Lia shoved me out of the hotel room, manila folder in hand and a gun on another. I was too numb to even pay that much attention to the gun she had been pressing on my back which encouraged me to move my faster than a sloth and because Sehun didn't like to wait for ages until his head blew apart.

She wasn't going to pull the trigger anyway.

At least I wasn't as frightened as much. I still was, but I was too senseless to even care. The only thing that racked my brain was the fact that I couldn't figure out where we were going. I didn't want to repeat myself either since Lia didn't want any lip about it. She only wanted me to obey Sehun's orders until we reached the large basement filled with a plethora of vehicles. I suddenly felt nervous. I didn't like how my throat felt raw and the fact that my eyes stung.

"Move!" Lia hassled. My face felt cold. I allowed my feet to drag me forward. "Use those long legs of yours, dear." She taunted, her grip firm on the curve of my shoulder.

The gust of autumn wind blew stronger causing me to flinch. It didn't take awhile for us to reach the dark end where a polished black Mercedes-Benz was parked.

The first person I laid my gaze on was the driver. Handsome, tanned skin, wore the same black turtle neck the criminals wore paired with a trench coat. His face was stoic. His gold watch gleamed from the windshield. I'm assuming he's one of Sehun's men. 

"Behave." Lia yanked the backseat door open only to reveal Sehun sitting on the other side. He never casted a single glance over me when Lia forcibly rammed me into the backseat, strapping me on like a ing four year old. I cursed, scowling at her until she slammed the door close, leaving me in shocked silence with Sehun and the driver who gave me a quick gaze by the rear-view mirror. 

I could've sworn I saw him smirk. 

Moments later, Lia was finally out of sight. I found out she was in tow riding another car, tailing after us with her hands firm on the steering wheel. It felt like she was burning holes into the back of my skull with the way she was staring from her windshield. I scowled.

We were on the highway now. Montreal blared quietly through the stereo. No one spoke. It was too suffocating to be sitting in the car with two dangerous men. I could almost hear myself breathing in distress. I was so tensed to the point that I started to scoot further to my right, voluntarily ramming my shoulder against the door whilst Sehun calmly sat the opposite side, his gaze boring to the window.

Maybe he was thinking about something, or maybe he was just spacing out but he looked a little pissed off — almost like a ticking bomb at the verge of exploding into fumes any minute right at this moment on.

I bore my gaze down to my feet adorned by my cheap, worn-out black flats. I could feel a hole starting to form on the side for how beat-up these shoes were but towards the end, I decided to leave it alone since it wasn't imporant.

I could only hum at midst of the certain troubles disrupting the tranquility resonating around my train of thought.

Oui j'ai pleuré mais ce jour-là

Je ne pleurerai pas

Je ne pleurerai pas....

I mentally sang along as if it was a mantra just so I could stop myself from being so tensed. I just wish the driver would twist the volume a little higher for my sake.

Feeling defeated, I deflated on my seat whilst I touched the strap so I could adjust my seatbelt for my favour, but even then, I couldn't adjust it without hearing someone scowl from the other side.

"Did you not have the time to dry your hair?" Sehun questioned, annoyed. "You're going to get a headache." 

"Does that even matter anymore." I barked back, refusing to look up. I couldn't afford to see him scowling sourly at me. "I would have had the opportunity if you gave me time." I mentally rolled my eyes, leaving my now-adjusted seatbelt alone. "But you didn't."

The driver chuckled, the sound of his laughter piqueing my interest. 

"She's just as catty as her." The driver commented, his baritone voice smooth. "Just less...tacky and alive." He trailed off, eyeing the way I represented myself wearing new clothes matched with my semi-wet hair and paling lips. 

I snorted, ignoring the abrupt urge to shove my hand into my bag to look for my lipstick but at the same time, I didn't care. My chappy lips can just start bleeding out of nowhere due to the constant dryness the cold season brought upon the city, and I wouldn't even wipe it off. After all, tasting iron wasn't predominantly as bad. I just figured there was no absolute time to make a good impression to a handsome stranger with such beady, dark eyes that could swallow your entire soul. I thought that was unnecessary.

But he was right about me looking like death as I barely had life succumbing into my body ever since I have been held in captivity. The only thing I was glad for was the food and drinks provided. It gave me a little bit of life despite the fact that I was starting to rot inside but that too, didn't matter anymore.

I just wanted to run away.

Sehun said nothing after that but he did swung a calculating stare at him, instantly shutting him up. The driver didn't flinch though but just laugh it off, completely unperturbed of Sehun's way of demanding him to stop his unfunny antics but that doesn't mean it was over because from the moment he decided to leave Sehun alone and let him bask in tranquility, he moved on to me. 

He flashed small look of curiosity on the rear-view mirror before shifting his attention back to the road. I wish he could have done the same thing to me— that is for him to leave me alone but no, he decided to scrutinize my introverted self for basic information.

"Name?" He smiled, raising his eyebrow in a very suggestive manner. I scoffed. "I'm assuming you're not as rude as your twin sister so engaging a normal conversation with you wouldn't hurt my feelings, right?"

Just who the hell was this guy? he reminds me of Baekhyun. His smile was so wickedly genuine and so real. He looked like he never encountered any rough edges along the road.

"Ara." I gave in, sounding bland. I am looking at him now.

"Neat." He grinned, turning the car to an intersection I have never been to. "I'm Kai." He initiated, eyes boring to the road. He switched lanes, causing me to jerk to Sehun's side a little. "Sehun's step-brother. More cooler though."

I wish I could laugh at how absurd he phrased his words but no. I looked even more pissed just like Sehun except he was staring outside of his window, counting all the way 100s, or the trees with its crisp yellowing leaves falling off its branches and to the sidewalk, or maybe he was thinking about his evil little plan. 

"Ugh, you two are so quiet." Kai mentally rolled his eye, scoffing at our lacking sense of entertainment. His supposedly 'joke' just annoyed me to the bones. "Boriiiiiiiing." 

Still, none of us spoke nonetheless so Kai had to take the liberty to twist the volume into a much higher level — so high that it felt like I was going deaf. The bass throbbed and vibrated throughout the Merc. Sehun however, didn't mind. He was just quiet on the side. I would have thought he had fallen asleep if it wasn't for the damn scowl on his face.

I rolled my eyes, doing the same thing he had been doing; staring outside as we slithered pass wide streets to narrowing streets but I paid zero attention to any of those. I wasn't counting every lamp posts casting fluorescent yellow lights but was rather deep in thought. I would have asked Kai as to where we're heading to but the song was way too loud and I'd like to keep it that way.

He was also such a calculating man so I never dared to initiate another conversation. 

As for Sehun, I didn't want to ask him about where we're going either because I would probably come off annoying and end up pissing him off at such a wrong time so I kept quiet until I was lulled to sleep, still thinking about Aya and what was supposed to happen once we have arrived to our destination.

 *

"Good evening?" The familiar baritone-like voice rang into my ears. I could smell coffee. 

10:30 pm, the dashboard clock read. 

An hour and thirty minutes.

The car had stopped moving now. In fact, I have learned it was parked to a desolated parking lot.

Disturbed by such intimate proximity Kai initiated between the two of us, I pushed myself up, twitching my head to the windshield and to the trunk and then back to Kai who now occupied what used to be where Sehun sat. 

Where's Sehun?

"Where am I?" I demanded, still adjusting my eyes to the shocked realization of where he had parked the car. The rest of the parking spots were vacant. No car was in a close distance to us. To the far right though, I was able to spot three white vans parked next to each other. I squinted at the much clearer letters spray painted on one of the vans.

Pierless Fish Corp.

I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"By the sea." Kai said, unfazed. He had a cup of coffee in hand, slipping it on the cup holder up front. The car's engine had been left on and I grimaced at it. "We're going on a quick vacation." 

It was only then I realized something was really up when I felt the cold metal produce a subtle clang around my wrist. I grunted, attempting to yank my wrist from it only to be rewarded by the sharp pain tingling down my spine. Kai could only shrug, showing no sense of sympathy upon seeing me trying to break free from the handcuffs.

"Get me out!" I shrieked, scowling at the way he contorted his facial expression into amusement. He watched me struggle for awhile before I deflated on my seat, at the verge of crying. "What is this? Why am I handcuffed?" I groaned, weakly trying to free my hand from the handcuff but that obviously didn't work unless I was desperate enough to look for a knife and use it to amputate my wrist. 

"Protocol." He murmured, fanning briskly over his cup of coffee. He swung a small gaze over me and smiled. "You shouldn't be moving too much though. That is, if you don't want to get a bruise." He advised in a low tone, clearly unbothered. It was so disturbing, in terms of how much of a serene, relaxed and unflustered this person's unpredictable demeanor was. He reminded me of those serial killers and that frightened me so much that I found myself cowering in fear when Kai pulled him close to me — so close that I could hear him humming, his light breaths warm on my neck. 

I flinched. 

"Don't." I practically begged, pressing my free hand to his muscular chest, pushing him away from me, though, as much as I tried to fight him back he would only draw himself closer, and closer, and closer...

"Shhhhhh." He hushed, only halting a couple inches from my face before he slammed his hand against the window, trapping me under him with a smirk playing on his full lips. "Don't move." He whispered, voice husky. I shuddered,