YoonA groggily pushed herself upright, she had a splitting headache and felt dry.

She tried to remember what had happened. She’d been at the premiere of a new film with Yuri and Nichkhun.

Nichkhun…

Memories returned slowly.

They’d been talking, no, arguing outside the movie theatre when she’d been grabbed and bundled into a vehicle.

She’d been kidnapped.

YoonA drew her legs up and rested her head on her knees.

So the people who wanted her dead had her. And all because she’d been stupid enough to seduce Nichkhun and then get jealous when he started noticing her best friend Yuri. She suddenly hated herself.

Useless tears filled her eyes and she sniffled.

Her head shot to the right at the sound of a lock being scraped back into its fitting and she backed away.

The door opened and in walked a young man.

She frowned in confusion. He didn’t look like the kind of person who would kill someone, he looked more of a boy-next-door type.

“Ah, Princess, you’re awake at last.” He smiled but it held no warmth. He walked further into the room and she pressed herself back against the wall, watching him warily. He chuckled at her reaction to him. “It’s right for you to be so afraid of me, Princess. I will hurt you if you do something I don’t like.”

YoonA swallowed. “Who are you?”

“Excuse my bad manners, my name is Yoon Doojoon. I was born and raised on Jeju Island,” YoonA’s breath in harshly at the news, and he smiled in acknowledgement, “but when the Royal family left to live in Seoul it ruined the island and many of its residents, who hadn’t known anything but the island, died there. Your desire to live in Seoul ruined Jeju.”

“My parents didn’t have to follow me to Seoul! They could have stayed on Jeju!” She said indignantly.

Doojoon stormed over to where she was cowering against the wall and back handed her across the face. She cried out in pain and shock. “You were their only daughter! Did you really think they wouldn’t follow you?!”

YoonA honestly hadn’t expected her parents to leave the island to keep an eye on her. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t sent a band of guards to keep watch and protect her. Her parents had flown out to Seoul two months after she’d left and had then informed her of their decision to move there for the length of her stay at University. She’d been studying law and it would take her fours years to complete. YoonA had tried to talk her parents out of it but they’d brushed off her concerns and the move had been completed in three weeks.

“I swear I didn’t think they’d follow me to Seoul.” It was said meekly.

Doojoon’s hand raised as if he might strike her again and she moved her head to the side as if to stop the blow from connecting, but he didn’t hit her. Instead his hand fastened painfully around her upper arm and he dragged her off the bed and out of the room. “Come on, we’ve got a video call to make.”

She tried to be as small as possible as he dragged her through the buildings many hallways and into a large room. There were more people here, four altogether. She noticed a video camera mounted on a tripod and wondered what they were up to.

Doojoon pushed her roughly and she stumbled into the camera’s view. He followed and spoke, “As you can see we have your precious daughter.”

YoonA turned her head to look at him questioningly. Who was he talking to?

“YoonA? Are you okay honey?” her head turned at the sound of her mothers voice and she found herself staring into the living room of her home. Her mother and father were there. She glanced at the others there, her gaze locking on Nichkhun’ figure. “Honey?”

“I’m fine mum,” she said quietly, her gaze still on Nichkhun.

He too, seemed transfixed by her.

“We blame the Princess for Jeju Island’s destruction.” Doojoon went on.

“She hasn’t been to Jeju since she was sixteen! How can you blame her for it?” Her fathers powerful voiced asked.

Doojoon tutted and grabbed YoonA’s black hair in a tight fist. He applied some pressure and she gasped as she felt the hairs being torn from her scalp.

“YoonA!” Her father again. “Let go of her! We’ll do whatever you want.”

The hand loosened in her hair and she felt sick. Doojoon was using her as a weapon to get her parents to do whatever he wanted.

“No! Don’t do it dad!” YoonA said angrily.

“Shut up!” Doojoon’s hand flashed through the air and connected with her cheek once more and she fell over with the force of it, landing heavily on her side.

“YoonA!”

She knew that voice and it caused her to smile even through the pain.

Nichkhun.

“I’m okay,” she pushed herself back up onto her feet.

“Who’s speaking?” Doojoon asked, “I know the first two voices as the King and Queen. Who’s this new voice?”

There was a pause, “My name is Nichkhun Horvejkul. I was guarding YoonA when she was taken by you.”

Doojoon snorted, “Well you weren’t doing a very good job were you.”

YoonA spoke up, needing to defend him. “It was my fault.”

He continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “I’m surprised he’s still in your employ, your highness.”

Her father spoke again, “He isn’t.”

YoonA’s head whipped back to the screen, searching Nichkhun’ face. “Nichkhun?”

“I quit, then told him.” He didn’t have to tell her what he’d told her parents, she already knew. He’d told them about their sleeping together.

She glanced at her parents and they didn’t seem angry or annoyed about her assignation with Nichkhun. But that could be because they wanted her back safe and sound.

“We’ve gone off the subject.” Doojoon muttered, making himself part of the conversation once more. “I haven’t told you my demands.”

“Of course, go ahead.”

Doojoon stopped beside YoonA and she tensed, wondering what he was going to do next.

“We want half a million dollars. Used notes.”

“It will be yours,” her father said smoothly.

Half a million was nothing to her parents. Especially not if it meant securing the safety of their only daughter.

“You have twenty-four hours to get the money. We’ll phone you tomorrow with details of the swap zone,” then he nodded and the man at the computer cut the connection. “That was easier than I imagined.”

YoonA watched him speculatively, “What do you want the money for?”

He turned from talking to his comrade to give her a level stare. “We want the money to rebuild Jeju.”

Her eyes widened in shock. She hadn’t expected that as an answer. They wanted to rebuild Jeju? It was a nice idea.

“That’s a nice thing to do.”

He sneered, “I wouldn’t have to if your parents had cared enough about their people to stay on the island.”

She looked away, knowing he was right and understanding why he blamed her.

“I’m sorry,” she told him quietly.

Doojoon gave her a long look and nodded in acknowledgement, “Take her back to the cell.”

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