3

Kai ran towards the crowd frantically in search for Lyorin. He grabbed the arms of all the girls he could see praying hard that one of them was her. He ran around the area, pushing and asking around at random people. The crowded atmosphere was making him even more crazy and he was visibly shaking from head to toe. Some passerby shot him weird looks but he could not care less. He kept yelling out her name over the bustling noise. He was beyond stressed; he was turning insane by the clock because he knew if anything bad happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

Back in the mansion, Luhan was pressing the game console with his fast fingers while fixing his eyes intently on the screen. He was against Lay in a game of soccer. Just when everything seemed fine, out of the blue, Luhan dropped his console when his powers decided to tap Kai's mind. Immediately he abandoned the game and shutted his eyes tightly. Right at the moment, he realised the worst had possibly come. True enough, Kai appeared in the living room frantically with a panicked face none of the boys had ever seen.

"HYUNG!! KRIS HYUNG!! EVERYONE! L-L-LYORIN -"

Kris descended from the second level of the mansion towards Kai, who seemed shaken and scared. His gut was telling something was obviously not right but he tried to remain calm and collected. "Kai, what's wrong?"

The guys scrambled from all over the house only to see Kai almost in tears and was shivering. Despite not knowing anything, they could already sense something terrible had happened.

Kai handed Lyorin's watch to Suho. "I found this on the ground –“ He spoke shakily.

Suho took the watch from him and inspected it. "You found this watch on the ground? Where is Lyorin?!" He remembered clearly when Lyorin left the house earlier on; he saw the watch on her right wrist. He was holding the exact same watch but now it was just the watch. His heart instantly plunged in fear.

Kai covered his face with his bare hands. He was shaking, crying and his mind was in a mess. "I don't know. We need to find her! She was taken. We need to find her quick!"

The guys sprang, ready for action as one by one stood up from their respective spots and were already waiting for the orders from the two leaders.

Chanyeol looked at the watch closely and asked, “How are we going to find her whereabouts if the watch is here with us?”

That was exactly the question that had been weighing in Kai’s head. He was helpless with the fact that Lyorin could be anywhere; even anywhere out of the country. His sense told him that the people who had taken her weren’t ordinary being. If his sense was right, then she could be an easy prey.

Chen, the brainy one in the pack, rummaged his brain for the possible areas she could have been kept. “Kai, where did you last see her?”

“In town, just opposite the Mega Superstore.”

He cracked his brain and tried to navigate the surrounding area using the map that was shown on Tao’s iPad. Kris wanted to fly and scan the entire neighbourhood under the night sky but Luhan stopped him from doing so.

“Kris, don’t. We need to think thoroughly before we act. We can’t afford to make any mistake cause by our rashness.” He explained.

An idea came and Suho called out for Tao, “Tao, is it possible if you can reverse the time back to when Kai last seen her? We can head out to the area and prevent it from happening.”

Tao looked down in shame, “Hyung, I can’t. If I could, I would have done it but –“ Suho had totally forgotten. He felt bad imposing on Tao when he knew right from the start his powers were futile whenever he was around Lyorin. She might not be present with them at the moment, but since the power used would have to involve her, Tao could never make it work. It was a similar case for Kai and Luhan. If Kai could teleport her, then all the previous times when she got in to trouble, he could have easily saved her. Sadly, he could not. If Luhan could hear her thoughts, they wouldn’t be wrecking their brains trying to find her location.

“Forgive me, Tao.” Suho apologised for posing an imprudent question.

Everyone was stressed and extremely worried. However, Sehun was the only one who seemed to be acting strange than the rest. Scrambling towards the cupboard of shoes near the front door, he took out all the shoes and messed the entire rack. He was searching for a specific pair of shoes, but it seemed like it wasn’t there. He then hurriedly came towards Suho and Kai and asked, “Hyung, did you see the shoes that she was wearing?”

Suho scratched his head, trying to understand the absurdity of the question.

Thankfully, Kai was still alert and remembered. “The Converse sneakers, which you – “

“OH YES!” Sehun shouted. He ran up the stairs to his room, and within seconds he came back down bringing along his MacBook. While he busied himself with the laptop, the guys crowded around and questioned his actions. “I have installed a tracking device in those shoes. I mean, I kind of guessed that one watch isn’t enough. So, I secretly customised the shoes with a built-in tracker. I know I’m brilliant. You can thank me later. I need to figure this out because I’ve never actually tried the navigation tools and –“

“Be quiet and just work on it.” Kai scolded.

Kris paced back and forth the room, impatiently waiting for Sehun. He prayed hard the tracking device would lead them to her.

“Sehun, hurry please.” Xiumin pleaded the youngest.

“Okay got it!” Sehun exclaimed. He turned the laptop screen for the guys to see the result. “It looks like she’s inside an abandoned warehouse located at behind the old airport road.”

Kai knew the place and was about to take his leave when Suho pulled his arm down. “Kai, don’t! You may pose greater risk if you decide to take this matter on your own. We need to come up with a plan. Do you get me?!”

“Yes Kai, we need to think of a way to enter the place. We aren’t sure how many of them are there. It could be a few or it could be a lot. Whatever it is, Lyorin is with them meaning any wrong move and it could be disastrous.” Baekhyun added.

Kris worked his brain and thought strategically. The years of training had not gotten to waste and he used all the knowledge he had learnt. He was one of the leaders and he needed to give out orders especially in times of combat. He took one last glance at the location and the area surrounding it.

Finally, he gave his command. “Kai, you have to teleport Suho and Chanyeol with you at the rooftop over here.” He pointed at the image of the building on the screen. “Do not go inside.” He warned. “Luhan, Lay and Tao, get in the cars now!” Immediately, the three guys ran out of the house and got going. “I will fly there. The rest of you, just stay here. We’ll call for you when we need back up. Sehun, keep a look out for her whereabouts. If she is moving elsewhere, send a message to Luhan.”

~*~

Lyorin hit the back of the man’s back and struggled to get off his shoulder. The guy grunted in annoyance, as he was having a difficult time controlling her. The man carried her all the way to an unknown dilapidated warehouse away from the city. It only took less than 3 minutes for her to reach there with the speed the guy ran. She was dizzy and felt like passing out but she bit her tongue to keep herself conscious. She could not be weak and fragile. She had to remain strong, at least until EXO could save her.  

The guy, accompanied by four others walked in to the warehouse that was old and dusty. There were chains hanging down the ceiling. Old and rusty scrap metal parts were scattered on the floor. The place was huge but empty. Their footsteps echoed and she could even hear their hard breathings. It was just them and her. Even if she tried screaming, no one could hear.

The guy placed her on the ground and step backwards, leaving some space between her and the guys. Lyorin scanned their faces and appearances. She definitely had never seen them before. They were tall and athletically built. They looked like they were about EXO guys’ age, which meant they were young. Three of them had black hair, while the other two had coloured hair. They were wearing the same outfit; black hooded jackets and jeans.

One of the black haired guys came forward and spoke. “Don’t be scared, sweetheart. We don’t want to hurt you. We need to know something from you.” He spoke calmly while her cheeks.

Lyorin kept on a poker face. She wanted to throw a punch at him and wipe the smirk of his face but she was not going to provoke them, yet. She remained quiet and let the guys scrutinized her.

Another guy looked at her and tilted his head, as though he was analysing her appearance. “Kim Lyorin, a senior in high school. She joins the school cross country team and has won many competitions. Her record is unbreakable in her school with timing of 10 minutes, 37 seconds for a distance of 2.4KM.”

“Impressive.” One of the coloured hair guys chimed in.

“She scored well for her mid-terms and earned the top 10 spot in the whole school. Unfortunately, both parents have passed away. No records of them.”

“How did –“ Lyorin questioned.

“Seoul High School is not good in keeping their students’ records confidential.” He answered her.

Lyorin looked at the guy standing on the left. His hands were sparkling and she could hear buzzing electric sounds when he rubbed his palms. His eyes were staring at her and when he noticed she was looking at him, he smirked and emitted even more energy from his hands. She knew right from the start these guys weren’t normal.

The guy who was right in front of her turned his head at the guy who was advertising his powers and snarled. “Junjin, will you stop?! It’s annoying, .”

“Wh-who are you guys?” Lyorin asked, her teeth clattering from the cold and fear.

The guy who was closest to her flashed a smile and knelt in front of her. He seemed like the nicest one of all. Maybe, she could buy time and try negotiating with him. “It doesn’t matter who we are. It’s you, that we are more interested in. How are you related to EXO?” She kept quiet and refused to speak. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll let you go only after you tell us how do you know EXO?” He asked again.

Lyorin looked down. She didn’t like the tone of his voice. It was calm yet haunting. Obviously, she was not going to believe his words about letting her go. If their intention meant no harm, then why did they bring her to an isolated place?

“What is EXO? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She lied.

However, one of the other guys marched forward and gripped her shoulders tightly. Lyorin flinched and whimpered as he was using too much strength. The nice guy quickly brushed away his friend’s arms and ordered for him to release her. Reluctantly, he let go off her shoulders and said spitefully. “You at lying!”

The guys started to re-enact the scene when she was talking to Kai a while ago.

“Kai, come back home. Come back home, please.” They mocked and laughed.

 Lyorin tensed up. Her lie didn’t work.

“SHUT UP!” The nice guy yelled at his friends, ordering them to stop their ridiculous behaviour. The laughter stopped.

One of the guys daringly reminded, “Hyung, don’t fall for her pretty charms.” The guys had to admit that Lyorin possessed rare beauty. She was attractive; tall and slender. Sadly, she was their enemy and to fall for her was definitely a sin.

He ignored the guys and focussed his attention on her. “I’m asking you nicely; Lyorin, how are you related to EXO?”

Lyorin kept tightly sealed. She wasn’t going to reveal to them anything; never.

The guy smirked, knowing she was not going to talk. “I see. You don’t want to talk, do you? Well, it looks like I might have to hurt you.” He clenched his fists and took a step forward. “You’re really pretty. I don’t wish to use force on you but you’re leaving me with no choice.” He grabbed her arms violently and ripped off the jacket she was wearing. Lyorin was shoved so hard that she almost fell but the guy made sure she remained standing. She was left with her sleeveless top and the cold temperature was not helping. She was trembling, shivering and her lips were changing its colour.

He threw her jacket away and held her shoulders. With piercing eyes, he stared at hers. “Do you want to answer me or do you want me to rip your clothes off entirely? If you’re not going to tell me, then I might need to search you because I believe the answer is somewhere on you.”

He was searching for her symbol. She knew it. She remembered Yongguk doing the exact thing during their first encounter. He looked for her symbol behind her neck. Similarly, this guy was looking for it.

He rose up his right arm, preparing to hurt her. She closed her eyes tightly and expected a painful blow. However, she felt nothing.

Frighteningly, she opened her eyes and saw someone was holding him back.

“Kai –“

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound blasted the air followed by an excruciating scream.

(To be continued)

Nope, not BAP you guise.