NICKHUN AND TAEC!!!!!! A little TaecKhun moment here.

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The taxi stopped in front of a busy marketplace. And Taecyeon watched from the backseat as Nichkhun and his father got out from their car. The big guy wasn't about to lose sight of his best friend, so he paid the taxi fare and followed behind them in a safe distance. He preferred keeping his presence a secret, because he was curious to see where the old man was taking his son.

They entered an abandoned-looking building somewhere behind the marketplace, and Taecyeon began to question the old man's intention. He somehow had a bad feeling something big was about to happen soon. He buttoned up his coat and followed quietly behind them.

Since the elevator wasn't working, all three walked up to the fifth floor and at the end of it, only Mr Horjevkul was panting for breath. Nichkhun looked fine, and Taecyeon wasn't worried about his stamina. He'd done more than his fair share of strenuous exercise for the last five years. Being a coach meant being better than your average player. He eyed the pair warily from the stairs below. 

And after a while, a voice greeted Mr Horjevkul. Who the hell was it? Taecyeon watched as Nichkhun disappeared from his sight, following his father and the newcomer into a room nearby. The big guy wasted no time and sneaked up after them. There was no one around when he stepped on the last landing of the floor, which was good because the last thing he wanted was to get noticed.

There were voices coming from inside the nearest room and he pressed his ears close. Luckily the door wasn't too thick, so he could eavesdrop quite clearly.

"You owe us three million baht, and you brought us your son?!" A woman's shrill voice yelled.

"He's capable of bringing you the debt." Mr Horjevkul said with a shaky voice. Nichkhun narrowed his eyebrows at the faces around him. None of them looked friendly at the moment, and two of them were standing so close, he could feel his nose clogging up at the scent. Phew....at least shower before you commit a crime, he thought.  

He watched his father struggle with this strained conversation, and the woman....god, she was fugly! What creature did her dad anyway? She had eyes smaller than Junho's, but her face was big, and it was flat, so it made her look like a pancake. Pancake face, Nichkhun thought, amused with this idea. Her overall body mass was large, even larger than him and his father put together. And she had such thick eyebrows that it was knitted into a monobrow when she narrowed them. Nichkhun wanted to laugh his off, but judging the situation he was in at the moment, laughing wasn't such a good idea.

"And how would he do that?" The lady asked, with a voice of two rusty nails grinding against each other. He felt sorry for the man who ended up marrying her, if she ever had the intention. The marriage won't last, that was for sure.

"He will work for you." His father replied. That was a surprise. He didn't agree on any job. What the hell was his father up to?

"I don't need any more men in my disposal. I have a plenty." She said, slowly approaching Nichkhun. The Thai didn't hide the disgusted expression on his face. Her fugly face was one thing....her smell was a different story altogether. It smelled like rotten cabbages on a wet surface. He held his breath and let his eyes follow her as she circled around him.

Her hands were touching his back, shoulder, neck, and stomach. He covered his crotch on time to avoid her disgusting claws. Yeah, those were claws, but he bet they used to be nails.

"He's a fine-looking boy." She said, peering closely at his face. What the do you want, you stinky old hag? "If I take him, I might forgo fifty percent of your debt."

"Eighty." Mr Horjevkul negotiated with a calm demeanor. She shot him a glare but he remained at ease.

"Sixty. Not more."

"If you mark it up to seventy, I won't return for him."

"And what makes you think I will allow you to take him back even if I forgo only sixty percent of your debts?" She argued back.

"I won't take him back, but he will run away."

Nichkhun couldn't believe what his father was saying. Was he just a merchandise that his father could so easily sell as long as it put food on the old man's table? He wanted to kneel down and cry, really....but he couldn't. Not when twenty sets of eyes were watching him closely. Whatever father-and-son love he held for his old man had just flew out the window. Better still, flew out into space. There was no way he could expect more from his father after this. All those wistful thoughts of his old man ever being the fatherly figure he dreamt of was all just a dream after all. 

"You're sick, you old man." He muttered, his tone dangerous.

Mr Horjevkul simply shrugged and said, "Count yourself lucky that you're the only one involved, and not any of your friends in Korea."

"He has friends?" The woman suddenly interrupted, more interested now. "I do adore Korean men."

Nichkhun's face paled. A heavy dreaded feeling filled him up to the brink and it was the lifeforce out of him. There was nothing he could do to stop it. His father told them about the one thing he cared the most, besides his family in Thailand. Minjun, Taecyeon, Junho, Chansung, Wooyoung...and Lauren....what was going to happen to them now? Would they be okay without him?

"Please..." He pleaded. "Please don't hurt them." He was desperate. He came here for the sake of protecting his family and now it seemed that he had fallen into their trap.

The nasty old hag noticed the desperate tone in his voice and a small smile crept to her lips. "I like it when the victim pleads."

She snapped her fingers and asked her men to take Nickhun away. "Now, Mr Horjevkul, let's discuss about your remaining debts in my office."

Nickhun was about to bolt for the day when someone suddenly threw a large sack over his head, halting his movement. He struggled to break free but with ten pairs of hand on him, it was simply impossible. The sack was suffocating him, making it hard to breathe. They tied up his arms and legs, and tightened the sack around him. Good lord, what would happen to him next?

Two of them carried him, one on his shoulders, and the other on his legs. But he didn't care about his life anymore. He was worried about his family in Korea, and also the one in Thailand. "Please..." He pleaded once more. "Please don't hurt them...." He knew it was hopeless.

And there was nothing he could do about it. He drifted off into unconciousness as the oxygen level around him gradually depleted.

When he woke up, he was surprised to find himself lying on a comfortable bed, in what seemed like a hotel room. Was he in heaven? No, this room felt too steamy to be heaven. Then he panicked when he realized it was a hotel room. Immediately, he yanked the blanket off and checked to see if he was . But no, there were clothes on him, and his private parts didn't feel painful.

What the hell happened?

"You're awake, Khunnie-hyung." Taec's voice said from the bathroom door. He was clad in a white towel, looking marvelously handsome as he leaned there against the door frame, with his wet bangs draped in front of his forehead. "You slept like a baby."

"What the hell, Taec? Why are you here?"

"A simple thank you is enough." The big guy said, sitting down on the bed. Nichkhun instinctively pulled the blanket to his chest, without knowing the reason why. "Good God, I'm not going to eat you."

"You look like you were, with only a towel on." Nickhun said, eyeing his dongsaeng warily.

"I saved your ." Taecyeon said bitterly. "And you think I'm gonna you. No wonder you fell into that trap easily. I never knew you were so naive."

"Don't judge me. Anyway, what really happened?" He was curious now. Not so long ago, he'd been in such a mess, pleading for his family to be left alone and now he was lying on a bed in an unknown hotel, with Taec sitting across him. "What are you doing in Thailand anyway?"

"I'm here for a game. My manager signed my team up for a friendly match with Thailand and I was going to call you, but you didn't answer your call. Then I found on the highway this morning, getting beaten up to a pulp, by who I presumed, was your father."

Nickhun nodded, looking down at the bruise on his hand. How the hell did that get there? There was a lot of checking to do after this.

Taec continued, "I followed you in the taxi. And after that, everything was like how you would imagine a James Bond movie would look like. I beat the crap out of them, and I think one of them actually took a dump. I don't remember his face though."

"Taec..." The Thai suddenly interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Can I have a hug?" His voice was shaking. God, he was so scared. But he couldn't express his fear until now. Eventhough he was safe now, he was still feeling scared. He knew the nightmares won't stop until he was found. Or worse...until his family was found.

Taecyeon didn't waste a second. He crawled up next to the older boy and wrapped him arms around him, holding him tight. Nichkhun burst out sobbing under his embrace. "Shh...it's ok. You're fine now."

"No, it's not, Taec." He said between choked sobs. "It's not over until..."

"Until the fat lady sings?"

"That's not funny, Taec." The Thai sobbed harder.

Taecyeon chuckled then and tightened his embrace. "Sorry, sorry. It's ok. We'll be fine. Nothing will happen to us. They can't touch me, and Chansung will beat the out of them. Minjun will do the sensible thing and call the cops, and Woo is good at hiding. He could tuck Lauren and Junho away in a good hiding spot and no one will find them."

"You promise?" Nickhun asked, wetting Taecyeon's shoulder.

"I promise."

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