Just because a thing is pure doesn’t mean it can’t be surrounded by sins.

Star Destiny was completely empty.

Even the security guards in front of the main doors were missing. To our surprise however, the main doors were open. It was a Friday, so there was no reason for the company to be closed, unless…the modeling agency was just a façade and it was not only used as Headquarters for STR but was also owned by the cartel, bought no doubt after the demolition of their last Headquarters. That made so much more sense, they would be able to control every aspect of it, use it to their advantage.

It was a great idea actually, hidden behind plain sight, a business under another business.

“We could try calling Lee Taemin,” Hana suggested lamely.

I could tell from her tone that she was anxious. Maybe she was thinking about hyung and his last mission. Maybe she was thinking about the explosion that had brought down STR’s last Headquarters. They had no use for it, once it became obvious that the police knew about it. Now we’ve got to know about this one, so wouldn’t it be much simpler for STR to get rid of it as well, including us?

“There’s no use,” Woohyun said, pushing the door open. “Let’s go in.” Even though he didn't show it, I could tell that Woohyun hyung wouldn't relax until he had seen hyung with his own eyes, safe and sound. The nonsense text about hyung kidnapping Sungjong...he didn't believe it. Right now, his concern was to see that hyung was safe and prove that he was innocent.

I gripped the revolver in my hand tightly, filing in after Woohyun. We were all alert; slowly, we spread around the huge reception area, checking every corner for a person, a shadow, anything out of the ordinary.

“Clear!” Sungyeol called from the locker room. It was followed by Woohyun, Hana, and Youngjae calling clear.

“Clear,” I replied once I was absolutely sure there was no one around and lowered my weapon.

Minji had crawled up to the reception desk. Her head bent, she seemed to be reading something.

“It says to go to the basement,” she said loudly.

We went over to her. It was a small piece of paper, with the words, ‘Come to the basement’ written on it.

My eyes met with Woohyun’s. We were thinking the same thing – this was getting trickier. We hadn’t brought back-up inside the building, but they were waiting outside, ready to intercede. But if we moved deeper into the building, it might be too late to call back-up if something went wrong.

“Let’s go, they have Sunggyu,” Woohyun said.

I nodded, but the others were looking at him strangely. Of course they still believed hyung was behind all this.

“It’s an order,” Woohyun said. “Youngaje, Minji, you two stay here, we’re going down.”

“No wait!” Minji shouted. “I want to go too, I have to go. Last time, with Sunggyu-ssi, I made a mistake. I have to fix it.”

“Fine, Sungyeol stay behind,” I said quickly, but Woohyun was frowning. I looked at him in askance. He just glanced toward Minji unsurely once, then shook his head. He motioned to us to follow him.

The elevators were running. We took one to the basement level, our hearts thumping. They asked us to be here, which meant they were going to bargain with us for Sunggyu hyung’s life. They would definitely want something in return but I had no idea what it could be. And why had they lied to me about Sungjong? They could have just told me that they had taken hyung. Or maybe they were trying to frame hyung till the very end.

I thought about Sungjong, who was probably at the precinct by now, looking for answers and hyung. He’d try to call me, but my phone was switched off. The faint sound of static emitting from my walkie-talkie surprised me. The connection was getting worse as we descended down to the basement level.

The door of the elevator opened, revealing a dark passageway. A blast of chill air greeted me.

Woohyun looked back toward us, placing a finger on his lips to tell us to be quiet, before raising his hands, his revolver gripped tightly. We followed him out, our footsteps carefully measured to produce no sound.

My heart in my throat, I padded silently across the stone floors through the semi-darkness, my eyes and ears alert for any movement.

We rounded a tight corner and found ourselves in a big room. It looked like an abandoned storage room, with its rows of rusty shelves, which were empty now. I took another step into the shadow and stopped. There was a man standing, with his back to us, a few feet in front of us, a small lamp was hanging above his head.

I locked eyes with Woohyun and nodded.

“Freeze!” I shouted as I charged toward the man, my revolver aimed straight at his head.

The man showed no signs of surrender however; slowly, he turned around to face me. I lowered my hand.

“Hyung! Thank God, you’re safe.”

Woohyun’s face masked the same relief as mine but I could hear Minji and Hana’s revolvers tightening in their grips.

“Come on hyung let’s go, come here. What are you even doing here?”

I tried to usher hyung toward us but he wouldn’t budge. He kept shaking his head, as if he didn’t want to leave.

“Why?” I asked, looking around carefully. How long would kidnappers let him remain unwatched.

“He told me to stay right here,” hyung said stubbornly, looking down at his fingers.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Hana squeaked from the back as I approached him.

Putting a firm hand on his shoulder I tried to guide him away toward the rest of them, but he stiffened so that I couldn’t move him.

“I’m not going to leave without him,” hyung whined but I was more troubled by the lack of presence. The STR definitely called us here, they wouldn’t just have hyung sitting in this basement; they wouldn’t just let us take him for nothing.

“Sunggyu please, come with us,” Woohyun joined me in persuading him but he kept shaking his head.

That was when we heard clear footsteps on the stone floor, approaching us from the darkest part of the room. I raised my arm again, my gun at the ready.

“I’d rather you put that gun down, sweetheart. There will be no need of it.”

The figure that was standing a feet away from me was too familiar. Now I realized why hyung didn’t want to leave. But it didn’t make sense, he told me he was at home…

Hyung ran to the newcomer, throwing his arms around him.

He laughed, but it wasn’t the usual sound of his laughter. It was cold, demeaning. He might resemble him, but he was a completely different person. The eyes were the same but the gaze was completely different.

“Now, let’s see.” He reached into his jacket pocket and extricated a gun. Pushing hyung a little to his side, he raised the gun, pointed at us. I could feel movement behind me as Hana and Minji readied themselves for a fight, if need be.

But there was something missing here, there was obviously a confusion. This didn’t make sense. Why would he be even holding a gun, forget pointing it at us? It was ridiculous! But Woohyun stole my question before I could ask.

With as much confusion as I was feeling in his voice, he asked, “Sungjong, what are you doing here?”