The moment he opened his eyes, Donghae could feel pain all over his body, causing him to wince slightly. He thought he was dead. He thought everything would be over for him, but it seemed like he was still alive. He tried to move, but the pain in his shoulder made it harder for him and he finally decided to just lie down. Where am I? He wondered. His vision was still blurry, and he felt somewhat dizzy because of a strange smell inside the room.

“How are you feeling?”

Donghae turned his head to his side when he heard a voice, and Heechul was standing there, leaning against the wall. His face looked serious, but worry could be seen in his eyes.

“I feel like dying,” Donghae replied weakly, after he had overcome his dizziness. He then slowly sat up while biting his lip, trying to endure the pain. “Why are you here?”

“I’m trying to save my friend,” Heechul answered calmly as he approached the latter and sat on the edge of the bed, “You’re at Yunho’s place. Thank Jae later, he stayed up all night to treat your wound.”

“How did you find me?” Donghae asked in a low voice.

“I didn’t. Yunho did. He said he placed a tracker in your car just in case, and he made a right decision after all. He called you last night but you didn’t answer, he had a bad feeling about it so he went out to find you,” Heechul explained.

“Where…where is he?”

Heechul let out a sigh, knowing exactly who the latter was talking about. He would never want to talk about it, but Donghae would certainly ask him. “He…he’s gone. Choi Siwon took him…”

Donghae frowned. He clenched his fists tightly, his face went red because of the anger that slowly took over him. He could still see Eunhyuk’s crying face calling his name in his mind, and he wanted to kill himself for being so weak. He was unable to protect the person that he loved the most.

Gritting his teeth, Donghae forced himself to get up and climbed off the bed despite his throbbing wounds, making Heechul looked at him with wide eyes. Heechul quickly stood up and held the younger’s arm, preventing him from heading to the door.

“What the hell are you going to do?” Heechul asked sternly.

“I want to save him. I want to bring him back,” Donghae said, almost whispering. He pried off the older’s hand and took a step forward, staggering.

“Are you kidding me? Look at yourself, Lee Donghae. There’s nothing you can do right now. Rest for a few days until your wounds are fully healed.”

“He’s waiting for me. I need to find him. Siwon will hurt him!”

“You will die if you go out there in this state!”

“I’m not that weak. I need to save him no matter what, he needs me!”

“Listen to me you brat, Choi Siwon is a gang leader. And he has a good reputation as a legal businessman. Do you really think you can fight him just like that?”

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!” Donghae was practically yelling at the older, his voice trembling. “What am I supposed to do? What should I do to protect him, hyung? What should I do?”

“Donghae…”

“In the end, I wasn’t able to protect him,” Donghae fell on his knees with his head hung low, “I’m useless, hyung…I’m so useless…”

Heechul could only look at the younger with pity, unable to speak even a word. He had never seen Donghae like this before. The latter was strong, he was someone that only cared about himself without letting anyone to enter his cold heart. And when he finally found the light that brightened up his life, he had to see him like this, broken, and suffering in pain. He wanted to help, but he didn’t even know what to do.

“Let me out of here, hyung,” Donghae said, his teary eyes staring into the latter’s. “Please…I need to find him.”

Heechul sighed. “Sorry, I can’t. I’m doing this for your sake, Lee Donghae. If you want to save him, you need to be strong. You can’t fight right now.”

“What if…what if something happens to him?”

“He’ll be safe, trust me.”

“What should I do now?”

“Rest, and stay strong. If you want to fight Siwon, you have to be prepared, and we certainly need a plan.”

Donghae just let the older helped him to sit on the bed, though Eunhyuk’s voice kept echoing in his mind, calling his name. He glanced at Heechul who was sitting beside him with his usual calm face. But he had known Heechul for years and he knew the older was worrying about Eunhyuk too.

“Did Jae tell you about Eunhyuk’s identity?” he asked.

“Yeah, he seems pretty worried too,” Heechul said as he bent down and took his bag on the floor, taking out a few papers before handing it to the younger.

Donghae gave the latter a questioning look before taking the papers, and his eyes darkened as soon as he finished reading the content. “So it’s true? That he’s the one betraying me all this time?”

“You don’t seem to be shocked,” Heechul raised an eyebrow. “I almost got stabbed while trying to find all of this information. I’m glad I’m still alive to stop you from doing something stupid.”

“I actually have seen this coming,” Donghae chuckled bitterly, “I do have doubts about him. And I hope I’m wrong. But it’s really happening to me. All this that happened to me, I can’t stand it, hyung.”

Heechul kept quiet and waited for the younger to continue, but when it was just silence that filled between them, he knew Donghae wanted to be alone. He let out another sigh and patted the latter’s shoulder softly, before walking towards the door and stepped out. He threw a last glance at Donghae, and he could see his tear-stained cheeks before he closed the door.

It had been almost an hour since he woke up in this huge room, but Eunhyuk was still crying while hugging his knees close to his chest. His body was trembling, and he kept calling Donghae’s name even though he knew he couldn’t hear him. When he remembered how Donghae was being beaten to a pulp last night, his tears flowed out again in an instant, wetting his pale cheeks.

He didn’t know why Siwon was doing this, he didn’t know why he hurt them. He thought Siwon was a good guy that he could trust, but he turned out to be wrong and Donghae ended up hurting in pain because of him. He wanted to see Donghae, he wanted to be in his arms and he wanted to know if he was okay. He felt suffocating being locked up in this room, alone.

“H-hae…” he whispered, while tears still flowing out of his eyes, “Where are you?”

CLICK.

Eunhyuk jumped slightly when he heard the sound of the door being unlocked, because he knew someone was coming in. He scooted closer to the headboard and hugged his knees tighter, his heart beating fast due to his nervousness. A second later Siwon stepped in, holding a small pink box in his hand. He approached the blonde with a sweet smile and sat on the bed, but frowned when he noticed how Eunhyuk flinched at his presence.

“It looks like you’ve been crying too much,” Siwon said softly and reached out to wipe his tears away, but Eunhyuk spontaneously backed away. Siwon furrowed his eyebrows, anger was shown on his face. “Why are you backing away?”

Eunhyuk didn’t answer and just looked at the latter in fear. He never thought the gentle Siwon that he met before could turn into someone like this.

“I bought a strawberry cake for you,” Siwon said and opened the box, revealing a delicious looking cake i