Minho winced as ointment was placed onto his palms. His blisters were getting really bad now.

“Tsk, I told you to go easier,” Jonghyun sighed putting a bandage over the open wounds “what’s the point in pushing yourself so hard?”

Minho would have shrugged if his shoulders weren’t ed after another day of mining. “How long are we meant to do this? Every day from sunrise until whatever ing time it is now. They weren’t kidding when they called us slaves.”

“How many today?” Jonghyun asked putting the first aid stuff back into a kit each slave received at the end of the first day.

“Only five, you?” Minho said, thankful that his number wasn’t as anywhere near the amount he had received yesterday.

“Lost count. Between ten and twenty. I had ‘Mr. Boldly’ breathing down my neck all day,” Jonghyun winced.

Minho laid down on the rug that they had received at the end of the day for them to sleep on. They could sleep wherever they wished within the mine. So, Minho had just laid out his rug next to the wall he had been hacking at for the past few days. He was starting to see progress, and so he should. He hacked at the wall, put the rocks and boulders into a massive cart and pushed the cart to the buckets that are connected to the level above by rope. The rope burned his hands and was heavy as haul up. The people who worked above him, emptied his bucket and sent it back down within seconds. He’d then refill and do it again and again until his cart was empty. After all that, he had to haul his cart back and restart the process again. He was covered in earth, sweat and blood. If he went ‘too slow’ or ‘stopped working’ or ‘took a break’ his back would be whipped by the tossers that kept them in the mine. If he got in trouble too much, his breaks would be taken from him, meals skipped and he missed out on water.

So far, that hadn’t happened. Mainly because they were considered ‘new slaves’ and given more leniency than others who apparently had been trapped in the mine for years.

Jonghyun rolled over facing Minho, his eyes showed just how tired he was. It had been so hot down here, Jonghyun had taken off his overalls and had the belt keep everything up, the arms tied around his waist to keep them out of the way. Minho could tell his hyungs abs looked more defined. He wondered if his own had grown. If he was going to get anything out of this torture and hard work; he wanna get ing y tone abs.

“Hyung, will we really be here for years? W-Will we ever get to…you know…leave?” Minho asked.

Jonghyun nodded “of course. No way are we spending the rest of our lives in a stinking mine. I promise, we will work out how to get out of here.”

“What about Taemin, Key and Onew hyung?” Minho asked.

“I would never leave without them,” Jonghyun promised. “Now go to sleep, we have another day of joy ahead of us.”

Minho scoffed and tried to get comfortable on the stone floor. “I wish.”

~*~*~*~*

“But why?” Taemin pouted as he was dragged out of the car “I want to go section T.”

“You can’t, come on,” his guard said signing in Taemin at the checkpoint before heading inside a large building. He had been here before; Section S.

Taemin pouted going inside knowing he had no choice in the matter. He started going towards the stairs, but stopped as he noticed his guard going towards and straight to an elevator. “W-Wait, the stairs?” Taemin said as he stopped walking.

“Sorry,” his guard said grabbing Taemin’s arm pulling him into the elevator with much resistance from the younger. “We are going to the top floors and we are running late.”

Taemin whimpered clinging onto his guard, hiding his face in his chest. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, it was practically cheating, but his fear of elevators surpassed all the other emotions, seeking comfort in even someone he dislikes. His guard wrapped one arm around him and pressed the top floor button. The contraption moved up to the upper levels and Taemin’s grip tightened.

“What is with you and section T?” The man asked as the elevator continued to go up.

Taemin shrugged “I liked being around people.” He wasn’t going to tell this man about s. About Onew. He prayed deep down that Minho was somewhere in section T with Jonghyun.

“You are around lots of people. How many people did you have with today?” The guard smirked.

Taemin cringed and cursed at his guard under his breath. He would have pushed away from him if his arms could possibly move. “Feel free to take my place.”

The other ignored him and pressed the button once more. It was taking a long time to get to the top and seconds later it stopped “I think we’re stuck.”

Taemin gulped burring his face deeper into his guard. What was his luck?

The guard sighed, sitting down on the floor taking Taemin with him. Holding the younger with both arms trying to keep the slave from having a panic attack. He could feel the other shaking badly in his arms.

“Were they rough?” He asked.

Taemin just tsked turning his head away. “Like you care one bit.”

“If you stopped fighting, I wouldn't have to make you take the needles,” the guard spoke.

“I will keep fighting no matter what!” Taemin snapped.

“One day you will,” the guard said rolling his eyes just as the elevator started to move once more.

The younger felt tears forming in his eyes. He didn’t want to believe that. He didn’t want to willingly have with all these people. He wanted only one person. His whole life he only wanted Minho. His whole life before this horrible nightmare, he had only been with Minho. He closed his eyes remembering the last time he saw his boyfriend. His worried face, his itching body wanting to move to Taemin’s side, but knowing he would get killed if he did. He was so far away from him on the boat, yet now he was even further away. He didn’t even know where he was. His only guess was that Section T had some answers.