The boys were anxious. Jin only stepped on the pedal harder for the car to accelerate through the dark night. They reached the empty house within minutes. Everyone paused, looking at the house before simultaneously getting off the car. All they had wished was to get Hae Bin safe and sound, back into the house to celebrate her 20th birthday. 

Jungkook was the first one to get to the door. He his lips nervously, with his hand on the cold doorknob. He was accompanied by the rest of the boys who stood behind him, waiting for the boy to open the door. 

Jungkook took a deep breath before twisting the light doorknob. He pushed the door wide open and was encountered by the black hallway. He could not step into the house in fear of seeing her in pain. Taehyung noticed the boy's behavior and quickly stepped into the house, dodging the still boy. He walked midway into the long hallway and was stopped. 

He was looking down at a piece of paper laid on the ground. His eyes wavered as he picked the fragile piece. He glanced at the paper before dropping it down onto the ground. He gasped.

"What is it?" He heard Jimin scrambling towards the shocked boy and Jimin immediately gasped as well. 

In front of them was a picture, a picture of Hae Bin, unconscious, and tied to a chair, a little bloodied. They were speechless. They were helpless. 

"Is... there anything at the back?" Jimin asked. He was standing behind Taehyung in the narrow hallway. 

Taehyung closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He avoid looking at the horrible picture and flipped the paper around. The paper was blank but only two words stand grand in the middle of it. 

She's Next, the paper read. 

✸

She stirred around, still throbbing at the pain behind her head. She grunted. Then she groaned. She immediately tried to crane her head to stop the pain but nothing work. She tried to lift her hand to her head, to support it but she was unable to. 

Her attention was drawn from her throbbing head to her wrists, that were tied to the back of the chair. She pressed her lips and tried her best to free her wrists but it did nothing at all. Instead, the thick ropes scratched her wrists, drawing little blood. She was helpless, and she hated being helpless. 

She stopped trying after a couple of minutes and sat there motionless. She tried to remember how she ended up in the position she was currently in. She could only remember vague scenes. 

"From... school," she muttered, cranking her brain. "To... the bakery... to here?"

She was confused and scared. Her heart was beating faster and faster. 

"Help?" She cried out softly, fearing all sorts of outcome. "Help?" Her voice was too small in the big and dark space she was in. 

Just as she was about to say her third 'Help', she heard a door creaking open, shedding a little light before the place ended up in complete darkness. She heard footsteps... not one... but not in a group as well. 

She waited until the footsteps stopped on the gravel ground. Then she heard a solo person walking to the other direction from her and then she heard something being switched on. She squinted against the bright light and closed her eyes for a while before adjusting to the immerse light intensity. 

She heard the footsteps again, now walking towards her and stopped, just a few feet away from the helpess and vulnerable girl. 

"Hello there," a girl greeted her. "Jung Hae Bin..."

The voice sounded familiar to her. She immediately looked from her lap and glanced at the two newcomers in front of her. Her eyes widen immediately. She realised, that she was glancing at her two closest friends. 

Hae Bin tried to say something but nothing was spoken out. Instead, she was looking at them as if she was a fool. 

"Look at her," the girl continued. "Isn't it disgusting to even look at her?" 

"Don't say that because she looks like Min-" The other person glanced from the girl to Hae Bin. "Or was it... Yoo Bin?"

Hae Bin's mouth was left agaped as she continued to stare at the two people in front of her. 

"But don't let me start on lover boy for you," the boy continued. "Jung Hoseok looks exactly like him."

"Wh-why," Hae Bin managed to say, breaking the two newcomers intense stares. She had gotten the two's attention. "Nara... Seungcheol," was all she managed to say as she continued to look at her two best friends who only laughed at her pathetic face. 

The girl smirked and walked towards the poor girl and smacked her left cheek. Hae Bin let out a small gasp. "Young, young Hae Bin... She still has so much to learn. Shall we help her understand, Seunghyun?" 

Hae Bin's eyes widen at the