Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Niel sat up with a start, thrashing around violently as he quickly realized that his movement was restricted and his eyes were blindfolded tightly. He could feel the ropes digging into his wrists and ankles with each move he makes. He didn't care about the pain or anything else. His survival instincts were activated, and there was only one thing on his mind: Get out of here.

He squirmed, struggled, tugged, and pulled, to no avail. He was tightly bound and whoever did the job of tying him up, did it well. He refrained from shouting out loud, since he didn't know where exactly he was and for all he knows, it will just alert his attacker to his side. He continued like this for a few moments, stopping every now and then for a catch of breath, when he heard it… down a distant hallway, echoing like the devil's footsteps himself.

Step. Step. Step. Step.

He immediately stopped moving, held his breath and closed his eyes, using all his strength to pretend that he was still asleep. Panic was starting to creep in; he could hear his heart drumming and echoing in his ears. With how loud his heart was beating, he hoped and prayed that he was the only one who could hear it. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped right in front of where he is, and it took all he could not to cower, as he felt the kidnapper walking to him.

Step. Step. Step.

He heard a bit of rustling, then silence. He didn't know what was happening, and it was making him panic even more. It took his all to not crawl to the other side of the room, away from whoever this was. He felt a hand gently his cheek, then his jaw, then moving down slowly to trace his collarbones before pulling away. Even though the touch was unusually gentle, not at all he would expect from his kidnapper, he couldn't help but feel disgusted at the contact. His skin pricked up and formed goosebumps; at this point, he really didn't know what to expect.

He felt arms reaching behind his head, fingers working nimbly as his blindfold was untied. His eyes shot open in shock, and for some reasons unknown, he couldn't close them. But he had to close them before his kidnapper knows he's awake. Close you damn eyes. Close. But they refused to listen, as his eyes were temporarily blinded by a strong overhead light, and as he blinked rapidly to let them adjust to his surroundings, he found that his face was but a mere inches from another. A man's.

As if by instinct, he immediately scrambled backwards, hitting himself hard against a wall as he kicked and flailed, hoping to deter the kidnapper from getting near him. He was on full on panic mode now, and as he caught a glimpse of the other's sneer, he knew this was exactly the kind of reaction he expected, maybe even wanted, from him. But he couldn't help it. He just knew he had to get away; he didn't know how, but he had to.

The kidnapper didn't speak. He just smiled, while watching his every move, and it made Niel feel even more frightened. He wished the other would do something, anything, rather than just stand there and bask in his fear. But he didn't. After a little while Niel's body gave out in exhaustion, as he realized he hadn't had anything to eat or drink (for who knows how long; he didn't even remember how or when he got here) and all the thrashing around had finally taken its toll on his body.

Once he was done, the kidnapper calmly walked over to him. Niel scampered back as far as he could until he reached the corner of the room, then turned his head away as the kidnapper sat down beside him and reached for him, half expecting something like a slap or whatnot. But what came instead is more gentle of his cheek, as if the other didn't want to mar his face. He whipped his head back to look at him in surprise. He cleared his throat and managed to find his voice, as he whispered shakily, "Who are you… and what do you plan to do to me?"

But the man didn't reply, just smiled. Niel stared back at him, taking this chance to memorize his features once he gets out (if he gets out) and report it to the police. Strong jaw, thick eyebrows, thin lips, small eyes. His eyes drifted to look around him; it was a small room, devoid of any furniture except the strong overhead light. And right in front of him was a normal door that he was sure he could run out of if he tackles the man out of the way. Damn, if only his ankles weren't bound so tight.

As if sensing his thoughts of attempting escape, the man's expression grew dark as he frowned, thin lips set into a firm line as he looked straight at Niel, the glare in his eyes seemingly boring through Niel's wide, frightened orbs. "Don't even think about escaping. You can't escape from me. You're mine." Almost immediately, his expression brightened again, almost as if he wasn't the same person who just warned Niel a few seconds prior. "Having you run away from me isn't an option, you see. I can't let anyone have you. We're destined to be together."

Niel knew immediately that this was no ordinary kidnapper. He was clearly not right in the head. "But who are you? How are we 'destined to be together' if I don't even know who you are?"

The man laughed, clearly amused at this whole situation. With blazing eyes, he looked straight at Niel. "You don't know me, but I know everything about you. I've watched your every move. I've followed you everywhere. Like your second shadow, I was always with you but you never noticed. Who am I? I'm your other half. Your lover. Your future husband. My name… is Bang Minsoo."

Niel didn't know why, but the way he uttered his name sent chills down his spine. It made him nervous to the very core. The man was unpredictable. Crazy. Deranged. He just wanted to get away.

Minsoo lifted his lip into a smirk as he ran his hand down the side of Niel's face, satisfied at the little shiver he felt from the other. He leaned in closer, until their lips were almost touching, and whispered, "Why don't we play a little game? I'll prove to you that you're mine, and no matter how much you try to get away from me, you never will because we're connected. Meant to be together. Forever."

Niel held his breath as the other came dangerously close, ready to dodge any… unpleasant attacks. But to his surprise, Minsoo moved away and untied the ropes around his ankles, but not the ones around his wrists. He leaned forward, trapping Niel in his strong embrace as he whispered into Niel's ear, sending chills down the younger's spine: "Choose. Stay here and be treated like a prince for the rest of your life, or run… and face the consequences."

Niel didn't even need to choose. Every bone in his body screamed that he needed to get away from this creepy man right this instant. He violently kicked Minsoo away with all of his strength, knocking the wind out of him and sending him crashing to the floor, and then steadying himself, he quickly ran to the door, threw it open and ran out blindly.

The house itself was small and easy to navigate. Once he ran down the short hallway and turned right, the door to the exit was right there, looming in full view. He stumbled to it, praying fervently that it was indeed the exit, and threw it open. His eyes widened at the view; it was dark, completely dark, and they were in a forest of some sort, a thick row of trees right in front of him and no definite path in sight. He felt a pang of regret infuriating Minsoo like that when he wasn't able to assess the situation and plan a getaway properly, but who knows when the next chance of escape would come?

Step. Step. Step. Step. It was now or never. Niel took a deep breath and plunged headfirst into the sea of trees, not caring where he was going as long as he can get away. Get away from that madman. Driven by survival instincts and adrenaline alone, Niel ran and ran and ran, not even noticing that stray branches were cutting into his skin and pebbles were imbedding themselves painfully into his bare feet. Finally, after what felt like hours of just straight on running, he came across a clearing, across from which was a path, which he assumed was out of the forest. Unfortunately, right at the end of the clearing is a raging river, its waters flowing rapidly and angrily downstream. There were some rocks where he could possibly cross, but to make the cross would prove to be a perilous task, as his hands were still bound.

Niel fumbled around in the dark for something that could untie his wrists, but there were no rocks that were sharp enough that could penetrate the thick ropes. He knew he was running out of time. He needed to figure out a way, look for a bridge, or just outright jump the rocks and hope for the best. He traversed the river bank on both sides, trying to see where it ended or whether there was a bridge he could cross.

Snap. Step. Snap. Step.

The sounds of Minsoo's footsteps as the twigs snapped under his foot rang clearly in Niel's ears, like a warning alarm signaling him it was time to go. Now. He frantically walked down the farther end of the river bank, but he still couldn't see a bridge. He cursed the rope around his wrists; he would have been able to traverse the rocks if it wasn't for the ropes. Maybe he could try to bite them off? But before he could decide what to do, Minsoo's clear voice cut through the quiet forest like a hot knife through butter.

"You can run, but you can't hide, Ahn Daniel. So you wanna play hide and seek? I'll eventually find you."

Trying to curb the panic that was starting to set into him, Niel crept as soundlessly as possible to a nearby thicket, concealing as much of himself as he could as he tried to find something sharp enough to cut the ropes. All the small rocks around him weren't suitable for the job. Frustrated and panicked, Niel started to gnaw on the ropes, not even caring that blood and saliva was starting to drip down the side of his mouth.

The sun was almost peeking up from the horizon. Niel gave up on his wrists and looked around, his eyes adjusting to the bright light that was starting to spread over the forest. He needed to find a way out, and fast, before the light completely reveals his location. Deciding that the rope wasn't going to budge, he peeked up ever so slightly from where he was hiding and looked around for Minsoo.

He could see his tall outline only a few steps away from him. If he ever chances to go towards where he was hiding, he was sure to find him. Panic was starting to creep in again. He looked to the right; a thick expanse of forest that could prove to be a good hiding place, and to the left, raging waters that will swallow him whole. He had to choose one.

"Found you."

The sudden looming of the shadow over him that he didn't notice until too late, coupled with the saccharine voice that was too happy for his liking, snapped him out of whatever thinking he was planning to do. His heart beat madly in his chest, sweat sliding down his temples as fear and panic overtook him. He lunged forward and ran as fast as he could, slipping and stumbling as he had no sense of balance, all logic quickly thrown out by the desire to get away. He managed to look back, but to his surprise, Minsoo was just standing there, watching him run.

And the next thing he knew, a sharp pain gripped his ankle as he suddenly found himself upside down hanging from a tree. A trap. Niel summoned all of his energy to try and reach the rope on his ankle, but to no avail. He could see Minsoo taking his time to walk to the tree.

Step. Snap. Step. Snap. Step.

With each step the other took, Niel grew more panicked. Help. Softly at first. And then louder, and louder. "Help! HELP! Is somebody out there? Please help!!!" He screamed his throat dry and swung his whole body frantically in the hopes of breaking the rope, his sense of urgency heightening with each step Minsoo took. He shook his head violently, tears streaming down his eyes as he knew the inevitable was coming.

"No one can hear you, love. We're all alone." And with the last few steps, Minsoo was suddenly beside him, grinning like a madman as he undid the rope to let Niel down, but he made no move to untie the rope from his ankle. "I told you we were meant to be together. You can't get away from me. You're mine."

Niel could do nothing but sink to his knees, tears of fear streaming down his face as he succumbed to his fate. Minsoo was suddenly beside him, a deranged glint in his eyes and a crazed smile on his face as he wiped Niel's tears away.

"Now now, don't cry. We'll be happy together… forever."

_________________

A/N: Yeah, IDEK guys. ._.;;;; I was watching Weekly Idol and during the revise the profile/clear up rumors segment, Hyungdon talked about how CAP is obsessed with Niel. I initially wanted to do a cute fic revolving around that, but I got the idea for this while turntop-bigtop and I were randomly throwing ideas at each other, and she agreed it seemed like an interesting thing to explore. I just hope I somewhat did it justice, since this is my first time trying my hand at this kind of genre of writing. I do hope I didn't do revoltingly bad. >.<;;;; Once I get to know Teen Top just a bit more, I'll be writing NAP in a happier setting lol. Ah, and the scenario of this fic is inspired by this one short story I read somewhere, and also an episode of Ten Season 1 (it's a crime drama that showed on MNet/TvN). I'll be practicing my psycho-thriller writing skills though, so hopefully I'll get better in the future. xD I ran out of ideas for this one, so I just ended it before I end up butchering it even more. ._.;;; I'll make up for this by writing a cute NAP sometime in the future. xD

Also, is it bad that I was listening to Beast's Shadow while writing this? ._.;;;;