(Before you read!: This chapter takes place on the same day, and around the same time as chapter 023, so if you end up getting confused, remember: same day, same-ish time. Now read on!!

"Bam...BamBam- st-stop..."

Yugyeom turned in his bed, eyes furrowed and breathing becoming a harder task in his slumber.

"Put that...down...please..."

His hands were stuck at his sides by some unknown force, clenching and unclenching with the rhythm of his fast-beating heart.

"St-t-top...God, no...no..."

As his alarm began to beep nearby, his whole body shot forward, a loud 'no' leaving his cracked lips. The young boy looked around his room with scared and confused eyes.

"O-oh," Yugyeom mumbled quietly, "it was just that dream again..."

He inspected his room again, and sighed in relief; everything was in its proper place. The brunet then pulled the sheets off his half body, revealing his plain black boxers, and lifted himself off the bed. He looked over at the annoying alarm clock on his nightstand, which he quickly turned off, and saw that the time was exactly seven in the morning; the usual time for him to wake up.

'At least I didn't sleep in this time.'

With a sigh, he got up from his comfortable mattress and started grabbing the articles of his uniform from their place. First was of course his trousers, pulled over his long legs and then secured with his belt. Then went his undershirt, slipped on and buttoned up to his collarbone, followed by the somewhat itchy jacket. Yug looked at himself in his full-length mirror, and smiled at his own charming appearance.

'I should wear this smile to make sure everything looks okay...I don't need BamBam to baby me again.'

As he grabbed his bland tie and started to messily tie it, his mind wandered back to his recurring nightmare. It had been bothering him nonstop after Youngjae was kidnapped; he, Jaebum, Jinyoung and Youngjae were trapped in chains, Mark and Jackson were bleeding and on their knees and BamBam...was holding a gun. It was almost scaring Yugyeom to the point where he couldn't even sleep comfortably at night. Apparently, the fear and the sleep deprivation seemed to show, as BamBam grew more concerned and clingy towards the youngest. As sweet as it was, however, Yug didn't want his hyung to worry about anyone but himself during that time.

Although, he himself was beginning to worry, but not about BamBam. As he was brushing his hair, he was staring back at his bed- at his phone -impatiently. He was waiting for his good morning text from Jaebum, which seemed to be coming much later than usual that morning. These weren’t just normal morning texts; these were uplifting ‘good morning, son!’ texts, which have been more of a traditional thing since he and his fatherly-friend first met. It would always make him feel more happy to go to school, seeing as he would much rather be at home to help his mom.

"I hope he's okay...maybe he's just sleeping in." He said to himself, "He might still be trying to recover over losing Jinyoung...although, he should at least come to school today..."

He sighed with worry, and headed to the restroom across the hall to brush his teeth. It was weird not getting the text that morning; he got one yesterday morning, at the usual time, yet Jaebum didn't go to school. The dream then crossed his mind again, as a sort of idea, but was quickly shaken off.

'No no, that's stupid! It's just a dream; a figment of the imagination.'

Yugyeom looked at himself in the mirror, and nearly groaned at the sight of his eyes; the glint of thoughtfulness at the possibility.

"Then again...Don't they say that dreams can predict the future?" He asked himself doubtfully.

He placed his toothbrush down on the sink and walked back to his room, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. Yug then found himself grabbing his cell phone and unlocking it, as if to check one last time for any new texts. To his dismay, there was no message from 'Father JB', causing the youngster to frown.

"Ah well...I better run by his house after school though, just in case.”

Yugyeom half-heartedly placed his phone in his pants pocket, patting it to assure himself it was quiet, and left his room. When he stepped out to the living room area, right next to it was the kitchen, where his sweet mother was busy making him some breakfast. Yug smiled at her, though she didn’t see it; she was one of the only people that always got him to forget his troubles. He quietly walked into to living room and gave his mother a surprise morning hug, surprising her and earning a small pat on the head with a giggle.

“Good morning, my handsome boy, ready for your waffles.”

“Oh heck yeah! Waffles!~”

_______xOperation Kill This Lovex_______

Riiiiiiiiiing.

The last bell of the school day rang through the many ears in the building, causing a massive uproar of students and teachers. At the end of the raging crowd was Yugyeom and BamBam, arms linked together as they were chatting and ignoring the people in front.

"So, are you gonna walk yourself home again?" BamBam asked worriedly.

"Oh, no," he replied, "I'm planning on going by Jaebum's house first. He hasn't texted me all day, and it's starting to worry me..."

"Ah, then I'm going with you too!"

"Are you sure? Isn't Baby gonna be alone when she gets home?"

"Nah, she won't be lonely. I can just shoot her a quick text that she can hang with her friends for a while."

Yugyeom looked at his friend with an unsure face, but drearily said, "Alright. But promise me you won't try and tackle him- oof!"

He felt himself nearly fall backwards from the sudden impact that occurred, and was about to snap at the stranger, when he looked up and saw that it was none other than Jackson; he looked frightened by something.

"Jackson-hyung? Are you okay?" BamBam asked as he linked his arm back with the younger's.

"Not at the moment." He answered, "A police car is at the front with Mark and Mr. Park. The police officer wants all of us to go with him somewhere."

"What?" Yugyeom felt himself tremble in fear.

"Did something happen? Or...no..."

The trio then began to run to the front of the school, where the vehicle, the officer, Mark and their teacher were all waiting with worried looks on their faces. Mr. Park, who hadn't been teaching all that much since the Jinyoung disappearance, seemed more alarmed and pale than the last time they saw him; more gray hairs seemed to stick out from his dyed locks of hair. Mark, who they'd seen only a couple of hours ago, had the stoic mask on his face again, but his hands seemed to be shaking from where they were standing. Jackson wasted no time in running to his precious Tuan, while the younger boys followed slowly behind.

"Are these the boys, Mister Park?" The officer questioned.

Their teacher nodded and looked at them with a worried smile.

"Boys," he said, "the policeman would like for you all to answer some questions, involving Jaebum."

BamBam looked at the officer in confusion, and uttered, "Jaebum? We were actually about to go by his house to see if he was okay..."

"Well," the uniformed man mumbled, "I'm sorry to break it to you, but your walk would've lead you to nothing."

"Oh no...is he...did he...?" Yugyeom didn't want to hear the answer; he didn't want to believe it.

"Just like the last two cases, Mister Kim..." The officer patted the boy on the shoulder sadly, "I’m afraid that he, too, went missing."

Yugyeom stood there in a state of disbelief; in disapproval of the reality that he was told. The friend he looked up to; the fatherly figure that has helped him grow over the past seven years, was taken from him. His felt himself tremble from this, and his knees weaken beneath him. BamBam was the first to react to this, as he wrapped his arm around Yug's waist to keep him from falling.

“Wh-when was this noticed!?” Yug yelled.

“The parents called us about an hour ago, when they found their son’s cellphone, broken at their front door. To be honest, I find this fishy; never had we been given a clue by the perpetrator themselves for the other two.”

“They’re probably using this one as a sort of warning…”

Everyone looked over at BamBam, shocked by the younger's statement. His face was stoic, almost like a statue, as he stared at them with empty, serious eyes. Yugyeom, who was still in his firm grasped, was the most shocked; he had never heard this hyung speak so gravely.

"What do you mean, Mister Bam?" Park inquired.

"The perpetrator, or perpetrators, couldn't have just decided one day that they were gonna kidnap these students, who just happened to be real closed friends, would they?"

There was an unneeded silence, which was then interfered by Mark's soft, cracking voice.

"There's something, or possibly someone, linked to this madness..."

The officer stared at both of the boys suspiciously, turning his head side-to-side to look them over.

"You both may be onto something..." He said finally, "but, we shouldn't rely on all that if there's no actual proof. I'm going to have to check with the rest of my team about that theory though."

Mark and BamBam nodded simultaneously, eyeing each other as the officer was jolting down his notes. Yugyeom looked at both of his hyungs with confusion; Jackson was too, but looked more at Mark. There was something going on between the two pairs of eyes, not seeming to look away or give any sign of any other emotion besides emptiness. Yug felt the arm around him pull him closer to the Thai boy, almost too much as he felt his lungs get tighter.

"Alrighty boys, thank you for your time. Do any of you need a ride home?"

All four boys shook their heads in response, and as their teacher got into the car with the officer, went on their own ways back home; Mark with Jackson, and Yugyeom with BamBam. Yugyeom was finally able to squirm himself out of his elder's surprisingly strong arm, but then slipped his hand into the other's.

"BamBam..." Yugyeom mumbled, "are you okay? You kind of scared me back there..."

He felt a squeeze in his occupied hand, and was given a light but nervous chuckle in response.

"Thank you for caring, Yugi, but I'm fine. I'm sorry for my behavior; after your reaction to the news, I guess I kind of snapped up a bit inside. It's all just getting to me, I guess."

Yugyeom hummed in response, but he felt himself urging to ask something else; something that was most likely going to poke around his brain for a while.

'BamBam, when you and Mark were talking...why did you sound so guilty?'

_______xOperation Kill This Lovex_______

(Note: Here's another update! I swear though, I'm hurting my own feels right now; poor Yugyeom baby ;-; Poor Mark ;-; poor babies...*ahem* anyways! My writers block is now at its strongest at this point, because I have the next next chapter all figured out, but no clue for the next one so...I'll try and talk to you soon, my lovely pyschopaths! Wish me luck XD