The Hostages

The guard threw Jeno back into the cell and Mark ran forward. “What happened? Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling beside him. Jeno nodded, despite the violent shivers shaking his body. Mark took his hand carefully. “He's cold as ice,” he whispered. “What did they do to you?”

“It looks like whatever happened to Chanyeol,” Amber said, glancing over to where Chanyeol was slumped in the corner. “If I'm right, he won't tell us anything either.”

Wendy knelt on Jeno's other side. “It's alright, Jeno,” she whispered. “You can talk to us.”

Jeno merely closed his eyes and curled into a ball. Mark shook his head. “What could be so bad that they won't tell us?” he wondered helplessly.

“It's all mind games,” Taemin said dully. “The man in black wants us to go crazy from wondering.”

“I agree,” D.O said, “but we can't wonder. We have to stay focused.”

“On what?” Amber demanded. “We've lost track of how many days we've been here. What if no one can find us?”

“We have to free ourselves,” Taeyeon rasped, sitting up gingerly. Her injuries were healing, though D.O suspected she had a cracked rib.

“How?” Wendy asked. “We don't know where we are, much less how to get out. You can't even walk, Taeyeon.”

“I could run if it meant getting out of here,” she said stubbornly.

“There's no telling how many guards are up there,” Chanyeol murmured, staring up at the window. “We'd never make it.”

D.O looked around the room. “Don't lose hope, everyone,” he said bravely. “They'll come for us.”

They're giving up, he realized, looking around at his friends. Taemin had barely moved or spoken since that awful day, and Mark was getting more angry with each passing moment. He looked over at Chanyeol. He was withdrawn, his eyes staring sightlessly at the floor. D.O walked over and sat down beside him. “You okay?” he asked.

“Do you think it's Christmas yet?” Chanyeol murmured. D.O shrugged. “I don't know,” he replied. “I don't think so. We can't have been here more than ten days.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Good. I still have time to buy presents,” he said, almost to himself. D.O smiled at him, a flicker of hope gaining strength inside him. We still have time.


******


“Get in here!” Victoria hissed, yanking Xiumin into the office. “Well?” Irene asked eagerly. “What did you find?”

Xiumin pulled his phone out and they all crowded around him. “I found this under the computer pad on the CEO'S desk,” he said, pulling up the pictures. “I think it's an employee file.”

“Who is that?” Onew asked, pointing to the headshot near the top of the page. Xiumin zoomed in on the blurry photo. “I don't know. I've never seen him before. The name was blacked out.”

“That top line says 'Something Director’,” Taeyong read. “Sounds boring.”

“Not if his file’s hidden in the CEO'S desk,” Suho said thoughtfully. “I wonder…”

“Suho, now is not the time to be mysterious,” Taeyong said flatly.

“Sorry,” Suho apologized. “This director must be a suspect. That's why the file was hidden.”

“Come on, there's gotta be a million reasons why the CEO hid his file,” Xiumin reasoned. “We can't get carried away.”

“So what do we do?” Irene asked.

“We'll keep studying the pictures, but until we find something we can't assume this is the guy,” Onew said. “We have to keep looking until something turns up.”

“I don't think you'll find anything else in that office,” Xiumin said. “It's too exposed to keep anything secret there.”

“This is our only lead!” Taeyong exclaimed. “Where else are we supposed to look while we're stuck up here?”

“Maybe we should take tomorrow to figure it out,” Victoria said quickly. “Who knows, we might find something in the pictures that will help us.”

She's right, Suho realized. “Good idea,” he agreed. “We'll reconvene tomorrow night.”

He switched off the lamp before opening the door for the others. We’re running out of time, he thought grimly, closing the door behind him. He looked up and his heart plummeted to his stomach. All the other members were standing in the hallway, staring at the leaders reproachfully. Suho glanced at Onew, who shrugged helplessly. Great. “Hey guys,” Suho said nonchalantly. “Having a hard time sleeping?”

“You disappeared from your beds,” Key said accusingly.

“We were scared someone took you!” Sooyoung snapped. “You can’t just vanish like that!”

“Okay, okay,” Victoria said soothingly. “We’re sorry. Let’s all get back to bed.”

“Not until you tell us about the pictures,” Ten said firmly.

“Were you eavesdropping?!” Taeyong demanded. “That is so-”

“Don’t bother, Taeyong,” Suho said tiredly. “Let’s go back into our room.”

Everyone filed into the boys’ sleeping quarters and stationed themselves around the room, while Suho and the other leaders stood in the middle. They all glanced at each other, unsure how to begin.

“Well?” Seulgi demanded. “We’re waiting.”

Luna elbowed her and she folded her arms impatiently. Suho took a deep breath. “Well, Onew and I got to talking…”

“And we realized that the CEO wasn’t being honest with us,” Onew finished. “He’s ignoring threats from the kidnapper and avoiding the police.”

Surprise rippled through the group as they processed this. “How do you know?” Doyoung asked.

“I overheard the CEO tell his assistant to put the detectives off,” Taeyong said. “And I heard the detectives say he won’t meet with them.”

“Why would he do that?” Yoon-ah wondered. “Doesn’t he want to help Taeyeon and the others?”

Suho hesitated. “We’re not sure,” he confessed.

“Don’t be stupid, of course he wants to help them,” Sehun said dismissively. “Maybe he’s just busy.”

“Too busy to save his artists?” Kai countered, turning to look at him. “If that’s the way he’s handling it, we should all end our contracts right now.”

“Okay, just calm down!” Onew said, raising his hands. “We don’t know why, so we aren’t going to speculate.”

“What are we going to do?” Krystal asked, putting a hand on Kai’s shoulder.

Irene glanced at Suho. “Actually, we’ve already done something,” she admitted.

“I knew it!” Jaemin yelled, only to be immediately hushed by Winwin and Johnny. “Sorry,” he whispered.

“No one can breathe a word of this,” Victoria warned. Everyone nodded in agreement. “We thought the CEO was hiding something, so we sneaked into his office to look.”

“You what?!” Minho exclaimed, alarmed. “How did all of you get in there without being caught?”

“I went,” Xiumin volunteered. “It was pretty easy, actually.”

“Anyway,” Suho said quickly, “the point is Xiumin did find something, though we aren’t sure if it means anything.”

Everyone perked up at this. “What is it?” Seohyun asked eagerly. Xiumin pulled his phone out and handed it to her. “An employee file,” he replied, “though we can’t tell exactly who it is. I was in a hurry to get out of there.”

Seohyun passed the phone around and each idol studied the picture carefully. “Well?” Irene asked. “Does anyone recognize him?”

Jonghyun took the phone. “Hey, I think I remember this guy,” he said suddenly. Suho could hardly believe his ears. “Seriously?” he said disbelievingly. “Who is he?”

Jonghyun thought hard. “I can’t quite remember his name, but it was something that began with an M. He used to be an Outside Director.”

“Used to be?” Chenle asked. “As in retired?”

Jonghyun shook his head. “I think he was fired,” he said, “though I only heard about it after the fact.”

“How in the world do you know that?” Onew asked incredulously. Jonghyun shrugged. “I talk to a lot of people,” he said, giving the phone back.

Onew gave Suho a look before continuing. “If the CEO is hiding something, we may be our friends’ best chance of rescue,” he said. “We can’t talk about this during the day, especially around the staff.”

“We need to work together to learn all we can about this ‘Mr. M’,” Irene added. “It’s a long shot, but it’s the only lead we have.”

The other idols nodded. “You can count on us,” Sunny said bravely.

The girls left and the guys got back into their sleeping bags. Suho turned the light off and laid down, but his mind was spinning too much for him to sleep. Who is Mr. M, and why is the CEO keeping him hidden? he wondered. He looked out the window at the glow of the city. Hold on, guys. Just hold on.


******


Wendy sat in the middle of the black room, hugging her knees to her chest. She was determined to be brave, even though the memory of Taeyeon’s beating kept flashing through her mind. Whatever happens, I will survive it, she promised herself. The invisible door opened and she tensed automatically.

“Why, Wendy, are you afraid of me?” the man in black asked, closing the door behind him. He held a glinting straight razor in his hand and Wendy tried not to whimper. “I’m not afraid,” she whispered, unable to look away from the sharp blade.

The man tossed the blade from hand to hand, the light flashing rapidly. “Still pretending to be brave? I applaud you,” he said, giving her a mocking bow. Wendy squared her shoulders and sat up straight. “What are you going to do to me?” she asked in a clear voice.

“Don’t worry, Wendy,” the man said, pacing around her slowly. “Everyone’s nervous their first time with me, but they soon forget their shyness. Ask your friends.”

Wendy gritted her teeth. “Just tell me,” she said, hugging her knees tighter.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said soothingly. “Just maybe your vanity.”

“What?” Wendy asked, confused. The man grabbed her hair and yanked her head back, making her cry out. “Hold still now,” he whispered, holding the icy blade against her cheek. “I don’t want to cut your pretty head.” He pulled the blade away and started raking it against her hair. Wendy felt large sections tumble down her shoulders onto the floor. “You’re hurting me!” she cried. The man ignored her, more hair falling as he scraped the razor higher and higher.

Don’t struggle, it’s just hair, Wendy reminded herself, though she couldn’t stop tears from forming as her beautiful, long hair collected in downy piles around her. “Why are you doing this?” she managed. She felt the razor meet her scalp as he continued to strip away her hair, his motions precise and methodical. She didn’t dare move for fear of being cut, though he seemed to be taking care not to nick her. Finally he sighed and released his grip on her shoulder. “Look at all this pretty hair,” he said, grabbing fistfuls of it from the floor and holding it in front of her face. “So soft and shiny.”

Wendy’s lip trembled slightly. “I guess you have what you want,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Not quite,” the man snapped, getting up. The main door opened and the guard came back in. “Take her to solitary,” the man instructed, putting the razor in his pocket. The guard hauled Wendy to her feet and she swayed slightly, her legs trembling. “Oh, Wendy?” the man called. “If you tell your friends what happened here, they’ll suffer the consequences.”

The guard shoved Wendy out of the room and propelled her to a tiny cell down the corridor. He locked the door behind her and she released a shaky breath. I’m okay, she told herself. It could’ve been much worse. She ran her hand over her shorn head and allowed a few vain tears to fall. What could he possibly want with my hair? she wondered.

Someone threw a bucket of cold water on her and she gasped as the rivulets ran down her body. “Is someone there?” she asked, peering into the darkness. No one replied and she sat down stiffly, shivering as the cool air prickled her damp skin. Please let someone find us soon, she prayed.

Notes