The practice room was empty when Yunho stepped into it. It was unsurprising, considering he’d managed to arrive a little too early today. He set his bag down in the corner and stepped into the middle of the floor to start his warm-ups. Changmin would be arriving soon, he thought. After that, there was yet another long day ahead of them, choreographing their latest song in preparation for the new music video.

The choreographer stepped into the room while Yunho was stretching, telling the artist that there was ten minutes until practice began. The choreographer stopped, raising an eyebrow.

“Where’s Changmin?” He asked.

“He hasn’t arrived yet,” Yunho replied.

The choreographer frowned, running a hand through his hair. “That’s unusual,”

“Tell me about it,” Yunho stood up straight from the stretch he was doing. “He might’ve slept in. He was really tired after practice yesterday.”

“It’s still unusual,” the choreographer began setting up the speaker systems. “Give him five more minutes, and then see if you can contact him,”

Yunho nodded, glancing at the clock as their choreographer began his warm-ups as well. The idol couldn’t take his eyes off the clock, watching the minute hand twirl towards the twelve. It was almost nine o’clock. Changmin was nowhere to be seen.

Yunho stood up and dug through his bag, pulling out his cellphone. He quickly found Changmin’s name and dialled the number, holding the phone to his ear. The phone rang eight times before the answering machine picked up.

Hi, It’s Changmin, I can’t come to the phone so leave a message and I’ll get back when I can,

Yunho tried not to sigh as the beep rang through his ear.

“Changmin, it’s Yunho, where are you?” He couldn’t think of anything else to say so he hung up, chewing his thumbnail. Changmin was a light sleeper. It never mattered what time his phone went off, he always heard it. Even if he was sleeping in, he would’ve picked up.

Maybe he left his phone behind, Yunho convinced himself. He’s probably in the front hallway right now on his way up.

Five minutes passed. Then ten minutes. Yunho was pacing the practice room now, his neatly combed hair a mess from the number of times he ran his hand through it. He lifted his phone again and dialled Changmin’s number once more. He gritted his teeth when it went back to the answering machine.

“Changmin, this isn’t funny, where are you?! Practice started ten minutes ago!” Yunho was half shouting now. Changmin could easily have his contract terminated for being late for these practices, and they’d already lost three of the five TVXQ members. Without Changmin, they’d never be TVXQ again. Yunho didn’t want that. Losing Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu was hard enough. He didn’t want to lose Changmin as well.

The choreographer stepped back into the room, a deep frown on his face. “His agent’s checking up on him now,” he said.

“Where is he?” Yunho asked, feeling anxious.

“We just have to wait to hear word back from his agent,”

Yunho just nodded, trying not to chew his thumbnail again. He’d been in the room for ten minutes when the door opened once again. He felt his throat catch at the sight of Changmin’s agent flanked by two police officers.

“Where’s Changmin?” Yunho asked, trying to keep his voice stable.

“He’s gone,” Changmin’s agent said. “And everything points to a kidnapping.”

Yunho clutched the wall in shock, his eyes wide.

Changmin had been kidnapped.

“The house shows some signs of forced entry,” one of the officers said. “And there are tire tracks leading away from his house. We are doing everything we can to find him. We just need to ask you a few questions,”

Yunho just nodded slowly.

“Please come with us, Jung-seonsaeng,”

All he could do was follow.

...

Waking up should never feel this awful, Changmin thought to himself. His mind was swimming with a thousand different things, blurry images he couldn’t make out flashing in front of his eyes. He felt someone softly his hair, and for a moment he thought it was his mother.

That’s not right, he thought. I haven’t seen my mother since Christmas...

He mumbled something, shifting as the trailed down his cheek. He tried to brush the offending feeling away, but his arms felt like lead. When he tried to roll over, he found he didn’t have the strength. All he could do was shift uncomfortably as his mind cleared gradually.

It was the feeling of unfamiliarity that dragged him back towards reality. The bed he was lying in was far too soft. It didn’t feel like his. He shifted again, managing to lift his hand to brush whatever was touching his hair out of the way. He felt a hand curl around his own, and suddenly, nothing felt right.

He snapped his eyes open, quickly focusing on the face of a young girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen years. She smiled down at him, but for Changmin, there was no recognition.

He shot into a sitting position so quickly, his head spun. He clutched his head, hearing the sound of something jingling as his arm moved. He glanced at his arm and felt his heart drop into his stomach.

He’d been handcuffed. The chains might’ve been long, but he was handcuffed nonetheless. He nearly screamed, but the girl slid up beside him and touched his face again, cutting him off before he even started. He flinched away from her, and she lowered her hand, but she was still smiling.

“I’m glad you’re awake, Oppa,” she said cheerfully. “Did you sleep well?”

“Who are you?!” Changmin half shouted, one of his arms stretched out. He’d reached the end of the chain on his left arm. He was trapped. His heart was racing.

“I’m Hyeonjin. Don’t worry about formalities, they’re unimportant.”

Changmin stared at the girl, feeling more horrified than he’d ever felt in his life. He was slowly coming to the conclusion that he’d been kidnapped. And by the looks of this girl, he’d been kidnapped by a sasaeng.

It’s over, Changmin thought grimly.

“You should relax, oppa,” Hyeonjin said, reaching for him again.

Changmin tried to back up further, but only succeeded in having the handcuff dig violently into his wrist. He winced, unable to tug any longer, but wanting to get away. Hyeonjin gently gripped his forearm and tugged it, slackening the chain a little. Changmin wanted to throw up, feeling tears burning at the back of his eyes. He desperately wished he was dreaming as he was nudged to the middle of the bed where the chains hung loosely on either side of him.

“There,” Hyeonjin said cheerfully. “Better?”

He couldn’t even look at her. He couldn’t even think. All he could feel was a horrified panic. He’d been kidnapped...he’d been kidnapped...

“You’ve been sleeping all day, so I’ll go get you something to eat,” Hyeonjin his cheek again before sliding off the bed and to the door. Changmin stared numbly at the wall, barely hearing the sound of the door opening and closing as the sasaeng left him alone in the room.

“Time to wake up, Changmin,” he whispered to himself. “Just wake up.” But he wasn’t waking up. He clutched his hair, the chains jingling in his ears, driving him insane. Rage and anger boiled up inside him. He yanked on his chains, trying to find some way to undo them, gritting his teeth through the pain. He tried to pull his hands through the cuffs, but they held firm. He didn’t stop until he couldn’t fight anymore and collapsed back onto the bed, breathing heavily. That was when the tears came. He buried his face in the pillow, the tears pouring into the fabric as he tried in vain to tug his hands out of the chains. His wrists ached, and he could already see the beginnings of bruises and small cuts where the metal had dug into him.

He heard the door open again as Hyeonjin stepped back into the room. Changmin tried to ignore her, but the sudden desire to hit her took his breath away. He’d never wanted to strike a girl before.
He felt the bed sag as she crawled onto the mattress with him. A moment later, she was his hair again.

“It’s okay, oppa, you’re safe,” she said softly.

His hand flew out before he could stop it. The feeling of his hand making contact with the side of her head sent a cold rush of terror and triumph through him. She flinched and touched the side of her face where his hand had made contact. All Changmin could do was stare in horror. He’d hit a girl. She might’ve been a sasaeng, but he’d hit a girl nonetheless.

“It’s okay,” she said, her voice trembling. “I know you’re upset,”

“Upset?!” Changmin shouted, whatever regret he’d been feeling vanishing in an instant. “You kidnapped me!”

She smiled a little. “I know, but you’re safe here,”

“Let me go!”

She reached over and touched his face again. He flinched back, bumping into the headboard. She slid towards him and ran a hand through his hair.

“You’ll be happy here, oppa, I promise,”

He tried to think of something else to say, something else to scream and shout, but he found himself tongue tied. He turned away from her, trying to ignore the way she softly pushed his hair around his head, arranging it back into order. She only removed her hand when she was done.

“I brought you lunch, please eat it,” she held a plate of food out towards him, that smile still on her face. Changmin’s eyes found a small bruise forming on her cheek where his hand had struck her. He internally flinched at the sight, even though a part of him screamed that she deserved it.

He took the food from her, watching her face light up. He stared at her, watching as she picked up her own plate of food and sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed. She picked up her chopsticks, scooped up a piece of what looked like chicken and popped it in . Changmin didn’t want to eat, but his stomach had twisted itself into knots with hunger, and the food nearby didn’t help.

He gave in and picked up his chopsticks, ignoring the way she watched him eat every bite, a sparkle of wonder in her eyes.

...

Yunho kept his head bowed as he was escorted into the police station with his agent. Some people turned heads, wondering who was being brought in surrounded by people. Yunho just hoped his face was hidden enough that nobody would recognize him. He could just imagine the rumours.

U-Know Yunho taken into custody!

Yunho – Criminal?

TVXQ Falling Apart!

He pushed the thoughts away. The media would catch hold of this eventually. Yunho just hoped it would take several days.

The interrogation room was small, but there was a window off to the side covered in blinds. He figured he wasn’t in any real trouble, all considering, but the room was still stifling.

“Have a seat,” the officer told him, gesturing to a comfortable looking chair.

Yunho sat down and the officer began reading out the date and time and the case number, before finally turning back to him.

“Have you dealt with the police before, Jung-seonsaeng?”

“Yes,” Yunho said, trying not to think about the last time he’d had to give testimony.

“Then you know that lying to the police is an offence resulting in a criminal record?”

“I do,”

“Do you swear to tell only the truth, nothing but the truth?”

“I do,”

“You’re not in trouble, Jung-seonsaeng, but we just have a few questions for you,”

Yunho just nodded.

“When was the last time you saw Shim Changmin?”

“Yesterday. We were going home for the day.”

“Did Shim Changmin have anyone with him when he left?”

“No, he was alone,”

Yunho was able to answer most of the questions rather easily, glad that they were simply time and place questions. The officers asked him everything except what he had for dinner last night, which was typical. It was the next set of questions that had him feeling ill.

“Jung-seonsaeng, do you know of anyone who would’ve wanted to cause harm to Shim Changmin?”

Yunho froze. “You think someone would’ve...?” He couldn’t even finish that sentence.

“We are not ruling out any possibilities. There is no evidence to suggest foul play, but we need to take it into consideration.”

The idol swallowed and nodded, folding his hands in his lap. “I don’t think so. I’ve never heard of anyone.” Though in his mind, he was thinking about the anti-fan and the poisoned drink. He tried not to shudder again.

“Can you think of anyone who holds any hatred for Shim Changmin?”

“...No...nobody close to him at least,” he added the last bit, unable to get that anti-fan out of his head.

“When you say ‘nobody close to him’, what do you mean?” The interrogator asked.

“Anti-fans,” Yunho managed to say, hoping he didn’t sound as weak as he felt. He thought he’d been over this. He guessed that the thought of Changmin being kidnapped had brought back the fear he’d felt all those years ago. If he’d been kidnapped by an anti-fan, Yunho shuddered to think of what could happen to him. A poisoned drink would’ve been the least of his worries.

The interrogator scribbled something down onto his notepad. “We will take that into account, Jung-seonsaeng,”

Yunho just nodded, wishing he could just leave the interrogation room and go home. But at the same time, the thought of going home and being left alone to think about what might be happening with Changmin made him shudder.

“Thank you, Jung-seonsaeng, we’ll contact you if there are any further questions and if we find any more information on Shim Chagmin,”

“Thanks,” Yunho said numbly, standing up. He was escorted out of the room and out of the police station. He once again hid his face, trying not to throw up. He was afraid he would never see Changmin again, but he refused to believe it was the truth.

...

Changmin lay on his side, facing away from Hyeonjin. He could feel her eyes on him, even as he pretended to be asleep. He rubbed his aching wrists absentmindedly, wishing he at least knew what time it was. He had no interest in asking Hyeonjin for the time, or even talking to her for that matter. And so he lay, feigning sleep and waiting for her to leave the room so he could once again attempt to worm his way out of the handcuffs, even though the deep blue patches on his wrists spoke of the brutal damage already done to them from his earlier attempts.

And he really had to use the bathroom.

He shifted uncomfortably, rolling onto his back. His legs were stiff. He hadn’t had the chance to put any sort of weight on them all day. He tried to stretch them slightly, but it wasn’t the same. He kept thinking about the dance practice he must’ve missed by now. Yunho was probably worried about him, and his agent was probably searching frantically.

I wonder if they’ll find me, Changmin thought. He could only hope.

The bed shifted, making Changmin whip his head towards Hyeonjin who had crawled onto the bed. He shifted away from her, but the chain snapped taught, digging into his wrist. He winced, clutching his arm as he looked at the chain, seeing that she’d grabbed it so he couldn’t crawl away. He let his head hit the bed helplessly.

“Do you need anything, oppa?” Hyeonjin asked, his hair again.

“Let me go,” Changmin grumbled for the umpteenth time, knowing it wouldn’t do any good.

“Why don’t you believe me?”

He glanced up at her before looking away again almost immediately. He didn’t bother asking.

“I promised you would be happy here,” she continued his hair, twirling the soft locks around her fingers in a rather gentle fashion. “Please believe me, oppa, I want you to be happy,”

Changmin reached up and swatted her hand away, forcing himself to sit up. “Then let me go,”

“But I promised,”

He couldn’t believe her. He’d heard of sasaeng fans before, and he’d encountered one, maybe two of them in various places around South Korea, but never like this. This was something else entirely.

“Will you trust me?” She asked.

“You kidnapped me, how can I trust you?”

She held out her hands in front of her. “I’ll help you,” she said.

Changmin just stared, wondering just what she was planning.

“I’ll take off the chains,” she said, still smiling. “Then you can go wherever you want in this room.”

All he had to do was trust her enough to give her his hands. Could he do it? For all he knew it was a trick. But the thought of getting out of the handcuffs was extremely appealing.

He couldn’t do it.

“I don’t trust you,” Changmin glowered, sliding away from her slightly.

Her face fell, her hands falling into her lap. “I was hoping you would...” she looked up again. “If there’s anything else you need, please ask. I can give it to you.”

“If you won’t let me go there’s nothing I want from you,”

She pouted and slid off the bed, turning her back to him. “Then I’ll come back for you later,” she said, heading for the door.

It was the pain in his bladder that made him stop.

“But I need to use the bathroom,” he managed to choke out.

She broke out into a smile so wide, Changmin was afraid her face would stick like that. She practically skipped over to him and crouched down beside the bed. Changmin heard a chain jingling and suddenly, she was holding the other end of the handcuff. She clutched it tight in her hands and went to the other side, undoing that one as well. He suddenly understood. She was going to lead him like a dog to the toilet.

Feeling his pride being crushed into a thousand pieces, Changmin let the sasaeng lead him to a second door in the room, this one leading to a bathroom instead of the rest of the house. For a moment, he thought she would follow him into the bathroom, but when she simply sat outside the door, holding the ends of the chains, he understood. He had just enough chain to get to the toilet. Nowhere near enough to make any sort of attempt of escape. He started to regret not trusting her to take off the cuffs.

He closed the door in her face, trying not to shout in frustration.