Returning back to their apartment was easier than they had thought, without Voids chasing right behind their tails. They successfully moved a bleeding man and a hostage without rousing anybody's suspicion.

Haha stumbled into the apartment, immediately reaching for the first-aid kit stashed under the coffee table, only to be stopped by Jong Kook, who forced him down onto the sofa, while he took over the job of healing the wound. Gary locked the door behind him, and put the unconscious Ji Hyo down on the vacant side of the sofa.

Jong Kook cut a hole in Haha's pants around the wound to take a better look at the injury. Haha hissed a little when the scissors' cold edge grazed his skin.

"Sorry."

"I guess we couldn't all play with fire, huh?" Haha joked, averting his gaze from his own wound as he chuckled dryly.

"We could've sent a video message or a phone call. I shouldn't let you follow me just because I'm feeling reckless." Jong Kook muttered. "I should have been the one getting shot at."

"But thankfully, the bullet isn't in my leg now, is it?" Haha managed a sarcastic laugh, and muttered something along the lines of the pain numbing his senses.

"Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's there." The bullet shot through his calf, leaving a bloody hole in its wake. Wiping off the dirt and dried blood, Jong Kook tied the area around Haha's wound tightly with his clothes to prevent further bleeding, before starting to clean a pair of pliers with alcohol.

Haha gulped, fear growing in him watching Jong Kook prepare the pair of pliers. Haha hated pain, hated it more than anyone else. Gary noticed Haha's fear, and offered him a cushion to bite into. Covering his sight with the cushion, it was no shock when he started to whine out in pain when cleaning alcohol entered his wound. Gary immediately held Haha down, even letting Haha bite his arms to divert his pain, just to stop him from twitching in pain and making unnecessary movements. Haha was sobbing by the time Jong Kook finished cleaning and bandaging his wounds.

"Good job, Haha." It took a hug and some words of encouragement to make Haha stop crying. He quieted down as he held onto Jong Kook, feeling the tender warmth calming him down. Gary cleaned up after Jong Kook, putting the medical appliances back to the kit, throwing away bloodied patches of clothing.

Returning back to the living room after washing his hands, Gary saw Ji Hyo stirring in her tied-up position, starting to gain consciousness.

"Wh- What..."

Quickly nudging Jong Kook, Gary kept an eye on Ji Hyo, who was slowly recovering from the hit across the head earlier. Watching her moving around on the couch, Jong Kook quickly slid the gun on the table into his palms, aiming it at her forehead.

It did not took Ji Hyo much time to regain full consciousness to her surroundings. Slowly, she felt ropes pressed against her skin, and also recalled struggling against somebody who was restraining her. Ji Hyo's eyes immediately shot open at the memory, only to see the mouth of a gun pointing at her.

"Hello, Song Ji Hyo." Jong Kook began. Gary hovered around Jong Kook, his eyes never leaving Ji Hyo, just in case she decided to try anything sneaky. I'll just be on guard, Gary thought to himself, when deep down he knew, he'd never really harm her when the time comes.

Ji Hyo glared at him, saying nothing. She was afraid of the gun, and she might as well listen to what this man had to say while she try to come up with an escape plan.

"I won't do anything to you if you behave, alright?" Jong Kook lowered his gun a little, and gestured for Gary to handcuff her up. Gary took the handcuffs, and untied Ji Hyo first, but the moment the ropes were off from her, she grabbed the ropes and circled Gary's throat with it, flipping him around and held him like a human shield.

"Let me go!"

She was then hit across the face by that same gun pointing at her.

"You are a hostage. Behave yourself." Jong Kook growled at her, raising his gun to shoot at a notice board nearby. The shot hits one of the pictures pinned onto it. "Or else, your cousin and the trio of idiots will suffer."

Looking at the bullet mark on the forehead of a cheerily smiling Joong Ki's face, Ji Hyo shook a little. She didn't think it would be possible to see a familiar face here, even though it was just a photo. Her pupils shrivelled in fear, but that went unnoticed. Fingers curling instinctively, she stared at the burning mark, her eyes giving away nothing but a fiery, angry expression. Jong Kook was satisfied with stunning her into submission. He stuffed the gun back down his jeans, and was about to help Haha up to move into his room, when Ji Hyo grabbed the scissors that Jong Kook used to cut Haha's pants earlier and dashed towards the bulky man.

"You monster!"

Jong Kook turned around, one arm swiped towards his neck, while the other lashed out at Ji Hyo, trying to snatch the pair of scissors back. Gary scrambled up into action, once again restraining Ji Hyo from the back by the arms. Jong Kook managed to grab at the scissors slashing towards him, even though his fingers were bleeding out due to the force coming down onto him. Prying it away from Ji Hyo forcefully, he threw the scissors on the floor. Jong Kook took out a handcuff from his back pocket, grabbing Ji Hyo's hand with his bleeding fingers and locked her against the coffee table's legs.

"I didn't want to do this, but you made me." Jong Kook cursed under his breath, reopening the first aid and helping himself to the fresh wounds. Gary helped Haha back to his room, while Ji Hyo hissed and glared at Jong Kook while he did his bandaging. The Xenon leader went back to his room for a quick rest, just when Gary finished helping Haha have a change of clothes and a simple body wipe.

"Good night, hyung."

"Good night, Gary."

Gary wanted to have a light bath and went to sleep, but when he walked past the living room, he saw Ji Hyo sitting there, hands circling her folded knees, staring at nothing in front of her. There were despair in her eyes. Gary looked at the small towel in his hands, and headed towards the bathroom to wet it.

He went back to the living room, quietly sneaking beside Ji Hyo and pressed the warm towel against the side of her face. Ji Hyo reacted instinctively by swaying her arm around as defence, which managed to slap Gary across the face. The man groaned in pain, in which Ji Hyo apologized to him soon after when she saw the towel in his hands. He shrugged it off, and handed her the towel, allowing her to wipe at her face and wherever she can reach with her cuffed hands. Ji Hyo was reluctant, but she, too, was exhausted with the entire series of events for the day, and she told herself she'll just chose to trust the man in front of her for the time being. After all, this towel is not soaked with chloroform, now isn't it?

"I still don't trust you."

"I know. Oh, and by the way, I'm Kang Gary."

"Should I reply with a standard 'nice to meet you', or can I chose to keep quiet?"

Gary chuckled. "Either is fine, I guess." He took over the wet towel and dumped it in the laundry basket, heading towards the kitchen to make a jug of hot milk for himself and for Ji Hyo. The girl was suspicious about the drink at first, but when Gary showed that they were drinking from the same container, she took a small sip.

"Well, Jong Kook hyung might seem brutal, but he does have a soft spot for women. He..."

"Don't try to justify his actions, Gary." Ji Hyo retorted, turning aside so that her back is facing Gary. "Go away. I don't want to get all chummy with you."

Gary sighed, a small smile forming despite being shooed away. "Okay, my lady." He got up and went back to his room, but he felt bad leaving Ji Hyo there alone, thus he went back to check on her after half an hour had passed. Turns out that she had slept, her body leaning against the sofa while her hand remain cuffed to the coffee table.

He went ahead, sat down and slept beside her. For some reason, Gary felt that he was responsible for putting her through everything so far.

Of course, he, too, never noticed that the jug of milk was already half-emptied.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the mansion, Jae Suk's priority was to keep everybody safe as well as figure out Xenon's next move while waiting for the ransom call. Sitting in the guest room, Jae Suk's fingers rested thoughtfully on his laptop. His team-mates are working on their respective duties, with Suk Jin monitoring the mansion after doubling the security, and Kwang Soo memorizing the local town's map. Born in the peaceful and suburban side of the country, Kwang Soo was unfamiliar with the posh areas, so he had to know his way around when the exchange with Xenon happens.

Jae Suk was thinking of pulling out Xenon's files from SBS Police Department's archive, but his mind were always retracing back to his huge slip up to do anything. Thinking of Mrs. Song's crying face, it was as if he could feel the emotions she was feeling, the pain she felt, and that made him unnecessarily upset.

Knowing his friend, Suk Jin handed over a cup of coffee to Jae Suk, the awakening fragrance startling the troubled guy from his worries. No words needed between them. Suk Jin smiled, gesturing at the cup of drink, before going back to his seat over at the table where he had laid out all his gadgets. Kwang Soo watched the exchange while sipping on a cup of green tea, feeling a bit out of place with both his seniors who obviously had a longer history with each other.

Suk Jin went back to his seat, looked through the entire house's activity, and noticed Joong Ki walking down the hallway leading to their room. He told the both of them, and the next second there were knocking noises. The knock was light and hesitant. From the huge monitor screen, Joong Ki seemed to be fidgeting a lot.

"Go answer it, Kwang Soo."

"Hello. Oh, it's you, Joong Ki." Kwang Soo pretended that they don't know he was coming.

"Hey," seeing Kwang Soo answering the door, Joong Ki huffed out a breath that he did not know he was holding. "Ji Hyo noona... Have you guys got a clue as to where she is?"

Looking back at his mentors who were working on their tasks, Kwang Soo shook his head. "But don't worry! Jae Suk hyung can track down anybody really well. We could have her abductor's hideout in moments, or so I hope."

"So, uh... The reason I came here, I wanted to ask if I can sleep here for the night?" The young man's abrupt request startled the three of them. Kwang Soo was the first to ask why. "Noona is gone, and I... I just don't feel safe sleeping alone. Don't think indecent thoughts! We share the same room, that's why."

Joong Ki continued. "It was a habit of noona to check up on me every night after the incident." He went quiet when he thought about the previous kidnapping, but recovered quickly to continue. "I know it is absurd to ask of this, but I thought that I could try."

Not receiving responses from the trio except for strange stares, Joong Ki smiled awkwardly and backed up, preparing to leave the room.

"Kwang Soo ya, how about you sleep on the floor today, hmm?" Jae Suk grinned to himself when Kwang Soo reluctantly emptied his bed, but in the end, Jae Suk was the one who slept on the couch that night, letting his friend and juniors take the beds.

~TBC