“Where are we headed?” muttered Woohyun, peering at Sunggyu, who had taken over leading the group.

“I don’t know really,” muttered Sunggyu.

“We’ve been here before,” muttered Hoya, “Sunggyu-hyung, I’m pretty sure we’ve been walking around in circles for at least an hour now.”

Dongwoo hummed in disagreement, “I don’t remember this place.”

“That’s not saying anything,” stated Woohyun, “You hardly remember hallway we’ve been through.”

“You’re not any better Woohyun,” stated Sunggyu, “I really would appreciate it if you both would keep quiet just this once.” Once the two fell silent, he peered at Hoya, “Are you sure?”

Hoya nodded, “I’m pretty sure we’ve passed it about three times or more now.”

Sunggyu sighed, leaning against the wall in distress – his head was aching and he felt really light headed. Within the time they met up with Hoya and Dongwoo, they’ve run into about ten different monsters and three different insane people due to the useless and annoying bantering that kept rising up between Woohyun and Dongwoo which attracted the said enemies.

“Sung Gyu-hyung, are you alright?” questioned Hoya.

Sung Gyu nodded, “I just need to rest a bit, I know it could be lethal – but I’m not feeling too hot right now.”

“Well, even though you might not be feeling it, your body is hot right now,” stated Woohyun, flashing an infamous wink towards Sunggyu – whose face showed his disgust.

“Now is not the time for that crap,” stated Hoya, frowning at the barely older eighteen year old before turning his attention back towards Sunggyu, who looked paler, “Let’s go into another room for a while.”

Sunggyu looked at Hoya, contemplating the younger’s words – the risk of running to a monster was actually higher in the hall than if you stay in a room.

“Let’s do that,” responded Sunggyu.

With that the quartet moved into a room chosen by Hoya – who decided to choose the room after thoroughly investigating it, after checking every nook and cranny as well as checking the rooms it connected to, plus he made sure the room had at least three escape routes.

After checking all the rooms, the four settled in the room on the floor – the exhaustion from all the running they had done catching up to them as they did so. The room seemed to have been previously used as an office of some sort since there was a large desk sitting in front of the large window. Plus, there were fake plants in the corners of the room and multiple bookshelves that were lined with books about accounting and other subjects that in no way interested Woohyun, who had been the one to check out the shelves.

In the room, the boys all settled into different areas – around the two candles that they had lit – in one corner of the room sat Dongwoo who was examining the things that they had found, under Woohyun’s watch since the younger didn’t trust the older to examine their finds thoroughly. In the opposite corner sat Sunggyu, who was searching the desk and looking over the papers on the surface of the piece of wooden furniture – looking for anything that could possibly be useful and for any secret compartments that Woohyun had continuously brought up. Hoya, on the other hand, stood by the dirty, dust covered window – peering through the barely transparent glass.

“How much time do you think has passed since we were brought in here?” questioned Dongwoo out of the blue as he looked at the objects sitting on the ground before him.

“I’m guessing at least a couple of hours,” stated Woohyun, taking the objects right out of Dongwoo’s hands.

Sunggyu looked at the duo before shaking his head and turning to look at Hoya – who had become awfully quite – in concern, “How long do you take it to be?”

Hoya shrugged, “I don’t know exactly how long has passed because day or night, these filthy windows make it dark. However, we’re moving into another day…”

“What makes you say that?” questioned Woohyun, peering through the room at the elder.

“The sun is rising,” stated Hoya, peering out the window again, turning his attention away from the barely older male – tuning out the rest of the comments that came as he dove deep into his thoughts – more troubling than others.

“Hoya,” stated Sunggyu in concern, seeing how the younger looked troubled as he stood silently, leaning his head against the cool window pane, “What are you thinking about?”

“Things,” responded the younger, “My family, my friends…”

“What suddenly brought that up?” questioned Dongwoo as if he knew what the younger male was talking about, as Woohyun stood up and moved to sit on the edge of the desk, where Sunggyu had continued to rummage through the papers as Hoya spoke.

“The thought about how much time has passed,” stated Hoya, “it somehow reminded me of when I was…I guess you’d call it abducted?”

The three nodded and Woohyun looked towards Hoya, “You remember when you were abducted?”

Hoya nodded, the edges of his mouth turning downwards, “Not too clearly…there are bits and pieces missing from my memory.”

“Why does it bother you so much?” questioned Woohyun, earning a slight glare from Sunggyu.  

“How does the fact that we’ve been abducted not bother you?” responded Sunggyu before returning his gaze to Hoya – not caring too much about Woohyun’s reply, “So, you remember when you were abducted?”

Hoya nodded, “Is that weird?”

The older shrugged, “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.”

“Do you remember anything Sunggyu-hyung?” questioned Dongwoo, “From your abduction I mean.”

Sunggyu shook his head, “Nothing. I only know things about my life outside of this horror house.” Sunggyu smiled as he leaned back in the swivel chair, thinking back to his time before the mansion, “I was a doctor – well, I had been training to be one – I had finally gotten my dream job at the hospital, but sadly, I didn’t even get to start my career due to the abduction. I remember working hard in senior high and graduating years earlier than I should have.”

The others nodded in understanding.

“Dongwoo, do you remember anything about your abduction?” questioned Woohyun.

Dongwoo nodded, “I had talked to my mother about something – what it was obviously wasn’t too important, seeing as how I had completely forgotten about it. Anyway, I left my parents’ house and was preparing to return to my dorm room at college when suddenly this abnormally thin and pale figure appeared before me – after that my mind is void of memories until waking up and meeting Hoya. What about you Woohyun?”

“All I remember was that I was on my way to a hotel with some hot chick I had met at a club,” stated Woohyun, “She screamed and ran off as we hugged once we arrived at the hotel. We were going to go to the room and were waiting for the elevator – we hugged and she had suddenly just pushed me away and ran away screaming, looking as if she had seen a ghost. When I turned around, there was nothing there so I was confused as to why she did it. The last memory I have is turning back around – preparing to enter the elevator as it arrived in the lobby.”

“So what exactly do you remember from your abduction?” questioned Sunggyu, peering at Hoya.

“Why did the discussion of how much time has passed make you think of it?” questioned Woohyun, curiously.

“Everything almost,” muttered Hoya, shaking his head as he turned away from the trio – feeling their eyes burning holes into his back as he spoke, “My cousins – Sungyeol and Sungjong – and I were on our way to a movie with two of Sungjong friends. Sung Jong, being the diva he is, constantly asked about what time it was – each time we had to break It to him that only five minutes had passed since the previous time he had asked. Sungjong was concerned about whether or not we’d make it to the movies on time - he was supposed to meet someone else there, I think, his crush or something. Anyway, just as we were getting ready to turn the corner to come up to the cinema Sungyeol – who is eighteen as well let out a pain filled scream  - we all turned around in worry, only to see him lying on the ground unconscious, a unnaturally thin and pale male leaning over him. I remember the man taking out my younger cousin and his friends within a matter of seconds before he was on me – however, once he was on me I was knocked unconscious…It terrifies me, worries me…where are the four who had been with me? Are they in here or were they left outside this prison? If they are in here, are they safe? Are they injured? Are they alive? Sungyeol and Sungjong lost their mother just six months ago – they have no parents, they are all they have left. What if they lose each other?”

Sunggyu, Dongwoo, and Woohyun stared at the youngest in shock – not one of them had heard Hoya speak that much at one time. Sunggyu broke out of his shock first and stood up, moving towards the younger, wrapping his arm around Hoya’s shoulder, fearing the utter terror in the tone of the younger’s voice as he spoke about his cousins.

“Don’t worry Hoya,” muttered Sunggyu, “They’re probably safe and sound – you’re probably worrying too much.”

“You don’t know that,” muttered Hoya, “Sungyeol is a childish idiot and Sungjong is Sungjong – there is no way to describe him. If they ever get into a situation where Sungjong is in danger, Sungyeol will throw himself out in front of the threat without any thought – he will not hesitate to protect Sungjong.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” questioned Woohyun, peering at Hoya, trying to comfort the younger eighteen year old.

“When Sungyeol and I were about nine or ten years old – Sungjong would’ve been seven or eight years old,” stated Hoya, “We were playing out in their yard – my mother and I had come to visit them since it was the first anniversary of their father’s death. Anyway, we were out playing in the yard – our mothers had turned their backs for just a couple of minutes when I kicked our ball out into the road by accident. Sungjong had gone to get – I hadn’t been paying too much attention to Sungjong, but Sungyeol had, so the minute he saw the speeding car heading straight towards his brother, he was gone…Sungyeol had managed to push Sungjong out of the way, but he himself wasn’t able to escape the car’s path.”

“What happened to him?” questioned Dongwoo, from where he was now standing by Hoya, his arm wrapped around the younger’s waist.

“Oh, god it was horrifying,” muttered Hoya, his face buried in his hands and voice muffled.

“Probably not as horrifying as the situation we are in now,” muttered Woohyun, however his comment was ignored as Hoya continued.

“He smacked against the car’s windshield somehow, rolled over the top of the car, and landed on the pavement within a matter of three seconds,” whispered Hoya peering at Dongwoo, “By the time I actually moved towards Sungyeol, our mothers had already called an ambulance and was crowding around Sungyeol. Sungjong held his brother’s hand tightly as the elder male cried. Surprisingly, he went through the accident while being conscious and somehow his upper body and torso walked away from the wreck with some severe bruising and minor cuts, however, his lower body – which had the most impact against the car was paralyzed for years before he was fully rehabilitated - he started walking normally just last year...Sungyeol was willing to throw himself in front of a car for Sungjong, which is how I know that Sungyeol will not hesitate to sacrifice himself for the younger.”

The three other males in the room stared at Hoya in shock.

“That is the reason I’m terrified,” whispered Hoya, his strong outer appearance slowly crumbling, turning into nothing – his true self showed and it scared his group mates quite a bit; their strongest player was finally breaking.

A couple of minutes – possibly an hour or so later – the group moved out of the room once Hoya gained control over himself again, continuing onward with a new level of determination. The older three were determined to find Sungyeol and Sungjong; they were determined to show Hoya that the duo was alright. They were determined to reunite the three cousins.

However, they didn’t know that it was already too late and what Hoya had said had been true – that Sungyeol would willingly throw himself into the face of danger if it meant protecting his younger brother, the eighteen year olds' condition was unknown. 

Here's the next chapter, I hope you liked  it. 

Please let me know of your opinion on this story - it would be greatly appreciated. 

Sorry for any grammar mistakes - I'm human after all. ^^

Constructive critism is welcomed! 

Also, you all make me worry when I put up the chapters - I'm always afraid of disappointing you all. So, please, if you don't like something - tell me.