That next morning I faced the wrath of my mother. After a long lecture about giving her more notice than a letter when I was planning on going on a trip, she left me to brood at the table as she set off for work. Picking at my omelette, I ended up tossing it away uneaten and set off for school on an empty stomach. There was no Dara waiting for me in the lobby, and no Myungsoo in sight. My eyes drifted to their apartment, but I couldn’t bring myself to knock. I wasn’t sure how I could face either of them. Shuffling down the steps I walked to school slowly, my heart laced with pain at the memory of the last few days.

I didn’t run into anyone and as the school day dragged on, nobody spoke to me, though everyone glanced at me curiously. Myungsoo was absent, as was Dara. But so was JiYong and, of course, Yoona. Everyone gossiped at where they could be – and why I wasn’t with them – and rumours began spreading, from lovers tiffs to elopement – with me being left behind, dumped by Myungsoo in favour of Yoona.

Most were ridiculous and I tried to ignore them, but the most popular rumour involved an argument between us all that had caused some of us to become injured in the throw down that followed They were partially right, but thankfully nobody questioned me directly to settle the matter of which rumour was true. As the final bell rang, I walked through the school gates stiffly, unable to bring myself to attend the swimming tryouts. What was the use anyway when my life would soon be ripped apart? Was there even a point in going to school at all, knowing that I’d soon be apart of a huge crime-business of some sort? I felt empty and worse; haunted by the future.

My thoughts were interrupted by a huge black SUV with out windows crawling next to me and I raised an eyebrow towards the drivers side, knowing fully well before the passenger window rolled down who was inside.

“Get in.” Tao instructed from the passengers seat.

“Look, I’m really not in the mood for your fun facts about what I’ve gotten myself into, so if you could just-“ My voice cut off as the back doors opened and two guys climbed out who were most definitely not members of EXO. I froze in the middle of the street. “Who the Hell are you?” I demanded, my bravado a crude attempt at covering up the chill that ran down my spine at the menacing looks on their faces.

“It wasn’t a question.” Tao answered dryly. “Get in now... Or we’ll make you.”

I pursed my lips and evaluated my options. In my current sleep-deprived state, I couldn’t see myself outrunning the two huge guys towering over me. But the thought of making a scene and screaming bloody murder didn’t exactly appeal either. I figured that this was going to be another typical EXO–eque situation; they’d kidnap me, take me to some weird location and tell me things that they knew I didn’t know – and which I didn’t particularly want to hear. Then, they’d let