Nichkhun took a deep breath before he made his way through the Greenhouse. He wasn’t sure why he felt so nervous. Maybe it was because this was a special occasion but that wouldn’t matter would it. Nichkhun knew he had to compose himself. ‘I can’t let her see my uncool side.’ He thought to himself as he took another deep breath but then the nervousness soon disappeared. Something did not feel right. He kept walking but Tiffany was nowhere to be seen. He soon halted as he stepped on something. It was Tiffany’s mask.

‘Where are you?’ He thought as panic started to wash over him. He scanned his eyes everywhere searching for the one he cared about most. He grabbed out his phone and dialled her number. He waited anxiously as the phone rang.

‘Please pick up.’ He hoped. The phone finally stopped ringing but it wasn’t Tiffany’s voice on the other side. His face turned serious.

“Who are you? And where is Stephanie?” He demanded.

“Does it matter who we are?” The person on the other side answered making Nichkhun grit his teeth. “If you don’t gather a million dollars by noon tomorrow, you will never see her again.” Continued the person on the other line, cutting the call right after. 

“Crap!” Nichkhun said to himself, resisting the urge to smash his phone. He quickly made his way back. So many things were going through his head. He was so out of it that he didn’t hear Bora call him.

“Nichkhun!” Bora yelled. Not able to get his attention she tried to catch up with him.

“Nichkhun!” She yelled again while also grabbing his shoulder as she caught up.

Nichkhun finally snapped out of his own world.

“Geez what’s with you and where is Tiffany?” She questioned

Nichkhun froze. He wasn’t sure what to do or say.

“She’s been kidnapped.” He finally confessed after a moment of silence.

“What?!? Not again.” Bora shouted, getting looks from everyone. “Let’s talk about this somewhere else.”

Bora dragged Nichkhun outside. Kai and Taeyeon had sensed that something seemed wrong and followed them out.

“Okay now explain.” Bora demanded

As Nichkhun gave a short version of what happened, Bora’s anger was slowly creeping up until she could not hold it in. Lucky Kai was there to calm her down otherwise who knows what Bora would have done but it definitely would not have helped the situation.

“Okay for now we’ll go to her father and take it from there.” Bora decided.

The four of them barged into Mr Hwang’s office at his home. Mr Hwang was surprised but quickly got hold of the situation. After all it’s not very often that you get four very anxious and angry people who rush in without knocking. His face turned grave as soon as we started explaining the situation. His eyes held so much pain. You could see the sadness, the worry and the anger he held in but Mr Hwang was still able to keep calm and composed. Without responding, he quickly made a few phone calls and began madly typing on his computer.

“Okay we have search parties already looking for her but it’s getting pretty late and the chances of finding her are slim. They’ll continue the search first thing in the morning if she is not found.” Mr Hwang explained. “I have also prepared the million dollars but we all know what is probably going to happen. The two GPS trackers that I put on her have been disarmed so this kidnapper is skilled. Also he didn’t mention not to call the police so he is confident that he will escape that bastard.”

Mr Hwang hit his fist hard on the table as he said the last two words. We were all feeling the same. There was nothing we could do but wait and hope they find her fast.

“You guys should get some sleep. We have guest rooms you could use.” Mr Hwang suggested. We were all about to argue but Mr Hwang gave us a stern look with an underlying message that made us comply.

Before we went on our way, Nichkhun pulled Bora back to have a talk.

“You know when I first told you that Tiffany was kidnapped. What did you mean by not again? Has this happened before to her?” Nichkhun asked.

“It’s not my place to say. I’ll leave it to Tiffany to explain but first let’s concentrate on getting her back.” Bora replied before leaving to get ready for bed.

Nichkhun could not rest. He needed to know whether she was safe or not. ‘Damn I should be out there searching for her.’ He used the exact same room during his last visit. So many memories ran through his mind. Nichkhun knew that his life would never be the same without her. He would always be missing a piece of a puzzle. He lied on the bed just staring at the ceiling. Nichkhun was mad, not just at the kidnappers but also at himself that he didn’t get to the greenhouse sooner. Maybe he could have done something. Maybe he could have stopped this from happening. Not being able to sit still he decide to walk around. He walked out into the living room and stood in front of the large glass window that replaced the wall. He started staring out the window that gave a beautiful view of their garden and the city in the background. After staring outside for a good 10 minutes, Mr Hwang came over and joined him.

“Can’t sleep?” questioned Mr Hwang as he walked towards the window. He held two cups of coffee in his hands and handed one over to Nichkhun.

“Yeah.” Nichkhun replied. Accepting the cup of coffee, giving a silent thank you.

They both stood there looking out the window onto the view of the city. We were both thinking the same thing. Somewhere out there was Tiffany.

Mr Hwang broke the silence. “I know it’s very difficult when you try your best to protect someone that you love dearly but then you fail. You end up taking it out on yourself most of the time. However, it shows that you care. I know you must be beating yourself for not protecting Stephanie but it isn’t your fault.”

“I know but it’s just that I wish I could have done more. I could be out there looking for her right now.”

“I want to be searching for her too but it is too late right now. We wouldn’t be of any help.” Mr Hwang stopped for a moment. You could see that what he was going to say was difficult for him to reveal. “You know Stephanie’s mum was kidnapped. It was a very difficult time for us. Stephanie would always be waiting by the door hoping that she would return but she never did. We had done everything the kidnappers told us to do but they never kept their word. We found her body the next day and poor Stephanie was the first to find her like that. She must have been traumatized but you know I’m glad she has you. When she’s with you, I can feel that she is showing her true self. The girl she used to be before any of this happened. So I would like to thank you for that. Don’t worry we will definitely get her back.”

Nichkhun kept silent. He didn’t know what to say or do. He could feel the pain seeping through him.

“Come on let’s get some sleep so we can find our precious Stephie tomorrow.” Mr Hwang suggested, giving Nichkhun a pat on the back.

Everyone was awake at 5:00am and was ready to search for Tiffany. No one really had a good sleep. Everyone looked tired but they were all determined to find Tiffany. Nichkhun went with Mr Hwang and the Chief Commissioner of the police force who was also a close friend of Mr Hwang. After the Chief assigned each group with an area to search, they were all on their way.

“Nichkhun.” Called the Chief as they were driving to their location. “You spoke to the kidnapper right? Was there anything you heard in the background that could help with the location of Stephanie?”

Nichkhun tried to recall the details. He played each scene in his head slowly trying to pick up on any hints. Suddenly something popped up.

“Actually I could hear the sound of a train. It seemed really close but I was still able to hear the kidnapper clearly. The kidnappers voice also echoed like he was in a warehouse or something.” Answered Nichkhun. “I hope that was helpful.”

“No that was really helpful. It significantly narrows the places to search.” The Chief replied while sending a message of the new possible locations to the other search groups. We had also changed our course.

After arriving at their third location, Nichkhun could sense that this was the place. He just had a feeling. It was currently 10:15am, which meant they had less than two hours to find her. A few hours ago he had received a message with some instructions and the location of where to drop the money off. The place was a park that was only 15 minutes from where they were now. ‘Please be safe.’ He prayed. They had parked a few blocks away from the warehouse and walked the rest of the way so they wouldn’t alarm the kidnapper. It would be more beneficial if they were able to sneak up on them. This will also decrease their chance of putting Stephanie in danger.

Nichkhun was about to make his way to the warehouse but Mr Hwang pulled him back.

“We should leave this to the professionals.” Mr Hwang proposed.

“But…” Nichkhun began to argue.

“He’s right. It’s too dangerous.” The Chief agreed before leaving with his team into the warehouse.  

Nichkhun couldn’t sit still. “Damn it!” he said before barging his way past the backup team and made his way towards warehouse. They all tried to stop him but he wasn’t going to give up. ‘Stephanie…Tiffany… Wait for me.’

Hello everyone!!! Did you miss me? :D (that's if you're still here). First i would like to apologise for the long wait that i made you guys go through especially after leaving it on that cliff hanger. So i am extremely sorry *bows* (please dont hate me). I sorta took a really long break from writing. One of the reasons was cause i was really struggling with Uni especially with all the assignments and exams. Second was that i didnt really think of the story that much and i didnt really have any inspiration to write anything but don't worry i do not intend to leave this story halfway. I will definitely finish it. So please just bear with me but i would like to give a big thank you to everyone who has supported this story and those who keep encouraging me to continue writing and updating. I am really grateful <3. I hope you enjoy this chapter and i hope you guys had a great Christmas and Happy New Years everyone!!!!