The Hostages

The Night of December Third

The SM Entertainment building was brightly lit, and music poured out of every window as Baekhyun leaned out of the car. "Looks like the after party's already going strong," he yelled, tossing his black hair out of his eyes.

"Try not to fall and break your neck before we can get in there," Junmyeon teased as he parked the car.

"Baekhyun!" Stephanie called, running over to them. Her sparkly dress was mostly obscured by the huge parka she pulled tightly across her chest. "Nice solo performance! Taeyeon really liked it," she said, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

"We only dated for a few months!" he exclaimed. "You're never going to let this go, are you?"

"Never!" she laughed, and she ran back to her friends, waving at him as they disappeared inside.

"Relax, she's only teasing you," Jongin said, smoothing his hair as he got out of the car. Minseok climbed out after him and swore loudly. "It's so cold out here!" he yelled.

"Come on, we're missing the party!" Yixing called, leading the way inside.

The party raged in a large practice room on the fourth floor, packed with what felt like every single person in Seoul. Everyone was still in their fancy evening wear from the MAMA awards show, but that didn't stop them from dancing and partying and singing along to the music at the top of their lungs.

Jongdae grabbed a glass of punch off a nearby table and crossed the room to where most of the members of NCT were congregated. They were a younger group, so most of them were still a little unsure about participating in the revelry.

"Look, it's my favorite NCT members!" he shouted, sitting down next to them.

"You say that to all of us," Yuta reminded him.

"Though we are the best ones," Taeyong agreed, elbowing Yuta in the ribs.

"You guys did really well tonight," Sehun yelled over the music. "You deserved that award."

"Thanks," Taeyong said, reddening.

"What's up guys?" Jonghyun called, fist bumping each of them. "Have you seen Amber? She owes me a dance."

They all shrugged. "Ask Victoria, I think they just got here," Jongdae said, nodding at the f(x) leader across the room. Jonghyun bounded away and he leaned back in his seat. "When are the others getting here?" he asked, looking over at Sehun.

"Any minute now," Sehun replied, sipping his drink.

******

Kyungsoo sat up and his head throbbed painfully. It was dark, but as his eyes began to adjust he could tell that he was in a room completely made of stone. Moonlight filtered in from a high window and he could make out iron bars where the door should be, but beyond the bars was pure blackness.

He looked around the room again and saw several people lying on the floor, scattered around the room like broken toys. "Is that you, Kyungsoo?" a voice croaked.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"It's me, Taemin," the speaker said, coming into the light.

"Taemin?" Kyungsoo echoed. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I woke up just before you did."

Kyungsoo looked around again. "Who are these people?" he asked, gesturing at the others.

Taemin crawled over to one of them. "I think this is Amber," he said, brushing her hair back from her face. He went to the next one. "And this is Mark," he continued.