Chapter 212 - Subway

Again inside the metal container, Ji Hyeon held back her tears of anger and fear just so she could hear what they were saying outside.

Luckily, finding Jae Ik wounded and trying to get out of the shed to recapture the fugitive, no one suspected him, but they humiliated him for being so sluggish.

How could they imagine that just that night, Chief Hong and Dae Won would meet there?

But there was still hope. She had called the whistleblowing call center. And maybe some camera recorded how Dae Won dragged her back into the alley. Perhaps at that very moment, a rescue operation was underway, coming to that place.

Trying to remain optimistic and warding off thoughts of failure, Ji Hyeon took a deep breath. Listening to what they said was important.

And at that moment, Hong was saying,

"Lee, I think I should applaud your audacity! Worthy of a movie. Who should they call to do their part, uhn? Lee Joon Gi? But causing the death of two police officers will not help you in any court in the world..."

"I think you've done this scene before. So you are thinking about Lee Joon Gi," replied Dae Won.

"Ah, it can be. But you are looking... Terrible. And coming here in that state only damages my image. I know you can empathize with my dilemma right there."

"I don't intend to harm you."

"Well, but in the current state of affairs, I realize that I made a mistake. I thought it would be simple, but your 'merchandise' in my shed causes me problems. I know you're in a, let's say, tricky time, but I need to get rid of this problem. Soon."

"I have an idea, and I think you will enjoy listening to it. I think it meets your own problems. So let's say it would make up for the extra 'inconvenience' I caused."

Ji Hyeon cowered in fear in his bed.

What were those two criminal minds up to?

ººº

Jun Hyeon was at the Gangnam station with Ye Rim, and a team of plainclothes officers led by Detective Ji.

It was nine-fifteen, and all access and subway trains were being monitored to locate Ji Hyeon.

Not only he, but the entire team involved, were tense, as they did not know what to expect.

He rubbed his hands anxiously, trying to get rid of the cold, nauseating sweat he felt. Inside his mind, Dr. Kim asked that he be spared from the temptation to meet Dae Won in person. He was sure he would become a murderer if that happened.

But as time went on, and the team tried to find Ji Hyeon, whether it was through messages encrypted by the subway's messaging system, video searches and scans on the cars, everything was fruitless.

Even after the last train, they remained there searching, until it became clear that Ji Hyeon was not there.

Detective Ji was constantly talking on his communicator and also on his cell phone. He came to the couple,

"We found nothing in the vicinity, but I just received a response from another team, who located the origin of the call. It is a wide region, but a train ride back and forth would take exactly the time for her to be here before nine o'clock. Don't lose hope. If you recognized her voice, it is because she is alive ... And we will find her."

Jun Hyeon knew that Detective Ji Jae Wook was doing his best, and that he had returned to work to stay in this case even after the accident. He wore a sling because he was injured in the accident that Dae Won caused to escape. In addition, his lawyers kept him informed of all the legal operations and procedures that were being done to arrest Dae Won and obtain the maximum sentence for that sick monster.

They were already suspicious that the body cremated in place of Ji Hyeon had been stolen in a morgue in another city, and this indicated that Dae Won used an established network of criminals to simulate Ji Hyeon's death. 

With investigations and the call center for complaints related to the Ji Hyeon case, testimonies popped up about how the musician had bribed people so he could hide a woman inside lockers or rooms. Or you could install cameras in places where Dr. Kim would be. Jun Hyeon imagined that he could keep Ji Hyeon cooperative because of that, but he didn't want to think to what extent his dear sister was involved with that disgusting psychopath.

Although the evidence about Dae Won's guilt acc.u.mulated, with undeniable proof that he had really kept Ji in captivity for all these years, they still hadn't been able to find her whereabouts. Her main and last captivity had been at Dae Won's own house. All other households linked to the family had already been investigated, and she had not been found.

At that time, Dae Won's family had returned from abroad and was trying to clean up all the dirt that the only son had brought to the family name, but Kim couldn't allow them to exempt themselves.

It was impossible that they didn't know what kind of person he was.

And earlier, Detective Ji had even told him that the police had searched a place where a witness had reported it as a possible whereabouts of the fugitive musician after the accident. A water treatment plant. They found clues that the site had been invaded, but the cameras didn't capture Dae Won.

Detective Ji suspected that Dae Won had been hiding there for a while, but had already changed his hiding place.

"Go home, I will keep you informed about the searches. But at that point, there's no reason for them to stay." said Detective Ji.

Jun Hyeon, with a lump in his throat, agreed. He wanted to be more active in that search, but he was just a doctor, not a detective.

He looked to his side, and saw Ye Rim's look, full of concern and pain. She was a wonderful person, standing there beside him for hours without complaining or drawing attention to herself, and she certainly must have her feet hurting in those high heels. Ye Rim was at his side, and that made things a little more bearable.

"Yes, Ye Rim needs to go home."

"I can stay as long as you stay. I'll get warm coffee for us," she offered.

"No. Detective Ji is right. If we're not helping, we're just getting in the way and demanding attention. I'll take you home."

"Don't forget, Dr. Kim. At this time we have not yet located Dae Won. He can try to contact you, stay contactable."

If before remembering and making sure that Lee Dae Won was the other Korean teenager in the hospital in Switzerland, so many years ago, Jun Hyeon had doubted that possibility, today he would not doubt it.

As Detective Ji already suspected and his memory confirmed, Dae Won could do this so methodically, for so long, in a distorted and unhealthy relationship with Kim Jun Hyeon. A relationship in which he wanted to be noticed. Whether it was a relationship of admiration, rivalry or whatever, only the experts could tell.

Upon leaving her at Shin's door, the doctor turned to Ye Rim,

"Thank you for being by my side today."

"Where else would I be?" she asked, with a tired smile. "I would just be happier if unnie Ji Hyeon had come home today. For her, for you, for everyone!"

"I will confess that I thought my chest was going to explode today. I'm so frustrated that I feel like I'm going crazy! Ji Hyeon doesn't deserve any of this! I wish I could look for her myself! I don't know! Do something!" he vented, and Ye Rim hugged him, reclining for a moment on his chest, in the car seat.

"I would change hearts with you now, then! I can't stand to see the people I love suffering! You cannot blame yourself when you have created no kind of situation that would justify the actions of that madman. He's so independent of you, Jun. And I'm so sorry for everything that's going on with your sister! But I know that you will see her soon. And the past, however painful, will be only the past. Have faith, my love."

Running a hand through his hair, he tried to be as optimistic as Ye Rim. He didn't want to be a burden to her, because she wasn't a burden to him. On the contrary, she was his only source of joy at the moment.

"I believe what you are saying, just because you are the one saying it. Please come in. Tomorrow, do tell that boss of yours to redo the contract as soon as possible, as I told you. I will be your fake boyfriend, but our wedding will be real!"

"Psss! Don't think about any of that now. Save your energy for other things. "

"It's all right. My marriage proposal will be more romantic than the dating proposal. Something at your height. I promise."

"I'll wait ..." she kissed his lips briefly and opened the car door. Jun Hyeon felt his heart warmed by his love for that fantastic woman. He admired her strength, her attitude, and her huge and generous heart, and he liked it even when she was 'his nutcake'.

He loved Ye Rim and felt that his life would be cold and lonely without her. In fact, when he thought of the past, it seemed that all his other relationsh.i.p.s had been of no color or importance.

The fear of losing her hit him like a cold wave.

The fear that Dae Won would also come to Ye Rim to take her as he did with his sister paralyzed him for a moment.

He couldn't let that happen. 

He would kill Dae Won if he came close to Ye Rim.

Starting the car, he stepped away from Shin's mansion, and even when the headlights of his car illuminated the figure in white and long hair walking along the secluded road, Jun Hyeon was too upset to have paid attention.