Seek

#28

What was supposed to be an exciting day of work turned into a grueling struggle to keep up with the duties that were given to me. I received a never-ending cycle of orders and tasks that came to me all at once like a tidal wave from an angry ocean. I resembled a triathlon competitor, sprinting, prancing and jumping from one room to the other just to get one task done and just when I thought I could rest, a new task would be slapped onto my wrist. It was like a never-ending chain that I couldn’t break unless I did what I was told.


I was relieved when I assisted the completion of a surgery and the doctor had given me my time off. I was famished, beads of sweat were dripping down the skin of my forehead that I used the sleeve of my uniform to wipe them off. My throat felt like it was drenched in the dessert and so I pardoned myself to find a beverage. My search to quench my parched state led me back to the corridors of Minjun’s office. As I stared at the mahogany door that led to the interior of the isolated room, a haunting feeling began to pester my thoughts, the feeling as if something wasn’t right behind those doors.


Even though I knew for a fact that I left Chewy safe and sound inside that office, there was a feeling screaming in the back of my head to go and check inside. I took one last sip of my water before crushing the cup and tossing it in the bin. As I took a step forwards, I suddenly hear the doorknob being twisted open. On the top of my head, I immediately thought it was probably Chewy trying to get out, but what if it wasn’t. What if someone else managed to enter the room and find her inside, god knows what they might do with her.


The door suddenly opened, causing me to freeze on the spot. I stood still like a statue, being careful not to make a single movement. It took me a few seconds to realize that the door was only open a crack, without thinking, I dashed towards the hallway and took cover in the corner linking the lobby and Minjun’s office. I leaned my head towards the door to see it open. My heart beat rapidly to see who would come out, I expected either Chewy or Minjun to exit but instead, an elderly man wearing a green uniform came out, he took a cleaning cart with him making it evident that he was the janitor. I hid in the corner as he walked closer waiting for him to pass by before directing my attention back towards the door. It was closed, and my curiosity was getting the better of me, so I approached the elderly man and asked him a question.


“Excuse me, was there anyone in that room?” I asked him.
“I’m afraid not young man” he replied in a polite manner. I was taken aback by his response, what did he mean by that? Was there really no one in the room or was Chewy just hiding from him? Because I distinctly remember placing her in that room just earlier this morning. I could not forget so easily as she didn’t stay in place until after a lengthy argument:
“Why can’t you just understand that I’m doing this for your own good!”
“It’s scary here, I don’t like it!”
“This is the most secure place I could leave you in, where could you possibly want to stay?”
“Home…”
“Oh no, not after what happened last time.”
“I want to go home!”

“No, you can’t! I can’t watch over you from there!”
“I don’t like it here, I want home!”
“And what? Starve like you did last time?”
“…”
“That wouldn’t’ve happened if only you listened to me! I made food for you, but you didn’t even touch it! And what happened after that? You almost died!”

“…”
“Now, until you will listen to what I say, you’re going to stay in this room whether you like it or not!”


“Are you looking for someone?” the janitor’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I shook the thoughts out of my head and looked at the man’s face, he looked like he was genuinely worried.
“It’s okay, I’m just wandering of Doctor Kim was around” I lied to him, not wanting to burden the elderly man. He gave me a gentle smile and a bow before continuing his duties.

I waited for the elder to leave before returning my focus to the door that was now open widely. I took time to make sure no one was looking before I went ahead and slipped in.

To my surprise, I couldn't see a single living soul inside the damn room.

"Chewy..." I whispered a little too loudly, before remembering that the door was still wide open and that the people could see me. I closed the door behind me and surveyed my surroundings.

"Chewy" I called out once again. But got nothing in return. I walked over to the couch where she normally stayed, now of which was empty. What made it worse was that the leather wasn't wrinkled at all, meaning no one hasn't sat on it all day.

I looked underneath the couch but was only greeted by minor dust on the floor.

I walked over to Minjun's desk, making sure to check over and underneath just in case my eyes weren't on my side.

Nothing.

It was dead silent, and the anxiety and stress was rushing up my veins and into my escalating heart. After a long, tiring day, I was hoping the stress would at least numb me from all the unnecessary worries outside of my job.

But this didn't feel like it was unnecessary. Even if I didn't want it to be.

It was.

It was to the point that I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle of despair if I didn't do something about it.

I didn't want to.

But I had to.

She wasn't on the couch.

She wasn't on the desk.

She's probably not inside the closet.

Or is she...

I walked over to the unnecessarily large closet and was perplexed as to why Minjun needed this in his office. It looked more like a wardrobe than a simple closet.

I grabbed the handles and opened the doors causing me to snicker at what I found on the inside:

Coats, lab gowns and other clothing materials were all neatly organized in piles and coat hangers. It was indeed a wardrobe.

'How vain can this guy be?' I questioned silently, shaking my head at how Minjun needed to have his own personal wardrobe inside his office, considering doctors are always required to wear their uniform. In this hospital at least.

As I was about to close the doors. A particular object caught my eye.

It was white, contrasting all of the dark colored clothes inside the wardrobe. It was buried underneath a pile of dress pants, barely sticking out but standing out, nevertheless.

It looked like it was being hidden on purpose.

I knew that in the right state of mind, I wouldn't dare to touch someone else's personal belongings. But I wasn't, my curiosity got the better of me, and my mind was running like a madman on the streets.

I placed my fingers on the tip of the object’s edge and carefully slipped it out, making sure that the clothes would remain in their positions, otherwise Minjun would know someone went through his wardrobe.

It turned out to be an old newspaper. Well, part of it.

It only seemed to consist of the front page, containing the main article and a second page, which I assume is where the article resumes. Judging by its texture, the paper had to be at least five years old. I held the paper straight from my face and examined the headline:

“10 injured, 5 Killed and 1 Missing in Boat Hijack”

I furrowed my eyebrows at the intriguing headline, mostly because it sounded so familiar to me. What made it stranger was the date of publishing:

“June 14, 2013”

This paper was six years old which made me wonder; why was this still in Minjun’s closet? and it looked like he didn’t want it to go anywhere either.

Do I dare read on?

I lowered my eyes towards the caption underneath the title:

“Cruise ship, hijacked by hitman squad, 10 held hostage while 6 thrown overboard, 5 bodies were found, save for 1 victim who was dropped during the incident”

‘What in the name of…’ I silently cursed as I read through the words, I knew that I was reading them for the first time, but I feel as if I’ve known of what they stated for a very long time.

Suddenly, my migraine had begun once again as I tried to figure out the reason why the words seemed so familiar to me.

No longer content with just pondering around, I began to read the first paragraph of the article.

“(June 14, 2013 – 2:25 pm), in the center of the Bay of Korea, a cruise ship was suddenly halted as it’s captain was held hostage by a group of masked men, the ship, MV Sowon, was carrying a total of 483 people, among them a group of hired hitmen disguised as passengers”

It was here that I found myself nearly passing out from the searing ache in my temples. A wave of intense, piercing pain ran through the entire length of my head, causing me to nearly lose balance and drop the newspaper on the ground.

I started hearing sounds of screaming people circling the room, as if the room was filled with a crowd of scared souls. I felt as if someone was driving screws bolts into the sides of my eyes, I pressed my palms against my ears in an attempt to neutralize the pain, but it did nothing.

I suddenly start to see images of the very same incident play out in my mind, people scattering about, masked men holding civilians at gunpoint, one of them was screaming something I couldn’t quite understand as his voice was drowned by the screaming around me. It sounded like he was asking for money, and a safe way out of the boat. He wasn’t wearing a mask and seemed to be commanding the other masked men, shouting directions as they obeyed him silently.

He then raised his gun and pointed it towards me, I was unable to move, unable to avoid whatever he had coming for me. He then fired his gun, the noise causing me to snap back to my senses and putting an end to all the screams in my head.

I was panting heavily and sweating profusely from head to toe. I was dazed and left to wonder why I was lying flat on the floor.

Before I could regain my composure, I suddenly heard footsteps, and the muffled voice of a man coming from behind the door.

“, Minjun’s here” I muttered as I struggled to pull myself up from the floor.

I frantically searched for a place to hide, panicking as I heard the doorknob start to make noise.

I looked towards the desk and considered hiding underneath. But realizing Minjun would most likely go to his desk first. I then noticed the still open wardrobe. Without thinking twice, I stumbled towards the doors and hopped inside, no longer caring if I messed up its contents.

I closed the doors just in time as I was able to catch a glimpse of the door opening as I did so. But not the person himself. Nevertheless, I held my breath and sat in my place.

I waited...
And I waited, unaware of how much time was passing by. I couldn’t hear a sound coming from outside the wardrobe, making me wonder if there was anyone in the office at all.

As much as I struggled to keep my mind in its place, it eventually travelled back to that horrible moment:

The time I was trapped in the storage room.

Because it felt pretty much the same, it was tight, it was hot, silent, and worst of all; there was a major lack of air.

It was dead silent to the point that I could hear the sound of my sternum being beaten by my racing heart. The temperature rose so high that I was dripping buckets of sweat despite wearing a thin uniform. I was running out of breath and my vision began to fade. The faint strip of light that seeped in between the wardrobe doors started to dim, sending me into a fit of panic.

I leaned forward and opened the door slightly ajar, peering through the gap and searching for Minjun. But I couldn’t find him.

All I could hear was a faint humming coming from one corner of the room. I pondered carefully on my next actions, I debated whether to stay and wait for an opportunity to leave or to just book it immediately in hopes that I’ll be too fast for Minjun to notice.

I settled with the latter, considering the fact that I would faint if I stayed inside the cramped up space any longer and the last thing I want is for someone to find me passed out inside Minjun’s wardrobe, accusing me of all sorts of misdeeds.

I leaned further and slowly opened the doors to check if Minjun was still around. In doing so however, I caused a pile of Minjun’s trousers to shift towards the front, making me lose my balance. I fell forwards, nearly landing on the floor if I hadn’t grabbed onto one of the wardrobe doors. I froze in my spot, thinking that I have finally been exposed. I took the courage to lift my head upwards, hoping to find an angry Minjun glaring at me from across the room.

Instead, I found the same janitor I encountered earlier, only this time he had his earphones on and his back turned against me.

I took a deep breath and slowly got down from the wardrobe, carefully placing Minjun’s trousers in place. I slowly closed the doors and ran out of the room as fast as I could.


After finishing one last quick session, I paid one last visited to Minjun's office because Chewy was still nowhere to be found.

My tasks throughout the entire day had required me to circle the entire floor as well as half of two others, and I still haven't been able to find the girl. Already fed up with all the stress and everything I had to go through within the day, I decided to just head for the exit with the slim hope that Chewy was somehow able to find her way back home.

I limped throught the nearly empty lobby, now that it was nearly midnight and most of the day and noontime workers have already headed home. Surprisingly, I haven't seen or even had a glimpse of Minjun anywhere. But instead of pondering his whearabouts, I just thanked fate that I haven't seen him, as I don't want any part of the prick today and maybe for the rest of my life.

I was suddenly caught off guard when an object by the door caught my attention. It had a bright, vibrant color that allowed me to see it form a mile away. I squinted my eyes to get a better look, grunting when my vision failed me.

I arrived at the door and found that the weird object was a pink slipper lodged in between the glass panes. I picked it up, as it was preventing the door from opening properly, and examined it closely. Half of the sole was chipped off, looking like it was either torn apart or bitten by a creature.

It was then that I realized that I knew exactly who the slipper belonged to.

Without hesitation, I immediately ran towards the flight of stairs connecting the entrance to the road. I frantically searched about, inspecting every parked car and corner I could find.

No longer knowing where to look, I began to lose hope. I watched as the world around me spun like crazy, driving me to my limits. I fell to the ground and felt the last of my sanity depart from my mind. I grabbed a handful of my own hair and looked towards the sky. I felt all my emotion gather towards my heart, I took a deep breath and let it all out. The people around me began to gather, hearing my voice resonate around the area as I screamed her name.

Over and over....

And over.


Apologies are in order.

I know I have been gone for pretty much half of the year, but I hope you guys understand that I had to. I had to leave for a while in order to save the story, I was losing all hope and inspiration of ever finishing this and I'm still barely halfway.

Also I didn't help that college had finally begun for me.

But enough of the drama and on behalf of my absence I shall provide a short recap of the story so far for those who might have forgotten"

Chewy was sent to the hospital due to Jun's shortcomings. Upon waking, Jun finds that their relationship was not as it used to be and that there was something off about Chewy ever since she had a coma. But having no time and no other choice, Jun brings Chewy to work and hides her in Minjun's office, a mistake that comes back to bite him in the later on. His mental state also begins to degrade as he is plagued by pressure, stress and the haunting visions that mercilessly attack his mind whenever they are triggered.

But what does trigger them? And more importantly, where do they come from?

I hope you guys trust that I will not abandon this story, even if it means being gone for a little while in order to complete it.

Do leave a comment, or a sub, or a vote, if you want ^^

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Thank you!
Frosty_Penguin99
[12/25/18] - False alarm guys. I forgot to press the "draft" button before saving my chapter.

Comments

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Kaiser29 #1
Chapter 26: Hope u continue with this story
2102bv #2
such a good story!
Fatzu_614
#3
Chapter 26: Haha room 614, nice
revel98
#4
Chapter 25: Oh finally!!! Just a question, why don't you post this story on Wattpad? I think more people would read this amazing story if you post it there. Just a suggestion. ☺️
Renzylyn #5
Chapter 25: My brain it exploded
comicon #6
Chapter 23: Nooooooo!!! Oh my hearteu. Poor tzuyu. I hope he end up with tzuyu and about wendy, i knew she's up to something. Thx for the update author. Im looking forward to it
revel98
#7
Chapter 23: Damn, wish this will have a happy ending instead of a tragic one. Looking at the storyline, it might not end well... Anyway, great story.
comicon #8
Chapter 22: Yasss its about time for jun to gain his memory. I'm curious about the gunshot. Is he trying to shot himself?? Argh i hate cliffhanger..update more author ??
comicon #9
Chapter 21: I knew something fishy about wendy. And isn't Jun is a doctor? Great update author. Thank u so much