Author's Note: I'm back! Anyone missed me? Or missed the story? I should be able to update more often, now that the semester is over and I'm on vacation! I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful holiday!

P.S. Our girl Sora is scheduled to have an appearance soon, anyone looking forward to it? As you all know, comments equal motivation for writers, so...you know...

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Please

Afternoon, Jan 21^st

            It had been awhile.

          Without a clock or any windows in the room, V had no way to tell how much time has passed. But if his stiff shoulders and aching back were anything to go by, he must have sat frozen in the same position for a few hours. He absently wetted his dry lips as he stared unseeingly into his hands that were placed in his lap.

          The silence was getting to him.

          His shallow breathing was the only sound that reached his ears since he had been keeping his hands still to avoid the harsh clanking produced by the metal chains. The heavy door effectively isolated him from any signs of life and he was left with his thoughts as his only companion.

          Why? Why him? What did he ever do to deserve this? He had tried to recall if he had done anything that could possibly cause him to be the target of such an attack. Perhaps he angered someone with his thoughtless actions? But he swore that he had never seen that man before!

          And what did the man want? It didn’t make sense that the man would go through the trouble of kidnapping him just to lock him in a room, right? Was it money then? Had the man gone to ask for money from his family? His company? It seemed unlikely. Why him? Neither his family nor his company was very rich, at least not rich enough to receive such an attention.

          Try as he might, it was proving to be extremely difficult to find anything positive regarding his situation. He was chained to a bed, locked in some sort of basement, and with no means to contact anyone for help.

          Not to mention his attacker was so physically strong and mentally intimidating that V was certain he would not be able to make a single step out of this room, even if he managed to somehow break free from his restraints.

          At least I’m still alive, he tried to assure himself, I’m still breathing and have no serious injuries.

          But not for too long, he reminded himself bitterly as he recalled the man’s words from a few hours ago, “I would really hate to have to kill you earlier than I’ve planned.”

          Was that it? Was he going to be kept here until this crazy man deemed it an appropriate time to kill him? Was he going to die … and soon?

          Death seemed like such a familiar yet abstract concept. Although he had experienced the deaths of people close to him, his own death was not something that he had given much thought to. It wasn’t a subject that concerned him much, at least it shouldn’t be for another few decades.

          Now that his death seemed to be rapidly approaching, intense emotions that he had seldom felt before stormed inside him and battled each other for dominance, leaving him confused and weary. Fear, sorrow, regret, confusion, despair… these feelings swirled together and overtook his mind like a tempest, breaking his thoughts into frantic pieces.

          He had always thought that since he was young, he could work hard now and then relax when he got older. So he had spent all of his youth trying to accomplish his dreams and in turn, gave up opportunities to spend time with his family and friends. He had innocently believed that there would be all the time in the world to enjoy his life after he became successful.

          Now he just wanted to laugh at his foolishness.

          When was the last time that he had seen his family? Almost a year ago? He wished he had taken more time to call or visit them. Why didn’t he try to be a more filial son, grandson, and brother when he had the chance?

          He wondered what they were doing right now. Did they know that he was missing? Were they looking for him? Although he desperately hoped for someone to come rescue him, he couldn’t bear to think about how scared and heartbroken his family would be if they heard the news. In fact, he wished that some of them stayed oblivious, especially his grandparents. Such a shock could not be healthy at their old ages.

          There were also the BTS boys. The members’ faces flashed threw his mind: Namjoon hyung, Seokjin hyung, Yoongi hyung, Hoseok hyung, Jimin, and Jungkook. They had become his friends, brothers, and family after the years of hardship that they overcame together under the name of BTS.

          What would they be doing now? V hoped that they didn’t try anything reckless when they had failed to find him.

          His thoughts went back to the last day they spent together. In his mind, he could see the boys laughing and talking as they had their late dinners. They were discussing the various types of performances that were prepared for the upcoming concert as they filled their stomachs. Jimin even teased V about his unchanging appetite for hamburgers when he asked the manager to stop at a fast food restaurant. Who could have thought that that was possibly the last meal they would have together?

          At the thought of food, his stomach grumbled loudly, announcing his hunger. He almost let out an unamused chuckle as he instinctively chewed his lips and wet his dry throat with a swallow.

          At this rate, he was going to die of thirst and hunger before the man could kill him. Although he had done nothing but stay on the bed, he felt more tired and depleted of energy than the time he didn’t sleep for 40 hours due to consecutive music shows and drama shootings.

          Just then, the man’s parting words echoed in his head: “Let me know if you need anything.”

          V couldn’t stop himself from letting out a quiet snort. Who was he kidding? This was no hotel, and the man was certainly not room service. He would gladly endure this in silence then to call attention to himself. Each encounter with the man only brought him more misery, so in V’s opinion, he had seen the man two times too many.

          With a sigh, V collapsed into the bed and let his hands fall to each side of his body. However, even this simple movement caused the metal to clank and he cringed at the harsh sound that stood out drastically in the dead silent room.

          Not wanting to reproduce that sound, he simply turned his head to the right and stared at the wall, willing the hunger to pass.

          However, the more he thought about it, the harder it got to ignore his need for food and water. Feeling hopeless, he shut his eyes, wishing that his tiredness would soon grant him a visit from sleep so he could escape this cruel reality for just a short while.

          Please, he pleaded in his mind, please.

          Now that his world was once again surrounded by darkness, the one emotion that he had somewhat suppressed earlier magnified and exploded inside him, taking residence in every corner of his body.

          He was absolutely terrified.

          He was scared of that man, scared for his life, and also scared for the safety of the people that he loved.

          Please, he pleaded to no one in particular, please save me.

          Tears started to fill his eyes and threatened to escape his closed eyelids. He squeezed his eyelids shut even tighter.

          Please, someone come rescue me.

          Please, don’t let anybody get hurt because of me.

          Please.

          As sleep began to take over his consciousness, a single tear escaped his now relaxed eyelids, and slid down the corner of his eye before it wet the pillowcase, leaving an almost invisible stain.

Evening, Jan 21^st

          I was dreaming, that was all a dream, V chanted in his head when he felt himself slowly return to the conscious world. I’m in my bed in the dorms, and I simply had a disturbing dream.

          However, as he gradually woke up, the icy heaviness that covered his wrists made its presence known, forcing him to acknowledge the reality.

          Why had he woken up? He questioned as he remained lying in his position, refusing to open his eyes. Being awake brought nothing good, and all he wanted to do was to escape back to the dreamland.

          His stomach growled loudly in that instant, answering his own question in a haste. It sounded like an animal has taken up residence in his stomach and was constantly demanding for food. He was so hungry that even the air was starting to smell like sandwiches—

          Wait, sandwiches? V’s eyes shot open. Since he could see nothing but the plain wall in front of him, he carefully sniffed the air to determine if the smell was his hallucination.

          The aroma seemed to originate from behind him, so he hesitantly turned his head to the left, and was surprisingly met with the sight of a plate of sandwiches and a cup of water, sitting on the bedside table.

          Although his body screamed at him to reach for the contents on the table, his mind halted his movements. Was that for him? Would it be safe for him to eat that? What if the food was poisoned?

          His hesitation lasted for a few seconds before he laughed at his own silliness. So what if it was poisoned? Hadn’t he come to the conclusion that the man wanted him dead? The man wouldn’t possibly resort to killing him with food poisoning, would he?

          But still, his survival instincts ruled over all other reasoning, and he continued to hesitate. The urge to reach for the food and the fear of being poisoned battled in his mind, causing him to stare at the food with both longing and trepidation.

          “Eat.”

          V bolted up into a sitting position. He would never get used to the voice, no matter how many times he heard it. It always sent chills down his spine without fail. Why couldn’t he ever notice the man before he spoke up?

          This time, the man was leaning against the heavy door with his arms crossed at his chest. He stared at V with a bored and slightly frustrated expression, as if V was a stubborn child that refused to eat his vegetables.

          Although the man was situated across the room, V couldn’t help but shift a tiny bit closer to the right wall as he avoided looking at the man’s penetrating black eyes.

          “You can’t die yet,” the man added, as if kindly explaining the reason why V should not skip his meals.

          Yet, V repeated in his mind. That was the second time the man mentioned his approaching death. Why? He wanted to question the man. Why did he want to kill him? And why lock him here if he just wanted him dead? What was he waiting for?

          But the man’s terrifying glaze was still fresh in V’s memory, and he did not want to risk provoking the man and having those wrath-filled eyes directed at him again.

          A few silent moments passed before the man seemed to grow annoyed of V’s inaction.

          “You don’t want to eat?” The man questioned.

          V remained still with his eyes fixed on the floor, not daring to look up.

          “Why? You don’t like being alone?” The man suggested casually, “Should I get your friends to come stay with you?”

          At this, V hastily looked up as his heart skipped a beat. NO! He wanted to yell loud and clear, but his voice was hoarse from being dehydrated and from the lack of use.

          “No! Don’t touch them!” V croaked, his heart starting to pound harshly against his rib cage.

          The man did not reply. He simply stared at V, as if feeling incredulous that V had the audacity to make a request.

          “Please,” V pleaded when the fear for his friends peaked, “I’ll do whatever you say, just leave them alone.” V desperately hoped that his outburst did not anger the man and cause the man to act on his suggestion in any way.

          The man continued to study V for a few seconds before he jutted his chin out towards the bedside table.

          V scrambled frantically as he grabbed a sandwich and hastily peeled off the plastic wrap before shoving it in. He couldn’t tell what it tasted like or what was in the sandwich. He had barely chewed it before he forced the stiff chunk of bread down his dry throat.

          The sandwich rubbed roughly against his parched throat, giving him pain when he tried to swallow and causing him to cough violently when it got stuck. His face soon became red, and tears started to fill his eyes as he tried to regain proper breathing.

          He hurriedly reached for the cup of water and took in a gulp, hoping to clear his esophagus by washing everything down. The chains clanked loudly and continuously as he pounded his chest with his fist while rapidly breathing in fresh air.

          When he felt like he had his breathing under control, V tentatively looked up at the man, trying to gauge his reaction of his messy attempt at eating. Was he satisfied? He wouldn’t do anything now, right?

          However, the man did not seem pleased. He had pushed himself off the door and was making his way towards the bed.

          V felt like his fear was being doubled with every step the man took. Using his hands and feet to move himself closer to the wall, he reflexively shied away as his heart jumped violently in his chest.

          What did the man want now? What did he do wrong?

          But before V could move very far, the man had already crossed the room in a few large strides and had arrived in front of the bed. V could feel the intense glare that was aimed at his curled up form and the irritation that was sent his way. So when he spotted the man’s pale hands lifting, he instinctively closed his eyes and shielded his face with his hands, straining the chains in the process. V felt his body go rigid as he awaited the punishment that he was about to receive for not following the man’s orders.

          A few heavy moments passed, but the anticipated impact did not come. V relaxed slightly, perhaps those hands were not reaching for him?

          Just when V wanted to crack his eyes open and take a peek, deafening bangs of metal being distorted and cracked abruptly assaulted his ears, causing him to once again squeeze his eyes shut. Simultaneously, V felt his chains were being roughly tugged on, effectively jerking his hands away from his face.

          Even though the noises and the tugs disappeared as soon as they came, V couldn’t help but start trembling as he hastily raised his hands to resume their positions in front of his face. The current silence contrasted greatly with the clanks that were present a mere second ago, resulting in a sense of ghostly ringing in V’s ears.

          Surprisingly, V noted that the strain on his wrists did not increase when he pulled his hands even closer to his face. Confused, he hesitantly opened his eyes and peeked down at the metal constraints.

          V was absolutely dumbfounded to discover that the chains were no longer in one piece. The once indestructible looking chains now laid in two parts, with one end attached to the bed and the other end hanging down from his wrists. The metal was twisted out of shape at the point of breakage, almost as if someone had simply torn them apart with brute force.

          No, that’s not possible. V tried to dismiss the impossible and terrifying conclusion that his mind was trying to point out. No one can be that strong, he tried to convince himself, no one.

          But V couldn’t fool himself for long as the evidence laid right in front of his eyes. His fear for this mysterious man jumped to an even higher level that he didn’t know existed before.

          Who was this man? And if he could break metal chains with his bare hands, then who could possibly defeat him? Who could come save him?

          The man lifted his right hand.

          Was it now? V thought in despair as he spotted the movement, was he going to die now? Was his body the next thing that the man was going to tear apart?

          Oblivious to V’s panicking thoughts, the man took his time raising his hand before pointing a bony finger at a wooden door that V had failed to notice before. It was positioned near the head of the bed and had almost blended in with the wall because of their similar colors.

          “Do not dirty this room.” The man ordered as if he was talking to a pet animal.

          What? V struggled to decipher the man’s meaning, did he want him to go into that room? Was he going to die in that room?

          But the man did not elaborate further. He seemed to have already lost his interest in V, as he has headed for the heavy door and was opening it with one hand while placing the other in his jacket pocket. He stopped before the door was pulled away from its frame.

          “Eat. Be a good boy and finish it. It is very impolite to waste food.”

          The man lectured nonchalantly before he pulled opened the door and stepped through it. His motions were so swift and sudden that darkness was the only thing V managed to distinguish beyond the door before it swung shut and a lock clicked into place.

          V found himself once again staring helplessly at the door as his hands dug into the white comforter. The amplified fear he felt for his life was added onto the dread and worry he felt earlier for his friends.

          Please, he pleaded even more desperately.

          Please, don’t let anyone get hurt.

          Please save me.