The Running Man filming wrapped up that evening unexpectedly early, and Jong Kook quickly pulled out his phone and tried calling Jennifer again. She hadn’t picked up when he had called earlier but he had just figured that she was busy. He always called when he was done filming to let her know that he was on his way home and that he was thinking about her. But because filming had ended early that night, he was hoping that he would be able to see her.

He tried calling twice more on his drive back to Anyang and when she still did not answer, he called his mom to ask if she had come over earlier. His mom told her that she had, and that she had showed Jennifer how to make low-sodium kimchi that day. She seemed fine, she said.

He decided to drive to her apartment. There was no way he’d be able to go to sleep that night without talking to her. He knocked, and when no one answered, he let himself in. He saw Jae Won sitting on the couch, his camera on the table in front of him and his head in his hands.

Jong Kook looked around and then asked where she was.

“I don’t know,” Jae Won said.

“Yah! You’re always with her. How do you not know where she is?”

Jae Won shrugged and looked back down. “I lost her.”

“What happened?” Jong Kook asked. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“We were at the art studio,” he said. “She just left.”

Jong Kook looked suspiciously at Jae Won. He knew there was more to the story, but decided not to worry about that now. He just wanted to find her.

With Jae Won following him, Jong Kook ran to the studio down the street but it was locked and the lights were off inside.

“I told you she’s not here,” Jae Won said, out of breath.

Jong Kook tried to control his anger. He told Jae Won to put down the camera and tell him exactly what had happened.

Jae Won kept the camera on his shoulder. “She was painting. And then she got upset about something and left. I tried to follow her but she ran really fast and I couldn’t keep up.”

“Why was she upset?” Jong Kook asked.

“I don’t know. I came back here to wait for her but she didn’t come back so I locked the studio and went back to her apartment. I thought she would be there.”

Jong Kook looked around them. The street was relatively quiet and the sun had just begun to set. “Which way did she run?”

Jae Won pointed further down the road and Jong Kook told him to go back to the apartment in case she showed up there. And then he ran in the direction that Jae Won had pointed to, not knowing what to think. Maybe her father had become ill again, he thought, and maybe she’s already on a flight back to the States. He shook his head and ran faster. She wouldn’t have left without telling him, he assured himself.

He soon found himself running through Anyang Art Park, and he remembered then that Jae Won had taken her there once, and knowing her interest in art, he thought that there was a good possibility he would find her there. He slowed his run down to a jog and then to a walk. He was tired. He had been running all day for the show, and now again trying to find her.

He stopped, pulled himself together, and began thinking about where in the expansive park she might be. Remembering that she liked to sit by the water, he followed the t