Chapter 15: Kidnapped

“I’m surprised there isn’t a riot going on,” Seulgi said, watching the penetrating stares of the male students.

Despite Wendy and Irene’s close friendship before, many students were already picking up a much different vibe from the two as they spent almost all of their time close together. All of the students were either spreading rumors, or they were avoiding the topic altogether. Eventually, the entire school was watching the two girls as they tried their best to ignore the whispers around them.

“We’re not acting any differently than usual,” Irene mentioned.

“That’s what you think,” Seulgi commented, looking down at Irene and Wendy’s hands, clasped tightly together.

“I don’t really care, do you?” Irene asked Wendy.

“No…” Wendy spoke softly.

A school week had gone by without any incidents. Wendy’s leg was better now, and the three girls were back to their normal ways again. However, there was one girl whose mind was preoccupied elsewhere.

“I’m going to go home tonight,” Wendy said, after they dropped Seulgi off.

Irene looked disappointed, “I thought we could spend some time together…”

“I’m sorry Irene,” Wendy pulled her closer, “Joy asked me to.”

Irene sighed, “Okay, but you’ll still call me tonight?”

“Of course,” Wendy smiled.

Irene smiled back and rubbed her thumb softly against Wendy’s hand. She felt happier than she had ever felt in this past week, and she didn’t want anything to ruin it. Even if it meant she would be alone at times.

“Be careful on your way home, okay?” Irene played with Wendy’s uniform button as they stood close to each other in front of her door.

“I will,” Wendy whispered and kissed Irene on the forehead.

“Promise we’ll hang out tomorrow?” Irene asked.

Wendy nodded as she watched Irene close the door.

 Joy called just in time.

“I’m already on my way home, Joy,” Wendy said.

“My friend found out about the next hit. But only one of them. Apparently, there are going to be another three girls taken tonight, but they only found the location of the meeting place,” Joy replied.

“Friend? Who are you talking about?” Wendy asked.

“Just someone I’ve been contacting. They gave me the footage to the hotel last time. I trust their intel.” Joy answered.

“Get my gear ready then, I’m heading out as soon as I can.” Wendy began jogging back home.

“You got it.” Joy hung up.

Wendy had spent the whole week preparing for this. She knew that the people behind the kidnappings must be connected to the people she was looking for. This was her chance to get more information on them.

Wendy ran all the way home without losing a breath, her leg now almost fully healed. She opened the door and went straight to the couch, throwing her backpack into the corner of the room.

“Location?” Wendy asked, changing out of her uniform.

“Here,” Joy handed her a slip of paper, “There’s going to be a meeting there. From there you’ll have to decide who to follow.”

“How much time do I have?” Wendy zipped her uniform up and stuck her gear into her belt.

“I’d say thirty minutes. So you better get going,” Joy said, heading back to her computer.

“Any movement on the streets today?” Wendy got everything ready and walked to the door.

“I’ll keep an eye on it, but seems like things have cooled down a bit since the hotel was torn down.” Joy said, munching on crackers.

“Okay,” Wendy went out the door, instantly jumping up onto their house roof.

Joy continued to monitor the streets as she saw Wendy running through the town, avoiding the lights on the streets. 

“You’re lucky it’s got dark so soon,” Joy commented, watching Wendy’s swift moves through the alleyways.

“I guess so,” Joy could hear Wendy’s heavy breathing.

“Cameras are down through there,” Joy said, tapping on her keyboard.

Wendy jumped off a building and landed safely on the roof below her. She had made it into the next district and had now stopped, looking over the rooftop down at a closed off street.

“This is it?” Wendy asked.

“Yeah, they should be there soon,” Joy said, checking the cameras in the area.

Within a few minutes, a familiar looking van arrived just before the closed off area.

“Wait…I know that van,” Wendy said, taking a closer look.

Thunder shook above her.

“Jung-Min?” Wendy was shocked as she saw him exit out of the driver’s seat, with his two friends exiting the sides. 

“What do you see?” Joy asked.

“It’s him…it’s the kid at my school that attacked Irene. What the hell is he doing here?” Wendy’s vision started to blur as the rain began to fall.

“What’s he doing?”

“It looks like he’s handing something to his friends,” Wendy squinted, noticing two motorcycles parked nearby.

“They’re gonna split up soon,” Wendy added.

“You have to choose one Wendy. There’s no chance you can save all three girls tonight.” Joy said.

“I know…” Wendy kept her gaze on Jung-Min as he went back into the van, sitting there as he watched his two friends ride away on their bikes.

“Wendy? I said you have to follow them,” Joy said, watching the cameras.

“I’m following the van,” Wendy didn’t even think about it as she watched Jung-Min sit casually in the van, smoking a cigarette.

 The time went by as Wendy sat in the rain on top of the building, never looking away from the van. She felt more and more enraged as she continued to recall that night she found Jung-Min in the alleyway. 

What’s he up to this time…?

Wendy immediately stood up as Jung-Min started up the van. He started heading down the street, prompting Wendy to follow him like a hawk. She pursued him for a long time, until she recognized the direction she was heading.

“Joy, we’re heading towards our school,” Wendy said, confused.

“That’s good, you have the advantage there,” Joy wasn’t worried at all.

Wendy grew more and more anxious as she watched Jung-Min turn the van into a small street and park on the side of the road, turning his headlamps off.

“Joy, he’s targeting someone at my school,” Wendy said, holding back herself from attacking him at that moment.

“You have to wait, Wendy. There’s nothing you can do right now. If you want to find out where these girls are being taken, you have to let him go,” Joy spoke bluntly.

Wendy’s fist pushed hard against the cement as she watched Jung-Min, who had now come out of his van, put on his hood and hide in the dark. A girl walked out of the school campus, holding an umbrella, slowly heading down the sidewalk towards him. Due to the rain, it was difficult for Wendy to make out who it was, but it didn’t make her any less furious when she watched Jung-Min sneak up behind her.

A muffled scream, and the thunder sounding off was all it took for Jung-Min to successfully catch his prey, and knock her out, sticking her in the back of his van. In less than a minute, he was already on his way back down the street. Wendy breathed heavily as she ran after him.

Jung-Min was driving further away from the town to the edge of the city, where it was almost completely unpopulated. When Wendy ran out of buildings to run on top of, she was forced to keep her distance on the ground.

“Joy, do you have eyes on anything in this area?” Wendy asked, worried about the lack of support.

“Sorry Wendy, you’re on your own for this one,” Joy replied.

Wendy shook her head to get rid of the water in her eyes and continued to make her way down the street, trying to avoid being seen. Finally, the van stopped at an abandoned gas station.

Wendy managed to make it behind the structure, watching Jung-Min as he dragged the unconscious girl out of the van and head inside the old building. 

Damn it…

Wendy couldn’t see too clearly, as there were no lights and no way for her to enter the worn down station without possibly being caught. She peeked around the corner as she saw Jung-Min through the dirty glass, watching him unlock a door inside and disappear.

“Joy, I’m at an abandoned gas station about two miles out of the city. Aside from the trees, there’s not a lot of cover for me. I’m heading inside.” Wendy said, checking down the road, making sure no one was nearby.

“Be careful, Unnie,” Joy was a bit tense.

Wendy snuck over to the door, which was already cracked open, and silently went inside, hiding behind the empty racks. The place was completely silent, and she couldn’t hear anything aside from the heavy rain outside. She maintained her slow pace and got to the door Jung-Min disappeared into. She placed her ear against the metal, trying to hear any sign of movement.

After confirming her safety, she tried the door, which had been locked again. She quickly took out her tools and began to fiddle with the lock, looking behind her once in a while. A click sounded off as she smirked and turned the handle slowly, opening the door a little bit.

A flight of stairs led down into a dimly lit basement, where she could make out the image of Jung-Min throwing the girl onto the dirty floor. She pressed her back against the wall after making her way through the door and slowly went down the steps as Jung-Min’s voice became louder. She heard some beeps and stopped, keeping herself hidden.

“Mr. Choi, I’ve brought the girl. The others will be here soon,” Jung-Min spoke.

Wendy dropped her head a bit lower to look through the small opening. Jung-Min was on the phone, the unconscious girl lying next to him.

“Yes, I will. Okay.” Jung-Min hung up and walked out of sight, as Wendy heard another door open and close.

She looked further down, seeing an empty room with the young girl in the center. She went down the stairs and walked over to the girl, who was breathing softly. She saw another door across the room and went over to it.

Muffled screams and Jung-Min’s shouts were all she could hear through the door, and she could no longer contain herself. She broke through the door, finding a scene she would never be able to forget.

Jung-Min stood frozen, staring at this shadowy figure in front of him, surrounded by steel cages containing bound up girls as they tried hard to scream through the cloth in their mouths. They were bruised and beaten, and they were all still in their school uniforms, which were now torn and ripped.

Wendy could feel herself burning as she stared into the fearful eyes of Jung-Min, who was completely vulnerable. He yelled and charged at Wendy. She kicked him in the chest, forcing him onto the ground as she looked around her at all of the terrified girls. She held Jung-Min by the neck and threw him against one of the cages, causing him to yell out in pain.

“What is this…” Wendy spoke in a low, growled voice as she choked Jung-Min.

“Ple…please…” Jung-Min squeezed out as he slowly began to lose consciousness.

Wendy threw him out of the room as he coughed violently. The cages were bolted down with locks, and it was impossible for her to free those girls. She noticed three more empty cages, and walked over to Jung-Min punching his face hard as he tried to stand up. She pressed her knee against his back and pulled his head up, grabbing his hair.

“Who were you talking to earlier?” Wendy pressed harder into his back.

“AHH! !” Jung-Min screamed.

Wendy slammed his face into the ground.

“I asked you a question…” Wendy whispered deeply into his ear.

Jung-Min spat out the blood in his mouth, “He…He forced me to…I swear…”

Wendy took his arm and spread it straight out to his side. She pulled out a large knife and stepped on his hand.

“This hand…that you used to grab these innocent girls…”Wendy placed the knife just above his wrist, making him squirm, “how much do you value it?”

“No! Please! ! I was just following orders!! He told me to bring the girls here! I don’t know what he does with them!” Jung-Min spurted out, his eyes wide at the knife that was digging into his skin.

“Who?” Wendy asked, barely keeping the knife from penetrating him.

“Mr…Mr. Choi...He’s my principal…I promise that’s all I know,” Jung-Min winced as Wendy scratched his wrist, and put the knife back.

Wendy kicked Jung-Min hard in the face, knocking him out.

“Joy, I found the girls, but I can’t get them out without the keys.” Wendy held her hand up to her ear.

“Anything else you can use?” Joy asked.

“I’ll take a look around, but there’s one girl that’s free,” Wendy said, looking down at the still unconscious girl.

“Do what you can, but get out of there soon.” Joy responded.

Wendy went over to the girls, reaching through the steel traps and freeing the ropes around them.

“Please…save us…” they whimpered, grabbing Wendy’s arm.

“I will…just hang on okay?” Wendy reassured them as she took out her phone.

[Three missed calls: Irene]

Damn it…

Wendy dismissed the message and called the police, telling them the location of the girls. She handed the girls the knife she had used earlier.

“Keep this hidden, I need to go back upstairs. I’m taking him with me, but just in case.” Wendy said, glaring over at the bleeding Jung-Min.

Before she had time to lift him up, the door upstairs opened.