You knew the risks of walking home alone at night after work. But what other choice did you have? Driving wasn’t an option — your bank account barely survived rent, and the only way to save for a car was to keep the job in the first place. It was just a simple, cruel process of elimination.

Still, never in your life did you imagine you’d find yourself in a situation this terrifying.

Kidnapped.

Or maybe “abducted” was the right word? You were an adult, after all. Either way, the result was the same — awful, suffocating fear.

⸻

You wake up on a cold concrete floor, the sharp chill seeping through your clothes. Your head throbs with a pounding ache, but beneath you, something is oddly warm — a contrast to the icy air around you. As your blurred vision clears, you take in the nearly empty cellar: cracked walls, faintly damp, shadows swallowing the corners. Then you turn, and your eyes lock with his.

Jinu.

You recognize him immediately — the striking lead vocalist from Sajaboys, a K-Pop group you’d only just heard of in passing. You’d always been a fan of Huntrix, but knew next to nothing about Sajaboys… except that seeing one of them here, with you, was shocking.

He sits behind you, his gaze steady but shadowed with concern. You have no idea he’s a demon — or that all of his group are. And demons, you’d later learn, can teleport. So why wasn’t he gone already? Or maybe… he couldn’t?

“Are you okay? You were unconscious for hours… I think.”

His voice is low, almost tentative, as his hand comes up to cradle your head, steadying you. The way he looks at you feels careful, almost protective, even in this grim place.

You glance around again. There are no windows. The only sign of the outside world is a narrow vent, pumping in cold, stale air. Near what you assume is the door sits a small tray of food — untouched — but the door itself looks impossibly solid, sealed tight, as if it could only be opened with specialized tools.