Everyone has a mask. He had one, they had one. Rather than to cover one’s ugly self, he preferred ‘protecting one’s self from others.’ No one knew when they would get hurt, no one could predicted. However, if possible, the man wanted to protect himself from it. No matter how long it took, no matter how long he had to wait, he was going to continue wearing it.

It wasn’t until he met that one person whose mask was thicker than his; whose screws were tighter than his did he finally slowly break from his own.

Reason why?

He wanted to see what was beneath the mask.

It wasn’t until the other said it did he realise what he wanted the most was what was under his own.

His real face; his real self.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 2nd 2010

(00:01am)

Age: 22

Maybe it was just him but the darkness didn’t feel so scary anymore. Time went by like a dream. Clocked ticked 12 and a new day was born. Though the sun wasn’t up but the day had changed. It was as if he had been reborn. New life was being born within him as he ran for dear life. The screams, the ones he feared the most were the very same ones which gave him strength. I will find you all and I will protect you, his mind repeated.

Woohyun ran fast, so fast he slipped on the mud and fell right in front of the metal bolted door. His legs gave in and sunk deep into the ground. Grunting, he tried to pull himself up whilst holding onto the handle of the door. It was painful and the handle dug into his skin but he didn’t care. Myungsoo was on the other side.

‘MYUNG! ARE YOU THERE?!” He screamed as loud as he could. Dryness of his throat only made his condition worse. Who knew how long it had been since he last ate or drank anything. He guessed maybe a few hours but it felt like forever. I swallowed my saliva in hope it would make things a little better.

Hearing no answer back, he pressed his ear against the cold surface. A shiver went down my spine I he did so, feeling as if the coldness would freeze my ear off. He removed himself from the door and tried another approach. Woohyun closed his eyes, trying to focus his senses. Listening carefully, he could hear the sounds of whips, two to be exact. Sharpening his senses was Woohyun’s speciality. He could hear things further than anyone else which gave him an advantage in many things. His eyes weren’t as good as Sunggyu’s but it was definitely a strong second. It was a power that Sunggyu wasn’t very fond of since Woohyun was the jealous type. The amount Sunggyu caught him listening into his conversations with other people was more than he could count. Despite that, it proved useful in many events.

Woohyun could only sit and wait for the people to leave. Barging in there would definitely put the two at a disadvantage and could cause him to lose this once in a life time opportunity. No way was he going to be captured again. Another factor which proved difficult was the door that stood between him and his band member. He couldn’t find much of a crease between the door and the wall. The door was large and was similar to a vault door you would see guarding the bank’s storage. Only difference was that this was a rectangle and a lot thinner. If anything, it was much like the metal door to a meat refrigerator. Funny, he thought, no wonder this door is so cold, it guards a freezer.

As the time went by, Myungsoo’s screams only got worse. Woohyun felt helpless, hearing scream in agony as he played the waiting game. By his estimate, an hour had gone and still, there was no sign of stopping. The notes sung by Myungsoo were like a painful requiem. Holding his heart, Woohyun continued to pray.

“Can you hear me Myungsoo? I’m right here.” Woohyun whispered, falling back onto the door and looking up at the brown ceiling. The notes were calling him. They were asking to be saved. They were screaming for help or worse… they were screaming to be released from this hell. Whatever it was, Woohyun would be the one to do it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(01:37am)

Woohyun must have fallen asleep for a while. More like a cat nap which lasted no more than 20 minutes. Part of his brain felt refreshed but his body was worse than before. No matter how many times he had to sleep in the car due to busy schedules, sleeping up right was still something his body rejected. All that running and thinking had gotten to him physically. A nap was a good idea but at the same time, a horrible one. Groaning in pain, he lifted himself up again. The small ounce of blood which seeped from the wound given by the cold door handle had now hardened and was slowing breaking off of him. Again, the singer pressed his left ear against the door. This time, there was no screaming, no sound of whipping, no agony. What laid in its step were light panting and the sounds of liquid dripping. He didn’t know what exactly was making that sound but it could only be a few things such as; sweat, blood or water.

“Myung! Myung! Are you there?” Woohyun called out quietly in case there was someone else there. It took a few minutes of the other to respond by there was one.

“Hyung…? Woo…hyun hyu-“ Myungsoo’s words were cut off with the violent sounds of coughing. He could sense the person on the other side was the latter and not L. Woohyun could hear the sound of Myungsoo coughing up blood. The torture must have been a horrid one. The lead singer was thankful to have fallen asleep midway.

“Don’t talk; you’ll put more strain on your body. Just answer with any noise you can make ok? 1 ring for yes, 2 for no, ok?” There was another pause but Woohyun wasn’t as anxious as last. He could feel Myungsoo was still alive and could hear the younger still breathing. *clang* Woohyun heard the sound of chains being bashed together and smiled. Normally, he would detest the sound as it only brought back painful memories but this brought music to hear ears.

“Ok, are you currently in your cell?” *Clang clang*

“Are you in the torture chamber?” *Clang* He didn’t know why he had asked that question. To anyone, it was obvious, especially since he hear those scream let out by Myungsoo. Maybe it was for confirmation, maybe it was confusion or maybe because he wasn’t thinking right.

“Can you hear where I am?” Judging by the place Myungsoo was it, it was very likely the walls wouldn’t be sound proof. Though it was a torture chamber, it was also deep underground. The fact that it was underground meant that it was already far away from aboveground which meant the