A figure came in silently and padded over to Yixing’s bed. He softly caressed the boy’s cheek as thoughts flitted through his mind. The figure had snuck away to come down here without being caught. He looked down at Yixing before slowly removing his mask and exposing his whole face.

“I’m sorry Yixing, please don’t hate me,” he mumbled, looking to the exposed right arm and barcode tattoo. He placed a soft kiss on it.

“I’m really sorry Yixing. I hope you can forgive me when this is all over,” the man whispered, staring down at the angelic face. Even in his sleep, a few tears trickled from his eyes. The figure softly wiped them away but then he felt a tear drip from his own eye, which he hurriedly wiped away.

“I hope you can forgive me. I ‘m doing this for you,” he paused. “Yixing,” the man said.

What the man didn’t know was that not all four boys were asleep and that one of them had heard the masked man’s confession. The eavesdropper decided that for now, he would keep this information to himself. He didn’t want to tell the others quite yet, not until he had figured out what the masked man’s words meant. The eavesdropper watched the masked man slip out of the room as quietly as he had come. His head was spinning with questions and theories as to what the masked man was talking about. Curiosity battled against fatigue but in the end fatigue won and he fell asleep. Even as he slept, thoughts of the masked man’s intentions sat at the back of his mind.

A week had elapsed since the occurrence in the night and the frequency of visits from the masked men decreased. Now, only one man came down three times a day instead of all four coming down together. The only one who came down was Luhan’s. He was the one who brought the four their food and other items. It had been a week since Chanyeol, Tao, and Yixing had last seen their masked men. They weren’t surprised, as their earlier outbursts had created tension between the captives and their kidnappers, who feared another conflict, were they to show themselves again.

At times, they wondered why they had caused the outburst. Their situation as it was now made escape rather difficult.  The captives blamed their pent up emotions, loosed in the heat of the moment when the masked men had appeared. Each of them only wanted answers, but they didn’t get any. Their plan had backfired and their situation was worsening.

“You three need to eat something,” Luhan insisted. “You two need to take your medications,” the deer-like boy added, directing the comment at Chanyeol and Yixing as he pushed the meals to the others. Tao stabbed at his food without actually eating, lacking appetite at the moment.

“Sorry mama,” Tao replied guiltily, averting his gaze. If he had just been able to shut his mouth, this would not have happened.

Luhan looked at the younger with a concerned gaze. “Hm? Why are you sorry? You helped us to get one of these men to talk. Now we know that they can actually talk. It isn’t your fault. It isn’t anyone’s fault. We couldn’t take any more of this situation and caused a ruckus.” He paused. “I just wish they would at least tell us why they chose us and why we’re here. We’ve been here for two years already and yet we still don’t know anything about these people, why they kidnapped us of all people.”

“I think we all want to know the answer to that question,” Yixing murmured before falling into a fit of coughing. He regarded today’s note. There was nothing special about this one. It merely read his birth date.

“Did your kidnapper leave a message on the note?” Yixing inquired.

“Mine only says my name and has my birth date on it,” Tao replied.

Chanyeol nodded in agreement. “Mine is the same. He didn’t leave anything aside from food this time, though. He always leaves me something beside the plate,” he mumbled.

Horrible thoughts drifted through their heads as they thought about what the kidnappers were doing. Would their treatment of their captives change because of the incident?

“What the heck?” Luhan looked at the other messages and then his own. “Why does mine still have a message on it? It is the same message, but at the same time,” he trailed off. The other three occupants of the room came over to read the not Luhan had received.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kind of miss those gross messages that they always leave us. It isn’t the same without them,” Tao sighed w