The university student was determined to do something, anything to bring him back to the two missing people in his life. He begged Yoochun to help him and surprisingly, the man does but on the condition that he gets to ask for one favour. Changmin is denied of what the favour is but is told that once Victoria and Kyuhyun are found safe and sound, he will claim his wish. 
A week has passed and he can't help but slowly lose the hope he so desperately clung onto. Nothing happens as time goes on. Changmin finds himself getting more and more impatient. The only thing keeping him sane is Yoochun and Junsu who, though has yet to accomplish anything, doesn’t let their free time go to waste and does everything they can to help their maknae. Their help is greatly appreciated but Changmin knows there’s more which could be done.

“Hyung, do you have any more ideas?” Changmin asks as he uses his fork to play with his half eaten breakfast. Junsu eyes him with curiosity as the Changmin he knows would never play with food. It would be gone by the time anyone has even started. The student wishes he could say the same but right now, eating was the last thing on his mind. 

“I'm all out of those. All the ones I suggested, you don't seem to like it.” Yoochun pouted as he stuffed a piece of bacon into his mouth. Changmin looked at him with a cocked brow, unsure if his hyung was actually being serious or playing around to break the tension.

“Pretty sure breaking into the government archives and searching through the classified records of the Cho family is highly illegal and will land you god knows how many years in prison. Unlike someone, I'm not willing to get myself locked up just yet.” The student signed, pushing away his plate as his appetite disappears completely.

“Just yet? Then tell me when you're ready and I'll start getting ready.” If looks could kill, Yoochun would have been dead the second he finished his sentence. How could Yoochun joke about these things, Changmin thought. For all he knew, the Cho siblings could be in grave danger. The words which were painted on his walls, the disappearance of Victoria. None of it made sense to him. What debt did he have? Changmin was always a man who stood by the law as his grandfather was once a great prosecutor. It was obvious. Kyuhyun had something to do with why Victoria was taken but once again, the other had disappeared into thin air. Questions filled his mind but the answers refused to surface.  The student could only wait, hoping that some lead would show itself. 

“Don't stress yourself about it, Changmin. Victoria is a strong girl. She can take care of herself.” Changmin could only nod in agreement as he stoop up from his seat and made his way to the front door. He doesn't see the two pair of worried eyes that follows him out. 

The student climbs into his car with nothing but blank words in his mind. He drives until he reaches his house that he shares with his missing girlfriend. Changmin leaves his car, shutting the door behind him but doesn't dare to enter the house. He knows the red paint has been washed away because a few nights ago, Yoochun came home smelling like white spirit and Changmin could only put two and two together. Despite that, he cannot bring himself to take a step closer. 

“Just a little longer, Victoria.” He sighs as he makes his way back into his car. He catches a sudden movement belonging to an unknown figure from the corner of his eyes. Without thinking, Changmin runs towards the figure who is now running away in the opposite direction. He notices that and pushes his legs further to try and catch up to the other. It takes about 5 minutes of full-on sprinting to catch up to the figure which Changmin has noticed is that of a man. He grabs onto the man’s black jacket, pulling the other back to him. The figure fumbles as he is unable to fight the force of Changmin's pull and is eventually captured. He lets out a loud gasp which doesn't go unnoticed as the tone is somewhat familiar. 

“Who are you and what were you doing near my house?!” Changmin raises his voice accusingly. He doesn't shout loudly, knowing that it would only attract unwanted attention for the two. The figure turns around and Changmin could only open his mouth with shock. He lets go and points at the other, letting out random incoherent noises which to him sounds like the words he is trying to say. 

“Mr Shim.” The man greets with a respectable bow. Changmin stares at the man for a while, not even realising the silence between them. A honk of a car is what brings him back to reality. He blinks once, twice and then a third time before he bends down and bows a fully 90 degrees to the other. 

“M-Mr Kim, what are you doing here?!” He stutters. Changmin isn't happy with the way it came out but is satisfied at the fact he could form a proper sentence to the Cho family's ex-butler. It takes a second to realise that there are some people staring at the two of them as they stand in the middle of the pavement with little words to say. Mr Kim doesn't reply to the student’s question but gestures to Changmin, tell him that they should relocated to a better place. The younger notices that straight away and walks the man to this car before driving off to Yoochun’s place. 
The car ride there is quiet but Changmin is thankful for that. But still, the atmosphere could only be described as awkward. Changmin looks at the digital clock on his radio. 10:42am, it read. Yoochun and Junsu would have left for their daily activities which let Changmin and Mr Kim talk without any distractions. Or so he hoped. They had reached the house in no more than 20 minutes. As they entered, Changmin could hear the sound of ruffling from the kitchen. Someone's home?

“Welcome back Minnie.” He hears a voice greets him and immediately knows that it is Yoochun who is still at home. He curses inside his head but doesn't let the word escape his lips. It was unusual for the other to be home at this kind of time, even with Changmin who is currently moving in and out of uncertainty. 

“Hey Yoochun hyung… What are you still doing at home?” Changmin asked, not trying to sound accusing but the tone he used was not to his liking. Yoochun cocked up a brow as he watched Mr Kim enter his house. However, a smile was quickly replaced as he welcomed the both into his house.

“Junsu asked me to stay home today. Never mind me, please have a seat! You're the Cho family's butler, Kim-ssi right?” The butler’s face remained expressionless while Changmin's turned into shock beyond words. He was no surprised by the other’s knowledge of him, instead he was expecting it. In addition, it made things a lot easier as he could skip the introductions. 

“That is correct, Park Yoochun-ssi.” The man bowed before making his way to Yoochun’s living room, sitting himself down on the black leather sofa. Yoochun returned with a smile and then propping himself on the single sofa which sat at a right angle to the large sofa. Changmin sat on the single sofa opposite of Yoochun with their chocolate brown coffee table separating the two. He wanted to speak but let the silence take over as Yoochun , as if just remember his basic manners, lifted himself off his chair only to come back with three cups of green tea. 

“So, are you here to give us information about Kyuhyun and Victoria?” Yoochun asked in a playful tone. Changmin shot his head in the direction of his hyung, wondering how he could remain so calm. 

“Yes but I don't believe it will be of any use to you.” Changmin shook his head. 

“Please, any bit of information is useful to us.” He said, reassuring the other. Mr Kim nodded before taking a sip of green tea. He took a deep breath, readying himself to speak. 

“I am sworn to the Cho family. Anything that harms them, I will eradicate them. Young master Kyuhyun and Lady Victoria are in grave danger. They have been taken by the very same man who ordered their parents dead. Mr Shim, I gave you a warning, do you not remember?” He spoke softly but harsh at the same time. 

“A warning?” 

“Yes but you chose to ignore it and continued to pursue our young master. Because of that, he has become enraged. You chose to befriend young master Kyuhyun, taking him away from the man. As pay back for your crimes and as punishment to our younger master, he has taken the one you both love.” Changmin's mouth fell open as he remembered the words he and Mr Kim exchanged when they first met. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the guilt that slowly made its way to his mind. Yoochun looked with worried eyes but quickly put his attention back on the butler. 
“Even though my words are said accusingly, I do not blame you. You only wanted to answer lady Victoria's wishes which I am forever grateful for. Therefore, please do not put blame on yourself.” Mr Kim sighed. 

“Th-then do you know where they are?!” He asked, propping himself off his chair but not completely standing. The butler shook his head, making Changmin sink back into his seat once again. 

“I do not but I believe your friend does.” Changmin shot Yoochun a look which was the deadliest he had ever seen. It was as if, to tell him he was a dead man once this was all over. How dare he lie to him?

“It's too dangerous.” Yoochun stated with a serious expression. All the anger had left his body. Changmin didn’t know if he could still trust his hyung, after knowing that he lied to him.

“I know.” His voice was monotones and uncaring as his gaze moved to the ceiling, not meeting Yoochun's. 

“If I told you not to go, would you still go?” 

“Yes.” 

“Even if you could die?” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kyuhyun could feel his soul slowly leave his body with every waking day. Time was no longer an essence to him as he had lost track of it a few days in. No one came to visit, not Sungjong, not Hoya and definitely not his master. The only person who did was the worker who came to serve him his meals three times a day but most of it was left uneaten. Sunggyu and L continued to guard the doors, something taking turns for breaks but even then, Kyuhyun continued to remain indoor. A couple hours a day, the sound of loud crashing and screaming could be heard from the apartment as Kyuhyun vents out his anger on the gifts that his master has given to him. They were suffocating and Kyuhyun couldn't bare to see them. Even then, the two gunman remained passive. 

“Victoria…Victoria…Victoria…” He cried out while on his knees with his face buried in hands. The door opened telling Kyuhyun it was now dinner time. 
“Leave. I'm not hungry.” He said, not tearing his face away from his hands. A sigh left the others lips as he spoke. 

“Kyuhyun-sunbaenim, you must eat.” Sunggyu spoke. He walked over to the overturned coffee table, moving it back to place with his free hand before putting the tray of food on top. He began wondering around the living room, setting whatever he picked up along the way in order as he walked towards the door. Their silence was broken as Kyuhyun spoke in a voice barely audible if not for Sunggyu's superior hearing. 

“Please…let me see her.” 

“I cannot.” With that, he left the room, not looking back once at the heartbroken assassin. 
Sunggyu bit back at his lips, closing the door behind him. L noticed that and reached out the comfort the elder, nodding his head. 

Yes, it was the right thing to do. 
Now, was not the time. 
They have to wait for the signal. 

AFF's editor has changed and it's not letting me paste the fonts correctly... For example, some of the parts which are thoughts are usually in bold/italic and it's not pasted. I cannot change them right now because I'm using my iPad to update and not my laptop so please bare with me!

Chapter 11, 12 and 13 were all written at the same time as they were originally 1 chapter but to make the story flow better, they have been spilt into 3. Chapter 11 being the only fully completed chapter when the split happened and chapter 12 & 13 was only half written~ 

I have three weeks holiday as I'm changing jobs now! Moving out as well but I'm not too busy as most of the moving out is already done~~ Time to update! I'll be a lot better at updating so when chapter 13 is up, chapter 14 & 15 should be in progress! 

Hopefully chapter 13 will be up in a week or two, if not less! 

Once again, unedited...

Thank youuu!