CHAPTER 46: NO… IT’S NOT TRUE, RIGHT?

Jongup smiled adoringly at Taehyung who was eating so cutely in front of him. Though the last time he had eaten was his breakfast, he found himself full just by looking at the adorable little boy and did not even feel like touching the food the kidnapper brought for him. Jongup’s hand reached out to wipe the stain off at the corner of Taehyung’s small lips and that small affection made the latter to look up. Taehyung smiled sweetly making his eyes turned moon crescents and before Jongup could return his smile, the boy already put a spoon full of rice in front of Jongup’s mouth.  

“Taetae want to feed Omma. Ahhh…” Taehyung said and he even opened his mouth, as if wanting Jongup to follow him. Jongup leaned forward and opened his mouth before Taehyung fed him, not before spilling some of the contents on the floor.

“Omma, yummy?” Taehyun asked while blinking his eyes cutely. Jongup nodded as he swallowed it down his dry throat. He did not really have the appetite to eat anything at the moment, but at the same time he did not want to make Taehyung felt sad, so he just played along while he tried to hide his nervousness.

“Hmm… yummy~ Taetae should eat more if you want to grow fast, eo.” Jongup replied and his hand made its way to caress Taehyung’s soft locks.

“Omma…”

“Yes, honey?”

“When will Appa come? Taetae want to eat ice-cream. Auntie Jieun said she will take Taetae to eat ice-cream.” Taehyung pouted when he did not get to eat ice-cream like how Jieun promised him before.

Jongup on the other hand, bit his bottom lips and fisted his hands into balls as he tried to not curse Jieun under his breathe. That witch… how could she lured a small innocent kid like Taehyung with ice-cream and kidnapped him afterward. Poor baby Taehyung, he knew nothing that he was kidnapped and still asked about the ice-cream he wished to get. He probably forgot that he was put to sleep on the arranged boxes in this dirty room before… again, he was just a kid. Jongup scooped Taehyung and put the small kid on his lap.

“Hmm… Taetae-ah, Appa can’t come to us because… he’s not feeling well. He can’t go out of the hospital yet. If he did, then he will fall sick. Appa will be in pain. Taetae don’t want Appa to be in pain, right?” Jongup replied with what he believed a reasonable explanation to Taehyung who instantly shook his head.

“Aniyo, Taetae don’t want Appa to be in pain.” Taehyung stopped before he continued.

“Omma… Why Auntie Jieun did not buy Taetae ice-cream and why Auntie Jieun take Taatae here?” and the question successfully caught Jongup off guard. For a 5-year-old kid to ask him this kind of question was something unbelievable. How was he going to answer the question? If he were to say they were kidnapped by Jieun, would Taehyung understand? Did he even know what kidnap mean?

“Uh, it’s because… because…” Jongup really was at a loss of words. Come on, Jongup! Think of something…

“Oh? Auntie Jieun takes Taetae here to meet Omma…right?” Taehyung said as he tilted his head a bit so that he could see Jongup’s face from his angle. Jongup blinked his eyes for a few times as he tried to register Taehyung’s words in his head.

He eventually formed a smile and nodded his head.

“Uh… ne. Omma is here, that’s why Auntie Jieun brought Taetae here… to meet Omma.” Jongup played along as he thought that was the safest answer at the moment. If Taehyung thought Jieun brought him here to meet his Omma, then it would be okay to deceive the small boy about the truth.

Taehyung’s small gasp snapped Jongup out from his trail of thoughts and the latter looked down only to witness the kid clasped his small hands over his mouth and had his big rounded eyes widened. Jongup’s eyebrows knitted together when Taehyung suddenly struggled to get up from his lap and stood in front of the confused Jongup.

“Taehyung-ah, what’s wrong, dear?”

“Omma, is this shirt dirty?” Taehyung stretched the shirt he was wearing while he looked down to check if there was any dirt. Jongup furrowed his eyebrow before he answered.

“Ani, it’s not dirty.” Jongup replied as his hand brushed the shirt as if he was really inspecting it.

“Yay, Taetae look good when Taetae meet Omma. Appa said not to make this shirt dirty so that Taetae will look good in front of Omma.” Little Taehyung happily explained before he unexpectedly threw himself at Jongup who quickly got hold of the small kid. Jongup could not help but chuckle at Taehyung’s adorableness. He patted Taehyung’s back gently when the latter buried his small head at the crook of Jongup’s neck. Jongup’s lips curled up into a smile and his motherly feeling suddenly kicked in, so he gave his little son a soft kiss in the hair.

“Omma…”

“Yes, sweety?”

“Omma smell nice.”

And that was enough for Jongup to forget where they were currently as he was entertained by little Taehyung.

Yongguk pulled Himchan into his embrace for he did not know what else to do. It was not that he did not try to stop Daehyun from going but what choice did he have anyway? He had discussed with the younger before that he would volunteer himself to go save Jongup and Taehyung but Daehyun insisted that he would be the one to rescue the other two because he was afraid the hostages would be harmed if he did not go. And to his dismay, Daehyun’s decision was supported by Rapmon as the latter had come up with a plan.

Youngjae slowly sat himself on the sofa in front of the BangHim couple as he blankly stared at the floor. Chanyeol was fast to stand beside Baekhyun and held the weak younger in his embrace before he led the latter to sit on the nearest sofa. They stayed silent for a while and only faint sniffs could be heard from Himchan, Baekhyun and Youngjae. Another live was probably in danger and all they could do was waiting and hoping that there would be no injury or worst… death.

“I’m sorry… I’ve tried m—” Yongguk muttered softly but he was cut off by Himchan.

“It’s okay. I know you’ve tried. I’m sorry for raising my voice to you.” Himchan replied, his voice was hoarse due to his silent cry.

“Daehyun hyung is always stubborn.” Baekhyun stated, matter-of-factly.

“Yongguk hyung, what did Joon-ssi plan to do?” Youngjae asked after quite some time they were accompanied by silence.

“He decided to go with their game first, and Daehyun is willing to go, so he’s using Daehyun as the bait to trace their whereabouts.” Yongguk briefly explained of what he basically knew and understood from what he heard from Rapmon’s discussion with Howon and Dongwoo.

“Is this really going to work?” Chanyeol doubtfully asked.

“Let’s hope for the best. Besides, he already asked the spies they caught before to cooperate with the police and they have nothing to not follow the police’s commands.” Yongguk replied and others nodded their head understandingly.

The phone gave out a sound of an incoming call and Daehyun was fast enough to press the answer button because he was waiting for the call anyway. His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he waited for the other side of the line to say something about the location they should meet up. Once he was informed of the supposed location, he immediately slammed his foot on the gas pedal as he did not want to waste time anymore.

Daehyun stopped the car when he already reached the place and got out of the car. He looked around and tried to find any suspicious people nearby. He deliberately avoided his gaze from looking at Howon’s car that was parked not far from where he was at. Howon and Dongwoo – together with the other team mates who were also doing undercover by pretending to be the normal passerby – were following Daehyun the whole time since they were out of hospital. His phone rang again and without looking at the caller ID for he knew it would definitely be from the same private number, he answered it.

“You are one brave man…” A man voice was heard sarcastically as he was amused by the fact that Daehyun was there alone. The latter quickly turned his head from left to right to find anyone who was on the phone at the moment. Laughter was heard over the line and Daehyun tightened his grip around his phone. Was the man trying to play with him? His jaw clenched and he was about to retort when the man spoke again.

“Don’t waste your energy looking around to find me. I’m not even close to you.” The man said before he guffawed at his own words.

“What tricks are you playing now?” Daehyun said through his gritted teeth and laughter could be heard on the other line again.

“I don’t play tricks, but you are.”

“Stop playing around.” Daehyun warned, his tone was serious. He did not have time to entertain the man and he knew the latter was trying to stall the time.

“I don’t play. So how are you? I heard you had heart attack, twice. I’m surprised you’re still alive.”

“Stop beating around the bush. Just tell me where you are, so we can meet up and you have to let Jongup and Taehyung go. They’re innocent.” As best as he could, Daehyun tried to negotiate and what he got in reply really made him clenched his jaw and clutched the phone tightly.

“Why? Are you that eager to be by our side? My, my… Hmm, but I’m not stupid. I won’t tell you in the phone… your phone.”

“What are—”

“Shh, shh… relax. You need to relax or else, you won’t even get to save them and die due to your third heart attack.” And the man guffawed before he continued.

“Do as what I command you to. Do you see the empty bench on your left side?” And Daehyun turned to his left and spotted an empty bench not far from where he was standing. The man continued.

“At the back of the bench, there’s a phone attached to it. We’ll continue talking on that phone.”

“What if I don’t want to? What’s wrong with my phone?”

“Hmm… Moon Jongup… Should I kill him now?” Daehyun’s eyes widened. Who did this man think he was?! How could he easily say that?

“Tell me now, Jung Daehyun. Should I kill him now?” Daehyun grumpily ended the call and rushed to the empty bench. He bent his body a bit in order to look at the back of the bench and once his eyes caught a glimpse of the said phone, he detached it from the bench. The phone gave out a sound indicating that there was an incoming call and Daehyun wondered how on the living earth did the man know what he was doing all this while. Nevertheless, the bodyguard picked up the call and instantly was greeted with a stern voice of the same man.

“If you want Jongup and your son to be safe, listen to everything I tell you from now on.” That statement was enough to make Daehyun to internally growl and agree.

With the thought of Jongup’s and Taehyung’s safety was strongly on his mind, Daehyun carefully and obediently followed whatever the kidnapper told him to do. When he was asked to leave his phone behind, he did it immediately. He was then asked to hop into his car and drove to the nearest petrol station. All the while, he was on the phone with the unknown man without ending the call once. He felt something was fishy and his instinct was telling him to throw everything out that would connect him to the police. So, he quickly pulled off the mic and recorder before he threw it out of the window when he was on the dark route with no street lights.

Of course the man on the other line was not stupid because he could hear the sudden breeze sound on the phone and he immediately asked what Daehyun was trying to do. Daehyun was not stupid either as he nonchalantly replied he wanted to drive with the windows open and in order to make his reason seemed real, he let it open the whole ride despite the air was so cold. His hands started to get cold and lips quivered but he could not care less about it as he thought Jongup’s and Taehyung’s lives were more important than him freezing. Though his phone and the mic were not with him anymore, all he could do was to trust the tracing device in his body and Rapmon’s fast action in detecting their whereabouts. Oh, he promised himself that he would apologize to the police officer for throwing out the expensive mic and recorder out of the window and would pay for it once everything had settled.

He reached the petrol station and parked the car just outside of the station. He looked around suspiciously and just when the man on the phone told him that someone would come to him, his window was knocked from outside, startling the too focused Daehyun who was looking at the other side with phone against his ear. He unlocked the door and the unknown man quickly opened it.

“Unbuckle your seatbelt.” Daehyun was too shocked to even react as to what the man on the line told him to. So, the man standing next to him who he believed was one of the kidnapper’s man bent down and unbuckled Daehyun’s seatbelt before he forcefully pulled Daeh