Changmin’s Pov

Kyuhyun was nowhere to be seen. I had looked everywhere for him, to inside and outside the lab where I worked and lived. He was still a fairly new humanoid, not having lived more than 2 weeks, meant there was a lower than 1% chance he would walk around without his maker. Humanoids when first created are like slaves to their masters. They have no reason to think for themselves simply because they simply didn’t know how. Wiring and setting a humanoid was 100 times more difficult than bringing up a child from birth to adulthood. In Kyuhyun’s case, he was different. It would normally take a humanoid 2 years to walk and another 4 years to speak. Many would be abandoned and sold off to the black market where they are used for unspeakable things. The care and love for a humanoid was important. You had to think of it as your own child or your other self. However, it still took time for it to mature. Oh the other hand, with the two years it took for me to build Kyuhyun from scratch and the formulas I spent sleepless nights working on, I had finally creating what was now known as ‘The Perfect Humanoid’. Cho Kyuhyun was able to walk, speak and obey my exact orders from the time he woke up. Other functions which I had not yet had the chance to examine will allow furthering understanding of a humanoids needs. Like yesterday at the event, Kyuhyun had protected me from those men in black. He had not been programmed that way nor was he ordered to protect me at the time which made me wonder. There was defiantly something I missed out while I was still making Kyuhyun. Something about that made Kyuhyun act that way.

I stood in the middle of the living room which was surrounded by the kitchen. On the right, a bathroom laid next to it and the bedroom north from where I was facing. My lab overlooked the living room from the second floor and was directly above the kitchen and bathroom. I thought for a while, my hand on my chin. It was strange. The walls were intact; nothing seemed out of place nor was it out of the ordinary. There had been no sign of a struggle. Rather, there had been no sign of Kyuhyun at all. The photo frame which held a picture of me and Kyuhyun when he was awakened (aka: his first birthday) was no longer there. It usually sat on my desk next to my laptop behind the cup of half drunken coffee in the open bedroom. I searched a bit more, going through the cupboards, shelves and personal files that recorded classified information about Kyuhyun and my research for the past 2 years. To my realisation, there was nothing. Someone had come into my office/home and led Kyuhyun out along with his existence. It was as if he was never born.

“No…no…” I muttered, shaking my head lightly. I felt as if my head was going to explode. After two years, all my hard work had led to this? No! I clutched my head, blocking my ears to let me think. It became a habit of mine whenever I was in deep concentration or needed to be as the revving of the machine which kept Kyuhyun’s ‘heart’ going would cause a major distraction. There was no chance of shutting it down as it would ‘kill’ Kyuhyun and there would be no chance of restarting it while in its purest state. The time and money invested on the experience would have been a waste. I ran to find my phone which laid on top of my bed and dialled a number. I took exactly three rings before the person picked up.

“Oh! Hey Changmin, it’s rare for you to call!” The chirpy voice brought back many memories of mine. For when I was still in high school, he had been a good and dear friend to me. With just a call from the phone, he would come running to me. To this day this man hadn’t changed. Still his usual self I could hear. Usually, his happy-go-lucky voice would either brighten my day or enforce a wave of annoyance. Today, I felt none of these things. I just want Kyuhyun back.

“Someone’s taken him… SOMEONE’S TAKEN HIM!” I felt myself panic. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Screaming like a manic on the phone was something I wouldn’t normally do. Thank god I was at home and not in the middle of the street still trying to find clues of where Kyuhyun ran off to. People would think I’ve gone crazy. To be honest, I felt like I was going crazy.

“Him? What are you talking about? Changmin, what’s wrong? Call down and tell me slowly, ok?” Their voice was now a lot smoother and deeper, trying to calm me down. It sounded almost like a lullaby trying to put me to sleep. My heartrate calmed a little. I hope that my next sentence would do a little justice on the poor man on the other side. The longer it took for me to tell the other what had happened, the less of a chance there was when it came to finding Kyuhyun. They say, the first 24 hours is the most important in kidnapping cases. I knew it was not yet over 24 hours since I had fallen asleep at 4am and now was currently 2pm (an hour had passed since I first woke up.) From the time I spelt asleep and to when I woke up, 9 hours had passed. During those 9 hours, Kyuhyun was taken away. There was no way to know what time he had disappeared, therefore I will make the most of it and say he had gone for 9 hours. This way, I calculate my movements with still a little time left over from when Kyuhyun was actually captured.

“Kyuhyun, someone took Kyuhyun.” I said calmly after taking a deep breath.

“WHAT? Where are you?” He sounded as shock as ever. He and the president of the university were the only people who knew about my project. The President had allowed me to work in secret while the other looked after handling my stocks as well as my personal health. Somewhat of a manager I would say.

“I’m at home.” My sentences became shorter and shorter. I felt as though I could no longer speak. The strength in my muscle was slowly decreasing and my sanity was becoming scarce.

“Stay there, I’m coming for you.” No more than a second later, the phone cut off. I couldn’t move from my spot. The phone was still pressed against my ear, no sign of moving. My eyes began fixed on the plain blue wall of my bedroom, my breathing becoming deeper and faster. A sense of fear suddenly overcame me. My grip loosened and my phone fell to the floor with a thud. Soon after, I dropped to my knees, trembling in fear.

“…!” I shouted. I felt alone. As if my whole world was taken away from me. There was still so many things I had to do, so many things I had to teach Kyuhyun. I never saw him smile; I never got to hear him laugh. I had yet to make him mine.

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No one’s Pov

The young man ran out of his apartment, leaving his lover in confusion.

“Where are you going?!” He heard the other shout before he ran outside, closing the door behind him. Amongst the few things he grabbed, a card key was one he had made sure to bring with him. On it had one word written in a fancy font. ‘Libera’ it read in English. Other than that, the card itself was completely black with 6 raised digits coated in silver. He looked at it for a second before putting it in his right coat pocket.

Yoochun jumped into his black Mercedes and drove to Changmin’s house. For the whole journey, he found himself unable to sit still. The adrenalin came pouring in, he found himself unable to properly focus.

“!” He swore, punching the driver’s wheel with his fists. Yoochun’s mind began thinking back to all the people he and Changmin was in contact with. There were quite a few but none was able to pull a plan together to capture the University’s most prized project. Taking Kyuhyun would mean going against the University which was more or less going against the government but with more extreme penalties.

The university housed the most talented and wealthiest people. It ‘houses’ with put those with power and those with the brains together. People with wealth are able to scout and invest in the ones with talent. The ones with the money are called ‘benefactors’ while the ones with the brains are called ‘members’.

New graduates were brought in every season in a showcasing which consists of them showing off their future projects. These projects will either be funded by the benefactors. If you are unable to find a benefactor, there is a possibility to go to the board of directors of the university and pitch them your idea. They will make a judgement of whether or not your project will be useful, and there they will do a vote. Getting a meeting with the board of directors is a lot harder than getting a benefactor which is why those projects which are funded by the University usually carry the most interest/profits. The reason being is that with a benefactor, if your project does not succeed, the benefactors are the ones who take the fall. They will lose out on the profit and have the ability to drop you but you will still be a part of the society until you fail 3 projects in total. All you have to do is plan another project and pitch it to the benefactors in the ‘Monthly Viewing’. Those without benefactors must attend this viewing every month until they obtain one. After 10 unsuccessful tries, you will be dropped as a member. Many only end up with one benefactor who is willing to oversee all their projects.

Projects funded by the University only have one chance. As you are directly taking funds from the University, they are the ones who will fall if your project fails. If your project does fail, you will be kicked out immediately. You are given one and only one chance. Due to this, many members turn away from asking for the University for funds unless they are on their last chance.

The rules are as strict for the benefactors as they are to the members. Those who become a benefactor are only allowed in if they are either specially invited by the University or through an invitation from a benefactor. Those who are invited by a benefactor will be given a trail pass for 4 months which will allow them to have the same privileges as normal benefactors however; they are not formally allowed to invest in a member until they have gone through all the trails. If they go against the university or are no longer able to provide funding, they will be let go of immediately. Being let go of would make you an outcast from all the major businesses. Even thinking of succeeding is not possible once you have been blacklisted. Bankruptcy is the only fate left once you have been kicked out.

It took a little longer for Yoochun to arrive at Changmin’s house.  Traffic had gotten in the way of his hasty driving and that made him worry about the younger even more. Yoochun climbed out of his car and fumbled around his pocket for Chamgin’s keys. It took a few seconds for him to find it before he quickly entered the house.

“CHANGMIN!” He burst in, looking around for his friend only to find him on the floor in his bedroom. Yoochun ran over the Changmin, kneeling down beside him.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him. I promise.”