*Chaeyoung’s POV*

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When I woke up, there was an odd feeling of restlessness, even though I had just slept in for so long as my body possibly could. I couldn’t remember where I was, or how I had exactly gotten there, but I knew for certain that I was safe now.

I took in a deep breath and collected my thoughts so that they would make sense again. I started from the very beginning, going through last night’s happenings in my head.

I had been running for what felt like hours until I had found the market with the friendly looking (trustworthy-looking) old man behind the desk. He had allowed me to make a call to the Seoul police department, since I had no idea where I was at that time. Now I knew that I wasn’t exactly near home. I was actually hours away from Seoul, further down south. I had been shipped there, in the van with Jimin.

Jimin.

I remembered the gunshot. The man’s voice as he had yelled not to fire. It all felt like a bad dream now, looking up to the white paneled ceiling. There was a food tray on the nightstand next to me, with a juicebox, a few fruits and a sandwich on top. I reached out my weak arm and grabbed the juice box, ripping the straw out with all the strength I had left.

Stupid ing box.

Didn’t know why these things had to be so tricky to open.

While emptying the tray next to me, I took my time to examine the room I was in. It wasn’t a hospital facility, neither was it a police station. It looked more like a mental institution’s patient room.

Well, I wasn’t handcuffed or tied to the bed, so that couldn’t be it. Hopefully. I threw the banana peels into the trash can that was almost begging me to use it as a basket by the door. Which was slightly open, letting a strand of light flicker into the room.

I felt nasty after wearing the same clothes for days and not having a proper shower, so I eagerly stepped out of the comfortable bed and tiptoed to the door. Immediately I could hear men talking.

”Yes, we will wake her up soon-”

”She’s still sleeping? I’m sorry but we need to continue the investigation…”

I cracked the door open, facing the two men in suits and ties glaring at me with surprised expressions. ”Hey, sorry, didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything, I j-just woke up and wondered if I could use the shower?”

The men turned fully toward me, bowing slightly. The other one had glasses and a blue tie, while the other one looked like he needed a shower as badly as I did. I decided to speak to the glasses one. ”Uhm, the shower?”

”Yes, it’s right there. Do you need spare clothes? There are multiple shower gel choices in the bathroom-”

”Spare clothes would be great”, I managed to say with a smile. I felt the skin on my cheeks stretch. I hadn’t been smiling in a while. ”Thank you. I assume there will be an interrogation when I’m done?”

”Yes”, the glasses said with an honest glare. ”You’re not being accused of anything. We’re just building up information and evidence.”

I bounced my head, wanting to just escape under the running water. ”Awesome. Can I borrow someone’s toothbrush?”

The men looked at each other, probably baffled by my reaction to waking up in a strange place after such a horrifying few days.

I was weird in that way. My mind could only process things that were happening currently. The life threatening events seemed far away in the broad daylight. The only thing that was making me want to scream was the fact that I didn’t know whether Jimin was alive or not. He was my main priority now.

While brushing my teeth completely in the bathroom, I realized that it was actually evening, not morning like I had thought. The sun was already beginning to set as I looked out the tiny window close to the ceiling. 

The view from the window was odd. Just a grey parking lot. A few cars, all basic wagons. It didn’t seem like a place for a secret investigation of a human trafficking business.

When I exited the bathroom as a fresh, washed human being, I headed right to the corridor where I hadn’t came from. I somehow remembered coming through that way yesterday.

I walked past open doors that had meetings of some sort going on, but kept going until I found the man in the glasses. I had heard them talking about me earlier, so he had to have some part in all this. Maybe he was leading the investigation.

After looking around pretty much every corner, I found him at an office, sitting by a desk, filling up some paperwork I had no idea of. His eyes jumped up at me as I knocked on the door a few times.

”Hey there”, he welcomed me with a polite smile. I glared at him, from head to toe. He looked around thirty, a good-looking loner with a dog, probably. Polished to the brim but messed up on the inside. Just like looking in the mirror.

”Hi”, I mumbled and slithered in, closing the door behind me. ”I came for the interrogation.”

”You’re Park Chaeyoung, am I right?” The man asked, looking at the papers on the desk. ”You were reported missing in Seoul, couple days ago.”

”Yes”, I muttered, frowning. ”I was kidnapped.”

”Right”, the man said nodding. He rushed the papers in his hands. ”I’m Yoongi, and I’m gathering the evidence on your case. Now, let’s start from the very beginning. I’ve read all the reports your family… or friends have given but I’d still like to hear it all from your point of view.”

I knitted my brows together, flashing the man a sour look. I couldn’t sense much empathy coming from him. He was more on the cold side. ”Okay….”

Despite his efforts and attitude towards the case, we got everything covered within an hour. At least everything I could think of at that moment. The ticking clock was distracting me a little bit.

I told him everything about the abduction and Jimin and the woman screaming in the cell next to us to him. I told him the location that I thought I had memorized, but turned out it didn’t make sense. Well, at least I had tried. It wasn’t easy trying to memorize such a long way in that state of mind. After learning to know that someone you knew might have been shot. Killed.

Or sent to Paju.

I told him about that too, and it turned out that Paju was a gold mine when it came to human traffickers and slaves.

I slowly but surely was starting to sink into that mindset again. That I was going to be sent there. That I was about to become a slave. A slave.

But it wasn’t going to happen anymore. I was free. Safe from that fate.

”Do you think you will be able to locate them?” I asked when the interview was coming to an end. It was already dark outside. I saw a pair of headlights curve into the parking lot. The man, Yoongi glanced out the window. ”I’m sure we will, it’s a matter of time when we’ll find them”, he mumbled. ”Speaking of time, it looks like you have a few visitors.”

I leaned back on the chair and tried to see what car had driven on the front yard. I couldn’t recognize the plate, nor the car model. It was just another family wagon lined up on the lot. ”Are you sure? I don’t know if tha-” My voice cut off when the car doors opened and three people stepped out, their faces ignited by the street lamps. First I recognized Hanbin, then Jennie and finally Bobby, who was wearing a grey hood over his head. He stretched his limbs and managed to tumble to his feet. I couldn’t control the shivering grin on my lips. ”They came here? For me?”

”Seems so”, Yoongi replied, back to his cold state. ”I’d appreciate if you came back in the morning, to give some more - detailed information. We’ll have a therapist and a specialist here for you too.”

”Yeah, yeah okay”, I said, quickly standing up and pulling on the jacket I had been given before my shower. ”So I can leave now? And come back tomorrow, right? At what time?”

”Ten-ish will be fine”, Yoongi said, lining up the papers on the table. ”There will be a brunch at the main hall. Your friends are welcome too.”

”Awesome”, I rushed out and leaped to the door. ”Thank you, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

”Yeah, I’m glad you’re safe.”

It sound