The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance • Monsta X

iii.

He hoped Kihyun could tell him more this afternoon.

--

"Nobody noticed anything?" Hyunwoo repeated, shocked by Jooheon's answer. He was sitting in his squad car, having immediately called his partner up once he'd finished his patrol, which had been much faster than normal in an effort to figure out what had happened.

"No, I just checked with the other three guys who patrol that sector when you're not there, and they didn't notice anything unusual. They don't remember if the kids were in the lot or not. I'm sorry, Hyunwoo."

"Can't be helped," Hyunwoo said after a moment, frustrated nonetheless that two young boys had been missing for two weeks and nobody else had noticed. "Look, Jooheon, I'm worried."

"And you're sure this isn't just a misunderstanding? Maybe they relocated or-"

"It's not," Hyunwoo said. He winced at hearing how terse he sounded, but he had no patience at the moment. Something was wrong; couldn't anybody else see that?

"Okay," Jooheon agreed softly. "I'm sorry, Hyunwoo, but you know I have to ask."

"I know, I get it," Hyunwoo said, exhaling through his teeth. "I'm just- I'm worried, that's all. Kihyun - that's the other boy who was there today – he sounded worried too. I think something happened, Jooheon. I think the boys are legitimately missing."

Jooheon's line was silent for a moment as he pondered their next step. "Have you talked to the boys' parents?" he finally asked.

"No, not yet," Hyunwoo said, followed by another exhale. He felt stupid. Of course he should have just asked the parents and cleared this whole thing up before stirring up a panic about what was more than likely nothing particularly unusual.

"Well, I'd have a word with them, but don't expect too much," Jooheon advised after a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Not everyone in that district is a gold star parent," Jooheon said dryly. "Some of those kids have probably been fending for themselves since they were born. And I doubt they'll even talk with you. They're not big on cops."

Hyunwoo just nodded since he didn't really know how else to take that information, but then he realized that he was on a call so of course Jooheon couldn't see him. "If I talk to their parents and they're really missing, then what do we do? I mean, do you know offhand if stuff like this has happened around here before?"

Jooheon was quiet on the other end of the line. "There have been...similar cases, in that quadrant specifically. Sometimes it's drugs. They need new runners or kids get dragged in too deep."

"And the other times?"

There was a soft shuffling that Hyunwoo insinuated was the shaking of a head. "A few girls have gone missing before, but this doesn't really match those cases. Different target demographic."

"All right," Hyunwoo said, trusting that Jooheon would give him any information that would be helpful. He worried at his lip; he hoped the kids hadn't gotten caught up in any drug operations. They didn't seem like the type to do so, but in the end, how well did he really know them? He saw them, at most, half a dozen times a month. He didn't know anything about them except their first names. Maybe it was wrong of him to get so invested, but he couldn't help it. "I'll double back, talk to the parents, Kihyun too if he's out. I'll fill you in then."

"Got it. Keep in touch," Jooheon said, and then the call went dead.

Hyunwoo grimaced. Even if it made him out to be the fool, he hoped that it was all just a simple misunderstanding. That would at least mean that the boys were safe.