The airport was a rare occurrence for Donghae, having a rubbish job and no family or friends abroad meant he found it very hard to ever need to go to the airport. He’d been a few times for holidays with his family when he was younger but never to simply fly to the other side of the country. To him it seemed ridiculous, it might be quicker than going on a drive but surely you wouldn’t want to go through all that stress to be on a plane for as little as forty minutes? But seeing so many people bustling through the airport looking calm and collective made him realise that it was probably the norm for a lot of them. He was still in the dark about where they were actually going to stay, simply that they’d be flying to the southern coast but every time he tried to bring it up he’d be ushered along. Whenever he tried to curiously peer over at families or businessmen Heechul would usually jab him sharply in the ribs to remind him to look down and not make eye contact so he felt like he was being blindly dragged through a packed building of excited voices and automated systems.

 They’d only just gotten past security when there flight was called and they had to walk to a gate, all the while Kyuhyun seemed to be assigned look out as he walking behind them with a constant eye out for anything suspicious.

If Donghae thought going on a plane for forty minutes was ridiculous he thought going on a plane for forty minutes while being in first class was even more pointless. As he was shown his spot with a TV and a reclining seat he doubtfully sat down, you couldn’t even watch one of the movies available as you wouldn’t have time to finish it. Hyukjae collapsed next to him, looking drained.

“You alright?” this time it was Donghae turn to do the consoling.

“Yeah just…exhausted” he shut his eyes and yawned but Heechul who was sitting in the row adjacent to theirs leaned in and poked Hyukjae In the head.

“You can’t go to sleep!” he ordered “if you see anyone that you think might be onto us you’ve got to text me ok? Don’t say anything out loud” he glanced at Donghae to see if his message had been well received “good. Now stay alert”

The plane ride was luckily, completely uneventful and nobody left their seat. The only problem was Heechul, as if he thought either of them was going to drift off to sleep would either hit them or hiss into their ear. Though Donghae did notice, with disdain that Heechul let Kyuhyun sleep through the entire flight.

 When they landed it was back to eyes down and hurrying everywhere, Heechul didn’t allow them to catch a taxi but instead insisted on getting on the bus which was rickety and falling apart at the hinges. Donghae wasn’t sure where they were but the buildings seemed to be disappearing rapidly while vegetation and forests seemed to be emerging. Eventually they were driving down narrow roads and branches were scratching against the bus windows. It took them to a sea side village which had snug houses tucked into the cliff with only one or two shops and a desolate beach. They got off and finally Donghae felt that he could ask where they were actually staying.

“My sister’s house, she owns a farm here with her husband. It’s up on that cliff” Heechul pointed to a narrow sloping track that led up a steep cliff shrouded in bushes and trees. The walk seemed longer than it probably was due to the steep gradient and uneven footpath which caused Donghae to stumble several times. He didn’t have time to turn around and admire the view as Heechul consistently ploughed on.

 After a long twenty five minutes they reached an actual field and a path made out of concrete, they warily strolled along it with the sight of a farm in the distance lifting their spirits. As they were approaching the door a women appeared and embraced Heechul who seemed to squirm away.

“Hello” she beamed “I hear you want a place to stay? Come on in, I hope it won’t be too much of a bother but I’ve only got two spare bedrooms so you’ll have to pare up. I’m Heejin by the way I’m guessing Heechul probably hasn’t told you a lot about me?” she led them into a cosy kitchen. By Donghae’s standard the house was idyllic; it looked like it belonged in a movie with the patterned curtains and all wooden furniture with a crackling fire in the corner.

“Do you want anything to drink?” she asked, after Heechul received a tea and the rest went for water she showed them their rooms which were just as cosy and snug as the kitchen.

“I’ll leave you here to unpack for a bit, my husband will be back soon with some groceries.” She turned and headed back downstairs allowing Donghae to collapse into his head while Hyukjae quickly followed suit.

“We don’t really have anything to unpack” muttered Donghae, wondering if Heejin was being sarcastic, maybe she had aimed it at Kyuhyun and Heechul who as they’d been given fare warning of this adventure had had time to bring a few essentials. Instead Donghae and Hyukjae turned their attention to the window which faced the direction of the sea and the village which they could glimpse below.

“It’s a nice village” Hyukjae said, trying to make light of the situation, Donghae only shrugged, there situation didn’t seem to allow time to admire their surroundings.

“Do you think they actually sell clothes and stuff like that down there?” Donghae asked doubtfully, when they’d strolled past the shops one of them looking like a small grocery store and the other looked quite touristy with a rack of postcards next to the door.

“We’ll have to find out won’t we? Anyway I’m sure Heejin will take us to the nearest town if they don’t.”

“I haven’t called work yet to let them know I won’t be in today” despite their predicament right now that had been the biggest thing on Donghae’s mind. His boss hated when they cancelled their shifts at the last minute “will we ever be able to return home? Will the K.X Group be chasing us for the rest of our lives?”

 Hyukjae remained focussed on the view outside but he seemed in deep thought.

“I don’t know” he sighed

“Oh.” Donghae responded glumly, well that was helpful.

“Hyukjae why exactly are the K.X Group annoyed with you?” the burning question was about to be answered.

“It’s a long story”

“We’re going to be staying here for ages by the looks of It, I’ve got time”  

Hyukjae looked like he was just about to divulge the tale when raised voices alerted them to Heechul and Kyuhyun’s room. Hyukjae held his finger to his lips and they approached their shut door and leaned in. All the wall and doors in this house seemed to be very thick and they could only here muffled words. Heechul and Kyuhyun seemed to be going at each other’s throat.

“How…stay…Donghae…” they could only hear a few of Kyuhyun’s word but to their surprise Heechul’s voice returned a lot louder and clearer.

“Look! I didn’t ask you to come along for the ride! You can leave if you want!”

“No…organised…supplies” Kyuhyun’s voice retorted but sounded more hurt than angry

“Fine! Come back when you’ve decided to stop being such a !” Heechul yelled and Hyukjae grabbed Donghae pulling him back into their room as seconds later the door opened and Kyuhyun stormed out. The sight of him looking distraught and slightly teary shocked Donghae who had only ever seen his friend look sarcastic and annoyed, Kyuhyun disappeared down the stairs and they turned their attention back to the shut door.

“Should we knock?” Donghae whispered

“Maybe not. We know how Heechul can be, he’ll probably take it out on us” Hyukjae said, quietly shutting their bedroom door and returning to their beds. But just as they were sitting down their door slammed open, causing Donghae to slip from his bed in fright. Heechul appeared looking raged and ready to murder anything that moved.

“That idiot!” he yelled, he was furiously pacing up and down their room, looking like he might break something. “I didn’t ask him to come! He even volunteered! And then he starts being an idiot about it! He didn’t even say anything how was I meant to know?! I hope he gets hit by a bus!”

 Hyukjae had seen Heechul have these episodes before where he seemed to be in a uncontrollable fit of rage, but usually it had involved alcohol and it had never been because of his best friend. Donghae was anxious to ask what had actually gone down in their bedroom in such a short space of time but he felt it wasn’t exactly the right moment.

 They let Heechul continue on ranting until he seemed to have let of some steam and was ready to compose himself as he sat glumly on Hyukjae’s bed.

“Where has Kyuhyun gone?” Hyukjae asked tentatively.

“To get some supplies from the village shop” Heechul abruptly stood up “he said he wish he hadn’t come with me” Donghae was relieved that hadn’t had to ask what Kyuhyun had said.

“…why?” Donghae asked

“He said he didn’t want to run around for the rest of his life trying not to get killed. I guess he had a point. But then he said that I was stupid for taking us here when it would be easy to get corned when one side was the sea.” Again Heechul seemed to accept the point his friend had made but still anxiously put his hand through his hair. “Maybe he’ll met Heejin’s husband down there and he can get a lift back”

 At first they didn’t notice the minutes tick by, it had taken half an hour to walk up to the farm from the village anyway but once it had passed the one hour forty five minute mark Heechul confronted his sister.

“It couldn’t have taken him this long! Can we use your car to go and look for him?” but Heejin shook her head and also worryingly glanced at the clock.

“No, my husband’s using it but he should really be back by now as well. He actually went to the local town but still that only takes half an hour to get to and he’s been gone for three and a half hours…” her voice trailed off but her eyes lifted as they all heard a car roll up to the drive way. They raced to the door and all four of them piled out into the evening dusk. Heejin let out a small gasp as she saw her husband sitting at the wheel with a bloody nose and a bruised face.

“Oh my god! What happened?” she helped him out the car and mopped at his face

“There was a punch up at the village shop. I spotted it when I was on my way back from the town.” He barely seemed to notice the three new arrivals but at his words a sick feeling entered Donghae’s stomach. Heejin also seemed to sense the unease as she asked who was involved in this punch up.

“I don’t know…this group of men all with the same tattoo on their necks and this younger lad. He was quite tall with brown hair I think they mentioned his name a few times…Kyuhyun or something?”

 Heechul seemed to freeze up as all colour drained from his face.

“What happened to him?” Heejin hastily asked.

“Well as you can see I tried to stop it” he said gesturing to his wounds “but then several of them took our knives and threatened to slit my throat, all quite violent so as soon as I stepped back they grabbed the boy and threw him into the back of their van. Poor lad, I called the police but I don’t know if they’ll be able to do anything about it, he might be face down in a river by now” a half gasping, half shrieking sound escaped Heechul as he staggered backwards and his breathing rapidly increased.

“You three take the car and go and look for him” Heejin urged, throwing Hyukjae the car keys as Donghae led Heechul over to the car. They all seemed in a state of shock and Heejin’s husband was still jabbering on, only now realising that the boy might have been their acquaintance.

“Don’t worry I’m sure he’s fine” Hyukjae said reassuringly as he started to spin the car around and head down the road, hoping the only way it lead was down to the village. Donghae tried to console Heechul who seemed paralysed with fear.

“But…you know their technique right?” Heechul hoarsely whispered “if they can’t find you…if they can’t kill you. They start hunting down your family and friends…getting rid of them one by one…”

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A/N: thank you for the comments so far! ^^ They're always welcome :) I know I said i'd update once a month but i couldn't wait!