It was a scene from a thriller movie.

Flickering lights. Tree-casted shadows. Deafening silence.

I'd always thought that these scenes always breed the most annoying heroes in horror films—where protagonists turn from admiringly brave to irritatingly stupid. If someone had told me this morning that I'd be in this exact same scene where I had to choose between going into the unknown darkness or simply driving away, I wouldn't have believed him. And if he asked me what I would choose, I'd tell him within a heartbeat that I'd drive away.

But million heartbeats had already passed and I still couldn't decide what I wanted to do.

Kyungsoo turned off the engine, but none of us made any move to get out of the car.

“Do we have the right address?” I asked apprehensively, not even daring to make my voice louder than above-whisper.

“I think so.” He looked around. The place was deserted.

“Then why do I have feeling that we're in the middle of nowhere instead of the city?”

“Let me see again the address.”

I gave him the paper. He took it and read it again. He then opened his window and looked out. “This sign says we're in the right place.” He pointed at the sign on his left that has a “Cerulean Park” scripted on it. Underneath it was the same address on the paper.

“Stay here.”

“Okay...” I answered automatically. He was already removing his seatbelt when I understood what he said. “What? No!” I also unbuckled my seatbelt.

“I'll check first if he's here. Lock the—”

“I'm coming with you.”

He scowled. “No, stay here. I'll come get you when I find him.”

“Good luck with that.” My hand was already at the door when he pulled me back by my shoulder.

“Stay here. Please?” He used his eyes to persuade me. Any other time, I would have done anything he said if he looked at me like that. But not this time.

“Do Kyungsoo, you're so adorable, but, no. I'm still coming with you.”

Frustrated, he yelled. “You are not coming with me!”

“Fine! Then you—” I pointed at him. “—are coming with me!” I pointed at myself. Without waiting for an answer, I opened my door and and stalked out to the freezing air.

“Taeyeon—”

I slammed the door and started walking quickly. I had no idea where I was going. I heard him get out, his door slamming shut, and run towards my direction. He grabbed my arm to slow down my steps. “Were you always this stubborn?”

“I'm stubborn? Let's see. Am I the one who wanted to go solo and roam this straight-out-of-a-horror-movie park alone like a freaking abnormal person?” I looked at him. “No! Am I the one—are you laughing at me?”

He composed his face immediately and wiped the grin off his mouth. “No,” he denied, but the laughter in his eyes was still there.

I stopped and narrowed my eyes at him.

He broke again into a wide smile and laughed. “I'm sorry. But you're really cute when you're mad.”

“You know, you're not going to get away with it by saying that.”

“I'm not trying to. Just telling the truth.” He caught my hand and our fingers automatically intertwined. I was struck at how natural we did it, like we'd been doing it forever. “Come on. Stay close.”

I rolled my eyes.

God, save me from overprotective men.

The way he acted, anyone would think that I was so helpless in this kind of situation. Okay, maybe I was, but not totally. I could probably throw a mean kick if I needed to, although, of course, I'd prefer to leave the violent stuff to a boy. But I wasn't about to admit that to him.

We continued walking, still searching. Every once in a while, I'd stop and listen for any sound, but couldn't find any sign of Eunwoo or Eunsung.

“Do you also feel like we're in a horror movie?” I asked after a while.

“I don't watch horror movies.”

“What? Why?”

He didn't say anything.

“Don't tell me...no way! You're scared?”

He opened his mouth to answer but I cut him off.

“Wait.” I tried to suppress the smile that escaped from my lips and failed. “Are you scared right now?”

“Why do you look so happy?”

“Because it's really funny if you are. Imagine that. Besides, I can't be the only who's scared.”

“Then, yes.”

“Really?” I said, delighted.

“No.”

My smile vanished. “What?”

“I don't believe in ghosts.”

“Why not?”

“I just don't. Maybe because I haven't seen one? You don't—what are you doing?” He referred to the weird face I was making.

“I'm trying to imagine you being scared,” I said while staring at him hard.

He laughed. “Okay. And...?”

“Um...wait. I can almost...no.” I sighed, frustrated. “I can't. It's impossible! Why is it impossible?”

He shook his head, laughing. “There are some things that scare me, but they're not ghosts.” He gently tugged me forward and we resumed walking.

“Tell me.”

“I can, but then, I'll have to kill you,” he teased.

“Come on. Just one.”

“No.”

“Please?” I directed my eyes at him.

He stared at me with his mouth slightly open. After a moment, he cleared his throat, his ears turning red. “Can someone really say no to you?”

I just smiled.

“Alright. I'll tell you one if you'll also give me one.”

“That's unfair. I asked you first.”

“Then, let's forget—”

“Fine, fine! Jeez, you're really something...” I thought for a second before I blurted out “Spider.”

“Spider? What's wrong with spiders?”

“Everything's wrong with spiders. Their legs. Their eyes. Their hairy body.” I shivered just by thinking about it.

“That's really girly.”

“What?” I asked defensively. “I'm a girl, if you haven't noticed.”

“Believe me, I have noticed,” he muttered under his breath.

“It's your turn. What does it take to scare a Do Kyungsoo?”

He glanced at me first before answering. “You.”

I blinked at him. “Huh?”

“You scare me.”

I couldn't speak immediately. I wasn't sure if I he was complimenting me or insulting me. “Did you just categorize me alongside ghosts and spiders?”

“I didn't say you're scary. I said you scare me.”

“Right. Because that's totally different,” I said sarcastically. I knew I could be strict sometimes with my members. But most of the time, I just let them do what they want, because obviously we were already in the age where we had to be responsible for our own actions. “Okay, what about me scares you?” I asked reluctantly. Knowing that he was scared of me .

His face turned grim and he began to stare at me hard.

My heart started pounding and I panicked.

This looks serious. What on earth made him afraid of me?

I tried to recall a time when I unknowingly bullied him, but couldn't remember anything. Besides, Kyungsoo wasn't someone who could be easily bullied. I'd take him more as a no-one-dares-to-bully-me person.

“Do you want to know what scared me the most?”

“It's not just one? I mean, it's actually more than one? Don't tell me you already have a list?” My eyes widened. “Jeez, what did I ever do to you?”

“I also don't know what you did to me.” He said it more to himself.

Why did I even ask him about this?

In my defense, I didn't expect him to take it seriously. I thought he was going to answer “I'm scared of driving my precious car into a ditch” or “I'm scared of having a sore throat” or something along those lines.

Do I even want to know his answer?

“Seeing you—” he started.

“Wait!” I changed my mind! I don't want to know!

“—being taken away earlier was the scariest moment in my life.”

And for the second time tonight, Do Kyungsoo managed to leave me speechless with his words alone.

We both stopped, looking at each other quietly.

“The thought of not getting to you fast enough—” he swallowed hard. “It almost killed me.”

I felt a lump form in my throat when I heard the pain in his voice and I couldn't say anything for a long time. “Kyungsoo-yah...” I touched his face with my hand. “I also don't know how you got to me so fast, but I couldn't tell you enough how glad I am that you did. And I will always thank you for that.”

His hand tightened on mine as he nodded. I was relieved to see the pain in his eyes fade slowly.

“You have no idea how many people I pushed back there.” He smiled a little at the memory.

“Yeah, I actually could imagine you throwing people out of the way.” I teased to the lighten the mood.

“I almost did.” We continued walking again. “So, do you want to hear the rest of the list?”

I froze. “No!” I said too quickly.

He laughed. “Okay. Some other time then.”

“Sure. I think one is enough for now.”

We fell silent for the next few minutes, both lost in our own thoughts. There was still no sign of my kidnapper. I was beginning to think that everything the note said was a joke. Kyungsoo didn't say anything but he was probably also thinking the same.

A cold wind blew and I shivered. This place was getting more and more creepy.

“If you do not watch horror movies, what do you like to watch?” I tried to open another conversation to calm my nerves.

“Anime.”

“Anime?”

“Anime.”

“Um...”

“What?”

“Uh, aren't you too old to be watching cartoons?”

He looked at me, shocked. “Cartoons?” he repeated.

“Yeah, cartoons. You know, like Mickey Mouse?”

Now, it was him who stopped. “Kim Taeyeon. Anime is not cartoons.” He sounded very offended.

I just looked at him blankly.

“And it's definitely not like Mickey Mouse.”

“Why not? They're not real people, right? They're just drawings.”

“Yes they are, but they're not the same—”

Kyungsoo continued to explain, but I couldn't really understand the difference between a moving drawing and another moving drawing. I smiled as I listened to him talk passionately. I could see that it really meant a lot to him.

Listening to his deep, smooth voice made me less scared of this place and his warm hand linked to mine was enough to make me feel safe.

I didn't know how long we we're talking. He was already telling me about an insanely, good high school tennis player when he stopped in mid-sentence.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

He was staring at something ahead. I followed his gaze and couldn't recognize first the small orange light that was glowing several feet away. It took me another few seconds to see that it was a light from a cigarette stick. It was stuck between the lips of a hooded man.

Kyungsoo and I both slowed down and stopped.

It was my kidnapper.