Waiting for Taemin I watch the video again, this time thoroughly. Gods, Yoogeun, he looks so small and frightened. He’s not gagged though so he’s probably somewhere far out where nobody can hear him. The camera must be hidden because he’s obviously not aware of being filmed. Instead he’s looking around teary eyed, probably trying to figure out how to escape.

It’s heart-wrenching and I have to force myself to watch the whole thing.

But nothing actually happens and there’s no sound recorded.

Another call is coming in, no ringtone ... it’s Kibum. So the message finally made its way around the globe.

“Why the does nobody ever call me?” he asks and he sounds like a night of booze and smokes but that’s just what I know as his usual lovely morning voice.

I let this go unanswered. Instead I say:

“The others are coming here. Can you make it?”

“Well, I have to, haven’t I”, he answers, “but it’s gonna be tough within 48 hours”, then correcting, “47:15”.

“Do you think this is real?” I ask.

“No”, he says, “it’s unreal”, and hangs up.

Every now and then he irritates me ... to no end.

I hear somebody at the door and Taemin comes in. He looks messy and exhausted, probably coming directly from the studio.

We hug and sit down on our sofa. He automatically grabs the big cushion and squeezes it to his chest like he always did when we were watching TV or just sat together talking.

“So ... what should we do?” he asks and looks at me expectantly.

"I don't know", I say, "I'm not even sure yet that this is really happening."

"I know what you mean", Taemin nods. "I keep looking for cameras and someone telling us what to say and do."

Yeah, maybe we've filmed too many reality-shows. This almost feels like a sick sequel to "Hello Baby" ... “Hello Kidnapper” or something, only that someone forgot to tell us we were doing this. And we're actually on our own. No staff, no manager, no cameras. This is not going to air, ever. Not even as a "behind the scenes" show. We have to do this without script and there's a life on the line.

I show him the video and he curses himself for losing his phone again, because after what Jjong said I'm pretty sure we received different messages and it might be helpful to see all of them. I copy the clip to my notebook and we watch it again on the big screen. Taemin keeps jumping back and forth in the recording. I don't think I've ever seen him that focused on something except while dancing.

But it’s no use there is no hint at all to where Yoogeun is hidden.

“You hungry?” Taemin asks after about an hour of scrutinizing and I realize that my stomach has been growling for quite some time, but I felt it was inappropriate to eat under these circumstances. That’s crap of course.

“Yeah”, I say, “maybe we could order a pizza.”

“Pizza? No chicken?” he grins and I’m really glad, that he’s here.

Different from a year ago our dorm is not as much targeted by sasaeng-fans just because we’re not here very often. So I guess it’s safe to order something.

When the delivery boy arrives Taemin pays at the door and returning to the living-room with pizza and chicken he says with fake frown:

“He didn’t even recognize me. I’m losing my charms.”

“Don’t worry. As long as the girls keep fainting, you’re still hot.”

He wolfs down the family-sized pizza and makes me smile. I always liked to watch him eat. Although he is controlling his weight like we all are, he can eat A LOT and quickly.

Around midnight Jjong calls again. He’s at Narita-Airport waiting for the night-flight back to Seoul. I switch on the speaker to let Taemin listen in.

“I called Kibum”, Jjong says, “he told me there are no flights going out from New York because of the snow.”

Right, I’ve seen it on the news. The whole east-coast has been affected by blizzards. Here in Seoul it’s only freezing cold but dry, typical weather for mid-December.

“Well, if he can’t get here, we’ll have to make do without him”, I say. It’s not like we really need to come together and somehow Kibum’s reaction on the phone was reluctant as if he’d rather not return here right now.

But Jjong impatiently asks: “Didn’t you read the message? We have to deliver the ransom together, all five of us.”

No no no, that wasn’t in the message. What’s he talking about?

“What do you mean?” I ask back, “there is nothing like that in the message I received.” And while saying it I already know that the texts we got weren’t the same either and add “oh .”

“Then he has to find a way”, Taemin ends it quickly.

Yeah, well Kibum. Find a way ... please.