“Name?”

“Lee Donghae.” Donghae was bored out of his mind because he’d been waiting for the past two hours with absolutely nothing to do. He’d mixed up his and Donghwa’s phones this morning before school, so he couldn’t just pull out his phone and keep himself entertained like other students were doing.

He really hoped that his friends weren’t sending embarrassing texts to his phone since he was pretty sure Donghwa had it.

“Sit in the chair and look into the camera, please.”

Donghae hesitated slightly as he saw the chair that had been indicated. It didn’t exactly look like a mad scientist’s chair with straps and weird wires, but it definitely wasn’t a school chair. “What is this for?” he asked.

The woman sighed. “Please sit in the chair for a quick test. This will only take fifteen seconds.” Her voice was bored, as if she’d rather be doing anything except what she was doing. Her clip on ID had an official governmental seal on it, and she hadn’t been hustled out of the school, so Donghae guessed that it was okay. Shrugging, he sat down in the seat, keeping his hands folded in his lap. He’d seen enough movies to be wary of setting his arms along the sides of the chair. Looking forward, he glanced at the camera.

He winced as the light right above the camera brightened briefly and he heard a high-pitched sound that reminded him of wasps. Just as the sound and light was becoming unbearable, it suddenly cut off. He looked over at the woman, whose eyebrows were furrowed. “Is it over?”

“Yes –“

“Good,” Donghae said, shaking his head to get the slight ringing out of his ears. “Weirdest test ever,” he muttered as he left, ignoring the woman asking him to come back.

He marched straight back to class, intent on returning back to his studies. He’d not been doing very well in his chemistry class, and he had to pull his grade up if he wanted to have a shot at getting into his first choice university. He’d barely made it back to his classroom when he felt his stomach turn. The ringing in his ears was intensifying, making him feel ill. Turning around, he made his way to the restroom, intent on splashing water on his face and then going back to class.

Swallowing harshly, he leaned over the sink and squeezed his eyes shut. He stayed that way for a few minutes, long enough for his stomach to settle and the high pitched noise to abate to a more tolerable level. He could already feel a headache brewing behind his eyes, so it was almost a given that he was just going to skip the rest of class and head home. Cursing whatever that test was under his breath, he left the restroom and made his way through several back hallways to avoid any teachers on his way out.

Stripping his school uniform jacket and tie, he stuffed them into his bag as he waited at the bus stop. He would normally walk home, but his headache was getting worse and he just didn’t feel like it. His trip home was entirely uneventful, and as he unlocked the door, he wanted nothing more than to sleep the headache off.

He stripped his school uniform off and pulled on his pajama pants before curling up on his bed. Once he shut his eyes, the throbbing in his head slowed down, but the high pitched buzz stayed. Trying to ignore it, he took slow and even breaths to force himself to sleep.

He was just on the verge when a loud noise had his eyes opening in shock. Adrenaline shot through his system as he scrambled off his bed, his heart beating faster as he heard heavy footsteps rushing through the house. He shrieked as his door flung open, a figure dressed in black body armor standing in the doorway. His eyes were drawn to the movement of something rising and his heart stopped when he realized it was a military-grade automatic rifle. He kept backing up until he was plastered against the wall, feeling like he was fighting to draw in enough air for each breath, the high pitched buzzing getting louder and louder in his ears until he was wanting to scream. Gloved hands reached out, landing on his arm and he struggled against it, his body habitually remembering his taekwondo training, and he tried to push every one of the black-clad soldiers away from him.

He froze as cold, hard metal was shoved against his forehead. Not knowing what else to do, he immediately began crying as panic, that damned high pitched buzz, and fear of what was happening around him swirled together. He felt something cold and hard circle his left wrist and he cried out in pain as his arms were jerked behind his back forcefully, then his right wrist had the same feeling of cold and hard circle it. A scream worked its way out of his throat as his elbow was grabbed in an unforgiving grip, pain radiating from it all the way up to his shoulder. The gun was finally removed from his head, but he was shoved forward by his elbow and he stumbled over his own feet.

The back of his t-shirt was grabbed and he was nearly yanked through the hallway and out of the door, down the short flight of stairs, then nearly thrown into the back of a van. Through the tears, he could see a crowd forming as the neighbors heard the commotion and came to investigate, but the door was quickly shut and he was alone in the dark. He closed his eyes and cautiously felt out with his feet, trying to get an idea of anything around him. He felt the van lurch into motion and he gasped as he slid towards the door, his feet landing solidly against metal.

He heard a slight hissing sound and it felt like his heartbeat had instantly tripled. Opening his eyes, he was still in total darkness, so he couldn’t see what was making the sound. Fear took over and he pulled up his knees to land a solid kick against the door, screaming profanities at whoever had taken him.

His curses grew louder as the van took a corner at speed and he slid across the floor until a thin metal pole stopped his movement. His left arm took the brunt of the impact of his body, pain immediately shooting through him. Grunting as he wiggled up, he finally got to the point where he could grip the bar in his hands. He was able to hold onto the bar through more turns, but his eyes were starting to grow heavy as panic faded and emotional numbness took over. Slipping into unconsciousness was almost a relief.