Chapter 1

I couldn’t see anything.

I could only hear my own ragged breathing and the rough sound of the rope scraping against my wrist.

The place smelled like humidity, metal… and perfume.

A fancy, expensive perfume.

Completely out of place in a… kidnapping.

Where am I?

Who brought me here?

Why do I feel like… he’s watching me?

A step.

Another.

Calm, confident.

The door closed with a soft click.

No slamming.

No chaos.

As if the kidnapper was used to walking into rooms like this.

A low voice broke the silence:

—“You’re finally awake.”

A shiver crawled down my spine.

“W-what do you want from me?” I asked, with a shaky voice I didn’t even have to fake.

“Just to look at you.”

What the hell.

The blindfold pressed against my eyes.

My heart pounded in my chest.

But something in me said… the voice didn’t sound like a typical criminal.

It sounded nervous.

Too soft for someone who had tied me to a chair.

But before I could process anything—

The blindfold slid off.

And I saw him.

My brain rebooted.

Literally.

The guy in front of me didn’t look like a criminal.

He looked like a magazine cover. A Victoria’s Secret model.

Perfectly styled black hair, deep shining eyes, sharp jawline, pretty lips, flawless skin.

He was just missing dramatic backlighting.

It was ridiculous how handsome he was.

I just stared at him.

He saw me staring back… and blushed.

Blushed.

The world’s hottest kidnapper was standing in front of me, bright red.

“You’re…” The words slipped out. “Are you… real?”

He blinked, confused.

“What?”

“Sorry, I thought someone had kidnapped me an actor or something.”

“W–wait, what?” he stuttered.

He tried to act threatening, straightened his posture, frowned…

But he still looked more like a model than a criminal.

“You’re here because I… obsesse— No, the other way—”

“You obsessed over me?” I interrupted, genuinely curious.

“NO! I mean, yes— NO! YES! I mean—!”

He choked on his own words.

He looked at me.

Looked away.

Rubbed the back of his neck.

He seemed more nervous than I was.

Me, tied up.

Him, free.

“Hey,” I said softly, “did you really kidnap me?”

“What kind of question is that? OF COURSE I kidnapped you!” he huffed, though he sounded insecure.

“Well, it’s just… you’re too handsome to be kidnapping people.”

He froze.

“WHAT?”

“I mean it nicely. If I were that pretty, I wouldn’t even have time to kidnap anyone.”

“That’s— that’s NOT how this dynamic works! You’re kidnapped!”

“I know, but out of all possible kidnappers, I got a really pretty one. Don’t you think that’s good luck?”

His whole face turned tomato red.

He literally looked like he was going to faint.

“W–why do you say those things?”

“What things?”

“TH–THOSE THINGS!!” he yelled, pointing at me without knowing what to point at.

I leaned back as much as the chair allowed.

“Do you want me to be scared?”

“YES!”

“Can you teach me how?”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW!?”

He took a step toward me, trying to regain authority.

He stared at me intensely.

Tried to be cold, intimidating, controlling…

But the moment our eyes met—

He blushed harder.

Stepped back.

Bumped into the table behind him.

Knocked over a bottle by accident.

I watched.

He lowered his head, defeated.

“I don’t know how this works,” he muttered.

“The kidnapping?”

He nodded.

“Is this your first time?” I asked, almost tender.

“OF COURSE NOT!”

“…Is it?”

“……yes.”

Silence.

Then, softly:

“I—I thought that if I had you here… I’d know what to do. But you’re just…”

“Irresistible?”

“NO!!” he yelled, quickly turning away—clearly to hide another blush. “Shut up.”

I smiled.

That was the exact moment I understood:

I was physically kidnapped…

but he was emotionally kidnapped.

And strangely…

I liked that.

A lot.

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