Kidnapped

Hyukjae and Donghae have been best friends since before anyone could even remember. They grew up together, went to school together, entered college together, and aside from different classes were basically always together. Their friends have been teasing them for years, calling them a married couple, which always brought laughs. But they are just friends. The best friends ever. Friends that cuddle and care for each other. Friends that will do anything the other asks, especially Hyukjae who gives in to whatever Donghae wants no matter how much he would rather be doing something else.

But Hyukjae is so tired of listening to his best friend talk about the stupid reality show he’s become obsessed with. Donghae watches every episode, at least twice, and could write essays about the small details. “Kidnapped” seems exploitative at best and downright horrifying at its worst. Even though there might be a small shred of good in it, Hyukjae lost all interest a long time ago because it seems like it’s all Donghae ever wants to talk about anymore.

“Didn’t you love last night’s episode, Hyuk? The guy’s family wanted him to stop working all the time, so they kidnapped him and brought him to a remote island for a vacation. He ended up loving it so much! It was so cool. The whole family bonded and now they’re closer than ever!”

Normally the episodes had some version of the same theme. Someone was doing something their friends and family thought was unhealthy for them, either physically or mentally. So, they hired this company – the television studio people – to arrange a kidnapping in order to remove them from their life temporarily. There were interventions - some teary, some funny - and the kidnappee almost always had a few moments of anger, but then also always ended up falling in love all over again or crying in the arms of their friends thanking them for the wake-up call to how amazing their life could be.

Of course, they didn’t show the really bad parts on TV. And it was unrealistic to blindly believe that everyone who got kidnapped for the stupid show was dancing in a field of flowers at the end of it. Not that they would air those parts. Anger would be bad for ratings.

After being forced to watch it one too many times and having to listen to endless recaps that made his teeth grind until he thought he might just break one, Hyukjae finally snapped. Donghae was so caught up in the show that he wasn’t paying attention to Hyukjae anymore, and he was sick of it. There were a lot of things about their relationship Hyukjae had never questioned until he was suddenly without them.

Which is how he found himself, one rainy afternoon, in an empty field with his terrified, hyperventilating best friend in the back seat of his sister’s car, wondering what the hell he just did and how on earth he could possibly calm Donghae down.

It had seemed so logical that morning when he snuck into his friend’s bedroom with a pair of zip ties and a cloth sack to put over his head. Donghae was such a heavy sleeper anyway, he barely stirred, even when Hyukjae managed to throw him over his shoulder and carry him out to the car. Which wasn’t easy, because Donghae weighed more than he did and having his plump and morning wood practically rubbing against his face was difficult to endure for so many reasons he couldn’t stop thinking about recently.

It wasn’t until the car started moving that the stupid fish woke up. So much for the cocky claims that he would fight off anyone who tried to kidnap him. That he wouldn’t get scared like so many people on his favorite show did. Because Donghae started wailing like a baby, thrashing around in the backseat and begging for mercy. Hyukjae nearly pulled the car over right away, but the screaming would have alerted the neighborhood, and he didn’t want to end up arrested because of a prank.

The isolated spot outside town was only a twenty minute drive anyway. Twenty nerve-wracking minutes listening to Donghae beg for his life, crying that he would never see his family again, and that he was too young to die.

So now here they were. Hyukjae climbed into the backseat of the car and reached out to touch his best friend’s arm, calling out his name. All he had wanted – and it had made perfect sense at the time – was to do what everyone on that asinine television show had done. To drag his best friend away from the everyday routine and make him realize that there was something – someone – that he had overlooked. Maybe kidnapping him wasn’t really the best idea though.

Pulling off the cloth sack, Hyuk met the huge, tear-filled eyes of the man he loved and almost cried himself when Donghae stuttered his name t