Chapter 98: Chapter 98.
Chapter 98.
It was said that Woojin returned to the office after having lunch with Eejun. Shin also got a text ssage from Woojin that day about eting up after work. But when the workhour was over, Woojin was nowhere to be seen. Shin waited in the basent parking lot, and when Woojin didn’t show up, he went back up to Woojin’s departnt.
The office was empty and Shin still couldn’t get ahold of Woojin. That night, Woojin never returned ho. Shin didn’t get any sleep at all, waiting in their ho.
Shin believed Woojin would return, and he kept calling, but there was no answer from Woojin. Shin sent a text every hour, but they all remained unread. It was a living hell for Shin.
Woojin had disappeared. He didn’t go to work. He didn’t return ho. It was as if he never existed.
Shin asked Siwoo, “How are you?”
“...”
“Did you hear from Jihoon Kang yet?”
That day when Woojin disappeared, Jihoon had business etings all afternoon outside of the office. The next morning, Shin received a call from Siwoo. Siwoo’s voice was trembling when he said to Shin, “Jihoon Kang hasn’t returned ho. He isn’t answering my calls either.”
Shin inhaled deeply. Both Woojin and Jihoon disappeared suddenly. Sothing was obviously going on.
Siwoo replied, “No.”
“Did you eat anything?”
“No.”
“Wait for . I will be there.”
Siwoo didn’t know much about Jihoon. All he knew were that he was Woojin’s cousin and that his mother had been sick for a long ti. So when Jihoon disappeared, Siwoo panicked, and Shin realized sothing.
“Siwoo, are you dating Jihoon Kang?”
When Siwoo didn’t answer, Shin didn’t prod. Their priority now was to find Woojin and Jihoon. After they were found, Shin knew Siwoo would explain everything to him.
Shin told Siwoo a summary of what he knew about Woojin and his situation.
How Woojin’s father was murdered. How it was initially suspected that Jihoon’s mother was the one behind this cri. How Joowan Kim was relevant in this complicated family situation.
Siwoo didn’t say much. Shin asked, “Did Jihoon Kang really not tell you anything?”
“He didn’t.”
“...”
“That idiot never ntioned Joowan Kim’s na in front of .”
Siwoo didn’t even know that Joowan was one of the heirs to Hana Pharmaceuticals. His voice trembled as he asked Shin, “If... they were kidnapped...”
“... Siwoo...”
“Then what should we do, Shin?”
Shin didn’t want to think about it. Right now, what he needed to do was focus on finding where Woojin was. Shin hastily picked up his coat on the bed and looked around the room. Except for missing Woojin, it looked the sa. It looked normal, but for so reason, everything looked dimr.
He whispered, “Where are you Woojin...”
Shin thought perhaps his dream was telling him sothing. Woojin Choi waited for Shin for a long ti, and now, it was Shin’s turn to wait. Love appeared in disguise sotis. At first, it would look like a coincidence, but in ti, it often beca clear that it was fate.
***
Woojin felt like his head was going to explode. He lifted his hand to touch it, then suddenly noticed the old scar on his wrist. It was an ugly injury, and although it was sutured well, the cuts were deep and the scars were ugly. The strange thing was that Woojin didn’t mind the scars as much as he used to.
Woojin wondered where his bracelet was. He sat up, trying to look for it when he realized that he was in a strange room. The sll of lavender was overwhelming.
“...”
Woojin sighed and looked around. He was certain he had never been here before. Where did Eejun bring him? Woojin felt weak and when he tried to stand up, his feet hurt. His body felt disconnected from his brain. This was the second ti he felt this strange sensation.
The first ti was when he was found in that swimming pool in high school. He rembered that ti like he was watching an old movie.
The day he returned ho... He rembered Jihoon’s white dog. His aunt was there too. Then suddenly from behind, soone gently touched his neck.
It was a cold big hand, and.... a knife? This was the first ti Woojin rembered this part of his past. He was deep in his thoughts, trying to rember more when soone said to him from behind, “Are you finally awake?”
It was Eejun Bae. Unlike his usual light outfits, Eejun was wearing a pair of black jeans and a pullover. He looked so unfamiliar to Woojin that it gave him goosebumps. The room was warm, but Woojin felt cold.
Eejun walked in with a small bottle of water. Woojin asked, “How long was I unconscious?”
“Two days. I miscalculated the dosage. You almost died.”
“Well, you plan on killing anyway, aren’t you?”
“Bingo.”
Eejun shook the bottle in front of Woojin teasingly. Woojin felt a sudden thirst, but when he tried to swallow, his mouth was so dry that it felt painful. Woojin tasted blood in his mouth.
Eejun announced, “A large well-known company’s heir died from overdosing on his prescription pills.”
“... And when will this headline be released?”
“About two days from now?”
Eejun opened the bottle, and as he did it, Woojin noticed the faint pulse on his wrist. Was Eejun nervous?
But Woojin had no ti to worry about Eejun. He needed to figure out how to get out of this situation. Even though this was the second ti he was going through a kidnapping, it still felt devastating and unfamiliar.
S... second ti?
A forgotten mory suddenly popped in his head, making Woojin frown.
Ignoring Woojin’s expression, Eejun said to him, “You rember the training we got together, right? The three of us.”
“...”
“If and when we get kidnapped, what is the most important thing we need to rember?”
“... Do not take any food the kidnapper offers you.”
Woojin reached out for the bottle that now sat on the side table. His hands felt weak, and it was obvious they didn’t even give him any IVs when he was unconscious.
Bastards.
Eejun asked, “You must be hungry.”
“No.”
“... You are lying.”
“I don’t get hungry that easily.”
“What?”
“The last ti when I was kidnapped, I think I was imprisoned for a week.”
“...”
“I had to starve for the whole ti.”
Woojin was rembering slowly and Eejun’s eyes widened.
“...What?”
“I had to survive on just water.”
Woojin’s father tried to stop the kidnappers, but he ended up being stabbed. Woojin didn’t rember seeing Jihoon or his aunt in the room at the ti. His father was bleeding, and the n dragged Woojin away. Woojin was crying and fighting back, but it was useless.
Woojin rembered the tattoos now. On the n’s wrists, there were tattoos that looked the sa as the one on Joowan’s wrist. Woojin could finally rember everything.
He continued, “At the ti, the kidnappers made sure I drank their water three tis a day.”
“...”
“And strangely, every ti I drank it, it would make forget what happened. It erased my mories.”
“...”
“And at so point, I couldn’t tell where I was and what was happening.”
One thing Woojin could rember clearly was how he ran to his school with his wrist cut and bleeding. He rembered the pain as his wrist throbbed. He ended up falling on the ground. He rembered the painful thirst and how hard it was to breathe.
And when he managed to jump into the swimming pool... He rembered the boy who jumped after him. That single mory was one of the few things that never left Woojin.
Eejun gave him an ugly grin and whispered, “It would’ve been perfect if you had just died that ti.”
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