Haewon let out a sigh of relief as she fell onto her bed. She could feel her body sinking into the soft bed that she once slept in every night. She missed this. The comfort of her room. Living with her father. The peacefulness of being away from the spotlight. When she was home, she felt happy.

Of course she was happy as an idol. She loved her career and her group mates. She wouldn't trade them for anything.

But being home was a different kind of happiness to her.

She had hoped when she returned home that she'd be able to surprise her father. But he wasn't home. She tried calling, but no answer. She assumed he must be at work so she'd just surprise him when he got off.

Sleep began to overtake Haewon. She hadn't realized just how exhausted she was until her head hit the pillow. Just as she was about to drift off, a loud bang jolted her upright.

She assumed her father has returned home, causing her to leave her room and enter the hallway.

Bang.

The noise returned.

"Dad?" Haewon cautiously called out.

The sound of wood and glass breaking filled the home.

"Mister Oh!" Haewon heard a man yell from the living room.

"We know you're in here. Come out come out wherever you are." She heard another voice sing out.

"Why are you singing?" Yet another voice spoke.

"I'm setting the mood," the voice that sung replied.

"For a debt collection?"

"People like atmosphere."

"Who told you that?"

"Movies."

Haewon shook her head. Was this a dream? She pinched herself to make sure. "Ow" she quietly said. Very much awake.

"Let's split up."

"Last time we did that we lost Ni-ki."

"That was one time!"

"I said split up. 3 upstairs, 3 downstairs."

Haewon slowly retreated back into her room, making sure not to make any noise that would give away that someone was here. She wondered who these men were, and why they were after her father. Her brain told her to call 911. After all, most people would. But something stopped her, something she couldn't explain.

From her side she heard shuffling, crashes, and bangs. She could only imagine what these men were doing and what they were breaking.

"If you come out now, we will be super nice. We promise."

"Right, because that's going to work."

"So should we mention the zip ties?"

"Jake, what?"

These guys couldn't possibly be real criminals, Haewon thought. Real criminals had to be at least a little more competent than this.

"Found him!" Haewon's eyes opened wide. "Oh, never mind. It's just a coat rack."

"Anything up here?"

"No, and we've looked in every room."

Haewon raised her eyebrow. Clearly they hadn't.

"What about that one?"

"I didn't see that door."

"How did you miss the only closed door on this floor?"

"There are a lot of walls. It blended in."

"The walls are brown and the door is white."

"Okay, fine, mistakes were made."

She sees the handle of the door turn. She doesn't have enough time to find a place to hide before the door swings open.

"Mr. Oh?"

Haewon stares at the man, insulted, "do I look like Mr. Oh?"

"Well, do you know where Mr. Oh is?"

Haewon blinked in disbelief before someone else stepped in.

"Did you find—" the man stopped mid sentence as he saw Haewon. "You're not Mr. Oh."

"She's going to help us find Mr. Oh."

"That's great. So where is he?"

Haewon stared at the two men, still more confused than ever.

"I don't know," Haewon finally responded.

A moment of silence.

"She hesitated."

"That wasn't hesitation."

"That sounded like hesitation."

"She answered immediately."

"Very suspicious."

Haewon shook her head, "who are you people?"

"Oh, I'm Sunoo," one says with a smile and puts his hand out for a handshake.

"I'm Jake," the other one says.

"Okay, and what are you doing in my house?"

"This is your house? We are sorry. We were looking for a Mr. Oh. We thought he lived here," the one who introduced himself as Sunoo said.

"What's taking so long," another voice spoke before entering, stopping once he sees Haewon. "Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I'm a criminal, I'm not telling you my name."

"Oh... so we shouldn't have said our names?" The one named Jake asked, making the man sigh.

"Just answer the question, who are you," he ignored Jake.

"Answer my question first," Haewon folded her arms across her chest.

"I asked you first."

They stare each other down before someone else rushes into the room with a picture. "He has a daughter!" He stops, out of breath. "He has a daughter." He turns to Haewon and he straightens up. "Oh, hi. I'm Ni-ki."

"What is wrong with all of you," the man who she assumed to be 'the main one' said, shaking his head. He snatched the picture out of Ni-ki's hand.

After a few moments he looks up at Haewon with a smirk. "So you're the daughter." He laughs. "Where's your dad?"

"How would I know?"

He takes a step closer, "he's your father. You have to know something."

"Okay, new question. If I did know, why would I tell the group of men who broke into my house?"

"She has a point," Sunoo said.

"Take her."

"What?" Jake, clearly confused, asked.

"I said take her."

"Where are we taking her?" Ni-ki asked.

"Do I have to spell out everything? We are taking her with us. She's staying with us until her father pays what he owes."

"Oh! That's a great plan Heeseung!" Jake says.

The man she now knows as Heeseung sighs. "You're coming with us."

Haewon blinks. "No?"

Silence.

Jake whispers, "She said no."

Ni-ki nods. "I heard that too."

Sunoo tilts his head. "So, now what?"

"There's 4 of us. One of her. Grab her."

Ni-ki steps up and grabs her arm. "Got her!"

"Let me go," Haewon says firmly.

Ni-ki shakes his head, "Heeseung says you have to come with us."

"Stop saying my name! Stop saying anyone's name!" Heeseung yelled.

Heeseung leaves the room, expecting the others to follow. To Haewon's surprise, they do without being told. Ni-ki pulls her with him. As stupid as they all seemed, she was outnumbered. If she wanted to escape it had to be her outsmarting them, rather than he fighting them off.

When they got downstairs she saw the other two men in the kitchen, raiding the fridge and cabinets.

"How is there no food in this house?"

"Right? Borrowed 300 million won from us and didn't buy anything to eat? Crazy."

"What are you two doing?" Heeseung's voice laced with annoyance.

"Finding something to eat. I'm hungry. You dragged me out of my house before I got the chance to eat breakfast."

"Did you find anything?" Jake asked.

"No, there's not even crumbs."

"I have snacks in the van!" Sunoo speaks up.

"Oh my god..." Heeseung pinches the bridge of his nose. "Can we just go? Please."

Heeseung moves through the rest of the house, walking over the broken down front door.

"Oh? Who is this?"

"This is..." Sunoo started before realizing he still didn't know her name, "Mr. Oh's daughter."

"She looks familiar" one of the guys stepped closer to Haewon. "Really familiar."

Haewon could guess why, she was a famous idol after all. But she wouldn't tell them that. To them, that probably meant even more leverage or asking for more money.

"I can assure you I've never seen you in my life." She said.

"I'll figure it out," the guy shrugged before grabbing an apple and walking out after Heeseung.

"That's Sunghoon. He's not much of a people person," Sunoo smiled.

"We telling her our names now?" The only one she didn't know the name to asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Oh, right," Sunoo rubbed the back of his neck, "I keep forgetting Jay."

Jay pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "come on, Heeseung is waiting on us."

One by one they each walk out, Ni-ki still holding onto Haewon. She looked around, hoping for an opening. But what were the odds she could outrun 6 guys bigger than her? She knew her odds weren't great. For now playing along would be her best bet.

There was barely enough room in the car. In the back Haweon, Ni-ki, Sunoo, Sunghoon and Jake were squashed together. Heeseung was driving. Jay was in the passenger seat.

"Why do we have to be sardines back here? It's not fair!" Ni-ki whined.

"Because we are the oldest. Now be quiet." Jay warned.

"You think Jungwon will be proud of us?" Sunoo asked as he pulled out a granola bar from a bag on the floorboard, offering a bite to Haewon. She shakes her head. Sunoo shrugs and takes a bite.

"I think he'll be pissed," Sunghoon said.

"He'll be pissed at Heeseung for going against his word for sure," Jake agrees.

"He won't be mad," Heeseung assured them, even if he himself didn't believe his words.

Jungwon. There's at least one more. And he seems to be in charge, which means Heeseung isn't, Haewon thought to herself.

She could feel eyes on her. Turning her head, she found Sunghoon staring back at her with intense, unblinking focus.

"Did we go to school together?" he asked.

"Doubtful," Haewon said flatly.

"Hm." Sunghoon hummed, his brow furrowed as he tried to solve the puzzle of her face.

"Sunghoon, you're scaring our guest," Sunoo chided from across the seat.

"She's a hostage, not a guest," Heeseung sighed from the front.

"She can be both," Sunoo argued.

"No, Heeseung's right, she really can't."

"Why not?"

"Because that's literally not how hostages work, Sunoo."

Sunoo frowned, crossing his arms. "That seems unnecessarily rude."

Haewon slowly turned her head toward him. Of all the bizarre things that had happened today, witnessing a heated debate over kidnapping etiquette was easily the strangest.

"I appreciate your concern," she offered dryly.

"You're welcome." Sunoo beamed.

"Stop making friends with the hostage!" Heeseung yelled over his shoulder.

"I'm not making friends."

"You literally just offered her food."

"I offered her a snack because it's polite. And she said no anyway."

"That's not the point!"

"What am I supposed to do, Heeseung? Let her starve?"

"She has been with us for fifteen minutes!"

Haewon looked out the window, biting the inside of her cheek to hide the smile threatening to form. These people were insane. They weren't intimidating. They weren't particularly organized. Heck, she wasn't even sure they were intelligent.

But they were definitely insane.

Beside her, Sunghoon was still staring.

Haewon finally snapped and turned back to face him. "Are you going to do that the entire ride?"

"Probably."

"Great."

"I know you."

"You don't."

"I've seen you somewhere."

"Maybe I just have one of those faces."

"You don't."

Haewon narrowed her eyes. Sunghoon narrowed his right back.

Sensing the tension, Jake leaned forward, sticking his head directly between them. "Maybe you saw her at a restaurant?"

"No."

"Grocery store?"

"No."

"Hospital?"

"No."

"Do you go bowling?"

Haewon stared at Jake, utterly deadpan. "Do I look like I go bowling?"

Jake studied her features for a long, silent moment. "I don't actually know what someone who goes bowling looks like."

"Can everyone please shut up?" Heeseung begged, rubbing his temples.

The car finally went quiet. For approximately six seconds.

"So, what are we going to tell Jungwon?" Ni-ki asked, shattering the peace.

Heeseung's knuckles turned white around the steering wheel. "The truth."

Jay turned his head from the passenger seat, an eyebrow raised. "The truth being?"

"We went to collect the money. Mr. Oh wasn't there. His daughter was."

"And then you kidnapped her," Sunghoon added unhelpfully.

"I made an executive decision."

"You kidnapped her."

"A strategic, time-sensitive decision!"

"You kidnapped her."

Heeseung glared into the rearview mirror. "Whose side are you on, Sunghoon?"

"The side that doesn't get screamed at when we get home."

Haewon's attention sharpened. They're afraid of him. Maybe afraid wasn't the exact word, but whoever Jungwon was, his opinion clearly carried the weight of a death sentence. That was a highly useful piece of information.

"Yeah, Heeseung. You know Jungwon explicitly told you not to do something like this," Jake pointed out.

Haewon leaned slightly forward. "What exactly did Jungwon tell him not to do?"

The car plunged into total silence. No one answered. In fact, they all collectively avoided her gaze, suddenly finding the floorboards and the passing scenery fascinating. Heeseung's grip tightened so hard on the wheel the leather groaned.

Haewon raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

"Don't worry about it," Heeseung muttered.

"Oh, I'm not worried."

"You're the one being kidnapped."

"By you guys," she countered, pausing a beat to let the insult sink in. "So, at most, I'm moderately worried."

Jake snorted.

Heeseung shot him a lethal glare through the mirror.

"Sorry," Jake whispered, instantly shrinking back into his seat.