The property was wide and secluded and as soon as the car stopped, Taemin wondered whether he would even be able to make it near the main road before getting caught, had he the chance to flee. It was of no use to think he could be as fast and agile as usual in his current situation and he found himself momentarily regretting his condition. If only the timing of his pregnancy hadn't been so bad.

The anguish he'd been feeling only seemed enhanced at the thought. He'd never imagined he'd find himself having such thoughts, yet couldn't deny how accurate they were. If he hadn't been expecting, so many things could've happened differently, like how he'd ended up at her mercy, for example.

He felt a lump form in his throat as the guilt for thinking that way invaded him. His child had nothing to do with the mess he'd gotten himself in and he had to it up. But it felt so powerless in that situation... It was like he was back to being the defenseless boy that had happened to fall into the cruel underworld business. The boy he'd fought so hard to decimate and whom he hated more than anything.

The door of the car was opened and his kidnapper reached inside to seize his cuffed hands and pull him outside of the vehicle.

With much difficulty, the raven head had to comply and as he stood by the car the kidnapper started pulling him inside the imposing mansion.

He counted each step he took, watching his surroundings carefully; trying to build markers in his mind of potential ways for him to escape. Yet, the little voice in the back of his mind kept nagging at him and he tried his best to ignore the plaguing thoughts. There was only one reason why he was being allowed to see where he was going and that was because they didn't plan on letting him out alive. Because they were more than sure he would be unable to escape.

After a while of walking throughout the long corridors of the apparently empty mansion, he was pushed inside an elevator that felt misplaced in the traditional house. He clenched his jaw as the doors slid closed and his kidnapper pressed a button, the metal box starting its course downwards.

The minute they stayed there felt like an eternity to him but he felt even more anxious as the box stopped and the doors opened to reveal an all-white corridor extending itself before him. His kidnapper pushed him once more, and guided him along the hallway.

There were three doors there, one in the middle of the hallway and two others at the end of it, side by side. He was guided to the one on the right and watched as the other man pressed a magnetic key against the lock and heard it click before the door was pulled open.

"Inside." The man barked at him and he complied, entering the white room.

As soon as he was inside, the handcuffs were taken off him and the door beeped closed.

Swallowing back the lump in his throat, he looked around.

"Taemin?"

Surprised at hearing that voice there, he felt his heart race as he turned around only to see his brother sat on a bed, at the other side of a glass that separated the room he was in and the one Kibum occupied.

"Hyung?" His voice barely came out. "What... what are you doing here? How-"

Then his eyes fell on the sleeping child Kibum was holding and his heart sank.

"They... took her too..."

Kibum was glaring at him.

"This is all your fault." He spat. "Neither of this would have happened if you hadn't come back..."

"I'm so sorry hyung... I never meant for any of this to happen..."

"But it happened." The blond retorted, his voice full of anger. "I swear to God Lee Taemin, if they so much as touch a strand of Chanmi's hair, I'm killing you."

The raven head cast his eyes down, fearing how genuine the threat sounded. His brother had never looked at him with so much hatred before and he knew that look wouldn't go away so easily.

He'd done so much, anything in his power to push the elder away and avoid this kind of situation and in the end, had failed at his task, losing along the way the only person of his birth family to have never given up on him.

"When Jonghyun finds us-"

"He won't find us." The raven head interrupted the elder. "These people aren't the kind of people Jonghyun is used to chasing... they know how to erase their traces."

"Bull." The blond shot back. "He's the best detective of the country. He will find a way."

Taemin could only press his lips in a tight line. The truth was, he could only hope his brother was right. Or their only option would be to rot there as she decided when to end them.

“How long have you been here?” he asked, looking around him, only to see the room he was in was the exact replica of his brother's.

All white, a single bed pushed against the wall opposing the glass, a toilet on the far back and a door without a handle or lock.

“A few hours.” Kibum answered. “I was picking Chanmi up from daycare... and this man was inside of my car...”

“Did they hurt you?” he asked, with worry.

“Not yet.” Kibum replied, his voice exuding anger.

Taemin nodded numbly, not sure of what to say next. He wished he could assure his brother they would be fine, that they'd be freed and so on; but he knew better than to give false hopes. The first time he'd been captured, he knew his husband would come for him; but now, Minho had no idea of the danger he was under and he could only blame himself for the elder's ignorance.

Supporting his belly with a hand he went to sit on the bed and stayed there, looking at the floor, unable to meet the attentive gaze his brother was casting upon him.

“Who are these people Taemin?” the elder asked as his silence was prolonged. “What do they want?”

The raven head sighed.

“They're from a branch of the Yeonghwan clan; long time rivals of Jade Dragon.” he replied.

Kibum just stared at his brother waiting for him to go on, but the younger said nothing else, his trembling arms cradling protectively his round belly. He felt his heart sink at the sight, but found himself fighting the emotion, refusing to let his brother get to him.

“What do they want? Why are we here?” he insisted.

Taemin let out a small breath.

“They probably just want to use you as leverage...” he said. “You'll most probably get out of here soon.”

“What about you?”

Kibum was almost afraid to ask.

Taemin's face contorted slightly as he looked back up at his brother.

“Don't worry about me.” he said.

“It's you hiding things that got us here in the first place Taemin.” The blond accused. “Don't you think it's passed time you started speaking?!”

Taemin clenched his jaw.

“I don't think I'll leave, hyung.” he said.

Kibum frowned, the idea of his brother saying there far from pleasant.

“Why do you say that...?”

Taemin sighed.

“Because it's me they really want.” he replied. “They don't plan on releasing me.”

“Why?” Kibum's voice got a pitch higher as he stared intently at his brother, a frown making its way between his eyebrows. “What have you done?!”

The accusation was clear and the younger felt himself deflate further. Nothing he could say or do would ever change the way his brother was seeing him and to be honest, he couldn't say he didn't understand that. The elder had always put too much trust on him, imagining him inside some kind of cocoon, just a victim, when in reality he'd ceased being one for a long time to become one of the culprits. And he knew that breaking the blind trust his brother had in him had definitely decimated any remaining hope for the elder to forgive him.

“A few months ago,” he spoke after a while, deciding there was no use hiding things anymore. “my mother-in-law was informed Oroborus, the branch I told you about, were preparing an attack on my clan. She assigned me a mission to investigate the rumors and put an end to them were they revealed to be truth.”

The memories of the things he did at that time had him grimacing slightly and looking down, ashamed of his acts.

“Turns out their plans were already concrete enough as they had predicted that outcome... Two months later, I had to go back and... tie some loose ends.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kibum asked, though his tone of voice clearly showed he already had an idea of what his brother's words really meant.

“Killing people.” Taemin answered anyway. “That's what I do best. And though it all was to protect my family... I can't pretend to justify what I did.”

“You're a monster.”

Taemin chuckled humorlessly at that, trying not to show his brother just how much that title hurt him.

“I know.” he said instead. “And that's why I'm here right now. These people want things from me and they'll have them, no matter the ways they have to employ. That's why I'm not leaving. And even if I find a way out... first, I have to make sure they can't harm my family... not anymore.”

To be honest, Taemin himself wasn't sure of his words. It was true he doubted he'd make it out of there alive and even though the idea that he was probably also condemning his own child with his decisions was unbearable, he knew his choices were limited, if he had any at all.

“It's over for me hyung.” he said, looking back up at his brother. “But I promise I'll do anything I can to get you and Chanmi out of here.”

“Tae–”

The beeping of the door interrupted Kibum and both of them snapped their heads in the direction of the door only to see a woman come in, her long light-brown hair falling over her shoulders and a snide smirk on her red lips.

“Hi there Taeminnie.”

~ Three Months Ago ~

Taemin unlocked his car and got inside the vehicle, yet as soon as he was in he noticed something strange about the vehicle and just as he was about to get off, something cool and wet was pressed against his nose and mouth, pressing him back against the back of the seat.

He quickly recognized the smell of chloroform, strong and intoxicating and just a few seconds after having inhaled it, he felt consciousness slipping away from him.

When he woke up, he was attached to a metal chair in a dark room, much like the one he'd seen Minho use for interrogations.

Still slightly out of it, he let his unfocused eyes scan the room for anything that could help explain his current situation.

"You're awake."

He could swear he'd heard that voice before, yet couldn't quite remember where. As his eyes finally regained full sight and fell on the feminine figure walking in his direction, a frown made his way onto his face.

"Hyejeong?" His groggy voice barely came out. "What... what's going on?"

The woman just smiled with fake sweetness at him as she stopped right in front of him.

"What do you think is going on Taeminnie?"

Something was off about her demeanor. It was as if something about her had changed.

"Is this some prank you're playing on me?" He asked as his inner-self told him not to let his guard down.

Hyejeong had become a very good friend of his throughout the years and while he appreciated her, he had never truly been able to trust her. He'd never understood why though and figured it might have something to do with the things he knew about her family, which had pushed him to ignore his reservations about her.

"Your conception of pranks is rather extreme, don't you think?"

"What the hell is this then?"

A slap to the face answered his question and he felt his head snap to the side. The stinging lasted for a few moments only and the pain was far from unbearable. Still, Taemin found himself scowling at the woman.

"Watch your language bastard."

The man chuckled darkly at that.

"Do you really want to talk about who's the bastard here?"

He knew that to bring up her affiliation would set her off, but he couldn't care less, there were no friends in this life and apparently for him to understand that, he had to find himself in his current situation.

Another blow and he was spitting blood at her expensive boots.

"What do you want Hyejeong?" He asked, never letting go of his detached act. "Surely it isn't just throwing hits at me, is it?"

She smirked at him.

"No it isn't, even if I take much pleasure in it."

The raven head snorted.

"You know Taeminnie," Hyejeong spoke as she walked around and stopped behind him, leaning forward and talking near his ear. "I never liked you. You used to be such a , always relying on Minho for everything..."

It was Taemin's turn to smirk. "Am I supposed to get sad and cry?"

"Shut up." She slapped his head forward and he grit his teeth in anger. "As I was saying... you always waited for Minho to solve your problems: your sister's murderers, your kidnappers, even Mrs. Choi's tests… Who would've imagined little defenseless Taeminnie would become the feared Phantom?”

He scoffed at the title. It had never really pleased him to be referred to as that, but his discretion during his kills were bound to bring him a reputation and he rather be known as some kind of ghost making justice, than to have his identity be exposed in the bright daylight.

"It took me a while to figure out who you were...” Hyejeong went on. “but when you started striking on the men from Oroborus, exactly at the moment our plans were getting out of the paper; I knew it had to be someone from Jade Dragon. Imagine my surprise when I discovered you had been working in the shadows for Mrs. Choi for so long... suddenly, little Taeminnie wasn't as defenseless anymore..."

*

Minho watched with a deep frown as Jinki entered the mansion, followed by Chanyeol, the boys and three strangers. He'd been bossing people around since the news of Taemin's situation had been broken to him and his mood was so fool, no one even dared question his sometimes absurd orders.

By noon, he already had all the branches of the clan across the country, in Japan and China mobilized and searching for clues about his husband. And the fact he knew he could've done that three months earlier, when the younger male had first gone missing, only had him angrier at himself because he knew could've prevented things from getting to such a point and his anger was reflected by his short and explosive temper.

“What took you so long?” he asked his cousin as the older male approached him with his companions. “And who are these people?”

Jinki looked rather conflicted at first, but then turned around to motion the strangers to come forward.

“These are Lee Taejeon and Lee Misook, Taemin's parents” the elder showed the coupled before motioning a brunet male. “and this is Kim Jonghyun, his brother-in-law.”

Taken aback by the sudden introduction to his in-laws, Minho had to think twice before reacting and bowing to the Lee's. He then sent his cousin a questioning gaze and the elder sighed.

“Some things happened in Daegu Min, and Mr. Kim has some interesting things to share with you.” he said.

“I have good reasons to think whoever took Taemin, has my husband and daughter too.” Jonghyun suddenly spoke, stepping closer to the taller male.

Minho assessed the other, not really sure of how to react.

"What makes you think that?" he asked after a few seconds.

"A few days ago, we received threats that mentioned making Taemin learn his rightful place for breaking the rules." the shorter male replied.

"Rules?" Minho asked. “What rules?”

"I have no idea.”

Frustrated, Minho ran a hand through his hair and his eyes locked with those of his mother-in-law. She was staring at him with such a hard expression, he wasn't sure how to react to it.

“Mrs. Lee...” he then looked at Taemin's father. “Mr. Lee... I know this isn't the best of ways for us to be meeting for the first time and I apologize. I promise I will bring your sons back and make up for the trouble.”

“You turned my son into a criminal.” Misook accused, giving no regards to his words.

“Eomeoni–”

The woman just threw a severe gaze at Jonghyun before looking back at Minho.

“Is it true? That you made him kill people?”

Bewildered, Minho was at a loss for words. It was true he had, unfortunately let Taemin end the lives of his assaulters, years ago, but never had he made the younger kill just for the hell of it. He couldn't tell Mrs. Lee that however, because in a way, he'd known what would happen when he'd let his husband confront the two scums, and so he'd let him kill them.

So he didn't answer and instead chose to lower his head in shame. No matter how much he'd tried to shelter his husband from the life they led after the happenings, he knew nothing could erase the blood he'd let splatter on the other's hands.

“Eomeoni, this is not the time. Please.”

It was Jonghyun who spoke, afraid his mother-in-law's behavior might cause trouble. He'd dealt with many criminals before, but never directly with a mafia head and he feared the man could be set off my the smallest of things.

“Jinki,” Minho spoke, looking at his cousin. “please, have someone the Lee's to a room and make sure they are tended to properly, they must be tired from the trip. Mr. Kim, I would like to exchange with you.”

“I'm not going anywhere,” Taejeon talked for the first time since he'd gotten there. “my sons and grandchildren are in danger because of you and I want to be there to make sure you find them.”

“Abeoji-”

“Of course Mr. Lee,” Minho interrupted Jonghyun. “I just assumed you would like to rest after your trip.”

“I don't need rest, just find my sons.”

Minho clenched his jaw, not sure if he could take any more bossing around. Still, he found himself nodding, a part of him unwilling to worsen things between him and his in-laws.

Besides, he had no time to deal with that for now. His priority was to save his husband from whatever danger he was in.

*

“Tae... are you alright?”

Kibum was standing in front of the glass separating the room, Chanmi was sat on the bed, her little face confused as she looked around the strange place.

The blond male was looking at his brother's figure laying on the bed with his back to him. The previous night, when that woman had entered the room, Kibum had never felt so powerless.

He'd had to watch her mistreat his brother as the younger just stared defiantly at her without saying a word. Kibum wasn't sure if he understood the situation. The way she talked to his brother like they were close friends, the way the raven head watched her with hate and all the threats she shot at him, it was all too confusing.

And when she'd turned to look at him, the smirk on her face sent shivers down his spine and he wondered how it was possible for someone so twisted to exist.

“Kibum... you must be so confused dear...” she smiled sweetly at him. “Don't worry, you're role in this is mini-”

“Leave him out of this.” Taemin said, pushing himself up from his spot on the bed.

“You shut up.” she'd barked at the raven head, pushing him back and forcing him to fall back on the mattress before reaching out to grasp his hair, making Taemin grimace slightly. “Your dear brother needs to know some truths about you, don't you think? After all, he's in this mess because of you.”

“Don't you dare.”

There, Kibum didn't know what to say. The way his brother's voice wavered at the perspective of the woman revealing anything had him torn between listening and refusing to. He looked at his daughter who was still asleep in his arms, glad she wasn't seeing the scene unfolding.

“Why? He already hates your guts, a little more playing with the wound won't change anything.”

The blond pressed his lips in a tight line, not sure to how extent the woman's words were true.

“Did you know Kibum,” she spoke again, looking back at him. “that your brother was a little before he met his precious Minho?”

She laughed at his stunned expression. “Little used to sell his body. But that wasn't the only thing he sold. He did drugs too... he screwed so many people's lives...”

“Shut up Hyejeong.” Taemin's ton was full of hate and a hint of shame.

He was glaring at the woman and Kibum could only stare in shock, unable to believe the things he was hearing.

“A , dealer and murderer...” she faked an impressed expression. “That's an impressive resume he has, don't you think? Do you know how people call him in the underworld?”

Taemin tried freeing himself only to receive a blow to the head and collapsing on the bed with a painful grunt before Hyejeong reached for his hair again, forcing his head up. Kibum winced at the sight, his heart clenching in his chest.

“Will you be quiet? I'm telling a story here.”

But Taemin wasn't even looking at her anymore, his eyes cast down as he waited for her to keep talking about his life.

“They call him the Phantom Killer...” she said. “There's no counting of how many lives he took...”

Hyejeong's expression then morphed from contempt to anger as she looked back at the raven head and pulled his hair back, forcing his head up in an odd way.

“Including my mother's...” she said, her voice full of hatred. “and my fiance's.”

Kibum held in his breath as he watched the woman pull his brother's head further back, earning a grunt from the younger.

“And he's going to pay for that...” she said, voice full of venom. “We had a deal Taeminnie, remember? But you Jade Dragon ers seem not to be able to follow rules... that's a shame... I was really looking forward to having you, but I have a better idea now...”

She smiled before letting go of Taemin's hair with violence, leaving the raven head to fall back on the bed with a pained expression.

“Look forward to it.” she said before looking back at Kibum. “If you are good Kibum, I promise you and your daughter will get out of here soon. Just don't piss me off.”

With these words, she left the room. Leaving the blond to stare as his brother wiped off the blood from his nose and difficultly turned around in the bed, his back facing him.

Kibum had found no words to say after the happenings, so he'd stayed put, holding his daughter until he dozed off too, his sleep troubled by his brother's faint sobbing. When he'd woken up, he'd found Chanmi looking at him with a scared expression and his brother on the other room, in the same position he'd last seen him.

“Taemin, are you awake?” he insisted as he got no answer for his first question.

“Don't worry about me, take care of your daughter.” came out a strained voice.

“But you're hurt...”

“I'm fine.”

Kibum sighed at his brother's stubbornness but decided he wouldn't let it get to him anymore.

“Is it true? What she said?” he asked.

“Yes, all of it. And I know, I'm a monster. Leave me alone now, alright? You heard her, if you obey you and Chanmi will be fine.”

“Why did you kill her mother and fiance?” Kibum asked, ignoring the younger's words.

Taemin closed his eyes, feeling tears swell in them once again. He held onto his belly, wishing all of that to be just a nightmare, but he knew better and the thought only made things worse.

“Tae?”

“I was ordered to.” he answered simply.

When he'd pulled the trigger at that time, he'd been far from imagining the woman he was killing was Hyejeong's mother, not that it excused anything, he conceded. The fact was, he'd been given orders and he'd followed them, just like the little soldier he'd learnt to be.

When he'd discovered Jung Yeonmi had been Shin Myungsik's mistress and had consequently mothered his only child, there was no expressing of his surprise. He hadn't imagined that Hyejeong kept in contact with the woman, who'd been off the hook since she'd given birth to her. Even less that she'd gone as far as becoming partners with the woman whose clan had always been her family's biggest rival.

~ Three Months Ago ~

“I thought Anubis and Oroborus were enemies.” Taemin said, trying to ignore the throbbing on his temple.

Hyejeong smiled at him, though it came out more like a snarl. She leaned forward and grabbed him by the collar and he clenched his fists, frustrated for being unable to get out of the cuffs retraining his hands on his back.

“That's the thing Taeminnie,” she spoke, near his ear. “we all know how Jade Dragon and Yeonghwan are the biggest rivals out there. Have you heard of 'my enemies' enemies are my friends'? Oroborus and Anubis were reunited by that exactly.”

She straightened herself and crossed her arms before her chest.

“Tell me, Tae... do you know why your dear Minho hates my father so much?”

The raven head frowned. Shin Myungsik had for a long time been suspected of selling information regarding the transaction that had resulted in Mr. Choi's death to the Yeonghwan clan. Though the actual killer had never been caught and Shin's involvement never been proven, the relationship between Anubis and Jade Dragon had suffered a lot from the happenings. He knew for a fact Goeun had never given up on finding the truth behind her husband's murder and had only kept a close relationship with Shin to spy on him and eventually be able to find something that could either definitely incriminate him or prove his innocence.

Minho had inherited that will and, while nothing had ever been found, the elder had never been able to actually stand Shin. Even letting his friendship with Hyejeong be caught in the turmoil.

“I take your silence for a yes.” the woman said, stepping back. “Well let me tell you, my father did sell this information. Want to know why? Because Mr. Choi was a man who didn't measure his actions. He was going to screw us and my father decided he'd screw Choi first.”

The contempt that could be seen on her face made his stomach churn. That woman was sicker than he imagined.

“And you're telling me all of this out of courtesy I imagine?” he asked, looking at her defiantly. “Because you know very well Minho will know of this, right?”

She outright laughed at that.

“No, he won't...” she retorted with a sweet and yet condescending tone. “Because if you say anything, I'll make sure your hubby learns of your undercover work for your dear mother-in-law and of your implication in the plans Oroborus has against Jade Dragon.”

“What?!”

Her words had Taemin thinking she was completely mental.

“Oh... you didn't know?” she faked surprise. “Taeminnie, you're an important part of our plan to destroy your dear family... and whether you like it or not, you're going to do it.”

“You're insane.”

~ Present Day ~

Jongin sat at the meeting table, watching with curiosity as Minho and Jonghyun discussed the things they knew about their husbands' kidnappers. He felt conflicted, not sure if he was to stay put and wait to see things unfold, or say all the things he knew, no matter how insignificant they could appear to be.

He had to admit a part of himself feared what the second option presented to him implied. There were things he knew Minho would take very badly, even more so, considering how long Jongin had been hiding them and who they referred to.

“Jongin.” Sehun whispered, as he leaned slightly towards him. “What's wrong? You look like grandma just gave you a mission.”

Surprised at the sudden words directed at him and the elder hesitated a little before shaking his head at his brother.

“It's nothing.” he evaded.

Sehun looked unconvinced but didn't press on the matter, instead choosing to focus his attention on the men talking in front of them.

“But this guy's name has never even appeared in my searches!” Jonghyun exclaimed, obviously frustrated with Minho's stubbornness.

“I'm telling you, Kwon Kijoo is involved in this.” the taller male argued, tapping his index on the files displayed on the meeting table in an adamant way.

“How can you be so sure?!”

“I have my sources! He's been attacking the members of the clan for a while... I knew it was only a matter of time before he went for someone bigger.”

“And you didn't do anything?! Even knowing Tae was out there unprotected?!”

Jongin grimaced as he saw Minho's face darken at Jonghyun's obvious accusation. He exchanged a look with Sehun and the younger seemed to be thinking just the same as him.

“Hyung,” the younger of the two addressed Minho, taking their mentor's attention from his brother-in-law. “I thought you'd already investigated Kwon and it didn't lead you anywhere...”

Minho sighed.

“Anubis has more information on them.” he told the younger. “But this isn't a matter for you boys to be worrying about. Why do you go with Jinri to the company, you'll be of more help there.”

Jongin shook his head.

“No,” he protested. “we can help find hyung... I... I have something to tell you... I don't know if it's of any use and you'll be mad... but I need to tell you.”

“Jongin...”

Goeun, who'd been sitting there in silence the whole time was now staring at the boy with a warning in her eyes. But the nineteen year-old wouldn't let himself be intimidated by that right then.

“I'm sorry grandma,” he said. “but he needs to know.”

“What the hell more are you hiding from me?” Minho asked, his voice low and threatening.

“A few days before he went missing,” Jongin spoke, ignoring the glare Goeun was sending his way. “I tracked hyung down, like you said I should when he'd leave mysteriously... I lost track of him for a while, but when I found his car downtown... he was inside, passed out and hurt.”

“What!?” Minho exclaimed, raising from his chair and making Jongin flinch at the violence of the movement.

But the glare in the elder's eyes wasn't directed at him but at Goeun.

“One of your tests again I presume?”

Goeun grit her teeth.

“No.” she denied. “For once, I had nothing to do with it.”

Minho hitting his fist on the meeting table had everyone in the room jolting slightly in surprise. His own in-laws staring at him in fright.

“Don't you lie to me!” he raged. “Mother, I told you countless times to leave him alone, but you never listened. He was hurt because of you and I swear if what's happening right now has anything to do with you–”

“You'll disown me? Kill me?” Goeun interrupted. “Believe it or not Minho, but Taemin is important for me too. I never put him through a situation I wasn't sure he could get out of. The proof is, he always got back safe and sound.”

“Except that time.”

“Hyung,” Jongin called, bringing the attention back to him. “grandma just helped hide it...”

Minho sighed heavily before turning his gaze back to the younger.

“Why didn't you tell me Jongin? Don't you know the only reason I put you to this was to prevent this kind of situation?!”

The boy cast his eyes down.

“I'm sorry... I just... he said if I told you, things would get worse... that he'd deal with it on his own... he never said who did it to him but now I'm afraid it's the same people who have him now. It never even crossed my mind when he left...”

Minho just glared harder at the boy.

“Get out of here.”

“Bu–”

“Unless you have anything else I should know, you better get out of my sight.”

“Minho...” Goeun rose from her chair. “He was just trying to obey your husband's orders.”

“You shut up.” the male raged at the woman. “I'll deal with you when we find Taemin. Now get out of here.”

He stared the woman down and after a few minutes of glaring at each other, Goeun broke the eye-contact and left the room, leaving Minho to clench his fists at his sides in anger. He was tired of people hiding things from him, even less when such things involved Taemin and he wasn't sure of how he'd react if anything else was revealed to have been kept from him.

With a hard gaze, he looked into Sehun's direction.

“Don't you have anything to say?” he asked.

The nineteen year-old was taken aback for a second before shaking his head.

“Then leave, go to the company and take your brother with you.”

“Yes, hyung.”

The boy rose from his chair and bowed before taking his leave.

*

The door clicked and was pushed open, alerting Kibum as he held a crying Chanmi in his arms. In came a man with two food trays that he put on the ground before leaving with a glance into his direction.

The same then happened in the room Taemin was in before the three of them were left alone once more.

Suspicious at first, Kibum hesitated before he gave in to his hunger and went to get the trays. Carefully he tasted the food to make sure there was nothing in it and then started feeding his daughter, all the while stealing glances at the other room to check if his brother was eating too.

But every time, he was confronted to the same sight of a few hours ago, with his brother still lying on the bed with his back to him, and the tray sitting untouched by the door.

“Tae... you should eat.” he said, looking over at the younger.

But no response came his way and he sighed, already fed up with the silence treatment he was receiving. If all, he should've been the one ignoring the other, not that he wasn't angry, he was just restraining from showing it, figuring it wouldn't change a thing. But his brother attitude since their encounter with that woman had him becoming even angrier.

“Fine,” he said. “you know what? Starve yourself if you want to. But you should think about the baby you're carrying, this situation is already bad enough as it is.”

Still the younger didn't move and the blond clenched his jaw, forcing himself to direct his attention to his daughter. If Taemin wanted to be like that, then there was nothing he could do to change it.

But time dragged on, and Taemin didn't once move an inch and Kibum couldn't help but to get worried, all kinds of thoughts crossing his mind, every new one worse than the previous.

“Hey, are you awake?” he called. “Taemin!”

Nothing.

Just as he was about to walk towards the glass to check if he could see his brother better from there, the door to his room opened and in came the man from earlier to collect the trays.

“Excuse me,” Kibum spoke to the man. “I think there's something wrong with my brother.”

The man didn't seem fazed by his words as was about to leave the room when Kibum spoke again.

“Please, check on him... he hasn't moved in hours...”

But the man didn't respond, instead leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. A few seconds later and he was entering Taemin's room to take the untouched tray of food.

“Please, it would cost nothing to check if he's at least breathing...”

The man sighed inwardly before walking towards Taemin on the bed. Kibum watched as he reached out to check the raven head's pulse and after a few seconds of silence, he saw him hastily reach for the phone on his back pocket, swearing.

“Send doctor Hwang to Choi's room.” he spoke on the device. “We might have a problem. Contact Miss Shin.”