As promised here is the epilogue. I hopefully have tied a couple of lose ends and rounded off the story sufficiently.

Once again thank you very much for helping me finish this, for reading and constructive comments. I really hope I will be able to capture you again some time with another story. :)

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It takes a couple of weeks to sort everything out. We are transferred back to Seoul. They actually take me there in an ambulance because I cannot yet get up. But I rather enjoy it, since it’s quite comfortable, even better than by plane although it takes much longer.

The sad fact that there have been numerous big accidents due to weather conditions on the night of our encounter with the kidnappers helps to keep us out of the headlines. And in the end it’s decided not to make our involvement in the case public at all. The official version is that the kidnappers gave up and one of them committed suicide during the confrontation.

Minho’s, Jjong’s and my injuries are explained with yet another car-crash on that ice-rain-night and it is kept secret that I was actually shot. Apart from that it’s not even a real lie.

The company of course isn’t happy about any of this but we have a well-behavior bonus since we haven’t caused any major trouble before and even the higher-ups like us. Our personal manager-hyung seems genuinely glad to have everybody back more or less in one piece.

The girls are taken into custody but released shortly afterwards since they’re all minors. They will face serious charges though, all of them, including Yoogeun’s ex-babysitter. It might help that in the end they clearly didn’t mean any harm but they will certainly not get away with it.

I feel a bit sorry for them in spite of everything that happened and I understand that it was actually the girl named Haegi who was the driving force in this whole incident. I just hope everything can be settled without greater damage to anybody.

As for the boys; we talk a lot. There is someone with me almost constantly and I’m touched by how much everybody worried about me.

Minho one day mentions the regrets he has and we find out that all of us have lots of those. We’re not dawdling around but just say what’s on our minds which is refreshing. I think we get to know each other really well during the weeks of recovery.

Taemin starts working again right away. And when I finally can leave hospital he keeps me company at the dorm. We develop a routine where we are cooking dinner together almost every night. I really like that a lot and I believe he enjoys it just as much. It even becomes a fix schedule for the rest of the guys too and they join us as often as possible knowing there’s food and company at “home”.

Minho returns to his drama-shooting within two weeks. Instead of covering up his new scar they just add an accident to the storyline. He calls a lot and we form a kakao-group so that we can keep in touch with everybody almost around the clock.

The dorm is warmer now although it’s still winter; it feels like home again.

One night Kibum drops by. After dinner he tells Taemin and me that he rejected the offer to receive psychological support. I’m surprised but he explains:

“I didn’t want them to take the sadness away. This is something I experienced and it is raw and it hurts. But it’s part of my life now and part of who I am. I don’t want to be repaired because I’m not broken, just changed.”

He is right. We’re all changed, but that can also be a good thing, can’t it?

Before he leaves I ask him, what he actually told the Broadway-company in New York with which he was discussing a contract why he had to go back to Korea all of a sudden. He hesitates for a moment, then says:

“Well, I just turned them down.”

“You cancelled the contract?” Taemin asks almost shocked.

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“Actually when I received the kidnapping message I felt incredibly homesick not just for Korea but for you and Yoogeun and old times.”

I know that feeling, but that’s just another thing that can be healed.