Yunho usually got very little sleep, if any. His mornings consisted of him waking up in a panic, either from reliving that cursed night or imagining what Changmin might be going through at that very moment.

This morning was no different.

Once Yunho finally got his breathing under control, he slowly rose from bed. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was seven in the morning. He sighed in defeat. If he could just get one night of decent sleep, he'd probably feel a little better. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose. His head was starting to hurt, just like it usually did when he had a rough night like this one. Yunho wanted a long shower, and he wanted it now. He climbed out of bed and started dragging his feet to the bathroom. He quickly disrobed, turning the water on very hot, allowing his bathroom to quickly steam up. He sighed in satisfaction as the hot water pelted at his skin.

"HYUNG! Hyung...I'm sorry!"

Yunho buried his face in his hands. "Changmin," Yunho said under his breath, before touching the scar on his side. 

Yunho's tears began to mix with the falling water from the shower head.

"I'll go! Just don't hurt him anymore! Please!"

Yunho's hands curled into fists. Why did Changmin have to say something stupid like that? That only made anger grow inside of Yunho before it finally weakened him.

He collapsed onto his knees. The hot water continued to run, but for some reason, Yunho felt cold.

It had been over a year.

That's how long Yunho had been waiting for the return of his maknae.

Yunho let out a humorless chuckle as the water burned his skin. All of this was difficult. The sadness, the guilt, the self-loathing. Yunho felt all his hope draining from his body at an increasing rate. Every time Yunho felt himself losing all faith, there would always be something that reminded him to keep going; to keep hoping.

He knew that if Changmin came back...when Changmin came back, he would need Yunho to be strong for him. Yunho refused to let Changmin down ever again.

Still, Yunho couldn't help but always remember that night, wondering what could have been done differently.

"Changmin," Yunho said in a low voice. "Why didn't you just let him kill me?"

The water started to get cold, forcing Yunho to snap out of his mind and come back into reality. He quickly soaped himself and turned the water off, reaching for his towel and quickly drying himself off.

After coming out of the shower and his black jeans had been put on, he reached for a red shirt in his closet before hearing a knock at the door.

Yunho sighed. "Who would be here this early?" he groaned as he lazily put on his shirt and left his bedroom.

Yunho crossed his messy living room, stepping over scattered newspapers and a discarded TV remote, and answered the door to be greeted by Kyuhyun, Donghae, and Siwon. The three of them slightly bowed saying "Good morning, Hyung" at the same time with smiles on their faces.

Yunho immediately noticed their happy demeanor, and couldn't help but wonder what had put them in such a good mood. "Good morning," Yunho replied, inviting them in. There was no point, the three of them were going to make themselves comfortable in the apartment anyway, but Yunho felt the need to beat them to it.

"We thought you'd be awake," Siwon said.

Of course Yunho would be awake, but the question was, why would that be so significant? And why were they here?

Kyuhyun was holding a newspaper, which he placed on the table. Yunho gave him a confused look. "Read the third page," Kyuhyun said with a smile.

Yunho, sensing Kyuhyun's excitement, grabbed the newspaper and began to read. His eyes widened as he continued reading. "T-two of them escaped..." he muttered once he was half way through the article.

Donghae nodded. "They've given their statement to the police," he explained, though it was already in the article. He pointed to himself, as well as Siwon and Kyuhyun. "We took the liberty of going down to the police station to ask them some questions regarding their progress."

"Really?" Yunho asked, glancing up at them in surprise. On a normal occasion, he would have felt upset at the fact that they went without him, but at this moment, he was too preoccupied to be worried about something as trivial as that.

Siwon nodded. "The bad thing about this was that this wasn't to be posted yet, and this whole thing was leaked to the press by an unknown source," he began to explain. "The people you're reading about in the newspaper went straight to the police station after they escaped and gave a statement. But since they were a bit disoriented and it was really dark...they don't know the exact location of where they were, but they were able to help the cops narrow it down."

"They're really dedicated in finding these people," Kyuhyun said.

Ten people went missing in a span of six months. When the first kidnapping happened, the police weren't expecting for a pattern to appear. But after the fourth kidnapping, the police noticed a theme.

All of the victims had a special talent.

The first kidnap victim was a fifteen year old who had come from Japan when she was seven. She played piano, and performed in concerts in Korea and Japan.

The second person was a female painter. She was only twenty years old, which made her art so much more impressive seeing as how young she was.

The third person played guitar. He was a college student who studied in music.

The kidnappings continued. A violinist. A ballet dancer. A broadway actress. Singer. A poem writer.

And then there was Changmin.

Changmin was the last person to be kidnapped, and it didn't help that he was not only a singer, but a model, dancer, songwriter, and actor.

Seeing Changmin's credentials, they could assume why the "talent kidnappings", as the public began to call them, had stopped after his kidnapping.

Kidnapping Changmin was probably a thrill for the man who did it. Seeing as how only people with amazing talent were being kidnapped, the head detective solemnly informed the Shim family, as well as Yunho and Kyuhyun, that the kidnapper probably viewed his victims as one, big "collection", and that Changmin was his jackpot that would probably be treated as his prize possession.

"Changmin's coming back, Hyung," Donghae said with a smile, causing Yunho to snap back into reality again.

Yunho nodded, his eyes shining. "Good," he choked out. "Because I'm going crazy."

"Clearly," Kyuhyun scoffed in reply. "Look at how you've left this place." "Do you think Changmin would appreciate coming back home to this?"

A small smile crept on Yunho's face. "I guess not," he replied.

The police were exhausted, but they had to keep going, especially after hearing that someone had leaked to the press that two victims had already given their statements. The police knew they had to act fast before the kidnapper changed locations, as he'd done several times before.

"This is the place?" Head Detective Kang asked with a skeptic attitude.

"It has to be," another cop answered. "This is the only possible place left."

Kang nodded in understanding. "Are those ambulances on standby?" he asked, remembering the condition the two other victims were in when they found themselves at the police station. The other cop nodded. "Good," Kang said before heading into the seemingly abandoned building. He pulled out his gun, not knowing what to expect on the other side.