“Police say Kim Jongdae, 27, kidnapped Im Chaeyoung, 28, from her home between the hours of 11 P.M. and 6 A.M. on November 27. Kim is armed and dangerous, and police believe he is still inside the country. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Kim or Im, please call the police hotline at…”

Unable to bear it any longer, Joonmyun turned off the TV and jammed the phone between his ear and shoulder. “Mom, can you believe what’s being broadcasted on national television about Dae? The police have gone insane! They didn’t have any evidence backing this claim the last time I talked to them, and now no one picks up when I call!”

“I haven’t been able to talk to anyone at the station either.” On the other line, his mother sighed. “Joonmyun, this isn’t good. Your brother’s face is appearing all over South Korea in wanted advertisements. His old friends have been calling me all day to ask if it’s true that Jongdae’s wanted for kidnap.”

“This has to be a mistake. He didn’t kidnap anyone,” Joonmyun said firmly. “Don’t you worry, Mom, I’m not going to leave the police alone until they show me all the evidence they have against Dae, and then I’m going to disprove every ounce of it.”

He could hear her struggling to fight back tears through the phone, and his heart ached. “Mom, please take care of yourself. Don’t worry about Dae, okay? I’ll take care of it all, I promise.”

She sniffled. “Kim Joonmyun, didn’t I teach you not to make promises you can’t keep?”

“I’m going to keep this promise!”

“How can you when you’re already so busy at work? I know you’re still stressed out over that big project of yours, honey.”

Joonmyun frowned. It was true, dealing with the Fifth Tunnel mess was already giving him a headache, but he wasn't about to just abandon his family now. “I think Dae is more important than a project at work, Mom.”

Another sniff, this time interrupted by a teary chuckle. “You’re such a good son, Joonmyun. And a good big brother, too.”

Not good enough, Joonmyun thought, eyes lingering on the picture of himself with Jongdae that he kept on his desk. I’ll make it up to both of you someday. Someday.

“Oh, and Mom, just stay away from the police for now, okay? I get the feeling that something’s off in that police station. Until I figure out what it is, I think it’s best for Jongdae if you steer clear.”

“Joonmyun, how else am I supposed to stay updated about Jongdae’s situation? You -”

“Please just trust me this time,” he begged. “I really don’t feel good about the police right now.”

His mother paused. “Fine, I won’t go in person anymore. But I’m still calling the station once a day.”

Knowing that was the most he could ask of her, Joonmyun agreed and steered the conversation to less upsetting topics. There was only so much either of them could handle emotionally.

---

The moment he hung up the phone, Joonmyun turned back to the drone he had been examining before the call.

“Tell me all your secrets, baby,” he mumbled, fidgeting with the drone and waiting for the program on his laptop to finish running. “Who sent you? Where did you come from?”

It was a shame this wasn’t a trajectory generation UAV, really, he thought, or else he could have just pulled up its programmed path. This particular drone had required a little more elbow grease to unravel. It had taken him hours to recover the already transmitted camera footage and then a few hours more just to triangulate the approximate starting location of the drone based off that footage. Now, the final program was just finishing up.

Five seconds remaining. Joonmyun jiggled his leg.The program, when complete, would reveal the exact starting position of the drone.

Program complete.

Leaning forward eagerly, he squinted at the blinking red dot.

This drone came from an apartment building in Songdo?

---

Somewhere just outside of Songdo, Chaeyoung glared at Jongdae.

Jongdae grinned back.

“Why so grumpy?” He stretched out onto his back, wedging his hands under his head to protect it from the rattling floor beneath them. “It’s a great day!”

Scowling with all her might, Chaeyoung scooted farther into her corner, which by her calculations was as far away from Jongdae as she could possibly get in this tiny space. “I’m grumpy because one, I’m stuck inside a trailer hitched to my kidnappers’ car on a bumpy road with nobody but you as company, and two, I can’t even nap because your mouth is like the Energizer bunny on steroids and just won’t stop going.”

Jongdae whistled. “Wow, I swear your insults get more and more creative the more sleep-deprived you get. That’s a real talent, you know? Usually people just give up on playful banter when they’re tired.”

“Playful banter?” Chaeyoung repeated, eyebrows rising. “Playful? There’s nothing playful about this, Kim Jongdae.” She gestured to herself. “This is pure misery here. Nothing else.”

“Hey, don’t you ever get tired of all that pessimism? It’s got to take a toll on you emotionally, right? Like, how can you be so pissed off so much of the time?”

“How can you be so loud after we got woken up at the crack of dawn and stuffed into a trailer with no explanation? And for God’s sake, why are you smiling?”

Jongdae shrugged, blinking up at her. “A change of scenery’s good for the soul.”

“A change of scenery? There is no scenery, you fool, this trailer has no windows!”

“Look on the bright side for once, would you? At least they tossed some breakfast and snacks back here, too, and they packed my antibiotics in here as well.” He patted the bag of medical supplies sitting next to him. “Speaking of which, I should administer my next dosage. Donald Duck said I’m supposed to take it once every 24 hours.”

Watching him struggle to open the bag and pull out the syringe without moving from his comf