A sound of a tray clanging woke her up. The sound rang in her ears loudly in waves, making her cringe. She noticed a man standing at the doorway, who probably was the one who gave her the food.

She could feel that her eyes were swollen from all the crying the previous day, but at this point she honestly didn’t care. She just needed to escape. She needed answers.

The man eyed her suspiciously. He wasn’t the same one from yesterday, but he too had a mask on. The door was wide open, with plenty of space to duck from them if she was quick enough, and she contemplated whether to run out or not. They obviously hadn’t learnt from their mistakes. To be fair, she hadn’t learnt from hers either.

Despite her grogginess, she didn’t wait to calculate the chances of her success. She figured, or kind of hoped, that they wouldn’t kill her for running. They would’ve done that sooner if they needed to. Instead, she dashed out as if her life depended on it. (Well, it kind of did.)

The same scene from yesterday played out again, with her racing heart and burst of energy, but this time she couldn’t even make it to the stairs. Hyejin merely made it to the end of the hallway before the masked man managed to get to her.

She shouted, screamed, shrieked, all on the verge of tears. This time, however, he didn’t even bat an eyelash at her protests. felt raw from the strain. After he carried her back to the room she so very despised, he promptly left. It was a relief that he didn’t lay a hand on her.

Her mind drifted to yesterday’s events where Seungwan specifically asked her not to try anything. Hyejin felt horrible for simply disregarding her friend’s advice like that. Nevertheless, she felt that if she didn’t try, there would be no hope at all for the both of them. What could they do? Starve her some more?

She realised that she was right after she scanned the room. The tray was gone, and her stomach rumbled. It had been hours since her last meal, and it was not at all filling.

Hyejin shakily walked over to the wall to try and strike up a conversation with Seungwan. Perhaps they would be able to come up with more ideas.

Before she could even take two steps forward, the man reappeared at the doorway. He had long pieces of rope in his hand, and she had a bad feeling about what it was going to be used for.

Her thoughts were confirmed when he pushed her in a brusque manner against the wall on the other side of the room. Though she struggled against him with all her might, she was helpless. He looped the rope around her hands and pinned them above her head, tying her to the curtain railing above the only window in the room. There weren’t any curtains attached, and the window was covered in a layer of dust.

Hyejin sighed. She wouldn’t be able to talk to Seungwan at all unless she was shouting.

The man pulled on the ropes with much force, making her yelp. He chuckled at her demise, pulling on the knots tightly. She could feel the harsh material of the rope rubbing against her hands.

Her stomach made a noise and it made the man burst into laughter again. She half-considered pleading him for food, but her stubborn pride wouldn’t allow her to even open her lips. She would just have to bear it for a few more hours. They wouldn’t deprive her of lunch too, would they?

The man snickered as he gave her a sleazy once-over, making her feel uncomfortable under his beady eyes. Luckily, that was all he did before he left, slamming the door behind him. She let out a breath of relief.

Hyejin wondered if Seungwan could hear everything that was happening through the walls. She wondered how her best friend was doing under these circumstances, whether she was mentally or physically affected. She was acting kind of weird.

Hyejin writhed under the ropes, feeling the rope burn against her wrists. Her arms were already tired from being lifted up and she just let her body slump, only having the ropes to suspend her.

However, it proved to be a bad idea, because now the ropes felt like they were cutting into her skin. Her arms felt like they were going to be detached from her hands which were bound by the ropes.

Her eyes burned and tears were starting to collect at her waterline. Taking in a deep breath, she reassured herself that she was tearing up because of the physical pain and not because they were getting to her.

She closed her eyes, refusing to let any tears leak out. She thought of her parents and how worried they probably were, Junmyeon, Jongdae and how guilty they probably felt. She, herself felt terrible.

“Seung… wan?” she called out softly. It was worth a try.

Much to her surprise, there was an answer. “Why did you do it?”

“The door was open, and I… just had to. We can’t stay in here forever!” she exclaimed, before pausing for a while to see if anyone heard her