Remember 1999

Chapter 17 - Abducted

Kim Tae Pyung was never been so excited and elated in his whole life for going back to school until now, which was not left unnoticed by his mother. His face appeared brighter and she found it strange when he asked her if he looked good in his school uniform. Something he had never bothered before.

"You look so happy. Do you have something to tell me?"

He lifted his shoulders and said nothing, just a smile.

"It's better to be about your grades. Your father keeps on asking me about your studies and you know what he might do."

A gloom washed over his face and he gasped, "Not today, Mom." He left the house immediately before the topic got into his skin and ruined his day. When it came to his studies, his father was a total authoritarian and his mother a subordinate. They would do everything to make him focus. One reason why he kept on transferring schools.

On the contrary, the worry over his exam results did not wash his smile away. It was like a piece of a garment he wore along the way. Arriving at the gates of the school, he stopped his bicycle and looked back, waiting for someone to arrive. After a couple of minutes, there she was, stopping briefly across the street to wave at him.

He smiled, but instead of waving back, he gestured for her to come quickly. It was strange for her to come later than him, he thought. She was about to go over when suddenly a white van blocked her way.

"Aren't you coming in?" The guard on the gate asked him taking his attention away from Ye Jin. The gates would close in a few seconds.

"A second please!" Tae Pyung pleaded to the guard, then returned his eyes to Ye Jin's direction the same moment the van sped off.

But she was no longer there.

He looked around, thinking she had already crossed the street, but all he could see were students rushing inside the school. Some bumping his bike. He asked one of his classmates that were rushing in as well if they saw Ye Jin, but he got a negative answer.

The moment the street cleared up, Tae Pyung saw Ye Jin's bicycle lying on the ground. A mute witness of what happened behind the van and him. And in one swift move, he crossed the street. Ignoring the closing gates behind him.

* * *

"We can't file a missing person if it's not yet 24 hours."

"But it's not just a missing person case, my friend is kidnapped! I'm sure of it! A white van appeared and then she disappeared all of a sudden," Tae Pyung insisted.

He was too worried to just sit and wait after 24 hours before they could move their asses in finding Son Ye Jin.

"High school students usually skip school and have fun somewhere," the police officer said, brushing Tae Pyung's claim as a simple disappearance of a delinquent.

"Ahjussi!" Tae Pyung uttered in a sudden loud cry. But upon realizing it was impolite of him to raise his voice to a public officer, he calmed himself.

"My friend is the top 1 student in our school, it's impossible for her to do that," he said, now in a lowered voice.

Appeased, the police officer cleared his throat and turned to another police officer to his right.

"Inspector Han, the student here insists his friend is kidnapped."

Inspector Han, who turned out to be in a higher position than the one taking Tae Pyung's report, asked the name, in a dismissive manner. Just to appear that they were actually doing something it seemed.

"What's your friend's name?" The officer asked him.

"Son Ye Jin."

"What? What's the name again?"