The faint echo of raindrops was the only sound in the still, cold room as Ga Eul came to, icy drops hitting her cheek from a crack way up high, a deep ache in the back of her head throbbing painfully as if she had been hit by something. Confusion flooded her mind as she took in the dismal place. Had it only been that morning she was so blissfully unaware of the darkness that would come? Of the shadow that would cast itself so unwelcomed over her bright day? It had all melted away in an instant, and now all that surrounded her was the garbage that littered the dark, smelly room she sat in with only the faint orange glow from under the doorway for company.

Attempting to stand, she staggered to her feet, swaggering slightly as she discovered one of her shoes was missing—my favorite pair too, she added indignantly to her list of injuries as she slowly edged towards the door. Something sharp stabbed her shoeless foot, and she nearly cried out in pain. Stifling the scream, she inched closer to her target on her tiptoes. Breathing in relief when no sounds could be heard from the other side, she tentatively tried the lock. No luck. It was locked tight. Sinking back to the floor, she held her head, trying to think as she dug a small glass shard from her foot with her free hand. Ga Eul hated feeling trapped and she was as good as a prisoner in her current situation.

The dark dampness did nothing to help displace her feelings of dread, but as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, another light caught her eye. It was coming from a small rectangular space close to the floor on the opposite wall. Crawling towards the cool gray light, she discovered an old vent and a slight breeze wafting in—it opened to the outside!

It was small but maybe…

Using the foot with a shoe, she pushed and kicked with all her might, leaning back on her elbows for better leverage in the cramped space, cringing each time a clang rang out. But nobody had heard—or at least nobody had come running—and eventually, the metal creaked slowly out of the wall, inching past its rusty frame. There was still a side hanging on, but a final kick with her heel sent it out with a thud. Barely stopping to celebrate her victory over the grate, Ga Eul began tearing at the edges of the opening, vainly trying to displace a board, a nail, anything to make a bigger hole. But the wood paneling wouldn't budge, leaving her with splintered fingers and only a small rectangle open to the outside world. Still, this was better than nothing. At least she had fresh air. Peering out, Ga Eul was shocked to see nothing but a field. If she couldn't get out, she had hoped there'd be a road with passersby's who would see her signaling for help or at least a landmark she could use to navigate where she was. But she might as well have been on Mars. There was nothing in sight but rolling wheat and dried-up sod stretching endlessly for miles.

She was alone.

Exhausted, Ga Eul slumped against the wall, sucking on a bruised finger as she leaned her weary head against the rough wood. She had to get out of here. Perhaps this was all just a horrible nightmare, and she'd wake up from it any minute. Perhaps it was all just a big mistake. Sure, a big group of thugs "mistakenly" trapped you in a car and knocked you over the head, her brain taunted.

Perhaps it wasn't a mistake, but the people who had brought her here didn't intend for her to die…at least, not yet if they was any indication. They hadn't really harmed her either—well, except for the pain in her head and a few bruises on her arms…Who was she kidding? Whoever had abducted her hadn't brought her here for a picnic.

Eyeing the small water bottle placed just inside the door, she wondered again if it was safe to drink it. For all she knew, it could be drugged or poisoned…still, she was thirsty. They didn't mean to starve her, at least she huffed, seeing the bag of expired crisps as she neared the door once more. Before she could take any consolation from this, she remembered something strange that had happened as she was taken, grabbing the bag and water bottle before scurrying back to the other side that felt safer, she relived the moment she was ambushed.

Although she couldn't quite make out the people who had taken her—the images were still rather fuzzy in her brain—they had made no effort to cover their faces. In fact, they had made no effort to hind their identity at all.

Maybe she'd be able to identify them to police later…if there ever was a later—for Ga Eul realized her captors obviously had no intentions of her ever being able to identify them to police…They didn't mean for her to survive. In the back of her mind, she pulled up a snippet of conversation she remembered hearing before all went black, "don't hurt her. The boss wants her alive, for now." Lost in the panic of the moment while frantically fighting her attackers off, she'd nearly forgotten the icy words, but now they rang in her head as the hours ticked by. They wanted her alive, "for now."


Yi Jeong's head whipped around at the words.

"Let out on good behavior? That son of a bitch?!"

"There's more. The officer I talked to also didn't believe it. Further digging showed the man had been reassigned under a different name, so Dae Sab was not let out on good behavior, a man named Moon Seul was. Someone altered the paperwork and whoever did has been working on this for months."

"Let me get this straight, someone purposely helped that scumbag escape by forging his documents to make him look like another prisoner that was due for release?" Jun Pyo asked incredulously.

"hhm, and someone had to infiltrate the system to get Dae Sab in on it too. Of course, the bastard didn't care who was harmed as long as he got out. What's interesting is whoever helped him remained anonymous."

"How do you know for sure? Dae Sab could be lying."

"Unlikely, the officer I talked to said they suspect a sort of prisoner underground was at work given how organized the crime was. Plus, I don't think Dae Sab'd have the guts to lie given the options my men gave him."

Jun Pyo and Ji hoo exchanged a look over the phone the three members of the F4 were huddled around. They had no doubt the scab had talked like his life depended on it, it probably had given the mafia's penchant for invitations to sleep with the fishes.

"And all that, just to put Yi Jeong off on the wrong lead." Ji Hoo mused quietly, he knew corruption found its way in all levels of the government, but this case was quickly providing deeply disturbing details of just how far gone the system was.

"Looks like it."Woo Bin continued relaying his report via speakerphone, "and that's not all. The officers might have found trace fingerprints on Ga Eul's phone; they're running forensic tests right now."


Ga Eul didn't know how long she had been there. It had been dark the first time she peeked outside her little grate window, but now it was inky black, and an owl hooted eerily in the distance. Great, now all she needed was a ghost or phantom to drip out of the walls. Ga Eul doubted anything could make this nightmare more terrifying yet, at this point, she almost wished a phantomy ghost would apparate out of the woodwork.At least a ghost would give me some company. A noise shook her from these thoughts.

There it was again.

She thought she could hear it coming from the other side of the wall she was leaning against. A faint murmuring. Or, crying? Whatever it was again, she wasn't alone in this dark, dismal place, and that gave her some comfort, even if it was small. Sitting up, she placed her ear against the wood and knocked twice. Nothing. She waited a second before repeating the mantra. There was a scuffling sound followed by a knock.

A knock!

Ga Eul's heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She knocked again to show she had heard, but suddenly another sound could be heard—the faint scrape of the door and then men's voices in the other room.

"Get her over here, boss wants ta see her."

"let me go!" a distinctly female voice shrieked in fear.

"Ugh she bit me!" there was a clatter, and then a loud thud that sounded like a heavy object fell, a man cursed, "take that you little—"

A scuffle ensued and Ga Eul didn't have the heart to listen anymore as shouts mixed with screams and crying. Ugly brutes hitting a defenseless girl. Sinking back into her corner, Ga Eul curled her knees up under her chin, fighting the fear that swamped her soul.

She'd find a way out. She would escape. She just had to wait for her chance, however slim it might be. Gripping the glass she had pried from her foot earlier, the slight girl determined whatever they had planned for her, she would fight. Even if she didn't win, she wouldn't go down easily.

Now all she had to do was wait. A drop of blood trailed its way down her wrist as her hand tightened around the fragmented shard.


There's part 1 of chapter 14! Thanks for all the love the last chapter received and encouragement in the comments, it really made my day to read them:)