31

      Following the man to a better area -as if any area could be better to die- Minwoo could not even think about running away with his leg in such state. Moving it was hurting like a , and being forced to walk was a real torture. But the man did not care. Why would he ? Minwoo was about to die.

The dancer felt a shiver cross his body at the thought.

He was going to die.

It was terrifying and strangely reassuring at the same time. Because, once he would be dead, this man would finally stop this madness. Minwoo's reassurance his love ones would be safe something helping him deal better with his fate.

"Here !" Snapped the man, the hand he grabbed Minwoo with forcing the shorter man on the ground at the feet of another tree.

The stalker placed himself in front of the dancer then, dominating him completely. Minwoo had never felt that small before in his life, and trembling uncontrollably, a lot of thoughts crossed his mind.

He thought about his family and friends and life. He wondered if it could have been different. If he had not taken this path he would not be in such situation.

What if he had not found this CD back then when he was just a kid and wanting to make it in Seoul ? What if after the failure of the first Shinhwa album they had broken up and forgotten about all this ? What if they had stayed with SM and accepted the individual contracts ? Would they be more famous, or already forgotten ? Would they have made it so far all together with SM ? Would their life be different ?

Certainly.

In front of death, Minwoo suddenly regretted never finding the love of his life he could have make a family with. He regretted never traveling in Australia as he wanted to either. He regretted not saying good bye to Dongwan and Hyesung. He regretted not being able to hug for a last time his mother and father. He regretted dying like this without finishing what he had started.

He regretted losing something so precious that was life in the hands of such monster.

Maybe if he had tried harder, if he had fought back from the start and talked to someone… maybe he would not be in such situation now. Maybe he would be at home working with Eric on their new album. Maybe Shinhwa Broadcast would be envisaged again. Maybe his nephews and nieces would have loved the gifts he had in mind for them for their birthdays.

Minwoo still had so many things to do before dying. He did not want to die, but this man was leaving him no other choice.

The first tear fell on his cheek without him knowing, until the salty drops were flowing down his face and forming a painful lump in his throat.

He did not want to die.

"Don't cry." Cooed the annoying voice of the man, and the hand pressing on his face to wipe his tears away made him deeply angry.

He hit the arm away and glared at the man crouching in front of him. He did not want his fake sympathy and even less mocking gestures. He was going to kill him, the least he could do was let him the alone for his last instants.

Minwoo noticed only too late how his stalker's face hardened, and the next thing he knew was the agonizing pain making him cry out and try to escape the hand crushing his hurt leg.

His arm shoot out in an attempt to push away his tormentor, but he was weak against the man and could not do anything. In the end, he just gripped the man's clothes in agony in hope it would help him endure the pain.

"Please…" He croaked out, his throat tightening so much that it hurts to speak.

The man put his knee on his leg and weighted on him until he was screaming in agony.

"Please !" He shouted in desperation, the fists he weakly hit his stalker with doing nothing to help him.

He gasped in pain and leaned even more towards the ground as more tears fell from his eyes. He was in so much pain, just like in this hellhole he was kept in and tortured for a never ending week. Images flashed through his mind and messed so much with it that when the pain became unbearable he did not know anymore where he was.

Was he in this room being tortured and held against his will ? Or was he in this forest waiting to be killed ?

He did not know and just wanted the pain to stop.

"Please !" He shouted huskily, and finally, the pressure on his leg disappeared and allowed him to breathe again and think about something else than his agony.

Minwoo did not see the man move until he was beside him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He did not understand what was going on but did not need anyway to struggle.

"What are you doing ?" He panicked, struggling and trying to hit the man away.

"Keep quiet !" He growled back before tightening his grip on the dancer.

Minwoo gasped when the arm pressed against his windpipe, but then his stalker was grabbing his arm and forcing his sleeve up. He had experienced enough similar situations to know what the man wanted to do, and there was no way he would let him drug him without a fight.

"Stop it !" He gasped, but then could not talk anymore in lack of oxygen.

He panicked at this point and could not do much when the man wrapped his legs around his waist and legs to keep him still. Pinned against the man, Minwoo did his possible to prevent his arm to get in his stalker's grip. He was slowly losing strengths though, and unable to breathe, he ended up dizzy and at the verge of consciousness.

Soon after he was released and feeling sick in his stomach, the little throb in the crease of his elbow letting him know he was drugged -once again-

No… please ! Not again.

He had gone through hell to get clean… Why was he caring anyway ? He was about to die.

"So…" Echoed the stalker's voice, and being pulled back against the tree Minwoo could not help moan in pain.

He was nauseous and dizzy, the pounding in his head, and throb in his leg, and throat, and whole body making him feel like he had just been roll over.

"Gun or rope ?" Asked the man with the black weapon in hand, and the dancer could not really focus on the situation.

He was not drugged enough to pass out like by the past -that, he could tell it- but it was still enough to make him feel miserable.

"Hey !" The fingers snapping in front of his eyes got his attention for a second, but then his head was bobbing up and down once again. "The …" Hissed the man before grabbing Minwoo's face to slap some senses back into him. "I didn't give you much, just focus !" He tried to catch the shorter man's eyes, but it was shifty and glazed.

The slap echoed in the dancer's ears, the pain coming only after and forcing a pained moan out of him. Trying to push the violent man away from him, his movements were too uncoordinated and slow to let him succeed in his attempt.

Minwoo was not sure what happened next, but he took the time to rest his eyes for a second with the hope the nausea would disappear.

***

      The police's sirens echoed through the fields and forest, their blue and red lights shining all the way to the house they eventually came to a stop to. Policemen and policewomen appeared out of the cars and met with the chief of the village's police station. They had received as order to get on a murder scene right away, and in twenty minutes drive they were at the designated house.

There was already yellow tape blocking the passage to civilians, and the police officers were not sure if they were supposed to help with the scene or not.

The order to spread around and look for a missing man was given then, and after hearing who they were looking for, they started searching the area.

They parted and headed North, South, East and West. They had the order to find Lee Minwoo no matter what and bring him back alive. The police officers were not sure if they were looking for the killer, and their superior did not seem sure either.

It did not matter though. Because they looked for this missing person eagerly, either it was the killer or another victim. They knew they had to find him before it was too late.

***

      From what the GPS was showing, they were not far anymore from their destination, and Eric could not wait anymore to find Minwoo. From what was reported by radio, the police was on the scene and looking for the missing dancer. It did not reassure Eric much to know Minwoo was nowhere to be found, but it helped a bit to know people were looking for him.

Eventually pulling in front of the house -thanks to TaeCha speeding up and gaining a good thirty minutes- Eric jumped out of the car and slammed the door loudly. The officer followed after him then helped him get pass the yellow tape where two police officers stopped him.

"Wait here !" Eric gritted his teeth at the order but did as told.

He was on a crime scene after all, and even if the only thing he wanted was to go look for Minwoo himself, it would be pointless to force his way in the house knowing his younger was not even there.

Looking around him, Eric stared at the forest drawing itself on several kilometers. The leader could not even remember where it was stopping, these trees the only thing he had looked at almost all the way here. Was Minwoo in here ? Was he okay ?

Eric felt the sudden surge to go look for himself through this forest, but TaeCha came back before he could give in the impulse.

There was an older policeman with the officer stepping out of the house, and they were talking about the crime scene. Eric felt like punching the old man when he implied Minwoo was a suspect in the case. What the hell was he talking about ? Minwoo was not a killer ? He would never do such thing.

Fortunately, with TaeCha explaining the real situation it helped the leader of Shinhwa calm down. The old policeman seemed to listen and understand the situation, even if he did not drop this possibility of Minwoo being the killer. Eric knew it was their job, but it was ing enraging to hear that.

Minwoo would never do such thing.

Listening to TaeCha, Eric did not interfere and just followed the officer back to the car in which they sat in silence for a second.

"So ?" Asked the leader of Shinhwa, and TaeCha started the car.

"Your friend's missing, and we need to find him. There's already units looking around the area. We'll go in town and wait for JaeSeung there."

"Wait !" The officer looked over at Eric with raised brows. "I want to look for Minwoo, just drop me here and I'll…"

"There's already a dozen of police officers looking for him. Don't worry, they'll find him." He started pulling away from the house. "You're a civilian, I can't let you wander around on your own. You've to understand me."

Eric sighed.

Yes, he understood, but it did not mean he accepted it. He could not stand being unable to do anything when his friend was in danger. Eric could help look for him, and if he was meeting with the killer, he would… he would certainly be shot and die just like Oh.

Eric sighed again.

TaeCha was right, and no matter how much he wanted to help, he was just a civilian, with no weapon nor rights to wander around a crime scene. He was already lucky TaeCha had accepted his presence so far. He could have order him to just stay in the car, or told him to go back to Seoul.

No, Eric should keep his cool and wait for Minwoo to be found. It was the best to do. There was dozen of police officers all around the area looking for his missing younger, there was no reason for him to interfere.

The police was on the case, and it was their job to save people.

Eric was sure they would find Minwoo. He trusted them. Did he ? Yeah, he had to trust them. Everything would be okay, they would find Minwoo and…

The gun shot piercing through the quietness of the drive scared both men in the car out of their skin. TaeCha pushed the brake instinctively, forcing the car to jerk to a sudden stop. Staring with wide eyes at the forest on the side of the road, Eric forgot about any logical thoughts he could have and jumped out of the car.

TaeCha yelled after him and struggled with his own seatbelt, but the time for him to get out of the car and look at the running man, it was too late and Eric was disappearing in the forest.

" !" Snapped TaeCha, hesitating between running after the leader or not.

In a dilemma, he cursed mentally and hurried in the car to report the situation. "Gun fire ! Gun fire heard."

He stated his position and identity before abandoning the radio to run after Eric Mun.

What the hell was wrong with the guy ? Was he stupid or something ? Who was running to some dangerous killer knowing what he was capable of ?

! TaeCha could not believe his luck.

Yeah, I know. It's really stupid to run like this to the gun fire direction...

But remember ? Eric and Minwoo were the Special Stupid couple xD I guess Eric couldn't stay the smart one till the end (it wouldn't have been fun lOl)

Anyway, I hope you liked it and I love you so much guys for all the support.

I'm so happy you likes this story =)

To next time !