The next morning you woke up feeling uncomfortable, something was laying down on you, or rather, someone.
Instinctively you started wriggling your way out from underneath the person you knew was HeeChul.
‘Umphf…’ HeeChul let out, wrapping his arms around your waist and using you as a teddy bear.
No time for niceties!
‘Yah! Get off!’ you yelled, trying to push him away by throwing your fists against his shoulders.
Immediately HeeChul sat up straight, cursed shamelessly and then rubbed his eyes in a manner which was way too cute for him to do.
‘I was wondering…’ HeeChul began after he was fully awake. ‘are you PMS’ing? Or are you bad-tempered by nature?’
‘Aish!’ He yelled right after and rubbed his cheek, having earned a slap from you.
‘I’m neither, but you’re working on my nerves... You deserve no better mood than you get from me…’ you growled at him.
‘Fine, Grumpy!’
And with that said, HeeChul walked away, opened a fridge in the kitchen of the coffee shop, took out two pizzas and put them into the microwave.
‘Oh jolly, another microwave meal to fill up my hungry stomach!’ you thought as you stood up from the couch and went to the bathroom, ignoring HeeChul’s one demand to tell him always where you were going.

‘XIAH~!’ U-know and Hero immediately started searching the moment they noticed they were the only two laying next to the remainders of the camp fire.
Xiah wasn’t responding to their yelling and they were really worried about him.
It was nothing for Xiah to wander off, to leave the pack, he was much too dependent for that.
‘Xiah where are you?’ Hero yelled, feeling guilty for taking him to the forest.
He was after all the oldest, the hyung that was burdened with the task of responsibility.
Luckily they found Xiah not long after searching.
He was laying face down on the ground, his legs spread as if he was crawling, except that he wasn’t.
Was he still alive?
‘Did he die?’ U-know asked afraid of what they might discover next.
Both guys squatted and Hero reached forward with a hand, which U-know took to prevent Hero from touching Xiah.
‘If he’s dead, you shouldn’t touch him…’ he said with a serious expression on his face.
‘That’s ridiculous!’ Hero reacted, reaching out with his other hand.
Just as U-know tried to grab Hero’s other hand as well, Xiah shivered and let out a weak groan.
‘XIAH!’ both hyungs yelled and turned the boy on his back, relieved he still lived.
Immediately they felt how burning hot Xiah’s skin was.
He had a high fever and was on the edge of passing out again.
Hero removed his jacket and together with U-know’s help made Xiah wear it.
Suddenly Xiah opened his eyes widely and started screaming and shouting gibberish in his dolphin-ish high voice.
U-know looked behind him to see if any danger was approaching.
‘He’s in a state of delirium, we should take him home, he’s suffering from a high fever.’ Hero commented.
A few minutes later, U-know was carrying Xiah on his back, while Hero was trying to find their way out of the forest.
Much to their own surprise and relief, they found their way back to the dorm pretty quickly.
At the dorm they brought Xiah straight to his bed.
The boy was a shell of a human, too weak to have any conversation with, he probably was momentarily unable to think or focus as well.
Hero and U-know took turns taking care of Xiah, so the other could take a shower or do something for himself.
To their surprise Max, Micky and you weren’t at home.
They had actually hoped, almost believed, you’d be home again, save and sound.

In the early morning Max and Micky had left the dorm to search for you.
The sun hadn’t even started its journey across the sky yet.
‘Hyung, were shall we look?’ Max asked, trying to sound positive but unable to fully block out the desperate feelings he had.
‘Everywhere…’ was Micky’s reply, just as desperately and soundly-positive-but-actually-negative as Max’ question had been.
Max wanted to bombard Micky with questions, but he kept himself from posing them out loud.
Micky didn’t seem to be in the mood to answer questions, questions he most likely had no answer to either.
So they walked on in silence, while it slowly but steadily grew lighter around them, their dark and desperate moods forming a perfect contrast with it.
‘Hyung?’
‘Hm?’ Micky responded, his mind coming from far.
‘Did you read the newspaper yesterday?’ Max asked, but didn’t wait for a reply as he continued. ‘Banda has to hide really well now… The press found out about the president’s absence. The police have started their own investigation.’
‘Good! Let the police find them and punish them in the way they should be punished!’ Micky replied, gaining some confidence in finding you.
They were walking through the suburbs of Seoul, where the poorer families lived.
If you were still in Seoul, it must be somewhere in the suburbs, they were convinced.

The whole morning HeeChul had been annoying you with his presence.
He had been asking you questions, tried to touch you several times, succeeded in kissing you –to which you reacted with a slap, kick or other way to inflict pain– and played games with your sanity.
He had tied you to a chair for those games.
These psychological games were worse than his attempts at .
Besides them being annoying they enraged you and made you feel insecure and vulnerable as well.

When, after lunch, someone ringed the doorbell, you were almost more relieved to be freed from HeeChul’s attention than desperate to get saved.
Of course HeeChul wasn’t going to make this a nice experience for you.
Having to think quickly, HeeChul removed one of his socks (he wasn’t wearing any shoes at the moment) and put it in your mouth.
Then he used duck tape from the counter, after putting the sock in your mouth again (you had spat it out) and taped your lips closed.
You cringed, but you couldn’t do a thing.
HeeChul pressed his lips against the tape in a twisted goodbye kiss and turned.
‘Honey, don’t worry I’ll be back soon…’ HeeChul said and disappeared in the hallway, closing the door behind him.

‘I’m sorry to ring the doorbell, since you’re closed today, but can I use your bathroom for a second?’ Micky asked.
It had taken some time before the door was opened and he had almost left again when a guy had finally appeared at the door.
‘Why?’ the guy asked rather impolite.
Micky tried to stay friendly as he explained he had to pee, as he thought he had made obvious in his previous question.
Apparently, suburban inhabitants are less polite, Micky concluded as he took in the behavior of this coffee shop owner, furthermore a man who was wearing only one sock…

________~END OF CHAPTER 46~________

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