Changmin really hated waking up disoriented and confused, but he really didn’t have a choice in the matter. Since these men have such short tempers, he figured it was a good idea to not complain much.

It’s not like he could do much talking anyway. Every word he said - or tried to say - made him sound like a drunk grandpa. It made talking and striking up a conversation with these men a lot less appealing.

Changmin could feel his broken ankle throbbing. Despite the fact that he hated how the drugs made him feel, he did wish someone could give him something to soothe the pain. A drug that worked even while he was awake - and lucid.

If he could move his body, if he wasn’t still blindfolded, if his ankles weren't broken, if his arms weren’t tied behind him maybe he would feel a little better about the situation.

“Hey kid,” the man with the deep voice said. “Are you awake?”

Changmin slowly nodded. His head was pounding, so any extra movement seemed like a bad idea.

“We’re calling your brother again in a few minutes,” he continued. “Depending on how the conversation goes, we’ll get moving.”

That last sentence caused Changmin’s mind to clear up a little. Had Yunho met their demands? Was he about to be moved to do this exchange?

Changmin gave a small sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure if the other man had paid attention to him or noticed, but Changmin didn’t care. In a few hours, he’d be going home.

He heard the sound of a door opening, steady footsteps approaching his prone form.

The man who always made the phone calls must have entered.

“There might be a change of plans.”

Yup. That was definitely him.

Despite the drugs still flowing through his system, the man’s announcement caused Changmin’s anxiety levels to slightly increase.

“Someone leaked the story of Changmin’s kidnapping,” he explained.

Changmin wanted to point out that usually, when a person gets kidnapped, it ends up on the news. However, his abundance of common sense, combined with his lack of energy, forced Changmin to keep his mouth shut.

But Changmin began to realize why such an event should worry him.

“I don’t think your big brother is taking this seriously enough.”

Changmin stiffened.

“Time to raise the stakes.”

“Hey, Yunho! What’s going on?” Kim Heechul asked. He was clearly upset about something.

Yunho furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. He broke his attention away from his computer. “Hyung...what are you talking about?” He really didn’t have time for any of Heechul’s games today; not with Changmin’s life on the line.

“Changmin’s kidnapping? It’s all over the news.” Heechul replied. “Ah, the little guy got kidnapped and you didn’t tell me…”

“Heechul, wait,” Yunho demanded. “Changmin’s kidnapping is on the news?” He turned back onto his computer. Closing the files open on the screen, he opened the internet browser and got onto a local news website. Sure enough, Changmin’s kidnapping was the main headline.

“No,” Yunho said breathlessly. This can’t be happening. Who could have leaked this?

“Yunho, what’s going on?” Heechul asked.

“Heechul I…I don’t have much time to explain,” Yunho choked. “But Changmin’s been kidnapped and they specifically said no cops!”

“Yunho-”

“If the kidnappers see what’s on the news they’ll know the cops are involved!” Yunho continued. He could tell that his panic was getting worse but he didn’t care.

“What does that mean for Changmin?” Heechul asked. It was obvious that he was completely shaken by the whole thing.

Yunho shook his head. “I don’t know, Heechul,” he answered. “I’ve got to call the detectives...I’ll...I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

Yunho quickly ended the call with Heechul, not even waiting for the older one’s reply. What made this situation worse was that the people that have Changmin didn’t give him a callback number. Yunho wanted nothing more than to call those people and tell them that Yunho didn’t intend for Changmin’s kidnapping to go public, but there was no way of doing that now.

Technically, Kyuhyun was the one that called the police anyway, not Yunho. That should mean something to those guys, shouldn’t it?

They haven’t called Yunho yet. Maybe they haven’t seen the news?

Or they’re in the process of dumping Changmin’s body somewhere.

Yunho shook that last thought out of his head. Changmin was still alive; he was sure of that.

He quickly dialed Detective Lee’s number.

“Yunho-”

“Changmin’s story is all over the news,” Yunho cut him off. “How did this happen?”

Hyukjae sighed. “I have no idea,” he answered truthfully. “But we have to assume that Kyuhyun wasn’t the only witness. There was probably someone else that saw what happened, they just didn’t come forward, and leaked the story to the press instead once they figured out who Changmin was.”

Yunho shook his head. “If the kidnappers see this-”

“You’re getting Changmin back, Yunho,” Hyukjae said, cutting him off.

“It’s almost time for their next call-in,” Yunho announced. “I don’t have everything ready yet.”

“It hasn’t been twenty-four hours.”

“Yeah,” Yunho agreed. “But if they know what’s on the news, that could mean they could get impatient.”

“You have about forty-five minutes before the next call in, right?” Hyukjae asked.

“Yeah,” Yunho answered. “Look I gotta go. When Changmin’s kidnappers call, I want to be able to tell him that I’m ready to meet. I should be almost done with everything next time he calls.”

Changmin stopped counting every time he woke at this point.

No pressure on Yunho, but Changmin was ready for him to come to the rescue any time now. This was getting kind of boring.

Changmin realized that he was now laying on his back; the pain in his ankle was barely noticeable at this point, but by the cloudy feeling in his head, he could guess that was from the help of the drugs.

Changmin felt something crawling on his right arm. He quickly swatted the creature, hoping there weren’t more where that came from.

Wait. His hands were free now? When did this happen?

Why did this happen?

“H-Hello?” Changmin weakly called out. Surely those men wouldn’t have removed the ties around his wrists and then leave him alone, would they?

Changmin may have a broken ankle, but he’d still find a way to get out of here. He didn’t care how his possible escape might further damage his leg. He just wanted to go home.

Changmin realized that he still couldn’t see, so the blindfold must still be covering his eyes.

This seemed too easy.

But Changmin hated the disorienting feel that came with being blindfolded, and was desperate to remove it.

Slowly, Changmin brought his hand to his face.

There was no blindfold.

But he still couldn’t see.

The thick darkness did nothing to calm Changmin’s nerves, and seemed to irritate him even more.

Where were those guys anyway?

“Hello?” Changmin tried again, this time noticing a small echo of his voice.

No response.

Changmin knew that it would be near to impossible to escape without his sight. But if he was here, alone, and unbound, then Changmin would take as much time as he needed to find an exit.

Or a light.

“Hello?” he tried again, just to make sure. At this point Changmin was one hundred percent certain that the men that took him were nowhere near him.

Changmin took a deep breath. Standing up was going to hurt, but he’d try it anyway.

Taking a few deep breaths, Changmin brought himself into a sitting position-

-and immediately smacked his head onto something above him.

“What?” he whispered in confusion as he brought his hand to the sore spot on his forehead.

He raised his hands up, feeling the wooden barrier above him.

What was going on?

The realization hit Changmin like a ton of bricks. Changmin may be smart, but it didn’t take a genius to know what was going on.

Yunho hadn’t paid the ransom.

Changmin wasn’t given an opportunity to escape; he was left to die.

Changmin was buried alive.

“You made a mistake, Yunho,” the man said.

Yunho frantically shook his head. “I don’t know how Changmin’s kidnapping got on the news,” he said. “But I swear, I have Kim Jinwoo’s case. I can meet you and give it to you.”

“You lost that chance already,” he replied. “We thought taking your brother would cause you to take this seriously.”

“I am!” Yunho shot back. “I’m taking this seriously. You’ve got to believe me.” He sighed. “Please let me meet with you. I have all the evidence against Kim Jinwoo with me.”

There was a long silence over the phone, and Yunho had to check to see if the man had hung up on him.

“Okay,” the man finally said. “We’ll meet.”

Yunho sighed in relief.

“But the rules have changed.”

Of course they have.

“I’ve taken some extra precautions to make sure you’re really into this.”

“Like what?”

“You know I can’t tell you that,” the man replied. “Changmin is alive - for now.”

Yunho wasn’t sure whether that man was trying to be reassuring, but Yunho released a shaky breath before speaking. “Tell me where to go,” he commanded, getting his nerves under control. “I have your evidence and you have Changmin for me.” He took a deep breath. “Can I speak to him?”

“Maybe later,” the man quickly answered. “You have a schedule to keep, Yunho.”

Yunho sighed. The man was right. If Yunho tried arguing with this man, he could waste valuable time getting Changmin back, and Yunho just wanted this whole thing to be over.

“You have an hour,” the man continued. “Here’s what we need from you.”

Changmin started thinking about their parents.

Changmin was adopted.

He never met his biological parents. When he was twelve, he did have a deep curiosity of where he came from. His parents were supportive of that, and actually helped him look.

Their search was a dead end. Changmin assumed his biological parents either left the country, or they died.

Either way, Changmin knew he would never meet them, and never talked about wanting to meet them again.

Now, laying in what he could assume was his coffin, Changmin wished he could at least find out who his parents were. It just didn’t seem fair that he was going to die without knowing.

But life really is unfair.

Changmin was fifteen years old when his adoptive parents died. Changmin, Yunho, and their parents were driving back to Seoul after visiting family in Gwangju. Changmin didn’t remember much from the accident. The only things he remembered were the actual collision, and then waking up at the hospital with a really bad headache. Yunho was sitting at his bedside, partially asleep.

He remembered watching Yunho break down as he told Changmin that their parents died in that accident.

Changmin remembered how much Yunho changed after that night. He really couldn’t blame him. Yunho somehow only sustained bruises after the car stopped rolling, only to find that their father died on the spot, their mother was dying, and his little brother was completely unconscious.

After that nigh