~Tao~

He dropped the phone. It came as too much of a shock, he felt like he couldn't breathe for a second, his chest tight. That was a hostage call, he was sure. Someone was forcing her to make that call.

A million and one different options went through his mind, he didn't like any of them, they all ended in Min-hee being hurt.

Tao took Chanyeol by the collar, shoving him toward a wall. "If you had anything to do with this, if your stupid digging led to this, I'll beat you senseless, understand me?!"

Chanyeol blinked. Confused. "Um, Okay? Why? Who was that on the phone?"

Tao let go of him, not in the mood to explain. He went over to the desk where Yi Xing was keeping his stuff, and rifled through it, taking his keys, his shirt, and his shoes. As he buttoned up his shirt, he glared at Chanyeol, not for any specific reason, because chances were, he had nothing to do with this, but Tao wanted to be upset at someone. "If the doctor asks, make up something." He said finally.

Chanyeol blinked, running a hand through his hair. "Panda-a-a-a, I really don't want to piss you off more then you already are, but you do realize that you're in the hospital because--?"

"Chanyeol, I will break your teeth, say it one more time, and I swear." Tao growled. He knew why he was here, too much fighting, too much work--just too much. Maybe Chanyeol caught the look in Tao's eyes, but he was right, Tao wanted to fight again, even if it wasn't good for him. This was different, this was Min-hee.

Chanyeol pouted, not saying anything as Tao put on his shoes. That seemed to have shut him up. So Tao was left with plenty of his thoughts, swirling around in his head as he thought of what Min-hee might be feeling, what she might be thinking, what she meant by 'coming home'.

She couldn't mean his actual house, could she? She'd never been there, Tao was too much of a coward to show her his actual run down house. She must have meant the other house, the house that wasn't actually his. Unless whoever had her told her to say the whole thing, and he knew where Tao actually lived? Or maybe they meant his hometown?

It was frustrating. But he couldn't waste too much time speculating, so he put his jacket on, picking up his phone and putting it in his jean's pocket.

Tao was about to push the door open when Chanyeol cleared his throat. "I hope she's okay." He said solemnly, his voice missing it's usual life and bubble.

Tao glanced at the door, then at Chanyeol, sighing. "Thank you, Happy Virus." Tao bowed.

A grin appeared on Chanyeol's face like how the sun rises, slow, seemingly unsure, but coming out shining far too brightly.

Then Tao opened the door, leaving the room. Yi Xing was nowhere to be seen, so Tao hardly had a hard time walking down the hallway and away from the room. He just had to make sure Yi Xing didn't see him leaving. For how shy and awkward he seemed, he'd probably have a heart attack when he saw Tao leaving.

~~~

Getting out of the Hospital was the easy part, the next part was searching for Min-hee. He supposed he should check his actual house first, since it was closest, but it wasn't like it was walking distance so he had to hail a cab.

He figured he still had about just enough for cab fare on him, he could pay for this one trip.

The inside of the cab smelled like leather. He knew the leather wasn't new, but it gave off that smell of freshly cured leather, and it made him queasy. It might be even worse then the hospital. At least the hospital wasn't painted an obnoxious yellow.

Tao told the driver the address. Not quite caring that the address was in the run down part of town and he didn't quite match the profile. He honestly didn't give a damn about the look the driver gave him, instead just squinting at the driver as a way of asking why he hadn't started driving yet.

The driver seemed to catch on that Tao wasn't in the mood and started driving.

Tao sighed, opening a window to let some fresh air into the leather-smelling cab. Then he went through his phone, finding the contact that Chanyeol had added to his phone. He ought to change the display name, Baby Mini sounded weird, like some kind of stripper name or something. But for now he just wanted to call the number, see if she'd pick up, or if someone else picked up, or something. If he could just maybe...somehow make sure she was alright.

Tao knew how kidnapping worked. They didn't have to keep her alive, they just had to make him think that she was alive so he'd come running. Just barely alive enough was good for that too.

When he was about to call, his phone buzzed, playing an alarm sound effect. Tao frowned. Checking the message, it was the alarm system for the mansion. He'd had the alarm system routed to his phone when he agreed to pet-sit, but this was really the first time he'd actually gotten a text from it.

"W-wait!" Tao stuttered, realizing what that must mean. "Turn around!" He told the driver, then relaying the new address to him.

"That's an extra--."

"I don't care! Go! Goddamn it, just drive!"

After the driver had actually turned around, Tao looked at the message again. The guy who owned the house was loaded, so his alarm system had a report to go with the message.

A window was broken, a passcode hadn't been entered, there was even an option to notify the police, a countdown next to the option. Tao took that as if he didn't press anything that the police would be notified anyway. He picked not to notify them. He knew who this was.

Wouldn't it be that stalker? Wouldn't it be some sick surprise from Lu Han? He had taken way too much interest in Min-hee...Kidnapping wouldn't be below him, and he wouldn't put it past a stalker who specialized in kidnapping and...torture.

Tao ran a hand through his hair. Sh*t, what if he was torturing her? Hurting her? He'd already been through these thoughts, but it hurt all over again. It scared him. Min-hee was completely innocent.

"Drive fast, I'll tip you, just drive fast." Tao said to the driver. "I'll pay you double the fare."

Hearing that, the driver sped down the streets.

Tao closed his eyes and leaned his head back. Even this isn't fast enough, none of this is. Who knew what Min-hee might be experiencing? His imagination went too far, too gruesome, too violent.

What if they...violated her? It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

When the cab driver pulled up to the house, Tao nearly threw the money at him before stumbling out of the cab. He'd probably thought of every single bad thing that could happen, the only thing left was the reality, and he wasn't sure he could face it, but he was going to anyway.

The alarm was still blaring, drowning out any other noise. He was surprised the neighbors had said nothing, but then they were probably all at their summer houses, like Suri's owner was.

Tao didn't bother with the door, climbing in through the broken window. The alarm was even louder inside, the tone hurting his ears. He went straight to the alarm's controls, entering the passcode as fast as he could so the noise would stop.

When it stopped, all that was left was dead silence. No Suri barking, no telltale noises of people talking or anything.

Tao walked further in, soon finding Suri curled up on the couch, head buried in a pillow. He reached out to pet the dog, but Suri whimpered. Something had scared her pretty bad. Tao picked her up, inspecting her as she whimpered and whined. "What scared you, Suri? You're shaking..." He said, mostly to himself. He held the dog close, petting her.

Then he heard a scream. The scream nearly made him drop Suri, what was worse was the pleas that followed the scream. "Help! Please help me! Please!" The voice sounded like it was crying--sobbing.

Worse then that, he recognized the voice, he knew that voice. He set Suri down on the floor and headed toward the pleas. That was Min-hee's voice, he was positive, and the tone of it made him feel...

He wasn't sure what he felt. But he followed the voice, the screams, the cries. down the hallway toward the back of the house. Someone had found it funny to put Min-hee in his bedroom.

The door was closed, but Tao could still hear her yelling like it wasn't. He tentatively gripped the doorknob, twisting it slowly. She could just be alone, or someone could be with her and told her to scream. The kind of people Tao worked around were sick bastards, they'd do that.

He opened the door as slow as he could bear, checking the corners of the room he could see. He heard the crying pause, quieter, though the halting breath she was taking was just as loud in the empty quiet house.

Tao groaned, then just threw the door open. He couldn't just listen to it anymore.

When he saw Min-hee, she was sitting on the floor, hair all askew and glasses on the floor, looking like she'd thrown them off by accident, and since she was tied to the bed post, she couldn't reach them. And besides her glasses, she looked like she was trying to reach for a knife that was embedded in the floor.

Tao knelt in front of her, picking up her glasses and putting them on her face. She looked like she'd been crying for hours, her eyes red and puffy. Tao reached behind her, not breaking the eye contact he had with her, and untied her.

"T-Tao?" She asked, sniffling, "He--kiss--touched...He..." She said, her words broken, seeming like her thoughts were just as broken.

After he had her untied, he kept his arms around her, holding her to him, her heart was pounding out the most frantic rhythm against her ribcage, he could feel it, every single beat. He thought for a second she might have a heart attack.

But instead she just slowly worked her arms around him too, hugging him tight. Her warm hands on his back felt nice, even if she was digging her nails in his back, quietly crying into his shoulder.

Tao sucked in a shaky breath. She was so close...But then, she was so scared, so small. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Did..." He held her tighter, her warm body shaking with sobs. She couldn't possibly answer him.

He rested his chin on the top of her head, rubbing her back gently. After a minute, he backed a little out of the embrace and put a hand to her face, wiping a few tears with his thumb.

She stared into his eyes, her dark eyes capturing his soul and not letting go. He couldn't look away even if he wanted to, and he couldn't help himself, he kissed her cheek softly, his lips lingering on her soft tear stained skin longer then they should.

He watched Min-hee blush as he came away, her cheeks absolutely red.

"I'm sorry..." Tao said. He wasn't sure if he was apologizing for leaving her alone for so long, or the kiss.

Min-hee's mouth opened slightly, it made Tao's heart skip. "I'm just glad you're--."

Tao kissed her, full on the lips. Screw it, screw all of it. He'd wanted to, he might as well, the dork made him so damn needy, he wanted her more then anything right at the moment.

Min-hee gasped in his mouth, her eyes wide with shock. Tao chuckled against her lips, pulling her closer before falling to his back, pulling her with him.

Screw money, screw the boss, screw Lu Han, his little henchman, screw Haneul and her stupid b*tchy texts. This dork in her ridiculous glasses was all he needed.

Even if she didn't kiss him back.

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A/N: Hehehehehe~! ;)

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So, hey, wassup~?

<3~Neri~ (Because I feel like signing again idk why :3 )