Beomgyu walked back into the room where everyone else was.

He held his hand to his neck, and looked at Kai.

"Are you okay Gyu?", Yeonjun asked.

"I met Lily."

Yeonjun and Soobin immediately got up and went to him.

"Did she hurt you?", Yeonjun asked.

"What did she say?", Soobin wondered.

Beomgyu moved his hand.

"She microchipped me."

"What?!", Soobin and Yeonjun yelled.

"She said if we take the microchips out of Kai...she will take my memories too."

"This is just amazing isn't it?", Soobin said sarcastically.

Kai felt bad for Beomgyu.

He knew how it felt to be under their control. How hard it was to make sure you did everything right. Otherwise, they would harm you.

"So what do we do?", asked Yeonjun.

"I say we still take the chips out of Kai.", Beomgyu replied.

"And let you lose your memories too? No. We're not doing that.", Soobin said.

Kai sat there in silence.

He didn't know how to help Beomgyu. But he knew he wanted too.

"Just take his microchip out.", Kai said.

"What?", they all replied in unison.

"Take his microchip out. That way she can't hurt him. Then get mine."

"Huh...seems easy enough. But, will she know if we did?"

"That's the thing. I don't want her to hurt him in retaliation.", Beomgyu sighed.

The boys stood there.

Soobin had an idea, and a smirk went across his face.

"Guys. Hear me out-"

"He's about to say some bs. I can feel it.", Yeonjun said.

"No no. Listen. We use this against Lily."

"And how would we do that?", Beomgyu asked.

"She obviously is guarding Kai's microchips for a reason. She probably needs him for something. I say, we use this to bargain with her."

"Bargain what? We don't have anything.", Yeonjun said.

"An eye for an eye. She gives us back whoever is still missing, thinking she's getting Kai in return. Then, we fake her out by taking his microchips at the last minute."

"No offense, but do you think Kai is that valuable to her? That she would give up the others?"

"She might. It's worth a shot."

"I'm down for it.", Kai said.

Beomgyu and Yeonjun reluctantly agreed.

"Wait...Kai did you just agree to help us? What happened to the whole 'my family' stuff?", Soobin questioned.

"I believe you guys that they're bad people. The more I think about it...I can't remember a single good moment I had with them."

"That's...depressing. I'll go find the doctor and see how long they plan on keeping Kai.", Yeonjun said.

"Good. I'll check in on the others and fill them in on our plans.", Soobin replied.

"Anyone else hungry?", Beomgyu asked.

"I haven't eaten in what feels like 12 years.", Kai whispered.

"Someone get him food please. He's making me sad."

Taehyun and Seonwoo laid on the bed upstairs.

"How do you feel?", Seonwoo asked him.

"I'm okay."

"Why are you sick? Have you taken medicine?"

"I don't know why I'm sick. I started feeling like this after going to that show."

"What show?"

"I snuck out a few nights ago. I wanted to go on a quiet walk. I happened to see this glowing array of lights from a distance. I walked all the way there. It was some kind of circus."

"Really? Like mine?"

"Maybe. Anyways, I saw this girl. Black hair, brown eyes, and a kind smile. She said she knew me, and offered me some free food if I helped her."

"What did she want?"

"She wanted to know if I had any other friends my age or older. She wanted their names. Maybe she was a recruiter."

"Hmm, that sounds weird."

"It was. After eating the food, I started to feel weird. Next thing I know, I wake up in this room with a creepy tall guy."

"That lady drugged you?"

"She did. And I haven't been back to normal ever since. She really messed me up."

"Well, what did the guy do?"

"He was staring at me. He told me I wasn't what he was looking for, and let me go."

"Well at least they let you go. Unlike me..."

Seonwoo sat up.

"They...didn't let me go.", he whispered to himself.

Taehyun sat up as well.

"You okay?"

"Taehyun...I feel like a switch was flipped in my mind."

"What makes you say that?"

"You telling me your story made me realize...I was kidnapped. Those were bad people."

"They were."

"They wanted to use us for their personal gain. But...no. They're not my parents. Why did I believe they were my parents?"

Taehyun watched him closely.

He could see a visible change in Seonwoo's eyes.

"Holy crap. Oh my god...I was kidnapped! And they did bad things to me! I let them control me...oh no...what did I do?!"

Seonwoo was freaking out at this point.

It was like all of his memories came flooding back at once. He realized the depth of his situation.

"I need my mom. Where's my mom?!", he said.

"She's downstairs."

"She's here?! Mom! Mom!", Seonwoo yelled.

Downstairs, Seonwoo's mom heard the screams and instantly ran to him.

"I'm coming sweetheart!", she said, going up the steps.

He opened the door to the room, and saw her coming to the top of the steps.

"Mom! Mom I missed you so much! How did you get here? When?"

She hugged him as tightly as possible.

"Oh sweetie, I thought you would never remember me...", she said.

"How could I forget you mom? I love you."

"I'm so happy to hear that my angel. Let's go see your father and sister."

"They're here too?!"

As Seonwoo and his mom went back downstairs, Taehyun stood in the doorway of his room.

Something was off about Seonwoo to him.

And he was going to figure out what it was.

(Two Hours Later)

Shota and the group were on the way to meet Yeonjun and the remainder of his friend group.

They would come back to the house together, and start Niki and Soobin's plan.

Soobin would stay with Kai until the next day, when the hospital agreed to release him into the boys' authority.

Yeonjun was sitting there, watching Beomgyu tell Kai about Soobin's hedgehog and how it's a violent killer, when his phone buzzed.

It was a call from Taehyun.

"Hello?"

"Yeonjun. I have broken the code."

"What code?"

"The reason Seonwoo lost his memories."

"Really? What is it?"

"He never lost them."

"Explain please..."

"I was talking to him. I told him about how I was drugged by that lady at the circus. And it flipped a switch in him. He suddenly remembered his parents."

"Wait, how? That doesn't make sense."

"Have you ever heard of mass hysteria?"

"I have."

"Then you know. These microchips elicited a painful electric shock. That shock was said to make them lose their memories, except, it never could. It's like a placebo effect."

"So they have been conditioned to think-"

"To think that their memories are gone. Yeonjun hyung, they know who we are. We just need to figure out how to get them to realize it."

Yeonjun looked at Kai.

"He remembers you. Maybe you can help him."

"He remembers me?"

"He does. It shocked us too."

"That makes me smile. Maybe I still have a chance."

"For what?"

"What do you mean for what? Kai was my boyfriend."

Yeonjun went quiet.

"Oh, did you all not know that?"

"Kang Taehyun...I am going to hang up this phone in about five seconds."

"Sorry. Hehe, I thought you knew."

Yeonjun put Taehyun on speaker phone.

"Kai?", he said.

Kai turned his head.

"Baby? It's me! Taehyun! How are you? I miss you so much...it's been so long."

Kai felt tears welling up in his eyes.

That voice. A voice he...loved?

"Taehyun? I'm okay! I miss you too! I want to see you!"

"Me too baby! Come back home soon okay?"

"I will!", Kai yelled back.

By this time he was fully crying.

He wiped his eyes with his hands.

When he looked up again, he looked around the room.

"Don't cry Kai. You'll go home soon.", Soobin said.

Kai stared at him.

"I'm...alive?", he said.

He felt his clothes, and his face.

"I'm alive! And you guys are here! I missed you so much! How did you find me?! Am I safe now? Are we still in Busan?"

Taehyun smiled from the other side of the phone.

He stood up from his bed, and was ready to go tell the others the good news about his discovery.

But then-

Yeonjun heard a loud thump sound from the other side of the phone.

"Hyun?", he said.

No response.

"Hyun? You there?"

Nothing.

"Is he okay?", Kai asked.

Yeonjun listened closely. He didn't hear a single sound.

"I have a feeling he isn't."