Hyosung walked with her hand up to her face, trying to bring shade to her eyes, squinting as the morning sun was too bright for her to handle. She was cursing at herself for choosing to take a class so early in the morning.

“Hey!”

Himchan’s voice was really loud, and it made the woman jump. She turned with a frown, watching as he ran in her direction.

“Have you seen the kid?”

The man asked between breaths as soon as he stopped. He was panting hard, and looked like he had been running for a while.

“Huh?”

Hyosung felt confused, and it hadn’t been long since she woke up, so her brain was not processing information well.

“The kid, Junhong. He’s gone. And so is his stuff. When I woke up this morning everything was gone.”

Himchan explained, and the same expression of worry that was on his face transferred to hers. And her concerned mind went straight to what was more important.

“And Yongguk?”

She asked and Himchan hesitated, trying to remember the last time he saw his best friend.

“I haven’t seen him home since yesterday. He messaged me around six PM saying Junhong was going back earlier to the dorm, and that his class would stretch out, so he’d be home late. I can’t know if any of that happened though, because I was at work until late, and walked in the dark when I got home so I wouldn’t wake anyone. I didn’t see him this morning, but he has an early class, so he could have left before I woke up.”

Himchan talked, and observed Hyosung, who had a weird look on her face. She looked worried and confused, her eyebrows as furrowed as they could be.

“Why? Do you thing he knows where the kid went? Or maybe you think he went with him?”

Himchan asked, trying to complete a line of thoughts that would explain the woman’s face. He wanted to know what she was thinking.

“No, no. Never mind him.”

Hyosung started, the concern never leaving her expression, no matter what she said.

“You should go to the office and report it; you don’t want them to blame you, right?”

She said, tapping his shoulder as she moved away slightly. She was obviously about to run off, but Himchan held onto her wrist.

“Come with me.”

He said, feeling reluctant to face the school authorities, considering the situation he was in.

“I can’t. I’m going to see if Yongguk is at his class.”

Hyosung said, pulling her wrist away from his grip, and moving away quickly, rushed to get where she needed to be.

…

Yongguk woke up again, his vision completely hazy as he looked around. The men were all still there, but they didn’t seem to notice he was conscious.

Every inch of his body hurt. He knew that his face was very swollen, on account of not being able to see through one eye, as it couldn’t open. And aside from all the pain he felt from the torturous hits he received, he also felt the agonizing burns that the ropes were leaving as they bound his body.

He hadn’t been awake very much in the passing hours, and he had no idea how long had it been since he got there, but it felt like eternity. And during that eternity, he reached a conclusion: he was going to die. He didn’t have the information those guys wanted, and they were obviously not going to just let him out after all that happened in there. He had lost hope, and with every minute that passed, he got ready for that final blow that would end his life.

Still, he tried not to make any sounds. The men were just walking around, not looking interested in him anymore, unlike all the other times he had woken up there, with those guys waiting for him to open his eyes. But now one even looked at him, completely acknowledging his conscious state, and ignoring it.

Yongguk couldn’t tell if that was good or not, but their behavior was weird. It looked like they were waiting for something. Or someone.

The more Yongguk used his brain, the more tired he felt. His vision started darkening, and this time, without the need of a painful hit to the head, he passed out again.

…

This time Yongguk didn’t wake up on his own. The men were throwing cold water on his face, forcing him to open his eyes. It took him a while to realize what was happening, but the water stopped as soon as he moved a bit, and he was thankful for that. Looking around, trying as hard as he could to focus, Yongguk noticed something different.

There were a lot more guys in the warehouse, more than the double of before. And right in front of him, only a few feet away, was an older looking man, standing tall and proud, with armed men all around him.

Yongguk wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, but he could easily tell that he was the boss. Or at least he was a higher rank than all the others around him.

“He’s fully awake now sir.”

One of the men said, and the older man raised an eyebrow. He took a small step forward, looking at Yongguk without lowering to his level. He looked superior, important. And somehow, Yongguk felt that wasn’t going to be a good thing for him.

“Where’s Zelo?”

The guy didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to it. He wanted the information.

Yongguk’s lips were shaking, and he still felt pain in most parts of his body, even though his face felt slightly numb at the moment, after the cold water splashes. He knew, that as soon as he answered that question, that enraging question which he had been asked to answer over and over again, he would get hit. It was a pattern. He’d answer, they’d hit him. Still, he answered. Not answering would probably be more painful.

“I don’t know. I told them, I don’t even know who Zelo is.”

Yongguk said, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the heavy blow he knew was coming. But nothing happened. There was only silence. He hesitantly opened his eyes, and everyone was standing still, staring. The man was looking down at him, and it was very hard to notice at first, but he looked impatient.

“What does the Dragon gang wants by messing with us? What are your plans?”

The man asked and Yongguk sighed. Or at least he tried to, since releasing air through his mouth turned out to be a difficult task taking in account his broken ribs and swollen face – plus all the blood in the way. Breathing itself was already difficult, and he ended up coughing some blood out. But he still had to answer. And he did, the same way he did when the other guys asked that same question.

“I don’t know anything about this Dragon gang. I’m not in a gang; I’m just a normal college student.”

He took a pause, so he could at least try to breath normally, and then added something new to the answer.

“I just look a bit rough, that’s it.”

Talking that much tired him, and he closed his eyes again, this time to rest. He was probably about to pass out again, but he focused on the voices he heard, the fear of getting hit keeping him attentive.

“That’s all he’s been saying. At first we thought it was just his strategy against torture, to make us release him. But now I’m not so sure, sir. I sent one of my men out to do a background check, and he came out clean. It seems he might be telling the truth.”

Yongguk tried to hold on longer, maybe open his eye to see what was happening, what face the boss looking man made, but he couldn’t. The voices started to seem very distant, and he slowly stopped hearing anything, losing consciousness. His head dropped down, and he was about to completely fall to the ground, but the guys on each side kept him propped up in his sitting position.

Zelo’s father glanced at him, not making much of it, and turned back to the man that was talking.

“Are you sure about this?”

He asked. The man nodded, a bit hesitant, looking very scared. That was a normal reaction to his presence, so the old man ignored the fear, sighing. He hated it, but he was finally having to admit to himself a possibility he didn’t want to think about.

Zelo had left on his own account. The boy ran away, and arranged it so the guilt would be pinned on his father’s worst enemy. The boy was very smart after all.

But he wouldn’t let it be so easy. He would hunt down his own son, if he needed. And when he found him, he’d give him a proper punishment. A gang master’s punishment.

He started to move away, heading out. His men started to move too, to prepare to go away.

“What do we do about him, sir?”

Daehyun asked, pointing at Yongguk. The Boss looked back, gazing down at the young man’s out body, no expression present on his face.

“Kill him.”

He simply said, and re his path, leaving the warehouse.