"Things happen. And good things happen, and bad things happen. And I'm a person - I'm a believer that everything happens for a reason."

Chapter Two

Streets of Seoul, SM company van; 9:14 p.m

January 2

A large, black van drives along Seoul's central but near desolate highway amid the city's extravagant nightlife. In the rear of the black van, a half-asleep Siwon sits with his head resting loosely to his side, courtesy of the car window directly to his right. His weary eyes are downcast to the small, brightly lit phone screen that's currently displaying his recent text messages between himself and Leeteuk. It has been the same back and forth conversation for the majority of Siwon's car ride, an issue that clashes with his original plan to sleep for the entire ride back to the dorms. But the moment Siwon's car pulled away from his last event of the evening, the messages began flooding in and with them came Siwon's growing annoyance.

With his growing headache, sore muscle due to an earlier variety show appearance and, to top it all off, his need for even a blink of shut-eye, he just can't be bothered to pay attention to any of the messages. Siwon can only assume all the other members are the same as he is though, or even worse off since he wasn't the first that had to leave that morning. The endless hours and never-ending schedules are all part of his life now ever since he signed the contract those years ago.

A soft ding brings Siwon out of his thoughts and his eyes focus on the small screen, noticing yet another new message from Leeteuk.

"Answer me Siwon! I need to know how close you are to the dorms!! Somethings happened"

This is the first message that has managed to catch Siwon's attention that night. It's a worrying message, one he didn't think he'd be receiving that night. He's quick to reply, this time his mind fully focused.

"Whats wrong?? What happened?" He sends the short and straight to the point message, anxious for a reply and is luckily gifted one within seconds.

"I dont knoe. soemthings wrong w yesung and I need u to get to the dorms quixkly. he wont answer my calls or messages they go straigh to voicemail." Siwon freezes upon reading the newest message, thoughts racing as he tries to comprehend what Leeteuk means.

Scenarios fill his mind, all centered around why Yesung isn't answering his phone. Yesung is never one to not reply to a message or answer a call, so it's troubling to hear this news about the singer. He pushes it all to the back of his mind, knowing perfectly well it's best to remain calm in any kind of troubling situation. He has binge-watched enough cop dramas to know.

"Calm down hyung. I'm sure Yesung hyung is fine. Call me so we can talk." 

This time the leader's almost immediate reply comes in the form of an incoming phone call; the answer button is pressed and the phone up to his ear in a matter of seconds.

"Leeteuk-hyung, you need to calm down. It's no good worrying yourself over something that you don't know the full extent of."

The reply that comes back through the phone breaks Siwon's heart into two. Leeteuk, his strong leader who always manages to power through the toughest of situations, now seemingly broken. Voice shaky as he gasps for air, both obvious signs that he's been crying.

"I-I know Siwon, I kn-know... it's just... it-it's just I'm sc-scared. Ye-Yesung always answers his phone. Th-this isn't like him..."

"This may seem bad but we just need to have hope in Yesung. He's strong and can handle himself when it comes down to it, right?"

"Ya, h-he can... but Si-Siwon, I've already tried the others. They're all st-still at their schedule... so pl-please tell me you're close to h-home... please."

Siwon would love to right out lie to Leeteuk about being close to the dorms so he'd calm down some. But Siwon honestly can't remember when he had left the interview; he was zoned out the entire car ride up til now. And on top of his inattentiveness, lying to Leeteuk would only cause more of an issue because he'd see right through Siwon. It's just one of the strange but handy abilities Leeteuk has as the leader, one Siwon wish didn't exist at this moment.

He's close to reaching for the manager, who is driving the van, to ask about the time, but as his hand goes up so do his eyes and he takes notice of the familiar street they're on. He's back. A large grin spreads across his face as he hurriedly begins scrambling together all his belongings, almost forgetting about Leeteuk on the phone.

"Yes, yes Leeteuk-hyung I'm back. I'm pulling up as we speak. It's only going to take me a minute to get out of the van and into the building and then I'll be up at the dorms. And don't hang up on me."

"I-I won't Siwon, I need to hear it for myself that he's okay... just please hurry."

Every time he hears his leader speak through the phone, he'd love to just jump through to give him the biggest hug possible. Leeteuk doesn't deserve to feel as he does but Siwon can't afford to feel like he does. He needs to keep these emotions of his at bay until he finds Yesung, and he is going to find him. Not just for himself, but for everyone else that cares for the singer. Every family member, every friend, fan, and every fellow member who doesn't need to be receiving any bad news anytime soon.

By the time the car's stopped, Siwon is already practically halfway out of the van and heading towards the front gate of the building, manager yelling at Siwon to stop. Siwon, of course, ignores the older man; his mind and heart are already deadset on where to go to. Who to go to.

As the singer pushes past the gate and up to the front door, he can hear the faint sound of a car door being opened then slammed shut, quickly followed by hurried footsteps, all of which Siwon knows is from the manager. He knows the man is beyond angry at Siwon at this point; Siwon both ignored and rushed away from the manager, activity that can be viewed as odd at first. Siwon wishes he could just stop and explain everything to the manager, but there just isn't enough time. Leeteuk is still relying on him to get up to the dorms and find Yesung; to find him, make sure he's okay, then give him an extra-large yelling at for not answering his phone.

Siwon rushes towards the stairs, forcefully pushing the door wide open as he continues up the multiple flights, his destination being the tenth floor. He knows it's a long trip up to run that high up, but elevators take too long. If he had decided to take the elevator, not only would the manager of caught up with him, but also in the time it would take him to just get up to the floor through the elevator, he would already be in the room searching for Yesung through the stairs.

After what felt like an eternity, but rather a mere few minutes, Siwon arrives at the tenth-floor landing. He forcefully pushes the door open just as he did in the lobby, not surprised at the distant thought that he might have broken the hinges. He's rushing down the hall towards the dorm, knowing full well just how close he is now. He can hear the distant shuddering breath through the phone, understanding Leeteuk is trying his hardest to calm down. But Siwon can relate with how hard it is; being the leader means Leeteuk should always try and stay calm in any situation. But even Siwon, who usually manages to maintain a calm composure, is feeling the effects of this. His heart is telling him that nothing bad could have possibly happened to Yesung, that it all is just a simple misunderstanding, but it's the fact that he's rushing down the hall towards the door instead of walking and that he can feel his hands shaking in worry. 

For once in his life, Siwon is feeling enough strong emotion that he can't seem to keep under control. And if he could at that moment, he'd start crying. He'd let the warm, salty tears cascade down his face because for once, his gut feeling is that something bad has happened.

It's a matter of seconds before the dorm door comes into view, and when it does Siwon instantly freezes in his tracks and in a heavy breath. The door is open, only slightly ajar to allow for the hallway light to spill in through the opening, but it's still open. An alarmed yelp from Leeteuk through the phone signals that he heard Siwon; the latter curses under his breath at his dumb mistake.

"Siwon! Wh-what's wrong? Di-did you find Yesung? Where is he?"

"Nothing hyung, it's just... ju-just that..."

"Just what! What's wrong?"

"Hyung, the door's open. The dorm door is opened."

Siwon can hear the sudden intact of breath just as he had done only moments ago. With the new news, Siwon knows Leeteuk is likely crying again, after he had just managed to calm himself down. But Siwon won't let it go on; so much crying could make the leader sick. Without further hesitation, he's pressing on towards the door and when he reaches the hard, wooden surface, he slams it open, hoping to alert whoever is inside of his appearance. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness as compared to the brightness of the hall, but as they do outlines of various objects begin to appear. The kitchen counters over to his left alongside the fridge, the cluttered shoe rack directly to his right that's filled with all of the member's discarded shoes from past activities, the large sofa on the far side of the room, and...

The object he spots sprawled out across the floor directly in front of him doesn't register in his mind as anything he has seen there before. It's long and seems to be covered in some type of clothe, and... breathing. And with a closer examination, while maintaining a safe distance, the pieces begin falling into place. The familiar clothes all look exactly like those that belong to Yesung, the hair on top of the person's head is the exact match to how Yesung got it done the other day. Everything about this person screams...

Yesung.

Siwon rushes forward towards the far wall where Yesung lays, quickly dropping his belongings as he kneels at the side of the singer. He takes in the form of a sleeping Yesung who's laying on his back directly against the sofa, not believing his eyes. His gut feeling was wrong, Siwon did find Yesung. But even with the discovery comes a cost. A closer look over his body for any injuries reveals a large gash along the right side of his head, along with light bruises around his neck.

Siwon shudders at the thought of how this could have happened, multiple scenarios evading his thoughts as he tries to process everything that's just happened in the last few minutes. He managed to find Yesung, an injured but alive Yesung, but also realized that someone had to of been responsible for this. Whether this person left or is hiding somewhere in the dorm Siwon doesn't know, but he does know he isn't going to let anything else happen to the singer.

And it's as if a lightbulb suddenly in Siwon's mind. He suddenly remembers that Leeteuk is still on the phone with Siwon and most likely crying while waiting for an answer from Siwon whose too awestruck to speak up. But now, Siwon can share the good news with the leader instead of bad. His tears of grief will turn into ones of joy, ecstatic at the fact Yesung was found and is safe.

"Hy-hyung, I found him. Yesung, h-he's in the dorm."

"What? Y-you found him? I-is h-he okay?"

"For the most part, yes. He's bleeding from a cut on his head and he has some bruising. Hyung... I think he was attacked. That's the only thing that can explain this. Either the attacker left or is still in the dorm but I'm going to look aroun-"

"NO, j-just stay where you are with Ye-Yesung. He needs you, Siwon... and we need to call the police. They need to know..."

Siwon is ready to protest against the leader's words, but a sudden realization hits him. His manager is still here, most likely either still in the elevator or walking down the hall as they speak. If Siwon can get Yesung out of the door to the manager, then they can call the police without Siwon hanging up with Leeteuk. Now that he found Yesung, he'd never hang up on Leeteuk until they're both a hundred percent sure everything is fine.

"Hyung, look... my manager is still here. I'm going to bring Yesung out into the hall where it's safer. We can call the police once I get out there."

It takes a moment for Leeteuk to reply, as if he's considering the options, but in the end replies to Siwon with a long sigh, one he has probably been wanting to release all night.

"Okay... okay, bring him in the hall. Just be sure not to bother his injuries. W-we don't know the full extent of them."

As Siwon adjusts his hold on his phone, now having it pressed between his head and shoulder, he begins maneuvering his arms around Yesung's frail body while staying cautious of the injuries. Just as he's about to push his arms under the singer's body to lift him, a sudden noise from behind him makes Siwon stop and snap his head all the way around to look at the dorm behind him. The noise was quiet and seemed far off, but it also sounded heavy. His mind instantly goes to his manager, but he's nowhere to be seen.

Siwon stands slowly, the phone still against his shoulder and body beside Yesung's in a protective manner. After a moment of examining the areas of the dorm that he can see from where he is, Siwon proceeds wearily towards the middle of the dorm where he'll have a view of a majority of the dorm. All the hallways in the dorm will be within his views, as well as the front door and Yesung's body. It's the perfect spot to search for sudden movement within the dorm, but too far from Yesung's body for his liking. He'd prefer staying beside his body without disturbance until the manager arrives, but this is something he needs to check out.

He peers down the different hallways, scanning for an ounce of movement, as his eyes quickly go back to Yesung's body just to be sure he's still there.

Siwon isn't dumb. He knows that if someone is willing to risk their life to invade an idol group's dorm to attack a member than that must mean Yesung was the intended target all along. Siwon hates believing that someone out there purposely targeted Yesung tonight, but at the same time it's the most obvious thing to believe. Some people are willing to do whatever is necessary to meet their favorite idol, and some are willing to do anything to confront their least favorite.

Siwon begins another scan of the dorm from where he's standing as he begins speaking to Leeteuk through the phone.

"Hyung, I think there's someone here. I just heard... something, I'm not sure what it was. I'm looking now but ca-"

Siwon is stopped mid-sentence when a small, hard pistol suddenly makes contact with the side of his head. It hits him hard, enough to make Siwon stumble and fall to the ground, dropping his phone in the process. His vision is blurry as he looks painfully around the dorm for his attacker, but with the stabbing pain from the pistol, his head and mind feel almost numb. He can't form a straight, coherent thought at all, his mind too clouded by the one thing that stays plastered in his mind.

The attacker is here and he's going for Yesung.

He rolls his throbbing head to the side in the direction of Yesung's body and standing there, directly over the singer's body is the attacker. He's tall and lean with long dark hair pushed behind his ears as he stands smiling down at Yesung's body. He's wearing a long, brown trench coat that ends at his feet and as Siwon squints his eyes to take in the stranger's appearance better, he finally sees two more pistols tucked inside his coat alongside the one Siwon got hit with that's still held tightly in the attacker's hand.

Siwon knows he can't let it end like this, the attacker getting away with Yesung because Siwon was too weak to fight back. Many have always complimented Siwon for being one of the stronger members of Super Junior, and if it weren't for the stranger using a stealth attack to take Siwon down, he could take this .

As his senses begin to work more normally, his ears pick up the distant sound of Leeteuk yelling through his phone. He sees the small device lying only a few feet away from his body and if he were strong enough right now he could reach it. No, he is strong enough. His head's fuzzy but that's not enough to down Siwon. He's keeping to his promise of protecting Yesung. No matter what.

With slow movements, Siwon moves his arms out to his sides and hands planted flat against the floor to push his body up. At first, his body completely rejects the idea of moving at all but as Siwon's eyes move back over to the attacker and Yesung, he sees the stranger with his hand placed against Yesung's face as he speaks softly into the singer's ear. Siwon can only imagine what the freak is saying and with a newfound determination, Siwon manages to push the top half of his body up so he's now in a sitting position.

The attacker sees none of it because he's so absorbed in Yesung and Siwon uses it to his advantage. With more slow movements his hand reaches over towards his phone as he cautiously scoots over in the direction of the device. The yells and screams from Leeteuk only seem to be getting louder and Siwon prays to himself that the attacker doesn't take notice of them soon. It would ruin his plan and put not only himself but also Yesung in more danger.

Siwon's eyes never leave the forms of the attacker and Yesung, whose still being caressed by the stranger. Siwon would love for nothing more to just jump at the attacker and get him off of Yesung, but he knows it wouldn't work. The man has three guns, and maybe more that he just can't see, so using just his guts and strength to take him down would be ineffective completely.

The attacker finishes speaking into the singer's ear just as Siwon reaches his phone and Siwon's eyes land on Yesung's face just as the attacker begins to slowly lean in. Siwon's mind instantly registers that he's going to kiss Yesung, which is the last straw for him. With a sudden burst of energy, Siwon stumbles onto his feet, completely abandoning his phone where it landed earlier, and pounces at the attacker whose taken completely off guard by Siwon. Siwon makes sure to avoid landing on Yesung's body as he manages to pull the attacker off the singer and over where he had landed after getting hit.

Siwon maneuvers himself on top of the attacker and without further hesitation begins sending a flurry of punches directed at the attacker's face and chest. The first few manage to land but as his fist starts swinging in for another hit, the stranger swings one of his arms up towards Siwon's fist and grabs a hold of it tightly before it can make contact with the man's face. Now with his one arm subdued, it's a struggle of raw strength between the two males.

Siwon tries pulling out of the the attacker's grip, but he's stronger than he looks and manages to push Siwon away enough to get a leg freed from underneath the singer and sends it flying towards Siwon's side. It hits him roughly in the ribs and makes Siwon lose his grip on the attacker's other arm, allowing him to push Siwon off fully and grab a pistol out of his jacket. Before he can even aim the gun at Siwon, the singer grips onto the solid object for his dear life, trying to pull it from the attacker's grasp.

Siwon gets a good enough hold on the gun to use his strength to forcefully hit it against the attacker's chest, hard enough to make the man stumble a little. Siwon takes this as his chance and pulls the gun out from his grasp finally and pushes the attacker back into the small end table next to the couch. His head is what makes contact with the corner of the table first and Siwon can only imagine the large gash that will be there because if it.

Without further thought, Siwon grips the gun tightly and dashes for Yesung. Quickly trying to grab a safe hold around him without hurting him. As he begins lifting his body off the ground, a hand suddenly grabs a hold of his shoulder and pulls him backward, making him lose his grip on Yesung as well as the gun. He lands roughly on his back and before he has even a second to register what happened, the attacker is on top of Siwon, sending his own flurry of punches at Siwon's face. Siwon tries his hardest to fight him off, but the exhaustion begins to settle in and his mind begins registering the throbbing from the hit earlier once again.

As his eyes slowly begin to feel heavy, he notices the attacker with his gun pointed directly at Siwon's forehead. Siwon feels a wave a dread and fear wash over him, his mind believing he's going to die right then and there. But the attacker doesn't shoot, rather raising the gun above his head then proceeding to bring it down against Siwon's head once again, knocking the male out instantly.

The last thought he manages to makes before he goes out is that he failed, failed to save his friend, his brother... failed to save Yesung from the hands of the insane attacker.