~_____~

“Notice anything yet?” Donghae asked from the front.

Tao glanced around; saw crowds of people among people, and stores after one another. Nothing seemed unusual or out of place for him.

“No,” he replied. “It’s so normal here.”

“I know,” Donghae agreed. “It’s not here.”

Tao stopped behind Donghae and looked around. Across the vast street was an alley among the other few between the extending restaurants to the other block. He spotted smoke and steam swirling out of the restaurants and a large green dumpster in the alley. Tao’s eyes swerved over to the other alleys, which were all lifeless and dark. No one would bother entering such dirty places that looked creepy, but that particular alley looked bright and almost alive.

“Tao, are you listening to me?” Donghae’s voice crept into his ears before he turned.

“What?”  

“I said lets to look for the others and…” Donghae began, but suddenly turned his head when a door in that alley Tao had been eyeing opened and a figure popped out.

Tao quickly followed his gaze to see a man in a blue jacket turn his back to them. He seemed to be speaking with someone else before patting that person on the shoulder and walked off.

“Stay here,” Donghae ordered before running off.

Tao frowned and watched Donghae run across the street toward the alley before turning upon hearing Victoria’s scream.

“Where’s Donghae!?” she questioned.

“What’s going on?”

“The police tracked down a missing girl,” Victoria panted, “it looks like a few other girls are going to be transported to who knows where.”

“Here!?” Tao asked.

“So where’s Donghae!?”

“Over there,” Tao stretched his arm out to point toward the alley.

“Victoria!” Lay shouted running toward them. “They’re here! We need to look for a host club.”

“A what!?” Victoria partially shouted.

“They’re running an illegal gambling club at night, debtors pay in girls,” Lay went on. “We have to find them before they disappear.”

“Go get Donghae,” Victoria ordered as they ran across the street.

Tao watched Lay and Victoria try to pull open the door that had just opened a few seconds earlier only to find it was locked.

“Shoot!” Lay swore and pulled at the knob helplessly.

“Lets find another way around,” Victoria ordered before turning around to find Tao standing there watching them. “Go get Donghae!”

“O…oh…” Tao nodded before darting off.

~_____~

“Eunhyuk!” Donghae screamed running as fast as he could.

If it was Eunhyuk, this person definitely wasn’t stopping.

“Eunhyuk! Stop! It’s me!” Donghae shouted still running after him.

Urging himself to move even faster he felt a whirl of wind brush by before he suddenly caught Eunhyuk’s hood. Pulling him back with all the force he had he twisted Eunhyuk around to face him and felt a mental slap hit his face. An overwhelming shock grabbed him completely cutting off his senses and he immediately wished this person wasn’t so much like the friend he knew so well. They were complete identicals.

This man swung his fist across Donghae’s face and grabbed his shirt before tossing him into a pile of dirty and plump garbage bags. The waste that had been stuffed into the bags scattered around Donghae as he landed confused. Strange liquid and water touched his face and his hands as he struggled up.

“Eunhyuk…” Donghae called only to feel another fist slam across his face and a blow into his stomach before he was pushed against the wall.

This man’s fierce grip twisted his shirt up and Donghae felt blood trickle down the corner of his lip.

“I’m not Eunhyuk,” this person murmured. “You’ve come after the wrong person.”

A little cry fell out of Donghae’s lips when he felt his fake friend dig his knuckles into his neck.

“You’ll regret coming after me,” his eyes were dark.

Eunhyuk’s eyes had never been this dark and evil. They didn’t have the ability to.

“Stop your search now and your little precious assistants won’t die.”

“Eunhyuk…don’t do it…” Donghae reached his hand up to grab this person’s grip.

“How many times do I have to tell you I’m not him!?”

Donghae felt the side of his face slam into the brick wall with another punch.

“Donghae!” Tao shouted from afar.

Biting his lip he pushed Eunhyuk back from the surprise and shoved him toward the ground.

“Why are you doing this, Eunhyuk!?” Donghae shouted.

Donghae summoned more strength into his hands to continue pinning Eunhyuk down as he tried to rise.

“I’m not Eunhyuk!” the man shouted kicking Donghae off.

Turning over Donghae crawled forward on one knee desperately and clutched onto this man’s leg. With a quick turn he kicked Donghae in the face forcing him back. From the corner of Donghae’s eye he could see his friend walking away, disappearing further and further and he might just lose him again.

No, he wasn’t going to lose this chance after such a long search. He had to bring Eunhyuk back with him at all costs. He wasn’t losing his friend again. He wasn’t…

Ignoring the pain in his body he got up and tackled this man who was claiming not to be his friend. 

“What are you doing out here!? Why are you working with them!?” Donghae shouted. “Why are you doing this!?”

Donghae grabbed the collar of the man’s shirt and shook him.

“You have three women working with you, don’t you?” Eunhyuk’s eyes turned insane. He cackled and threw his head back to continue laughing, “You left one behind, didn’t you? Before I screw her over in the ion camp, I’m giving you this last warning. I’ve been watching you, Lee Donghae, ever since your team infiltrated Wonju. You can’t track us down. You can’t stop us. So, before you lose your precious assistant, this is the only chance you’ve got to find her before our men do.”

Donghae’s hands literally shook from the threat and he finally punched the man.

Upon hearing Tao’s footsteps Donghae twisted around, “Go back to the hotel!”

Tao paused to stare at him lost.

“Go to the hotel, dammit!”

Tao stared at him a second more before suddenly turning around to run off. Making sure that Tao was gone; Donghae grabbed Eunhyuk to pull him up.

“Have you gone mad!?” Donghae screamed pivoting so that he could pin Eunhyuk against the wall. “Why are you doing this!?” Donghae shook his head at a loss of what to do, “Don’t make me come after you.”

Eunhyuk stared back at him and bit his lip before pushing him forward and into the opposite building, “How many times do I need to repeat myself!? I’m not Eunhyuk, so give up your search!” 

Swinging his fist forward he felt Donghae crumple over from the blow. All of Donghae’s senses twirled from the insinuating pain and he fell onto the concrete with his knees as Eunhyuk turned away to run.

Indistinguishable utters fell from his lips before he fell against the ground crying in pain.

~_____~

Tao raced through the crowd upon Donghae’s order still confused about why he’d been told to go back to the hotel. He rudely barged into a few people without apologizing before he heard Suho shout his name.

“Where are you going? Where’s Donghae?” Suho asked.

“The hotel.”

Suho frowned, “Why the hotel?”

“Kris and Namjoo,” Chorong suddenly said.

The two of them turned to look at her before alarm split Suho’s calm face.

~_____~

“Did you find it?” Victoria ran toward Lay.

She was breathless and was having a hard time breathing, but time wasn’t waiting for them.

Lay immediately shook his head, “There are only restaurants around here.”

“It couldn’t be anywhere else,” Victoria said quietly.

“They’re hiding real well,” Lay commented. “Lets look around again.”

Victoria nodded before they split up once more.

As she searched the block again she took extra care to search her eyes over every building and every single detail each one had. She was determined and wouldn’t accept failing this time again. She couldn’t fail. She still needed to show Donghae she was capable and she would continue to show him she was capable.

~_____~

Lay stopped, looked, and walked on. He suddenly paused when a roaring semi-truck drove by slowly making sure that the road was clear of people before moving forward. For some reason his eyes sat on the load before he turned away.

After running through the area twice he finally met with Victoria again in the middle of the block.

“Nothing,” Victoria shook her head.

He thought he could see disappointment show in her face and thought he had failed as well. Why wasn’t anything coming out well? What were they doing wrong? Were they not looking carefully enough?

Then when he lifted his head up he saw a trail of rusty metal stairs at the corner of his eyes. Turning his head he spotted a very small alley scattered with beer bottles and scraps of food. The black shadows of the animals back there lurked among the sidewalk. Lay’s eyes moved over to the sign hanging off the side of the building containing Japanese letters.

“The host club,” Lay muttered.

“What?” Victoria shook her head confused. “What did you say?”

“There,” Lay nodded his head toward the blue building with cute white windows.

Victoria slightly narrowed her eyes and turned toward the building to check it out some more.

“It looks cute and innocent,” Lay observed, “no one would think anything awful could happen there.”

Victoria continued to stare at the building silently before saying, “Lets go.”

Even the front door was cute. There was a heart shaped window on the door and the doorknob had a cute rabbit band tied around it. Lay was turned off by the sight before forcing himself to open the door.

“Hi!” a cheery woman wearing a black apron and a cute dress greeted upon their entrance.

The pink tables inside were each uniquely decorated with cute candles and the pastel color of the wall made Lay’s eyes swirl. This kind of place was definitely not meant for him.

“Please come in! Come in!” the woman cheerily urged stepping away from the cashier to close the door behind them. “How would you like to be seated? Separately or together?”

Lay’s eyes traveled over to an open doorway blocked with a white curtain, but he could see carpeted stairs leading to the second floor. And it was the second floor he knew those rusty stairs were connected to.    

“What about upstairs?” Lay gestured his head toward the stairs.

The woman smiled broadly with an awkward laugh and clasped her hands together, “Actually, that place is only allowed for VIP members.”

“Then make us VIP members.” Victoria boldly stated.

The woman continued smiling in hopes of disguising her nervousness.

Victoria fished out her badge without further ado, “Too bad. I think we just made ourselves VIPs. Lets go, Lay.”

The few customers in the shop froze as they started toward the stairs. The woman panicked before quickly following them.

“It really is a VIP area. I can’t allow you up there. Please, I don’t want to lose my job.” She begged.

As sorry as Lay felt for her, he wasn’t stopping. He slowly crept up the stairs and caught strange noises before coming across a wooden door at the top. Without hesitating he reached for the doorknob to discover the door locked.

“Stand back,” Lay cautioned and watched Victoria and the woman step back before he rammed his body into the door.

He almost tripped over his own feet upon the impact, but stopped and turned away at the sight he was seeing.

“Oh god…” he heard Victoria mutter behind him.

The girl that had followed them up turned away guiltily.

Lay heard crying of a young girl no older than 15, the groaning of a man, and wanted to plug his nose from the stench in the room as well as his ears. When he glanced down he realized he was standing in a puddle of urine before he heard Victoria shoot the camera recording the scene before their eyes.

“You’re under arrest.” Victoria’s thick voice floated around them.

~_____~

“Ow! Careful!” Namjoo raised her voice when she felt a jolt of pain from the ice pack he was pressing against her swollen ankle.

“Sheesh,” he mumbled, “it’s just a little pain, can’t you stand it for a second? It’s going to hurt since you chose to neglect yourself.”

Namjoo made a face at him and screamed when he purposely pressed it harder against her ankle.

“Ah! Forget it! Go away! Get out of my room!” Namjoo bent her knee to pull her ankle back and tried to grab the ice pack out of his hand, but Kris quickly held out of her reach.

“For one thing, this isn’t your room,” he reminded. “Second, I’m not going away.”

Before Namjoo could utter a retort he grabbed her leg to pull her forward. The corner of the bed disappeared from her back and she reached her hand out against his shoulder to hold herself back.

“Oh…this isn’t too bad,” he smiled before she felt the cold ice pack at her ankle again.

Namjoo’s brows slightly furrowed and pushed her hand against him to scoot back.

“Ow! Careful, that’s the shoulder I got shot with.”

Withholding a groan she began to draw her hand back, but felt him grab onto it then laugh joyously.

“Just kidding. It’s my other shoulder,” he smiled. “Worried? I got you for a second, didn’t I?”

“I did not fall for that,” Namjoo tried to pry her hand back, but he tightened his hold.

“Well you’re touching me.”

Namjoo let out a snort, “I think you’re misunderstanding something here.”

She could feel his eyes skimming her face and the TV blaring quietly from her left. In due time her mind blanked and she felt the warmth over her hand disappear before it touched the side of her face. Her lids naturally closed when he leaned forward to touch her lips and reopened when she felt him move back.

Her fingers dug themselves into his shoulder before she decided she didn’t like this dangerous atmosphere. It was much too alluring for her liking, but she felt herself being helplessly pulled in. The hand on his shoulder continued digging into his shirt and she finally met with his lips again. Upon the sudden pull of attraction she felt him quickly return the kiss before the ice pack slipped from her ankle and his other hand touched her face; his fingers climbing into her hair.

Namjoo’s heart pulsated abnormally when they kissed again and again, but they quickly pulled away from each other when a knock at the door sounded. 

***Kris & Namjoo's escape next chapter!

***And Donghae is in a dilemma now