the next morning, mark was awoken by someone shaking him.

"look at yourself mark! you really smoked all night?!" chenle's high pitched voice hurt his ears.

mark sat up, realising the position he was in: still on the lawn, all his packs of cigarettes around, his lighter not so far and a consumed cigarette between his fingers.

"why are you here and bothering me?" mark groaned rubbing his head.

"the real question is why are you alone here, mark." chenle said.

mark rose to his feet. "they brought donghyuck back to his father around midnight."

"what?! but mark!" chenle ran towards mark, making him stop. "they should have been back since long! it's almost 4:00pm!"

mark's eyes widened. "4:00pm?!"

"mark! you're here!" jeno came rushing towards chenle and him. "where are the others?"

"i don't know. we need to find them. they brought donghyuck back to his father yesterday night, but they still aren't back." mark said heading towards their computer room.

"donghyuck's father?" renjun asked.

jaemin looked at him. "it's a complicated story..."

jaemin and jisung eventually told renjun everything as mark, jeno and chenle were looking for information on their computer.

"taeyong always has his phone with him. hadn't you installed a tracker on it jeno?" mark asked.

"i did." jeno answered instantly, tapping furiously on his keypad. "and it says taeyong is in lee sooman's building."

"and don't you have a way to intrude their camera system or something like that?" chenle piped in.

"i'll try, but i can't promise anything." jeno replied, focusing all his attention on the screen.

"why don't you try calling taeyong?" renjun asked, still a bit shocked by all the revelations.

"he has a point there." jisung stated pointing at renjun and nodding.

mark shuffled around and found a phone. he dialled taeyong's number, and waited for a reply.

"taeyong!" mark said when someone answered the call.

"sorry, but taeyong isn't available for the moment..." a voice he knew too well said.

"junmyeon."

"mark... what a pleasure to speak with you."

mark's grip on the phone tightened.

"...who's on the phone?" he heard someone say in the background. "it's mark mr lee, another of nct's gang members." junmyeon's voice replied.

"what do you want?" mark spat.

junmyeon chuckled. "nothing else than your gang disappearing. and- oh! look who i have here... say hello to mark..."

mark heard a slap followed by a whimper and a weak 'mark'. he immediately recognised donghyuck's voice.

"do not touch him." mark growled, making junmyeon laugh.

"i'm not sure i'll resist. maybe you should come take him back?" he added before hanging up.

they had donghyuck. they had what had become the most precious thing in mark's eyes. mark was weak. junmyeon was using donghyuck to put pressure on mark's shoulders. mark felt horrible.

mark threw the phone on the floor, startling everybody in the room.

"what's with this?" jaemin asked.

"if i understood well, sooman is on exo's side. they have the others and donghyuck." mark explained, cracking his knuckles. "and we'll have to get them out."

XXXXXXXXXX

"so, how are you, my son?"

lee sooman was having dinner, facing his son, donghyuck, and the exo members sitting with them. they were in sooman's building, which was at the same time his work place and his house, on the last floor, offering them a magnificent view of seoul at night. well, despite how magnificent this view could be, donghyuck couldn't seem to enjoy the place.

"fine." donghyuck grumbled, playing with his food in his plate. he rose to his feet in order to reach for the water pitcher that was a bit far from him on the table. however, his hand was stopped millimeters away from it. he sat back with an angry sigh. "can someone pass me the pichet?"

donghyuck was tied to his chair. chains were linking him by the ankles and the wrists to the very heavy wooden object, making this dinner rather uncomfortable.

chanyeol poured donghyuck a glass of water, earning a nod from the young boy.

"so, donghyuck, are you enjoying your meal?" sooman asked, taking a bite.

donghyuck scoffed. "well, i'm having a meal tied to a chair, with my father that abandoned me and a bunch of gang members that are the enemies of my friends; so, yeah, it couldn't be better."

sooman chuckled. "you're a feisty one... nct are nowhere near friendly, son."

"son? really? you dare calling me 'son'? after abandoning me for 18 years?!"

"oh, come on! i didn't abandon you! i sent you money!"

"i was raised in an orphanage! nct gave me the parental love that i lacked!" donghyuck raised to his feet.

"quit your manners donghyuck! i didn't choose to have a son, and yet, here you are!" the father stood up as well.

"why am i here then? i've never asked to be here! i was having a good life before you interrupted it."

sooman slammed his hand on the table, making some of the gang members bounce on their chair. "enough now! bring him back to his cell!"

donghyuck chuckled. "what kind of father ties his son to a chair and makes him live in a cell?"

"i do what i want with my property!" sooman yelled as some exo members were untying the chains from the chair. "be happy your mother cared about you! otherwise, you wouldn't have lived for a year!"

once released from his chains, donghyuck was brought to his cell that was in the basement. there, he was tied again, with a larger and longer chain relied to his neck, and then locked in the room.

donghyuck didn't care if this man was his father. nobody should be this disrespectful towards others. he had always been the feisty type, but with this man, he couldn't care less.

donghyuck had survived with his sassy behaviour inside nct's house, full of scary and dangerous gang members, so, it's not a rich man that could scare him.

truth to be told, donghyuck missed living with nct, but what he missed the most was mark. he couldn't deny anymore the feelings he had. he felt different whenever mark was around. mark could protect him, mark could make him feel safe, and more important, mark could make him feel loved. mark gave him love, not simple love, like renjun would give him; noting near this actually. mark gave him true love, and donghyuck was happy mark was the only person able to give him this sort of love.

despite him not being scared, donghyuck couldn't help but cry.

an unknown man had just come in his life, calling himself his father, treating him like trash and pulling him away from people who cared for him.

donghyuck would have preferred being an orphan right now, someone who has no parents, and no one to barge in your life pretending to be your father. he would have preferred being one of those nct would take in; those who are completely lost, in the streets, with no one to love them.

he really wanted to die now.