“We’re going to let him take her.”

“Are you ing mental?!” Chanyeol bellowed almost immediately; his eyes wide with disbelief. “You’re going to let that bastard kidnap her?”

Sehun put a restraining hand on his arm. “Hyung, calm down.”

“Hyung, what is this?” Kai questioned their leader more calmly. “What is this about?”

“Do you think this is easy for me?” Kris hissed; his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “Do you think I really, really want to use her like a sacrifice like she means nothing to me?”

Tao sighed; his head throbbing from the stress of the situation. “Then why, gege?”

“You don’t know her.” He whispered so brokenly that his friends all fell silent. His pain was as clear as day. “What if we do keep her safe and that kidnaps Soojin noona or one of her parents? She’s not going to forgive herself or us for that.”

“What are we going to do now?” Sehun asked softly, completely at a lost.

Chanyeol in a sharp breath before he spoke. “Do you have a plan?”

“Yes.”

“It better be a ing good one.”

o-o-o-o-o

Sooyoung hated being bored.

                She was someone who was always on the go, always had a schedule or something to do that boredom wasn’t something common to her. The tall brunette groaned as she rolled over to the other side of her bed, racking her brain for any idea that could keep her busy. Maybe she could go down to the kitchen and bake something. Sooyoung beamed, hopping out off her bed soon after.

Perfect.

                Thundering down the main staircase, the youngest of the presidential daughters made a beeline for the kitchen, listing off the possibilities of what she could bake in her mind. Deciding on red velvet cupcakes, she skipped her way inside her intended destination only to come to a screeching halt as her eyes fells on the occupants of the room. Kris and Heechul were seated on the stools by the bar counter, obviously having a deep and serious conversation before she made her presence known.

                Her eyes voluntarily shifted until they fell solely on Kris, taking in his ‘I just woke up but I still look amazing’ look. His large hands nursed a mug of steaming hot chocolate; the sandy blonde haired man clad in a cream-colored sweatshirt and dark washed jeans. Her heartbeat increased as his eyes locked with hers and he held her gaze. She opened to say something but she closed it once again when no words came out. The more she saw his face, the more she was convinced that he was who she thought he was. But everything he did told her otherwise.

“Good morning, Mr. Kim.” She mumbled softly, forcing a smile on her face. “Good morning, Kris.”

“Good morning, Ms. Sooyoung.” Heechul greeted back easily, arching his eyebrow soon after. “I wonder how the President will react with your chosen outfit.”

                Sooyoung looked down at her clothes, suddenly self-conscious. Though she was wearing a plain black round-neck shirt, the pair of shorts she sported exposed and flaunted her long, slender legs. Unconsciously, she checked Kris’s face for his reaction and she felt a pang of disappointment rush through her when he looked far from interested, savouring each and every sip of his drink.

Sooyoung cleared , forcing herself to focus only on Heechul. “I wanted to bake some cupcakes. Would you want some later, Mr. Kim?”

Her father's right hand grinned almost immediately. “You know I do.”

“Great.” She giggled softly before practically running to the cupboards. She needed to keep herself distracted if she wanted to successfully ignore Kris.

Heechul shot the other male in the room a pointed, meaningful look as he got off his stool, moving to deposit his mug in the sink. “Are you coming, Kris?”

A part of Sooyoung hoped that he would stay because she’d want to get to know him more. She hadn’t even talked to him properly without his other friends around and the urge to know if her instincts were right was getting stronger and stronger. Sooyoung paid attention to her surroundings even as she prepared her ingredients and materials, hearing Kris push back from bar counter.

“I’m coming, sir.”

o-o-o-o-o

Normally, Sooyoung could always trust her instincts.

But she was beginning to doubt them when it came to Kris.

                That day when she first met him, she was sure that she knew who he was. Though he looked completely different, her heart was certain that she was knew him even before they ‘officially’ met. But everything he did, everything he said contradicted what her heart believed. Sure, she was getting to know Tao, Kai, Chanyeol and Sehun – she was beginning to think of them as actual friends – but Kris had always remained a mystery to her.

                She was sure that she was keeping something from her. If it went beyond who he was, she didn’t know. Sooyoung knew that the other friends knew what he was keeping. To what extent, again, she was uncertain. Sooyoung sighed, stepping out to the gardens in hopes to getting herself some fresh air, when she stopped mid-step. The object of her frustrations stood a few feet away from her; his face wearing an expression she couldn’t quite name.

“Ms. Sooyoung.” He bowed in greeting, moving to exit the way she came in. “Excuse me, ma’am.”

“Wait.”

Sooyoung held her breath, waiting if he was going to do as she bitterly expected or not. Much to her honest surprise, he stayed put. “Yes, ma’am?”

“I… Uh…” She mentally smacked herself for stuttering like that. “What are you doing out here?”

“I needed some fresh air.” Kris replied, tucking his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

“Would you…” It was now or never. “Would you like to join me?”

                Kris stiffened visibly and Sooyoung knew that he was having an internal war with himself even if his face was a mask of indifference. Her belief that he was hiding more things than what was obvious grew stronger and she waited patiently for his reply. She was going to get to the bottom of whatever mystery this was.

“If that’s what you want, ma’am.”

Sooyoung brightened almost immediately, nodding towards the maze of flower bushes that comprised the main part of the gardens. “Let’s go.”

                Almost stiffly, he nodded, walking until he was doing so by her side. Sooyoung frowned slightly, noticing how he kept a safe distance away from her. Silently, they entered the maze of flowers; each entertained by their own thoughts. Sooyoung had this feeling of familiarity whenever she was with Kris and she couldn’t quite put a finger on why. Another sigh escaped her lips as she wondered how lucky – or unlucky – she was that such a confusing, cryptic guy was in her life.

“Kris?” She inquired softly. “Tell me something about yourself.”

“I’m originally from Vancouver, Canada… Chinese.” The sandy blonde haired man answered automatically.

Sooyoung made a face. “I know. Aside from that, I mean.”

“Uh…” A genuinely clueless look crossed his handsome face.

A giggle escaped without warning from her lips. “What’s your hobby?”

“Playing basketball.” The answer seemed as easy as one plus one.

She raised her eyebrows in interest. “Were you a jock in high school?”

Kris looked at her for a moment, slowly nodding soon after. “Yes.”

“I wish I was athletic.” The tall brunette mused absently. “Appa used to say I wasted my height.”

He merely nodded again. “Uh…”

It was more than obvious that he was struggling to say something. “What is it?”

“Sehun got you this.” He pulled out a narrow rectangular box out of the pocket of his coat. “We were on break and he saw this and he went on and on about how it was meant for you.”

Sooyoung was genuinely surprised as she accepted the box with a soft ‘thank you’. Pulling off the cover, she was greeted by a simple yet elegant silver necklace; home to one beautiful pendant. She lightly traced the pattern with her finger. It was the symbol of infinity.

“Kris…”

“He said that you’ve always wanted one.” He cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Ms. Sooyoung. I really have to go now.”

                This time around, she made no move to stop him as she hastily made his way back to the mansion. She couldn’t do anything and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to; not when she was paralyzed by shock. All Sooyoung could do was stare at the necklace in the box and she couldn’t figure out what exactly she was feeling at the moment. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was this; she really did want a necklace like that.

But she never said anything to Sehun about it.

o-o-o-o-o

“GEGE! HYUNG!” Tao’s screams blasted throughout the open parking lot as he came running towards his four friends. “GEGE!”

“What, Tao?” Kris asked.

“I overheard Byun Sang Woo…” The younger man panted. Kris’s eyes widened. He knew without Tao even saying anything. “Byun Sang Woo is kidnapping Sooyoung noona today!”

Everyone straightened up. “Are you sure?” Chanyeol demanded.

“Of course I’d joke about something like this.” Tao deadpanned; his attention refocusing solely on Kris. “Are we really just going to let them take her?”

Kris was at war with himself, torn between saving her and taking her somewhere safe or pushing through with the plan. She was in school, having insisted to her father that she didn’t need her bodyguards with her when she was simply attending class. The President, not wanting to suffocate his youngest daughter, agreed.

“We’re pushing through.”

“Are you sure?” Kai asked. “Hyung, so many things can go wrong.”

“We’ll save her. At the end of this all, she’ll be safe and so will her family.” Kris answered defiantly even when inside, he was a broken mess. “We’ve gone over the plan one too many times. Get in the car and let’s get this over with.”

                Neither of his friends protested his orders and they all piled in the black BMW, leaving Kris alone with his thoughts. Kris sighed and for the nth time since the President came all the way to Vancouver to let him know of the situation if he really was doing the wrong thing. He had this intense urge to rush off to the university and just take her away but he knew fully that Byun Sang Woo would just take one of the other members of the family.

Squeezing his eyes shut to calm himself down, he snapped them open, taking his phone and pressing the only number on speed dial. “Hello?” Sooyoung’s voice answered soon after and Kris felt his heart squeeze in pain. “Kris?”

“Sooyoung, you need to listen to me.” Kris said seriously.

The fact that he didn’t even bother to address her formally didn’t go by unnoticed. “Kris, what’s wrong?”

“People are coming there to take you.” He in a sharp breath. “Kidnappers.”

He was met with a dead silence from the other line and he nearly panicked that something had happened; Sooyoung’s shaking voice soon reaching his ears before he could start yelling her name. “W-What…”

“Sooyoung, listen to me. I know you’re scared… but please don’t panic.” Kris started pacing back and forth in agitation. “I’m going to come after you. I promise you. We’ll save you.”

“If they don’t take me, they’ll get unnie, umma or appa instead, won’t they?”

He smiled bitterly. Even after all those years that he spent away from her, he was still right about her. “More than likely, yes.”

“You’ll come for me, right?” Her voice began shaking again despite her willing herself to calm down. “You’ll make sure I won’t get hurt, right?”

“I promise you.” He replied solemnly. “I promise you, Sooyoung. I’ll come for you.”

“Why?” Sooyoung didn’t know what prompted her to ask the question. She just knew she had to.

“Because I’m your Wu Fan.”