When Hongki woke up, he had no idea where he was. He tried to sit up, but fell back down when a massive headache hit him. He groaned and held his head. What happened last night? he thought to himself. Hongki looked out of the small barred window only to see the darkness. There was no moon or stars shining. “That's weird,” he said out loud.

“You'll get used to it in a few days,” a voice said next to him. He turned to see who it was, but his headache exploded to the point where he couldn’t keep his eyes open for long, even in the dark.

“How do you know and who are you?” Hongki asked with his eyes closed. He wanted to know, but his headache was making him want to sleep.

“Name's Jonghun. I know because I’ve been here for a while and I’ve never seen the stars nor moon or sun for that matter,” Jonghun said. Hongki couldn’t see him, but he sounded soothing. There was something in his voice that made him feel calm.

Hongki tried to stay wake but it was hard to do. “I'm Hongki, nice to meet you,” Hongki yawned. Jonghun caught it.

“Go to sleep. You're going to need it for tomorrow,” Jonghun said to him. With that, Hongki fell into a dreamless sleep. Jonghun couldn’t help but pray the boy never woke up. He was going to be in hell tomorrow and he was going to need his strength.

Hongki woke up the next day, or at least he thought it was the next day. Jonghun was right, there really was no sun or moon. His headache was still there, but not as severe as it had been before he went to sleep. He looked at Jonghun for the first time. He was wearing a white beater and black shorts, the same as Hongki, and his hair was halfway down his neck and was the color of midnight. Two muscular men walked past Hongki to Jonghun's cell.

“I don’t want to go again. Please don’t take me!” Jonghun yelled as the two men pulled him out. He was kicking and screaming as they dragged him out of his cell.

“Shut up.” One of the men kicked him in the stomach. With a huff, Jonghun slumped over in the men's arms and they pulled him away.

“We'll come back for you later,” one of the men called over his shoulder. They carried Jonghun out of the room. Hongki sat there in the dark. He couldn’t believe what had just happened in front of him. He wanted to cry, but before he could start, the two men came back for him. Hongki scrambled to the back of the cell as the men came for him.

“Woo, we have a squirmer here,” the fatter one said as he moved closer to Hongki.

“Don't touch me! I don’t know what you want, but I didn’t do anything to have you lock me up!” Hongki was terrified with what these people were going to go do with him.

The taller of the two men gave him a sickly smile. “We know you didn’t do anything. But we also know that no one will miss you.” The men grabbed him and hauled him up.

“What do you want from me?” Hongki asked.

“That depends on how much pain you can take, boy,” the fatty said. They carried him into a large room that looked like a lab with tubes and instruments for measuring. Hongki couldn’t catch his breath as they brought him to a table and restrained his hands and feet.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” he yelled at them as they walked away. He struggled against his shackles.

“Stop, it won't help the pain,” Hongki heard next to him. It was Jonghun.

“Wha- what are they going to do to us?” Hongki asked. A tear fell down his face. He was scared out of his mind.

“Torture us 'til we pass out. Then they wake you up and do it all over again,” Jonghun informed Hongki. “Just wish that when you pass out the first time, they stop.” Jonghun gave him weak smile. “Welcome to hell. I’m sorry you have to go through it also.” Jonghun said.

Just then a jolt of energy coursed through Hongki's body. He screamed and he could faintly hear Jonghun next to him. Hongki didn’t and really couldn’t, think about what was going on. He huffed, trying to breathe, but before he could start again another surge went through him. Then he passed out. The taller one saw him.

“Greg, the new boy passed out,” the taller one yelled to the fat one.

“Okay, Tom, I’m getting the water,” Greg said. He moved to a water faucet and filled the bucket with icy cold water.

“No! He's just a kid!” Jonghun tried to distract the two men. He didn’t like the hell he lived in, but no one else deserved this.

“Do you want his dose also?” Tom asked.

“Yes, if that's what will stop you from hurting him even more then I’ll take it!” Jonghun yelled. Greg dumped the water on Jonghun and jacked up the power. He the switch and the energy surged through Jonghun's body. It was too much to stay awake and he also passed out.

“Let's get them back in their cells and get lunch,” Tom said and Greg agreed. They carried Hongki and Jonghun back to the cells. They threw both of the passed-out boys in the same cell and locked the door. “I'm thinking BBQ for lunch,” Tom said as they walked away.

A few hours later Jonghun woke up with pain coursing through his body. He held his head. Today was the worst in terms of pain. He looked down at Hongki's limp figure next to him. Jonghun knew what Hongki needed. Even though his body screamed at him to stop, he carried Hongki's body over to the not-so-soft bed. He swept Hongki's red hair off of his sweat covered face. “I'm sorry. I didn’t want anyone else to suffer like me.”

Jonghun decided to sit next to Hongki until he woke up. A few hours later, Hongki did just that. With a moan he tried to sit up, but Jonghun pushed him back down. Hongki looked up at him, confused. He tried to talk, but it felt like his throat was burning with every breath he took. Hongki looked at Jonghun, hoping that he knew what he wanted to ask. “You're going to need any energy you have for the night. It's not going to be any better from here.”

“How do you know so much?” Hongki managed to say before he started to cough.

“I've been here for almost two years. There have been others, but they didn’t survive long. I don’t even know how I’m still here. Most of them offed themselves, but others died when they had too much of a jolt. And if you're thinking about it, no, I’m not in on it. I was taken off the street on my way back from work. It was a dark night and it was raining. I was the last one at the late night coffee shop, so I had to close up.”

“I've been there. I remember hearing about you going missing. There was a poster in the coffee shop and everything. Everyone missed you, but now they think you're dead,” Hongki said.

“Some days I wish I were dead. One day I’m going to get out of here.” Jonghun looked determined.

“Why not today? We could get out right now.” Hongki made an effort to stand up even though his body was screaming. He looked down at Jonghun. “Come on. Let's get out of here.”

Jonghun shook his head. “I've been here for two years and I have never made it out.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try!” Hongki had a fire in his voice. He wasn’t going through that ever again. He walked over to the door and slammed his body into it a few times.

“Hongki, stop it before you end up dead. It's no use.” Jonghun looked down at his lap. Then the banging stopped. He looked up to see Hongki standing next to the door. It was completely off it's hings.

“What did you say? I got it off,” Hongki grinned. “Now let's move it before they get here.” Hongki walked over to Jonghun and pulled him up.

Jonghun had hardly been able to stand when Hongki pulled him into a run. They ran down the halls, looking for a way out. Hongki had more energy than Jonghun ever saw in a first-day person. The pair ran down to the far end of the hall to the door. Hongki whipped it open to see the outside. The sun blinded them, but they still ran. Jonghun lost his footing and fell to the ground. Hongki ran back and helped him up.

“Hurry! We don’t have time before they find out we're gone!” Hongki said with urgency. He didn’t want to go back and he was sure Jonghun didn’t want to either. Jonghun slowly stood up. “Come on!” Hongki pulled him again as they started to run again. They ran until they found themselves in the city again. Jonghun knew where he was and took the lead dragging Hongki behind him.

“Where are we going?” Hongki asked. He didn’t recognize anything.

“I know where we are! We're going to the police!” Jonghun called behind him then turned down a street and they were face to face with their captors.

“Hey! Get them!” Tom yelled pointing at them. Hongki pulled Jonghun back and they started a game of cat and mouse around the city.

“I think we lost them,” Jonghun huffed out. Hongki could only nod. “Let's get to the police station to get this over with.” They made it to the police station. It was closer than they thought. They walked in and a lady sitting at the desk asked them what they needed.

“I'm Jonghun and this is Hongki. We were held captive by two men.” Jonghun said. The lady looked at them. Then she picked up her phone.

“Chief, I think you should get down here,” she said into the phone. “You two look like you need to sit down. Come with me.” She ordered them to follow. They did, happy to have a normal seat. “You can sit in here until I get back with my chief.” she said as she showed them the room. It looked like an interrogation room, but they didn’t mind. They took a seat. Almost instantly Hongki fell asleep on Jonghun's shoulder. His chest rose and fell as his breath evened out. Jonghun Hongki's hair, happy that someone was able to save him from the hell that he lived in for two years. Jonghun didn’t know what his future was going to be, but he knew that Hongki wasn’t going to miss out on it ever.