“W-Where’s Onew hyung?” Key looked out of the van as Junsu climbed into the passenger seat of the van and ordered Yoochun to drive.

“He fell and got caught, but he told us to carry on and escape so that’s what we are doing.” Junsu answered bluntly and didn’t even look at his panicking friends. He knew by now Onew was like a gazelle to the lions; he had no hope of escaping, and although it was difficult, they had to keep going to ensure at least a few remained free.

Taemin looked at the hotel to see the men running towards them. “FREAKING DRIVE HYUNG!” Key looked at Taemin in shock; he’d never heard him use such language before, it was a huge turn in personality for the young maknae. Yoochun did as he was told and quickly sent the van screeching into action and escaping out of the street into the main road and out of sight.

“We can’t just leave him there! Turn around Hyung!” Jonghyun started to feel sick at the thought of his leader suffering like Jaejoong. Key placed his hands on Jonghyun’s shoulders to try to calm him down a bit.

“I’m sorry but Onew told me to get everyone out of sight and into safety so we are doing so.” Junsu checked the side mirror for any sign of being followed but to his relief no one was following them.

“Let’s not get worked up.” Minho finally spoke as everyone looked at him confused.

“What do you mean by that?” Two of us are missing and you tell us not to~” Changmin raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

“What I’m saying is he hasn’t killed Jaejoong as it seems he needs to use him for something. I doubt he wouldn’t steal one of us just to kill for no reason. He obviously had plans to get one of us for some reason...” Minho looked out of the window; the dark blanket of night covered the sky, highlighted by the stars and the moon. Somehow it gave him hope.

“What’s the plan now? We can’t stay on the road all night...” Yunho leaned forward to speak to Yoochun directly.

“Well as Minho just said, he has Onew so they’ll be taking him back to wherever. For now we can rest in a hotel... one with guests this time.” Yunho nodded and looked at Changmin who was looking down lost in thought.

“Y-You think we gonna get out of this mess hyung?” Changmin slowly looked at Yunho, who sighed and looked to the side unsure how to answer.

“Of course we will! We can’t let them down, and we won’t!” Jonghyun spoke as he wrapped his arms around Taemin and Key, on either side of him, and looked out the window.

“Just think about what Jaejoong would be saying right about now... Always keep the faith!” Junsu smiled thinking about his hyung’s bright face, but after a while the image flashed to the horrifying picture, causing Junsu grab his hair and pull his head down to hide his tears. He wished he’d never seen that awful picture.

After another half an hour on the road they came to another hotel that seemed decent and friendly. They parked the van in a side street just in case the men tried to jump them again, but as they seemed happy with taking Onew it wasn’t a huge concern.

Yunho and Yoochun went with their heads down to make sure no one recognised them and got 2 rooms while the others waited be the elevators.

“You think Onew hyung will be ok?” Taemin looked to Key who had his arms folded and head down in worry.

Minho sighed and rolled his eyes breaking the silence. “I told you all before he will be fine. If they wanted us dead don’t you think they’d have done it by now?” His voice was harsher than he expected and he took Taemin under his arm for comfort. “He’ll be fine I promise Tae.”

“It’s not fair.” Jonghyun rubbed the back of his neck and looked at everyone who was looking at him full of curiosity. “Onew hyung is very fragile. I wish they took me instead of him, I should have stayed behind, I could handle the~”

Key quickly latched onto Jonghyun and whispered in his ear. “Don’t blame this on yourself hyung! We all could have done something but we didn’t!” Junsu and Changmin looked at each other wishing they had done something to help Onew.

“If anyone is to blame it’s me. I should have tried to help but I just ran without even trying to rebel against his words.” Junsu pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed to himself under his breath.

“If you hadn’t have ran Onew would have been angry. We did the right thing by escaping.” Changmin reassured him as Yoochun and Yunho returned with their room keys.

“Let’s split the rooms by band; TVXQ in room 106, SHINee in room107.” Yunho handed a key to Jonghyun before they all got in the elevator. It was deadly silent as everyone looked at each other with the horrible thought of what could happen to their leaders. No one said anything about it but, they somehow knew that if they were to see their leaders again, they wouldn’t be in the state they remembered them in.

Taemin was the first to enter the room, finding the bedroom and climbing onto a bed. Jonghyun and Minho sat on a sofa in the main part of the room as Key followed Taemin into the room. The room was a good size, fitting two double beds, a bathroom, 2 wardrobes and various other items. Taemin lay on the bed, on his side facing the window, and looking up at the night sky.

“You want anything to eat Taeminnie?” Key walked closer to the bed and sighed at the poor young singer.

“No thanks.”

“Not even a drink of water?”

“No thanks. I’m just going to sleep...”

Key felt like a part of his heart had just been pierced with a sharp needle. He couldn’t stand to see Taemin this upset. It was just too unlike the bubbly and hyper Taemin he knew. “I’ll leave you too sleep then ok?” Key headed to the door but Taemin quickly sat up.

“Umma...”

Key turned around and looked at the maknae. “Yes Taeminnie?”

Taemin looked down for a second and gripped the bed’s covers. “W-Will you stay for a bit until I fall asleep? I’m scared I’ll have nightmares if I’m alone.”

“Of course I will Tae. I’ll be sharing this bed with you, so if you ever get scared during the night I’ll be right there beside you.” Key sat on the side of the bed as Taemin crawled in and got comfy. Key played with Taemin’s hair as he looked up at his umma with his adorably large eyes.

“I’ve been thinking...” Taemin hid his mouth under the covers just in case he embarrassed himself with what he was about to say.

“Thinking about what Tae?” Key stopped playing with his hair and listened to his son.

“Well this morning in the dorm, Onew said something... Something I think I need to change...”

Key pulled a face confused as to what Taemin was trying to say. “You’re perfect the way you are Tae. You don’t need to change anything about you! Your hyungs and fans love you the way you are.”

“This is different though. He said I need to do things myself and that there will be a time where Taemin has to become Taeman...And he’s right hyung. I need to stop acting like a child and become the adult I truly am.” Taemin looked at Key who shook his head and tucked him in the bed.

“Don’t force yourself to be someone you’re not Taemin. Just grow to be the best you, someone you’re proud to be.” Key leaned forward and gave Taemin a peak on the forehead before continuing to pay with his hair. It was something that relaxed Taemin, almost like you would do to a puppy to help it calm down.

After a few minutes Taemin had drifted off and Key carefully closed the door and went to meet Minho and Jonghyun in the other room. The two were watching a sitcom on the TV, trying to lighten the mood. Key stood behind them and watched the TV for a bit before speaking up. “Taemin is asleep and I’ll be sharing the bed with him. I already promised him so you two will share together tonight.”

The two moaned in disappointment and slowly turned to face Key, giving him looks full of aegyo. “But doesn’t it make sense that the kids share one bed and the parents share the other?” Jonghyun blinked his puppy eyes at him a few times followed by Minho who pouted at him.

“Nice try but it won’t kill you both just to share the bed this once.” Key rolled his eyes as he sat down and watched the TV, while eating some snacks the hotel provided for them. Jonghyun and Minho looked at one other before grabbing each other’s throats and playfully chocked each other for dominance over the bed.

Key didn’t even turn his head from the TV. “Aish, you can kill each other for all I care but I’m not changing my mind.”

The two let go of each other and sulked with their arms folded and mumbled “No fair”.

Yunho sat on the sofa looking blankly at the floor as the other three watched TV and ate some snacks, trying to relax for the time being. Changmin noticed the leader and sat beside him offering a bowl of chips. “Want some hyung? They are really good.” Yunho smiled to himself and shook his head.

Yoochun turned off the TV and looked at his hyung. “If this is too much for you to handle, we can go by ourselves and let you stay here or return home. Would that be better?”

Yunho shook his head again and gulped before finding his voice. “It would be better if none of this ever happened at all Yoochun.” Before Yunho could stop himself he burst into tears, quickly placing his hands over his face in attempt to hide is loud sobs. “Why the hell did I fight with Jaejoong!? The last thing I did was slap and told him to get out of my life! But I didn’t mean it! It’s my fault he was taken!”

Everyone quickly ran to the sofa to comfort Yunho, Junsu sitting on the other side of Yunho and Yoochun kneeling in front of him. Yoochun took hold of Yunho’s hands and gently pulled them away from his face so they could make eye contact.

“None of this is your fault hyung! Don’t think that way because it’s not true!” Yunho bit his lip trying to stop crying as Junsu and Changmin hugged him tightly.

“It could have happened to anyone of us! It’s just cruel fate that Jaejoong was the one chosen by that psycho!”

“We’ll see him again hyung I promise! We will do all we can to save Jaejoong and Onew!” Changmin linked pinkies with Yunho and held it up so he could see. “Pinkie promise hyung! You can’t break a pinkie promise!”

Yoochun stood up and hugged Yunho before wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “Maybe it’s a good idea for all of us to go to bed now neh? You’ll feel better in the morning after you’ve had some rest.” Yoochun put his arm around Yunho and took him into the bedroom before placing him gently in the bed. Yunho’s eyes were still red and puffy from all the crying but seemed to be relaxing a little.

“I’ll share with Yunho hyung and you two take the other bed.” Changmin slowly climbed into the bed, lying beside Yunho who turned to face him and pointed at the other bed.

“Oh no I know what you’re sleeping habits are like ‘Mr. Sleep Ninja!’ You can sleep in the other bed with Yoochun as he’s a heavy sleeper and Junsu will share with me!”

Changmin pouted and got into the other bed with Yoochun as Junsu got into the bed beside Yunho, and turned off the light. “It’s weird sleeping in our clothes we’ve worn all day...” Changmin muttered to himself.

“Yeah well it’s the only option besides sleeping .” Yoochun responded and Changmin looked at him in shock but a glint in his eye. “And no, that’s not an option either!” Changmin sighed and turned around so his back was facing Yoochun.

Yunho looked through the window to see the night sky. He could see Jaejoong’s smiling face in place of the moon as he laughed and looked back at Yunho. Jaejoong’s smile told Yunho he would soon be with him and that he shouldn’t worry, and with that Yunho smiled back. ‘I promise I’ll find you Jaejoong! I’ll make it up to you and I’ll show you how much I love and care for you. I promise hyung!’

Jaejoong slowly woke due to the sunlight hitting his eyes through the small barred window. It must have been very early, possibly around 6-7ish. His arms and legs were aching, making him want to desperately move about but even when he made the smallest of movements the ropes rubbed against him. He had only ate a small amount of rice that the guards had fed him and it was far from enough to satisfy his stomach, that was making so much noise he was surprised no guards heard it.

He did his best to allow himself to yawn but the gag, which was not easing up in the slightest, made it very difficult. The amount of discomfort he was forced to deal with started becoming unbearable, to the point where he yelled against the cloth hoping a guard would come down and take it out, giving him a chance to breathe properly, but no one came.

As the sun was raising the sunlight lit the room up little by little and eventually reflected off something shiny, which was on the table, right into Jaejoong’s eyes, causing him to squint has he looked at the object. Suddenly it hit him; it was the knife that the guards held to his neck when he was forced to sit and be bound to the chair, and next to that was his phone.

The sudden rush of hope gave Jaejoong the courage to move about in the chair, and in good time the chair had fallen to the side, crushing his right arms and legs in the process forcing him to scream out in pain under the gag. After he had allowed his limbs to relax he used his feet to push himself across the room, and after a few minutes of hard work he was lying under the table with his hands under the edge of it.

With the remaining energy he had, Jaejoong pushed into the table until the knife fell onto the floor. With difficulty he managed to get hold of the knife and cut the ropes around his wrists. Once he could move his arms freely, he pulled his arms around the side of the chair back and cut the ropes around his waist followed by his feet, and removed his gag.

He’d done it. He’d actually managed to escape the ropes and he had a chance to find freedom again. Without any hesitation Jaejoong grabbed his phone from the table and almost cried in happiness when he saw that the phone still had 45% battery left and 2 bars of signal. Without needing to think, he dialled Yunho’s mobile number and waited for him to answer.

“Please pick up Yunnie; I want to hear your voice so badly!” Jaejoong checked to make sure he was alone. The last thing he needed was to be caught right now. The phone was finally answered by a voice that screamed so loudly it caused Jaejoong’s ears to ring.

“WE’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU CHILDISH GAMES! LET JAEJOONG AND ONEW GO!” Jonghyun’s voice echoed the small room as Jaejoong stood shocked, with the phone to his ear. His worst nightmare had come true; they caught one of his friends.

Sorry it took so long, I was in college till 6. It's now almost midnight so I hope you all see what I go through to give you guys updates. Tomorrow I will be adding the first ever chapter to "To Hear Your Voice" so check out the foreword if you havent and subscribe. Also comment, I want to know what you want to see in the new stroy!

Fighting! X