IV.

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Felix took a shaky breath and dialled Seungmin's number. While the phone rang, he made his way towards the nearest abandoned building that he knew was occasionally occupied.

"Police, what's your emergency?" Seungmin said.

"Hi, it's Felix. Please, I'm going to need a list of all the abandoned buildings in and around the city."

"Sure, it'll be on your phone in a minute," the operator replied, then started clicking on his computer.

"Do you know anything new? Did the neighbour or anyone else remember seeing any suspicious cars or people?"

"Unfortunately no, but I'll call you right away if I know anything new," Seungmin assured him.

"Thanks," Felix sighed, and his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"You're welcome. Minho says to take care of yourself."

"Tell him I'll do so. See you later."

He ended the call and continued on his way. He would have greatly appreciated the ability to pinpoint Jisung's exact location. Sure, barely half an hour had passed since he'd been kidnapped, but he knew very well that a lot could happen even in such a short time. He hoped his partner was still alive.

He took a deep breath, straightened his back and stepped on the gas. He should be at the abandoned building number one any minute.

*

He parked in front of a building facade of which had long since begun to peel off. It may have once been a beautiful family home, but now it was at best a homeless shelter and a canvas for graffiti.

He checked the notification on his phone before he got out. The green dot showed that the promised message had already arrived. He'll read it when he's done here.

He took his pistol and went to investigate. There was nothing of interest around the house, except for a few obscene graffiti on the walls, and he couldn't help but notice a few broken windows. When he had walked around the house, he went inside. It was unlocked.

The first thing that greeted him was the smell of mustiness. Frankly, he wasn't surprised, considering the state of the house. There were two doors on both his left and right, and across the way he looked into what he assumed would be the living room.

He stood listening for a while, but when there was no sound except the occasional gust of wind, he went deeper into the house.

He decided to explore the rooms on the left first. There was a toilet in one room and a bathroom in the other. On the right was the laundry room and pantry. He found nothing exciting in there, just clutter and rusty equipment. He closed the doors to all the rooms again and continued down the hallway.

Just as he expected, he ended up in what was a memory of a beautiful living room connected to the kitchen and dining room. On the sofa, a rather new-looking blanket was spread out. So someone had been lingering around after all... Instinctively his grip on the gun tightened.

Turning a little, he noticed stairs leading to the first floor. He figured he probably wouldn't be able to explore anything else downstairs, so he headed upstairs.

His blood ran cold as he heard the wooden stairs creak under his weight. He remained standing in an unchanged position and looked around in all directions. When he detected no movement and heard no sound, he slowly continued up the rickety stairs. This time there were two doors on his right and one at the end of the hall.

He didn't find what he was hoping for in either door. All he found were two bedrooms in a sorry state and a room used for junk that the original owners probably intended to throw away.

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