Hyejin blinked, feeling groggy and disoriented. was dry and her vision was blurry, but she could sort of make out the grey walls before her.

Even the grogginess did not dispel her fear. She sat up, her back hurting from the cold, hard floor. She took in her surroundings slowly, as not to scare herself too much. She was kidnapped. Never in her life had she ever thought this would really happen. Cases like these were often heard on the news, but the possibility of it ever happening to oneself was almost always dismissed.

There was a toilet at the corner of the room, two windows, and a big door. The room was generally in a bad condition, with the walls looking like they’d crumble off any minute, and the windows coated with dust. Hyejin doubted that she would use the toilet unless absolutely necessary. She felt like she was in jail.

“Hello?” she shouted, despite the dryness in . “Is anyone here?”

She was desperate for answers. Why would they kidnap her, out of all people? Were they going to drug her and make her sell her body? Would they mutilate her and make her beg on the streets? Would they ask her parents for ransom?

Before she knew it, tears started rolling down her cheeks as more disturbing thoughts clouded her mind. She was truly helpless now.

“H-hyejin?” A familiar voice called out to her, making her freeze.

“Seungwan?!”

“Shh! Don’t shout it out so loud. You can’t let them hear you talking to me.”

“Where are you?” Hyejin headed to where the voice was, which was by the crumbling walls. “How are you? Where are we? How did this all happen?!”

“Wait. Don’t speak yet. I can hear people outside the room.”

Hyejin held her breath, and all was silent for a few moments. The, the door swung open to reveal burly man with a mask on. He had a tray of food and drink in his hands. He said nothing as he set the tray onto the ground.

“Um, excuse me?’ she said tentatively, trying her luck.

As expected, the man didn’t even look at her. He scanned the room for a bit and after deeming it fit, he left the room. She could hear the tell-tale sound of the door being locked.

She didn’t dare to continue the conversation with Seungwan just yet, in fear of being overheard by people outside. She decided that she would wait for a while, even if the curiosity was overwhelming.

Opting to stare at the food, she realised that it actually looked well-cooked. There wasn’t much on the plate, other than some rice and side dishes, but she couldn’t help but feel that they were treating her quite well in terms of basic necessities.

She spooned herself some rice, letting her hunger dissipate slowly. Finishing up the whole dish in a few mere minutes, she inched closer to the wall. She tapped on it softly, causing tiny pieces of the wall to flake off.

Almost immediately, Seungwan answered. “Did they give you food? Don’t worry, it’s not drugged or poisoned.”

The thought had never even occurred to Hyejin. “Shoot, I didn’t even think that could happen. But yeah, I ate it all.”

“How did you end up in here?” her voice dropped down to a whisper.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” she replied. “Long story short, I think I got kidnapped.”

“Wow, what a keen observation,” Seungwan remarked sarcastically. Hyejin marvelled at how she could joke around in a situation like this. “I think they kidnapped me too.”

“Okay, but seriously speaking, I got nabbed on the way home from the night class in school.”

“What?! You went home alone? Didn’t Junmyeon accompany you back?!”

“Um, I kind of rejected him,” Hyejin revealed sheepishly. “Him and Jongdae. But anyway, what’s your story? We’ve been worried sick for days! Your parents filed a police report too.”

“Someone grabbed me after I came out from the toilet. I passed out before I could kick him in the balls and I ended up here. They’ve been asking me questions about Jongdae. I don’t know why though. Enough about me though, why would you even walk home alone?!”

“They kept hovering over me so I needed to show them I wasn’t helpless. Looks like I was in the wrong place and wrong time…”