𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠 | 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝

𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞

"Here is Jongho, who are you?"

________________

June 17, 2023

"You don't know me, so it doesn't matter who I am. I'm supposed to tell you about Mingi." It was quiet. So quiet that Yeosang almost thought Jongho had hung up again. "Mingi?" he suddenly yelled. "How do you know Mingi? Do you know where he is? Is he all right?"

Yeosang could hear the worry in Jongho's voice. "Mingi is fine. I can't tell you much, but he's fine." Yeosang bit his lower lip. He couldn't imagine how worried Mingi's friends were about him. He wished he could make friends like that one day.

"Do you know when he'll be back? Wooyoung and I are dying of worry. We didn't hear anything for weeks. We even went to the police, but they wouldn't even listen to us. We were so scared that he was killed somewhere and no one would notice." Jongho spoke so fast that Yeossng had a hard time keeping up. He took a deep breath. "You don't need to worry," he repeated himself. He wanted to say more and explain the situation but he couldn't and wasn't allowed to.

"If you can't tell me who you are, can you at least tell me your name?" Yeosang thought about it. There must be an infinite number of Yeosangs in the world, right? "My name is Yeosang," he then blurted out. And although he regretted it, it felt just as liberating. "Okay Yeosang, thanks for letting us know. I hope nothing happens to Mingi." Yeosang had no idea why, but Jongho's voice was so reassuring and the way he pronounced his name gave him goose bumps.

The conversation ended abruptly and Yeosang looked at the screen of his  phone in confusion. He sighed when he saw the red bar. He reached for his charging cable, then rolled back in his chair. It was probably because he was so alone and desperate, but Yeosang wished the phone call had gone on longer.

.....

When Yeosang came into his room that evening with a bag of chips under his arm, his phone vibrated continuously. Confused, he looked and was surprised to see Yunho's name on the display. He sat down at his desk and took the call at the same time.

"Yeosang here is Mingi." Yeosang's eyes widened. "Mingi, what's wrong?" Yeosang said, hearing strange noises that sounded like rain. Mingi didn't seem to have understood his question. "Listen to me. I think Yunho has been kidnapped." The bag of chips fell to the ground and Yeosang's heart rate increased. "What? What the hell happened?" he asked. There wasn't much to hear from Mingi. Just some weird noises, then a loud crash. "Mingi?" Yeosang called out, but the connection broke.

Yeosang wondered if it was a joke, but that wouldn't make sense. He didn't think for long and jumped up to tell the others.

......

"Are you sure Yunho is there?" Yeosang spoke. He, San, Seonghwa and Hongjoong were sitting in the car. They hadn't hesitated for a second after Yeosang had told them everything. Seonghwa and Hongjoong gave him a withering look. "They've been following us for weeks and want to provoke my father." Yeosang knew that Hongjoong was talking about the Japanese mafia. Or rather, a small group that hadn't left them alone recently. Yeosang had no idea why, but by now he was sure that Hongjoong was hiding something. Why else would they kidnap Yunho suddenly?

Hongjoong threw a gun towards Yeosang. "We'll get Yunho back and anyone who gets in our way will be killed. Got it?" Yeosang nodded and loaded his gun. Then San pressed the gas pedal and drove off.

...

They arrived at an old building. "This is where Yunho is supposed to be?" San asked, looking around skeptically. "I'm sure of it," muttered Hongjoong and, as always, he was the first to get out. The others followed him. The four of them walked to the entrance of the building. There was no one to be seen for miles around. Hongjoong walked to the door, then made a hand gesture and Seonghwa nodded to him. Yeosang felt Seonghwa pulling him along and the two of them walked around the house.