This is my second update here recently, make sure that you've read the previous chapter, okay?

“P.O… P.O calm down… Jihoon! Stop crying, I can’t understand you!”

Minhyuk watched U-kwon with worry as he tried to talk to P.O over the phone. They were starting to get weird looks from everyone surrounding them. He approached U-kwon carefully, “Babe… what’s going on?” he half whispered, his hand resting on U-kwon’s shoulder.

“P.O… he’s at Jae’s apartment, and the door was just open and Youngjae’s nowhere to be found…” U-kwon hissed back.

Kikwang stood up from where he had been leaned back against a desk nearby, “Are you saying that now not only B.A.P has escaped, but the one guy that spent enough time with them to know where they would go to is now missing too?” He demanded, his voice loud enough to carry through the office and hush almost every other worker that was there.

“Sounds like Hyunseung was right… Maybe Yoo is the reason they were able to escape in the first place.”

Kikwang turned sharply, “Shut up, Minho, would you… Didn’t you hear the way that one guy threatened Youngjae… How do you know that when they escaped, they didn’t go right after him?” He asked.

The guy, Minho, rolled his eyes, turning in his office chair to look at the guy that was propped against his desk, “Jonghyun, you agree with me…”

The short male sighed, “Kikwang… he has a point… Yoo was with them for a while… how do we know that he didn’t plan all of this…”

Minhyuk turned to Jonghyun angrily, “Because we’ve been with him all of this time, he showed no signs of wanting to break them out, nor did he ever have time to make any plans to do so.”

“Was he alone when B.A.P was being transported?” Minho challenged.

“Yeah, before we left, we gave him a dose of his pain medication and he was asleep when we left. It’s only been a little over an hour now. There is no way he would have had enough time to wake back up and get that out of his system to pull off something like this!” U-kwon said, his phone still pressed to his ear for incase P.O was able to calm down enough to be any help to talk to.

Kikwang let out a heavy sigh, “Well, either way… it’s not like we are going to be able to actively search for him… Not until we get him back into the system…” He pinched the bridge of his nose, “This is a nightmare…”

“At least we can all agree on that.” Minho said and Jonghyun nodded.

Every second began to grow longer as hours blended into day, and soon became weeks. P.O was at his wits end, the constant guilt gnawing at his stomach every time he had to walk into the office and sit at his desk, and every day, he saw the empty desk next to his own.

It was his fault that his best friend was missing. His fault that something awful might have happened to him at this moment. He should have just let him come along with. He could have stuck him in a back room at Sunhwa’s place… Youngjae didn’t even have to be in the same room as B.A.P… why had he agreed to drug his best friend?

It was all his fault that Youngjae hadn’t been able to fight back, to keep himself safe. They had left him alone and unprotected.

P.O had even known what EXO was capable of… he’d seen what they had done to B.A.P, what they had done to Youngjae before… yet still, he left Youngjae on his own with the possibility of the threat.

He put his head into his hands as he listened to the arguments throughout the office as Hyunseung complained loudly about Youngjae having skipped town when they actually needed him, Minho and Jonghyun still agreeing with him on the fact that Youngjae was the one to help B.A.P.

After three weeks of no signs of Youngjae and B.A.P alike, even Kikwang had begun to question whether or not something bad had actually happened to him.

Minhyuk and U-kwon were there for support, trying to convince P.O at every corner that none of this was his fault, but even as they tried to come up with a million plans to try to hunt down Youngjae… even his friends couldn’t shake him of his guilt.

Not only that, but, they were beginning to reach the blank walls as they reached the limits of things they could do to search for Youngjae, aside from going door to door and searching each and every building in Korea.

There was really only one last thing that came to P.O’s mind.

The knock was soft, and would have almost gone unheard had the rain soddened stranger not tripped the silent security alarm. Yongguk was quick to shut off the flashing light as he got up, pressing to the door to check the peephole.

The door was ripped open almost instantly, a gun already locked and loaded, “Give me one reason I shouldn’t shoot you where you stand, P.O.” Yongguk said, narrowing his eyes at him. Sure, he and his friends had been a blessing in getting B.A.P out of prison, helping them to escape and even change their appearances. But, Yongguk was tired of the lot of them, of the lies and secrets. He wanted nothing more to do with them, and if the cops had found the new place they were hiding out in until they could find something more permanent… he didn’t want his family to be in danger anymore.

P.O squared his shoulders, staring down the barrel of the gun with practically no fear. “Because… My name is Pyo Jihoon. I organize files and run errands for a secret branch of the government that most have never heard of, and after my best friend was forced out of his desk job to do something that he was not ready for, he introduced me to a group of five people who told me I could come back if I ever needed anything… and… hyung… please.”

Yongguk lowered his gun, a heavy sigh on his lips as he quickly motioned for P.O to come inside from the rain. “I swear to god, if this is some kind of ing trap, I won’t hesitate to shoot you.” He said, leading the shivering boy into the kitchen.

P.O nodded, “No one knows I’m here, and I’ve told you guys before I live alone… so.. uhm, if you kill me, it’ll be at least a few days until anyone notices…”

Yongguk rolled his eyes, “What, Youngjae is now too big and bad to talk with his best friend?” Yongguk turned from where he had been making two cups of coffee just in time to notice P.O wiping away the unfallen tears, and instantly the distant front he had been trying to put up to keep himself separated from the cop was crumbling. He set the cups down onto the table and sat down across from P.O, “What happened…”

“I… I don’t… It’s just…” P.O’s fingers wrapped around the cup, soaking in the warmth. “Youngjae is missing.”

“For how long?”

P.O shrugged lightly, “It’s almost been a month now…” he said, taking a shaky breath as he stared down at the coffee Yongguk had given him as the words began to tumble out of his mouth, “The day we broke you guys out… Me and U-kwon had been planning it since practically the day after I met you guys… Youngjae had given me all of these notes that weekend and practically begged me to find a way to clear all of  your names… I had to be careful who I trusted with it all, and still do, we have a mole in our agency…”

“What do you mean?”

“Someone was working with EXO… they knew about Youngjae the whole time… and… when we were going to bust you out… we didn’t want to tell Youngjae the plans, just in case who ever the mole is came back and tried to blame Youngjae for your escape… Loads of help that is doing, they are still blaming him…”

Yongguk shook his head, “How do you know that Youngjae didn’t just run away?”

P.O looked up at Yongguk, “Hyung… I drugged him… he wanted to help so much, but… we couldn’t risk him getting hurt, or hurting anyone else in case something went wrong… So.. I just… I drugged him and I left him alone and when I got back the door was just open and he was gone…”

Yongguk rubbed his face, leaning back in the chair, “You guys are practically cops, why haven’t you just put a search out on him, P.O…”

 “All of his files were removed from the system… he doesn’t really… exist anymore… It was the only way that he could get him into your gang…” P.O said.

“Well… , what do you expect me to do?”

“I… don’t know… I was just really hoping that he’d answer the door… that he’d, you know… be here.”

 Yongguk shook his head, “No, he’s not here P.O… I get why he did what he did… but that doesn’t mean we forgive him… Besides, Daehyun is still here. What Youngjae did to him… it’s really messed him up… there’s no way that he’d just be okay to letting Youngjae walk back in here.”

P.O sighed, a ghost of a smile on his lips, “I… I understand… I… just had to make sure.”

Yongguk nodded, “I’m sorry, P.O. I really am. I hope you guys find him, okay?”

“Me too.”

After P.O had left that night, Yongguk turned over what the other male had told him, staying up late into the night as he sat in the living room.

“Yongguk… you’re still up?”

Yongguk looked up as the now blonde walked into the room, “Yeah, Himchan… Why are you up?”

“Because Jongup is snoring really loud, and Zelo is talking in his sleep and Daehyun keeps trying to cuddle me.” Himchan complained, flopping into the seat next to Yongguk.

Yongguk smiled, “I know the place is small, but, we’ll find somewhere new soon… and you’ll have your own room again, okay princess.”

Himchan glared at Yongguk before rolling his eyes. They sat in silence for a minute before Himchan sat up, snatching something from Yongguk’s hands, “Why do you still have this?” he demanded, holding up the small pen drive at eye level.

Yongguk merely shrugged, reaching over and taking it back, “I don’t even know…” he said, turning it back over in his fingers. He sighed softly, “P.O came to talk to me earlier…”

“P.O was here? And you thought it was okay to actually let him in…” Himchan asked, raising an eyebrow, “Now they know where we are!”

“Calm down, Chan…”

There was a moment of silence, “Well, what did he want?!” Himchan demanded again, his hands waving in a motion to try to get Yongguk to continue.

The elder sighed, letting his head fall back as he stared up at the ceiling. “Youngjae is missing and he wanted to see if he was here…”

“Why the would he be here… Dae—“

“I know, Chan. I told him that… he just… he wanted to make sure.”

Himchan sighed, “Guk… is that why you are still up like this… you’re worrying about him still, aren’t you…”

Yongguk sighed, “Yeah… I am…” he turned his head to look at Himchan, “You know this, Himchan… I save people… before it’s too late and all… it’s what I do.”

The smile he received back was sad, “Yeah… but, Yongguk, you’ve got to let this one go…He… he wasn’t part of the family. Okay… He was only here to do his job.”

“Do you really believe that, Chan?”

“No… but… we’ve got the kids to worry about, okay? Zelo’s been really quiet lately, and even Jongup can’t get him to open up about what’s bothering him, and then… Well… I can barely get Daehyun out of bed most days… I’ve got to at least pretend like that’s what I believe, otherwise…” he sighed again.

“I know, Chan…”

Himchan nodded, taking the pen drive from Yongguk and tossing it to the table, “Good, then let’s just… forget about all of this and deal with what we have now… Me and Daehyun are going to try to sneak back to the warehouse tomorrow, get the last of our stuff and we can get the hell out of here… Maybe go stay with Junghyung in Japan for a little while and let this all blow over.”

“What about EXO?”

“ EXO, let them have whatever they want. We’ve lost too much trying to be something we aren’t.”

“You’re right… okay…” Yongguk stood up, rubbing his hands across his face. “Tomorrow… we start over, okay…”

Himchan nodded, following Yongguk back to the room that they all shared.

“I think that’s everything…” Daehyun’s voice was low, just above a whisper as he picked up the duffle bag of personal items. The warehouse had been roped off with police tape for weeks and regularly patrolled for any sights of B.A.P returning to reclaim their home. He and Himchan had watched their movements carefully and learned of a very small window of opportunity to slip in and gather up the items that they didn’t want to part with before leaving behind their home forever. Over breakfast this morning, Daehyun was surprised to hear Yongguk and Himchan’s decision to finally pack up and move to Japan to get away from everything.

Honestly, he was happy about the idea of a move. Everything around him reminded him to much of Youngjae, and even stuff that had nothing to do with him still brought forth the painful memories. Daehyun could only hope that the change of scenery and distance would finally be enough to break the hold that Youngjae held on his heart, to free him from the constant pain of every beat.

Himchan sighed softly, “I’m going to miss this place… This was just.. home… for so long.” He mumbled, dragging his fingers over the rough brick wall in the main hallway.

“I am too—“

“Shh!” Himchan suddenly pushed Daehyun flush against the wall, his eyes intense as a heavy silence weighed down the air, both males scared to even take too deep of a breath as a deep, melodic sort of voice echoed through the empty warehouse.

“There’s nothing to worry about, baby. Even if they did manage to find out that we’re the ones behind this, they’ll still never think to check here.”

The next voice was high pitched, obviously a females, “I know~ But what if that dunce of a patrol man comes back before we leave?”

“He won’t… Black mail goes a long way, and unless he wants Jieun to find out about him sneaking off to see his girlfriend on his shift… Then he won’t return until five minutes before shift change.”

Daehyun looked at Himchan, mouthing out “Who do you think it is” to the elder, who merely shrugged in response before inching his way to the large doorway to the hallway, pressing himself flush against the wall as he attempted to peak around the corner to see who was sneaking around their once headquarters. His heart thudded painfully in his chest at the sight before him and his stomach churned with a sudden guilt.

“What is it?” Daehyun whispered, his voice barely ghosting over Himchan’s skin as he leaned close, trying to lean around Himchan to get a good view but the elder held him back, shaking his head quickly.

“Would you look at that… It looks like you never left, doesn’t it!” There was the sound of a heavy shuffle and a small thud of something hitting the floor.

“This isn’t funny anymore, Hyunseung. You have no right-“

The painfully familiar voice was cut off by the harsh sound of skin on skin contact and Youngjae let out a hiss of pain from being back handed.

“You always seem to forget this… situation you’re in. If I were you, I would not take up such rude tones with your hyung. Remember what happened last time?”

Daehyun gripped at Himchan’s arm, his knuckles turning white from the vice like hold. Himchan chewed on his bottom lip, trying not to snap at Daehyun while simultaneously trying not to run out to help Youngjae.

Hyunseung circled slowly around Youngjae, grinning as the younger remained sitting on the ground where he had been carelessly tossed. “It’s good to be home, right Youngjae?”

“Go to hell.”

“Aww, don’t sound so bitter… We all know that they were more than a job to you. Even Jieun knows about your involvement with their break out, whether she wants to admit it or not.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Youngjae stared at the floor beneath Hyunseung’s feet as the other stopped to stand in front of him. He kept his hands in his lap, trying to ignore the awkward twist of the tight fitting handcuffs that were secured around his wrists. The skin was already split in several places from Hyunseung dragging him around by the short length of chain between the two cuffs and Youngjae knew better then to struggle too much against them, as he had to save up his energy for whatever the elder had in store for him next. The surprised yelp of pain escaped him faster than he could try to suppress it as Hyunseung threaded his fingers into his hair and tugged him up to his feet.

“Don’t play stupid with me, Youngjae. I’m getting quite tired of asking this: Where did B.A.P go?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. How many more times must I tell you?” Youngjae hissed back, wincing as Hyunseung kept his head tilted at the odd angle. He could feel the other’s nails digging into his scalp for a brief second before he was roughly pushed to the side, almost losing his balance in the process had he not fallen against the back of the couch. Youngjae’s handcuffed hands gripped at the familiar fabric beneath his fingers as he braced himself against the furniture, keeping himself upright. His body still felt weak from previous beatings and he wasn’t sure when the last time he had actually slept was.

With each push and every shove, Youngjae’s resolve was slipping more and more. Still, the guilt gnawing at his heart over what he had done to those he still considered his family ate away at him and reminded him the longer he stalled Hyunseung, the longer he could jerk the elder around, the farther B.A.P could get and the safer they would be. He’d lost count of the days and nights he had been trapped with Hyunseung, but each second was one more that Hyunseung didn’t have B.A.P in his grips and that was what mattered to Youngjae the most.

“C’mon Youngjae, you have to play the game properly. Otherwise, I might leave you with them again.” Hyunseung said, a smirk tugging at his lips as a shiver visibly ran down Youngjae’s spine, “Even a child can see through your lies… You still care about them. Deeply. Otherwise, you’d have already given up their location in exchange for freedom.”

Youngjae grit his teeth, glaring at Hyunseung through his bangs, “You can’t keep me locked away forever. You have no righ-“ Youngjae let out a gasp of surprise as thin fingers tightened around his neck and he was forced backwards until his back met the cold brick of the wall. His breath came out in quick and harsh gasps as Hyunseung pushed his palm harder against Youngjae’s windpipe.

“You seem to forget, Jae. I’m in control here.” He said, his voice dangerously low. “I can do whatever I want, because you have no rights. How many times must I repeat myself, or are you really just that stupid.”

Youngjae tried to force out the words, but Hyunseung’s grip only tightened and he was left with his mouth gapping open like a fish out of water as his vision began to spot.

Hyunseung continued on, “How many times to I have to drill it into that thick skull of yours. You. don’t. exist. Yoo. Youngjae. Jieun made sure of that when she wiped your past clean. Even if someone did happen to miss you, there is no way anything can be done without revealing classified information and no matter how much you like to pretend that Jieun actually cares about you, she wouldn’t risk her own job for a worthless pawn like you.”

Hyunseung smiled with satisfaction as Youngjae’s eyes slowly began to lose focus and at the last second, he let go completely, letting the younger fall to the ground as he turned away. “It’s amusing, really, how much you keep trying to hold on to things that were never yours. You’re parents could see how much of a useless waste of space you are, that’s why they never even bother with you. P.O felt sorry for you, that’s the only reason he talked to you… that and you’re his personal bank, even while you were away he received your paycheck. You’re nothing but a pawn to be used and tossed away by Jieun. Hell, B.A.P never really cared about you… you were just a replacement and you know it.”

The satisfaction in Hyunseung’s chest only grew as he listened to the quiet sobs in between the harsh gasps of air. He looked down to where Youngjae was still collapsed on the floor, trying his best to find a way to block out Hyunseung’s  voice. Every time he repeated the words to Youngjae, the reactions grew more and more desperate, and Hyunseung loved every second of it. Youngjae was breaking, and Hyunseung just loved the feeling of control as he split the cracks farther with each second he had Youngjae beneath him. It was taking longer than usual, which frustrated Hyunseung on one hand… but on the other hand, he had a very resilient punching bag to take such frustrations out on, so in a way, it didn’t bother him too bad.

“I…It’s n…not tr…true…” Youngjae gasped out, ignoring the pain in his throat as he forced the sound through his vocal cords.

“Then why hasn’t anyone come for you yet?” Hyunseung asked, a smug smirk on his face as he stood up, kicking Youngjae’s hard in the rib cage. “They don’t even know that you are gone at the office, everyone thinks you just resigned, and that you were too weak to handle this line of work.” He lied, watching as Youngjae shook his head in lue of replying, trying to find a way to alleviate the pain in his side.

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to play with your food…”

Hyunseung looked over to Hyuna as she sat perched on a chair in the kitchen area, “But Hyuna… It’s so much fun.” He gave Youngjae a solid kick to the gut, listening as the younger tried to catch his already diminished breath, “He’s so easy to break. It’s going to be a sad day when he doesn’t have the energy to pretend anymore.”

Hyuna smiled as she got up, sauntering over to Hyunseung and draping her arms around him, “Mmm, he really is fun to play with... You know… Since we are already here… I bet I know a way you could really get him to crack…” She leaned forward, whispering quietly into Hyunseung’s so that Youngjae wouldn’t hear their next little surprise.

“I love the way you think, Hyuna…” Hyunseung said. He leaned down, grabbing the front collar of Youngjae’s shirt and hauling him up, “C’mon Jae, we’re going to go exploring.”

“… move! Move, c’mon!” Himchan whispered as quietly as possible, his raspy voice barely audible as he pushed Daehyun down the hallway. Just as they got around the first corner, they could hear the intruders making their way down the hallway. “… Damnit…” Himchan cursed beneath his breath every time they passed a closed door, knowing that the others would hear the obvious sounds of it being opened.

Himchan had almost missed the open door, had Daehyun not grabbed his arm and yanked him through the door frame. They quickly crammed themselves into the closet, their bags falling nearly silently to the floor around them and Daehyun shut the door silently behind them just as Hyunseung drug Youngjae into the same room they had entered. Himchan bit his knuckles, holding back the want to curse at the terrible luck and prayed silently that nobody would open the closet door.

Daehyun leaned as close as he dared to the door frame of the closet, staring through the slitted panels that half obscured his view. He held his breath, his teeth grinding together as he watched Hyunseung toss Youngjae carelessly to the floor in the center of the room.

“Take a good look around, Youngjae. You know where you’re at right…” Hyunseung said as he walked around the room.

“Well, obviously it’s a bedroom—“ Youngjae’s sarcastic remark was cut short as Hyunseung kicked him swiftly between the shoulder blades, causing Youngjae to double over onto the floor in pain, coughing violently into the carpet as he tried to regain his breath.

“I thought you would have already learned to shut that smart mouth of yours.” Hyunseung reached down and threaded his fingers into Youngjae’s hair, pulling the younger up harshly, “Look around, Youngjae.”

Youngjae cracked open his eyes, his eyes scanning over the room quickly, trying to ignore the painful pang in his chest. “I… it’s just… a… room.” He gasped out, each breath harder to take in than the one previous and even more painful to exhale.

From the darkness in the closet, Daehyun grit his teeth together tightly, closing his eyes tightly as he tried to block out Hyunseung’s voice. A tiny portion of his brain tried to speak up, tried to tell him that Youngjae deserved this after all that he had put the family through, after all of the lies he had told them and how he had betrayed them and hadn’t shown any remorse. They were just a job to Youngjae… he’d told himself this so many times before. Youngjae never cared about them, it was all about the job and the paycheck… so why should he care about Youngjae? Why should he love him? Why?

Then there was another part, a much louder voice that was making his blood pressure rise as his anger boiled over as he listened to Hyunseung’s taunting voice. It thundered over the smaller voice, demanding for Daehyun to storm out of the closet and beat this Hyunseung guy to death for stooping down to such a low level to try to hurt his Youngjae.

“It’s not just any room though, is it, Jae…” Hyunseung said as he pulled Youngjae up to his feet, dragging him across the room and slamming his back against the door, closing it, “How many times did he pin you against the wall, Youngjae?” he whispered, his breath ghosting over the younger’s cheek as Youngjae closed his eyes tightly, trying to squirm away from Hyunseung. A gasp left his lips as he was pulled roughly away from the wall before being tossed onto the bed against the wall. “How many times did you your ty into that mattress, Youngjae?” He smirked down at Youngjae, “He never really loved you. He could have had anyone that he wanted… In fact, he probably did… you were just an easy , Youngjae…” Hyunseung reached forward, gripping Youngjae’s jaw as he forced him to look up. “But you loved him… didn’t you?” His smirk only grew as he stared into Youngjae’s eyes, “How cute… you still do, don’t you?”

Hyunseung gave a small chuckle of laughter as he pushed Youngjae away from himself rather roughly, causing the boy to bounce back into the mattress.

“Hyuna~ Darling, can’t you bring me a syringe…. Youngjae wants to talk to his friends again.”

From within the closet, Daehyun’s heart fluttered in panic as his mind raced through ever scenario he could think of as he watched Youngjae’s eyes grow wide.

“No!” Youngjae had begun to scream, his voice cracking with raw fear as he pushed himself away from Hyunseung, trying to get off of the bed. Hyunseung merely tossed him back into the mattress as though he were nothing but a rag doll, pinning him down with his own body as he grabbed the short chain between the handcuffs and pinned Youngjae’s hands above his head.

“STOP! GET OFF ME!! NO—“ Youngjae’s screams were cut off as Hyunseung smothered his hand over the younger’s mouth, grinning sadistically at the sobs that could still be heard.

Hyuna was quick to enter the room, tapping the top of a medical syringe as she approached the bed. Hyunseung forced Youngjae’s head to the side, exposing the vulnerable skin of his neck to Hyuna as she injected the foreign drug into the struggling boy’s system.

“Shhh, its okay sweetie~” She said, grinning in a condescending way, petting his hair gently as his struggles weakened.

For a brief, and relieved second, Daehyun assumed that they had merely sedated him. But of course, his mind had to wonder what Hyunseung had meant by Youngjae wanting to see his friends again, and with horror, Daehyun stared in shock as Hyunseung moved away from Youngjae.

The younger male was lying prone upon the bed, his eyes glazed over from whatever drugs he had forced to ingest. Tremors were racking his thin body as he seemed unfocused on reality, his eyes darting from one corner of the room to the next as though someone were standing there. His head lolled to the side as Hyunseung forced him to sit up, propping him against the wall.

“Where is B.A.P?” he questioned, slapping his hand against Youngjae’s cheek to get his attention.

Youngjae’s eyes flicked to Hyunseung instantly, his mouth hanging open just a bit as he tried to focus. “They’re… They…” His focus wavered as he found himself staring over Hyunseung’s shoulder. He shook his head quickly, “I don’t… I….”

His hand came into contact with Youngjae’s cheek once more, the force nearly toppling the boy over. “Tell me. Now.”

“I wanted to… but…” Youngjae whispered, slowly bringing his focus back to the corner of the room. “I’m sorry… I just…. I…”

Hyunseung shook his head, “Damnit, Hyuna!” He shouted to the girl that had already left the room. “I told you to lower the god damn dosage.” Hyunseung left Youngjae fidgeting and shaking on the bed, storming out of the room as he continued to shout at Hyuna about them having to wait for some of the effects to wear off before they would be able to get anything coherent out of Youngjae.

The second the door slammed shut behind Hyunseung, Youngjae let out the shaky sob he had been holding back the whole time.

The second he was alone, the shadow only he could see emerged from the corner of the room.

“Hyung… I trusted you.”

Youngjae shook his head, tugging at the painfully constricting handcuffs, “I’m sorry—“

“You betrayed us, hyung!”

“N…no… I…”

“We trusted you, Youngjae!”

Youngjae seemed to choke on his words as another sob escaped him and he tried his best to curl up and ignore Zelo’s accusing words. He had screwed them all over, hurt them all. He’d broken the family that was already broken in their own way, betrayed a trust that ran deep and true. He deserved this. This was his punishment.

“You are right. You deserve this.”

“He should kill you already.”

“You’re useless.”

“You should just die already, Youngjae.”

Tremors ran down his body as the bed sank with a new weight, but Youngjae couldn’t bring himself to look at the drug induced hallucination of Zelo. He couldn’t take the look of disappointment, the look of pure hatred.

“Youngjae.”

This time, Youngjae was sure he was choking on the air he was breathing. Although it was far from enjoyable, Youngjae could keep himself in one piece until the drug wore off despite the taunts and reminders of what he did when any of the others appeared before him. He could remind himself that it was all fake, that all of it was side effects due to the anti-psychotic messing with his mind.

He’d yet to see him yet, though, and Youngjae knew he wasn’t strong enough. The familiar touch ghosted across his cheek, gently brushing away the tears as his scent washed over Youngjae. Never before had the hallucinations felt this real.

Youngjae was terrified.

“Youngjae… Look at me, please?”

His voice was so gentle, just like the old times. “Not real. Not real. Not real.” The mantra flew from Youngjae’s lips as he kept his eyes shut tight, hoping that one of the others would appear, just so that he would leave him alone.

The whispered words continued to flow long after the hallucination had given up on trying to get him to stop. He could still feel the weight on the bed, but just when he had hoped that maybe he was merely imagining it, sweetly familiar chapped lips sealed against his own.

The feeling was so real that Youngjae’s eyes flew open and he reeled backwards, driving his back into the wall as he tried to away. His breath came out in jagged gasps as Daehyun pulled back slowly, his warm palm still pressed to the younger’s tear soaked cheek.

“I’m real… Youngjae… It’s really me. I promise…” he whispered, punctuating his words with another kiss. “Whatever that bastard gave you… you have to fight it… you have to fight whatever it’s doing to you.” He pressed his forehead against Youngjae’s, breathing slowly as the others panicked breaths washed over him. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, kissing the younger softly once more. “Youngjae… please.”

Youngjae let out a sob, shaking as he collapsed into Daehyun’s chest. He kept shaking his head, “Not real…. Not real….. don’t trust…” He mumbled softly, tugging at the handcuffs again as another sob shook him. Despite the vocal reassurances to himself that Daehyun wasn’t real, Youngjae pressed himself harder into the other boy’s chest, trying to absorb the comforting warmth. It was selfish, he knew that, and he knew that it’d only hurt more once the elder snapped, but in that moment, Youngjae couldn’t help himself. He felt lost and alone, and even if Daehyun turned out not be real and just ended up another one of the harsh hallucinations, Youngjae needed the comfort.

“Youngjae, you’ve got to stop that… You’re tearing up your skin.”

The voice was soft against the top of his head as Daehyun whispered the words into his hair, rubbing one hand gently along his spine as the other pressed softly against Youngjae’s own hands, trying to stop him from tugging at the tight handcuffs.

Heavy footsteps echoed from outside the door, and Daehyun immediately pulled away from Youngjae. “I won’t let him hurt you anymore… just wait, okay?” he whispered quickly, pressing a quick kiss to the younger’s forehead as he removed himself from Youngjae and hurried back to hide within the shadows of the closet.

Just as one door shut, another opened and Hyunseung strode into the room, “Having fun, Jae?” he asked, smiling at the boy collapsed on the bed. “Did you and your friends get to talk?” His smile only grew as he watched the shudder run down Youngjae’s spine. “I hope they told you how much of a traitor you are…. You betrayed them… You hurt them, Youngjae… all for your own selfish desire—“

“SHUT UP!”

Hyunseung looked on in shock as Youngjae sat up just a bit straighter, his breath coming in panicked gasps after his outburst. In that stunned silence, Youngjae pressed on.

“Just shut the hell up! Shut up—“

Youngjae let out a pained sob as Hyunseung grabbed his arm, dragging him off the bed and throwing him down to the ground onto his knees, “That’s it. I’ve had enough of you, Youngjae.” He said, “It’s a shame really… I’d love to play some more, but you just aren’t being any help. You’re not playing the game right.” He smiled as he pulled forth his gun, pressing it to Youngjae’s forehead.

Youngjae tried his hardest not to shake from the fear as the cool metal pressed into his skin, instead, he kept his gaze locked on Hyunseung’s.

“I will find them, Youngjae. With or without your help…” Hyunseung shook his head, laughing at his own little joke, “Well, without your help, I guess I should say. You were fun while you lasted. Maybe I have finally broken you. I bet Jihoon will be loads more fun then you have been though.”

The metal remained firm against his forehead, and Youngjae’s eyes fluttered shut on their own accord. This was it, Hyunseung was really about to kill him. He was in pain, emotionally and physically, and couldn’t find an ounce of will to fight back to save his own life. He couldn’t even fight on to try and protect his friend’s.

“This is what you deserve.”

“We protected you.“

 “We trusted you.”

“We thought you were one of us…”

 “… I loved you.”

The single gunshot echoed throughout the small room, and all was silent. The smoking gun remained trained on the lifeless body as the blood pooled on the ground, soaking into the carpet.

Told you guys that I'd end up updating again before Friday. i'm in the section now where I literally already ahve everything written out and I'm just edited it and making sure it still all flows well. Because, truthfully, the whole last scene here with Hyunseung... yeah, I wrote that back in.. uhm... April? I think that's when the doc is dated... yeah. I wrote this chapter back in April. OTL so I've had 7 months to edit it and get it perfect. and.... I actually like this chapter... this is what I've been waiting to get to... mmm, whumpage, you guys have only seen the tip of it so far, okay?

The last five dialoge lines have specific speakers. Okay? It goes Yongguk, Himchan, Jongup, Zelo, then Daehyun... 

and ... i'll be 20 in 24 hours. What is this? ((still havn't gotten any ing sushi though. >> stupid parents.)) My little sister got me a cute keychain and a grey tinted sketch book today, and got me starbucks, so I can't complain to bad I guess.

Please don't murder me~~ Hope you all enjoyed~ :D

((sadly, i think i only have 3 chapters left though. OTL))

Cuddles,

Lynn