A/N: To my dear subscribers, THANK YOU so much for sticking it out with me so long... I really apologize for not writing for such a long time because of work and other real life commitments. I'm working on several other chapters for this fic and it should be done soon, so I hope to be able to update more often now (:

CHAPTER SEVEN

3:49 P.M.

“Who’s the youngest?” Kurt bellowed at his hostages. All of them shrank back in fear at his temper, keeping one eye on his gun in case he decided to shoot, but no one said anything.

“I am,” Siwon bravely said, attempting to take charge of the situation and unwilling to let his younger members step into the line of fire.

“Don’t lie to me!” Kurt roared. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

Kurt slammed his gun against Siwon’s temple, and his head snapped back. The other members let out a gasp when they saw blood trailing down his cheek.

Henry couldn’t take it anymore. He was about to stand up and identify himself as the youngest when Kyuhyun suddenly jumped to his feet. Henry stared the older boy; Kyuhyun was the Super Junior magnae, but that unfortunate honour was Henry’s in Super Junior M.

As if he could hear the other boy’s thoughts, Kyuhyun turned to Henry, giving him a slight shake of his head, telling him to be quiet. Henry wriggled further down to escape the glare of the gunman, who had walked to Kyuhyun.

“You’re the youngest?”

Kyuhyun gave him a blank look, not really understanding the question.

“Please!” Sungmin pleaded in broken English. “He don’t speak English!”

“Silence!” Kurt roared. He studied Kyuhyun for a while. “You’ll do just fine.” Grabbing the evil magnae by the forearm, he dragged him to the table where the phone lay. He picked up the received and tossed it to Kyuhyun. “Someone wants to talk to you.”

Tentatively, Kyuhyun lifted the received to his ear. Was he finally going to find out who was on the other end of the line all this time? Would he be able to understand what was being said?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

3:55 P.M.

“Hello?” Kyuhyun mustered all the English he knew, praying fervently that he would understand what was being said to him.

“Kyuhyun-sshi!”

Kyuhyun’s eyes widened; the voice was so familiar. It couldn’t be… could it?

He opened his mouth to respond, but the voice stopped him.

“Don’t say anything,” came the instruction in Korean. “He doesn’t know you can understand me, and I want to keep it that way. Okay?”

Kyuhyun nodded his reply, then immediately felt silly. Why was he nodding when the person on the line couldn’t see him?

“Don’t worry,” the voice continued. “I can see you. Don’t look, but we have a camera set up by the window. We can see everyone in the room.”

Again, Kyuhyun nodded, unable to say anything.

“Are you okay?” The voice had softened, and he could hear the concern seeping through.

Kyuhyun fought the tears that had gathered in his eyes. He was relieved, but he knew their ordeal was far from over. “Y-yes,” he stammered.

“I know Seung-hwan-sshi and Siwon-sshi are injured, but I can’t tell how serious the injuries are. Do they need immediate medical attention?”

Kyuhyun snuck a glance over at his manager and his senior, noticing that they were watching him curiously. “Ani...” he began, then quickly caught himself. “No. They okay.”

There was an audible sigh of relief on the other line. “Is there anyone else who’s hurt? What about Hyukjae-sshi and Jiwoo-sshi?”

“They okay too,” Kyuhyun replied.

“Listen carefully, Kyuhyun-ah. I need you to do exactly as I say. The police are here, and we are going to get you out. But, don’t do anything rash or stupid. Just obey the gunman, and do everything he tells you to do, okay?”

Kyuhyun nodded, again forgetting that he was on the phone. He felt his spirits rise; help was nearby!

“Once you pass the phone back to the gunman, he’s going to ask you what I said. Again, pretend you didn’t understand. Siwon, Sungmin or Henry will translate for you. Just say that I asked how you all were, and that I told you to obey him and to do everything he tells you to.”

“Can I…” Kyuhyun let his sentence trail off, painfully aware that he could not verbalize the question that he really wanted to ask.

The responding chuckle was light and full of mirth, just as he remembered it. “Can you tell the rest that I’m here, you mean?”

Kyuhyun fought the urge to grin, glad that his unspoken question was understood. But his face fell at the next words.

“It’s better if they don’t know I’m here.”

Kyuhyun looked at the rest of his band mates. Swallowing hard, all he could say was, “Okay.” He was disappointed that he wasn’t able to share the information with his friends, but he knew there probably was a good reason for it. All he to do was be patient.

 “Kyuhyun-ah, we’re here, okay? We’re going to get you out of there. Just stay calm, alright? Don’t do anything rash, don’t agitate him. We’re going to get you out.”

Kyuhyun felt like crying at those words, relief washing over him. Help was at hand, and he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Putting the phone down slowly on the table, keeping one cautious eye on the gunman, he turned towards the others.

The members misunderstood his expression, and Ryeowook burst out in tears. Zhou Mi looked crestfallen. Siwon rose to his feet, his arms outstretched as if to draw Kyuhyun protectively to him.

“What did she say?” Kurt looked very interested, and he advanced towards Kyuhyun, who had moved to stand next to Siwon.

Kyuhyun felt Siwon’s gaze on him, no doubt surprised that it had been a woman on the phone. All along, they’d assumed that the caller was male.

Remembering his instructions, Kyuhyun gave him a blank look, pretending not to understand the question.

“He doesn’t understand English!” Henry shouted.

Kurt stared at the magnae, surprised at his outburst. Grabbing Henry by the collar, with the rest of the group protesting loudly, Kurt shook him. “Then translate!” he ordered.

“Fine, fine!” Henry raised his hands in surrender.

Turning to Kyuhyun, Henry asked in Korean: “What did she say?”

Kyuhyun paused, trying to pick his words carefully. “She asked how we were.”

“She?!” Henry was confused. “You understood her?”

Again, Kyuhyun hesitated, wondering how to best answer the magnae’s question without giving anything away. “She spoke Korean,” he finally said.

“What?” Sungmin exclaimed.                                                            

“HEY!” Kurt yelled, noticing that the members were getting far too interested in the conversation. He positioned himself between Henry and Kyuhyun, pointing his gun at both of them. “Translate! What’s he saying?” 

Henry thought on his feet. “He hasn’t completed his sentence!”

Kurt looked disgruntled, but allowed Kyuhyun to continue talking.

“Henry, just tell him,” Kyuhyun indicated Kurt, “that I didn’t really understand what I was being told. Tell him I think she told me to obey him.”

“Who was it?” Henry asked eagerly. “What else did she say?”

“She wants us to know that the police are here. They’re going to get us out. So we must stay calm, okay? Don’t cry anymore, Ryeowook hyung. They’re going to save us.”

“Are you done now?” Kurt interrupted them.

Henry nodded, then repeated what Kyuhyun had told him to say.

Kurt exploded, backhanding Henry across the face. “Do you think I’m stupid? He spoke for so long yet you only translate one meagre sentence?”

Henry gasped in pain, and Sungmin and Seung-hwan hovered protectively over him, ready to intervene if Kurt attempted to hit Henry again. The knowledge that the police were on site had emboldened them, and they were no longer prepared to go down without a fight.

“Wait!” Kyuhyun called. “Don’t make him angry. Just do whatever he says, hyung. Please.”

Kurt Kyuhyun, brandishing the gun in the younger man’s face. “What did you say?”

Donghae panicked. “He said that’s all she said! He said that’s all she said!”

Kurt looked appeased at Donghae’s words. He waved the gun at them, and ordered them to sit down. The Super Junior members did as they were told reluctantly.

“Kyuhyun!” Siwon whispered urgently to the boy next to him.

Kyuhyun turned to his hyung, a question in his eyes.

“Who spoke to you?” Siwon asked.

Kyuhyun stared at his hyung for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea to answer the question.

“Kyuhyun!” Siwon whispered again, urging him to respond.

Kyuhyun swallowed, knowing he had no choice but to answer Siwon. “It was Young Tae-In noona, hyung. It was Tae-In noona.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *