Thank you for reading and commenting! We now slowly get to the . I hope I'm not taking too long, but I'm still planning the plot carefully.

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Donghae’s father tries to get somebody on the phone from his former police department to carefully check on the state of affairs in the kidnapping-case. But even the direct lines to the office are either busy or disconnected. It’s probably not only the number of accidents but also a problem with the telephone wires that has pretty much shut down police activity.

Fishy stops the car at a large gate that is slid halfway open. The big sign across the steel-bars says “SAMHAKDO – DOCKS”.

My heart is hammering against my rib-cage. We’re actually here.

“Okay, that’s the docks now, but where exactly do you have to go?” Fishy turns around in his seat and looks at us expectantly.

“We don’t have any further information”, I say and wonder why we never asked for it before.

At that my phone rings and all heads snap around. Shaking I can hardly fumble the thing out of my pocket. Taemin and Minho simultaneously lay their arms around me soothing and reassuring.

I switch to speaker before I answer. It’s them.

“Where are you now? The time is running out. I’ll cut the brat’s throat in ten minutes!” says the chipmunk voice.

Donghae raises his eyebrows and there is concern on his father’s face. So he doesn’t consider this to be just a prank gone too far.

“We’re at the gate of the dock”, I say and have trouble keeping my voice calm.

“Well, I hope you’re wearing the shirts and are ready to perform.”

What?

“Perform? Like what?” Kibum asks aloud.

“You didn’t think you’d get away with just that crap-money, did you?” I somehow get the feeling that this isn’t even the same person we were dealing with in the beginning.

“We’ve got the shirts and the ransom”, I tell them trying to stick to the main thing. Fishy’s father gives me an approving nod so I go on, “now tell us where to go.”

“I hope you’re not planning anything stupid”, the voice says, “if we see any police the kid is dead, if you try anything weird, he’s dead, if you don’t have the money, he’s dead and if one of you is missing, he’s dead as well. So don’t make any mistakes.”

“We know that already”, I answer “now where do we meet?”

“Hall 17 on the seaside of the dock. IN SEVEN MINUTES!”

With this the call is cancelled and for a long moment we’re all too shaken to say anything. Then Fishy’s father says:

“I really don’t like it but we’re on our own here. I’m not sure about these guys at all. It sounds weird but there’s a child’s life on the line and I feel that is the most important thing here.”

“Let’s get ready then”, Kibum says determined and pulls the shirts out of the bag he has been holding on to the whole time. When he catches my glance he smiles and says:

“I’ll keep that bag as a souvenir; after all I’ve mistaken it for Taemin.”

Taemin chuckles and Minho in spite of his condition smiles, too.

Jonghyun on the other hand has been unusually silent since we got on the car. When I look at him now I see sweat on his forehead and his eyes glint feverishly.

“Jjongie?” I call him, “are you okay?”

Kibum reaches over and lays his hand on Jjong’s forehead.

“You’re blazing!” he almost shouts, “and you look like too.”

“Whatever”, Jjong mumbles, “let’s get going.” He takes the shirt that Kibum was handing him and s his Jacket.

“Wait, wait ... I can’t really let you do this”, Donghae’s father stops us once again, rubbing his face in concern. “Apart from the fact that civilians shouldn’t solve things like this on their own; you’re in no condition to go out there and face potentially dangerous kidnappers. I shall go instead ...”

“Dad”, Fishy interrupts him, “I know you’re the expert here but you’re retired and unarmed and you should think about your heart condition. I don’t want these guys to go in there either but ...”

Jjong cuts both of them short:

“Hyung, Lee-Songsaengnim, we appreciate everything you’ve done for us, but we haven’t come so far to back down now. You can’t really help us any further. Please go on trying to contact the police and we’ll go in there and get this over with.”

The old man wants to object but his son lays his hand on his arm.

“Let’s try to get help”, he says, “I don’t like this either, but it’s probably the only reasonable thing to do right now. We’ve run out of options.”

With this it is decided. In spite of the situation we’ve got a bit of a laugh at Kibum who accidentally puts on Taemin’s shirt and whines about having gained weight. Then we’re ready.

Fishy drives to the back of the building so that we can get out of the car underneath the porch that runs along the whole block. It’s still raining but we’ll be able to walk around the corner to the sea-side of the building without getting wet.

Then the car pulls back. They’re going to wait at the gate for back-up or for us to return; which ever happens first.

Kibum holds up Jjong while Minho is supported by Taemin. We look battered and broken. I feel so bad about the whole situation I want to cry.

“Dubu-leader”, Jjong says, “your face shows what’s going on in your head ... as always.” He gives me a toothy smile. “You want us all safe and sound at home wrapped in blankets and with big mugs of ginger-tea.”

I didn’t exactly have ginger-tea in mind but apart from that it’s pretty much the scenario I was picturing.

“We’re all grown-ups now, Jinki”, Jjong goes on “you don’t have to take the whole responsibility. We’re all here on our own account because we want to. We worry as much about you as you worry about us.”

He reaches out to pull me close and Taemin and Minho join us in a huddle.

“We are SHINee”, Minho says, “we can do this.”