A social worker by the name of Irene was currently in the consultation room with Jungwoo and Yeri. Yuri had been kicked out despite her protests, but one look from Kyungsoo and the female officer shut , quietly moving aside to give headquarters a phone call. Soonbok spied into the slim glass pane embedded in the door, unable to hold back her curiosity towards what was happening inside the consultation room.

Jungwoo and Yeri sat next to each other on one end of the table. Yeri’s body shrunk inwards, wanting to hide herself and yet her hand was extended out, wrapped around Jungwoo’s arm and refusing to let go. Jungwoo leaned back against his chair, but his knees were pointed towards his sister, as if ready to engulf her in an embrace and shield her from any evil in the world. Sitting opposite them was Irene. She was calm and collected, and wore an amiable smile. She was patient with the siblings and Soonbok could see the pair visibly letting their guard down. It did not take long for Irene to connect with Jungwoo and Yeri. It was soon clear that Irene had taken on the figure of an older sister or maybe even a parental role — someone the Kim siblings desperately needed but never had access to.

Eventually Jungwoo returned to his bed as he was due another health check up. Yeri followed suit, unwilling to separate herself from her brother just yet. Now all professionals involved in the case sat inside the consultation room, a pensive look present on their faces.

“In terms of safeguarding risks,” Irene spoke up first. “The most obvious one is risk of exploitation from others.”

“And abuse,” Soonbok added. “Be it financial, physical, emotional. If we were playing bingo this would win us the grand prize.”

“Indeed… I would dare say this falls under ‘modern slavery’ too.”

The social worker and nurse pair fell into silence, nodding at each other in agreement. The smile they wore though was one of mourning and dolefulness.

“We will keep them safe,” Kyungsoo announced. “This will be a large case, going beyond the siblings. This is something that will shake Seoul — maybe even South Korea — from its very core. As members of the law enforcement, we will keep the the victims safe.”

His deep and firm voice of assurance echoed in the room. Everyone shifted their focus towards him. The words were simple and direct, and coming from him, one could not help but trust him.

With that said, Kyungsoo and Yuri took their leave as they were needed back at the police station. They had also received the okay for Jungwoo to be discharged, thus the siblings would be transferred to a new safe house whereby Soonbok will be visiting at a later date to offer psychosocial support to both Jungwoo and Yeri.

Irene had stayed behind, needing to finish some paperwork and also discuss with Soonbok about Jaemin. With how the situation had developed, it was safe to assume Jaemin was at risk too. Kyungsoo and Yuri had already agreed to investigate his whereabouts. Meanwhile, Soonbok will now submit a referral for the missing male to social services, and Irene would then open a case for him.

“This sound big,” Irene exhaled as she closed her laptop, having gathered all necessary information on all the players involved.

“This is big,” Soonbok iterated. “Which is why an inter-agency cooperation is a must. For the safety of these kids…”

Soonbok furrowed her eyebrows at her own last words. She knew Jaemin, Jungwoo and Yeri were all legally adults. However they had their childhood and adolescence stolen from them. They were thrown into a world where it was survival of the fittest with no one else to rely on but themselves.

“For the safety of these kids,” Irene echoed, taking Soonbok out of her thoughts. “I’ll be honest, as a social worker, I don’t have the most pleasant history with law enforcement, so I was rather dubious