To say that Taemin was worried about the girl was an understatement.

It had already been a week since he'd brought her to the abandoned cottage house in the deep woods that his boss had provided, and things were seriously not looking good.

At first, Naeun had refused to eat or drink anything, and being only able to watch over her during nights, he could truly see the effects the day times had on her.

This guy, one of his boss’ hand-men, who was hired to watch over her when he wasn’t there, was clearly being abusive.

It had started with bruising along her knees and hands, but as the week had progressed, he'd also noticed a slight split in her dry bottom lip and even more purple marks on her skin.

So, after driving to his work place and cutting off the engine of his car, Taemin pressed the heels of his hands to his closed eyes, sighing heavily as the last thing he wanted to do now was see in what condition Naeun would be in today.

Reluctantly, he left the vehicle and entered the shabby house only to be met by loud growling from the very one, he wanted to avoid desperately.

‘ing listen and open your mouth!’ Jaekyun yelled at her, holding up the cup of water to her lips that she had pressed tightly together.

Taemin shook his head and set down the paper bag he'd brought in to take a few steps closer.

He hated to see Naeun trapped in a corner, shivering and whimpering as this repeatedly tried to make her drink.

Seconds later, the glass of water was splashed all over the floor, followed by a loud smacking sound, indicating that the er had slapped her.

‘! I’m gonna teach yo-‘

‘That’s enough, Jaekyun.’ Taemin interrupted him promptly, pulling him back by his shoulder and away from the crying girl who was now holding her cheek in pain.

At that, Taemin noticed that instead of her hands being tied at her back, they were now restrained at her front, the robes biting into the skin of her wrists.

‘Did you see that -‘

‘Shut up and leave. Your shift’s over.’ He cut off his rant at once, having no patience to waste his time listening.

Instead, the bouncer grabbed the other man’s discarded jacket, and shoved it in his face, pointing at the door dismissively.

‘Out.’ He spoke in a calm yet firm and authoritative tone.

Jaekyun huffed loudly, annoyed at the interruption, but still made his way to the front door.

As the car screeched away and the silence returned to the room, Taemin sighed again, this time heavier, and approached the girl who had shifted into a hunched position, having pulled her knees to her chest while continuing to cry into her dirty skirt.

He didn’t say anything while he simply unpacked the things from the paper bag quietly, setting out pastries, flavoured milk, some wet wipes and antiseptic cream.

Though he couldn’t help but repeatedly glance over to her, which then led to reluctantly inching closer, sensing her curling up more the nearer he got.

‘It’s ok, Naeun.' he almost whispered, hoping his calm voice would make her relax a bit.

‘We’re alone now. He's gone for today.'

He, himself, didn’t know why, but for some reason, the statement reassured her greatly.

For one, apart from the actual abduction, Taemin had not once hurt her since she’d been there, and to add to that, the way he was treating her seemed to be nothing compared to what Jaekyun was doing to her when he watched her during the day.

Naeun couldn’t say that her abductor was particularly caring, but it was most definitely as close as it could get to that, considering the circumstances.

Also, the fact that she was still blindfolded almost seemed to have heightened her other senses, making her more altert to scents, noises and how things felt.

‘Bathroom?’ he asked her simply, earning a brief and shaky nod from her side, to which he helped her up to her feet, handing her the cream and wet wipes and then led her to a nearby door.

‘You know how it works, no turning around and knock on the door once you’re done.’ he said the usual as he carefully freed her hands from the rope to then move behind the girl, unfolding the cover from her eyes.

Naeun continued to sniff occasionally as she tried to open her eyes, repeatedly blinking in an attempt to get used to the light, since she hadn’t seen any since the last time he had been with her.

It seemed like Jaekyun even refused to allow her this much while he was present.

It didn’t take long for her to then reach for the doorknob, and as promised, entered the bathroom without once turning around and taking a peek at Taemin's face.

Five minutes later, he heard the previously agreed knock.

So o