Chapter 49

161011

***

The six fans at the scene in the parking lot on Spade's first debut stage are gathered in a convenience store. It's already 7 pm.

"I think I can't." Eunah said then she sipped her smoothie, not being bothered drinking it despite having a cold weather.

"Me too." Said the narrow-eyed Haekyo.

"Girls, it's for Ten!" Jinhee exclaimed.

"It won't make sense. I don't want to hurt anyone." The white-skinned Jinhyun said, disagreeing to Jinhee's idea.

"You've done that before, remember?" Cheonhwa said then munched her steamed bun. She's wearing a sleeveless blouse as usual. "You pulled a fan's hair in Japan just to see Ten and Johnny." She added. Jinhyun just lowered her head.

"Whether you like it or not, we will execute it tomorrow." Jinhee said then flashed an evil smile.

"That's too cruel, Jinhee." Eunah commented.

"I love it." Harin said then she kissed her bottle of soju.

"C'mon, girls. Ok, here," she placed her free hair behind her ears, "I will share to you Ten's t-shirt that I got from their waiting room last month. Even his comb, if you want. Just help me tomorrow."

"Ok. Call." Haekyo said, finally giving up with the offer. But Jinhyun and Eunah are still hesitant.

**

The next day, Spade is on their way to another schedule. It is to a radio station.

"Ugh! These flocks of terrible birds! Look af them whining and ranting against Star and Ten as if they know them very much." Sara exclaimed while looking at the netizen's comments on several articles about them.

"Yah, eonnie. Don't mind them." Star said, "Manager oppa prohibited us from using SNS, remember?" Good thing their manager isn't with them on the car.

"I can't help it." Sara said then pouted. "How can they judge you like this? Tsk."

"Aish. I secretly opened my SNS too last night." Jez said, "Even my IG account was flooded with their comments. There are good comments also though."

Hyoah nodded, "There are people who chose to understand and continue supporting us. They know our struggles and feelings. Unfortunately, those people are extincting."

"Thank you for understanding me, eonnies." Star said.

Sara who is beside her held her hand, "We're sisters here. We're all in this together. United we stand, divided we fall."

"But I think I'm such a burden."

"You're not." Hyoah immediately said, "You never are and you will never be a burden to us."

"Cheer up, baby!" Jez exclaimed.

Star smiled genuinely, "I am very grateful to have you. Thank you!"

"Just treat me to the mall later, Star." Hyoah joked. They just laughed at her.

**

"How is she?" Seomin asked Ten. They're on a phone call. Ten is on the way to a music show.

"I don't know but I hope she's fine. I can't talk to her. Our managers are hindering us to do so." He answered. Their manager is not on the car so he's free to speak it out. The other members are on their earphones.

"I can't contact her." She said.

"I think she cut all her connections for now. I'll try to talk to her later."

"Thank you, Ten oppa." Then they ended the call.

Yuta nudged him, "These people are terrible." He said pertaining to the comments on Twitter that he is reading.

"Don't waste your time reading those." He said then he rested his head on the window of the car.

"She must be suffering."

"Why do I always cause her to suffer? I hate myself." Ten said in disappointment.

Yuta looked at him, "Kid, there are things that are out of our control. Don't blame yourself. Everything will be fine." He shifted his gaze back to his phone and continued reading tweets. "Oh look! Underscore tenmyloves said, 'Don't be disturbed, Ten oppa! I will always support you! Love u! Fighting!' Wah, this is refreshing." He said. He made his voice small as he read the tweet.

Ten snatched his phone and typed, 'Thank you very much! - Ten' then he sent it as a reply.

He returned the phone and averted his gaze to the street.

**

Star is walking alone along the parking lot. It's a covered parking lot.

"No one will hurt me here today unlike the past two days, right? Please." She whispered.

The area is so quiet. She grabbed their car key from her pocket that she borrowed from the driver. She's about to open their car when someone covered her whole face with a cloth. It smelled strange and it made her feel dizzy. She's exerting some strength to get rid of whoever is holding her. She's breathless and eventually, she felt weak until she lost her consciousness.

The two persons carried her out of the area. They rode a van and drove away.

Meanwhile, the three other members, together with their driver and their manager are altogether on their way to the car. The driver noticed that there's no one inside.

"Where is Miss Star?" He asked.

"Didn't he go here first?" The manager asked.

"Look! The car keys!" Hyoah ducked to reach the keys.

"Is she possibly..." Sara said, having terrible ideas in her mind.

"Abducted?" Jez finally said.

"No way." Hyoah said then clenched her fist.

"I will be back. I'll just check the cameras." Their manager ran as fast as he could to go to the control room of the building.

"Let's drive. She must be still near." Hyoah said and opened the door. They all followed.

Their manager is receiving calls from the music show that they are about to go. He answered it once and said that they have other errand to attend. When asked about when they will come, he just turned down the call.

"What will we do?" Jez asked, trembling in fear for Star.

"Calm down, please. I don't know either." Sara answered. He searched for someone from her contacts that can help them. No one can. But she remembered someone.

"Ahjuhssi, can you drop me on the music show first?" She asked the driver.

"What for?" Hyoah asked.

"I'll just ask someone. You continue searching, okay? Send a message to manager oppa about where we are." She said. Jez immediately followed.

When they reached the music show, Sara hurried to the building. It is crowded outside, but the space intended for the artist is wide that made her very noticeable. Before she could enter, a staff approached her.

"Spade's Sara?" He asked. "You have to do a prerecording. Where are--" he was cut when she answered.

"We can't! Star is lost! She's nowhere to find! We believe she's kidnapped." She said out of frustration. When she realized what she just said, she looked at the fans around and covered her mouth. "I slipped. Babo!" She said in her mind. She suddenly cried out of frustration. She's worrying a lot for Star and she feels guilty for not looking over her. She should have known that it could happen.

"Are you serious?" The staff asked.

"Do I look like I am just fooling around?" She said while wiping her tears. "Now, let me in."

She headed inside the building and went to the music show's studio. She looked for NCT's dressing room and when she saw it, she knocked at the door.

It was Jaehyun who opened it.

"Annyeonghaseyo." He greeted.

She just smiled as a reply, "Where is Ten sunbae?"

"Uhm, wait." Before he could call Ten, Ten already went to the door. He's with the other members that are intrigued.

"Yes?" He asked. "You're Star's co-member." He stated.

"Right. I have something to tell you." She said between her fast deep breaths. She ran all the way here.

Ten went out of the room, leaving the others inside while watching them. Their manager is just sitting on a chair, listening to them. "What is it?"

"Star is missing. We don't know where she is. She never left us not telling us where she will go. We think she's kidnapped."

"WHAT?" All of them asked in unison.

"What the heck?" Yuta exclaimed and clenched his fist.

"And I think it is related to the dating issue. I'm reading comments in the internet and some of those are bothersome and threatening. I think they went to this point." She said while trembling and tears slowly fell down from her eyes.

"Calm down. Get inside, please." Jaehyun pulled her in and grabbed a bottle of water from a table, "here. Drink this."

"Kamsahamnida." She said and drank the water.

"I can't believe this." Taeyong said while shaking his head.

Their manager is just silently watching them. Deep inside, he's also worried about Star. He knew Star as a very talented and kind person. He messaged Sejoon and reported what happened.

"It's already on the internet." Mark said while browsing his phone.

"Oh no, it's my fault. I burst it out earlier." Sara said while crying.

Ten clenched his fist, thinking of the only person he knows that can do it.

Sara's phone rang and it was their manager. She answered the call immediately, "Oppa?"

"It is confirmed an abduction. The kidnappers are caught on cam. They rode a van and drove away." He said.

It made Sara cry harder. Suddenly, she just wished she heard it wrongly.

"Why? What happened?" Ten asked.

"The CCTV caught the abduction."

"So she's really taken away." Yuta said then frowned. He looked at Ten.

Ten stormed out of the room and ran away. "Ten!" The other members are about to follow him when their manager stopped them.

"Let him. Taeyong, inform Star's brother about this. I will call the company to report what happened."

Meanwhile, the fans from outside are talking about what happened to Star.

"Why is she kidnapped? Did she do something against the kidnapper?"

"I think it's because of the issue."

"But that's too much!"

"I know. But that is possible."

"I hope she's fine."

"Yah. You just cursed at her yesterday."

They all stopped when Ten ran past them. He stopped on the middle and looked for his suspect.

"Ten oppa looks very worried."

"Oh no. This is not right anymore."

"He's already crying!"

Ten's tears started to fall. He's so worried about Star. She's in danger and he must do something. He's shaking while searching for Jinhee. Jinhee is his leading suspect.

"Park Jinhee! Show up! I know you're the one behind Star's abduction! Jinhee!" He burst out while crying. He suddenly felt weak. His tears continuously drop together with his sweat. He inhaled before continuing, "If ever I find out one of you is behind this, I will make sure you will pay! I'm serious!" He shouted. He looked at the fans one by one, "Are you happy now? Star is taken away! She's nowhere to be found! Do you feel satisfied now? C'mon! That's what you wished on your posts!" He shouted on them.

He went hysterical in their front and everyone became worried and guilty although they're not the kidnappers. They're witnessing how worried, mad and scared Ten is. They felt sorry for his and Star's situation.

His knees suddenly folded because of weakness. It made him kneel while crying. "Don't hurt her, please! I'm begging." He said while looking at them. "Whoever you are, hear me, please."

Yuta came forth to him and pulled him up, "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Let's find Star, hyung. We might see her on the streets like when she got lost before." Ten said.

"You're making a scene here, kid. Let's get inside first." Then he supported Ten as they walk.

The news is spread fastly on the internet and even to some broadcasting companies. Blue Entertainment already confirmed the case and is asking for the public's cooperation in looking for Star. Ten's videos while bursting out on the middle of the fans were also circulating around the internet.

**

"They already knew!" Jinhyun exclaimed while reading news headlines about Star's abduction.

"What shall we do? We might got busted!" Eunah said hysterically while pacing back and forth.

"Calm down! They don't know who we are and where we are!" Jinhee said and tightened her grip on a plastic pipe. She looked at Star who has her both hands tied up high and her both feet are chained as well. She has a cut on her lower lip and bruises on her cheeks and arms. Jinhee has been hitting her.

"You should learn. You can't date Ten, okay?" Cheonhwa said then spat at Star's face.

Star is just crying soundlessly. She's already weak and at pain. Her throat went dry and she can't speak.

"Darn. Let's leave her for a while!" Haekyo said, feeling partially bad for what they're doing to her.

"Yeah. Let's have our lunch first." Harin said then went out of the abandoned building.

They all followed her except for Jinhee who is enjoying seeing Star suffering. A music suddenly played. She looked at her right and saw a phone ringing. She walked towards it and got it from the floor. It is Star's phone.

Ten is calling.

She smirked before answering.

"Oppa!" She cheerfully called him. Star looked at her and watched her.

"Park Jinhee, where did you bring Star?" Ten asked sounding mad. She set it to loud speaker.

"She's being overshadowed by the dark." She said while looking at Star, "I warned you, oppa."

"What do you want?" Ten asked.

"You." She briefly answered.

"TEN! NO!" Star suddenly shouted. "DON'T LET HER HAVE YOU, TEN!"

"Star? Star, can you hear me?"

"Shut up, b*tch!" Jinhee shouted and threw the pipe to Star. It hit her chest.

"AAACK!" She screamed in pain.

"Jinhee! Don't hurt her! Please! Let's meet."

Jinhee grinned, "Welcome back to your senses, Oppa! Okay, let's meet at the convenience store near KBS' building. See you!"

She ended the call and looked at Star. "I won, Star."

***