Chapter 15

“…”

Jae-chan reflexively turned to Kim Geun-won’s direction. And he saw a strange sight.

Before he knew it, Kim Geun-won, who was lying flat on the floor, and the youngest member of Team 5 were beckoning like crazy with wide-eyed eyes. It refers to a narrow alley in front of the range rover. From Jae-chan’s side, it was in an alley that turned vertically and was invisible.

Damn it. Seon Jae-chan, who immediately realized what it meant, ran to the back of the car.

He grabbed the open trunk door. He squeezed his body into the stale space that was exposed as silently as possible. He went in, but the frail car body, weighed down by his weight and made a creaking sound. It was only a small creak, but it feels like thunder, perhaps because of the tense situation.

Step, step, step. As soon as he closed the trunk back to its original angle, the sound of footsteps clearly sounded in the darkness. Jae-chan hid in the corner of the bustling trunk, pulling his knees and holding his breath.

‘Damn…’

Meanwhile, Kim Geun-won, who was watching the whole situation from beginning to end, was swearing inwardly. Damn. Damn it…! His heart is still beating erratically.

He didn’t know how surprised he was to find a strange person in the narrow alley on the other side. The man walking while looking at his cell phone was reflected in the light of the LCD screen, and his smiling mouth was clearly visible from a distance.

‘I hope he’s not a bad guy. I hope he is not. Please.’

It should not have happened. It was because of him that Seon Jae-chan jumped there. The situation is not good. Kim Geun-won anxiously peered out from behind the pile of boxes by making the youngest lay down even more.

Damn it. Why did he go alone!

Kim Geun-won never dreamed that he would feel like losing weight because of his worries about Seon Jae-chan.

Kim Geun-won, who was still clutching his painful stomach and staring at the man without blinking, sighed.

‘No.’

The man wearing a shabby bungee and carrying a reddish toolbox… was also carrying a gun.

In times of need, he lose strength in his legs that were about to run out.

In a hopeless situation, Kim Geun-won only nervously ripped off the clumsy band-aid. Ah. The youngest then let out a cry-like sound. He then put his hand over her mouth like a pot lid, but she broke out in a cold sweat. The man abruptly moved towards the trunk where Seon Jae-chan was hiding. He appeared to be attempting to load the toolbox.

Nope. It won’t be. Not all people with guns are bad.

However, Kim Geun-won kept thinking of the white hand that had been forcefully knocking on the back seat window. The man is almost at the trunk now. Wet tears streamed down Kim Geun-won’s hand, which was covering the youngest mouth.

The two people’s heads were bleached white.

The man seemed to notice something strange. He paused and stared at the trunk door with an unsettling gaze.

He put down the toolbox. His gloved hand gripped the gun. Ugh…! The youngest’s muffled cries finally broke through on Kim Geun-won’s hands. Kim Geun-won trembled and covered the youngest eye with his other hand. Her eyes were wet and tightly shut, which he could feel beneath his palms.

The trunk opened.

*

The man walking down the deserted alley was in a very good mood. He was full of elation and excitement.

I finally got it. The target.

He wanted to go home quickly. He received a text message at the perfect time informing him that the goods that had been delayed due to the typhoon had arrived. All traces of the target’s kidnapping had been removed, so all he had to do now was return home.

When he got to the end of a narrow alley, he put his phone in his pocket. Because he shouldn’t be noticed.

He blinked, adjusting to the glimmering light and darkness. He opened and closed his gloved hands as he headed for the trunk of the car. He immediately opened the door and suddenly stopped.

Did I open the trunk?

His heart was pounding. The man stared at the window before slowly lowering the toolbox. In fact, the loose-tempered man roughly closed the trunk, but the circumstances of the crime had made him sensitive.

The silenced gun was held in the gloved hand. He stepped back. He kicked the trunk open with a pair of sneakers with loose soles in one breath.

…!

The man immediately aimed the gun and inspected the dark interior with bright eyes. Due to long-term drug addiction, his yellow eyes with red threads creeping up through the trunk.

After a while.

After carefully checking, the man lowered the gun. A sigh of relief came out. Well, even if he had found the rat, he would have shot it right away and shoved it in the trunk.

He took off his gloves with his front teeth and set the toolbox in the corner of the trunk. Tak. He closed the door and moved to the driver’s seat.

He double-checked his lovely target stretched out in the back seat before shifting gears. Her eyes are beautiful as if the drug is working properly. He then started the car.

The man drove slowly, relying solely on the dim moonlight in the absence of headlights. Perhaps it was due to his mood that he only had one person on board, but he enjoys the sensation that the car has become heavy.

Fuck. But it’s a bit too dark.

He had never dreamed of being a man staring at the dark windshield with the tip of his hard chin on the steering wheel. According to the intuition he foolishly passed over, there was one more person in the car.

Seon Jae-chan relaxed and sat on the trunk.

The kidnapper would find him sprawled out next to the toolbox if he opened the trunk again. However, the man was preoccupied with escaping the dark outskirts.

Jae-chan was belatedly shaking his twitching hands with an indifferent face. He could still feel a tingling sensation in his grip on the obstinate Kim Geun-won.

The kidnapper stopped in the middle of his way. Jae-chan was nervous as he showed the sign to get out of the car, but the sound of footsteps went far away. Jae-chan could see outside through the rear window because it was a hatchback trunk. The perpetrator had reinstalled the steel barricades and warning lights. He also pushed in. After confirming the kidnapper’s actions, Jae-chan became trapped in the trunk’s corner once more.

The car quickly entered the well-lit street. He estimated that he would move for another 15 minutes while experiencing mild motion sickness. The range rover began to climb the mountain road. He was careful not to bite his tongue because this old-fashioned thin trunk made him to feel the terrain.

Finally, the car stopped.

He held his breath, bracing himself for another unexpected situation. The sound of the door closing was followed by the presence of the kidnapper. At the same time, “Ugh.” A voice came out of nowhere. It was the kidnapped person’s groan from beyond the invisible high back seat.

It was at this point that Jae-chan cast a suspicious glance at the strangely familiar sensation. He heard a rattling sound in the distance. Jae-chan, who paid close attention to the rattling noise, soon realized it was the sound of a handcar.

Deureureureug. The car’s wheel stopped, and the back door quickly opened. The musty odor cuts through the hushed silence, allowing cool air to flow in. The kidnapper appeared to remain there for some time. What exactly is the situation? It was a time when Jae-chan’s lowered body had only sharpened his hearing. Haa. Haaa. An unpleasant breath was heard. It was the kidnapper’s voice.

‘Is it because of lack of exercise?’

While Jae-chan wrinkled the bridge of his nose, “Hak, haaa.” The unpleasant sound became louder. Seueug, seueueug, seueueueug. The sound of heavy cloth rubbing could be heard. The kidnapper was dragging down the kidnapper. There was a continuous, steady breathing sound throughout.

The heavy weight soon dropped dully, and the door closed loudly. The rattling handcar began to move. Jae-chan moved his body from the trunk’s bottom. The sound of wheels gradually faded from the car.

‘I’m going to live for the time being.’

Seon Jae-chan raised his head and checked the situation through the side window.

As expected, it was in the mountains. A hill on the outskirts, an empty lot among typhoon-damaged trees. A slate-roofed hut stood alongside a shack. Under the tattered roof, there was a light tangled with insects, allowing him to see the surroundings clearly. The person who is driving the range rover and the person who is riding on the hand car.

Jae-chan’s eyes widened.

It was because the kidnapped person was someone he knew, which surprised him. Bright hair. A gaping mouth. The person who was being dragged with his heels on the ground and his butt barely hanging onto the hand car was his roommate.

“…”

Information was mixed up in his mind. He was sure he heard that it was a case of infidelity. Could it be that the kidnapped person has changed?

Jae-chan peered through the dust splatters on the dark window panes. The kidnapper’s destination was not a cabin, but a large dark warehouse. The handcar was parked next to a rusted iron gate. The warehouse door swung open. The inner lighting revealed in the dark is a reddish color, similar to that of a butcher shop.

It was in poor taste. The kidnapper dragged his roommate in with the handcart. The oversized shoes’ heels dragged along, gradually disappearing through the gap in the door like an open mouth.

Seon Jae-chan finally took out his cell phone while still monitoring the warehouse. After switching to silent mode, he used GPS to determine his current location and address. South District 1. His fingers and eyes were focused on the map. He immediately sends a message.