When I slowly drifted back to counsciousness, I could hear a low chatter from behind the bathroom door. The music had stopped and it was mostly quiet. Alongside the obnoxious whistle that was coming from inside my head, I could hear two males having an argument. I couldn't recognize either of them.

”You said we wouldn’t hurt them!”

”I know! We won’t, he’ll be back on his feet in no time.”

”He’s lost a lot of blood…”

”Nah, he’ll be golden, I’m telling you-”

I couldn't grasp the conversation. Was someone watching a movie? Because it sure sounded like a real conversation. But it couldn't actually be a real conversation, could it? There couldn't be two guys talking about a person who had lost a lot of blood, right? There couldn't be two guys who had actually hurt someone?

Stretching my neck and shoulders, I crawled up from the tub all the way to the toilet seat to puke.

”Did you check the bathroom?”

I leaned against the sink and wiped my face dry with the closest towel I could find. Suddenly someone was cranking the door handle. I froze on my spot.

”Someone’s in there.”

Still clueless of what was happening, I lifted myself up from the floor and started looking for objects that I could protect myself with. If there actually were some creeps out there who wanted to hurt me, I had to be prepared.

”Just kick it in, what if there’s a phone in there?” The other male attempted to whisper, but I could hear him loud and clear.

They were going to kick in the door? Were they robbing us? Hesitantly, I climbed on top of the washing machine by the door and quickly grabbed a hair spray from the cabinet. As I opened the lid, I noticed that my hands were shaking.

It’s a prank, I thought to myself. What else could it be? Someone had probably decided to pull a prank on the hangover crew. The shaking slowed down a little.

Then before I could gather up another thought, the door slammed open and a man barked inside. Having had no time to think, I pointed the hairspray toward him and waited until he looked at me. The man turned around swiftly and launched at me, so I sprayed him in his eyes and jumped down from the machine.

”Grab her!” He croaked, rubbing his eyes vigorously.

I took my chance and went for the door, but the other man was already there, ready to capture me. At that moment a distant memory of Junhoe showing me some of his self defense moves popped in my mind, and I struck the man up under his nose with the heel of my palm. However, the attack took so much strength that I swayed slightly backwards and the man in the bathroom managed to lock his fingers around my arm.

”Let me go!” I heard myself screeching. My voice didn't even sound like me anymore. The terror started creeping up on me, as the situation began to sink in. This wasn’t some harmless highschool prank. We were being robbed. That was the least scary scenario I had in mind.

The man let go of my arm as I was jerking myself away from him, which caused me to hit my head against the bathroom sink. The nausea swirled around inside me, eager to come out. ”Where’s my brother…Hanbin where are you…”

”Tie her up”, the other man commanded, and the other guy who I sprayed in the eyes took something out of his pockets. I couldn't do anything but watch in horror, as he pulled out cable ties and turned me around to tie my hands with them.

Then I heard yet another voice coming from the living room.

”Wha… what’s going on?”

I recognized his voice. ”Bobby!”

”Minseo? What’s this- why am I-”

He got disrupted by something - all I could hear was a low grunt.

”Bobby”, I started panicking. ”Bobby! Say something!” I dragged myself on the ground, towards the living room, but the hair spayed man yanked me back. I kicked him in the knee.

”!” He slurred.

”It’s fine you can bring her here. It makes no difference”, the other man said in the living room. ”But keep her quiet.”

I quickly pulled myself into the living room and gasped at the sight. Bobby was lying on the floor on his side with his arms tied back like mine. His lower lip was a little swollen and bleeding, but otherwise it looked like he was alright. I was trying to look for a bleeding spot, to check if the men had been talking about Bobby when they said he’d lost a lot of blood.

At that moment Bobby opened his eyes and looked at me. His eyes widened in shock as he saw me. ”Oh my god, Minseo your head! What’s going on!”

My head did burn a little but I hadn't been paying too much attention to it. ”Are you okay?” I asked, trying to lean closer to him. I tried to convince myself that his presence would make me feel more safe. Just seeing him up close brought up the misty memories of the night before and I came to think why we had never actually confronted each other about our feelings before. Although it seemed like the worst possible moment to think stuff like that, I wished I hadn’t been so drunk.

”I’m alright”, Bobby said and crawled closer to me. He focused on my eyes, perhaps to calm me down. Or calm himself down. ”Your head’s bleeding-”

”I hit it on the sink.”

Bobby just looked me in the eyes. I couldn't tell what was going on in his mind. As I couldn't tell what was going on inside my head either. It seemed like we were both a little out of it. And afraid.

Only then I realized that the men had disappeared. I dragged myself even closer to Bobby, to get to his safety. Just his warmth was enough to console my shaken heart. ”What are they going to do to us?”

He stayed quiet for a while - slowly taking in what was going on. I could see that he hadn't really grasped the reality of the situation yet. ”I think they’re holding us hostage.”

”Hostage for what? My parents aren’t rich.”

”I don't know", he gasped shaking his head. ”Maybe they have something those guys want.”

I started to think of a reason for the situation, but couldn't come up with anything. My dad was a secretary at the KNPA, but there was no way he could have been involved with something like this. All he did was paperwork. He filed things as others did the dirty work. My mom in the other hand worked at a kindergarten, so she was definitely out of the picture. ”There’s nothi-”

The door slammed shut as the men walked back into the living room. The one I sprayed in the eyes had removed his jacket, and was wearing a ragged black hoodie. The other one was hiding behind his cap. I couldn't see his face properly. ”We won’t do a thing as long as you keep your mouths shut”, he spoke. I spotted a mustache underneath the cap. ”So do as we say and you’ll be golden.”

”What do you want?” Bobby asked. He tried to hide his fear, but I could hear it in his voice. I had grown to know how he normally spoke, so it was easy for me to pick out the abnormalities in his voice.

The mustache man squatted down to our level and placed a piece of paper in front of Bobby. ”I need you to fill this.”

I took a look at the paper. It was filled with personal questions such as home address, postal code, bank account number, social security number and the list went on and on. Bobby glanced at the sheet and looked up to the man. ”Why?”

The mustache man dropped a ballpoint pen on top of the paper. ”Just fill it and we won’t hurt you.”

”You’ll get caught”, Bobby said with confidence. ”Her dad’s a cop.”

I shook my head viciously. I wasn’t sure why, but giving them that information whether we knew if they were aware of it or not, didn’t feel like a good draw.

”Is that so?” The man tilted his head to look at me and I could finally see his eyes. They were small and wide apart, which made him look even more like a predator. ”He’s not here now though, is he?”

I couldn’t do anything but stare back at him, as his lips widened into a twisted smile. This man knew exactly who my parents were and why they were out of town.

”Just fill the form”, the hoodie guy spoke behind him. ”That’s all we’re asking.”

Bobby glanced at me. Then he sat up and nodded his head. ”I can’t write with these on anyway.” He pointed at his tied up hands behind his back.

The men exchanged a look. The hoodie guy seemed a little nervous. ”Try not to stab him this time”, he mumbled under his breath. I crawled closer to Bobby, so that I was side to side with him.

The mustache man went behind us and undid Bobby’s ties. At the very second when he got his hands free, Bobby launched at the other man and struck him in the neck. The man fell on his knees and started gagging. I used my opportunity to grab the mustache man from his ankles and caused him to crash down on the floor. All of a sudden I felt like we were ahead of them, which ignited a sudden hope in me. Bobby kicked the hoodie guy with his knee and jumped over him. Then he offered his hand to pull me up. ”Come on, quickly!”

I struggled to get up with my hands behind my back. Suddenly I felt a pair of hands grab me from behind, and in a blink of an eye I was being held down. I could feel a raspy breath against my neck.

”One more trick and I slash .”

I watched as Bobby took two quick running steps to my direction, but stopped immediately when he noticed the blade in the man’s hand. I tried to calm down my breathing, but it seemed impossible while being threatened with a knife. I felt the pressure of the blade on my throat.

”Junhyung…” the hoodie guy croaked on the floor. He was holding his neck in pain. Bobby really knew how to damage an enemy. ”You promised…”

”Shut up!” The mustache man - Junhyung - growled. ”I told you - do as I say and you won’t get hurt.” He stretched the last few words to make his point clear. ”Then you started doing tricks like a ing circus clown.”

Bobby stared at the blade on my throat. His temples were glistening with sweat. ”I’m sorry…”

”Sorry won’t cut it, boy”, murmured Junhyung next to my ear. I swallowed and the blade cut deeper, breaking my skin. I cried out loud.

”NO! LET GO OF HER”, Bobby shrieked as he saw the cut. His eyes wide, he dropped down and grabbed the pen. ”I’ll do it, I’m on it! Put the knife down!”

The pressure of the knife disappeared, and I fell on my side as soon as the man let go of me. My throat was stinging and I wanted to hold it to ease the pain, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop the cry coming out of my mouth. Everything seemed hopeless. I didn't even know where my brother was, let alone if he was even alive. My one sob became quickly a bunch of sobs and the floor against my cheek started flooding.

”Be quiet”, the hoodie guy ordered clearing his throat, and kicked my leg.

”Don’t touch her”, Bobby hissed. His eyes shot up at the man, shooting a poisonous glare at him.

I closed my eyes and bit my teeth together to fight the pain in my throat. It was slowly starting to fade as I was getting used to the stinging sensation. ”Hanbin…” I muttered in between sobs. ”Where’s my brother…”

Suddenly another voice boomed in through the apartment. ”Minseo-”

My eyes cracked open at the sound of my brother’s voice. The sudden feel of relief caused a flood of sobs come out of my mouth. I couldn't fight the tears any longer.

”Don’t cry! Shh, I’m here, it’s okay-”

The man with the hoodie glanced at me. I could swear I saw see a glimpse of empathy in his eyes. The other guy, Junhyung, had left as Bobby had started filling in the papers. ”Where are you?”

”In the bedroom. I’m tied up.”

I tried to calm down. My brother was alive. That was all that mattered to me at that moment.

”I gave them my information. Just do as they say, you’ll be alright I promise”, Hanbin said. Something about his voice made me worried again.

”Are you okay?”

Bobby turned his head slightly, but kept his focus on the paper. He had noticed too. Something was definitely off with Hanbin.

After a few seconds of silence, Hanbin spoke up. His voice broke down before he could even begin. ”I... I’ll be alright. It’s just a little cut.”

A/N: Hi there! It's getting a tad intense, which is something I have never written before! I hope you're enjoying the story :)

ugh, dem visuals *insert heart-eyes emoji*