“Where is he?” Yoochun asked; straight to the point.

Junsu forwarded on as much detail as he had been given during the phone call with Jongkook to the others in the room, and a plan of action began to form.

“Then we’ll call Won Jin,” Yoochun announced, trying to keep the situation as calm as possible. “Jaejoong! Come here!”

Shuffling could be heard from the kitchen, and out came Jaejoong, shortly followed by Changmin.

Before Jaejoong could ask what was up, Changmin bravely stepped forward in order to speak to them all. “Just so you know…” he started, “I’m okay with what happened. It’s in the past now, right?”

There fell an awkward silence as both the speaker and listeners weren’t sure whether the question was rhetorical.

Changmin’s attention then focused on Junsu, who looked like he’d just seen a ghost. Junsu returned Changmin’s glance with sullen eyes; he kept being distracted by horrible thoughts - nevertheless he tried to smile reassuringly.

“Are you OK?’ Changmin asked, whilst trying to rob any information from Yunho and Yoochun’s expressions. Yoochun was the best bet, and Changmin knew that something was up because Yoochun didn’t seem his usual, casual self. 

Eventually, Junsu had to share the unfortunate news with Changmin, and then everyone began to prepare for the mission ahead before Won Jin arrived in his trusty taxi. 

The road ahead was narrowing as they drove further along at an anxious crawl. The area surrounding them was rough; the streets were bare and littered with old construction material, rotting garbage and there was even a leaking pipe which had been left unattended to for so long that Won Jin had to step out of the car to check the depth of the water before driving the taxi through the large puddle of water that flooded part of the road. Beside Won Jin, in the passenger seat, sat Junsu who was silently scouring his surroundings to make sure that he wouldn’t miss any hint or clue regarding the precise location of his dear brother. 

The journey had lasted roughly 40 agonising minutes so far, and Junsu’s mind had been tracing back to memories of him and Junho. There had been a time, years ago, when he had accidentally shoved Junho so hard from fighting over the game controller that Junho hit his head against a ceramic plant pot and their mother had to take him to hospital to get stitches for the gaping wound. Junsu was so ashamed that he had hidden himself in his room and wouldn’t come out until his dad came home from work bearing gifts - their favourite chocolate bar. 

Although they sometimes fought, Junsu’s mind rewound many good memories of Junho showing kindness or playing football with him in the park with some of their friends. They had seen less and less of one another since they went their separate ways, but their strong brotherly relationship remained the same - they were supporting bricks for one another, and now that Junho was in danger, Junsu knew that Junho needed him now more than ever. He had to help him, no matter what. 

Meanwhile, Jaejoong and Yunho were sat in the back seats of the taxi; their shoulders bumping together every time the car’s wheels encountered a pothole. The windows were up because the area looked unsafe, but despite the recent dreary weather the sun had made an appearance and the dark clouds had cleared the now blue skies. It was getting so hot inside the car that Yunho was sweating, although he knew that this was also partially due to the fact that he was sitting next to the very man who he had such trouble attempting to write a heartfelt letter to a day or so ago. He didn’t dare to make eye contact with Jaejoong otherwise he’d surely feel his own cheeks burning. 

Jaejoong had been making light conversation with Won Jin and Junsu during the journey, and asked Yunho a few polite questions here and there regarding what Yunho and Changmin had been up to and how their careers were going. Yunho had managed to answer casually enough, and returned the questions to Jaejoong, taking the opportunity of silences to try to calm down his heart rate. Why was he feeling this way? He couldn’t understand, and most of all he wondered why this sudden intense feeling had only seriously started to develop since Jaejoong left the group with Yoochun and Junsu to form JYJ. 

“Hello?” 

Yoochun shouted down to the mobile phone laying on the table. Junsu had shared Jongkook’s number with Yoochun so that Changmin and Yoochun, who were staying at JYJ’s booked apartment, could try calling Jongkook to find out more information and try to help Jongkook in any way possible.

Jongkook took a while to respond; the phone’s loudspeaker only picked up various voices and clinks and clattering of beverage glasses and silverware. 

Finally, Jongkook’s voice could be heard in a low whisper and short breaths. 

“Jongkook, where are you?” Yoochun asked, already guessing the atmosphere from the sounds heard.

“I’m in a cafe, I think it’s safe here for now,” Jongkook replied. “Where are you? Did you find Junho?”

Yoochun sighed. “Not yet, Junsu’s on his way. But Jongkook, what happened? Why are they after you?”

There was no answer, and Changmin started to worry that they’d been cut off. Then Jungkook laughed a dry laugh, only revealing in a regretful tone that they had both been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and had met the wrong kind of people. This didn’t explain much, but Yoochun could sense that if he asked many more questions Jongkook would lose his nerve.

“We’ll come and get you once we find Junho, so just stay there, OK?” said Yoochun reassuringly.

Jongkook mumbled in agreement.

-----

04/04/15

Author Note: 

Dear wonderful subscribers,

I'm so sorry that it has taken this long for the next chapter! I hope you like it, and I will bring you the next chapter as soon as I can! ^^

Hope you're all having a great Easter!

Once again, thanks for your patience!