[Jieun]

"Time is closing in on us swiftly thus I do not have the leisure to let any more of you useless roaches spoil this any longer."

"We understand, hyung-nim. What would be your plan right now?"

My eyes fluttered open, expecting to wake up to the morning sunshine streaming in through the windows beside my bed.

Huh?

I am absolutely certain that my eyes were opened but I could not see a thing in front of me. Could the lights be off? I raised my hands wanting to rub my eyes but I found them tightly bound.

This is strange...

And... where is dadd–

"We will make use of her. I think God's with us for he had Jieun befriend her and looks like the rest of them have complete trust in her."

"But isn't she your daughter, hyung-nim?"

"As a daughter she should be doing this for me. I didn't adopt her for no reason. Tch."

My chest prickled, and slowly, I could feel my heart shattering.

Was... that my father's voice? And the other... Secretary Lee?

What the hell am I hearing? Where is this conversation headed? And who had God made me befriend?

My mind swum deep into the seas of confusion as the words spoken by the two men kept appearing, until something clicked and as though the light had been switched on within the darkness, everything seemed to come together.

Oh. It's Sera. I befriended her.

The puzzle pieces inched towards one another and it hit me when they found one another, and the big picture appeared.

They must want Oh Sera.

Feeling strongly that I ought to warn my best friend, I knew I had to get out and I tried to make sense of where I might be. My hands are bound, and when I wriggled my toes, I can feel the still air and the fact that my ankles are tied up as well. Beneath my elbows, I could feel softness and deduced that I could still be on my bed.

So if I couldn't see anything but darkness, I must be blindfolded. Sure enough, I twitched my nose and felt fabric graze the ridge of my nose.

I have to escape. I have to somehow warn Sera of what my fathe– what that man might be planning.

My ears picked up on the sounds of a door opening and the creak that accompanied the movement confirmed my suspicions that I was being held in my room. My fath– that man never got round to fixing the hinges.

Feigning unconsciousness, I felt presence entering the room and my senses tingled, realising that fear was creeping up on me. I knew what came over me when a cold finger slid under my chin and tilted my head upwards.

The voice that whispered next utterly frightened me, raising the hairs on the back of my neck, and I had to will myself to not shudder right there and then.

"You, Kim Jieun, will fall into a deep slumber and shall never wake til you are told to. Your body will be under my command."

The moment he completed his words, I could feel all energy leaving my body. The body that was once heavy before felt completely light, as though the soul of a feather possessed me. However, my eyelids grew heavier and even though I willed them to stay open, despite the darkness not welcoming, they still snapped shut.

I panicked, my eyes not listening to my command and all of a sudden, the same fear crept up to me, washing over my senses and it left me utterly afraid.

"You will be mine, Oh Sera."

Not knowing how long I've stayed in the darkness, my eyes still clamped shut on their own, I began to hallucinate. My ears had picked up on a familiar chatter that rang ever so softly in my head.

The arms that I had wrapped tightly around my legs unravelled themselves and like a visually-impaired being, I tried to figure out my surroundings because I was certain — I am no longer in my room.

The chatter soon grew louder, echoing within my head and creating a rather painful headache since I couldn't figure out where it came from and what it was. With the intense pounding in my head, I continued to feel the surroundings with my outstretched hands.

But nothing met them.

The pounding in my head, accompanied with the incessant and loud chatter sent my senses into overdrive. Not being able to see, I began to grow hysterical; wailing as loudly as I can to overpower the din, and flailing my arms about trying to hit something, anything.

But everything that I did amounted to nothing. The chatter easily overwhelmed my wild cries, and my fingers didn't even graze a single concrete object.

I was trapped, trapped in a place I didn't even know where.

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