"You need to wake up, like now," Cheondoong emphasised, dragging his problematic leader out of his bed. Seungho lands on the floor with a loud thump. The impact wakes him up immediately, and he spares a glare at the younger guy before reluctantly standing up to get himself dressed. Everyone else is already up and about - Seungho is notorious for constantly sleeping in later than the others, so he's normally the hardest to wake up.

G.O and Mir continue their bickering over who gets to use the bathroom first, creating a racket in the small dorm. Seungho drags his feet over to their room, his eyes burning as he glares at the two noisy people. He yawns, unnoticed by them, and moves closer. 

"YAH!" he yells when he's close to their ears. They both cringe, G.O making a loud noise of alarm and Mir's eyes widening drastically with surprise. Both of them stare with bewilderment at their leader, who silently jerks his head at the living room - a signal that they should get out of his way before his grumpiness turns into rage. Mir immediately takes a large step away from the bathroom, watching warily as G.O and Seungho have a staredown. Seungho wins - he always does - and the younger meekly makes way for the older as he enters the bathroom to splash water on his face. Cheondoong watches the whole situation from his bedroom doorway, snickering all the while.

Half an hour later, and everyone is finally ready and dressed in smart clothing. All four boys are awake and functioning perfectly, prepared to go out and face the crowd after three days of isolation, at least for everyone apart from Seungho. They ate a quick but heavy brunch, anticipating having to spend quite a few hours being grilled by the fans and media in the interview. Right now, Mir is playing finger games with Cheondoong, G.O is making random sounds, and Seungho's playing with his hair - all to relieve the stress and calm their nerves. The interview is a daunting prospect to them, looming like a black thundercloud at the horizon. It's like no interview they've ever faced before, and they're nervous that they'll slip up and do something wrong.

Fifteen minutes pass, and Seungho finally gets to his feet, feeling the gaze of the younger three latch onto him at the first sign of movement on his part. He nods at their questioning glances, and waits for them to stand up as well before leading them out of the dorm, G.O locking the door behind them. They crowd into the lift and head down to the ground floor, walking out of the building to find a sleek black van awaiting them near the curb. They recognise it as the van they usually take to go wherever their schedule requires them to go. Inside, various sweets, snacks and drinks are stored under the seats and in the compartments for when they get hungry - they sometimes need to spend hours travelling in the van. Similarly, they've put a deck of cards and some other small, portable board-games in the compartments of the van, and many CDs and DVDs have been stored in the backseat, for when they really get bored.

MBLAQ piles into their van, well aware that they're already a few minutes late to their interview. The four boys wrestle and jostle each other to get into the vehicle as fast as possible. Cheondoong tosses himself in the back seat, hurriedly folding his long legs beneath him, while G.O pushes after him, sidling closer to the younger guy to make space for Mir, who jumps in next. Seungho follows after, and the four of them squeeze together in the backseat, too lazy to send one person to the back like they normally would.

"We're ready, ahjussi," Seungho says to the driver, who he realises belatedly is wearing a cap and ponytail. "You're not the usual driver," he remarks, putting on a friendly grin.

"Neh," a feminine voice answers, and G.O sees her eyes crinkle up in the rearview mirror as she smiles to them. "I'm in charge for today since my uncle fell sick."

"Oh, I hope he gets better soon!" Mir says out of courtesy.

The driver nods and turns onto the main road. She speeds along in a direction opposite to where they should be heading, but the boys assume she's merely taking a shortcut. However, fifteen minutes later, still heading in the same direction at a high speed, it's obvious that this is no shortcut. Something isn't right.

The four boys exchange glances, before Cheondoong pipes up, "Uhm, you do realise that we're heading in the complete opposite direction from where we should be going, right?"

G.O sees her eyes meet his through the rearview mirror, and she says, "Oops!" He relaxes slightly on hearing her say that, but then she makes no move to get off the road or turn around and head towards the interview hall.

"Excuse me, you need to take us the other way," he insists, raising his voice. The girl shrugs, but keeps driving along the same road, her speed slowly increasing till it's past the speed limits. Mir hurriedly buckles his seatbelt, glancing at the other three in dismay.

There's a click as the doors lock.


 

October 11, 2011

Idols Ditch Interviews
 

Popular idol group, MBLAQ, was absent from their interview this morning, after teasing the general public with a promise to answer questions from the floor - meant to contain fans and the media alike - and raising hopes that information will finally be disclosed about missing member Lee Joon's, 23, whereabouts. Word on the street is that the popular young singer has been kidnapped by an over-zealous fan.

MBLAQ's failure to appear at the interview hall caused strife amongst the fans present, who worried that ill-fate had befallen their beloved idols. Even Rain, 29, CEO of J. Tune Entertainment, was distraught at his band's lack of presence. Sources say that he left the interview hall half an hour after the band's designated time of arrival.

Other fans and representatives of the media stayed at the location until it was evident that MBLAQ was not going to show up. The hall was not empty until four hours after 12.30 p.m. (KST), the time when the band was supposed to make their appearance at the destination.

Whether MBLAQ's disappearance was staged as a publicity event, or just a lack of responsibility on the band's part, remains a mystery - although imaginative fans claim that they have been kidnapped by the same fans who took Lee on October 7, 2011. 



Eun Kyo looks up from the newspaper she's holding, her knuckles white. A faraway look dawns in her bright eyes and she stares at the same spot on her kitchen wall for a good few minutes. The kitchen is considerably warm, since her brother is cooking dinner. Heat from the fire on the stove shimmers in the air, creating ripples in her vision. The walls are a creamy white, and the lights hanging a short way from the ceiling casts warm yellow light onto everything in the kitchen. Through the window on her left, she can see her garden - there's a door beside the window that leads outside. The kitchen is well-equipped with a decent stove; microwave oven in the corner and a baking oven under the stove; a refridgerator some distance from the microwave oven; a sink in the other corner, with cabinets above it to room pots and pans; a dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer in the remaining corner, and cabinets above the stove as well for various other kitchen things. The pantry is just beside the door out.

Jin turns off the stove, the loud click as he does so startling Eun Kyo out of her reverie. Her eyes narrow as she watches him walk up to the table and place a bowl of noodles in front of her. It's simple to make - he just opened a can of readymade sauce and cooked it, adding some chopped ham, mushrooms, and condiments to it. Then he boiled noodles and tossed it quickly in the sauce to finish it off. It's quick and easy, and perfect for days like this when both he and his sister feel too lazy to put in effort to cook. Their mother is overseas on business, so that leaves the pair of them alone at home to take care of themselves - something they're already used to, considering how frequently they have to deal with it. Their father passed away some time ago.

Arie walks in from the living room, sitting next to Eun Kyo at the table, where Jin has left another plate of noodles. Two more places are set, and two other girls follow Arie through the door leading to the kitchen from the living room. One is tall and slim, with pretty features slightly hidden behind the large fake glasses she's wearing - just because she feels like it. Her long black hair, highlighted a light brown, swishes elegantly from left to right as she bounces over to plop down next to Jin. The blonde tips of her hair, so similar to Miyu's, brushes her waist. Right beside her is a girl of average stature, thin and dainty-looking, but there's a fire in her eyes that tell everyone that she's more than she seems. Her short mushroom hair frames her delicate features, but it's a little messy as well. She wears glasses because she needs them, unlike her friend. June and Reena - they're best friends, and have been together since very young. Reena takes the remaining spot beside June, settling down and digging in with the rest.

Only Eun Kyo is aloof, still staring at the newspaper. Soon, she clears and says, "There's this article I saw today..."

"What about?" June asks as the younger girl trails off. She puts down her fork and stares at Eun Kyo with a frown on her face.

Eun Kyo bites her lip, and Arie and Jin exchange confused glances. "It seems like whoever kidnapped Joon, kidnapped the rest of MBLAQ too."

A moment of silence, then -

"WHAT?!" Arie yells at the top of her voice, standing up in her shock. Her chair scrapes against the floor as she does so. "No, no-no-no-no-no... this can't be happening!" 

Jin shares a worried glance with his sister, and the he stands up and tries to get the older girl to calm down. "Arie-noona, I'm sure Cheondoong will be just fine, you should just-"

"My Doongie has been kidnapped!" Arie wails, cutting him off and giving him a panic-filled look. "He's been kidnapped by some crazy fan who'll probably eat him alive and pinch his cute little cheeks until they wilt and fall off! And you expect me to take this calmly? Never!"

"Arie-unnie," Eun Kyo pipes up, joining Jin beside Arie with Reena and June. "Seriously, I'm sure they'll do something about this! They won't let the whole band just disappear like that! They have to do something about this!"

Shocking them further still, Arie bursts into tears. Alarmed, Jin throws an arm over her shoulder and guides her into her chair. sliding into the empty one on the other side of her. The other three girls resume their positions, Eun Kyo Arie's arm to calm her down, and the best friends murmuring encouraging words to her. The whole group knows how much the idol means to Arie, as she's probably his biggest fan. News like this struck her deep. She glances up slightly and motions for the newspaper, tears still rolling down her face.

The article doesn't help much. "How can they say this about my Doongie?" she chokes out, more tears spilling over the rims of her eyes. The other four shake their heads, unable to give her an answer. June looks quite upset as well - how often is it that a whole group of idols gets kidnapped? Something must be seriously wrong with the security - or maybe the kidnappers just got them at strategic times when they happened to be most vulnerable. Whoever the kidnappers are, they're extremely smart, Reena realises with a jolt. She's about to say something, but Jin catches her eye, notices the look in them, and quickly shakes his head. She holds her tongue, deciding that it'll be more tactical of her to bring up the point later, once they've all recovered from the shock.

June and Jin sit next to Arie, comforting her as Eun Kyo and Reena hold a heated discussion on the other side of the table. The food is left forgotten on the countertop. A few minutes pass, and as Arie calms herself, the conversation between the two girls dies down, and they resume eating their food in silence.

"We should talk about this," Arie says loudly, breaking the silence. "I want revenge on the person who thought they can kidnap my Doongie and get away with it."

"Well," Reena starts, pushing up her glasses. "The article says that it's possible the same people who kidnapped Joon, did the same to MBLAQ - which I think is the most likely option. Whoever did it, also knows their schedule reasonably well, because they managed to get MBLAQ when they were least prepared, and on two occasions. I think it's a fan."

"True enough," Jin agrees. "But what I'm worried about is that poor Sofia'll have to get the blame for all of this. Miyu texted me yesterday and told me that she's over at her's."

Arie nods furiously. "Miyu's made headway. She -"

"Headway? What do you mean?" four voices chorus back at her.

"Listen," she explains. "Miyu gave me a call yesterday, and since I was free and bored, I went over. She asked me to do a bit of hacking, and we discovered footage of the kidnapping. And," she hesitates for a second, "she said that she knows the person behind the kidnapping."

"She knows who did this?" June repeats, her eyes widening.

Reena's expression mirrors her friend's shock. "Then we can take action, can't we? Like, do something about it, rather than sitting here while more idols get kidnapped?"

Arie shakes her head. "Miyu was pretty worked up about it. She was crying and stuff and she made us promise not to go to the police."

"She cried over this?" Jin repeats, disbelief written in his eyes. "I think we should go and talk to her."

"I think we should. I'm worried now," Eun Kyo says, her lips pursed in anxiety.

The oldest girl stands up and grabs her car keys. "What are we waiting for?"



Miyu glances up from the newspaper with fire in her eyes. Everything just seems to be going wrong - and it all seems to lead to one person. 

But Isabella isn't to blame here. She genuinely doesn't know anything about the kidnapping - she was clueless yesterday, and she was also concerned about it... but there seems to be something a little off about the whole thing as well. Miyu feels like she's missing something important, but she can't for the life of her figure out what it could be. That night, after she left Isabella's house, when she retreated to the park to think things over, she realised something.

Isabella has changed.

She's not the person Miyu once knew. It's like that one event had been a marker for when her life took another turn, one in a completely different direction from where Miyu's life is headed. After that one incident, Isabella became a stranger. The thought broke her heart, and it's still taking time for her to get used to. And to think, once, they had been best of friends, inseparable...

San Shi enters the kitchen then, where Miyu has been waiting for the cookies to finish baking. "You feeling better now?"

Miyu nods in return, giving her a tight smile. "I am, but look what happened this morning," she mutters, pushing the newspaper over to her friend, who picks it up and scans it quickly. Her expression soon sours.

"MBLAQ has been kidnapped?"

"So they say," the younger responds, pulling on a glove and moving over to the oven just as it beeps to signal that the cookies are done.

"I can't believe he was okay yesterday..." San Shi trails off softly, a faraway look in her eyes. Miyu turns to see her staring into space with a sad smile on her face. Her brows furrow, and she wonders what the older girl is thinking. She sets the tray of cookies down on a rack to let them cool, and puts in a second batch, before wandering over to the spot in front of San Shi and waving a hand to catch her attention.

"San Shi," she calls, and the girl's eyes snap over to hers. "What are you talking about?"

Her blue hair flies as she whirls around to pace next to the counter. Miyu watches her apprehensively. "Isn't it funny how things change, just like that?" she asks cryptically, snapping a finger to demonstrate the speed at which things take a downturn.

"What are you talking about?" Miyu asks, moving closer to the counter to lean on it as her friend resumes her frantic pacing.

"I saw him, yesterday. I saw Yang Seungho, at my grandmother's bookstore across the street. I saw him!" she repeats, looking extremely flustered. Miyu feels a creeping sense of alarm at her actions. "He talked to me. Everything seemed normal. And now you tell me that he's been kidnapped? It just doesn't seem real!"

"You saw Yang Seungho, and you didn't tell me about it?" Miyu smiles for a few moments, unable to resist the temptation to friend, who shoots her a glare for the unnecessary question. "Well, that's unexpected. That you met Seungho, I mean. But sadly, yes, he apparently has been kidnapped, and the blame is going to fall on Sofia-unnie again."

San Shi's expression softens, then hardens again. "We have to do something about this - we can't let it keep going."

"I have a plan," Miyu says slowly, her eyes tracing the outline of her fingers as she awaits the other girl's reply.

Two hands grab her shoulders and her body is shaken firmly once. She looks up into San Shi's fiery eyes as she tells her, "We have to do everything we can to help Sofia. She can't be blamed for this."

"I know," Miyu replies solemnly. 

"What's your plan, then?"

Miyu shrugs. "I need to get as many people as possible involved in this. Our first step is to contact that girl we saw in the video. And to do that, we need to get information about her."

A flash of caramel appears at the doorway, and Sofia confidently steps into the kitchen, a look of determination in her eyes. "Before you ask, yes, I've been listening. And I know her. Her name is Hanyeon, and I'm sure that's going to be useful in sourcing her out."

"Neither of us, and I'm sure Jiyong as well, is going to let you take any of the blame for this," Miyu tells her, a spark in her eyes. "We're going to hunt down these kidnappers and make them pay."

Just then, Jiyong joined them in the kitchen, a crease between his eyebrows and a frown on his face. "Uh, girls? We have a problem..."



Sofia stares at the girl seated on her best friend's sofa. Green eyes stare back at her, an evil light in them. Long black hair in a stylish step-cut reaches down to her waist, and her long bangs cover her eyebrows. Her face is pale, but her cheeks are a brilliant shade of red, the skin around her eyes tight. Long fingers are curled over her palms to form fists on her lap, and tiny scars are startlingly white against her knuckles. Her long legs are folded underneath her daintily. Sofia decides immediately that she doesn't like Daniella, no matter how pretty she looks. Jiyong, as if reading her thoughts, squeezes her hand tight.

"How did you get here?" Miyu asks, although Sofia thinks she knows the answer already.

The girl shrugs, finally dragging her glare off her to place it on her younger friend instead. Her large, rainbow-patterned spectacles just serves to make her look comical, rather than intimidating. Daniella remains silent. Jiyong told Sofia earlier that a girl was fangirling over him outside the door, and that she had introduced herself as Daniella Bianchi - although he had trouble with the name. And when Sofia stormed out to confront the girl, she'd found the stranger staring goofily back at her with her weird getup. Now, the girl is sitting on the couch, and Sofia has to struggle not to go over to her and give her a solid whack.

"Excuse me," Sofia says now, venom in her voice. "She asked you a question."

"Fine, I'll answer then," Daniella snarkily replies. "I stalked Kwon Jiyong."

Sofia's boyfriend chokes at her side, and she grips his hand tighter. "Why? And from where?"

The other girl giggles, a hand flying up to cover her open mouth. "Isn't it obvious? I'm his biggest fan!" Sofia snorts. "Anyway, I followed him from the dorm this morning, and I found he came straight here."

Jiyong dips his head, regretting that he hadn't accepted Miyu's offer to stay the night. Now he's led an obsessive fan over to her house - a huge problem for her in the future, because Daniella would probably never stop pestering Miyu about him. 

"Aren't you even the least bit disappointed to find that he has a girlfriend?" Miyu asks, curiosity evident in her voice. San Shi nudges her impatiently, but the younger stubbornly continues, "I mean, you look like you haven't a care in the world."

"Of course I dont," Daniella flashes a smile at Jiyong, who avoids her gaze. "I know he'll be mine eventually. I mean, for one, I look way better than that stuck up lawyer."

Sofia makes move to stand up, but Jiyong keeps her anchored next to him as he leans over to whisper in her ear, "Don't worry about it, she's not worth your attention."

San Shi scowls, hurt at the insult to her friend. "You know, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say it."

"She asked," the girl points at Miyu, who looks stony.

"I think you should go now," Miyu tells her, glaring at the rude intruder.

Daniella shrugs again. "I'm going to stay outside until Jiyong comes out." With that, she smiles, stands up, and makes a move to leave.

As the door shuts behind her, Sofia whacks the arm of her chair and stands up. "What gives her the right to -"

"Ssh," Jiyong says to her, a finger on her lips. "I'll handle this, alright?"

Sofia's eyes widen. "Ji-oppa, who knows what she might do to you!"

"BIL, no," Miyu insists, standing up. "She might kidnap you!"

Jiyong raises an eyebrow. "Why am I suddenly BIL?"

Sofia and San Shi look to the younger girl for an answer, but she turns red. "It stands for Brother-In-Law, and it kind of slipped out..."

"Brother-In-Law?!" the older three repeat, dumbfounded. Jiyong and Sofia exchange glances, while San Shi grins.

"I agree with Miyu! It's perfect!" Both girls throw an arm over each others' shoulder and grin at Sofia, who's jaw is slack.

"Actually, I think it's a pretty good name," Jiyong says gently, nudging his girlfriend with a soft look in his eyes. Sofia nearly melts. "Anyway, this BIL has to go outside to deal with a stalker fan."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," San Shi insists. "She seriously might do something to you."

Jiyong smiles confidently. "Trust me on this, I'll be fine, and I'll get her away."

"If you're kidnapped," Sofia threatens, "I can't guarantee the safety of the kidnapper. The police might only find bits and pieces of her left."

"I know," he chuckles, and leans down to plant a kiss on her lips before taking off out the door.



Joon stares at his feet, tapping out a rhythm to one of MBLAQ's songs. He's alternated between scouting out the room, trying to unlock the door - which won't budge - and stare into space, trying to think of a way to escape. His prison is devoid of any way to get out, and he's tried countless times to do what they always do in books, knock on the walls to find a hollow panel to locate a secret passageway out of the cell. He's been having no luck whatsoever so far.

His stomach growls, and he realises that it's almost time for dinner. It's then that the door to the basement slides open, and his captor walks in flanked by two grinning girls around her age. The first looks fierce, with sharp features, and although she seems small, she has this presence that makes him feel intimidated just by setting eyes on her. The second is tall enough to be a model, and she looks like she drips money. Her lips are twisted into a smile.

"Joon-oppa," she croons, making his insides twist. It's so awkward when she says that, that he feels like cringing. But he schools his expression into one of nonchalance, trying to ignore the smirks on the faces of the other two. "I'll bring dinner down later - how are you doing right now?"

"Isa," the rich one says, her voice like honey. "Hana and I'll be outside with the others."

His captor nods, and the extra two walk outside, the one who spoke trying desperately to hold in laughter about something. Joon feels a sinking feeling in the pits of his stomach. Others?

"Your name is Isa?" he asks instead, staring at her. 

Her eyes widen. "Right, I forgot to introduce myself to you! My name is Isabella. Anyway, you're getting a surprise after dinner," she tells him, and his gut lurches. He has a horrible feeling that whatever this surprise is, he's not going to like it.

"After all, you've been feeling lonely, right?"

A/n: New characters:
_junspirit-- - Oh Eunyoung, June
ryzn104 - Reena Yong (she didn't apply but I wanted to include her - so kill me :P)
Ren-chan - Daniella Bianchi

Sorry this is up so late! I know I said I might put it up yesterday or the day before, but that didn't work out for me. This is the longest chapter I've written in my life, because it's 4400 words. Yes, 4400 words. :D Okay, well, 4395, but it's close enough. :) It's because I love you all, and your comments seriously give me motivation to write. It's a loooong chapter, and it's full of twists and turns. It's a very important chapter in the fic, and I can't believe it's only been 9 chapters! With everything that's happened in here, it feels like it should be a LOT longer, right? Anyway, I adore you readers sooo much, but I bet you know that, right? :D Don't ever forget it.

Plus, I feel sorry about the characters and the way I've written them. Not all the main characters have been introduced yet, and not all the characters I've introduced so far are main characters. Although they may be there in every chapter, that doesn't mean they're main either. And you have to understand, I have 40 characters to balance, so it's obvious that I can't dedicate the whole story to just one character... and I have idols to write about as well. To be fair to you, I've chosen a few characters to make as main, and they deserve to be where they are. But the others have been introduced and I will be writing about them in detail too, although not as much as I would the main characters. I'm sorry, but I can't do any better than that. I'm 15, and still inexperienced. So please, give the other characters love as well, alright? Besides, I've already warned you about this - that I might not make your character a main. Just because I didn't tell you specifically whether your character is a main (I won't tell you), doesn't give you the right to forget that.

All the characters in this fic are amazing, trust me. Half the time, I promise you won't even notice that certain characters are main characters and others are not. So please, can you give ALL the characters love? I know that one might mean a lot to you, for whatever reason. But as the author, I'm the one spinning this tale, and I see characters as I see them, so I'll write them how I want to. I'm already trying very, VERY hard for this fic. I hope you understand that. 

Thanks for reading the rant. I just got a little upset. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it :D Don't hesitate to give me feedback about the story, but again, no negative feedback about the characters, because I'm touchy about them. They're all amazing. BTW, sorry for trolling, people. I couldn't resist.

By the way, this chapter is dedicated to a number of people - Pandate because you've been through a rough time, Lollypop because you've made me smile heaps these past few days, Nia unnie because you stole me, Sofia because Jifia is my favourite pairing, and Aleric because you just finished your exams and I missed you. :D