Chapter Fifteen: Heightened Complications

                Myung-soo paced back and forth in front of the telephone. He was back in the house after his meeting with his father, and although he discovered a lot of things about his past, wasn’t telling his mother anything about it. Yet.

                Myung-soo walked to the phone, only to back away again and to pace back and forth. “You know, if you want to call your dad, then call him,” a voice said. “Auntie,” Myung-soo said.

                “Just let me receive a call from the plumber, okay?” his Woo-kyung said. Myung-soo looked back to the telephone. I should give the police station a quick call. But as soon as Myung-soo thought of getting the phone, it rang and his Aunt Woo-kyung was beside the phone a second later.

                “Yes!” Woo-kyung energetically answered the phone, but apparently it wasn’t who she was expecting as her smile suddenly vanished. “Oh, Mrs. Min-yu Kim isn’t around.”

                “Who is it?” Myung-soo said, not minding if the one on the other end heard him of not.

                “Some Agent Jung-won,” Woo-kyung said. As soon as Myung-soo heard the name, he came over and asked his Auntie to let him talk.

                “Jung-won sshi,” Myung-soo said, “you called, did something happen?”

                “Myung-soo,” Jung-won said on the other end, “Angel… he’s… dead.”

                “Sung-yeol hyung, please, step on it!”   Myung-soo said as Sung-yeol drove his mother’s car. As soon as the call from Jung-won was ended, Myung-soo made up his mind to go directly to the police station where he could hear the whole story personally, with his own eyes and ears.

                “I’m… sorry,” Myung-soo heard Dong-woo say. Myung-soo never thought of it as Dong-woo’s fault. If he was in the same situation, he was sure he would do the same for his friend. “Aniya, it’s not your fault,” Myung-soo told him, “it’s mine.”

                “Anieyo, it’s not your fault too,” Sung-jong said. Sung-jong was also with them, calming down Dong-woo who was sitting at the back seat. When they learned that Myung-soo wanted to leave without his mother, the two insisted to go with him, even though it as apparent that Dong-woo felt guilty about it. “Whatever happened wasn’t the fault of anybody,” he added.

                As soon as the car stopped in front of the police station, the first thing Myung-soo did was to find Agent Jung-won. She wasn’t that hard to find. Being the only agent who survived from the “station massacre” made her popular enough for everybody who was new in the building to know her.

                “Cardiac arrest,” Jung-won told him. They were inside her new office. As soon as she came back, she was promoted to station commander. “According to the report, it happened right after his wings dissolved into thin air,” she said.

                “Dissolved?” Myung-soo said. It was probable, since Myung-soo already saw it happen after the battle, but dying after it disappeared? “ I wish to see the CCTV footages since that happened!”

                Jung-won bit her lip before saying, “I’m sorry, but we can’t show it to you.”

                “Why? Why can’t you?” Myung-soo said.

                “Myung-soo, Angel wasn’t… normal,” Jung-won said.

                “So?” Myung-soo said. He looked intently at her, waiting for her to say anything but she kept silent which made him snap. “So what if he’s not normal?” He repeated.

                “Myung-soo, his nature was unknown to everyone,” Jung-won said. “There were at least 30 people dispatched to the hospital to help us investigate. They saw him, and the rumor spread out until it reached only God knows who –”

                “Wait, are you trying to tell me that… he wasn’t here?” Myung-soo said.

                “Myung-soo…”

                “Where is he?”

                “That information couldn’t be –”

                “Where did you take him!” Myung-soo shoved everything placed over Jung-won’s table which took everyone in the office, including Sung-jong and Dong-woo by surprise.

                “Myung-soo, I think you should calm d–,”

                “How can I calm down!” Myung-soo cut Sung-jong which he regretted shortly after. He didn’t want to be mean to his best friend. He apologized right away before turning back to Jung-won. “Just tell me where he is?” Myung-soo told Jung-won a but calmer than before.

                “I’m sorry, but we really have no information as to where he was brought to,” Jung-won said. “When we were traveling him, we suddenly received an order to bring him to a private airport.”

                “Owned by a private individual?” Myung-soo said.

                “Yes, but I don’t think it’s a work of a private individual only,” Agent Jung-won said. “Aside from taking the order from our boss, government issued aircrafts took him.” The information brought Myung-soo to a spiral of confusion. Why would the government take Angel?

                “Do you think they are scientists?” Dong-woo suddenly said. “What if they study him? I mean, humans with wings are really unusual nowadays.”

                “Not unusual,” Sung-jong said, “It’s an impossible sight. Like UFO’s and aliens.” At the same time, Myung-soo understood what Dong-woo and Sung-jong was thinking about. Myung-soo looked at his friends, and in the corner of his eye, he knew that he saw a shadow, more like a the man he was familiar to. He took one step forward to get close to his friends, but he almost lost balance. His sight went reeling and the last thing he managed to say before blacking out was, “Jung-won sshi, you have to help us.”

                If a private individual took him, and the government was involved, then we might be fighting a powerful person. But who? There might be hundreds of rich people around the world. Where can we find him? And if ever we find him, what can we do to save him?

                Myung-soo woke up on a makeshift bed which he recognized to be a long table covered with layers of jackets and comforters. He slightly moved his head up to find his friends asleep on his side, sitting on chairs with heads resting over the make shift bed.

                “I’m glad you’re awake,” Myung-soo was startled even though Jung-won whispered when she approached him. “Here, I bought all of you some food to eat,” she said before handing him one of the paper bags she carried on her arms.

                Myung-soo took the bag from her and started consuming the croquettes and orange juice in a glass bottle. He knew Jung-won would do her job, but he just felt that he had to ask. “You will help me save him, right?” Myung-soo said.

                “Myung-soo, the report says that –,”

                “I don’t care about the report,” Myung-soo said seriously and apparently quite loud as his friends started stirring their heads, Dong-woo suddenly throwing his head up.

                “Angel is alive,” Myung-soo said, “I’m sure of it.”

                “Myung-soo, how can you be so sure?” Jung-won said. This time Sung-yeol, Dong-woo and Sung-jong were fully awake and were already witnessing a heavy exchange between the two.

                “Then how can you be so sure that he’s dead?” Myung-soo retorted. Jung-won let out a pained sigh before speaking. “He killed my friends, my colleagues… How can you be so concerned about him after everything that he did?” she said, “Why is it so easy for you to forgive him?”

                “Anieyo…It’s hard, but then how can I not forgive when God did?” Myung-soo said, “We’re both mere humans. Nothing makes us greater than Him.”

                 “Even if I wanted to, I’m not sure that I can help you,” Jung-won said before walking away from the group.

                Myung-soo was already desperate. He needed help, and no one seemed to care. He hadn’t even downed his bottled juice to half, and Sung-jong was beside him, just staring at him with sad eyes. If humans refuse to help me, then I believe angels would.

                A second later the sound of glass breaking was heard. Everybody was shocked on what Myung-soo did that it took them five seconds before someone reacted.

                “Oh my God, Myung-soo no!” Sung-yeol said.

                 “One moment you’re talking about God, and the next you’re holding a broken bottle close to your best friend’s throat! Are you crazy?” Dong-woo said.

                Myung-soo didn’t spoke right away, but he averted his stare from his wrist to the space in front of          him, beside Sung-jong who was staring at the bottle in front of his face.

                “I knew you’d come,” Myung-soo said. “Lee Ho-won.”