“We have some bad news,” his tall hyung-nim said.

“What is it?” Myungsoo asked apprehensively.

“The old man isn’t speaking, like Boss thought he would. It seems he’s a tougher nut to crack than was first expected.”

“Then what’s the plan?” Myungsoo inquired.

“I suggest we try to get some useful information from the boy instead.”

“What do you mean?” Myungsoo said slowly, not liking the way this conversation was going.

“There’s got to be some weak point somewhere; something the old man values above anything else; something he isn’t willing to lose. It obviously isn’t his son, but I’m sure there’s something.”

“And…?”

“And so the boy’s got to know something, right?” his hyung-nim said matter-of-factly. “We’ll just force him to spit it out, whatever it is. Everybody knows their own parents. I’m sure he’ll figure out what his dad can’t live without.”

“When you say force…” Myungsoo said, his brows furrowing slightly.

“If needed, of course. Do whatever needed to learn the old man’s secrets.”

“Whatever needed…” Myungsoo repeated.

“You understand me, L, correct?” the tall man asked in a commanding voice. “You understand your orders?”

“…yes, hyung-nim,” Myungsoo replied, bowing his head slightly.

“And you’ll follow them, I assume?”

“Of course,” Myungsoo agreed.

“Good kid,” his hyung-nim smiled. “Good kid indeed.”

-

Whatever needed.

Whatever needed.

What does that imply?

Myungsoo knew what that implied, of course. Force, if necessary. But he didn’t want to use force on Sungyeol. He had already slapped him once, and had regretted it instantly. He wouldn’t do such a thing again; he had already made up his mind about that.

For this reason, Myungsoo would have to try a different approach.

So when he walked into Sungyeol’s room the day after, he brought not only food and water, but three books as well.

“I didn’t know what you like to read, but I just assumed you were bored,” he explained as he saw Sungyeol stare at the books in something close to wonder.

Sungyeol looked at Myungsoo, and for the first time in a long time, Myungsoo saw something there that wasn’t only feelings of hate and disappointment. It made Myungsoo feel as if he had been under water for too long and was finally given permission to come to the surface again. Like a breath of fresh air. Myungsoo realized that he wanted to make Sungyeol look at him that way again.

“Thank you,” Sungyeol said, and he took the books and looked tenderly at them, like they were his most precious belongings.

“I brought jjajangmyun,” Myungsoo continued, holding up the plastic bag he was carrying.

Sungyeol glanced at the bag, but quickly went back to studying the covers of the books.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Myungsoo asked.

“Not really,” Sungyeol replied, obviously more interested in the books.

“Unless you eat right now, I’m going to eat the food myself,” Myungsoo retorted.

That seemed to grab Sungyeol’s attention, for he looked at Myungsoo immediately. “I’m hungry,” he blurted out.

“Good,” Myungsoo smiled, holding back a chuckle.

-

Sungyeol ate in silence while Myungsoo watched him. Why hasn’t he left yet? Sungyeol wondered.

“What?” he asked Myungsoo as soon as he was finished.

“Huh?” Myungsoo replied, looking like he had been lost in thought.

“Why are you still here?”

“Are you saying you want me to leave?” Myungsoo asked, moving as if to rise from the couch.

“No,” Sungyeol said fast. He didn’t want to be alone again just yet. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Myungsoo inquired.

“It just seems weird that you’re still here, is all,” Sungyeol mumbled.

“I don’t have much else to do.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“So what do you do when you’re not giving me food or emptying the bucket – which doesn’t exactly smell nice, by the way. Don’t you have any proper toilets around here?”

“Sorry, no, there’s no toilet unless I were to bring you out of this room, which I obviously won’t do. And for the most part I just exercise or run errands or receive other orders from my higher-ups.”

“What kind of orders?”

“It’s confidential, obviously.”

“Boring,” Sungyeol complained.

“It wouldn’t be fun even if you knew.”

“Why is that?”

“Unless you like listening to stories about people beating each other up…” Myungsoo muttered under his breath, more to himself than anyone else.

“People beating each other up…” Sungyeol repeated, his eyes wide. “Do you beat people up?”

“…”

“Do you?”

“Not so much anymore,” Myungsoo said at last, looking away.

“So you used to beat people up?” Sungyeol inquired, his voice high-pitched. He obviously didn’t like what he was hearing, and Myungsoo didn’t blame him. Myungsoo didn’t even know why he was telling Sungyeol all of this. To get some sympathy? Because he wanted to talk to somebody about it after all this time? He had been good at suppressing it so far, so why was he suddenly becoming so weak-willed?

“Well, to be fair, I got as many beatings as I gave, so I don’t really think I owe anyone any apology.”

“Are you saying that your life has been noting but one big, fat fight?” Sungyeol asked, a note of sadness in his voice.

“I’m not looking for sympathy,” Myungsoo lied.

“And you’re not gonna get any,” Sungyeol replied immediately. “You’ve kidnapped me; do you really think I’d feel sympathy for someone who’s keeping me as a hostage?”

He’s got a good point, Myungsoo thought to himself.

“I’m sorry about that, but there’s nothing I can do about the fact that you’ve been kidnapped,” he said.

“Yeah right. How about this: you could let me go,” Sungyeol suggested, his eyebrows raised.

“I wouldn’t do that unless I wanted to die,” Myungsoo said evenly.

“Huh?”

“Do you think I can do whatever I want?” Myungsoo said, a hint of bitterness hiding behind his rough demeanor.

“Well… yeah? Why can’t you?”

“I’m not the one in charge, obviously,” Myungsoo explained impatiently. “Haven’t you noticed?”

“Then who’s in charge?”

“Boss.”

“Who’s ‘boss’?”

“That’s not for you to know.”

“And there you go again: boooring.”

“Then you pick a fun subject.”

“Hm… what about animals?”

“Really?” Myungsoo asked, giving Sungyeol a condescending look. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

“But animals are fun!” Sungyeol insisted. “I have a dog, and he’s super-sweet and funny and adorable.”

Myungsoo noticed that Sungyeol’s face had immediately become brighter as he had started talking about his dog. He must love his dog a lot.

“What’s his name?” Myungsoo asked.

“Bom^*,” Sungyeol smiled. “Because his personality is so fresh and lively.” ^{*Bom means spring in Korean}

“What breed is it?”

“It’s a shiba inu,” Sungyeol said proudly. “His fur is orange-y and beige, and he’s the best dog in the world.”

“I guess you miss him,” Myungsoo murmured.

Sungyeol nodded, and he was suddenly calmer that he had been a second ago, his smile quickly dissolving. “I bet he misses me more though.” 

“It’s not like you’ll never see him again,” Myungsoo consoled, feeling stupid for trying to make Sungyeol feel better when he – Myungsoo – was the one who was making Sungyeol’s life miserable in the first place.

“You don’t know that,” Sungyeol muttered grumpily.

“Of course I know that,” Myungsoo countered, furrowing his brows.

“You’re probably gonna keep me here forever,” Sungyeol mumbled sourly.

“I won’t. Promise,” Myungsoo said, and he knew he wanted it to be true. “I’ll set you free in a while.”

“Why can’t you just set me free right now then?” Sungyeol whined. “Do you know how boring it is in here? Do you know how lonely I get? How would you feel if you were trapped inside a tiny, dark room 24/7? I feel like I’m gonna go mad soon.”

Sungyeol huffed, clearly getting more frustrated by the minute. “It might not seem like such a big deal for you, since you’re obviously not a people-person, but you know what? I am a people-person! I need to socialize; I need to talk to someone. I can’t stay in here for much longer before I go crazy from the silence of this stupid room.”

Myungsoo stared at Sungyeol, shocked at his sudden outburst.

“Aren’t you gonna say anything?” Sungyeol demanded angrily.

“I’m sorry,” Myungsoo said honestly.

Sungyeol obviously hadn’t expected that, for he stopped short.

“I know you must be suffering,” Myungsoo went on. “Just tell me if there’s anything you want that I can get for you, like a book or a game or something.”

“I don’t want games. I want people to talk to,” Sungyeol muttered, looking at the ground.

“You can talk to me,” Myungsoo offered, feeling stupid for wanting Sungyeol to take the offer.

“What in the world would I talk about with a kidnapper?” Sungyeol said, his eyes narrowing as he looked up at Myungsoo.

“Anything,” Myungsoo replied. “I’m not just a kidnapper, you know. I’m a person too; I also have feelings.”

“I doubt it,” Sungyeol grumbled.

“Ouch,” Myungsoo said sarcastically, pretending like Sungyeol’s sentence hadn’t stung at all.  

“Then tell me about your hopes and dreams,” Sungyeol suggested.

“… I don’t have any,” Myungsoo replied, feeling stupid and dull and like he could never be a normal teenage boy even if he were to try. Like he was unworthy of even trying in the first place.

“Don’t lie to me. Of course you have a dream. Everyone has a dream,” Sungyeol insisted.

“My dream isn’t really that great.”

“You’ve still got to tell me what it is,” Sungyeol said, sounding like he actually was a bit curious.

Myungsoo was embarrassed at his dream. It wasn’t much of a dream anyway. “I want to be a normal boy,” he said quietly, looking at his feet.

Silence followed, and when Myungsoo couldn’t take it anymore and looked at Sungyeol to see his expression, he was surprised to find that Sungyeol wasn’t looking at him with disgust, like he thought he would. Instead, he was gazing at Myungsoo with something that looked like… pity?

Am I being pitied right now? Myungsoo wondered, surprised at this strange development.

“Myungsoo…” Sungyeol said, still gazing at him with that look in his eyes. “Do you mean that?”

“You don’t need to get all sentimental on me,” Myungsoo said hurriedly. “It’s not like it’s really that important.”

“But…”

“Nevermind. Just forget about it, okay?”

“Shouldn’t you-“

“Just forget about it, would you?”

“…fine,” Sungyeol agreed, seemingly unwillingly. “I’ll forget about it.”

Please don’t, Myungsoo thought to himself, scorning himself for trying so hard to make Sungyeol hate him a bit less.

-

Sungyeol didn’t want to feel sympathy for his stupid kidnapper. He was sure that only a couple of days ago he had hated him more than any other person on the face of the earth. Now, though, it was hard to say the same.

Sungyeol had always been naturally understanding of others, which was why he seldom got into fights. He always tried to see things from the other party’s perspective, even if he personally disagreed with them. Therefore, he couldn't help but feel a tiny lump of pity deep inside his stomach.

He did bring me a blanket… and books. And it’s not like he treats me badly, except for the day he slapped me…

Sungyeol shook his head, trying to get rid of his stupid thoughts. One should never try to understand the mind of a kidnapper. What good would that do? Sungyeol didn’t want to end up a kidnapper himself, and so he was pretty sure it wouldn't be too smart to dig into a kidnapper’s brain more than needed.

Still, it was hard to forget the look on Myungsoo’s face when he had admitted what his dream was. And it was equally hard to forget his words. I want to be a normal boy.

Sungyeol’s chest ached just slightly, and he pursed his lips melancholically.  

Thank you so much to all of you wonderful people who's read this story so far <3 I love you! (And if Myungsoo's situation confuses you, don't worry, cause it'll make more sense later, promise >.<)