Minwoo groaned and slowly cracked open his eyes, vision blurry. He found himself lying on a cold, hard concrete floor. His body hurt so much, and so did his head. Minwoo tried to move a little but found that his wrists were bound behind his back and so were his feet. Surrounding him were 3 bare..and stained walls and there were bars on the last side. Looking outside, he could see a dimly lit passage, with only torches providing the light. It looked so eerie it gave Minwoo the shudders. 

It took him awhile to register in his mind that he was in some form of prison cell, judging by the fact that he was locked up in a room and that the exit was blocked by bars. Minwoo tried to sit up, and eventually did after groaning in pain. 

"Wh-where am I..?" he mummered to himself, trying to recall what had happened.

Then suddenly everything that happened came rushing back to him. The guards..they brought him back to the mansion! But where is this place? Is this even the mansion? Minwoo had never recalled seeing this part of the master's gigantic house. Panic seized Minwoo as cold sweat trickled down his face. He was scared, too scared about what will happen to him next, and could almost feel the pain coming for him. Being all alone in an eerie and creepy place was already bad enough for the young boy, let alone knowing that his captor would harm him. 

His mind drifted of to his hyungs at the cafe. Omo, he thought, they must be worried sick and wondering where he was...or worse..what if they try to come here and save him?! The master would kill them for sure! He remembered Donghyun hyung saying that he knew who the master was, which made the chances of him coming higher. The problem is that Minwoo thought Donghyun knew nothing about the master, and might do something reckless that might not just get himself, but also Hyunseong, Jeongmin, Youngmin and Kwangmin in danger. All because of him. Minwoo wanted to cry. If only he hadn't met them, if only they had let him starve on the streets, none of this harm would come to them. They would still be happily running the cafe.

And Donghyun. What happened was still fresh in his mind. He felt so guilty and upset that he had actually pushed his hyung away. Now he needed Donghyun more han anything in the world....

At this point, from somewhere along the long narrow passageway, Minwoo could hear someone swing open a heavy metal door, and footsteps approaching his cell. Minwoo squirmed as far away as he could from the cell door, but before he could do so, a dark looming figure was standing in front of his cell. The person Minwoo swore he feared the most, the one with the heart made of pure ice and nothing else; The master. Minwoo knew there wasn't any more hiding, so he braced himself for whatever was coming for him. 

"Heh. You're finally awake. Miss this place my dear boy? Or more importantly...." The man let out a evil laugh. "....missed me? Or have you been working too hard at some low class cafe and forgot all about us? hmm?" 

Minwoo didn't reply. He didn't trust himself to speak.

The man's eyesbrows furrowed in frustration. He unlocked the cell and stepped in towards Minwoo. It was then Minwoo saw 2 other guards standing behind the master in case he tried to make a run for it. The big burly boss roughly yanked Minwoo up by his collar, making him wince in pain. 

"Yah! You respond when I talk to you! You understand?!" he hissed angrily in the young boy's ear. This time, in fear, he got a shaking nod from the frightened boy in his grasp. 

Satisfied, the master dropped Minwoo onto the floor without any care or concern. He smriked before continuing. 

"Anyway, I won't do anything to you yet...Well, at least not until your freinds arrive and play my game. Your life depends on them and so does their own lives.."

Upon hearing that Minwoo's eyes widened. His biggest fear had come true. He shook his head vigourously while pleading "No! No please don't harm them! take me! Don't harm them they're innocent!" However his pleads were only responded with a kick to his side, making him cry out in pain.

"Too bad! We were actually kind enough to give them a choice on whether they want to come for you or not. And they said yes, so bascially it's all because of you then! You useless piece of junk! I don't even need a dancing boy anymore!" With one last sneer he spat at Minwoo before storming out of the cell in a huff, whilst the 2 guards locked the cell doors again. 

Once all 3 of them were out of sight, MInwoo finally let out his sobs. It was all his fault. If only he had stayed here 6 lives, including his own, wouldn't be in grave danger right now. He didn't know what to think. He lay on the floor crying his heart out for who knows how long before drifting off into sleep. 

......................

Minwoo awoke to someone calling his name softly and his hair. At first Minwoo's heart leapt. Donghyun?? Was it him?? Then Minwoo realised that it was a female's voice and his heart sank. Even though he was greatly disappointed, the voice was soothing and the person doesn't seem like she'll hurt him, so Minwoo slowly opened his eyes. He was greeted with a very familiar face. 

"Ahjumma.." he breathed out, not believing that she was actually here. It was one of the maids who were the cloest to Minwoo.

The maid's eyes softened that the sight of Minwoo tied up and beaten up with bruises on his arms and legs. She really wantd to just pick him up and run away with him, but she knew it was impossible. The were guards, security cameras and defence systems all around the huge mansion. The only reason why she was able to come down to the prison cell area was because the master had ordered her to feed Minwoo some food before the game began. 

"Minwoo-ah...are you okay? Did he hurt you badly?" The maid asked in a motherly voice, while helping Minwoo to sit up, propping him against the wall.

Minwoo shook his head. "Ani. I'm fine..." His words contridicted what he said though. 

The maid sighed a little before taking up the plate of food she had with her and held a spoon in front of Minwoo's mouth. "Here, eat. I'm not allowed to untie you, so sorry. But don't worry, everything will be fine ne?"

She tried prompting Minwoo into taking a bite but the boy refused to eat. Shaking his head, Minwoo lowered his gaze and didn't say anything. 

"It's my fault.....my friends are going to going to get hurt because of me...." tears already making his way down his cheeks.

Unable to take it anymore, the maid embraced Minwoo, rubbing his back and cooing to him softly, just like how a mother would comfort her own son.  She couldn't bear seeing Minwoo like this, and knowing that soon he would be involved in a cruel game he was never meant to see let alone be in, just made things worse.

"Ani. It's all our fault. We should let you make your own decisions. We failed to keep our promises to protect you...shhh...don't cry..."

After awhile Minwoo stopped crying and the maid broke the hug. She held up the spoonful of food, and this time Minwoo ate obediently while being fed. The maid smiled slightly, happy that at least Minwoo was eating and would be stronger for later. Soon the food was finished and one of the guards had come down to check why the maid was taking so long, and she knew at that point she had to leave. Glancing back, her eyes met Minwoo's one last time,  and those eyes showed a mix of fear, sadness and maybe just a tiny tiny glint of hope. The metal door was slammed and locked once the 2 exited the dungeon, leaving Minwoo in almost complete darkness....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Donghyun, Hyunseong, Jeaongmin and the Jo twins were preparing for the night ahead. Each person had a backpack which had water, food, a torch and their cell phones. Somehow Donghyun knew the game was going to be in darkness, so he told everyone to bring a torch just in case. 

Fear and worry were in all the members' hearts. They were worried about the game of course. Donghyun had actually prepared quite seriously for this rescue operation. He had researched on stories people told when they survived the master's game, and even called some up and asked them what to anticipate. Most examples had the same concept: Save you own life but harm another. Most who figured out he was going to go there, called him crazy and out of his mind, and told him he should forget it and run if he wants to save his life. After so many of these same remarks from people, the members expected their leader to maybe give up? But each time, this was his only response:

"My life isn't as important as the one I'm going to save. Without him, it's as good as not living, because I love him...'

At first the rest thought it was a joke, then they realised Donghyun was serious. But they didn't mind. They actually supported him, telling him he's a strong guy and that Minwoo would definitely pull through knowing hat Donghyun was fighting hard for him. 

Donghyun had thought it through. After that night with Minwoo, members somewhat figured out what had happened, and one by one had come forward to give him advice. Youngmin knew Donghyun's feelings for Minwoo the best, and had told him, if he loved Minwoo, he should figh for him with whatever he has. What he said was true.  Donghyun regretted telling Minwoo to forget their relationship. Now he would prove that Minwoo meant everything to him.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

It was 8 pm. Everyone climbed into their van, and with Donghyun driving, began their journey towards the mansion. Youngmin and Jeongmin were sitting right at the back, trying calm their thumping hearts down. Hyunseong and Kwangmin were sitting in the middle, trying their best to sleep but could only think about the game. The atmosphere was tense, and for the first time, no one made an effort to try and make it more lively, not even Jeongmin. Donghyun decided not to think too much. he concentrated on driving and looking out for that huge building. 

For the next few hours, they passed by many small villages and fields, and as they headed more towards the east, the sky somewhat grew gloomier and thunder rumbled in the distance and lightening flashed, showing signs of an impending storm. It was definitely not the right time, especially on a night like this. As they entered the master's property land, there were dead grass everywhere and....there were gravestones at the far end of the field. The gruesome sight gave everyone the shudders.

Around 5 minutes to midnight, they spotted the huge mansion up ahead. As they drove towards the tall iron gates, the gate doors swung open with a creaking sound. The first rain droplets were making pitter patter noises as slowly the van drove all the way towards the mansion. It was very dark and Donghyun could hardly see the road in front of him. Finally they reached a dead end where they assumed was the back of the mansion.

Climbing out of the van, everyone looked around for the red colored door as instructed in the text message. They found it a few metres away. However, as they were walking towards it, it suddenly swung open by itself, making all of them jump.

Didn't they have to figure out how to open it themselves? That was too easy... All of them stood there, hesitating, thinking if they should enter or not. Donghyun looked around for another door but the red door was the only one he could see. Taking a deep breath, he told the members to hold hands, as they stepped into the building. 

As soon as all of them were inside, the door slammed shut, surprising everyone. Hyunseong tried opening it but it was locked. They were in utter darkness as there was no light. Youngmin and Kwangmin were already panicking, afraid that something might suddenly happen to them. 

But all they heard was a sinister voice that seemed to be coming from nowhere.

"Welcome, good you're on time. So now let the game begin, shall we?"