A House Divided - Changbin Ending

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Part One

The sun had just started to peek through a slit in the curtains when Elena was abruptly awoken. It was not the morning light that interrupted her sleep, nor was it the snoring man beside her. It was an incessant thudding coming from the front of the house. Still in her makeup from the night before, she wearily tumbled into the hallway with only a robe to conceal her. Nearing the front door, the pounding grew louder. The heavy, hollow sounds reverberated through her chest. As her anxiety spiked, the noise also escalated.

In the quiet of the sleepy estate, she could just barely make out the sound of someone's voice. Unable to understand what they were saying, she wearily moved closer to the door. It only took a moment for her to come to the realization that it wasn't just a singular voice. Several voices ping-ponged back and forth in conversation, bringing her into a state of dread.

Just as soon as it had ended, the banging resumed. One right after another, the silence was overcome with the sound of fists striking wood. Lee Know drowsily sauntered down the grand staircase. He was half-asleep and irritated by the aggressive noise. Boldly brushing past the mistress, he undid the locks and flung the massive wooden door open. What waited before him instantaneously jolted him awake.

Joining beside him, Elena was startled to find an entourage of suit-clad men on her veranda. A tall man stood before them all in an immaculate white suit. His face seemed to be permanently scrunched into a look of displeasure. Minho bowed profusely before him, his words rushing out in nervous spurts. Unable to follow the conversation, she picked up on one familiar phrase; I'm sorry.

Before she could process any further, the leader stepped to the side and the remaining men barged in, one of them taking Lee Know by the arm. She was dumbfounded, frozen by her own fear. As the ten men rushed past, they nearly trampled her with their forcefulness. One of them knocked her backwards onto the stair-railing when she heard Hyunjin's voice.

"Elena!" She could hear his concern from across the room. Trying his best to reach her, he pushed past the guards one by one. He was fast, darting around them and avoiding their snapping hands. Just as he met her face-to-face, two of the henchmen grabbed a hold of each arm, wrangling him into submission.

"Are you okay?" He panted.

"I'm fine, but what's going on?"

"I don't know." His tone was growing angry as he turned to look one of his captors in the face. "Let go of me, you bastard!" In his effort to break free, they tightened their grip. Elena watched with terror filled eyes as a group headed down the corridor toward the funhouse. Simultaneously, another squad rushed upstairs towards the bedrooms.

"Changbin!" She exclaimed, realizing where they were headed. "I'll come back for you, I promise." She said to the prince as he encouraged her to go.

In the barkers wing, the mystery men rounded up the remaining members only to realize Chan was missing. They communicated solely in Korean, asking where is he? The others defiantly refused to answer. The man in the white suit broke through the guards, sending the boys into shock.

"Mr. Park? You found us?" Han trembled along with his words.

"Jisung, it's good to see you." He leaned in with a smile. It was supposed to be comforting, but had the opposite effect on the group. "Where is Christopher?" He inquired, clinging on to fake concern.

"I don't know, sir." He spoke truthfully. The man straightened up, ordering the suited men to check every room for the missing leader.

"Take them to join the others." He commanded. Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N were dragged away still wearing their pajamas.