chapter four: taken

"Daehyun..."

Soojin looked at Daehyun's adorable sleeping form, his blanket rising and falling in time with his breathing. She had sneaked into his room a little while ago and sat at the edge of his bed. This was the only other place in this house where she feels she could be safe. There were walking, breathing and living epitomes of perfection outside - four, to be exact - who can bump into her anytime. She couldn't also stay in her room right now. She knew that's the first place they would look for, if they ever want to find her.

"Will I really be okay here?" Soojin thought to herself, fiddling with her fingers.

As if on cue, Daehyun suddenly murmured in his sleep, "I'll protect you..."

Soojin glanced at him sympathetically. Daehyun is still a kid but he already had to deal with so many things that he had to act maturely at times.

Daehyun had lost his father over a year ago. He was still young but he already had to grasp the meaning of death and loss. Auntie had been an unconsolable mess, having lost her true love so suddenly and having to let Daehyun grow up without a father figure really overwhelmed her. Daehyun watched as her mother cried unabashedly at the foot of his father's body at the hospital bed. His usually cheerful and composed mother breaking down in front of him really broke his heart. As the days had passed, Daehyun noticed a few drastic changes on his mother. She would often skip her meals, and he would find her spacing out and staring at nothing in their shared bedroom. As Daehyun wiped away his own tears, he decided he was going to take care of his mother from now on. She didn't even notice him come in to the room until he was tapping her on her shoulder.

When she turned to face him, he pinched his checks and made a face, "Mama, cheer up..."

She took one look at her son before breaking into a laugh and bursting into a new set of fresh tears. She took Daehyun into a tight hug, suddenly reminded that her other true love is still alive - her son.

"I'll protect you, okay, Mama?" Daehyun declared.

She nodded while sobbing furiously into his shoulder.

• • •

Soojin stayed a few more minutes in Daehyun's room before deciding that maybe it's time for her to sleep too. She tiptoed back to her room and glanced at her skeleton hand alarm clock.. 12:24 am.

She clambered into her coffin bed and tucked herself in. As she busied herself into making herself comfortable and preparing for sleep, she failed to notice the girl peering at her from her window.

• • •

"Sehun, it's an emergency!" Daehyun shouted on Sehun's sprawled forn in the bed while nudging him on his shoulders, "Soojin disappeared!"

Sehun barely even moved, leaving Daehyun no choice. Feeling impatient, Daehyun puffed his cheeks and grabbed Sehun by his wrist, eventually hauling him to the living room.

"Isn't she just in the bathroom?" Sehun mumbled, still half-asleep.

"The police called," Suho stated, "Someone in the neighborhood saw her being forced into a taxi by a strange girl."

"A girl?" Luhan breathed.

"There's no way horror-girl could be attacked by a normal girl," Sehun yawned, voice still thick with sleep, while scratching his head lazily.

"Has anything strange happened to you lately?" Suho inquired, putting his hand on Sehun's shoulder.

Sehun could feel his eyes droop the longer he listens. Soon, he figured he will be the master of sleeping while standing upright.

"Being followed around by girls is normal for you, but did any of the stalkers seem particularly dangerous recently?" Suho asked.

"Not really..." Sehun muttered.

As Sehun completely let his eyes close, the memories of yesterday all rushed back to him, jolting him fully awake.

"HAAAH!!!!!!"

"Secret pictures?" Luhan asked in a hushed tone, after Sehun recounted that walk with Bommi.

"Probably..." Sehun hinted uncertainly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Lots of Sehun's fans are weird," Daehyun drawled, plopping on the sofa.

"Yoora? Did you find anything out?" Kris asked, suddenly descending down the stairs.

"I'm having Kris use his connections to find out the destination of the plane Soojin and the girl are on," Suho explained.

Ahem. And by connections, they know he meant Kris' lady friends. Kris sat on one of the chairs, kicked his leg up in the air then crossed it over the other leg.

"Plane?" Sehun asked confusedly.

"Yeah," Suho nodded. "The taxi apparently dropped the two of them off at Incheon Airport."

"Huh?" Kris puffed, "Yangyang Airport, Gangwon?"

Sehun gazed at Kris. Could it be?

"Thanks. Let's fly again someday!" Kris stated, dramatically pointing skyward.

Sehun, Suho, Luhan, and Daehyun simultaneously craned their heads at the direction that Kris was intently staring. And it might just have been their imagination but they all heard the sound of an airplane taking off in the background. As Kris ended the call, Sehun was the first one out of the daze. He sat on the chair facing Kris.

"Kris, can you trace where they went after the airport?" Sehun asked eagerly.

"You're going?" Luhan asked, his voice full of disbelief.

"No way," Kris gasped. "For the sake of a girl, Sehun is..."

"Sehun has ordinary human decency too," Daehyun marveled, approaching Sehun and suddenly petting the older's head like a puppy.

"Don't make me laugh," Sehun fleered, also petting the kid's head mockingly.

Daehyun's smile immediately faltered.

"As if I'm gonna let some stalker girl take away my chance at free rent," Sehun said, squeezing both sides of Daehyun's face with one hand.

"That's what it is, huh?" Luhan beamed, finally understanding.

Sehun carried Daehyun unceremoniously to the sofa then pointed at them and hurriedly ordered, "Call me once you find out anything. Thanks."

And with that, Sehun quickly dashed to the door.

"What? Wait..." Luhan started to say but Sehun was already out of earshot.

An abrupt silence filled with incredulity settled among the people left in the room. Who knew that a day would come where Sehun would actually care about a girl? Luhan looked down at the stuff toy he was hugging and grinned amusedly. Looks like the Tin Man really does have a heart after all...

A sudden thump of footsteps brought all of them to turn their heads on a breathless Sehun who stood gingerly by the hallway. He glanced at each of them. His chest still heaving from sprinting back to the living room. He casted a resigned look at the floor before looking up again to meet their eyes.

"I only have 200 won," Sehun admitted softly, his head sagging to his chest.

"Geez..." Daehyun clucked, instantly galloping to Sehun and grabbing the older's hand. "I have money. Let's go."

Sehun just let himself be dragged by the kid. As they left, they had missed how Suho's mouth curved upwards.

• • •

When they finally touched down at Gangwon, winter had already made itself known as a thick layer of snow piled on the ground. They immediately asked every person they could see along the streets. Every person could be of help, maybe Soojin and that girl could have talked to any one of these people. How hard could it be?

"Um... Excuse me..."

"Did you see a girl wearing clothes like this..."

"Have you seen a slightly suspicious looking girl?"

"Her bangs are really long, like this."

Apparently it's hard, despite Sehun's zealous hand gestures and body movements.

And in spite of the treacherous streets filled with dangerously slippery ice, they still persisted on their quest to rescue the damsel in distress. (Yes, even girls who wear long black capes and who harbors deep fascination with horror and gore are also considered damsels.) They both had no idea where to go but they still kept on going. Where is Dora the Explorer when you need her?

Sehun ran along the sidewalk, pulling Daehyun behind him. He was forced to bring the kid along with him due to the financial conditions that this endeavor needs and which he so unfortunately lacks. He imagined Daehyun must be looking up to him right now for trying to save Soojin. He must set a cool example, an awesome image.

"Don't fall," Sehun commanded in an authoritative voice.

"Okay," Daehyun said in a soft voice.

Sehun smirked at Daehyun's prompt compliance to him. He was basking in his reign when he suddenly lost his footing. He fell face first on the snow-covered sidewalk, almost dragging Daehyun along with him. He could taste the snow mixed with grains of dirt and who-knows-what. He lay there motionless for a couple of seconds. He fell, along with his dignity and cool image.

"What're you doing, Sehun?" Daehyun asked, nudging Sehun with his foot.

Sehun carefully stood up and stayed still as Daehyun dusted bits of snow that clung to his clothes.

"I wanted to fall," Sehun reasoned.

"What're you talking about?" Daehyun asked, suddenly grabbing Sehun's hand and running off. "Let's go."

Daehyun dragged him towards an open convenient store.

"Excuse me.." Daehyun courteously greeted.

"Yes?" an employee who was busy stacking products on the shelves smiled.

"Did a girl with long hair like this," Daehyun put his both hands by his cheeks, "come by here?"

"She did," the employee answered.

"SERIOUSLY?" Sehun exclaimed incredulously.

It seems like luck was finally on their side.

• • •

But now it seems like Sehun celebrated too soon.

As he trudged along the leg-deep snow in the middle of nowhere with Daehyun sleeping soundly on his back, he realized he must have done something really bad to have fallen in a situation like this. A few minutes after they had left the convenience store Daehyun announced that he was feeling tired and so, to make up for his soiled cool guy image Sehun offered to carry Daehyun and let him take a nap for a while. Daehyun is light so it wasn't much of a task. The real problem started a few miles back when Sehun suddenly noticed that there were no houses or buildings in sight and that they hadn't encountered any other people during the last half hour or so.

"Is she really in a place like this?" Sehun wondered to himself.

Everytime Sehun looks around all he sees are white landscape and several trees in the distance. Even Soojin wouldn't go in a place like this, would she?

"This is really bad..." Sehun muttered.

While it may be a bit too early to think of any horror related stuff that might happen to them, there's still nothing wrong to perhaps send some kind of message to Suho about their situation. He stopped walking and carefully fished his phone out of his pocket.

"Out of battery..." Sehun gutted.

"Excuse me..." a voice suddenly called out of nowhere.

When Sehun looked up, his face was met with a cold gust of wind. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a woman carrying a shovel jogging towards them.

"Are you lost?" she asked.

"No, I'm looking for someone..." Sehun started to say, hoisting Daehyun up his back a little.

When the girl finally neared them, she the shovel upright into the snow and immediately fussed, "Oh my! It's this cold outside, and you have a child with you."

"I'm looking for someone..." Sehun tried to explain but it looks like she is too distracted to listen.

"Come in to my house," the woman interrupted, moving behind them and pushing them towards her house.

Sehun had no choice but to keep walking forward. This woman is obviously persistent.

"What a terrible father, isn't he?" she said to the sleeping Daehyun.

"I'm looking..." Sehun tried again but to no avail.

The woman had succesfully made them go inside her house. She placed a mattress and a few pillows on the floor and tucked Daehyun in.

"I don't have time to be doing this..." Sehun started to say.

"I'll go make some tea," she chimed in, petting Daehyun's face.

She gestured a hand at Sehun to signal him to sit on the floor before slipping out the door.

Sehun took a deep breath. Wow, that woman is undeterred.

He awkwardly stood in the middle of the room and slowly looked around. His eyes immediately landed on a charger in the corner of the room. He quickly shuffled towards it, unconveniently knocking over a metal box off a low table.

"Oh crap," Sehun cursed.

The metal container made a loud clanging sound on the floor which made Sehun glance worriedly at Daehyun but the kid made no sign of waking up. As Sehun bent down to retrieve the items from the box, he noticed they were all pictures.

Of him.

Hefty amount of photos of him on the streets, photos of him coming out of Maekyeori, photos at his former workplace, etc.

He slowly raised his head.

.

Suddenly he heard that all too familiar sounds of a camera snapping. He turned his head to look at the door and cussed at the discovery that door wasn't closed all the way. Alarm bells were vigorously ringing in his ears. He gently pushed his knees of the floor and tiptoed towards the door. He cautiously placed his hand on the door and took a deep breath.

When Sehun pulled the door open, he saw the woman crouching on the floor with a camera pressed to her face. She remained still for a couple of seconds before listlessly putting down her camera. Suddenly, all of Sehun's feeling of distress was quickly replaced by anger. This girl had been terrorizing and following him around for the last couple of days.

"You..." Sehun said through gritted teeth.

"I guess you've found out," the girl said in a low voice, staring into space.

She didn't even sound a little remorseful or afraid now that Sehun found out about her. He noticed she almost sounds relieved. He watched as the woman's face slowly broke into a sinister smile. Well, .

"And now that you have..." she continued speaking in a creepy voice.

She quietly stood up and finally met Sehun's gaze. She had a crazy look in her eyes that made him take a few steps back. However, she also kept inching closer to him.

"I'll justy have to take lots right now!" the woman announced, instantly raising her camera and gleefully snapping photos.

Sehun gripped the girl's wrist, "Hey. Give me that! Gimme!"

​"What're you doing?!" the girl fumed, fighting off Sehun's hold.

Suddenly, Sehun felt a hard object hit the back of his head that immediately gave him a massive painful and throbbing bump and caused him to fall on the floor.

"What're you doing to Miyun?!" he heard a female voice shout.

"Huh?!" Sehun huffed, still clutching his head while turning to look at the direction of the voice.

He saw another woman standing aggressively with a  huge stick in her hands still raised in the air.

"Oh no..." she susurrated.

"'Oh no'?" Sehun repeated.

He craned his neck properly to look at the woman more clearly. Another outpour of pain shot through his head as he looked at the woman's face covered with hair and recognition struck him. Soojin.

"YOU!!!" Sehun thundered.

"You're being too loud Sehun! I can't sleep!!" Daehyun thundered more loudly, suddenly rising from the sheets.

Everyone became silent especially Sehun who stared at Daehyun, stupefied.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hi! Thanks for reading! :D