- Seoul Yongsan-gu, Monday 19.7.2021 8 p.m. -
- Restaurant: Wooridoongji -
In the dark and quiet backroom, Chanhee's slightly shaking breath was the only thing audible. The noises of utensils and laughing coming from the dining area were muffled by the door that the boy kept shut with his dear life.
"He's here. He's here! What am I going to do?!" the boy whisper yelled in panic.
Chanhee quickly locked the door and switched on the faintest light possible before going to his locker. He took his bag and every belonging he had, all of it happening in a rush. And just like his movements, his thoughts were dashing everywhere around the small room.
Out of breath, Chanhee stopped to think about the right decision once again.
Run away or face the fears.
From the corners of his eyes, he turned to look at the window behind him, feeling the strong temptation from it. He could just run into the deep night and never be heard or seen again. But then, on the other hand, if he did run away, exactly how many lives would suffer from it? He could also stay and try to take control of things. But then what could be the consequences towards him. For as much as sending the material to the police may sound easy, but when it endangers your own life, is it that effortless anymore?
Chanhee turned to look at the locked door then at the small window. His feet, starting to take small steps towards his own vested interest, also known as the window. But before he could open the way to his escape route, a mirror caught Chanhee's eye. The boy tilted his head while looking straight at his own reflection, now remembering how willingly his friend had let him stay hidden and escape the agony the childhood friend had to endure.
"What am I doing?" he said, aloud in pain and confusion.
Chanhee stepped away from the window, avoiding it like the plague. He threw away his bag and found a small piece of paper. After scribbling on to it, he placed his phone on top and left them behind. The boy looked into the mirror one last time before slowly opening the door to the dining area. Stepping out from the breakroom, Chanhee glanced at the part-timer and then at his manager with a smile. He walked over to the kitchen's counter and closed his eyes for a second, trying to hide his true personality. He grabbed the dish full of crispy chicken and took it over to the customer.
"And here is your chicken. I hope you will enjoy it!" Chanhee said as brightly as possible, acting as if nothing had happened earlier.
But before the boy could flee away from the customer, the man took hold of the younger one's wrist. Chanhee hid his surprised face and turned to look at the man with a raised eyebrow.
"Was there anything else that you wanted, sir?" he asked politely, his voice not having any sounds of nervousness.
"Yes," the man answered but was soon cut off by the attention of the younger one's manager.
"Is everything okay here?" the manager asked while walking closer to Chanhee.
The man quickly let go of the boy's wrist and slightly lowered his head. Chanhee nodded quickly before assuring that everything was fine.
"He's actually my dad's colleague and coincidently came to our restaurant! Isn't it funny?!" Chanhee explained with a laugh.
The manager smiled slightly, nodded and walked back to the cash register, the boy quietly sighing out of relief.
"Nice one," the man snickered unobtrusively.
Chanhee turned around to look at the man again, his face showing everything else but happiness. "What do you want?" he asked in a lower tone.
"Let's go for a ride," the man answered with his wicked smile.
Chanhee cooly nodded even though he felt like his heart would burst out of his chest any minute. And as he was about to leave, the man stopped him again.
"Why would you leave your father's co-friend alone to eat? Didn't your father teach you any manners? Please, do sit down," he commanded, playing along with the lie that the boy had set up earlier.
Chanhee growled in his mind while sitting down opposite the man, hating how sharp and sly he was.
As the boy had made his final decision, no choices were left other than to keep on with his new facade and to hope that the man would be stupid enough to buy it.
Would it be that hard?
~~~
"Are you done yet?" Chanhee tiredly asked while resting his chin on top of his hand, occasionally glancing over his back to see the other staff.
But the next time he looked behind, Chanhee saw the part-timer going into the back-room. Eyes widening, he hastily stood up, catching the man's attention. The boy turned to look back at the older one, his brain not finding any excuse for his prior action.
"Sit back down," the man growled with gritted teeth.
Chanhee quickly sat down, not daring to say anything else. Now he just had to hope that the timing would be on his side.
The boy watched as the man took the last piece of chicken into his hand, immediately turning to look at the back room's door where the girl was. He could feel the cold sweat run down his forehead as the time continued counting upwards, and the more it ran, the more dangerous the situation was starting to get.
And as in a cue, the man stood up, finally finished with his meal.
"Let's go," he shortly said after settling the money on the table.
Chanhee started swiftly walking behind the man, still keeping his eyes on the break room's door. And just as the man opened the door, Chanhee's co-worker stepped out from the backroom.
Sharing deep eye contact with the younger worker, Chanhee was quick to shake his head. The girl watched the older one worriedly while clutching tightly on to the boy's phone.
It's okay the boy mouthed fast before leaving the restaurant.
~~~
"So, a ride?" Chanhee questioned after walking closer to the man.
"This way," the man responded and started dragging the younger one by his sleeve.
"Woah, woah, wait!" Chanhee broke down, not being willing to be dragged by the kidnapper.
"What is it?" the man asked, slightly frustrated.
Chanhee withdrew his wrist from the man's grip while unnoticeably taking a small step backwards.
"You know my mom always tells me not to talk to strangers. So, should we get to know each other first?" the boy explained with the most innocent tone ever heard.
The man rolled his eyes with a chuckle, "You are unbelievable," he mumbled. "There's nothing for you to know about me," he answered back again with his more annoyed tone.
"Well, how about your name? I'm Chanhee," the younger one said rushingly while offering his hand for the man to shake.
The man rolled his eyes again but responded to the handshaking, "Changyeol," he plainly answered. "Better?"
Chanhee nodded with a smile, "Yes, thank you."
"Okay, let's go then," the man mumbled and continued walking. However, he wasn't able to get that far as the younger one stopped him again.
"Wait, I..." Chanhee started; however, the man wasn't in the mood to let him continue.
With an annoyed growl, he grasped the boy's hair and started heading towards the van, making the younger one yelp out in pain.
"Not the hair! Not the hair! I just dyed it!" Chanhee shrieked out.
"As if I care," the man replied under his breath, continuing to clutch onto the younger one's hair.
Arriving at the van, the man threw Chanhee to the passenger's seat, his expression clearly showing that he wasn't in the mood to play games.
The startled boy held his hurting head as it finally got freed from the man's grasp. He observed every movement the man did, not wanting to have any more surprises for his part.
"Where are we going?" Chanhee asked, trying his best to sound anything else but afraid.
"Here, there, somewhere," was the man's answer as he started the car's engine, Chanhee not looking satisfied at all with the other one's reply.
As the two drove in pure silence, the younger one could only look outside and admire the beautiful night city view while, at the same time, think about the worst scenarios that could be the ones to end this day.
The man glanced at Chanhee with a chuckle before turning to look back at the road.
"You know what's funny?" he started, gaining the younger one's attention. Chanhee turned to look at the man, his face not having any kind of emotions.
"How stupid and ignorant people are. Sometimes even unpredictable. Think about it. No one knows about us while we are driving here amongst them. I could plan on killing you, but the others wouldn't know about it. Isn't that just funny, how we people are? So reckless and unpredictable."
The words the man said made Chanhee's hands tremble. He tried to control his feeling of fear, but now it felt impossible. Trying to filtrate his emotions, the boy accidentally let out an amused laugh.
"What?" the older one asked.
Chanhee waved his hand, trying to say it was nothing important, but the man's questioning look forced the younger one to spill out his thoughts.
"It's just...a psychopath like you who enjoys eating fried chicken doesn't really add up," Chanhee explained, bursting out laughing even more.
The man looked back at the road while shaking his head,
"A sociopath," he commented, annoyed.
Chanhee stopped laughing as he turned to look at the man, "What did you say?"
"A sociopath, a highly functioning one. Not a psychopath," he corrected the boy.
Chanhee furrowed his eyebrows, "And it matters?" he asked, confused.
"Yes!" the man suddenly yelled, making the boy flinch.
"Okay, okay, whatever you say," Chanhee mumbled quietly.
The boy turned to look at the scenery once again, as it changed into mountains, forests and fields. As no one was in sight, it made Chanhee feel even more anxious.
"Your friend," the man started again after a long silence. Chanhee nervously swallowed as he turned to look at the man.
"Yes? What about him?" he asked curiously.
"Aren't you interested at all what happened to him?" the man continued asking while taking a turn to the right to a dirt road.
Chanhee looked down to his lap as he quickly tried to think of an answer. With a chuckle, he lifted his head up again and glanced at the older one.
"Frankly speaking...No, I'm not. I'm actually happy that he's out of my way now," the boy answered dryly.
"Interesting," the man commented silently.
He continued on driving down the dirt road until coming to a dead-end, only fields surrounding them.
Chanhee looked around, nervous about what would happen next.
"Why are we here?" he asked.
The man sighed and placed his hands behind his head, looking at the scenery ahead. "Isn't it beautiful? It's dark, quiet, and no one is around here," he noted.
"Yeah, I suppose," Chanhee agreed silently, too afraid to say anything else.
"Are you sure you don't want to know what happened to Hyunjoon?" he asked again, not being satisfied by the boy's answer from earlier.
"Yes, I'm very sure," Chanhee responded, slightly frustrated.
"Okay, then. Well...you're welcome, I guess," the man said, a bit surprised.
"Welcome for what?" the boy suddenly asked, not noticing the trap the man was settling for him.
"He's gone. So your welcome," the older one said shortly, a slight smirk forming onto his lips.
"He's d-dead?!" Chanhee yelled out. "You killed him?!"
The boy suddenly became quiet, eating all his other words after realizing what he had just said.
"Another liar," the man said aloud while shaking his head in disapproval.
"You know, I was actually impressed and was about to ask of some help from you. But I guess it's a no," he explained disappointedly.
Chanhee looked down, the panic starting to build up inside of him.
The man took out a syringe from his jacket and showed it to the boy, "You know what this is?" he asked.
Chanhee sighed, "I do, but I wish I didn't," he answered.
The man chuckled before coming closer to the boy, the syringe firmly in his hand.
"Wait, you remember what you said earlier about people?" Chanhee started, getting the man to halt in his actions.
"What about it?" he asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"How people can be unpredictable?" the boy continued as his hand started to move towards the door handle.
"Oh, yes. That," the man agreed thoughtfully.
Chanhee smiled as he hurriedly tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. His expression, turning into a panicked one in under a millisecond.
The man laughed, "Indeed, but didn't I mention about the stupidness too?" he pointed out before looking at his hand on top of the car door's lock.
"Yeah, I guess you did," Chanhee said, discouraged, taking his hand off of the door handle.
"So, you know what's going to happen now?" the man asked.
Chanhee corrected his sitting position into a more comfortable one before answering the man.
"Yeah, but make it quick. I hate needles."
The older one chuckled and delicately injected the needle into the boy's neck, the younger one flinching from the uncomfortable encounter with the sharp object.
"Last words?" the man asked with a smile after taking out the syringe.
Chanhee gazed at the scenery in front of him as he started to feel hazy and tired. He closed his eyes with a sigh and acknowledged his failure.
"Good night, I guess?" he answered right before falling unconscious.
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