He was in no mood to socialize. He had had an extremely tiring day and all he wanted to do was sleep. Taehyung's phone hummed in vibration for the third time in a row; the first two of which he had ignored gracefully. Muttering a string of curses, he grimly picked up the call.

"Who is this?" He seethed through his gritted teeth.

The other end replied with a voice all too familiar to him. He suddenly sat upright on his bed, momentarily forgetting his weariness. The voice merely uttered three words. But those three words were enough to shake Taehyung to the core. His fingers shivered a little as he realised how shockingly powerful words can be. The call had already skipped to a monotonous long beep indicating that it was disconnected but he held on to it; it was the only thing going steady in his life.

***

Kira slammed the laptop shut, desperate not to give her email inbox another chance to distract her with a chiming notification. She'd promised her roommates that she'd steady her sleep schedule and she intended to keep it. Not surprisingly, her body was already under protest by being too weak for her liking. She'd even fainted once, earning her an hour-long lecture from Hoseok on the importance of taking care of herself (he'd even prepared a set of graphic slides to 'attract her attention'-oh! the embarrassment).

She quickly brushed over her closing routines and jabbed at the elevator button. Kira cursed under her breath as her watch read an unfavourable time. She was late. As usual. The heels of her boots clattered noisily on the cemented floor of the basement. She mentally reminded herself to thank Jin later on for forcing her to take the car, for she was sure that no public transports would show mercy on her at this time of the hour.

She took her key out and pressed a button, prompting the car to greet her with a loud double succession of beeps from the far corner of the parking lot. She quickened her footstep but abruptly stopped as she heard a pair that wasn't her own. Considering it a part of her weird imagination; she continued, not bothering to stop. Another clank resonated across the empty lot, effectively grabbing her attention. She tucked the phone into her pocket and readied herself for any surprises that might come her way. She cautiously stepped her way forward, careful not to make too much noise. She heard it again; the unmistakable sound of another human. This piqued her interest.

She whipped her head back just in time to see a hooded figure scurry into the cover of a pillar. Her body was alert and her heart sped fast in anticipation. Her first instinct was to run, get to the car and avoid conflict as much as possible. As she started sprinting, she saw another hooded figure emerging towards her. She halted in her tracks and swiftly looked back to see the body from before walking towards her, trapping her between the two of them.

Without another thought, she made a beeline to the visible exit. The figures whom she now realised were men caught up to her and she felt a strong arm gripping her shoulders. She grabbed it and did a semi spin, twisting his arm in the process.

She kicked him in the abdomen with all her might. The second man had already planned his assault, throwing a direct punch to her face. She swivelled sideways but her left cheeks throbbed from the partial hit. She wasted no time in grabbing onto the fist, her other hand working on a clean jab. Just as the man retracted in pain, the other threw himself at her. She collapsed onto the floor with the weight of a heavy stranger on top of her. Kira was best known for her quick reflexes which was aided by her smaller frame. She rolled the man away, straddling him to deliver punches onto his face. Just as she thought she had a chance, the other man pried her from the now writhing body. She fell on her butt and felt her scalp searing in pain as he pulled her by her hair. He kneed her in the chest and Kira coughed, desperately trying to free herself from his grasp.

She blindly threw hooks and punches at him, hoping to push him away. She finally managed to throw him off, the momentum propelling her to the ground away from him. She scrambled to her feet and rushed herself further away from them. Her vision focused solely on the dark mass of night screen that opened up from the basement. Before she could reach far, two strong arms encircled around her. She felt herself being lifted off the ground as the arms tightened itself around her. She found herself gasping for breath, her strength draining rapidly. She felt lightheaded but sharply forced herself to think straight. She drove her elbows backwards, burying it deep into her assaulter's chest. He dropped her and she struggled to keep balance, running as fast as her legs would take her.

Her heart sped up with relief as she gained speed, rapidly closing in the gap between herself and her salvation. The next few seconds were a blur. The clatter of her boots echoed, creating a cacophony against her noisily beating heart. Strands of ferociously swaying hair danced unconcerned over her eyes, while some stuck onto her clammy forehead. She felt unattached to her own body as though she was trapped inside a sinking vessel. Her whole thought process was hell bent on achieving one single goal and she felt as though she herself was unaware of it. A tiny part of her knew she'd make it out fine. Fending off two guys wasn't as taxing to her, at least not on normal days. She'd been learning to do this for as far as she could remember. But that bit of positivity was far outnumbered by the disgusting ways her mind manipulated her. It made her believe that she had no chance of survival. It made her believe that there'd be something trivial, waiting to push her into an abyss of horror.

It just so happened that her tiny ray of positivity lost; spiralling endlessly into a place she never knew existed. If it were a movie, she believed it'd happen in slow motion. The unfateful presence of a leg tripping her, throwing her off balance. She'd have enough time to see the faces of those around her, drinking in the emptiness of her surroundings. She'd feel the stern tugging of her hair as she gets pulled harshly on to her knees. Each part of her body would burn as she looked up at the face of a nameless man standing intimidatingly in front of her. She'd feel the terror rising in her chest, chocking her as the deep sinister eyes bore into her soul. But this wasn't a perfectly choregraphed stunt scene. This wasn't captured at the liberty of a camera with endless time.

This was real and mercifully, it was swift. By the time her body hurled itself on the ground, she could barely process what happened. Before she could even try, she was on her knees, staring dumbly at a largely built man in front of her. She could only catch a glimpse of his fast approaching fist as it collided roughly against her jaw. All at once, everything went black.

***

Kira opened her eyes with difficulty. She blinked, her pupils adjusting itself to the dimly lit room. It was dingy and she couldn't make a head and tail out of where she was. Her arms were stiff and her shoulders ached uncomfortably. She realised she was bound to a chair, her hands cuffed behind her back. It took her a while to comprehend and before she knew it, her mind was kick starting onto an array of unpleasant memories.

She tried tracing over details she had, piecing them up together to make some sense. She didn't know where she was. She was here against her will. She was bound to a chair. Jin and Hoseok were most likely to assume that she was still at office; she need not expect any help until the night passes. That was assuming she hadn't blacked out through the night. She didn't know what time it was. And perhaps the most important of them all: She didn't know why she was here.

Kira tried to calm herself, urging herself to focus on things that might actually help her. The room was barren, save for the single door. She tugged her hands and heard the metals clang against themselves. Handcuffs were easy to get off of considering you had the right materials for it. For the first time in a while, Kira found herself praying; desperately hoping that she had a hairpin or anything that could substitute a shim.

She brought her hands closer, rummaging through her back pockets and winced as the metal tightened around her wrists. She wanted to cry out in joy as her fingers traced a thin metallic barrette. She took it out and pushed it into the cuff. She felt it tighten as the shim blocked the handcuff's teeth from catching the lock. It opened with the slightest click and she sighed in relief. She stretched her arms wide and calmly worked on the ropes that tied her to the chair. A few minutes later, she got up victorious. All she needed now was a solid plan.

Kira silently pushed the chair to a corner, away from the sight of the door. Just as expected, it remained sturdily locked no matter how much she tired yanking the handle. And so, she waited. She waited patiently by the side of the door. She had already moved the chair out of sight when the door clicked open. She hoped that the missing chair would arouse a curiosity, giving her an opening to sneak out. The guy who came to check up on her seemed confused as he entered the room. Perfect.

She locked her hands around his neck, pulling him downwards. She closed the door and slammed him against the wall. By the time he knew what was going on, Kira had already planned her entire assault. Within minutes, he laid unconscious on the ground and with much effort, she hauled him up onto the chair. She was a little dizzy with exhaustion but she convinced herself that this was it. She was going to escape.

She unlocked the door and looked around. Seeing that it was deserted, she proceeded further towards a larger room that opened up from the first room. She tip-toed her way to a door less opening and strained her neck to watch out for potential threats. Seeing that it was barren of any visible humans, she cautiously took her step towards the room. Unlike the others, this one had furniture. It couldn't be called a fair décor for it only had the bare minimum. This was the first room with wide open windows and the smell of city air fuelled her spirits. The barricading walls next to it failed to give away the time. She walked past the dusty couch, past the table with a lone book on top of it and made her way towards what appeared to be the fourth room. She took her time inspecting to see if the room had any inhabitants but seeing none, she walked yet again.

This room was large and it gave away an obvious abandoned warehouse vibe. She walked slowly, hoping not to disturb the other line of doors that adorned the sides. The muffled voice of traffic reached her ears and her strides shaped growing confidence. With the softest gasp, she touched the handle of the large door. Her body was screaming with excitement and every nerve tingled in anticipation. She yanked the handle down and to her surprise, it gave away, opening the door at her pull. The outside light blinded her, a stark contrast to the dim rooms. And then, it was replaced with darkness.