Ten

Ten—Missing

Andrea woke up at exactly 6am but instead of getting out of bed immediately, she stayed there for a while. The warm sheets sent her a kind of comfort she never knew she longed for until now. Last night was a total waste. She should have been a lot more careful.

In her living room, almost half of EXO are still awake, trying to reach their missing member. It was so unlikely of Chen to just disappear without any trace for more than 24 hours. Sure, they have been trolled a lot by the guy but never to the extent that he’d fake going missing.

“Have you called his family? Maybe he went there without telling us?” Suho asked Luhan.

“No… his parents are on vacation. He sent them tickets last week.” Pretty face answered.

They have searched every place they could think of: SME’s practice rooms, music rooms, even clubs they often went to, restaurants… but they still couldn’t find him. His phone just kept ringing without an answer. They have alerted Sara about it even though they still haven’t gotten any response from her.

The poor kids where clueless on what to do. Not to mention that they have a TV appearance in the evening which required ALL of them to attend. The whole fandom will surely create a huge buzz about it and soon enough, the nightmare will happen again.

“Could it be the sasaengs again?” Lay finally spoke after being quiet this whole time.

“If this is still about that rape case then I don’t know anymore.” Luhan sat back on the couch and buried his face in his palms.

If they were normal people, they would have reported the incident to the police. But then, they are EXO and such actions would lead to irreversible consequences. Just where in the world is their manager?

“What’s happening?” Andrea appeared, dressed in her usual running attire.

“Uh… One of our members is missing.” Suho answered, looking at Andrea with concern written all over his face, “Have you seen Chen by any chance?”

Of course I did.

“No. Since when has he been missing?” She didn’t even try to pretend interested.

The kid has always annoyed her that even the most basic expression was too difficult for her to do.

“He didn’t come home the other night.”

“Have you told the police about it? That is pretty serious.” Andrea suggested, minding the fact that these boys might as well turn in themselves for the crime they’ve committed.

“We can’t do that, Andrea,” Lay shook his head lightly, “We’ll be in trouble.”

You’re already in big trouble, honey.

The other SM managers were told of the situation and for the whole day, everybody was working on how to cover up Chen’s absence. The TV appearance is one where they will perform and do an interview with live audience. And the last and safest resort was that he was too sick to attend.

“You all really think that alibi would work?” Kris asked.

“Do you have any other suggestions, our king?” Chanyeol bowed sarcastically at him while a makeup artist was doing final touch ups on his nose.

“We can say he went to the mountains and became a monk.” The king rolled his eyes at the peasant, completely disgusted by merely seeing his face.

Buttoning Xiumin’s jacket was Mirae, who was completely caught off guard by everything she has seen so far. First, the 12-piece boy band arrived with one member short and a manager out of reach. And then they start bickering like they couldn’t stand being with each other. This is all completely out of how she, as well as the whole fandom, has imagined EXO.

But more than that, she was reminded of her ex-boss Andrea for some reasons.

“Fifteen minutes!” The floor director shouted, getting everybody’s attention.

All eleven of them stood up and made their way out of the door, unconsciously forming a line like ducklings following their mother. Luhan looked out of the window in chance of seeing Chen but he never showed up.

--

Andrea arrived in Jessica’s hospital room, careful not to wake her up. She quietly pulled a chair from the corner of the room, not so fond of the reclining chair next to the bed. Her cold white hands took her little sister’s equally icy hand. Their pale skin came from their mother who was in contrast the warmest person in the world. She loved them both to the bottom of her heart.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, Jessica.” Andrea’s voice was a whisper.

She pressed her soft red lips on the back of her sister’s hand as she felt the guilt threatening to choke her. It was anger that made her come after EXO but deep inside, it was her guilt that pushed her more. Had she been careful, had she been strong enough, had she been smart enough, this wouldn’t have happened to Jessica. She couldn’t forgive herself for the fact that under her watch, Jessica was harmed and violated.

“I will make them pay for this.”

Andrea’s insides were turning, her heart racing… last night, she had to see the pictures of Jessica when she was discovered by the road. Every time, she forced herself to remember everything because it is the only way to keep her strong; even when the memories battered her down to her knees. Despite all these, not once did she shed a tear. Her soul was starting to become like her skin… cold as ice.

Jessica’s eyes slowly opened and when she turned to her side, her pink lips formed a sweet smile. Her big sister looked back at her lovingly, masking the darkness that had consumed her.

“Isn’t it a little late for you to visit, big sis?”

“Am I not allowed to see you any time I want?” Andrea smiled back, standing up to get her sister some water.

“But there are strict visiting hours. You used your connections again, didn’t you?” The younger one chuckled.

“The guards can’t resist your beautiful sister.”

“I love you so much big sis.”

“I love you more baby girl.”

Andrea spent the night there, forgetting about the poor boys for a while. She rarely lets herself loose but maybe it won’t be too much to give this to herself for now.

“I knew you smelled fishy.” Chen smirked while sitting on the cold steel chair.

It was a typical, secret place. It was cold, dark and grey. In front of him was a steel table, under a slightly dimming light. He wasn’t tied but the three big men in the room were enough to keep him in place. He wanted to know more and he expected that such would most probably lead him to trouble.

He went to the park where a black van stopped in front of him. Disobeying the universal law “Don’t talk to strangers”, he got on which led him in that room inside a seemingly quiet building in the middle of the city.

“So tell me, what do you want from us?” He didn’t remove his eyes on her.

Andrea didn’t speak. All she did was put the police taken pictures of her sister on the table. All the while she was staring him down, watching his reaction closely. His smirk got on her nerves but she held it back. She can’t hurt him. At least not yet.

“Are you a vigilante seeking to avenge her?” He annoyed her with his questions on purpose.

“You did this to her.”

“Do you have proof?”

“Yes.”

Chen laughed a little to mock her. He knew that EXO did nothing but the problem then was that there wasn’t enough to prove their innocence. And even the odds are against them.

“Who are you really, Andrea?” Chen looked into her eyes, piercing through her.

She did not back down and let the anger show in her eyes.

“I am Jessica’s sister. And I will do whatever it takes to make all of you pay for what you did to her. I will find one proof that will put all of you in jail—“

“And if you don’t?” He challenged.

“I’ll do everything to drag you all to hell.”

There was a moment of eerie silence in the room. Andrea’s sweet voice was terrifying as those words came out of her lips. Probably the scariest people are the evil ones with the face of an angel.

“Are you going to kill me now? I think you’ve just spilled the beans.” The boy didn’t give her any hint of the fear inside him.

“Of course not. In fact, I’ll let you go.” Andrea walked to the single window in the room and looked outside.

“You shouldn’t trust me this much if I were you. I can easily expose the demon behind that façade.”

“I don’t. But I need someone to help me proof of your guilt. Do it and I will spare you.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because…”

When Andrea told him what would happen if he did not do what she asked him to do, he froze.

“WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO YOUR SISTER! How could I do what y—“

“YOU… you hurt my sister and I know it. AND YOU WILL HELP ME PROVE THAT OR YOUR OTHER MEMBERS WON’T BE AS LUCKY AS YOU! It’s your choice kid. Choose wisely.”

She looked at him one last time before going out. Chen didn’t notice just when he started shaking out of fear. His fellow members surely are a pain in the ass but he believed in them. But if he didn’t do anything, something worse might happen…

--

At nearly midnight, the door opened and everybody who was still awake turned to find their missing member coming into Andrea’s place. Suho, Luhan, and Chanyeol rushed to him, bombarding him with questions.

Xiumin stayed seated by the bar, watching them. Chen seemed unharmed, no visible wounds anywhere. He looked sober too so but something isn’t right. He seem too quiet.

“Do you know how big of a fuss you made??? Gosh, Chen. Be responsible.” Suho scolded, being the first one to be on fire on his disappearance.

“Where did you go? Why weren’t you answering your phone?? If this is a joke, I sw—“

“CAN YOU ALL LEAVE ME ALONE?!” Chen cut Luhan off, shocking everyone at the show of temper, “Please. I wanna be alone.”

Chen looked at Luhan and he suddenly felt that sinking feeling in his stomach once again. He’s always seen him like a real brother and he couldn’t let Andrea hurt him. He made his way to the kitchen quietly as the others watched him. Whatever happened to Chen was a mystery to all of them but one thing was for sure: something wasn’t right.

“You’re a monster, Andrea.” Chen muttered under his breath.

He drank the water from the glass in one shot and cursed himself. He had no choice but to do as he was told for now. And probably be able to spare at least one of his brothers even when that meant betraying the rest.

--

a/n: Do you think Chen will really betray his brothers?? And what do you think of the story so far? Who do think did it? I’d love to know what you think. Thank you so much for reading:) Don’t forget to leave a comment, vote and follow^^