“She said what?!” Tiffany blurted as Hyoyeon revealed her job to bring back a hostage. “So she’s behind the sudden comeback.”

“Well, it would explain why the managers didn’t say anything any sooner.” Sunny sat with a large pout on her face. “We have to tell Jessica and the others!”

Tiffany immediately protested. “If they knew, they’d worry too much. We’ve already settled on the fact that we don’t want to worry them any more than we have to. Even if we were to tell them, they couldn’t do anything.”

The tension between the girls steadily rose. “I don’t want anyone to go be a hostage, though.” Taeyeon, still a little groggy from her slumber, was a little slow on the uptake. “Can’t we just hide or something?”

Hyoyeon gave Taeyeon a concerned look. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think going back to her would make things worse.”

Eunhyuk had joined the girls. He was still a little confused by everything that had happened, but he no longer wanted to be kept in the dark. “Does it have to be Tiffany or Sunny who go? I could go instead. I can fend for–“

“No!” Surprisingly, Tiffany and Sunny were the first to object Eunhyuk’s offer. “You just got better…” Sunny continued. “If we’re hostages, she wont hurt us, anyway.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t a movie.” Hyoyeon retorted. “If it was, we wouldn’t worry because the good guys always win. This is real life. We can’t expect things to just happen in our favor.”

“I was just saying that-“

“This isn’t a joke!” Hyoyeon suddenly got louder. “I don’t want to see anyone else getting hurt. I wont allow it to happen!”

Eunhyuk tried to calm Hyoyeon down. “Don’t worry, we’re all on guard now. I’m sure Sunny didn’t mean anything by it.”

There wasn’t anything anyone could do about the level of tension that weighted on everyone’s shoulders. Taeyeon was confident in her ability to protect Jessica, but the sudden news that one of her best friends would become a hostage threw he game off. Hyoyeon was starting to crack under the idea that she might be why everyone was getting hurt. Tiffany and Sunny were starting to lose hope, and Eunhyuk felt as though his inability to protect anyone made the group worse off.

Taeyeon suddenly jumped when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. “Sorry, I’ll just take this…” Taeyeon excused herself form the group while the others continued to wallow in helplessness.

“How has the practicing been?” Taeyeon asked.

“Fine…” Jessica was a little short on breath. “Just finished a few hours of practice. How are you?”

“Uh…fine I guess. Get some rest, okay? You sound tired.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be okay. I have a few days before the live. Oh! Did I mention that I managed to score everyone seats? And I talked to the manager to let you and Hyoyeon backstage.”

“That’s great!” Taeyeon did her best to sound excited, but at heart she was too preoccupied with other things. “I guess that means even less chances for me to be able to bring a gun, though, right?”

Jessica scoffed. “If you think you’d be able to come in with a gun to begin with, you’re really underestimating our staff.”

“Kidding, kidding. I need to get back to the others and talk about stuff.”

“Get back? You guys discussing something?” Jessica asked with concern.

Taeyeon tried to recover from her unintentional slip. “Just thinking of how to go about everything. Never did a group operation like this before so…” Taeyeon thought she managed to get out of the situation well.

Jessica picked up on Taeyeon’s odd words, and was concerned that Taeyeon had been training too much. “You should get rested, too. If you think too much, you’ll overthink everything and make a mistake.”

Taeyeon laughed at Jessica’s concern. She was happy that Jessica cared, but she found it adorable that Jessica thought she would mess up. Taeyeon soon hung up and returned to the group.

“Okay, listen up!” Taeyeon clapped her hands loudly as she reentered the circle. “Jessica told me that Hyoyeon and I have permission to be backstage. The rest of you have the normal seats around. We can’t let this hostage thing get the better of us. I don’t care what that hooded woman tries – I’m saving Jessica, and protecting everyone else, too.”

Hyoyeon stood up to leave. “Taeyeon, I don’t know anymore. I don’t want anyone else to be put in danger like this. First Jungsu, then Eunhyuk…and now who is next? Who?”

“Hyoyeon, we can’t let her push us around. If we don’t stand against her, she’ll get whatever it is that she wants without lifting a finger – I don’t want to be the one who lets her get away with this.” Taeyeon stepped in front of Hyoyeon and blocker her way to the door. “I need your help. Please. If not for me, for your brother.”

Eunhyuk tugged at Hyoyeon’s arm. “We’ll be okay as long as you two,” Eunhyuk pointed at Hyoyeon and Taeyeon, “can trust that we’ll keep ourselves safe.”

Hyoyeon smiled at her defeat. She knew she wanted to help Jungsu, and she wanted to help Taeyeon, but her personal fears were eating at her. Eunhyuk’s words helped encourage her, and now she no longer was afraid to stand up. No, it’s not that she wasn’t afraid. She was terrified. But she didn’t have to deal with the fear alone anymore. And that made the negative feelings easier to cope with.

Eunhyuk spoke up. “First things first – the hostage situation. Are we really going through with it? And if so, who gets thrown into that mess?”

“She wanted one of Taeyeon’s friends – specifically Tiffany or Sunny.” Hyoyeon said. “I’d hate to pick one of you guys to-“

“I’ll go.” Tiffany said. Everyone looked at Tiffany. “What?”

“Are you sure?” Eunhyuk asked.

Tiffany nodded. “Sunny’s too much of a cry baby. I’ve already thought it through. I’ll be fine.”

“But Tiffany…” Taeyeon wanted to stop her.

“I said I’ll be fine. Just…Taeyeon, could you do something for me?”

“Sure. Anything.”

Tiffany pointed at one of the drawers in Taeyeon’s living room. “Let me have a gun.”

“What? No! I can’t do that. Do you even know how to use one?”

“You pull the trigger. How hard could it be?”

Taeyeon was stunned. Tiffany. She’s so gentle and kind, and here she is asking to have one of Taeyeon’s guns. Taeyeon walked over to the drawer and pulled out her smallest gun. “Before you can shoot, you have the unlock it but turning this little thing right here.” Taeyeon handed Tiffany the gun. “Don’t you dare use it unless you have to.”

Tiffany took the gun by the barrel and tucked it into her boot. “Don’t worry. I just want it as a safety precaution.”

“Alright. So what’s the plan?”

~~~~

“This is her hide out?” Tiffany asked as Hyoyeon took her to the abandoned building later that evening.

Hyoyeon nodded. “Now remember, be scared.” Hyoyeon had earlier tied Tiffany’s hands behind her back and used them to pull

Tiffany took a deep breath as Hyoyeon opened the door. “Hey boss!” Hyoyeon yelled. “I’m back with one of her friends. Where do you want her?” Hyoyeon dragged Tiffany around carefully, but roughly. She gave Tiffany subtle warning tugs before forcing Tiffany to go her way. From afar, it would be impossible to tell that Hyoyeon was faking.

“Take her to the store room and tie her to a chair. Make sure you lock the door.” Called the boss from the top of the stairs. The boss threw down a coiled rope for Hyoyeon to use.

Hyoyeon did as she was told. She tied Tiffany, but made the knot loose so that Tiffany could squirm out of her restraint if she needed to. “We’ll be back for you soon.” Hyoyeon shut the door. Tiffany could hear the clock of the lock against the doorframe.

Tiffany relaxed in her seat. Even if she undid the bindings, she couldn’t leave. The door was locked from the outside and there were no windows. The vent system was tiny, and even Tiffany’s thin build was too much for the vent to handle. The dim lights above Tiffany’s head flickered on and off as if mocking Tiffany’s helpless state.

The cloaked figured finally entered the room. She was holding a tray of food. “Eat.” She said as she placed the food onto Tiffany’s lap.

“You do realize that I can’t actually feed myself, right?” Tiffany pointed to the fact that her hands were being restrained. The cloaked woman carefully undid the rope that Hyoyeon had just tied, but left the rope on Tiffany’s wrist in place. “You can eat like that, can’t you?”

Tiffany sighed. She carefully maneuvered the fork along the plate. It took a lot longer to eat than normal, but she was getting the hang of it. When Tiffany finished eating, her restraint was replaced. The cloaked woman took the tray and shut the door behind herself.

The door cracked open suddenly. Tiffany sharply inhaled as light flooded the room. Hyoyeon sneaked back to Tiffany. “You okay?”

Tiffany nodded. “I was just fed. A little late for dinner, huh? You should go back to the others and help. I said I’ll be fine – I can take care of myself, remember?” Tiffany hinted at her feet where Taeyeon’s gun was hiding. “Only a few more days, right?”

Hyoyeon nodded. She gave Tiffany a thumbs up before leaving Tiffany to the darkness.

~~~~

“Hey! You said you would tell me what I want to know!” Hyoyeon had chased the cloaked woman around the room. “Tell me!”

“If I recall correctly, I said I might tell you. “Might” being the operative word here.” The cloaked woman calmly answered the enraged Hyoyeon. “So how about you go keep an eye on those girls for me. Not like you need to since she’s here now…and make sure they know that if the interfere with my plans to kill Jessica, Tiffany might be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hyoyeon asked bitterly. “If I’m not needed, why don’t you just give me my last paycheck and let me leave?”

“She probably wouldn’t approve of that.”

“She?” Hyoyeon knew there were only two other cloaked women – Yuri, who died, and Seohyun. Seohyun was arrested and hasn’t made contact with Boss Lady at all, so who could this “she” be?

“Tiffany, of course.”

Hyoyeon was confused. “Why would Tiffany care if I left? Wouldn’t that make her happy – one less person for her to deal with?”

“I mean that she’d probably hate not having someone make sure Taeyeon does as I ask.”

Hyoyeon let the whole thing go. Boss Lady wasn’t one for being straight-forward with people, and now was no exception. “I expect to get my last paycheck soon, at least.” Hyoyeon left to return to Taeyeon’s aid.

When the cloaked lady was certain the Hyoyeon was gone, she returned to the room Tiffany was in.

“Everything seems to be in place,” she said as she entered the room. “You’re here, Taeyeon will likely do as she’s expected to, and everything will soon be as it should.” The cloaked woman let out a diabolical laugh.

“If only they knew how much I waited for this moment.”

~~~~

Taeyeon knew better than anyone that time was her biggest enemy. The night before the performance date crept up on her and left her wishing for just one more chance to practice. But that didn’t matter. She had confidence that her plans would pan out well.

Before going to sleep, Taeyeon talked to Sunny in her room. “Hey Sunny?” Taeyeon started. “Can I trust you to do something for me?”

“Sure. What is it?”

Taeyeon handed Sunny a piece of paper. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to come back after the performance. I don’t know what will happen to me, or if I’ll have to do something weird or…”

“Tae, don’t say those things. You’re scaring me!” Sunny tightly held onto the folded paper. “What is this anyway…” Sunny was about to break the tape seal.

Taeyeon clasped her hands on Sunny’s. “Wait. If I’m not back at the end of tomorrow, then you can open this. There are instructions for you and the others. A list of things I want taken care of while I’m gone.” Taeyeon lifted her hand from Sunny’s. “Promise me you’ll do as I ask?”

Sunny smiled gently. “Of course. We should get some rest – tomorrow, anything could happen.”

Taeyeon gave Sunny a tight hug. “You’re amazing.” Taeyeon went back to her room, leaving Sunny to the futon in Taeyeon’s living room.

~~~~

As expected, the crowd was large. ZoNE fans flooded through the doors to find their seats, as Sunny and Eunhyuk made their way towards the front near the stage in case they were needed to help Taeyeon and Hyoyeon.

Speaking of, Taeyeon and Hyoyoen met Jessica’s manager in the lobby of the studio and followed him into the backstage area. Jessica and Yoona happily greeted Taeyeon and Hyoyeon. Sooyoung followed and offered them both water and snacks. Taeyeon hinted that she’d stay as close to the stage as possible, but regardless she couldn’t guarantee that Jessica wouldn’t get away totally unharmed. Jessica understood. She didn’t like that fact, but she realized that asking for more than what she was getting was bound to be worthless.

“ZoNE on standby.” Called a voice over the PA system.

Jessica gave Taeyeon one last hug. “Be careful, okay?”

“Don’t worry. Hyoyeon’s got my back. Just leave everything to us!” Taeyeon wished Jessica, Sooyoung and Yoona good luck with their stage before rejoining Hyoyeon.

The lights dimmed. Taeyeon was certain the fans couldn’t get louder, but the sudden darkness seemed to release the inner beast that is a ZoNE fan. The cries of want grew louder as spotlights hit the stage and a familiar melody played through the speakers.

The fact that Taeyeon was experiencing such a thing – being backstage during a ZoNE performance – was bittersweet. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, but she couldn’t enjoy it like she wanted to.

The show proceeded as normal, and the schedule seemed to run smoothly. ZoNE was to perform twice – once before and once after an interview segment. They had momentary breaks while other artists had a chance to be on stage, but that didn’t change the fact that ZoNE was in danger. Taeyeon felt a little without some sort of firearm, but security would never let her get away with one.

Screams and chants died down as the music from the first song faded into the next. ZoNE members glided off stage as another group of performers took their place. Taeyeon wanted to talk with Jessica more, but Jessica’s stylists and manages dragged Jessica away before Taeyeon could say anything.

“Still nothing, huh?” Hyoyeon patted Taeyeon on the shoulder. “I checked everywhere, and no signs of anything strange. Eunhyuk said he hasn’t seen anything either.”

“Sunny hasn’t reported anything either. It’s making me more antsy. How long is she going to make us wait before acting?” Taeyeon crossed her arms over her chest. “If we can’t find her, how do we stop her?”

Hyoyeon hung her head. “We can’t lose hope. That’s what you told us before, right?” Hyoyeon put her hands on Taeyoen’s shoulders. “We keep looking for something. Anything. You stay here on stage, and I’ll help Eunhyuk and Sunny with their searches in the audience. We’ll find a way to stop her.”

Taeyeon agreed. She couldn’t doubt herself. If bad things happen…well Taeyeon knew she would find a way to make everything better. Hyoyeon dove into the audience and looked for anything strange, leaving Taeyeon behind.

ZoNE was called to be on standby once more. Their interview was starting, and it was a prime chance for Jessica to be targeted. Taeyeon kept looking into the crowd, hoping to catch something suspicious, when she suddenly felt her phone vibrating. Taeyeon stepped away from the stage and looked at her phone.

            Hyoyeon saw someone on the upper deck who seemed suspicious. She’s

            on the left side of the audience.

Taeyeon tried to peak around the curtain. To the left? Does she mean my left or her left? Taeyeon kept looking around the upper deck. It was much smaller, and only a few feet above ground level, but it did provide a good angle for shooting if given the chance. There! Taeyeon spotted Hyoyeon.

Hyoyeon was intently hunting down a female fan who was positioned at the front most part of the upper deck. She had a hood on and lacked the enthusiasm of those around her.  Hyoyeon felt a buzz in her pocket.

            Is that her??

            Not sure. Keep an eye out elsewhere.
 

Hyoyeon carefully approached her target. The hood made it hard to Hyoyeon to see her face, but it made Hyoyeon even more curious. Instead of ripping the hood off, Hyoyeon slickly maneuvered next to the girl and tried to “accidently” knock the cover off. In the process, Hyoyeon accidentally shoved the girl to the side.

“Hey!” The girl turned to Hyoyoen and gave her an angry look.

“Sorry!” Hyoyoen played it off, but did her best to find something like a gun. There was a lack of any weapon on the suspect. “I’ll go now…”

In the lobby, Hyoyeon sent another message to Taeyeon.

            It wasn’t her. Keep an eye out still!

Taeyeon was confused. The interview had already lasted five minutes. It was undoubtedly ending soon. What was Boss Lady waiting for?

Then it happened. A loud banging noise erupted. Screams. Shouts. Panic. Two more loud noises shook the room.

Taeyeon looked back at Jessica. She was safe. Yoona and Sooyoung both seemed unharmed, but they were scared, ducking behind each other for protection. Taeyeon rushed on stage and ushered everyone off. After, she checked the back wall props for holes. There was one clean break in the back wall and two on the ground.

At a glance, Taeyeon couldn’t determine where the exactly shot came form, but she was able to guess that it did in fact come from the right side of the room. The audience was momentarily silent, but fear consumed their minds as the realization that an attempted murder just happened in front of their eyes. A wave of people funneled through the exits. Only Eunhyuk and Sunny pushed against the crowd towards the stage.

“Sunny!” Taeyeon tried to get her attention. “Sunny! Block the exits!” But Taeyeon’s voice was lost to the sounds of fright. Taeyeon ran back stage to help Jessica to a safer location. “Jessica! Where did you go?”

Taeyeon checked the various rooms, but couldn’t find Jessica. “Don’t do this to me Jessica…” Taeyeon kept running when she felt a tap on her shoulder. As she turned around, Taeyeon felt something hard connect with her head. The loud slamming as a large book landed next Taeyeon sent a wave of shock through her system. No…not again…Taeyeon tried to get up, but the trauma made it hard for her to stay focused. The figure who hit Taeyeon ran away, leaving no evidence of her presence.

“Hey!” Eunhyuk ran up to Taeyeon and helped pick her up from the ground. “Who was that?”

 “I…I don’t know…” Taeyeon clutched her head. Somehow she got away with only a small bump; nothing as bad as the last time she got bashed in the head. “Just go find that person!”

Eunhyuk let go of Taeyeon and ran after her assailant. Taeyeon, in the mean time, pawed at the wall for support. Her vision was a little hazy, and she felt slightly deaf in one ear. “Jessica!!” Taeyeon cried out. “Jessica! Where are you?!”

“Excuse me, miss?” one of the stage managers approached Taeyeon. She was wearing a black cap that was pulled down over her face, and a mask over . “Are you alright?”

“Where’s Jessica?” Taeyeon asked. “Is she okay?”

“Ma’am, she’s fine. But I’ll need you to come with me.” The manager took Taeyeon’s hand and started to drag Taeyeon along.

“Wait, where are you taking me?” Taeyeon didn’t resist the pull on her arm, but her aching head made it difficult to think. “Jessica’s okay, right?”

The manager didn’t explain anymore. Taeyeon was still confused. All she knew was that she was being pushed into the back seat of a black car she wasn’t sure she recognized. “Is Jessica here?”

“Just shut up already.”

“But I need to find Jessica!” Taeyeon tried to fight her way out of the car. She was starting to regain her senses. She knew that something was weird. Something was wrong with this situation, and Taeyeon just wanted to leave and find her Jessica. “Where is she?!”

“Shut her up already!” said another voice.

“Hey! Who are you! Wh-“ a sweet smell made its way to Taeyeon’s nose. Chloroform! Taeyeon held her breath, known that if she could get the substance away from herself she might be able to escape.

The stage manager – who Taeyeon suspected wasn’t really a stage manager at this point – fought Taeyeon’s resistance. With a cheap shot to the stomach, Taeyeon felt her need for air overtake her.

“Sleep tight.”

The sweet scent attached itself to Taeyeon’s face. She tried to resist once more, but it was too late. The chemical was already starting to make her body go numb. The humming of a car engine faded as her vision blurred. With the last of her strength, Taeyeon knocked the hat off her attacker and tried to get the mask off. But she didn’t need to.

Taeyeon could see it in her eyes. She could tell in a heartbeat who it was that was on top of her, trying to put her to sleep. Taeyeon was too drugged up to be able to make coherent sentences. Regardless, Taeyeon tried to move and push what little air she still had through her tired lips.

“Fany…Why…?”