuffy classroom, listening to lectures about the American Revolution, Minho had traveled
the world with BTS.

Back then, it had been as if we existed in separate worlds. But now, Minho was an
irreplaceable part of my world.

He was my brother, and I didn't want to live without him.

I would have rather had the knife pierce my heart than watch him fall, helplessly swinging
his arms, attempting to regain balance and hold on to anything.

The wind blew hair on my face as if the heavens wanted to cover my eyes and save me from
the scene. But it was too late. My brother falling off the roof was etched on my retina.

All sounds around me became muffled as I squeezed my eyes shut, unwillingly re-watching
the moment again and again until a sharp yell pierced the night. The shouts and grunts came
from the brawl between Sunghoon and the knifeman.

I had to wake up from the mist, but my mind jammed.

Almost like in a dream, I walked toward the spot where Minho had fallen and where
Sunghoon continued to fight for his life. My vision was blurry on the sides, and my legs
moved on their own.

I had to see if Minho had been able to grab onto something on his way down.

He couldn't have died.

The thought of him being gone left me completely and utterly hollow.

To my surprise, Sunghoon had the upper hand in the fight. He repeatedly struck the man with
a brick he had found somewhere. Each strike was accompanied by an anguished snarl, as if
hitting the man also hurt Sunghoon. Yet he didn't stop nor hold back power in his punches.
The scene was somewhat barbaric, and the wound on Sunghon's cheek looked like a war
painting as the blood had smeared.

The knifeman whimpered, unable to protect himself. He collapsed on the ground, covering
his head with both arms.

I think I should have told Sunghoon to stop before he killed the man, but I couldn't tear my
eyes away from the moving brick. It was strange to find a brick on a modern rooftop with
railings instead of brick fences.
Sunghoon let out one last cry as he smashed the brick against the roof surface. Tears welled
in his eyes, and he panted, folding over to lean on his knees. His trembling hands slipped, so
he had to stand tall. He ran his fingers through his hair to push aside some tangled strands on
his sweaty forehead.

"I... think..." he mumbled, looking down as if afraid to face me after what he had just done.

The knifeman lay in a lump, his breaths coming out in weak wheezes.

Sunghoon looked at me with haunted eyes.

"It... was... the only thing I could do."

He wiped his bloody palms on his jeans as if they were dirty from the beating he had given.
In reality, the blood came from the cuts he had sustained earlier in the maintenance hallway.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. First, I needed to see if Minho had survived.

I took the last few steps to the edge, clutching the cold iron railing. I peered over, holding my
breath.

There was a balcony!

And Minho was there! He slowly pushed himself up to his hands and knees, still collecting
himself after the fall. The apartments on the highest floor seemed to have a low ceiling
because the balcony wasn't that far below. Even so, Minho could have died if he had landed
head first. But he hadn't. He was still alive!

I grabbed Sunghoon's hand, pulling him towards the direction from which we had come to
the rooftop.

"Let's go get help! Minho might be injured."

I was still blissful from finding out that Minho was alive, so I ran in blind urgency, trying to
get back inside the building and find a fast way to call the emergency number.

At first, Sunghoon took a couple of steps in the right direction. Then he halted abruptly,
making it impossible for me to drag him along.

I turned around to see what had happened.

Sunghoon's eyes darted somewhere behind me.

"Are they coming to help us?" he asked.

I glanced over my shoulder to see what worried him.

The door to the rooftop was still open, and there were lights inside. In the darkness, the
doorway looked like a portal to another world.
Three men stepped from the world of light into the darkness of the rooftop.

A chill ran down my spine.

"We can't risk it," I said, sprinting back towards Minho and the balcony. "Let's jump."

Sunghoon shot me a terrified look.

"We can't"

"We have to. It's the only way," I said, pulling him toward the edge.

I climbed over the railing, already lowering myself to jump onto the balcony. However, I
noticed that Sunghoon was still on the other side of the railing, staring into emptiness.

"Did you hear him breathe?" he asked.

"What?"

"Did you hear anything when we walked past there just now?"

I pulled myself back up, clutching the railing with my right hand and gripping Sunghoon's
shirt with my left hand. I shook him gently until he made eye contact.

"It was self-defense. We need to jump right now unless you want to confront the others, too."

Reluctantly, he swung his leg over the railing and joined me on the outer side.

I dropped down first. My foot twinged as I landed, but apart from that, I was fine.

Minho sat on a thick bolster that looked like a dog's bed. He was still taking deep breaths.

I hurried to check on him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Minho raised his gaze to meet mine, letting out an astonished laughter. He shook his head,
face crumpling up.

"I'm alright," he said, quickly forcing his emotions behind a thigh smile. He kept blinking,
though, unable to control his watering eyes.

"There might be more of them coming after us," I cautioned, my gaze drawn to an external
spiral staircase not far from the balcony.

I would have felt uneasy if the emergency exit stairs were so close to my balcony because it
provided a potential entry point for intruders.

"What happened to Sunghoon?" Minho asked.

I shot my gaze up.

Sunghoon still clung to the railing as if his life depended on it. He peered down, gripping the
iron pole even tighter.

"Will I drop on the balcony from here?"

"Yes. Come quickly."

"Are you sure I'll drop there?"

"Just let go."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! We don't have time."

He prepared to jump two times, always hesitating right before letting go of the railing. On his
third try, he actually came down, not as smoothly as me because he had already limped
before, so his foot couldn't hold the jolt.

Sunghoon clutched his chest.

"Oh.. my... God... I'm never doing that again."

Although he appeared disoriented after the jump, he began doing what we should have done
immediately. He knocked on the balcony door, pressing his face against the window and
shading his eyes from the sides to see if anyone was home.

The apartment remained dark, and no one came to the door.

"Let's take the stairs," I suggested, pointing to the emergency exit stairs that descended from
the highest floor to the ground.

Sunghoon widened his eyes and furrowed his brow.

"No way..."

Minho stood up, assessing the short distance we needed to climb to reach the stairs. He
backed away from the balcony's edge.

"I have acrophobia."

Sunghoon was quick to use it as an excuse.

"See? He can't do it. Let's just break into this apartment."

It sounded like a good idea until we realized there was nothing sturdy enough to break the
glass. Sunghoon hit the window with his fist, creating a loud noise that the men on the roof
must have heard.

Sunghoon scurried around the balcony, searching for anything useful.

"Hey! The table. We can push it..."

He didn't finish his sentence as the table didn't budge.

The feeling of unease intensified the longer we spent on the balcony.

I paced back and forth between the door and the side of the balcony that was close to the
stairs.

"Seriously, we need to go. Sunghoon, you should climb first. Then you can help Minho from
that side, and I can help him from this side."

Sunghoon raised his eyebrows, his face growing paler by the second.

"Did you say that I should go first?"

"Yeah... Hurry up."

I wasn't blind: He was obviously scared, too, and probably had the same phobia as Minho.
However, he didn't admit it, so he had better also act like he didn't have it. It's not like I
wasn't scared of heights either.

Sunghoon walked past me, adjusting his posture along the way.

"Sure. I'll go first," he said with a feigned confidence that shattered as soon as he climbed
over the balcony railing and reached for the stairway railing.

His fingers were less than an inch away from the stairs, but he was too terrified to move
further.

"Put your leg there first," I suggested.

He followed my instructions. After placing his foot on the outer side of a stair, he managed to
grasp the stairway railing with his other hand. However, as he shifted all his weight onto the
stairs, his foot slipped, likely due to his previous injury. My heart skipped a beat as he was
left hanging from the railing with a single hand. Fortunately, he was able to grab the railing
with his other hand and pull himself up, securing a good foothold on the stairs. He panted
heavily once he reached the safe side of the stairs.

Minho shook like a leaf on his turn but managed to get to the other side without any
hazardous moments because Sunghoon practically dragged him over the stairway railing as
soon as he got a hold of him.

My legs felt like jelly as I made the dangerous crossing. The ground beneath me seemed to
sway and spin, making me dizzy.

"Come on. You're almost there," Sunghoon said, grabbing me by the shirt.

He helped me over the railing.

As soon as my body realized it was no longer in danger, my limbs went limp, like
overcooked noodles. I would have wanted to lie down on the stairs and steady my heartbeat,
but there was no time. The men on the roof noticed our escape route. They yelled and pointed
at us but didn't command us to stay put, which they would have done if they were police
officers.

"Go! Go! Go!" I shouted, giving Minho a gentle push.

The stairs made me nauseous since you could see the ground through the steel grate steps.
However, I knew we would die if the men caught us, while the stairs wouldn't kill us no
matter how scary they seemed, so I pushed past my fear of heights and leaped down a few
steps at a time.

Minho did pretty well, too, considering that he had just fallen pretty roughly and apparently
had acrophobia.

Sunghoon was the slowest among us. He kept stumbling, his right foot unable to support his
weight. He had to rely on the handrail to stay upright and keep moving.

The men reached the stairs after we had descended about ten floors. The steel steps thundered
behind us, vibrating under their weight.

Going down that many stairs was physically more demanding than you would expect.

Sweat dripped down my face as we finally reached the ground.

We found ourselves in a dark alleyway on the opposite side of the building from where our
chauffeur waited for us.

"Which way?" I asked the boys, but I soon realized that the street was blocked by graffiti-
covered walls on both sides, leaving us only the option to move forward along the road.

Sunghoon hopped, using only one leg.

"Don't stop," he said as he passed me.

In an attempt to help Sunghoon move faster, Minho scooped him into a side hug while
running, but they struggled to synchronize their steps.

Sunghoon pushed Minho's hand away.

"You're slowing me down. Let me run on my own."

Minho jogged beside him, still offering his shoulder for support.

"That's not running. You'll tire yourself out bouncing like that."

"I'll ask for help when I need it."

I couldn't believe they were bickering in such a critical situation. The men who were chasing
us weren't far behind. I couldn't see them yet but I could hear their footsteps, which sounded
much quicker than ours.

The road took us to a river. We could either go right or left, each way following the river.

I glanced behind us. The men were still hidden by the darkness, which meant that they didn't
see us either.

"Can you swim?" I asked.

Sunghoon nodded, contemplating the possibility of hiding in the river.

"I can't," Minho admitted.

"Then let's run," Sunghoon suggested, heading to the left, a good choice as the way led to a
more well-lit area.

I ran alongside Minho.

"Why don't you know how to swim? You have a pool at your house."

"We didn't have it when I was a kid. And why would I swim there if my feet can touch the
bottom?" he defended himself, though it still made no sense to me.

"We need to help Sunghoon. He's falling behind," I said, as I didn't see him near Minho
anymore.

I turned to look behind us, screaming in shock as I saw one of the attackers appear next to
Sunghoon.

The man struck Sunghoon in the head with a short pole-like club. Sunghoon didn't even have
time to react as the man pushed him into the river.

I contemplated jumping in to save him, but the attacker caught me and Minho, attempting to
strike us as well. He swung his club at Minho, who ducked under it, grabbing the backside of
the attacker's jacket. I suppose Minho was trying to keep him from charging at me.

The attacker elbowed Minho, but Minho quickly backed away. Unfortunately, he didn't watch
where he stepped and fell into the river.

I had no option but to jump into the dark, cold water.

Just before I submerged, I heard the wailing of sirens.

Someone had called the police.

But they might have come too late.

 Chapter 31
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

I faced a dilemma. Sunghoon had been struck in the head before plunging into the river, and
Minho didn't know how to swim.

Who needed saving more?

Initially, I thought that there might be a chance Sunghoon could swim despite his injury,
while Minho, by default, could not. That is why I jumped closer to where Minho had fallen.

I figured I could follow the stream to Sunghoon after I had made sure Minho got out of the
water.

Hopefully, Sunghoon didn't float too far before that.

Shit!

What was I thinking?

That Sunghoon was floating and not swimming?!

An overwhelming sense of dread washed over me as cold waves splashed against the back of
my head.

The powerful current enveloped me, pushing me downstream.

In the darkness, the river seemed as black as ink.

"Minho! Sunghoon!" I cried out, desperately spinning around to catch sight of either one of
them.

My clothes clung heavily to my skin as I paddled to stay afloat. I kicked off my shoes, letting
them sink into the depths.

I could hear splashing sounds nearby and immediately swam in that direction.

As I got closer, I spotted someone in the water— Minho.

He flailed his arms, struggling to keep his head above the surface. Minho spat and coughed
water, only to swallow some more soon after.

I swam to him but stayed out of his reach because I knew that drowning people usually
dragged their helper down with them.

"Calm down, Minho. Stop moving. I'll help you. Don't do anything."
He shook his wet hair out of his eyes, but as his head dipped back underwater, the hair clung
to his face again, preventing eye contact.

I swam behind him, pulling him onto my chest and shoulder.

His weight pressed me down, and I accidentally swallowed some water, too. Hari had been
right about me. I was the kind of person who would drink straight from the Han River. I
gushed water out of my mouth and kicked with all my might.

"Take off your shoes," I said, panting. "And your jeans."

As Minho quickly slipped off his trousers and sneakers, I got pushed under the water again.

I held my breath until I managed to kick myself back to the surface.

Dragging Minho toward the riverside wall was more challenging than expected.

And, it was useless because the wall was sleek, and there was nothing to hold onto. Climbing
up from the river was impossible as long as there was a stone wall like that.

We were doomed.

Where were the Police?

Where was Sunghoon?

I let the current drift us downstream in hopes of coming to a riverbank that didn't have a wall.

I tried to spot Sunghoon on the way.

My heart raced faster the farther we went without a sight of him.

It didn't help my anxiety that the sleek wall seemed endless.

Luckily, I noticed an external outfall pipe we could hold onto.

The pipe ran down along the wall much like a rain gutter.

I swam closer to it, my leg muscles shaking.

Minho grabbed the pipe. My body felt surprisingly light after his weight lifted off me, but my
heart remained heavy because we still hadn't seen any sign of Sunghoon.

"Sunghoon!" I shouted, turning around in the water.

Fog hovered over the river surface, obscuring my view.

"Is that him?" Minho asked, climbing higher up the pipe.

He pointed at something, but I couldn't see what he showed.

Minho lost his grip and splashed back into the water.

"I think it's him," he said as he resurfaced, pulling himself back to the pipe. "Sunghoon!
We're here!" he shouted.

Now, I saw him too.

There was no point in shouting. Sunghoon floated with his head submerged in the water, and
only the back of his flannel jacket periodically surfaced.

With my heart pounding, I swam towards him.

"Please, be okay. Let him be okay," I prayed as I grabbed him, and turned him onto his back
so that his face stayed above water.

His eyes were shut, his skin pale, and his lips bluish.

It was easier to swim with him than with Minho, which wasn't a good sign. The only reason it
was easier was because Sunghoon was motionless, his arms floating limply beside his lifeless
body.

While I dragged Sunghoon toward the pipe, Minho tried to climb it up.

The metal joints creaked under his weight.

He fell again and again but always pulled himself back up.

Finally, he gripped the ridge but struggled to haul himself on the wall.

Waiting for him to move from that position was unbearable while holding unresponsive
Sunghoon, who seemed to be getting colder than a living person should.

"Quickly! Minho! He's... I don't think he's breathing."

Minho grunted as he slowly pulled himself up. His body trembled from the effort. He seemed
to be on the verge of his limits. The straining movement didn't do good for Minho's shoulder
either. It hadn't fully healed from the bullet wound.

Nevertheless, Minho managed to get on top of the wall.

He lay down on his stomach, reaching his hands toward us to assist in lifting Sunghoon from
the water.

I pushed Sunghoon up, but it was like handling wet clay. When I lifted him with my arms
around his waist, his upper body slumped back into the river. When I held him from under his
arms, his legs began floating along the current.

I had to grab him by the back of his collar and climb as far as I could so that Minho could get
a hold of him.
The veins in Minho's forehead protruded as he struggled to haul Sunghoon up, clutching his
jacket.

Sunghoon's head flopped forward with his chin resting against his chest. As he was lifted, his
whole body began to gradually tilt forward, slowly slipping off his flannel jacket.

"He will fall!" I exclaimed.

I climbed up the pipe to assist Minho.

The wall was slippery, and my wet socks provided no grip.

I had to place my toes on the sharp metal joints that connected the pipe to the wall. It hurt,
and the steel ripped my socks.

Despite the discomfort, I managed to climb upward and use my shoulder to push Sunghoon
from underneath.

With my help, Minho drew Sunghoon up, and aided me over the wall, too.

We panted, our chests heaving.

I pivoted on the pavement, searching for red and blue ambulance lights.

"Where are the emergency vehicles?"

My entire body trembled.

I had heard the sirens.

They needed to be here!

Minho crouched down, pressing two fingers against Sunghoon's neck.

"I don't know if I feel anything...," he said, panic creeping into his voice.

I collapsed to my knees, pressing my ear against Sunghoon's chest. If his heart was beating, it
beat feebly because I wasn't sure either.

I shot up.

"We need to give him CPR!"

Minho stared at me round-eyed.

"Do.. do you know how to do that?"

It was a nightmare situation because I had no idea how to do it. I should have paid more
attention to Health Education classes.

"You press... and you blow..." I said.

Minho realized he couldn't rely on me, so he took action. He placed his hands, one on top of
the other, on the center of Sunghoon's chest and pressed, using nearly all of his body weight.

That's when I remembered something useful. I had seen a TikTok video where someone
explained that Stray Kids' "Back Door" had a good BPM for CPR.

"Go to the rhythm of "Back Door"! It's good for CPR," I said as Minho hesitated with the
compressions.

He began mumbling the lyrics while pressing Sunghoon's chest.

"How many? Is it thirty?" he asked, horrified of the chance of doing it wrong. "Is it thirty!"
he shouted.

"I think so. It should be..."

Minho didn't hesitate to open Sunghoon's mouth and press his own on top of it.

"You need to pinch his nose!" I instructed as I recalled something from the Health Education
class after all.

He did as I told him.

Sunghoon's chest lifted twice.

I guess Minho remembered how many times to blow because he didn't hesitate on that part.

He continued with another round of compressions, muttering the lyrics.

"Gwangyeja oe churibgeumji yeogin back door..."

Before preforming more rescue breaths, he said quickly: "We need that ambulance."

I staggered up, cupping my hands around my mouth to create a makeshift megaphone.

"HELP! WE NEED HELP!"

Someone must have been close! I had heard the emergency vehicles!

"HELP!"

I stopped shouting when I heard gagging and sputtering.

Sunghoon coughed, but it sounded like wet gurgling.

Minho turned him onto his side to help him expel the water.

Sunghoon fluttered his eyes, gasping for air. He looked at Minho, trying to say something,
but his eyes began to close, and he still didn't take proper breaths.

"Hey, don't close your eyes," Minho begged.

He checked for a pulse and tapped Sunghoon's cheek.

"Hey, wake up. Can you breathe? Come on! Wake up!"

Sunghoon cracked his eyes open for a second, but he didn't seem to take in any air.

Minho continued with the CPR.

That's when I saw a police car creeping on the street at a snail's pace. They must have been
searching for us.

I jumped in the middle of the street, waving my hands frantically.

After assessing the situation, the officers sent directions to an ambulance that arrived in a
couple of minutes.

The paramedics took over the task of reviving Sunghoon.

Some of the orange uniformed people complemented Minho for keeping him alive.

With the help of their expertise and equipment, Sunghoon coughed some more water out and
began taking labored breaths. He lifted himself to a sitting position, although the paramedics
seemed distressed about it at first. They removed the water-rugged flannel jacket to measure
his blood pressure. Then they let him stand up, guiding him to an ambulance where they
attached a pulse oximeter to his finger.

They gave thermal blankets to all of us.

Minho shivered despite getting one.

I heard his teeth clatter next to me.

No wonder he was freezing; he had wrapped the blanket around his waist.

Minho furrowed his brow, crossing his arms defensively.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm not looking at you in any weird way," I replied.

"Yes, you are. Like I was wearing a skirt."

"Well, you kind of are."

He shuddered.

"Well, it's your fault. You told me to take off my jeans."

I couldn't help but smile a little. I suppose it was because I was so relieved that we had all
survived.
"Ask for another blanket," I said because that's what you say to a brother when you want to
say that you are happy that they are alive.

The paramedics didn't seem to realize we had other injuries, or then they had decided to treat
them later at the hospital because they told us to wait while they held a meeting.

"So, where will we take them?" a man asked.

"I'm calling about it right now," a woman said, walking further to talk on the phone.

"Yes. It's just that it isn't our job to contact their companies."

She frowned.

"Why would they complain? That's our job."

They seemed to have problems deciding where to take us since we were famous, or two of us
were.

"They don't have any phones, so we can't see their emergency contacts," the paramedic
snorted to the phone.

"Well, I Googled it, and he is not lying. He really is an idol."

Sunghoon must have caused all this mess by asking them not to take us to a public hospital.

I climbed into the ambulance where Sunghoon sat, his heart rate and oxygen saturation still
under observation.

The paramedic, who should have observed his vitals, left to talk to a police officer who called
for her.

The lot was unprofessional compared to the officers and paramedics who had helped us after
the abduction.

The emergency team appeared disorganized and unsure of what to do with us.

Minho went to discuss the hospital issue with them.

I stayed alone with Sunghoon.

"I'm sorry," I said.

He looked at me.

"Why? Did you hear something?"

"No... Hear what?"

He cast his eyes down.

"Something bad."

"No. I'm sorry for putting you in danger," I said.

He moved next to me.

"Don't be sorry."

He eyed me softly, and I got butterflies in my stomach.

Sunghoon looked stunning, even wrapped in an emergency blanket. His skin was pale, and
his hair dripped water, but his eyes had such a warm glint that I felt safe in his presence. He
made me feel like everything was going to be okay.

Although I got lost in his eyes for a good amount of time, I didn't expect him to lean in for a
kiss. It was more like a peck, though. Or something in between. His lips were cold but soft.
My heart quickened in surprise and excitement, but Sunghoon pulled back abruptly. Maybe
he had noticed my widened eyes and the fact that I was too stunned to react properly.

He lowered his head.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't cool... It's not a good moment, at all..."

It wasn't the best time, but I didn't want him to feel bad about kissing me.

I searched for words that would explain my confusion yet make clear that I wasn't
disappointed at all. Conveying such complex emotions had never been easy for me. I was still
weighing four sentence options when Sunghoon spoke again, staring at nothing. He often did
that: froze in place, looking at something no one else could see.

He spoke so quietly it came out as a raspy whisper.

"I almost died... We... almost died."

I guess he tried to explain that he had kissed me because of the temporality of our lives and
because there were too many things he hadn't done because he had thought there would be
time later. More accurately, he must have kissed me because of the rollercoaster of emotions
that made people do things they typically didn't do. It was the suddenly released tension. The
relief after danger. The weakness following a rush of adrenaline. But even if it was all of that,
it was also because he liked me.

I took his hand and intertwined our fingers.

He raised his head to look at me. The inner corners of his eyebrows lifted slightly as if he was
still expecting me to turn him down. He appeared so concerned and vulnerable that I
squeezed his hand.

"It's okay. Don't apologize for kissing me."

 His mouth twitched as if he was trying not to smile but couldn't help it. He crooked his
fingers to hold my hand tighter.

"It would have been quite a disappointing night if I only got to kiss Minho," he said.

It was a stupid joke, but I chuckled.

"Don't joke about that," I said once the memory of him lying lifeless on the ground hit me.

"But you laughed," he pointed out.

"But it wasn't funny. It was..." my voice trailed off. I had to pause to blink back tears. "It was
horrible."

Sunghoon leaned toward me, gently rubbing my shoulder with the hand that was still
connected to the machine that measured his pulse.

"Don't be sad. Hey! I agree that it was horrible. The CPR would have been nicer if you did it.
I think Minho even cracked my ribs since it still hurts. But I'm not complaining!"

He was so stupid for trying to lighten the mood like that.

A choked sob escaped my mouth as my emotions got the better of me, and I cried and
laughed simultaneously.

He hugged me.

"Hey... we are safe now. It's okay."

I relaxed in his embrace, and we stayed like that until the paramedics came and informed us
that we were leaving.

Minho hopped on the ambulance.

The last paramedic was about to climb in when another police car sped at the scene.

Inspector Suk ran toward the officers who busied around the area. He showed his badge and
arrogantly stepped over a warning tape they had set up for no apparent reason. There was
nothing at that place, not any clues about the attackers, at least, because it was where we had
climbed up from the river.

Inspector Suk didn't see us because a paramedic shut the ambulance door, and we drove
away. However, I had the feeling that Mr. Suk would be one of the first visitors at whichever
hospital we were taken to.

Chapter End Notes

Hey, I'm pretty new to AO3, so the chapter summaries kind of aren't something I have
done. What do you think, should I have them? Are they nice or just spoilers?
 Chapter 32

Pain crept in as we arrived at the hospital, where my body finally gave in.

I had fractured a rib. Each breath felt like a knife twisting deep into my lungs. I couldn't
fathom how I hadn't noticed the pain when parkouring at great heights and swimming in the
Han River.

"This cut needs stitching," a nurse informed me as she peeled off my shirt in the treatment
room.

"What cut?" I asked, turning my head to inspect my shoulder.

A dry laugh escaped me as I realized I had been stabbed.

My life was so messed up that I couldn't even take it seriously. At this point, visiting a
hospital, whether as a patient or a guest, had become a more frequent pastime activity than
any of my actual hobbies.

After treating my injuries, they let me rest in the same room with Minho and Sunghoon. We
all had comfy beds and plush pillows like a bunch of kids having a sleepover at rich auntie's.
Not kids, more like depressed teenagers. The mood was down.

Sunghoon looked heartrending with a sizable plaster on his cheek. He had a severe
concussion, along with rib and foot fractures. He had also torn something called Peroneal
Tendon. I gathered it was in the ankle area.

Another word the doctors used that I didn't understand was vertebral compression. The
doctors talked about it when they examined Minho, which I figured meant that there was
some damage to his spine, probably from falling off the roof.

"Is it serious?" Minho asked, sitting on the side of his bed.

The doctor closest to him lifted his glasses.

"Minor compression fractures usually heal with rest and pain management."

"So, it isn't serious?"

"It can be if you don't rest. Looking at your medical history... You haven't been very good at
resting."

Minho bit his lip, looking guilty.

The doctor made a note on his chart.

"We need you to provide a urine sample," he said, keeping his attention on the paper.
Minho raised an eyebrow.

"What? Now? Why?"

The doctor approached Minho, pressing his fingers on his lower back on both sides of the
spine.

Minho flinched, trying to evade the touch.

"We suspect your kidney may have suffered some damage. Hopefully, it's just a bruise," the
doctor explained.

Reluctantly, Minho left to provide the urine sample. His movements were slow and stiff as he
made his way out. His body, like mine, had almost shut down now that we were finally safe.

Sunghoon held his eyes closed. I didn't want to bother him, so I didn't say anything, although
we were momentarily left alone.

As I lay in silence, the image of our chauffeur crossed my mind. What had happened to him?
I wouldn't have been surprised if he were still waiting for us in the parking lot. Poor guy.

When Minho returned, he slowly lowered himself onto his bed. He must have been in more
pain than I had realized.

We lay in silence, staring at the white ceiling.

Minho sat up abruptly.

"Did you kiss in the ambulance?"

"What?" I exclaimed, my cheeks flushing.

I thought Sunghoon had fallen asleep, but he was wide awake now.

"Uhmm... You saw that?" he mumbled.

Minho's jaw clenched as his eyes fixed on Sunghoon.

"What do you think you're doing? Not dating my sister but kissing her in public places?"

I pushed myself up, even though my ribcage throbbed.

"Minho, leave him alone. He has a concussion."

"But he sure could shove his tongue into your mouth regardless."

"I did not," Sunghoon snapped back.

"Well, you better not. I don't want your fans to crucify her."

I gave Minho a warning look.

"Don't do this. Let him rest."

I knew Minho was only trying to protect me, but he could have discussed his concerns with
me later. There was no reason to confront Sunghoon, especially when he was squinting his
eyes, suffering from a tremendous headache.

It annoyed me that Minho didn't get that. He really should have worked on regulating his
emotions. Even now, he probably acted this way because he was in pain, and being hurt itself
made him angry.

He continued pressing his case, completely disregarding my glares.

"If I could see you, so could the paramedics and the police officers," he said.

The sheets rustled in Sunghoon's direction.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't think about that."

Minho narrowed his eyes.

"If you can't think, what are you good for?"

I closed my eyes, thoroughly weary of the pointless conversation and Minho's immature urge
to confront Sunghoon whenever he had the chance.

"Don't listen to him," I told Sunghoon first, then turned to face Minho. "He already had a
concussion back then, so please, stop bothering him."

Sunghoon looked at me, visibly hurt by the comment.

Oh no.

Had I just explained the kiss away as a mistake Sunghoon made because he had hit his head?

Sunghoon burrowed under his blanket.

"I'm sorry, alright," he said.

Seeing and hearing Sunghoon hurt like that made me furious. I glared at Minho across the
room, and he glared right back at me.

I won the staring contest sooner than I had expected. Minho cast his gaze down. His
conscience seemed to hit him with a delay. He leaned his head against a wall, disappointed in
himself.

I had to admit that Minho was right about the risks of kissing Sunghoon in public. However,
he should have raised those concerns differently.

Because of Minho, Sunghoon probably held back tears under his blanket, and I felt like shit.
Sure, Minho looked just as upset, but he hated showing that vulnerable side. So, anyone who
didn't know him well enough would have thought he was still fuming.

Minho cracked his eyes open, peering at me through narrowed slits. Despite his defiant
expression, his voice came out strained, as if he were on the verge of tears.

"And what have you gotten yourself involved with? They wanted to kill you."

"That's what I want to know too," a low, familiar voice said so unexpectedly that I nearly had
a heart attack.

Senior Inspector Suk stood in the doorway as determined as ever. He strode in and grabbed
the footboard of my bed.

"I'll talk to you first."

He didn't ask for permission before releasing the wheel locks and pushing me and my bed out
of the room.

I shared a confused look with Minho as I was taken away against my will.

Senior Inspector Suk shoved my bed into an empty room.

No. It was not an empty room. Seated on one of those mobile stools that the doctors used was
none other than my enemy number one. Well, Hari and the kidnappers came before him, so
he wasn't at the very top of my list of enemies. However, I hated him. He had gaslighted me
the last time I had given a witness testimony about Hari.

"Miss Young, I'm sure you remember me. I'm Superintendent General Kang from the Seoul
Metropolitan Police Agency, Criminal Investigation."

He appeared just as smug, if not more so than before. Adjusting his meticulously decorated
uniform, he turned on a recorder and bombarded me with absurd questions like, "Have you
ever had a romantic relationship with Wong Yuk-Hei?"

I blinked.

"Huh?"

General Kang cracked his neck and repeated the question word for word.

I furrowed my brow.

"Who? Wong Yuk... " It took me a moment to realize. "Oh! Yukhei... Lucas. No! I have never
been in a relationship with him."

Superintendent General Kang wheeled his chair closer to me. I felt vulnerable and exposed as
I sat on the hospital bed, clad in nothing but the disposable patient gown.

"But you have met him without other people present?" Kang asked.
"No... " I quickly shook my head. "I mean, yeah..."

"Did you get along with him?"

"I guess."

"No. You don't guess. You either get along or you don't. Tell me about your relationship with
Mr. Wong."

"Well... it was complicated."

Superintendent General Kang raised his brow.

"Was? Why did you choose to use the past tense?"

His accusation threw me off.

"Did I? I... I didn't even realize..."

Senior Inspector Suk paced around the room, observing both Kang and me.

Kang shuffled his papers.

"Do you think that your relationship with Mr. Wong has ended?"

"I don't know... We hardly had a relationship."

"So, now you say you almost were in a relationship?"

I wanted to shove this infuriating General away from my bed because he was hovering just
close enough to trigger a desire to slap his smug face. However, I knew I could never do that,
and that only fueled my frustration.

"Stop putting words in my mouth. Are you trying to gaslight me like the last time?" I retorted
as it was the closest I could get to a slap.

Superintendent General Kang pushed his chair back, sighing.

"We have talked to a witness who claims you engaged in a verbal altercation with Mr. Wong
at Mr. Wang's house party. Is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct," I admitted.

"The witness states that it was a heated argument where you shouted at each other."

"That is not correct. I didn't shout. He did."

"Mr. Wong?"

"Yes."
"Why did he shout at you?"

I glared at Kang's predatory black eyes.

"Because he was mad at me."

"Why was he mad at you?"

"Because I wanted to expose Lee Hari."

I spilled everything I knew about Lucas, even though I had promised not to.

To be honest, I never truly understood why the police shouldn't have known about his
relationship with Hari. The truth was the only way to save Lucas, who seemed to be the
primary suspect in the case.

However, Kang continued with Lucas-questions as if what I had said wasn't enough to shift
the attention to Hari and her potential involvement.

"Did you ever have sexual relations with Wong Yuk-Hei?"

My eyes widened.

"No!"

"Did he ever show romantic interest in you?"

"No. What kind of interrogation is this? Why don't you ask about the events that led me to
this hospital?"

Kang tilted his head, jotting down notes. He would have probably continued writing
whatever twisted fanfiction he was spinning about me and Lucas, but Senior Inspector Suk
changed the course of the interview.

"Sure. Tell us what happened at the building where you were supposed to meet Mr. Wong?"
Senior Inspector Suk inquired, much to General Kang's dismay.

General Kang clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth but nodded for me to speak.

I told them everything as close to detail as I could.

The first thing Kang wanted to know afterward was: "Did Wong Yuk-Hei send the warning
message when you already heard the steps of an unknown arrival?"

I recalled the harrowing moment of waiting for something bad to happen.

"Yes. The attacker was already in the building."

Kang hummed in response.

"Are you sure that what Lucas said about his relationship with Hari was true? Could it have
been his way of getting closer to you?" he asked.

He had an agenda, and it didn't look good for Lucas.

"I believe him," I replied.

"Why?"

"Why would he lie about that? He was so embarrassed... and broken. He would deserve an
Oscar if everything he said about Hari was a lie."

Kang lifted his head, looking down at me.

"Do you know how long Mr. Wong waited before he called the Police?"

I bit my lip, careful not to betray my surprise. I hadn't expected him to call at all.

"No. I do not know because I am not the Police."

Kang smiled arrogantly.

"Twenty-five minutes."

"And what about it?"

"Before that, the Police had already been informed of a person falling off a roof and a fight
on the rooftop by worried neighbors. Mr. Wong's call didn't help you at all. We suspect he
calculated that 25 minutes would be enough for the paid assassins to kill you. However, he
needed to call the emergency number to appear innocent."

"Are you trying to make me believe that?"

"Didn't you say that Mr. Wong appeared extremely distressed and desperate to the point of
considering suicide, or at least resulting in him harming himself? Perhaps he wanted to kill
you for knowing his secret."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. All I wanted to do was shout insults at this man. He had
no shame.

Kang smirked like he enjoyed twisting true stories into plots that made him money. There
was no way Lucas had ordered someone to kill me! He might have been foolish at times, but
he wouldn't have used his number to lure me into the building if he had ordered someone to
kill me.

"Was that a question? Or are you trying to influence my statement with that story?" I asked.

Senior Inspector Suk almost choked on his saliva as he suppressed a laugh.

Kang stood up and turned off the recorder.

"That's enough. We will call you for another interview when you know how to respect your
seniors and the authorities."

Senior Inspector Suk pushed me back into my hospital room.

He proceeded to take Minho's bed, along with its occupant, for another interview. However, it
didn't go as smoothly as with me.

Minho clung to a privacy curtain that hung at the side of his bed.

"NOOO!! HELP!!" he shouted.

What was wrong with him?

Suk pulled the bed, and Minho pulled the curtain until it fell one clip at a time. The unfolding
scene looked rather comical, except for Minho's genuinely distressed demeanor.

Senior Inspector Suk shook his head.

"Stop with this act. I'm not in the mood for jokes, and you shouldn't be either. This is a
serious case. If anything, avoiding the interview makes you suspicious."

Sunghoon turned his head to look at Senior Inspector Suk with squinted eyes.

"It's not an act. They gave him something strong for pain."

Suk's eyes widened. He hastily pushed Minho's bed back to its place and picked up the
curtain. He attempted to hang it from the clips but wasn't tall enough.

A nurse entered.

Senior Inspector Suk quickly shoved the curtain into Minho's hands, acting as if he had just
been casually strolling near his bed.

He walked over to Sunghoon and scrutinized him for a while but decided against taking him.

"I will come back another day," he said.

Hopefully, Kang wasn't coming with him next time. That Superinfuriating General probably
fantasized about turning the case around by claiming that the three of us had entered the
building with a plan to kill the attacker.

"Hey! Senior Inspector Suk!" I called out before he disappeared.

He came back, watching me quizzically.

I spoke quietly so the nurse fixing the curtain wouldn't hear.

"What happened to the man on the roof?"

Suk eyed me, then Sunghoon.

"He's in another hospital."

A wave of relief washed over me.

"So, he's alive?" I asked, just to be sure.

"All I've heard so far is that he's at a hospital, but there are morgues at hospitals too."

Sunghoon pulled his blanket up to shield his trembling body.

"It was self-defense," I said to Suk, even though I had already explained it to him and Kang.

Suk maintained his unwavering gaze on Sunghoon.

"I have no reason to doubt that."

Suk's voice carried a pitiful undertone, leaving me with an uneasy feeling.

My anxiety deepened when Mike and Ae Ri came for a visit. They brought me a tablet for
communication, watching Netflix, reading e-books, and the news.

It was the headlines that distressed me.

I didn't know what to make of them.

 Chapter 33

There was no news regarding an attempted murder in Seoul or reports of a rooftop fight. The
public knew nothing about the events of last night.

Still, the most-read headlines shocked me.

"NCT's Lucas Involved in a Sex Scandal"

"Leaked Footage of a Famous K-pop Idol and His Lover in a Hotel Suite"

"Netizens Demand Lucas to Leave NCT After a Steamy Sex Tape Circulates Online"

A well-known politician had recently been arrested for embezzling billions of Won but
received hardly any attention because the media was saturated with Lucas's handsome face.
Apparently, in the public eye, an idol having a lover or a girlfriend was considered a far more
egregious offense than actual crimes.

I clicked on the video that had turned everyone against Lucas, and the room was filled with
wet smooching sounds and sighs of pleasure.

I hurriedly muted the video, but Minho and Sunghoon were already giving me puzzled looks.

"I'm just reading the news," I said.

Minho chuckled.

"Sure."

I ignored him and analyzed the leaked sex tape. It was filmed from a downward angle. A
wooden bed frame covered the other person in the video. You could only see Lucas and a
woman's hand pulling him closer, running their fingers over his back and sides.

The clip I had found was blurred at most critical moments, but I bet you could find dirtier
versions of it.

I stopped the video as it jumped back to the beginning. The clip was relatively short.
Someone had cut it intentionally so that only Lucas was visible.

People called him "trash" and some more offensive terms I had never heard because they
weren't part of Mike's vocabulary.

I felt as if someone were tugging at my insides.

The leaked video was Hari's doing, for sure. Lucas had sided with me, so Hari had carried out
her threat to ruin his career.
I didn't understand why such a video caused hate for Lucas. Wasn't it obvious that whoever
had posted the tape intended to harm him and had even committed two separate crimes,
filming him secretly and distributing the clip? Compared to the USA, the punishments for sex
crimes may have been light in Korea, but posting such materials without the other person's
consent should have led to a massive fine, if not a short prison sentence.

I scrolled through the comment section, searching for level-headed commenters.

There were some Lucas fans, but they weren't any wiser than the haters.

"I'm fucking gonna find that bitch and kill her with my own hands!"

"That IS NOT Lucas! The person in the video looks like him, BUT IT IS NOT LUCAS! Stop
spreading false information!" one fan wrote.

An anonymous reply followed.

"Right! It doesn't even sound like him!"

Though I didn't want to watch the clip again, I replayed it with the volume on, this time using
headphones.

The fans were unhinged because Lucas didn't utter a single word throughout the video. There
was no way these stans could have recognized Lucas solely by his breathing. Moreover, the
picture quality was good, except for the blurred portions. It was undeniably Lucas in the
video.

My heart sank as I remembered the questions Kang had asked me during the police interview.
Had he suspected that I was the woman in that video?

I couldn't help but sense a threat, even though nothing in my surroundings posed any danger.
The hospital and our room were both well-secured.

I felt sweaty, so I pushed my blanket aside.

I had underestimated Hari. It was only natural for her to retaliate after I had exposed her
unauthorized hospital visit. JYP Entertainment had pressed charges against her for stalking
and invading Felix's privacy, and they prepared to add more charges if she had copied Felix's
pictures or information from his phone.

Hari would have deserved to be publicly shamed for what she had done, but instead more
articles were published about Lucas.

On the second day of my stay in the hospital, new headlines emerged:

"After Seeing a Sex Tape Online, Ex-girlfriend Exposes NCT Lucas for Cheating"

"Multiple Women Claim to Have Dated NCT Lucas During the Time He Was Intimate with a
Lover on Video"
I scanned these articles, relieved to discover that the video was from a year ago when Lucas
hadn't yet gotten his second tattoo and when I was still living in the US. Kang had to believe
that I wasn't the girl in that video no matter how badly he wished to see me in Lucas' arms.

The alleged girlfriend asserted that she had been dating Lucas from March 2019 until July
2020. She could tell from Lucas's hairstyle and the absence of a tattoo that the leaked footage
was from when they were together. The alleged ex-girlfriend chose to remain anonymous,
sharing her story solely through Twitter.

Another article reported that three more people claimed to have dated or gone on dates with
Lucas during that period, with some providing detailed accounts of their encounters.
However, these individuals were also anonymous, much like the first alleged girlfriend.

Each girl mentioned how hurt they felt by Lucas' actions, but I had a hard time believing
these faceless people who decided to expose Lucas when he had already been publicly
humiliated with the video. If they had dated Lucas, it seemed they hadn't really cared for him
because they were so eager to tarnish his reputation. Their cruelty made me think of Hari. It
was entirely possible that these girls didn't even exist, and the Twitter accounts were part of
Hari's elaborate scheme to manipulate public opinion.

Whether real or not, the allegations worked in that girl's favor who had filmed and posted the
sex tape.

The public perceived these real or imaginary girls as victims of a cheating boyfriend, and
Lucas received even more hatred than before. Even those who had acknowledged him as a
victim of spy cam porn or revenge porn stopped supporting him.

Lucas was labeled a skirt-chaser, a cad, and a scoundrel.

Some people even brought up his nationality:

"Why does SM still debut Chinese idols? I'm disgusted."

Even if Lucas had truly been a player, he didn't deserve the overwhelming amount of public
hate. No one had even heard his side of the story.

Someone with the username LUCkYstar seemed to agree with me.

"We don't need to cancel every person who ALLEGETLY does something stupid. Don't we
have law enforcement to punish people who deserve it? I feel bad for the girls if they were
wronged, but we don't know the truth, so we can't be the judges."

Even LUCkYstar later turned against Lucas when new information about him came to light.

Police had arrested him.

He was on the top of every news platform.

"Photos Show NCT Lucas Led to a Police Car at Seoul Seongdong Police Station"
"K-pop Idol Reportedly Involved in an Attempted Murder Case"

"NCT Lucas Accused of Hiring a Contract Killer Out of Jealousy Over a Girl"

The reporters mentioned that it was allegedly so and so, or something had happened
according to an anonymous informer. Yet, people took it as the truth.

I came across LUCkYstar's comment once more:

"If the police believes he did something wrong it really must be true. SM, please re-record
NCT's, WayV's, and SuperM's songs without Lucas. I don't want to support him anymore."

Senior Inspector Suk had made it to the news as well. A video showed him trying to enter the
police station while a crowd of reporters surrounded him.

"What can you share about the case involving Lucas?"

The flashing camera lights and the constant sound of shutter clicks irritated Suk. He put on
sunglasses and continued walking.

"Where is Lucas right now?"

"Did he hire someone to murder his ex-girlfriend?"

"Or was the target his ex-girlfriend's new lover?"

"Did he try to kill the girl from that video?"

"Sir. Please, the public wants to know. Why did you arrest Lucas?"

Suk abruptly glared at the last person who had spoken and snatched the microphone from the
flinching reporter.

"He is currently detained for further investigation, not arrested. It appears the public has
drawn their conclusions based on rumors and speculations. We are still in the process of
investigating, so there will be no further comments."

I googled how being detained for further investigation differed from getting arrested, and it
seemed that the former was a preliminary step before an arrest. In other words, the police had
enough doubts to take Lucas into custody, still determining whether to proceed with a formal
arrest.

With Kang involved, I feared it wouldn't take long before they reached a corrupt decision that
had nothing to do with justice.

The Superintendent General paid us another visit later that week and traumatized Sunghoon
with some of his ruthless questions.

After the interview, Sunghoon rushed to the bathroom a couple of times, looking like he was
about to puke.
"Are you okay? Did Kang say something that made you feel ill?" I asked when Sunghoon
returned.

His face was paler than the sheets on our beds as he slowly crutched across the room.

"I'm fine. He just asked questions."

Sunghoon had had a lawyer with him during the interview, so Kang couldn't have been as
unprofessional as he had been with me. However, it was evident that Kang had said
something that had greatly disturbed Sunghoon.

Sunghoon's lawyer paced near the only window in our room, making a call to HYBE.

"We've finished the interview," the man said.

He cupped his hand over his mouth to direct his voice only to the phone and block it from
traveling through the room.

I could still hear him if I lay perfectly still, not rustling the bed.

"They showed pictures of the man who attacked them and his injuries. Sunghoon is not well."

The lawyer glanced at me and lowered his voice.

"That interviewer is a fucking son of a bitch. There was no reason to show graphic pictures
like that."

He murmured as a response to something said on the other end of the line.

"The good news is that the man is alive and recently regained consciousness. That should
speed up the process."

My body relaxed a little. I would have supported Sunghoon no matter what, even if he had
killed the man, but it was a relief that he didn't have to bear the burden of taking someone's
life.

Even beating someone to a bulb was too much for Sunghoon. He didn't seem to get over the
pictures he had seen.

Thankfully, HYBE sent his band members for a visit. They gathered around his bed, a bit
awkward but eager to lift his spirits.

"Don't worry too much. We'll handle the schedules. You just focus on resting," Jungwon
assured him.

Sunoo offered a sympathetic smile and nodded, indicating the unanimous support of all the
members.

"Can I rest too?" Ni-ki asked, but Jake silenced him with a playful slap.
Sunghoon smiled for the first time since that night.

His band members chatted about everyday topics, which had a calming effect on me as well.
I would have happily listened to them talk about demanding choreography and long
photoshoots for a few more hours, but they had to rush for an online interview.

Heeseung and Jay remembered me from the after-party. They wished me a fast recovery
before leaving.

Minho sulked because JYP didn't allow the Stray Kids members to visit him in the hospital
due to the excessive attention they had received after the abduction.

Fortunately, we were discharged from the hospital the next day, which kept Minho from
becoming too depressed.

Sunghoon promised to stay in touch and asked me to take care of myself as I packed the few
things Mike had brought me during my stay in the hospital.

"You too, Minho," Sunghoon called out to my brother who was already walking out of the
room.

Minho grinned.

"Are you worried about me?"

Sunghoon dropped onto his bed, sighing as if he regretted saying anything.

"I meant that you should take care of Filina too."

"You don't need to tell me to do that," Minho replied.

Sunghoon hugged his pillow.

"I know."

Minho narrowed his eyes, annoyed because Sunghoon was likable and, therefore, he couldn't
instigate a crossfire. He would have preferred ending things on bad terms, which was
ridiculous.

I halted at the door, lingering to look at Sunghoon for a while longer. I waved my hand.

"See you soon!"

I was still saying "soon" when Minho pulled me into the hallway.

"Mum and Mike are waiting," he explained.

I frowned.

"Minho, we need to talk about how you treat Sunghoon."

Minho smirked.

"Why? Sunghoon told me to protect you, and I am protecting you from him."

I let out an exaggerated sigh.

"I don't need that kind of protection."

Minho suddenly became all serious, swallowing before speaking.

"You read the news, right? People can't stand it when idols date. They would hate you or
Sunghoon or both of you. Eventually, they would destroy anything good that you have."

"Yes, I read the news, but Lucas' case is different," I replied.

Minho agreed, "Yes, it's different, but it's also the same. Someone always ends up being
hated."

I walked out.

I didn't want to have that conversation.

Wasn't there enough to worry about already?

I could have easily ended up dead or detained for further investigation. You never knew what
could happen when caught up in the game with Hari and Superintendent General Kang.

I needed to focus on winning.

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