When the truck came to a sudden halt, Jiyong blew out the candles. Their smell had become a stench filling up the whole shipping space. He wondered whether the kidnappers would be mad.

When the men opened the doors again, he took a deep breath of fresh air while blinking into the light of a glaring torch. Jiyong could see all four of them, still masked, one of them armed. They ushered him and Jiho to get out of the truck and didn't seem to care about the candles scattered on the floor.

Jiho moved surprisingly swift towards the opening. Jiyong followed slowly and flinched when he heard Jiho retching and throwing up over the brink. He felt deeply sorry for Jiho and padded his shoulder. Hopefully, he would get better, soon. This was not a situation you could just be ill in.

He froze when he felt a gun put to his head.

“Don't touch him.”, a familiar voice snarled and Jiyong knew it was the same guy who had abducted him from his room.

Fear took over when the men dragged the retching Jiho out first.

"Dammit, you're a disgusting piece of !“, another man grunted and Jiyong felt anxious they would shoot Jiho right on the spot for annoying them.

He hurried to get out of the truck, too.

While Jiho was breathing heavily and tried to regain his composure, Jiyong tried to take a look at the location.

The surroundings looked like an old factory, as he could see several buildings, completely black against the sky, and a few chimneys.

But before he could really get an impression of the plant, one of the men blindfolded him from behind. He was pushed and started walking, directed by his guide.

He could tell by the occasional gasping that Jiho was still behind him. The younger seemed to struggle with walking. Of course they didn't bother to help him, but why wouldn't they at least allow Jiyong to support Jiho? He was hurt, after all, and Jiyong, being the older one, felt it was his duty to care for Jiho. But he didn't dare to slow down or say anything, because the comments of the kidnappers clearly taught him their annoyance about Jiho being sick and not being able to walk properly.

They walked for about five minutes, taking several turns before they descended some steps. At least Jiyong was allowed to use the handrail.

The air smelled moist and rusty. There was a grinding sound of some door being opened, then Jiyong was pushed into a room, followed by Jiho, who came to a halt next to him. They had to cross the room, were thrown into another and then finally the blindfold was removed.

The small cellar was dimly lit. Two doors led outside, one was shut, the other one was the one they had just passed through. There were only two men left, one holding the blindfolds, the other one waving the gun.

Jiyong glimpsed at Jiho who was pale and looked very exhausted.

"Take care that moron gets better!“, the man holding the gun ordered. "Don't get your hopes up, we will separate you later.“

Then they left and locked the door.

Jiho immediately sank to the ground.

"Sorry, Kwon-Hyung. But I'm so dizzy.“

"It's alright, just lay down.“ Jiyong realized he had left his jacket in that truck. He sighed.

"Anything I can do for you, Jiho?“

Jiho just waved warily, so Jiyong decided to inspect their room.

It was a dusty room of maybe twenty square-metres. A bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling was emitting some light, just enough to clearly see the thick an dirty cobwebs that covered the dull metal pipes in the corners of the room. It was empty apart from a small, broken sink in the corner next to the second door, opposite the one they had just entered through.

Jiyong tried to open the tap. To his surprise, after a few spits, water flowed out of it. At first it had a rusty colour, but after a few moments it came out clear.

Carefully, Jiyong tried. It tasted okay.

"I think we have potable tap water.“, he said.

"Great. I'll wash my mouth later...“, Jiho sighed. "Everthin's still spinnin'. Sorry I'm not much of a use right now, Kwon-Hyung.“

"It's okay.” Jiyong replied. “And don't call me 'Hyung'.“ He moved towards the second door in the room. "I think we've got other stuff to worry about than formalities. Call me Jiyong.“

Surprisingly, the second door was unlocked. It swung open with a screeching sound that made Jiho cringe and moan on the floor.

The second room was covered in white tiles, partially damaged.

"It's uhm...“ Jiyong started and felt the wall for a light switch. He was successful, the light in the second room wasn't strong either, though.

"A shower... And a toilet over there... Maybe for the workers when this building was still used...“ He felt Jiho's gaze on his back when he made sure the door would not swing shut by itself and carefully moved into the bathroom.

It was as big as the room Jiho was lying in, but the emptiness, the white tiles, the narrow ceiling, the way his steps echoed back from the walls... it was outright creepy. Jiyong found two other doors leading from the bathroom, but they were locked.

Mistrustfully, he tried the showers, they were working. At first the water came out rusty, just like with the tap. The brown colour and the stench of metal made Jiyong back away a few steps. It looked like blood and sent chills down his spine. As soon as the water came out clear, he carefully touched it. Cold, but not freezing.

He turned out the shower and quickly returned to Jiho, switching off the light and firmly shutting the bathroom-door behind him.

"So we can shower, can't we?“, Jiho asked wearily.

Jiyong just nodded and sat next to him.

"How are you feeling?“

Jiho closed his eyes for a moment. "Still dizzy and got a headache. But it's bearable if I don't move.“

Jiyong smiled a bit. "Good. I need you to be better. I don't want to be all alone against them.“

Jiho smiled weakly. "I'll give my best to get well soon, Hyu- Jiyong.“

They sat in silence for a moment. Jiyong tried to focus on his breath and not get overwhelmed by despair. No windows. No phones. No one knew where they were. Jiho had a concussion. Maybe these guys where just crazy and would kill them sooner or later?

Jiyong pressed his hands to his nose bridge.

Don't cry now. It won't help you or Jiho. Don't cry, don't...

"Why do you think they took us?“, Jiho whispered and brought Jiyong back into reality. "Why only us two?“

Jiyong looked at him. "Probably they want ransom. At least I hope so. I mean, there are enough bad horror movies out there were the killer just takes their victims-“

Jiho made an unbelieving gesture.

"Naa, come on, you're G-Dragon. They won't kill you. You're too... famous. Too valuable.“

Jiho sounded so reassuringly, that his words managed to calm Jiyong down for the moment.

"Maybe you're right.“

"I wonder more why they took me. Could've also taken TOP instead...“

"Hey!“, Jiyong said indignantly. "TOP's dressing room was down another hall. Maybe they would've lost too much time to go for him, too... No idea why, but my room was next to CL's from 2NE1.“

Jiho gave an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, and 2NE1 were supposed to be performing when they took us. I remember that much. Maybe we we're just unlucky...“

"Maybe...“, Jiyong said with doubt in his voice.

He realized Jiho was wearing a scarf and gently took it from the other rapper.

"I can cool your head with this.“, he explained when Jiho gave him a confused look.

Running cold water over his hands could not prevent his thoughts from starting to circle again.

He could figure why they took them. Jiho was also famous, so it would be narcissistic to think they had taken him by accident – Jiyong just could not wrap his head around the fact that they took them. Not two members of the same group. Or someone different. Him and Zico.

Why? Why not Zico and Jaehyo? Why not him and TOP?

He got a thankful look from Jiho when he put the wet cloth onto his forehead. The younger hummed and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, he had fallen asleep.

After watching him anxiously for a few moments, Jiyong started pacing the room.

Soon it became too small for his circling thoughts, so he continued walking in the creepy shower, opening the door as silently as possible.

He needed to remain calm. Find out what their kidnappers wanted. Take care of Jiho. He was the older one, he was responsible for him. Plus, the younger was ill.

Jiyong would observe their kidnappers closely, maybe they could escape.

No need to cry. Probably, we're being searched for already anyway.

Jiyong stopped next to Jiho and dropped to the floor.

No need to...

"...“ he whispered and started wiping his eyes with his sleeve.