I woke up from what felt like the worst night sleep. I was in some sort of truck, with extra tires and all sorts of wires.

Hey, that rhymes!

I was tied up in some chains that scraped against my sensitive skin. I found at least five stools surrounding me, all sorts of shapes and sizes. Yet no one was seen. I heard lots of faint whispers that sent shivers up my spine. Only one thing came into my mind.

*I'M GONNA BE . I'M GONNA BE . I'M GONNA BE .

"…we can't tell her everything, Taemin-ah!" a voice hissed. "The boss would be pissed."

"Yeah, well when she wakes up, what the hell do you expect me to tell her, huh?!" Taemin's voice snapped back. "If I were her, I'd be pretty freaked out if I were in some random van when I wake up!"

Damn true.

I attempted to move, but I remembered I was tied up to one of the chairs. I tried to scream Taemin's name, but my voice was muffled due to duct tape over my mouth.

How predictable.

All I could manage was to scream at the top of my lungs and pray they heard me.

"Hey, speak of the devil!" the unfamiliar voice remarked.

"Jebal, hyung. Wait here. I'll go talk to her," Taemin told the mystery man.

"Oh, sure. Like every other time you've tried to spark a conversation with that worked," the voice said flatly.

Eh, true. Wait, did he just call me a ?

Slow but loud footsteps came closer to the back of the van where I was. He wore all black with a hood over his head. He crouched down in front of me and took off the hood.

"Hey, Ari. How're you doing?" Taemin smiled as of everything were normal.

Which CLEARLY, NOTHING here was NORMAL!

I screamed a little bit more and squirmed around, indicating to Taemin I wanted the tape off my mouth.

"Oh, sorry about that." Without a warning, Taemin ripped the tape off my mouth. My head jerked like I was slapped in the face. At least I could cancel my waxing appointment.

I turned my head back to Taemin. "OUCH!" I yelled dramatically.

"Jeez, you're gonna make me go deaf!" Taemin sat in the small, black stool I was tied up to.

"Well, that hurt!" I yelled. "Where the hell am I? What do you want from me? Who was that guy you were talking to? Where are we going?"

"Gosh, you were right, Taemin-ah," the person finally spoke, "she never shuts up."

I looked up and saw a handsome young man come into view. He had blond-ish hair and an adorable smirk plastered on his face, eyes squinting when he did.

"Jinki hyung!" Taemin whined. "I told you I'd deal with her!"

"Aish, kid!" Jinki complained. "How many times have I told you to call me Onew?" He turned his gaze on me. "Besides, I wanted to get a look at her. Only Key-ah helped you carry her. He told me she was hot. He was right."

I blushed deeply at his comment. "Um… thanks?"

"Don't get used to it." Taemin rolled his eyes. "He does this to every girl he meets."

"Do not!" Onew hissed. "I put us all together. Because I was told to only put together a male group. Obviously, Jonghyun-ah and I were friends before. Then we found Key at his university, getting drunk with whoever his girlfriend was. And Minho who was willing to do anything to get out of his family's diner's business. And we found you last year. God, I don't even know why they sent me to get you kid." Onew shook his head.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked hesitantly.

Onew chuckled. "You're cute. Anyway, each year, we need to find new recruits. We find them when their most vulnerable. For example, Jonghyun-ah and I have been part of this group for year. Took us a while to find Key-ah. Before all this, we were weak and poor, trying to feed our families. We don't have to worry about that now because they get fed for free as long as we're in this business.

"Key-ah was too drunk to care when we found him. We just gradually took him by the hand—literally—and he's been with us ever since. Minho was desperate to leave that cheap diner he was working at for his family. And Taemin–"

"Okay, she's heard enough, Jink—Onew hyung," Taemin stated quickly.

"Well, why am I here?" I asked harshly.

"You were vulnerable because your oppa just died," Onew blurted.

Tears burned in my eyes. "I asked WHY I'm here. Not HOW I got here."

"Oh. Right. Sorry," Onew apologized in his least sympathetic voice. "You're here because of your incredible athletics and flexibility, which none of us guys have here."

I rolled my eyes. "Then what do you guys have here?"

"He's the leader. He bosses is around," Taemin retorted.

Onew glared at Taemin. "Taemin-ah is the smart- spy who gathers all the information about our recruits. Jonghyun-ah takes care of the technology stuff and he drives. Say anneyeong, Jonghyun-ah!"

"Annyeong…" a tired, but familiar, voice calls from the front of the van.

Onew rolled his eyes. "When Taemin-ah gathers the information about the recruits, he gives it to Key-ah, who goes deeper into not just where they love and work and stuff, but their height and weight, blood type, criminal record and all that. He's also like a doctor with all the medical information he has. Minho goes out in disguise to see the person. He makes himself look unrecognizable."

"So I've already met Minho?" I asked, getting pissed off.

"Correct," Onew answered, "and good luck guessing who he was."

I tried thinking, but I was too tired. I yawned. "But… where are we going? What are we supposed to do…?"

"You'll find out when we get there." Onew grinned. "For now, you should sleep, Ari-ah. You seem awfully tired."

"Onew hyung," Taemin speaks up, "she was knocked out for five hours just now.

"Relax, Taemin-ah." Onew walked up close to me, closer than Taemin was before. He gently rubbed his thumb on my cheek, smiling. "Just sleep, Ari-ah. You'll feel bett–"

I fell asleep before Onew could finish.

I fluttered my eyes open to see a bright light. I could hear soft whispers again, but this time from different people. I was tied up once again, only this time, I didn't have anything covering my mouth.

"Key hyung, are you sure she'll go through with this?" a familiar voice whispered.

"Of course, Minho-ah! Just give me some time to talk to her."

*Why is everyone so familiar…?* I thought.

I squirmed around so the two guys would know I was awake. They turned around at the same time, on high alert. "Morning, princess," Key greeted. Their faces were covered with hospital masks.

"Mm," I hummed. "Where am I?"

"You're in our hospital," Minho explained. "It's top-secret from anyone else in the world to find it."

"Why am I in the hospital?" I asked. "Why am I tied up again?"

"We need you to sit still," Key replied. "Minho-ah, get the tape for her eyes,"

Minho walked over to me with more tape. "Sorry, Ari-ah."

I felt a quick stab into my arm with some sort of cool liquid flow into my arm. "What the was that?" I ordered.

"Classified," Key stated simply. "You just won't have the urge to kill any of us. Believe me, all the recruits get it."

"Who are these recruits?" I demanded, wanting—no, NEEDING—answers.

"You'll find out at the meeting~!" Minho sung, leaving the room.

Key rolled his eyes as Minho practically skipped out of the room. "He can be so weird sometimes," Key told me.

"I can tell," I muttered in reply.

Key chuckled. "I'm Key. I already know who you are."

"I figured that," I answered. "Onew told me about you and the others."

"He probably only told you about our group. There's a lot more of us. No matter how long you've been here, you never remember everyone's names," Key explained.

I nodded my head. "So… could you do me a favor and untie me from this bed?"

"Only if you promise you won't strangle me," Key answered. "Oh wait, you can't do that."

Key quickly untied me where the knot was, which just so happened to be right underneath my s. Of course his hands gently brushed over them. I knew he didn't mean to, though.

Key glanced up at me, noticing I turned bright red. "Sorry," he quickly murmured, loud enough so I could hear.

I say up, pretending he didn't say anything. "So, when's this meeting?"

"Um…" Key checked his watch. "Oh gosh. Four hours. I should've waited to give you a shot."

"That was a shot?!" I exclaimed, touching the hurt arm.

"Yeah. That's why we covered your eyes so you wouldn't squirm. Here it is." Key pulled out a long needle filled with dark, sparkling purple liquid inside.

"Ouch," I responded just looking at it.

"Yeah. Ouch is right," Key agreed. "Well, since we have plenty of time before the meeting, you can ask any questions you have."

"Prefect!" I cried. Finally, I was getting some answers!

Key was probably the nicest person I've met out of everybody. Jonghyun didn't care. Taemin was downright rude. Onew was okay, I just didn't like how he hardly answered my questions and it pissed me off when he talked about Daehyun oppa a little bit.

Key explained to me the group I would start working for was SHINee. Onew was the one who received missions from the main boss—who I'd meet later—and told the other member what they had to do. Jonghyun was the hacker, who would hack into whatever system needed to be hacked. Minho always went in the same disguise to make the recruits feel vulnerable. Taemin would investigate what the recruit was like—which he's OBVIOUSLY done. And Key said once Taemin did that, he would find out more personal information and possibly meet the recruit.

"So… have I met you before, too?" I asked.

Key furrowed his brow. "I don't know. Do I look familiar to you?"

I cocked my head to the side. He really DID look familiar, I just didn't know where I've seen him. It bothered me. A LOT.

"Nae," I finally answered. "You do look familiar. I can't put my finger on it."

Key grinned and nodded his head. "Good, good. Hopefully you'll never find out who I am." He surprised me by leaving a light kiss on my forehead. "C'mon. Want me to show you around?"

Too stunned to speak, I followed. What the hell just happened?

"Hopefully you'll never find out who I am." Those words kept floating in my mind.

It made me determined to find out where I've seen all these familiar faces.