Taken • Choi San •

Reality Is Harsh

A loud sound, similar to that of nails over a blackboard dragged her out of a fitful sleep and she jerked, remembering too late that bonds kept her hands behind the back of the chair.

Pain burned her wrists as the ties dug tight into the straining skin and she let out a sharp hiss of pain, pressing herself as close to the source as possible to lessen the pain.

Slowly it faded to the now familiar dull aching that had accompanied her through even the short bursts of sleep she'd gotten and she refocused on locating the source of the sound.

Her captors figure, who she'd come to think of as 'Scar' thanks to the massive scar that stretched across his jaw, was bent over something on the ground. He looked up with a malicious glint in his eyes, a leery smile on his face that made bile rise in her throat.

He hadn't touched her once since she'd been put in here, though he'd made no secret of his clear distaste towards her. In her experience dislike didn't stop male hormones from taking control and she shrank away as he stood and strode over, the smile still lingering on his face.

The heel of his foot slammed harshly over the top of her bare toes and she let out a shocked groan of pain, tears stinging her eyes as she lifted her chin to stare defiantly up at him. The smile was gone and his dark eyes lacked any emotion as he continued to grind his heel into her defenceless foot, spurred on by her lack of reaction.

He was neither enjoying it nor disliking it, he was simply doing it for the sake of it.

He was waiting for her to beg for it to stop, to cry. She set her jaw and tilted her head away from him, refusing to play along with his games.

After some time he let out an annoyed sigh and pushed away, clucking his tongue in disappointment, like she'd failed to win him a prize at a fair.

"Boss will be here soon." He said with unusual cheer and she straightened, following him with her eyes as he returned back to his usual corner where a crappy old laptop seemed to keep him entertained most of the time. She didn't bother to ask for more details or even a more specific amount of time, it wasn't like the passing minutes or hours mattered right now.

No sooner than he'd sat down the door across from them creaked in protest as it was swung open with considerable force and Scar jumped back to his feet, barely masking his surprise in time.

A tall figure, taller maybe even than Yunho, strode into the room. He paused in the doorway, throwing a scathing glance her way before tilting his body towards Scar who was barely containing his excitement at seeing some kind of action.

Begrudgingly she had to admit she somewhat shared his enthusiasm for something beyond the bland stretches of time in which the only interesting thing that passed the time was the sounds of some violent video from Scar's laptop. It had gone on so long that she genuinely had no idea how long she'd in here. It could have been weeks, or just days.

Definitely long enough for San to be out of his mind with worry.

Her heart gave a violent pang and she tried to brush away the image of his twinkling eyes and dimpled cheeks, mouth curved in a joyous smile.

But the thought of San was the only supply of courage she had, however painful it was to imagine how stressed and worried he must be.

"So this is her." She snapped back into the present, warily watching as the newcomer turned to face her, the cool toned voice hauntingly familiar to her ears.

She'd been caught somewhere between belief and disbelief that this could be linked to the kidnapping when she was younger up until now. Now there was no disputing it, this was the same man.