My day started off as normal as any other. I got up, dressed in my school uniform, and kissed my mother on the cheek as I left. As every other morning, the little neighbor girl waved cheerily to me, her eyes twinkling behind her large rimmed glasses which inevitably magnified her eyes.

She was a cutie. Her rounded cheeks and deep dimples made her look innocent. But, I felt like I was the only one on this planet that knew she was a mastermind at playing tricks, me being her main target. I didn’t mind, it wasn’t like the tricks that Chunji and the others would do to me, just her trying to get me to laugh because she liked it when I was smiling. Apparently, I don’t smile that much.

Even my parents noticed that after I was released from the hospital two months ago that I didn’t leave as much as I did before. I didn’t hang out with my friends as much, but I didn’t tell them the real reason. I knew they would overreact and try to do something about it, which I didn’t want. I just wanted them out of my life.

And it worked. Here I was, alone.

Well, except for the little girl showing me her cool new toy that zaps people when they shake her hand.

Rubbing my palm as the numbing feeling spreads, I grin at her as she runs ahead of me laughing her head off. We were going to the convenience store at the end of our street for our daily vegetable dumpling that she deemed my payment for showing me her inventions which she really just brought from the toy store.

Giving her a small wad of cash, she runs into the store to the lady working behind the counter. From where I stand I can hear her angelic voice asking for two, and as the worker turns away, she looks back at me with her gummy smile and a thumbs up. She moves closer to the counter to pay for our food, as she does, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

Instinctively I shy away from the touch, but I don’t get a chance to turn around to see whoever the person was because a piece of cloth is pulled around my head and roughly tied to where it is covering my mouth. Next, a black sack is thrown over my head, and I’m being pushed forward into a vehicle.

I hear shushed murmurs as I’m shoved into the back most seat, the voices not loud enough for me to register what they are saying. Carefully, somebody takes my hands and before I knew it they are tying my wrists together in front of me. While all of this happens I can’t help but think one thing.

Not again.

Yes, not again.

I had been kidnapped before. It was a week after I had been released from the hospital and I had gone out to go and get something from the store to eat. Seeing as how my parents were already in a different country for a week’s time, I wanted food. Something unhealthy.

Purchasing whatever I could carry, I thanked the man behind the register and walked outside. I didn’t get much further than a block when I was stopped by a mysterious black car. Then, I couldn’t fight back or anything because I was still weak from my injuries. So I went along with what the men ordered me to do. I was thrown inside the trunk and as it slammed shut I swore it would probably be the last time I saw civilization or the light of day for that matter.

It wasn’t.

They had better plans for me. I was persuaded to do their dirty job and transport their drugs for them. They told me they had their eyes on me for a while, but because I had always been hanging out with L.Joe and C.A.P, who, let’s just say were very influential in terms of strength to most of the school’s population, they hadn’t tried anything. Now that I was free I was their new buddy, friend, comrade.

So that’s how I had started my tirade of drug smuggling. Obviously not by choice, and I feared now that they had come back for revenge because of the police incident a few days ago.

I didn’t want to wait to find out, but my fear paralyzed me. The entire vehicle was struck with an eerie silence, and it seemed like we sat like that for quite some time. They must have been getting bored, and one of the people sitting in front of me began speaking lowly to whoever they were sitting next to.

All thoughts stop as I hear an all too familiar voice. Niel? I had heard that voice one too many times asking me to buy this or buy that. From this voice alone I knew who had kidnapped me. Anger surged through my veins, a feeling I hadn’t felt for a good while.

“Mmm!” I hadn’t even realized I had attempted to yell until a muffled sound left me. I felt the seat next to me move and the heavy smell of men’s cologne.

Changjo?

There was no way. They wouldn’t, would they? I didn’t care about anything anymore. I couldn’t be near them. I wasn’t going to fall for their petty tricks and act like everything was fine when it wasn’t. My heart hurt only thinking about all the pain they had put me through.

In an instant I could feel a tear fall down my cheek only to get caught by the bag around my head. It was in that moment that I snapped. All my pent up and newly formed anger formed an ugly beast that needed an escape.

Kicking the seat before me as hard as I could with my feet, a small yelp from Niel echoes throughout the vehicle, but I don’t stop with that. Continuously I kick and pound on the seat as hard as I could. Changjo tries to hold my shoulders back, but I head him, hard.

I can hear him groan, probably holding the place I had hit. Inside I rejoice, but I continue pounding on the seat until I hear C.A.P tell L.Joe to pull over. The car slows drastically, but then picks up speed again as I stop kicking Niel’s seat.

“I can’t stop here,” L.Joe says, distracted. “He can easily just go back!”

Muffled by the gag in my mouth, I yell for them to take me back and that I hated them and other profanities. They don’t listen and I kick the seat and bump against Jonghyun aggressively, desperate for escape. Eventually I lose my energy and curl myself into the corner of the seat, near the window.

Tears fall endlessly down my face, tears of anger and betrayal. It was easier for me if no one noticed me. If people just didn’t care. The past two months had been lonely, but a lonely that I could live with if it meant not having to deal with Chunji and the others. It was like before they were my friends. Loneliness suited me. It was a familiar setting, one nobody should tamper with, or kidnap me from!

They wanted something.

They always did. This was no different. They were going to butter me up and pretend to be all gushy so that I would play their stupid little game once more. But I wouldn’t. I was done, done with them. I’m not gonna fall for it. Not this time.

“Ricky? Would you like me to take the blindfold off?” Changjo asks with such a nice voice it could fool someone into thinking he actually cared for me.

Weakly I throw my foot out and push him into the other side of the vehicle, keeping him as far away as possible. I hear Niel say he will get it, and immediately swing my bound hands to stop him from touching me, but it is too late, he is already grabbing the cloth and removing it from me head.

My heated face feels the cool air instantly and it is a nice change from not being able to breathe, but my eyes are puffy from crying and I know they will laugh at me. I hide my face from the rest of the vehicle, a large van I find out, and try to become as small as possible. That usually worked for bullies, right?

I hear Chunji’s voice and I can’t help but open my eyes to see him leaning to the front of the van, talking to L.Joe and C.A.P about something. I quickly scan the interior, looking for a best possible escape route for when the time was right. L.Joe was driving and Minsoo was in the passenger seat beside him. Niel sat behind L.Joe with Chunji next to him, leaving me to sit and kick Niel’s chair, Changjo next to me.

There was a gap between Chunji and Niel’s seats, making for an easy getaway path for me, less obstacles. The problems that arose were my tied hands and how I would open the door. I glance at Changjo and the younger is staring at me, pity in his eyes. Sending my most repulsive glare, I look back out the window, trying to figure out where I was.

There was lots of nature and trees. My interest was piqued to know where they were taking me. Not saying I would let them get away with kidnapping me, just that we were in the middle of nowhere and if I knew these people—if I thought I knew these people—they weren’t ones for dirt or no service.

I feel fingers touching my neck and realize Changjo was removing whatever was tied around my mouth. I didn’t resist, wanting to tell them off, but Chunji stops him.

“What are you doing?” he asks in bafflement. “Do you really think that is a good idea right now?”

Glaring at Chanhee, I wish that Changjo wouldn’t listen to him for once. Nonetheless, Changjo mumbles something as an apology and pulls away. Kicking the seat in front of me once more, I begin to yell loudly. They ignore me rather well, but I mean, they’ve had quite a bit of practice doing that.

We drive for a long time and I don’t look at the others again, even when they try to see if I was doing alright. Did I look alright? How could I be? I was missing school, which I honestly didn’t care about, but they kidnapped me. People don’t do that. People that deserve to go to jail do.

I feel the van slow down and I refocus on what was outside the window.

Not far away there were two small cabins and just down a hill was a deep blue, freshwater lake. Every direction there were trees and nature for as far as the eye could see. I grind my teeth down on the cloth to calm myself, realizing there was no real escape unless these people were kind enough to bring me back home, which I highly doubt.

I feel a hand on my thigh and I flinch away instinctively. Glaring at Changjo again, the younger tries to help me by removing the tie around my hands, and as soon as they’re off, I reach out and punch him as hard as I can. He winces with a pained gasp, pulling away quickly and leaning into the seat while he holds his bleeding nose.

Tearing off the cloth tied around my mouth, I throw it and watch it hit the back of Minsoo’s head before falling pathetically to the ground. “What the hell? You can’t just kidnap people. Take me back, now.” Yelling furiously, I watch as L.Joe turns off the van and jumps out of the vehicle, Niel following with Changjo shortly behind. Biting my lip, I shake my head in anger and glare at both C.A.P and Chunji.

“I want to go home,” I say angrily. Minsoo shakes his head, glancing at the back of Chunji’s head as the other looks cautiously at me. I still glare, my gaze filled with hatred and disgust while the elder’s is soft and worried. “I’ll call my parents. They’ll come and get me.”

The two don’t move or say anything yet and I grab my phone, only to realize I really didn’t have any service wherever we were. I turn away from them and look out the window, L.Joe and the others standing like lost puppies a little ways away from the van. Rolling my eyes, I kick at Niel’s seat again and shake my head again. “What do you guys want? Money? I don’t carry any on me, so I can’t help you.”

Chunji sighs sadly and shifts in his seat, turning his body back to me. “Ricky, we want you to stop ignoring us. We want to be your friend again.”

“Can’t help you with that either,” I snap coldly as I push myself back into the corner of the van. He doesn’t back down, though, instead turning to C.A.P for help. “Take. Me. Home.”

“Changhyun, we got permission from your parents to take you away for a few days.” The eldest says as he turns to me as well. “They gave us some clothes for you to change into and they don’t expect you back until late tomorrow.”

“Then they will be in for a big surprise!” I shout as I glare, wrapping my arms around myself and trying to make myself smaller. “I don’t care, just take me home! I want to be anywhere but here with you people. You are all disgusting and I hate you. You’ve ruined my life and my trust for any other human being on this planet and I hope you all burn in hell!”

Taking a deep breath after my outburst, I look away as tears burn my eyes. Chunji stares at his hands in his lap and bites his lip, he glances up at me after a second and sighs. “I know you h-hate us, Ricky, but please… Just give us another chance. We really want to make up for everything that we’ve done. We’re sorry… I’m sorry. Please, Changhyun?”

I don’t say anything in response, not believing a word he said. Shaking my head, I stare at the back of the seat before closing my eyes in exhaustion. I wanted to go home. I’d been kidnapped and bound by people I couldn’t stand, and now they won’t let me leave. It wasn’t like I could walk back to the city, especially when I didn’t even know where we were.

Letting out a shaky sigh, Chunji moves out of the van, walking with his head down toward the others before they all make their way up to the cabins. Minsoo looks back at me with a sad look on his face. He opens his mouth, but doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Please just come up to the cabins and listen to us? You don’t have to believe us, just listen.”

Ignoring him, I scoff and curl up to the window, looking outside at the lake as I watch a few ducks swim across the water. Realizing I wouldn’t talk to him, C.A.P gets out of the van as well, shoulders sagging as he walks up the small hill after the others.

I chance a quick glance up the hill before I let out a sob. Covering my face with my arms, I drop my head onto my knees and cry into the fabric. They didn’t want to apologize. They wanted money, or something expensive. They don’t need me. I’m just their plaything. I’m nothing to them. To anyone.

:3 Hi. I hope you like it. I will fix any mistakes later, I just really wanted to get this uploaded for people. Okay... Bye. Oh wait! Please comment... Okay.