“Where is she?” Jonghyun muttered as he scanned the beach.

“What are you talking about?” Yonghwa asked irritably. “Aren't we out for a jog? Why are you stopping?”

“Just give me a minute.” Jonghyun replied and quickly took out his phone.

Yonghwa stared at Jonghyun, visibly annoyed. He was spending his time in bed when Jonghyun decided to pop by his parent's place. Jonghyun had then dragged him out of bed and convinced him to go jogging with him. Yonghwa had protested saying that he was too tired but Yonghwa's mother was not helping either. She had literally pushed Yonghwa out of the house, saying that some fresh air would do him some good.

It was no secret that Yonghwa was still in a foul mood even when he's back in Busan. He didn't want to talk to anyone and would only lock himself up in his room. Yonghwa was starting to get really annoyed at Jonghyun. Jonghyun's initial plan was to head back to Seoul after their Tokyo trip but had suddenly changed his mind and told Manager Kim that he wanted to head back to Busan to visit his family as well. Yonghwa really didn't care as he thought they would each be spending their own time with their families but he was wrong. Today was only the second day and Jonghyun had decided to pop by and annoy the hell out of him.

“Did something happen? She told me she was already here...” Jonghyun said worriedly.

Yonghwa gazed at Jonghyun curiously, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to stay annoyed at his bandmate.

“What's going on?” Yonghwa asked.

Jonghyun looked up from his phone, “N-Nothing...”

Jonghyun wondered to himself if you had actually gone to another beach or had actually chickened out at the very last minute... or perhaps you went to a public restroom?

“Are we going to continue jogging or not?” Yonghwa asked.

“You go ahead.” Jonghyun replied. “I need to make a call.”

Without another glance, Yonghwa jogged off, leaving a very confused and worried Jonghyun behind.

===============================

Water... Water...

Those were your first thoughts as you slowly cracked open your eyes. Your throat felt dry and scratchy. You frowned as you stared at the surroundings around you. The room was dark but the streetlights from outside shone through the windows allowing you to see your surroundings. Where is this place? Everything looked unfamiliar to you. You realised that you were in someone's bedroom and then you panicked when what happened at the beach came back to you. Someone had knocked you out.

Was it Jonghyun? Or Yonghwa? Were they playing a trick on you? You tried to sit up but failed and then came to a realisation that your hands were tied behind your back. Your feet were tied together too.

“J-Jonghyun?” You managed to croak out.

You waited for Jonghyun or someone to jump out from somewhere to scare you but nothing of that sort happened. And then, your heard the door creak open to reveal a man in his mid thirties entering.

“You're awake...” He said as he made his way towards you.

You tried to scoot further back but failed as your back was already against the wall.

“Who are you? What's going on?” You asked frantically.

The man tilted his head to one side as though studying you, and then replied, “You don't remember me at all... I'm disappointed.”

You wrecked your brain trying to remember who this man was. Was he perhaps one of your old high school classmate? Or perhaps one of Yonghwa's or Jonghyun's friend? One of your parent's old family friend? Nothing clicked and you could only stare back at the strange man.

“After all those flowers and letters I sent you... You don't remember me? Is that how much I mean to you?” The man demanded.

You widened your eyes when you finally realised that this man was none other than your sasaeng fan. He seemed furious now and you were worried he was going to hurt you.

“I remember!” You quickly said. “I remember you!”

The man looked as though he was trying to calm himself down as he started taking deep breaths. You waited for a moment before interrupting him.

“M-May I know why I'm here?” You asked softly.

The man's eyes snapped back to you as though he had suddenly remembered you were still in the room.

“We can finally be together forever...” He mumbled to himself. “I've waited so long for this day.”

You could feel your heart hammering wildly against your chest and for the first time in your entire life, you have never felt this scared.

The man continued talking, “Even when all your fans ditched you, I was still here for you. Even when you betrayed me with those two CN Blue guys... I forgave you. That's what love is... you know?”

He looked at you as though expecting you to answer but you merely stayed silent. He then took a step towards you and reached out his hand to touch your cheek. You flinched at the contact but thankfully, he withdrew his hand after that.

“Y-You can't tie me up like this,” You stammered. “It's kidnap.”

The man ignored your words as he said, “Tell me, isn't my love enough for you? Why do you still seek the love of two other men? Look at where they are now... Do they still love you? No one will love you like I do.”

At that moment, you honestly didn't care what this man was rambling about. You just wished he would continue talking and keep his hands to himself.

Of course, luck was always not on your side as he leant in and buried his face on the crook of your neck. He started placing kisses on your neck and then you felt the urge to throw up.

“Please leave me alone...” You begged as you tried to squirm away from him. “D-Don't touch me...”

The man stopped his actions and stood up, clearly enraged with your interruptions.

“Stop talking!” He snapped. “Why do you talk so much?!!!”

In his anger, he reached for a bedside lamp and threw it against the wall beside you. The lamp shattered into a million pieces and you realised a glass shard had cut your cheek when you felt pain and warm liquid trickling down your face.

“I'm sorry!” The man wailed and quickly crouched down to wipe the blood off your cheek. “I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!”

You winced when his rough finger touched the cut on your cheek and then his hand slowly trailed down to your neck. Alarm bells started ringing in your head as you shuddered under his touch. His hand then trailed down to the first button of your shirt and that was when you screamed.

“Stop! Don't touch me!” You shouted in fright. “Please don't touch me!”

The man was startled by your outburst as he dropped his hand but then his anger took over as he delivered a slap on to your face.

“Don't you dare command me!” He hollered.

And then, his hands went to your neck... squeezing and choking...

==========================

Jonghyun couldn't take it anymore. Something was definitely wrong. It had been four hours since you disappeared. No matter how many times he called or texted you, there wasn't an answer. He had even searched the whole beach for you. The winter cold was starting to sting his fingers but that was the least of Jonghyun's worries right now. Night has fallen and Jonghyun continued standing at the beach wondering what he should do.

Jonghyun's phone started ringing and his heart leapt, thinking it must be you but to his disappointment, it turned out to be Manager Kim instead.

“Yah, what's going on? What's with that frantic text? I haven't seen her, obviously. Isn't she in Tokyo?” Manager Kim asked as soon as Jonghyun picked up.

Jonghyun had no choice but to tell Manager Kim the whole story.

“Maybe she chickened out and left?” Manager Kim asked after hearing what happened.

“No,” Jonghyun said firmly. “You know she would at least call to let me know. She wouldn't make me worried like that.”

“You're right.” Manager Kim sighed. “Don't worry, Jonghyun ah, I'll come over right now. In the meantime, go tell Yonghwa what happened.”

After Manager Kim hung up, Jonghyun raced all the way to Yonghwa's apartment. After knocking on the door impatiently, Yonghwa flung the door open.

“Something has happened.” Jonghyun said before Yonghwa could say anything.

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