There was a loud rumbling sound coming out past the miles of golden wheat. No one in town knew the origin of the sound because everyone was gathered outside the city hall building. A flyer went out at night reading: “All residents of Bongha, tomorrow at noon there will be a mandatory meeting in the town square. If you are not there, President Byun will be alerted as we will have soldiers checking homes.” Ever since the kidnapping of President Byun’s son, he has had his army searching high and low of every town or city in South Korea. Up until today, the searches have proven to be nothing but a waste of time.

            A row of at least thirty soldiers dressed in camouflage patterns stood still and emotionless in front of the massive fountain no longer pouring water. The townspeople felt nervous as the figure of a man appeared before a podium. He tapped the microphone before clearing his throat and booming his angry voice to the crowd. A couple somewhere in the middle locked hands tight and began to tactfully separate themselves from the mass amount of bodies. They froze in place when the first words of the man were spoken, or in this case yelled.

“Where is my son?! Where have you all hidden my only child?!”

~*~*~*~*~*

            The day was May sixth, nineteen nighty four. South Korea’s first family stayed busy planning a massive party for their first child’s birthday. His name was Byun Jitae. Friends, family, and the people of Korea wanted to be at this wonderful party, but a select few received the invitations. The first woman was preparing her hair and makeup in her bedroom while the President sat in his office. He had to sign off on a new law passed saying that it would cost extra for countryside towns and villages to import any food. The prices for these towns were already high, but now it was at an outrageous cost. People were causing a fuss over the law, but President Byun didn’t care because today was his son’s party.

            The nanny who took care of the handsome Jitae was called over by the party planner to go over the final touches to the baby’s outfit. It was essentially organized chaos everywhere. Food services were busy in the kitchen, decorators were in nearly every crevasse of the home, and it made for a perfect day to let an outsider in. A man dressed in casual blue jeans and a button down shirt tapped the shoulder of a staff worker, and he held a bouquet of roses and balloons. They told him were those would be placed and he nodded and went towards Jitae’s bedroom.

            Despite all the noise and smells of food in the home, the baby sat quietly in his bed. He was chewing the ear of his teddy bear when the man entered the room placing down the flowers and balloons. A smile wiped across the innocent face of Jitae as he was lifted into the strong arms of the man. A diaper bag that was pre-packed was hoisted up on the man’s shoulder and he covered the baby with a blanket. Sneaking quietly through the back door was a piece of cake since security was too occupied with watching the workers. It took a half hour before anyone noticed the reason for the party was missing.

Present Day

            It was winter time in Bongha Village and all the streets and homes were covered in a thin layer of white snow. The stars were twinkling bright against the black sky letting the moon take everyone’s full attention as it gave lighting to the streets below. There was a coffee shop in town, and all the school students would go there to study or relax after a long day. Today there were three friends sipping on hot chocolate and laughing at jokes. They should be studying, but whenever they are together, no work gets done. Jongdae, Minseok, and Baekhyun finally began to focus on their work after nearly an hour of fooling around.

            The group of boys became friends at a very young age. Baekhyun had been raised by his grandmother in a small two bedroom home far away from all the vegetable fields. They lived in the South side of Bongha near the shops and streets. Jongdae and Minseok lived out west, closer to the town’s livestock. Jongdae’s parents owned most of the cattle in the land while Minseok’s family owned half of the vegetable and wheat fields. It was a village that survived solely off of their own land. About nineteen years ago, President Byun raised taxes so high, it was nearly impossible to get food or products from outside of town. People were so enraged that they boycotted all outside food products. There was even a man who stole the President’s only child to show his disapproval.

            No one knows where Byun Jitae is. Although nearly every town has been searched by the Korean army, there have been no signs of the child. President Byun swears that when he finds his son, those responsible will be heavily punished, but not a single soul seems to care anymore. It’s been nineteen years since the search started, and chances are it will never end.

            Baekhyun sighed taking a sip of his hot chocolate before looking out the window. His brown eyes scanned the streets wildly checking to see who passed by. The town was so small that everyone knew each other by name, but Baekhyun was too distracted to say hi to those who passed. Jongdae nudged Minseok to look at the boy helplessly staring out the window.

“I swear you’re like a lost puppy with him,” Minseok smiled.

“A-ah no! I just thought he’d be here by now,” Baekhyun said sheepishly.

            The boys gave him a reluctant look and went back to highlighting in their text books. Winter exams were coming up quickly, and Baekhyun should be looking at his book and not out the window. College was extremely expensive and nearly all the students in this town went to college only if they had full scholarships. If they didn’t, it was working in the fields for the rest of their lives. Out in the distance was a tall figure being wind wrapped with snow. They were skinny and held long straight locks of brown hair on their head. Baekhyun quickly grabbed the warm hot chocolate glass and ran out the doors to the figure.

“Baekhyun, get back inside it’s freezing,” the deep voice laughed.

“Yes that’s why I wanted you to warm up with this hot chocolate.”

            A long arm wrapped around Baekhyun’s shoulders and together they walked into the coffee shop. Jongdae and Minseok shook their heads laughing at the shivering Baekhyun but greeted the tall boy happily. They all rearranged their seats and glasses so that the new boy had some space to pull out his text books.

“Chanyeol,” Minseok began. “Why did you stay so late at school?”

“I missed the train is all. I tried to call Baek on his phone to wait for me but I guess he didn’t get the call.”

            Baekhyun’s eyes widened and he quick fumbled for his phone to see one missed call from Chanyeol. There was a loud sigh of disappointment seeing that he missed his best friend’s phone call. It didn’t seem to bother Chanyeol though because he just smiled at the older male and went straight to studying. Baekhyun can’t remember when exactly he and Chanyeol became friends. In fact, he didn’t remember much at all. He doesn’t even have the slightest memory of his parents or even any other family members other than his grandma.

            His grandmother always showed pictures of people saying that they were related to Baekhyun, but in all his life, no one had ever visited. Maybe every single family member was dead like his parents supposedly are. After studying for another two hours, the boys decided to head home and get some rest. Minseok and Jongdae left for their part of the village, while Chanyeol and Baekhyun walked to their homes together. Whenever it was just the two of them, Baekhyun’s stomach would feel completely filled with butterflies. Yet the cool and handsome Chanyeol would just remain calm and charming.

“I am so sorry for missing you call, Yeol.”

“It’s fine,” he laughed ruffling Baekhyun’s hair. “I just wanted to have someone to travel home with. That ride is long and boring alone.”

“Tomorrow I’ll be outside your last class and we’ll go home together!”

“That sounds good to me. Don’t be late, okay?”

“I won’t!”