On The Run - Sunki

New folder

"Officers, the chief wants to see you both" said the secretary.

Sunoo and Beomgyu nodded and stood up. They had finished a case yesterday and had been filling paperwork until the chief assigned them a new one.

Sunoo knocked and entered after being invited to.

"Good morning chief" they said together.

The chief was quite young, but had proven on multiple occasions that he deserved his position.
His eyes were filled with determination and his temper was legendary in the whole state. He even was given "The Eagle" as nickname because of it.

"Ah, I don't know if I can call this morning good" he said, with a worried expression.

Beomgyu sat down, quickly followed by his partner. Sunoo knew he had nothing to worry about, but nonetheless always felt pressure when he was in the chief's office. He wasn't even able to maintain eye contact with him for more than five seconds.

"We have a serious case on our hands, and I'm not going to lie, usually it wouldn't be given to young officers like yourselves. Nonetheless I decided to trust you two. You have shown great results in past cases, so I am confident you won't disappoint me this" explained the chief.

"We won't" said Sunoo, bowing.
"What's the case?" continued Beomgyu.
"Two university students have disappeared" said the chief. "You'll find all the information in this folder."
"We will solve this in no time" promised Beomgyu.
"Thank you chief Park" added Sunoo.

~

The two partners walked back to their desks and opened their folder.

********** disappearance report **********

Name: Lee Heeseung
Gender: male
Date of birth: 15 October 1965
Occupation: third year university student

Last seen: 30 November 1986
Location: classroom

Name: Park Sunghoon
Gender: male
Date of birth: 8 December 1966
Occupation: second year university student

Last seen: 30 November 1986
Location: classroom

More information:

Two missing people are roommates with a third person, who notified the police about their disappearance.

Name of roommate: Sim Jaeyun

***********

Sunoo looked up and saw that Beomgyu also had finished reading the information.

"Let's go" he simply said.
They had been working together at the police department for two years. They knew exactly what they had to do without even mentioning it.
Sunoo put his hat and followed Beomgyu to their car.
The latter drove to the university, listing all the questions he had for the third roommate.

Sunoo took notes, as usual.
"It's sad though. They're so young" he said.
"You're like one year older that this Lee Heseung" replied Beomgyu.
"Which technically makes them younger, obviously" replied Sunoo.

Beomgyu rolled his eyes, but didn't reply more because they had arrived.
The university dorm receptionist welcomed them and guided the two officers until the room.

This time, Beomgyu knocked. They heard noises on the other side and soon the door opened up. A young man was standing there, looking disappointed.
"Good morning, I'm officer Kim" said Sunoo. "Here's my partner, officer Choi. We're here to ask you questions about your roommates."
"Yes of course, please come in" replied the student, opening the door wider.

The officers entered a classic student room. Posters on the walls, clothes on the beds, books on the only desks, nothing unusual.
Jaeyun took two chairs and installed them in front of his bed.

"Please have a seat" he said, pointing at them and sitting on his bed as well.

Sunoo and Beomgyu sat and waited a bit before starting speaking.
Sim Jaeyun seemed like a normal student. He was wearing old jeans and a blue hoodie. Nonetheless something about him was bothering Sunoo.

He has dark circles under his eyes.

Beomgyu straighten his back.
"As announced we are here to talk about you roommates because yesterday you notified the police they were missing" he said. "We are going to record this discussion in order to investigate the case better okay?"
"Of course" replied Jaeyun, nodding.

Officer Choi took the tape recorder out of his bag, made sure the tape inside was blank and pressed the record button.

"This is Officer Choi and Officer Kim, investigating the case of Lee Heeseung and Park Sunghoon's disappearance" he said. "Today is the  2nd of December, year 1986. We're in the room of the two missing young men, with their roommate, Sim Jaeyun."
"How did you meet Lee Heeseung and Park Sunghoon?" asked Sunoo.
"Well, Sunghoon is my childhood best friend. We grew up as neighbors and decided to share a room while studying at the university. We've met Heeseung here. His previous roommates finished studying and left the room when we started university. So, we were assigned this room and became friends with him." explained Jaeyun.

"You reported their disappearance yesterday at the police station, correct?" asked Beomgyu.
"Yes, after my math class" replied the student.

"Please describe the last time you saw them" requested Beomgyu.
"The day before yesterday, both of them didn't have any classes on the afternoon, so they mentioned going out to mall and maybe catching a movie. I had class, so I obviously didn't join them. I came back to our room around 6:30 pm and they weren't there yet. I didn't worry then, because I imagined they had seen a movie and decided to eat something afterwards. But the hours kept passing and I had no news, so it got harder not to worry" explained Jaeyun. "I figured they come back during the night and went to sleep. Unfortunately they didn't come back. First thing I did in the morning was calling their parents, hoping they had slept at their place, but they didn't either. I spent the day looking for them between classes and finally gave up and went to the police."

Sunoo looked at him. He didn't just sound sad, he looked utterly upset and overwhelmed.

"I haven't slept this night... I am really worried about them" he whispered.

Beomgyu looked at Sunoo, who understood immediately.

"Thank you for all the details you gave us. It will definitely help. I know this is a lot for you, unfortunately we still have some questions. Do you want to take a break?" suggested Sunoo.

Jaeyun shook his head.
"No, there's no need. What else can I help you with?" asked the student.

"Did they mention any other place other than the mall?" asked Beomgyu.
"We usually go to Boulevard Mall, or the game arcade next to it. I don't think they would have gone anywhere else" answered Jaeyun.
"What about other classmates. Do they get along with everyone?" continued Beomgyu.
"Well, Sunghoon and Heeseung are both pretty popular. They get lots of attention everywhere they go. I don't know anyone that doesn't like them, even though there might be some" replied the student. 
"Did you notice something different about them in the last few days?" asked Sunoo.
"Hum" said Jaeyun, closing his eyes, trying to remember. "The both mentioned sleeping badly during last week. But that happened to me too. I think it's because of the exams coming up."
"I see" replied Beomgyu. "Officer Kim, do you need to ask something else?"

Sunoo just shook his head no.
The two officers thanked Jaeyun for his help and left the room.

Sunoo stayed quiet during the ride.

I haven't slept well in a week either.
Is it just a coincidence?