KIDNAP 2

With a slightly clearer voice, his eyes gleamed between his shaggy hair.

“……”

Beom Taehyuk gradually furrowed his brow. A stalker—it was a reason he hadn’t thought of at all.

“I brought you here because I like you. You must be, must be very surprised… but don’t worry. I’ll grant everything you want. Oh! What I was doing until a little while ago was planning your diet. This, this week’s is already finished. I can show it to you right away if you want. That is, if you want.”

As the stalker spewed out words, he occasionally twisted his head as if in a spasm. Because of that, the hair that had been covering his eyes caught on his eyeglass frames, fully revealing his eyes that obsessively followed Beom Taehyuk. A sense of repulsion surged at his manic appearance.

Something suddenly came to mind. A short message he had recently received.

There will be an abduction attempt. Do not go alone.

He had dismissed it as nothing. He had received countless strange messages, after all. Not only challenges, but also love confessions and messages asking to borrow money were not uncommon.

But to think that ridiculous message would actually come true.

Now that he thought about it, there had been some strange things happening in the past few months. A blood-stained handkerchief being delivered by quick service, a letter with cut-out printed letters that said ‘I like you,’ or small personal items like socks stored in his gym locker disappearing.

He had likewise considered them trivial. He just thought he had a few overly enthusiastic fans. Beom Taehyuk was always like that about everything.

But it was all the work of one guy with a penis. This bastard was the one who sent him handkerchiefs, wrote letters, and stole his socks.

What the hell did he do with the socks?

“Ah…”

Beom Taehyuk exclaimed and slapped his hand heavily on his forehead. The sound that came from under his thick palm was chilling, but he paid no mind to it, only pressing on his throbbing head. Someone else panicked unnecessarily.

“Gasp, why your head…? Taehyuk, are you hurting somewhere? Why did you drink so much….”

“Damn it, seriously.”

Beom Taehyuk lowered his hand and glared at the stalker as if he would tear him to pieces.

Even as a stalker, one feels threatened with their life. The stalker quietly shut his mouth and tidied up his parted bangs. Taehyuk couldn’t see, but the eyes hidden behind the curtain of bangs and glasses rolled non-stop.

“So, you did all this alone?”

“Yes.”

The stalker quickly answered, as if pleased by the attention. His paper-thin body swayed even with the movement of nodding his head.

Honestly, it was embarrassing. Not a gang, not an organization after money, but kidnapped by this scrawny stalker. If the gym people found out, they would make fun of him for years. Beom Taehyuk roughly ran his hand through his short hair and said.

“Let me go. I won’t report you.”

“No.”

Look at this. He had been quietly watching for an opportune moment, but his answer was firm. Beom Taehyuk tilted his head askew and spoke again.

“Just let me go and end this cleanly, alright?”

“No. You have to be with me here forever.”

“……”

“I’ll really treat you well. Let’s live here with me, Taehyuk. Yes, you’re going to live here with me. You and I. Just the two of us. Forever.”

Words, or perhaps madness, poured out. The gist was that he would absolutely not be released.

Caught by some pathetic bastard. Beom Taehyuk erupted in irritation. With his hands on the bed, he rotated his neck vigorously, causing the stalker to gulp nervously. Then, he suddenly bent his knees and slowly pushed the tray on the floor.

“Um… the restroom is over there, and this is lunch….”

Thump, thump. Beom Taehyuk’s gaze, which had been hitting the back of his neck, landed on the tray on the floor. A chilling smile appeared on his lips.

“Is that dog food?”

“It’s not dog food. White rice, chicken breast, avocado salad, fried egg, dried seaweed….”

“You’re not telling me to eat something off the floor, are you?”

“Oh…”

The stalker glanced at the dining table within the radius of the chain, hesitating.

“I didn’t think you might feel bad about it. I’m sorry.”

Sitting crouched on the floor, his already small and skinny frame looked even thinner, but he didn’t care. Instead, he found fault and scoffed.

“And. You expect someone with a hangover to eat something like that?”

“Uh… you have a hangover?”

The stalker lifted his head sharply. Taehyuk has a hangover too. His brows furrowed at the way the stalker chewed on the words as if he hadn’t known. From his unkempt appearance and gloomy demeanor to his gleaming eyes, everything about him was unpleasant without exception.

“Then what should I prepare? What kind of food do you eat when you’re curing a hangover?”

His excited voice was equally unpleasant. Beom Taehyuk tried to smooth his brow and answered.

“Ppyeohaejangguk.”

“…Ppyeohaejangguk?”

The stalker, who had been muttering blankly while still crouched, sprang to his feet when he let out an irritated sigh.

“Ah, ppyeohaejangguk! Please wait a moment. I’ll go buy it right away!”

The stalker, with his lips curved upwards, turned around with the tray.

‘Ppyeohaejangguk the day after drinking. Ppyeohaejangguk for a hangover.’ The stalker mumbled as he turned and went out. His sweat-stained back and excited footsteps faded beyond the door.

Beom Taehyuk looked through the half-open door. The space outside the door seemed to be where the stalker lived, but all he could see were a refrigerator and a sink in the distance.

The stalker placed the tray on the sink and then disappeared from view. After a moment of hearing busy footsteps, he approached with small steps, cautiously peered in, and closed the door. Soon, the footsteps moved away to the right, and a sound like a key was heard. This was followed by a squeaking sound, and then a vibrating Bang—! echoed through the space. It seemed a heavy iron door had opened and closed.

When he concentrated quietly, he heard the sound of a car engine starting and wheels rolling on a rough surface, which then gradually faded away. The large space became completely silent.

Beom Taehyuk, who had been sitting motionless, finally stood up. As his massive body straightened up, a wide shadow was cast. With movements that rotated his arms to loosen his shoulders, the area of the shadow grew to reach the end of the wall and then shrank.

Clank.

At the unfamiliar sound, he looked down. His bony, calloused feet, and the shackle wrapped around his ankle. He looked down at them coldly and took a step. The heavy chain dragged on the floor, but Beom Taehyuk walked on, unconcerned.

In the rectangular room, all the furniture was pushed into the bottom right corner. Starting with the bed placed snugly against the corner, the restroom door and the dining table were along the right wall. The chain was attached to the wall next to the restroom door, limiting the furniture’s placement. This was probably why the foot of the bed was in the corner and the head of the bed faced the empty space.

Clang, grind, scratch. The sound of the chain scraping the floor stopped.

Beom Taehyuk knelt down in front of the wall where the iron ring was embedded. Curving his back, he briefly examined the ring, then knocked on the wall. Other parts sounded hollow, but around the wall where the ring was embedded, there was a dull sound. The other parts seemed to be partition walls, and only this one seemed to be a concrete wall. It might even be a pillar.

Looking up at the ceiling, he knocked on the wall a few more times with his thick palm, then wrapped the chain around his hand. He gripped it tightly in his hand until it made a Crunch sound and pulled hard towards himself. Following these repetitive movements, his huge back muscles twitched, and his thick forearms bulged with veins. It was a sight that would have made the stalker step back.

Clang, clang—!

The sound of metal striking metal echoed sharply in the large space. However, the chain showed no subtle gaps, and the ring embedded in the wall did not budge. Beom Taehyuk, who had been staring intently at the taut chain, soon clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand.

Thud. His gaze, which had brushed past the heavy chain falling to the floor, returned to his ankle. The shackle was on his left ankle.

Of all things, the left one.

Beom Taehyuk had torn a ligament in his right ankle in a recent match. He disliked the restrictiveness of a splint and had removed it early, so it didn’t show outwardly, but special care was needed for a while.

It might have been a coincidence that the shackle was placed on his left ankle, avoiding his injured one, but it seemed unlikely that the stalker wouldn’t know about his ankle injury.

‘I like you, Taehyuk.’

His glittering eyes and trembling voice, greasy hair, shabby clothes, and to top it off, he was a guy. A shiver ran down his spine from the unpleasantness.

Beom Taehyuk sat on the floor and examined the shackle closely. Tilting his head, he saw a round hole on the underside of the shackle. It seemed to be a keyhole. Touching that part with his fingertip, he turned his head. His gaze landed on the crooked clock next to the door, which was haphazardly covered with green contact paper.

11:35 AM.

He narrowed his eyes and stood up. A sigh escaped him. What kind of messed up situation was this, when he was supposed to be resting properly?

“Just you dare come back.”

A low voice muttered ominously.

The stalker returned approximately three hours later.

Making consecutive sounds of a car, a door, and keys, the guy entered and rustled around for a while. When the smell of food wafted in, the door slowly opened.

“Uh….”