Disclaimer: I did my research on the Joseon dynasty and a bunch of other stuff so information should be relatively realistic in the way that you know you're not in modern day 21st century, but since I only did preliminary research as in most of my stuff was from Wikipedia (though I did find some super helpful blogs), I'll apologize if I don't have things aren't exactly accurate. Remember this is just a fictional story!

Thank you so much for starting this journey along with me and enjoy the ride! And by the way, if you don't like spoilers, don't read the comments too much <3

ONE

Chanyeol was extremely elated when he finally sneaked past the butler of his mansion. My, never did he ever felt so free to not have someone always watching him and looking after him. Of course, it had its perks too like he would never go off hungry and that someone could be there to assist him in the schoolwork he had to do for that day. But sometimes, he wanted to be like the rest of his classmates. He wanted to hang out in Myeongdong, go window shopping, and eat from vendor to vendor from the street food that he passed by everyday but could never touch. Tonight would be the night he decided to change some things up. 

Chanyeol was the youngest of his grade as a fifteen-year-old first year high schooler. He had a major growth spurt in the last two years of middle school so the other kids couldn't tell Chanyeol was probably the youngest of them all. Chanyeol never did like telling others his age nor anything about himself to the other students as his father had ordered him to do so. His father was afraid that at any time Chanyeol would be kidnapped and held ransom since Chanyeol was considered a second-generation chaebol. On the other hand, Chanyeol thought that his father was just a bit too paranoid since his father was one of the major shareholders of Hyundai Motors as well as the Finance Director in the famous Shinhan Bank. Besides, with his giant height, who would be able to kidnap him? As well, how would others know who he is when he doesn't go flaunting that he is from a wealthy family? Those two questions were Chanyeol's excuses for not listening to his father. 

"Don't you dare come any closer." Chanyeol heard a faint cry of a woman when wandering around the streets of Myeongdong. He ignored her cry at first since he didn't wan to end up misjudging a situation. However, when he heard several pleas of help coming from the woman he couldn't just turn a deaf ear. Listening carefully to where her voice was coming from, Chanyeol found himself walking down a narrow pathway that led him to an alley. He spotted the woman whose back was hunched up near the wall, arms hugging her knees close to her chest, her head buried in the safe crevices of her arms. 

Carefully walking closer to the woman, Chanyeol flinched in surprise when the fragile woman suddenly jumped up and threw her arms around him. Chanyeol was at loss for what to do, now stuck in the middle of an awkward hug. Should he pat her on the back? Or should he politely pry off her arms around him? He decided to go with none of those options and remained standing still. He could feel his heartbeat rising due to nervousness of not knowing what situation he found himself in. 

As sudden as the woman hugged Chanyeol, she pushed him away with one steady hand on his chest. Chanyeol wanted to curse at the woman for being so harsh. But where was his voice in this situation? He knew he brought it upon himself.

Without any opportunity to voice his thoughts, Chanyeol saw the same woman he had wanted to extend a helping hand to, reach into a bag she had near her feet before latching on to Chanyeol yet again, this time pulling him down by the hair so that she could see him eye to eye. Chanyeol just stared at the woman wide eyed, silently watching her every move.

She had prepared for this. It was now or never. She took out duct tape and a rope and began to tape Chanyeol's mouth. She had prepared herself well prior to stalking Chanyeol. Only then did Chanyeol realize something was not right, mentally racking his head to wonder what on earth had got to him to not realize the underlying situation ahead. It was too late for the woman had already began tying up his wrists and ankles. 

"Jay! He's all good to go." The woman spoke for the first time in front of Chanyeol. 

"You're the best at this Sori. Thank you for working with me. Soon, you'll get your payment. As for now, can you lend me another hand and make sure he doesn't move when I'm going to dose him with this shot? The young chaebol shouldn't have an ugly scar, no doubt." Chanyeol saw a man whose name was supposedly Jay come from another passageway. He couldn't see very clear in the darkness of the night, but he could make out that a syringe was in Jay's right hand. And Chanyeol was sure that he did not want that syringe to get even one centimeter close to his skin. 

He felt ashamed at his own naviety, not even believing that he would actually end up kidnapped. How easy it was for him to be fooled! The most powerful thing that Chanyeol had was his youth. Still at age fifteen, he knew he could have enough stamina to get away if he could run. In the split second when Sori had her head turned away from him and Jay was fumbling around with the syringe in his hand, Chanyeol made a run for it–or more specifically a hop for it, since his ankles were bound. 

Perhaps potato bag races in elementary school were useful after all. Chanyeol hopped away frantically, zigzagging away from the man and woman. After five minutes of hopping, Chanyeol squatted down to undo the knots on his ankles. After successfully prying away the last cord and letting his feet run free, Chanyeol sprinted madly. However, he kept on looking behind him as he ran.

He ran and ran. He went on running for thirty minutes. Youth indeed had its benefits. But his head was