Yongguk~

I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes tiredly. I glanced at my watch; 10:26 PM. Another day of working late.

“Tired?” a familiar voice entered the room. I looked up to see Mr. Pak’s blurry figure approach me. I put my glasses back on to sharpen my vision. “Why don’t you go home today and get some rest?”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled. “I don’t have that much left anyway.”

“Then you want to go out for a drink with me?” Mr. Pak suggested, sitting on the edge of my desk. I bit my lip, trying to fight the temptation, but I gave in.

“Sure,” I said, shutting down my computer. I stood up and put on my coat. We went to a street stand and sat down in the plastic chairs.

“Ajumma, two bottles of soju please!” Mr. Pak ordered along with simple side dishes.

“So, how’re you feeling these days? Is work too stressful?” Mr. Pak asked, pouring me a glass of alcohol. I accepted the glass and sighed.

“If I said it isn't stressful, I’d be lying,” I finally said. Mr. Pak was like a close uncle to me. I could open up to him. “Mr. Jang keeps giving me a lot of pressure and then, there’s AJ always waiting for an opportunity to attack. I wonder how Dad dealt with this for eight years…”

“Well, concerning Mr. Jang, we don’t need to worry about him being on the other side. He’s been in the company since day one, and he cares about it as much as both of us. He wants the best for the company, which is why he’s so worried about you being in the situation you’re in. He doesn’t think you can handle it.”

I sighed and chugged down my beer.

“By the way Yongguk… You should be more careful…” Mr. Pak said. I looked up at him, but my vision spun dizzily. I tried to move, but my body was slowly going numb.

“You bastard…” I growled before I fell unconscious. The last thing I saw was Mr. Pak smirking down at me.

Myungsoo~

“One more run-through,” manager hyung said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Sungjong, Woohyun, stop messing up.”

I gritted my teeth and got into position once again. It was already two in the morning and we’d been dancing since school had let out at three. The three and a half minute song finally ended and I collapsed to the floor, too tired to even get water. All around me, my other members fell to the floor, exhausted.

“Good job guys,” manager hyung smiled. “I know it’s tiring, but just wait. All this hard work’s gonna pay off. Practice is over for today. Go to our dorm and rest.”

The two managers left the room.

Every part of my body ached, and it wasn’t even the normal soreness that I was used to. This was a whole new definition of pain.

“If we don’t get ing famous, I’m gonna kill myself. No joke,” Hoya muttered.

“Can I join you…” Woohyun sighed. “We can go jump off a cliff together…”

“If you have enough energy to make jokes, go get me a cup of water,” Sunggyu ordered, massaging his legs. I sighed and stood up, wincing as my muscles burned.

“I’m going back to the dorm,” I announced, walking out the door. Just as I was about to press the 21 in the elevator for the dorm, I changed my mind and headed up for the top floor. I wanted to see Yongguk hyung. I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach and it was making me nervous.

I stepped out of the elevator and just as I was about enter Yongguk’s office, his secretary informed me that he had gone out to eat with Mr. Pak. She was really young and it was my first time seeing her.

I frowned, “Miss, when did you start working here?”

“Um, today was actually my first day…” she answered nervously.

“What happened to the old secretary, Mrs. Yang?” I inquired, leaning over the desk.

“I… I don’t know,” she said, heat crawling into her cheeks. “Mr. Pak just told me to start working here.”

I clenched my jaw as I realized what was going on. She had purposely been planted here by Mr. Pak so that he could carry out his scheme.

Ignoring the secretary’s protests, I walked into the office. Everything was neat and orderly, just like the last time I had seen it. I briskly walked over to the desk and ripped open the bottom shelf. I dug through the contents and finally found what I was looking for, an old computer mouse. I ripped off the plastic covering, and inside was a tiny GPS device. As I walked out of the room, I turned the thing on. Hyung and I had prepared this for emergencies. Both of us always kept small necklaces on and the device was programmed to detect the chips on our necklaces.

With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I drove full speed to the destination Yongguk hyung was at. After about twenty minutes of speeding, I arrived at an abandoned building. Wow, stereotypical much? I was a little disappointed by their lack of creativity.

From inside my car, I surveyed my options.

1. Go inside, probably get beat the out of/get killed.
2. Wait for help to arrive and be safe while Yongguk hyung could be dying.
3. Call for help, then go inside, and hope that help will arrive in time.

I sighed, not really liking any of the choices. Why was life always like this…

Hoping that I wouldn’t regret my decision, I chose C. I pulled off the cushion of the passenger’s seat, revealing several handguns and some materials. I put two on my belt, one in my inside jacket pocket and the other stuff in various places. I pulled on a pair of black leather gloves so that I wouldn’t leave any fingerprints. To disguise myself, I put on a hat and tied a bandana over my mouth and nose. Before I left the safety of my car, I called a few people, telling them my location. They all promised to be here in fifteen minutes, tops. I just needed to survive for that long. Fifteen minutes. I could do it.

I silently walked out of my car and ran to the back door. Leaning against the wall, I heard voices approaching. I tensed, preparing myself. The door opened and before the two men could shout for help, I knocked them out swiftly and precisely. I took the cardkey from one of their hands and stealthily walked into the building. The hallway was isolated and dimly lit. From a distance, I heard a gunshot. A sickening feeling crept into my guts as I followed the noise.

Just as I turned the corner, I ran into a huge, bear-like man. Before he could register that I was an enemy, I clamped my hand over his mouth and stepped behind him, using an arm to strangle him. Soon, his struggles became weak until he passed out. I dragged his heavy body closer to the wall, hoping no one would find him for a while.

Finally, I arrived at a large, garage-like room. Carefully, I looked through one of the windows. Inside, at the center of the room was Yongguk hyung tied to a chair. His face was bloody and bruised to the point that his blonde hair was dyed red. Surrounding him was about a dozen thugs. As I watched, one of them grabbed hyung’s hair and pulled his head up to face him. The thug asked something inaudible to me, and when Yongguk hyung didn’t answer, he punched him once again. I clenched my fist, anger building inside of me.

I dug through my pockets and found what I was looking for: smoke bombs. I silently opened the door and threw in a handful, as far as I could. As soon as they hit the ground, they began spitting out smoke, surprising all the thugs. I saw Yongguk hyung relax a tiny bit. I knew he had realized I was here. I crawled into the room and reached Yongguk hyung while the thugs were suffocating. I quickly covered hyung’s mouth and nose with another bandana and cut off the rope bindings.

“Kid, what took you so long…?” Yongguk grinned weakly as I helped him onto his feet.

“Sorry, it’s managers’ fault, not mine,” I gruffly replied, pulling hyung’s arm over my shoulders. As the two of us struggled towards the exit, a handful of thugs appeared, blocking the entrance. Inwardly, I groaned, not knowing how I was going to fight them.

“Leave them to me,” said a familiar voice said from besides me. I looked over to see Ahyoung smirking at the thugs. Behind us was her gang, all looking fierce and pissed off.

“Just get out of here. I’ll clean up,” Ahyoung said. “But remember, you owe me.”

I gave her a smile of gratitude as she and her gang members charged the thugs. Soon, the way cleared and I quickly went to my car. I helped Yongguk hyung into the passenger’s seat and I sat down behind the wheel. I slammed my foot down on the gas and sped out of the parking lot.

Knowing that hyung was in need of medical care, I called 911.

“I have a severely injured person, can you tell me the nearest hospital? I’m near… I’m near the CC Entertainment Building.”

“Well sir, it’d probably best if you just went to their hospital then.”

I cursed silently. I knew the closest hospital was the one CC owned, but for various reasons, I didn’t want to go there.

“Any other ones?” I asked desperately.

“I’m sorry sir, but the closest one after that will be about a thirty minute drive.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, hanging up. Frustrated, I slammed my hand against the wheel. Taking a deep breath, I jerked the car around and headed towards the CC Hospital.

At the ER entrance, I called for a stretcher and they took hyung away. Inside, I rushed to the desk and hastily told them that I wanted to keep Yongguk hyung’s presence in the hospital a secret. They agreed to respect that and gave me a few forms to fill out about hyung.

A few hours later, I was led up to one of the higher floors. According to the nurse, it was where they kept the reserved patients. No one but I would be able to visit hyung during his stay at the hospital.

With the nurse’s permission, I decided to stay the night at the hospital. Inside the room, Yongguk hyung was peacefully sleeping. I sat down next to him, just glad that he was still alive.