*Soobin's POV (First person)*
"Damn. Take it easy." I grumbled bitterly as Dae-Jung jerked me to my feet. He ignored me though and sat me down on a chair before wrapping thick ropes around my torso, legs and arms. I watched as he did the same to Yeonjun.
"I never should have come." Yeonjun said.
"You made the right choice." Dae-Jung said simply. "You knew I could make good on my word, so you acted. Bringing Soobin along was just a bonus."
I noticed shame flash across Yeonjun's face, so I quickly chimed in. "He didn't exactly bring me along. He even tried stopping me."
"Why are you even doing this?" Yeonjun asked.
"Reasons you shouldn't concern yourself with." Dae-Jung said. "I'll only use you for as long as I need to. Then I'll get rid of you both."
*Beomgyu*
Beomgyu sighed and stared at the water in his cup.
"Are you okay?" Yun-Seo asked. "You've been staring at the cup for like five minutes..."
Beomgyu ignored him and continued to stare at the cup like it held the secrets of the world. Or like doing so could somehow get Soobin back.
"Oh, honey, is there anything I can do for you?" Soobin's mom asked, earning a disapproving grunt from Soobin's dad. Taehyun and Sung-Jin were already with Kai.
Beomgyu slowly shook his head. "Leave me be." He whispered as he stood up and wandered aimlessly to his room.
*Taehyun's POV (First person)*
*Hours later*
"We need to do something. You two are obviously not okay." I said, tearing my hands through my hair.
"We didn't find anything in their rooms." Kai pointed out. "No clues, no sign of a struggle, nothing."
"We at least need to find something for Beomgyu to do with himself."
"Wait a second!" Kai nearly shouted as he stood up. "I THINK I KNOW WHO TOOK THEM!"
Beomgyu obviously heard, because he rushed out moments later to hear Kai say, "It was Dae-Jung."
I was shocked. And I noticed Beomgyu mostly looked scared.
"Dae-Jung? How do you know?" I asked.
"Because, sometime at least a week and a half or something ago, Dae-Jung left Yeonjun a note."
"Oh my god..." Beomgyu gasped, covering his mouth. Both me and Kai looked at him curiously.
"I got a message from an unknown number a bit ago, and they said they would be observing at all times, and oh god... it must have been Dae-Jung."
"So we know it's him, then." I said. "Sounds to me like we need to find this note Yeonjun hid."
"Think. Where would Yeonjun hide something?" I said, looking everywhere I could think of.
"He's pretty simple about that stuff, so probably like under his mattress or something." Kai said, flipping through some papers on Yeonjun's desk to see if he had hidden it among them. Beomgyu was currently looking in between the pages of books on the small shelf.
"Kai's right." Beomgyu admitted.
"I think we should divide and conquer." I said, "I'll look into some stuff to see if Dae-Jung's done this in the past, and if he has, it'll reveal a little bit about what we're up against."
"Good idea." Beomgyu said absent mindedly.
"You guys keep looking for the letter." I said before walking out the door.
*Beomgyu's POV (First person)*
I sighed as I set the last book back down on the shelf.
"Nothing."
"Same here." Kai admitted. "Why does Taehyun's job seem easier?"
I shrugged. "Probably because he'll most likely have more luck than we are having."
"Sometimes it stinks that Taehyun's smarter than us." Kai said. "It means he gets all the research jobs while we do pointless things and hope to come up with a result."
I nodded. "Yeah... maybe you should pay attention to the stuff Taehyun does, so you get smarter. Better yet, try to become him." I said teasingly. Kai rolled his eyes.
"No way!"
I smiled slightly. At least we could still joke around a little.
"I can't believe Yeonjun's this smart though!" Kai huffed. "Knowing him, he would have hidden it somewhere easy to find."
"That was odd..." I admitted. And then it was like I was having my own light bulb moment.
"Wait... Soobin was also with him... I'm sure Yeonjun would keep it in his room, but think about it, what if Soobin was the one who hid it!"
"You're right!" Kai gasped. "Where would Soobin hide it?"
"It'll probably be a little harder to find then, but..." My voice trailed off with my second light bulb moment. I walked silently to the door frame and slid my fingers along it, until I felt a crack. Kai looked from the door frame to me.
"I think..." I slowly pulled a note out of the crack. "I knew it. Classic Soobin."
"That was how he hid his spare key to your guys dorms, right?" Kai asked.
I nodded. "Damn, did everyone know he had a knack for losing his key?"
Kai shrugged. "I'm pretty sure, yeah."
I shook my head with a soft smile. "Let's read this note with Taehyun, alright?"
"Let's go!" Kai said, opening the door and running into Taehyun's room, who was sitting at the computer and reading something.
"Any luck?" I asked as I followed Kai in. I was itching to read the letter, but I figured I should show at least some restraint.
Taehyun shook his head. "No, but it hasn't been that long. Give me a day and I promise I'll have some information."
Kai shook his head in wonder. "Maybe I really should become like you."
"That's a story for another time." I cut in when I saw Taehyun's confused expression. "But look what we found in the door frame." I held up the note. "Soobin must have been the one to hide it."
"I didn't even think of that." Taehyun said. "Did you guys read it?"
I shook my head. "We were going to read it with you."
Taehyun nodded and got up, walking beside me and peeking over my shoulder as I opened the note that had gotten folded many times to fit in the crack with shaking hands.
But... my hope deflated as I read on.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I whispered, emotions hitting me all at once. Anger, sadness, hate, confusion, shock. "We have to find another god damn note?!?!"
Kai looked like he was losing hope as well. "Was there another one in the door frame by any chance?" He tried, but I shook my head.
"Soobin and Yeonjun are smart. They wouldn't have hidden it in the same place."
"Yeah, I guess not..." Kai sighed.
"Look, guys, I'll keep looking for info, and you guys can work on finding the second note. This isn't over yet. But first I want you guys to rest. You can pick up tomorrow." Taehyun said.
I opened my mouth to argue but Kai cut in. "Maybe he's right... we'll pick up first thing tomorrow, Beoms."
I sighed. I know a losing fight when I see one.
"Fine."
I stuffed the note in my pocket as I walked through the door, only to almost collide with Yun-Seo.
"Beomgyu! Sorry."
"It's okay..."
"You okay? Anything else bad happen?"
"Actually... I guess you can say things got a little better. We found a note that we think Yeonjun's ex left him, but we still have to find another. So, I don't know."
"Whoa, you think an ex got them?" Yun-Seo asked.
I nodded. "Yeah... 99% sure." I explained everything to him and he slowly nodded.
"I can help." Yun-Seo offered.
I shrugged. "You don't have to."
"But I want to." Yun-Seo smiled.
"Alright... we're starting first thing in the morning."
(Things are going to get a little crazy after the next chapter, so be prepared for a wild ride, guys!
I hope you liked it! Comment and vote? Maybe?
Thanks for reading!)