Hear Me Now - Secondhand Serenade

Narrator's POV

The video went viral over the internet for only a day. It had been passed from one Korean to another, not without any comment posted together with the link.

It took less than 24 hours for the video to reach the South Korean news, and most especially, Min Yu's family. Kyuhyun, after seeing the video, dashed to their leader's house. He wasn't sure if it was true, but he had to make sure.

"Hyung..." he walked through the front door, not even bothering to knock. But he was too late. The family was already seated on the living room, watching the news.

The country's broadcasting station played the video over and over again, indefinitely even. "Go ahead. Shoot me," Min Yu smiled slyly with blood trickling down the corners of . She stared at the camera blankly, her eyes drilling through every viewer's consciousness.

"Where is she?" Kyuhyun asked. "They held her captive in the North," Leeteuk answered with his eyes still glued to the television screen. He never took his eyes off of his daughter.

"JUNGSU!" Heechul slammed the door open. "Is it true? Tell me it's just a joke. We're being pranked by a new variety show. Tell me it isn't true!" Siwon followed suit behind him.

Leeteuk shook his head slowly as he cried. "I want this to be just a fearsome dream, a nightmare. I want to believe that there's a hidden camera in this house somewhere, ran by people who are rolling on the floor laughing because of our priceless expressions. But it's true. Unfortunately, it's real," he replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Where's Min Young?" Kyuhyun searched.

"She's in her room. She has no idea what's happening. I mean, she can't see her sister like that," he gestured to the television and cringed as an unidentified man repeatedly sent his rough palm across his daughter's face.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY HAD THE NERVE TO FILM THIS!" Heechul almost pulled his hair out in frustration. "Why was she there anyway?" Siwon asked.

"It's her job," Min Jae responded with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked composed and relaxed, as if her daughter wasn't being tortured in a foreign country and had no chance whatsoever of going home...alive at least.

If Min Jae threw a fit, cried and grieved over their misfortune, it wouldn't get them anywhere. Right now, her husband was in tears, her other daughter was kept in the dark. Honest to say, she was the only one sane.

Heechul fumbled for his phone and immediately pressed it against his ear. "Don't greet me! I want to talk to the president, THIS INSTANT!" he yelled. "What are you doing?" Kyuhyun asked.

"Since it's impossible for us to get her out of there, I'll beg the government," he said. The others ignored Heechul, and sat in silence instead.

"Where's Donghae?" Leeteuk asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell him," Min Jae commented. "Tell me WHAT? That Min Yu's being tortured on live television?!? That we don't know if she'll ever come back?!" Donghae burst in through the door angrily.

"IF YOU'RE ALL DOING WHAT YOU COULD DO, WHY IS SHE STILL THERE HUH?!" Heechul shouted over his phone.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!" Leeteuk stood up and shouted at Donghae.

"YOU'RE THE FATHER! YOU DO SOMETHING!" he snapped back and clenched his fists tightly, ready for action. "Ya! You two! If Min Yu was here, she wouldn't have wanted you to fight," Min Jae explained.

"What if they drugged her or something?" Kyuhyun thought out loud. "Don't talk like that," Min Jae covered her ears. "But it's possible. It's freaking possible," Kyuhyun sighed and slumped over the sofa.

"How did she get there?" Siwon asked. "Her chief editor sent her by boat," Leeteuk sat back down and closed his eyes. "But the border's impenetrable!" Siwon exclaimed. "They made an overtake to Japan. That's the only country with open ports to the North," Leeteuk replied.

"Oh! There's a new video!" Kyuhyun announced and turned his laptop over for everyone to see. It had been posted just minutes ago, but eager people have already passed the video from one person to another, like a contagious disease.

It was just Min Yu. "You don't have to help me," she started, her voice coming out as whispers. She was all alone in a barren room, but her state was disturbing.

"I had delayed their secret launch, which was supposed to be directed to Seoul. Their objective was to inflict harm on South Korea's capital, the center of all economic, industrial, and political development."

"When the country's grieving over the great loss, that will be the time they would strike. They would blow up the border, and march to cover and surround the country. Luckily, it was all delayed," the bleeding and bruised corners of curved up to a smile.

"If I hadn't been here, then I still would have died, together with all the people in Seoul. It's better for me to be a prisoner here, than see my sister grow up in a country ran by foreigners."

"They're planning to kill me," she mumbled to herself, but loud enough to be heard. "But all I want now is to be dead," tears fell from her eyes. "They've bound my hands and feet so tightly that my limbs are swelling."

"No blood flows to my fingers and toes. They've trampled on me with their combat boots and I think my ribs are broken," she breathed through her teeth, showing all the efforts she had made just to talk.

"They've threw me several times against stone walls, and my head hasn't stopped bleeding since then. They've kicked me nonstop, and I can't take it anymore," she sobbed.

"Everywhere hurts, from my head down to my toes. They won't let me change clothes, even though I'm bleeding. They spat on my face and made me feel like the dirtiest person on earth," she recalled.

"I told them to shoot me in the head and get it over with. They wanted me to suffer. They wanted me to plead for my life. But I won't. Not a single whimper of pain erupted from my mouth."

"Not a single one. But I envy these pesky mosquitoes that bother me at night. These insects enjoy freedom unlike me. And I'm comforting myself with the fact that I deserve this. I really deserve to die."

"They've already planned what they were going to do to me. They wanted me burned to death. But I don't mind it even if they talk about it in front of my face. I'm already dead," she shook her head.

"With what they are doing to me, I'm already dead." And the video ended. Who knows what torture she had experienced after the filming stopped, after the camera has stopped rolling, after the video was posted on the internet?

Min Jae ran to her room, still cannot absorb what she has just saw. Leeteuk burst out crying again, and the others were gazing blankly at the monitor.

They were beginning to lose hope, and were starting to think there was nothing they could do to save her. Like Min Yu, they were also starting to lose hope. Years and years of mandatory military training weren't even applicable.

"What do they want? Do they want ransom? I'd send them everything I have. Just let her go," Heechul still fought over the phone. "As of now, since the situation had been sudden, the government is doing its utmost best to res--"

"THEIR UTMOST BEST IS NOT ENOUGH!" he shouted. "Please calm down, sir. We're doing all we can to settle the matter," the person on the other line answered. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WE'? YOUR JOB IS TO JUST ANSWER THE TELEPHONE!" and with that, Heechul hung up.