* * *
Left alone in the dark warehouse, I struggled even while bound, not giving up hope. The phone I had been clutching like a sacred talisman until I nearly lost consciousness was nowhere to be seen.
The brothers had always acted unpredictably, so I hoped they would somehow discover my kidnapping and come to rescue me, but I couldn’t be certain. Not having a watch made it more frustrating, as I couldn’t tell how long I’d been here. It didn’t seem like a full day had passed yet…
If Hajin had figured out where I was, he wouldn’t have taken this long to come save me. The feeling in my arms and legs was gradually disappearing, and the water I had drunk a while ago was woefully insufficient to quench my thirst.
Would I make it out of here alive?
I tried not to, but the longer I was alone, the more negative thoughts kept surfacing.
I shifted my body bit by bit toward the door. Predictably, the firmly closed iron door had no gaps whatsoever.
When would Director Kim attempt to negotiate? Surely Hajin hadn’t already dismissed a negotiation attempt?
Pushing aside the negative thoughts that kept rising, I banged my forehead against the iron door. I felt the need to talk to someone, anyone, and more than anything, I needed to ask for water as my throat was painfully dry.
Bang, bang. After hitting it a few more times hard enough to hurt my head and make a loud noise, the iron door opened. In front of the door stood the guy who had captured me, his expression full of annoyance.
“W-water, please.”
My voice was terribly hoarse, as if it weren’t my own. The thirst was harder to bear than the pain of my bound body cutting off circulation. The man brought a bottle of water to me. I desperately extended my lips to take the bottle and drank directly from it. Cough, cough. The sudden cold water made it impossible to suppress my coughing.
“Satisfied?”
“Um… what about Director Kim Cheolwoo? Has there been any contact from him?”
The man opened and closed a jackknife in a menacing way. He seemed to enjoy intimidating me. I asked as politely as possible, not wanting to upset him. He snickered.
“How would I know? Do you think a big shot like that would tell me such things?”
“Then please let me meet the Director.”
The man laughed even louder.
“Why? You were so proud earlier, but now you’re afraid of being abandoned?”
“…”
“Even if you are abandoned, what else can happen besides death?”
I wanted to deny it, but it was true, so I kept my mouth shut. If Seo Hajin didn’t come, I would have no choice but to die here.
No, that couldn’t possibly happen. Hajin was the only person who had devoted himself to me without blaming me, and Hahyun had said he would follow me to the depths of hell if I died, so they definitely wouldn’t leave me here like this.
I know, but… I don’t know why I feel so numb.
The man giggled and taunted me.
“Scared?”
The feeling in my arms was becoming increasingly dull. I clenched and unclenched my fists repeatedly while looking at him. If only I could free these arms… I might be able to somehow snatch the jackknife he was holding, cut the rope binding my feet, and run away as fast as I could. Of course, I couldn’t overpower his bulk with strength alone, but maybe my exercise would pay off?
“What are you up to? Why do you keep moving your hands?”
“…My hands are numb. I promise I won’t ask you to untie me, but could you please tie them a little looser?”
Surprisingly, the man didn’t refuse immediately but rolled his eyes as if thinking about something. Sensing an opportunity, I pulled out my secret weapon.
“What’s your name?”
“Why do you want my name?”
“I need to know so I can help you out later.”
“What are you talking about?”
The man rubbed his ear as if he’d heard something unbelievable. I didn’t let his attitude shake me and lowered my voice. I was determined to appear as if I knew something important.
“As you’ve probably seen in the news, Director Kim Cheolwoo is currently being pursued by prosecutors. He could be caught at any moment.”
While outwardly saying “So what? What does it matter?”, the man gradually leaned his upper body forward to focus on my voice. Good, I’ve caught his interest—what happens next depends entirely on how I handle this. I deliberately calmed my trembling heart and continued speaking calmly.
“Then they’ll soon figure this out and come barging in. Are you okay with being arrested for kidnapping and confinement? As you know, I’m quite a famous model and have been missing for a while. You might end up taking the blame for things you didn’t do. This is a secret, just between us.”
Fortunately, the man didn’t seem that smart, as he leaned even further, bringing his ear close to my mouth. Instead of telling him immediately, I gestured with my chin toward the door. He closed the door, leaving a small gap. I lowered my voice even further and whispered in his ear:
“My kidnapping is a trap to get Director Kim Cheolwoo arrested.”
“…What?”
“I’m bound to get out of here anyway. I’m telling you this because I want to be more comfortable while I’m being held.”
“…”
The man looked at me with a confused face. Given the news and the circumstances, he couldn’t completely dismiss my words.
“I don’t feel comfortable telling you my name, but I guess it’s okay to retie your arms.”
“Thank you.”
My mind was working faster than ever. The man approached with the jackknife. As the blade touched the rope, my heart started beating wildly. I couldn’t even make eye contact with him, afraid he might discover my plan.
I recalled the escape techniques Hajin had taught me during exercise time. Though I had complained that such skills were useless for someone who only stayed at home, Hajin had strictly taught me, saying you never know when something might happen.
So if I just follow what I learned, there shouldn’t be any problem.
Snap, the knife cut through the rope. He put the jackknife aside to take out new rope. I fixed my gaze on the jackknife. This was my only chance to escape. While he was taking out the rope, I counted in my head: one, two, three.
Just as Hajin had taught me, I punched the man’s midsection with all my might.
“Ugh!”
The man fell to the ground without even screaming, far too easily. Afraid he might get up immediately, I twisted the same spot so hard it might burst. While he was writhing in pain, I used the jackknife to cut the rope binding my feet and then stabbed his thigh.
“Arrrgh!”
As the man suffered in pain, fear washed over me as if I were the one being hurt. Mentally apologizing, I kicked his already crushed area several times. The man, who had been writhing in pain, soon stopped moving as if unconscious. But he would wake up soon. I had to get out of here before he regained consciousness.
I wiped the sweat pouring down like rain with one hand and hid behind the iron door, peering outside. As I had suspected, this seemed to be a warehouse in a secluded location. The outside was arranged like the yard of a country house, and several cars were parked in the garage visible in the distance.
Three men were guarding the entrance.
When I thought about whether I could really break through them and escape, despair overwhelmed me.
My only fault was giving my heart to the brothers… No, even before that, just giving advice on a friend’s novel… Why did I have to go through this?
In that brief moment, I resented everyone who had made me like this. Despair blurred my vision with tears. I wiped them away with my sleeve. There was no time for this now; I had to escape somehow.
I gripped the jackknife tightly. Searching the man’s pocket, I found his phone. It wasn’t ideal, but I took it, and in the meantime, I also drank the remaining water, preparing for the possibility of becoming isolated.
That helped me calm down a bit.
“When the chance to escape comes, don’t look back. No matter what happens, don’t look back and run with all your might. Only breathe when no one is chasing you anymore. Got it?”
I remembered Hajin’s words. Yes, let’s run. I survived a car accident; would I die from not being able to run?
With that thought, nothing seemed frightening anymore.
I opened the door and took a deep breath. Then, following Hajin’s instruction, I sprinted forward without ever looking back. I could hear the footsteps of men chasing after me. From the sound, there seemed to be quite a few of them. I wanted to look back but resisted and kept running hard.
After running for a long time, the footsteps were no longer audible.
“Huff, huff…”
Though I was out of breath and had no strength left to run, I was still afraid someone might follow me all the way, so I hid in the rough mountains away from the path. Fearing even my breathing might be heard, I covered my own mouth and looked the other way. As expected, I could see the men going down the mountain road in cars.
“Urgh.”
I felt intense pain in my ankle, as if I had twisted it along the way. I thought it was just from the sudden running, but looking closely, my ankle was severely swollen. Looking up at the sky, I saw the sun was setting. After sunset, the temperature would drop.
How much longer could I endure here? With my injured ankle, I couldn’t go down the mountain, so I might die of hypothermia.
