Things were starting to go awry, Jonghyun decided as he opened his apartment door later that night and came face to face with two hooded figures. The light in the hallway was out, so he couldn’t quite make out who they were. It seemed to be two men, judging by the shape of them, looming as they crowded his door. He hadn’t the light in his entrance either, which in hindsight was just plain dumb, because now he couldn’t see anything. But he had just been about to fall asleep, since it was well past midnight, and hadn’t wanted to blind himself. Now he stood fidgeting in his pyjamas, regretting every decision that had led him to this point.

“Can I help you?” he asked hoarsely, his throat dry with fright. He tried to close the door as slowly and inconspicuously as he could, wracking his brain for where he had left his phone so he could run to it and call the police.

He had no luck though. One of the figures picked up on his intentions and shot his hand out to push the door open so fast and hard Jonghyun stumbled backwards.

“Come with us,” one of them demanded, leaving no room for questions or protests. Jonghyun had no way of knowing who had spoken, which made the whole thing even scarier than it already was.

“No thank you, I’m good,” he said, trying to close the door again. “I’ll just go back to bed now, if you don’t mind. You two gentlemen have a good nig–”

The figure on the right punched him in the stomach and he doubled over with a loud groan, the breath knocked out of him.

“Now,” the other figure demanded and Jonghyun was slung onto his assaulter’s shoulder. 

“Hey! Wait!” he gasped.

They ignored him and he was carried outside the apartment complex. The shoulder of his kidnapper cut into his stomach and it took him a few moments to gather his breath.

“What do you think you’re doing?! This is kidnapping! I–,” he cut off as dread spread through him like ice in his veins. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. His thoughts immediately went to Kibum and he started squirming the best he could to get free. “You’re from the circus, aren’t you?!” he panted, the shoulder pressing into his stomach digging deeper. “Kibum… what have you done… to Kibum?!”

Silence was the only answer he received as he was carried through town. His kidnappers kept to the shadows even though the streets were deserted. Jonghyun pushed and squirmed and kicked, desperately trying to break free, but he had to give up after a while. His arms ached and the skin on his stomach was rubbed raw.

“You did something to him!” he raised his voice, hoping someone would hear him and come to help. “What did you do to Kibum?!”

The man who was not carrying him appeared in his field of vision. Jonghyun could feel his eyes watching him from underneath the hood obscuring his face and he glared at him until he pulled the fabric down. The face the moon and streetlights illuminated was the last one Jonghyun expected and his mouth fell open.

“Taemin?” he gawked. Then… did that mean the one carrying him was Minho?

Taemin appraised him gravely, his eyes filled with regret.

“I’m sorry Jonghyun. I don’t want to do this, but I can’t go against The Owner.”

“What?”

“I have no choice. Neither does Minho.”

So it was Minho carrying him.

“You can’t be serious!” He started struggling again. “For ’s sake! What is it he’s doing to control you?! Why?!”

Minho came to a halt and Taemin just shook his head. Then he raised his hands up to Jonghyun's throat. Jonghyun’s heart lodged itself in his throat.

“Taemin, wait–”

His plea fell on deaf ears and fingers closed around his throat, cutting off his air. Taemin wasn’t looking at him, eyes squeezed shut. Jonghyun had to close his own eyes after a few moments when the world began spinning, and a few tears rolled down his cheek. The sound of the waves were close and he realised they had to be near the bridge when everything began to fade.

The last thing he heard before everything disappeared was a whispered apology.

A/N: Like always, this chapter is not properly proofread so I apologise for the mistakes and such Dx

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