There were three things Changmin knew as he woke up from whatever nap he’d suddenly taken. The first was that Hyeonjin was his hair yet again. The second was that he was still on the floor. The third thing was that he hadn’t fallen asleep like this.

He vaguely remembered falling into a doze and Hyeonjin’s hands guiding his head into her lap. He’d been too tired to even try to protest, and he’d fallen asleep almost immediately after he’d put his head down. The memory was so distant, it felt more like a dream than reality. But he knew it had been real, because he could feel her crossed legs behind the back of his neck.

He took a breath and heaved a sigh without really thinking about it.

“Are you awake, oppa?” her voice was soft.

He opened his eyes, barely needing to move his head to see her. She was leaning over him, her hands curled through his hair. She his cheeks with her thumbs, making him grimace slightly. It wasn’t like there was much he could do about it, however. Telling her to stop probably wouldn’t work.

“Why,” Changmin’s voice croaked as he spoke. He figured he’d injured his vocal chords screaming at Hyeonjin who knows how long ago. It could’ve been hours for all he knew.

“Why...?” the sasaeng questioned, her brow creasing slightly.

“Why did you kidnap me?”

She glanced away, looking slightly guilty.

“I don’t care what your reason is,” Changmin went on. “Just tell me why.”

She looked back down at him. “Because...” she looked away again, her fingers pressing into his scalp slightly, “I just...I wanted to spend time with you,”

He just stared up at her, not giving her any sort of reaction. She wasn’t the only one who wanted to spend time with him, but kidnapping wasn’t the option.

“And I...wanted to save you,”

Changmin frowned. “From what...?”

“SM,” she said.

“What about SM?”

“I’ve been hearing that they’re really hard on their artists,” Hyeonjin said, watching him. “So I wanted to save you from it.”

It was true. He rarely had free time for himself since signing on with SM. He’d worked hard throughout the years to get to where he was, but even now, his schedule was almost constantly full. He knew it was the same way for all idols. He hadn’t found any reasonable grounds to terminate his contract like Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu had. Maybe it just wasn’t his thing. Maybe, like Yunho, he dreamed too big to give it up at the drop of a hat.

“I want you to be happy, oppa,” Hyeonjin ran her fingers through his hair some more, smiling at him.

“What if I was happy,” Changmin said, not looking at her.

She paused for a moment before his cheeks with her thumbs. “I’d ask why, considering you’re essentially a slave to SM,”

“Because I was doing what I love to do,” Changmin ignored the way her fingers trailed over his skin. “SM took me in. I have no interest in giving up my career. That’s why I was happy.”

“You’re not happy here, are you, oppa?”

Changmin shoved her hands away from him and sat up, feeling stiff and sore from being on the floor for so long. He grimaced, tilting his head from side to side to stretch his neck.

Hyeonjin’s hands curled around his shoulders as she gently rubbed her thumbs into the back of his neck. Changmin flinched away from her, standing up. He didn’t need her massaging him. That was the last thing he wanted.

“No,” Changmin said sharply, not caring if he hurt her feelings. “I’m not happy. You had no right to take me away from my home, to separate me from Yunho-hyung and my family,”

Hyeonjin remained silent, not saying a word. Changmin refused to turn around and look at her. How could he?

“You have no right to keep me here either,” he continued. “Yunho-hyung and the police will find me. And when they do, I won’t protect you.”

He heard the door open and slam shut. He was glad she was gone.

...

Yunho parked his car beside Changmin’s, ignoring the police tape surrounding the property. He just had to look for himself. By now, they’d probably gotten all the evidence they could out of the house. Changmin had been missing for two days, after all. The third day had only just begun.

The sick feeling in his gut twisted once more, imagining poor Changmin unintentionally overdosing on sleeping pills. Or worse...being buried alive because someone had in fact, been trying to kill him.

He didn’t dare think about that.

“Stop it, Yunho,” he whispered to himself. “The ransom’s been sent out. There should be a response anytime soon, just keep it together.” He took a breath and pushed his car door open, slamming it shut behind him. He approached the house, wondering if he was taking the same route as the kidnapper. He once again pushed the thought away, and then bitterly scolded himself. What did he expect to think about when he approached Changmin’s house?

He unlocked the front door and stepped inside, glad Changmin had given him a spare key. They’d swapped them a few years back, but he never really had much use for it until now.

The house was quiet, which was unsurprising. He just wished it didn’t feel so sickening. His eyes scanned the floor, seeing the tags scattered all over the hardwood and carpets. He had no idea what most of them were trying to point out. He hadn’t read the police report. By the looks of it, every speck of dust had been tagged.

Yunho headed up the stairs, avoiding the tags as best as he could. He saw deep grooves in Changmin’s wooden staircase, telling him that however the kidnapper had gotten him out, it hadn’t been easy, and some sort of sled or trolley had been used.

He would’ve been asleep at this point, Yunho thought, stepping over another tag. Yunho reached the top floor, the odd grooves nonexistent. He guessed that the stairs had only gotten it because it practically had to fall down each step.

Changmin’s room was definitely the most unusual part of the house. The maknae had always been peculiar about keeping his bedroom tidy. His bed hadn’t been made, and bits of police paper strewn across every surface made the room look more cluttered than neat. He wondered how Changmin would react. Yunho thought for a moment that he’d be angry, until he remembered it was very difficult to get the maknae angry. He’d probably sigh and patiently pick up every piece of paper and tidy his room like always had. After that he’d probably vacuum, maybe do some dusting and then move on to the rest of his house.

Imagining Changmin cleaning his room made Yunho relax a bit. The image was so normal compared to the horrid dreams he’d have of Changmin being dragged off by a faceless figure.

The sound of his ringing phone startled Yunho out of his imagination. He pulled it from his pocket and answered without checking the caller ID.

“Hello?”

Yunho-hyung,

It was Changmin.

...

Changmin didn’t know what Hyeonjin was playing at. She’d rely ten minutes ago offering him a cellphone. Not only that, but he’d been brought a new set of clothes as well so he’d finally been able to change out of the pyjamas he’d been kidnapped in. She hadn’t followed him into the bathroom for that, and he’d prayed there were no cameras around as he changed clothes.

It was the cellphone that surprised him. She watched him as he dialled a number into the number pad and held it up to his ear, waiting for the phone to suddenly cut out, like it had all been a trick to get his hopes up. The moment he heard Yunho’s voice answer, he knew it wasn’t.

“Yunho-hyung,” Changmin felt his voice crack a little.

For a moment, Yunho was silent, then he responded. Changmin...?

“Yeah...it’s me,”

Where are you? Are you alright?

“I don’t know where I am, but I’m okay,” he half lied on that last part. He really wasn’t okay with his still bruised wrists, and the cut on his hand was aching now. But by all definitions, it could’ve been a lot worse.

Hyeonjin was watching him, making sure he wasn’t making any phone calls to the authorities. It wasn’t like they could do anything anyway. They couldn’t trace a cell phone number.

What happened?

“I was kidnapped,” he said, ignoring the hurt look in the sasaeng’s eyes.

Who took you?

“I don’t know who she is,”

A sasaeng?

“Yeah,” Changmin confirmed. She wasn’t anything but. He didn’t care how nice she was to him or even how many times she re-bandaged the cut on his hand, she was still a sasaeng.

And she let you use a phone?

“She brought one to me so I could call you,”

...That’s way too nice,

“I know. But that’s the way she’s always been.”

I’m having trouble believing this,

Changmin just bit his lip, wishing he could explain his sasaeng’s actions to Yunho without seeming like he was complimenting her. The last thing he needed was to encourage her.

I have an idea, Yunho said suddenly. Stay on the line. I’m going to go to the police station, and then you can talk to the sergeant. Just answer with simple answers, you don’t have to explain anything.

“Okay,”

Talk to me normally until then,

Changmin heard the sound of a door closing from the other end. “How’s my family?”

They’re alright. Upset, but alright,

“Tell them I’m okay for me, will you?”

I will,

“And what’s happening out there?”

The police and our CEO put out a ransom. But if it’s a sasaeng, I guess that won’t go anywhere,

“Probably not,” Changmin confirmed.

Hyeonjin was fidgeting nervously, but he ignored her. She was only getting one side of the conversation.

The conversation he and Yunho had while his friend drove to meet the officers went from serious to mildly amusing. Changmin watched Hyeonjin relax as he smiled at things Yunho was saying. He responded in turn, waiting for the set of questions from the police. He hoped everything would go alright.

...

Yunho didn’t have an agent with him, or any sort of police. He threw the hood of his jacket up and ran up the stairs and into the police station, refusing to put his phone down. There was a small line in front of the desk, but Yunho waved at the officer in the back, catching her attention. She nodded and pointed to a door off to the side, and before anyone could turn around, he was through it, hidden in the back.

“Jung-seonsaeng, do you need something?” She asked, her voice hushed.

“You won’t believe this, but Changmin’s on the phone, get the officer working his case,”

The officer didn’t hesitate to page the investigator, and within the minute, he was back in the interrogation room, putting the phone on speaker.

“Are you still there, Changmin?” Yunho asked.

Yeah, Changmin’s voice emerged from the speaker, much to his relief.

“Shim-seonsaeng, I’m the officer working your case,” the investigator stated. “I want you to answer as simply as possible without alerting your captor as to whom you’re talking to. If you need to, refer to me as one of your parents.”

Yunho-hyung, is my mother there?

“She is,” Yunho said, glad he caught on quickly.

Can I talk to her?

“Yes,”

Thank you,

The officer leaned forward a little so he could better understand Changmin’s words. “Shim-seonsaeng, can you tell me where you are?”

Hi mom, Changmin answered. He paused for effect. No, sorry

“Are you safe?”

I don’t know, maybe,

“I’m going to ask you questions about your captor now. Is it a young female?”

Yes,

“Is her hair black?”

Yes mom, I’m really okay,

“Do her features suggest that she is a Korean?”

Yes,

“Okay. Now I’m going to ask about your well-being. Are you injured?”

Changmin took a few seconds to answer that, but he did.

Yes,

Yunho felt rage build up inside him.

Changmin laughed slightly. I miss you too, mom.

“Are they minor injuries?”

Yes. Are you taking care of yourself?

“I’m going to ask general locations of your injuries. Is your head injured?”

No, I don’t want you to worry.

“Your torso?”

No, please, I understand,

“Your arms?”

Yeah, you could say that,

“Is it your upper arms?”

No, mom, just please make sure you eat,

“Lower arms?”

Yes, that’s alright. Do it for me, okay?

“Is it your wrists?”

Yes,

Yunho met the officer’s eyes. He had a feeling his expression was almost identical to the one on the officer’s face.

“Shim-seonsaeng, are you restrained in any way?” The officer asked.

Not so much now,

“If not now, were you restrained at some point?”

Yes, but I feel better talking to you.

Yunho’s hands clenched into fists, crumpling the fabric of the pants he was wearing. It took everything he had not to start shouting.

“And your restraints caused injury?”

Yes,

“Are your hands injured as well?”

Yes,

“Anywhere else?”

No, mom, don’t worry my sister.

“Shim-seonsaeng, do you fear for your safety?”

Changmin was quiet for a few seconds. Sometimes, he finally said. I have to go, I’m sorry,

“Is your captor taking you away from the phone?”

Yes, I’ll try to call some other time. I promise. Please take care of yourself, mom. I love you.

Yunho felt his heart twist inside him. He silently cursed the sasaeng that had Changmin.

...Bye,

And the phone went dead, separating him from Changmin once more.

...

For Changmin, hanging up had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. For the first time in days, he’d been able to talk to Yunho. He hadn’t realized how incredibly lonely he was until he heard the voice of his friend. He’d always taken his band mate’s presence for granted. They saw each other every day, and worked together as a team. Changmin didn’t just call Yunho ‘hyung’ as a formality. He really felt that the elder was family.

He lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, the cellphone still in his hand. He’d been like this since hanging up on Yunho. Hyeonjin had brought him lunch, but he’d barely touched it. He hadn’t spoken to her either, not out of spite, but just because words were failing him. He might’ve talked to her if he could.

She was lying beside him, an arm wrapped around his torso. Her head was resting on his shoulder, but he hadn’t bothered protesting, or even trying to get away. His loneliness had crept deep inside him, and it wasn’t letting go. Hyeonjin might’ve been a sasaeng and his captor, but he felt significantly less lonely when she was around. It was a sad thought that made him incredibly uncomfortable. He’d heard a little about Stockholm syndrome, but he could never believe it to be true. How could someone even start to grow fond of the person holding them hostage? How was it even possible? He felt like he understood now. She was really all he had at this point, and until the police came and found him, that’s how it would be.

Hyeonjin shifted slightly, her cheek nuzzling against his shoulder. He didn’t budge, not taking his eyes off the ceiling.

“Oppa...?” Her voice was a faint whisper.

He gave no sign of hearing her, though her voice very near his ear was loud and clear.

“Do you hate me?”

He remained still for a moment before turning his eyes down to her. In his mind, he desperately wanted to say he did. But his final answer surprised even him.

“No,” he replied.

Relief washed over her face, and her arm wrapped a little tighter around him. She nuzzled into his shoulder, her smile probably still plastered to her face.

“I’m glad,” she said.

Changmin chewed the tip of his tongue for a moment. “It doesn’t mean I like you,”

“That’s okay,”

He didn’t expect that answer. In his mind, he kept going over what would happen if he was never found. Would he eventually grow to think of Hyeonjin as a friend? What if he never did like her? How would she feel? And would she keep taking care of him even though the years slowly passed by day by day? But more than that, could he be comfortable enough to stay here? The thoughts were troubling, and he tried to push them away, but they continued to linger. She only wanted him to be happy. He was starting to wonder, if he was destined to stay here forever, if he would be.

.

.

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A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. I was really busy this week and incredibly sidetracked all in one sitting so I didn't get around to doing a final edit of the chapter until today. Thank you for your patience and thanks so much for reading! Constructive critisism is always appreciated!!

P.S. Stockholm Syndrome is a , and so are sasaeng fans.