05

      Minwoo's mind was a blur when he woke up on an uncomfortable surface in an even more uncomfortable position leaving his whole body sore.

With a groan of pain, he tried to crack open his eyes, but the light was torturous and forced him to squeeze his eyes shut as tightly as possible; his hand hiding them lazily soon after.

He was feeling kind of numb and heavy, which was freaking annoying and uncomfortable. It was barely if he could move as wanted, and the cloud of cotton around his mind did not help. He had no idea what could have make him in such state, but he did remember he was attacked in his car.

He could not remember per say what had happened, the only images left being ones of him struggling in someone's strong grip before everything was black. He still could feel this raw fear at the pit of his stomach when this man was holding him prisoner between the seat and his powerful arm, preventing him to call for help.

It was frightening how easily someone could overpower him and take away his every possibilities to defend himself. He had never been so vulnerable before in his life, and the feeling of being handled as if he was nothing more than a package one could take around as wanted was not something he wanted to experience once again. He was never the passive type, so being deprived of any kind of control was maddening and terrifying at the same time.

Minwoo had never lost control so much before in his life, and being at the mercy of someone was not something he wanted to experience again.

He knew it would happen again though; he knew it, and he was terrified about it.

What would happen next time ? Would he wake up at a familiar place again, or would this time be the one everything would turn for the worst ? He was so scared of what kind of outcome such situation could have. He did not know what to do though, at least, he did not know before this last attack.

He had thought, wanted to believe it was all a dream when it had happened at his place; but there was no doubt now and he knew what he had to do. He could not let this unpunished anymore and it was becoming too dangerous to ignore it either.

He had to talk about it and ask for help, as humiliating and unnerving it could be. He did not have a choice anymore.

      Pushing himself up on his forearms, he grunted in pain and squeezed his eyes shut even more tightly; the headache pounding in his head almost making him throw up. Moving made him feel so sick, but he could not stay on his car's backseat any longer and had to go somewhere safe.

Somewhere he knew people would be around and nothing could happen to him.

Remembering the attack had happened in Shinhwa company's parking lot, he was expecting a certain surroundings, but what he saw made his stomach twist.

He should have know he was not in the parking lot anymore though; the light burning his retina should have been a pretty good evidence of his localization, but in his fuzzy state he had not put two and two together as he should have.

Instead, he was shocked and really scared when he found himself in the middle of nowhere, the beautiful scenery one he could not enjoy in his situation.

Managing to sit up, he needed another second while the world span before being able to move some more. He had the relief to still be in his car, and the thought his aggressor had drove his car made him feel violated again.

It was an horrible feeling when someone was invading a personal space and environment, taking away this feeling of safety and comfort that every apartments, cars, work places were supposed to have. Minwoo had never experienced such intrusion before, and it felt awful to feel sick at the only thought someone was there in his car, driving it with him unconscious on the backseat.

A thousands of scenarios formed in the main dancer's mind at the thought, but he forced it away to avoid a panic attack.

He was feeling sick enough to imagine what this bastard could have do to him.

He was safe now. He was unharmed, even if an horrible pounding headache did not want to leave him alone, he was mostly okay in his car. Nothing had happened and nothing would happen anymore; he would make his possible to prevent anymore attacks.

Now he knew it was no dream or hallucination of him, he could fight it and prevent it.

      Crawling out of the car, the door weighted so much more than usual, making it hard for him to push it open. Succeeding after an effort, he crawled outside and let his sore and numbed body slide on the ground where he sat motionlessly.

He felt out of it for a second, his heart suddenly beating so much faster as sweat covered his skin and made him feel disgusting.

Minwoo stared ahead for a spreading moment while only the wind disturbed the quietness and motionless environment. It blew in the main dancer's short hair and played with the tree leaves on the other side of the road; hypnotizing Minwoo even more.

He felt so lost and confused by his surroundings and situation that his mind refused to function for too long.

      He did not know how much time had passed when he finally blinked some senses into him and started thinking about his next moves.

He was in no condition to drive, and even if he wanted to he had no will to move anymore and sit behind the wheel. So it was not an option to drive himself back to Seoul. He did not even know how far from the city he was, and the thought made panic twist his stomach.

Forcing himself to calm down, he needed a couple of aspiration before having under control his emotions. He hated to be so sensitive, but a simple thought or sensation could make him spiral in a world of fear and panic; leaving him almost unable to escape it if taken care too late.

Therefore, he made his possible to stop thinking for the time being about everything but what to do to go back home.

Breathing slowly some more, he managed to relax enough to think straight.

He had no much of a choice to go back to Seoul, hence he searched his phone in his pockets and held it in shaky hands. Tightening his grip around the little device, he gritted his teeth in growing annoyance before unlocking the phone's screen.

He needed a lot of focus to only look through his contacts to find the wanted one, and when the desired name showed Minwoo felt drained out.

Releasing a breath and making another effort to touch the call icon, he brought the phone to his ear in a slow, demanding movement. The little device had never weighted so much, and waiting for his interlocutor to answer felt like an eternity.

"Hey Minwoo, how are you doing man ? You're late, you know." Eric sounded rather cheerful and far from concerned about him; which was quite confusing.

"Eric…" His voice was raw and painful, and he hated the fact it sounded so weak.

"Minwoo ?" The leader sounded a bit worried, but nothing much; which made the main dancer wonder if his friend did not care about him at all. "Are you okay ? You sounds weird"

No man...

"Eric… I…" Gritting his teeth, he managed to control his breathing enough to speak more than one word at a time. "Can you pick me up ?"

There was a pause from Eric, then he said. "Huh… yeah, of course. Where are you ? At home ?"

"No. I'm…" Looking around, Minwoo had no idea where he was, which made him panic and feel overly frustrated.

"Minwoo ?"

"I… I don't know. I think…" He looked around some more but was still as clueless. "I… it looks like countryside, but I don't know."

"What the hell are you doing in the countryside ? I thought you were going home finally…"

Minwoo frowned a second at the information; because he could not remember telling to his friend he was going home.

"It's a long story." He eventually answered, too tired yet to question the older man. "Just pick me up, please…" It sounded too much like a plea for his liking; but he had other matters to care about yet.

"Huh...Okay, okay." Answered a now clearly concerned Eric. "I'll pick you up. Don't worry, I'll be there real soon…"

Minwoo heard the older man move on the other side of the phone, which reassured him deeply. Thinking someone was coming to help him, someone he trusted and could relay on felt like he had nothing to fear anymore.

"Just... stay where you are, okay ?"

The main dancer could not help chuckle breathily at the order; because he had nowhere to go nor even the energy to move. Hence, it sounded rather funny in his drugged ears.

"Don't worry about this…" He chuckled softly, which seemed to be the wrong thing to say considering Eric's reply.

"What ? Why ? What happened, are you alright ?"

"Relax man !" He answered huskily. "I'm fine, just…" A wave of dizziness made the world spin around him. "Hurry up, okay ?" His voice sounded weaker, and the leader must have heard it.

"Okay. Don't turn off your phone, okay ? I'll come get you, I'll get you, okay ?"

Minwoo smiled softly at the reassuring words, his arm slowly dropping and releasing the phone on the ground beside his leg. He did not even notice he had not hung up, his consciousness escaping him unwillingly until he was dozing out against the side of his car.

Eric's voice could be heard from the little device's speaker, but it lost itself in the quietness around the main dancer not aware enough to hear it.

***

      Hyesung and Junjin were coming back from a food break when Eric rushed passed them as if death itself was after him.

"What the hell man ?" Chuckled Junjin, worrying a bit about the leader's behavior. "What's the hurry ?"

Stopping in his track, Eric stared at the two silently; which crept them out slightly.

"What ?" Snapped Hyesung, as if expecting a verbal attack from the older man.

"It's Minwoo." He eventually informed, confusing the two others. "I need to pick him up."

"Why ? Is he alright ?" Questioned a concerned Junjin.

Eric stared at him for a second then said. "He's fine. I'll be back later." Then he resumed his path.

"Wait ! What's going on ?" Called after him Hyesung.

"Nothing, don't worry." Shot back the leader without even looking behind him.

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist, Hyesung glared at the older man's back until he was out of the building and far enough from him to be kicked as he deserved.

"You think everything's okay ?" Junjin's voice snapped the main singer back to earth. 

Staring at Junjin for a second, Hyesung gathered his senses and said. "Huh, yeah. Of course. Come on, we need to practice." He added, already heading towards the elevator.

Without a word, Junjin followed his friend with a lot of questions crossing his mind and worrying him gradually.

Minwoo had not showed up this morning, and Eric did not seem worried about the main dancer; because he was apparently home. They had noticed some light annoyance form on the leader's face when Minwoo was pretty late, but none of them had worried. Because it could happen to everyone to be late, even the co-CEO.  

But seeing Eric behave like this, as if something serious had happened made them wonder a lot of things; and feel concerned about Minwoo. Why would Eric be in such hurry to pick the dancer up ? They had no real emergency and now Minwoo was late, twenty minutes more or less would not change much.

So the leader's reaction put more questions in Junjin and Hyesung's head than the dancer's lateness.

***

      Strong hands suddenly grabbing him and shaking him brought Minwoo back to consciousness, and out of instinct he fought back; expecting this unknown man to be back.

"Minwoo ! Minwoo !" Called a voice when he punched and pushed in an attempt to get this bastard away from him.

Lost in his panic, the main dancer only grunted as reply and fought harder; but his limbs were too heavy to let him struggle as wanted.

"Minwoo !" Shouted the familiar voice, and in his fuzzy state Minwoo thought it was his stalker.

"No !" He yelled huskily, his blows always as continuous as previously. "Help ! Someone, please…"

The hands were suddenly gone, which made him wonder if he had not hallucinated all this. This feeling of insanity assaulting him again. He hated to feel like this, hence he forced his eyes open to assure himself he had not dreamt and there was someone beside him for real.

Minwoo was not expecting the person crouching beside him, and when Eric's shocked face met his gaze, he froze in place.

He could see the leader's every emotions passing in his eyes and twitching his handsome face, but Minwoo did not want to see it. He did not want to see this fear and confusion and concern.

Because it made him feel horribly vulnerable and weak.

"Eric…" He croaked out, his throat tightly squeezed hurting in the process.

"Huh… I…" Losing his words for a second, he eventually shook his head and said. "Let's go !" He moved closer to the shorter man and added. "Come on, I'll help you up."

Minwoo could only watch, speechless, as his friend grabbed his arm, passed it around his shoulders and helped him on his feet. He heard himself groan at the action, but besides that he did not say anything and just let the older man lead him to the parked car not far from his.

"What about my car ?" He asked once on the passenger seat of Eric's vehicle; his voice still as raw as before.

Staring at him for a second, the leader said. "We'll get it later, don't worry."

"What time is it ?"

Eric was genuinely surprised by the question but still answered. "Almost three pm."

Minwoo thought about the answer then mumbled. "I was out so long…"

"Hum ?" Questioned Eric, grabbing the seatbelt for Minwoo. "Help me there, Minbongie." He grunted then in his attempt to fasten the belt.

Looking down, Minwoo realized Eric was doing all the work so he moved and eased the leader's effort.

"Thanks." He mumbled once the seatbelt put.

"You alright ?" Asked the leader with a concerned look in his eyes.

"Fine." He answered after a glance up at the older man. "Let's go, I'm dead."

Eric pursed his lips. "Sure." He slammed the door shut and stepped around the car before appearing on the driver seat.

Eyeing the shorter man a last time to be sure he was alright; or at least would be, he started the car and drove away.

Here's a new chapter =D

Hope you're happy.

You've got some Ricmin in it, and you'll have some too next chapter ^^

Anyway, thank you for reading and supporting me like this; it helps me a lot =)

To next time !