The Secret
Behind That Bright Smile [Sequel to Behind the Thick-Framed Glasses]
l.joe's pov
"Zelo, what are you saying?”
“I’m sorry, hyung… it’s all my fault.” He repeated again. “I should have been more careful and paid attention to her.”
Ricky gasped from beside me. “No way!”
Zelo looked so crestfallen and miserable. “I’m so sorry-“
“Stop saying sorry, you didn't do anythig wrong.” I said crossly, cutting him off. “Just tell me, where did you last see her?”
“I-I’ll show you.” Zelo stuttered and we quickly left the school building, in search of Eun Mi. Ricky called out after us but we just kept running.
He led me to a familiar looking road and explained to me, “We were visiting Seohyun, that’s why weren’t at school today.”
I was about to ask him what his relationship with Seohyun was but decided not to and went to the end of the corner of the sidewalk.
“It was around here somewhere.” Zelo told me from behind. “She was walking a few steps behind me and then she suddenly disappeared.”
She wouldn’t just leave without a trace, would she? It wasn’t like her. I frantically looked around for any clues, any hints, anything. I turned back around and was about to head to the other side when a soft glint caught the corner of my eye. I walked over towards and bent down to realize it was Eun Mi's necklace.
I carefully picked it up and wiped it on my uniform. The chain was broken and the clasp holding it together was bent. Clutching it inside of my hands, I turned around to face Zelo but instead saw him crouching down in front of the display window in the store next to us. He was looking at a cage holding two bunnies, one white and one brown.
"Hey, Rice and Kimchi!" He whispered, tapping the window lightly. "Where did Chopsticks 1 and 2 go?"
The two bunnies just looked up at him and nibbled on their lettuce. Then he suddenly stood up, pointing at the entrance of the pet shop. "Hyung, I have an idea! Why don't we go inside and ask if we can look at the surveillance cameras to see if they filmed anything?"
I nodded and we headed inside. The girl at the cash register looked up upon out arrival. "Hello! How may I help you?"
"Can we look at your security cameras?" Zelo asked bluntly, getting straight to the point.
The girl with Sulli on her name-tag raised an eyebrow at our particularly strange request. "Um... Sure?"
Zelo sighed a sigh of relief. "Great!"
The worker turned her computer monitor 360 degrees so that it faced us. The screen was fuzzy gray and white but then it focused, showing us a black-and-white view. The camera was placed inside of the shop but it was angled to face outside at the road.
During the first few moments of the video, nothing happened, so Zelo asked for Sulli to fast-forward a bit, in which she did. The screen blurred and again, nothing happened. Watching the camera was as boring as staring at the ceiling.
"Wait, go back! I think I saw something!" Zelo remarked.
Sulli nodded and fast-forward the video backwards and Zelo stopped her again. The screen was paused and there were several figures captured on camera.
"That's her, right there!" I gasped, pointing at the short figure in the middle. It was Eun Mi, being held by the wrist by a strange man.
I leaned forward, trying to get a better view at what was happening. Eun Mi was struggling to get away but the man obviously overpowered her. He dragged her off the screen and they disappeared for a moment before a black car drove across the screen the opposite way. A few seconds later, Zelo appeared on the corner of the screen, looking around and calling out to somebody before running off again.
"Can you play that again?" Sulli obeyed Zelo's request and replayed the footage. He watched more intently this time around and his eyes began to widen. "Hyung, I know that man! The man who kidnapped her!"
"You do?" I asked, hope rising inside of me. Maybe we had a chance of finding her.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure he works for... my father."
The man opened the door and pushed me roughly. I fell to the ground and my arms shot out in an attempt to stop my fall. My palms hit sharp pebbles and I winced as my head quickly turned around.
"Hey, wait-"
The door was shut closed the moment I looked up. Sighing, I ignored my scraped knees and palms so I could look around at my new surroundings.
It was a small room, mostly likely a shed of some sort. It was dark and the only light was the sunlight peeking through the worn out wooden walls of the so-called shed.
Pushing my bangs out of my eyes, I tried to focus on the details but the right-side of my eyesight was blurry. One of my contacts must have fallen out...
I carefully got up and headed to the door which was, of course, locked. I kept on twisting the knob though, as if it would magically unlock, and an annoyed voice called out from the outside.
"Hey, stop messing around in there!"
It was a man's voice. The man who kidnapped me must be guarding me to make sure I didn't escape. I surrendered and sat down against the wall. Why was I being kidnapped in the first place? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?
And now that I think of it, who's doing the kidnapping? The man's voice didn't sound familiar and I didn't even get a good look of his face yet.
What am I supposed to do now? What if I'm secretly murdered, or shipped off to a different country, or tortured? Will I ever get to see my friends again?
I must have sat there, thinking, for a while before I started hearing voices from outside again. They were muffled, but I put my ear against the door anyways.
"President, you've arrived."
"Do you have the girl?"
"Yes, President."
"Are you sure she's the one?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Let me see her."
I looked up as the door was unlocked and pushed open. A young man and a rather middle-aged man walked in. Sitting up, I tried to study their faces but couldn't see anything properly since one if my contacts had fallen out.
The older man looked down at me and I could tell his eyes were on the cuts on my knees. He asked the guy next to him, "Didn't I say not to harm her?"
"Yes, President, but I-" His response was cut off.
"Be more gentle next time, Jonghyun."
My eyes widened upon hearing the name. Jonghyun was the name of the guy Zelo and I ran into in the SeoMate building!
"Yes, President." He bowed in apology as I wondered what this man was president of.
"You may leave." The so-called president nodded and Jonghyun exited the room, closing the door behind him. That left just the man and I.
He walked over to me and kneeled down, careful not to make his expensive suit dirty. I blinked repeatedly, my eyes focusing on the man's face. He looked pretty aged, with wrinkles decorating his forehead.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked me. Taken aback at his question, I nodded slowly. His stiff posture stiffened and his eyes turned softer. "What is your name?"
"Eun Mi." I was reluctant to tell this stranger but told him anyways. There was this comforting vibe coming from him, which was strange because he was the person who kidnapped me in the first place. "Park Eun Mi."
"Park Eun Mi..." He nodded knowingly this time and stood back up. He whispered something under his breath but it was so soft, I couldn't catch the whole sentence and only heard the words 'look' and 'mother'. "Do you know who I am?"
"Who you are...?" I thought about it for a moment. This man was the president of probably a large company or something. "No, I don't."
The man walked away from me and paced back and forth around the room. "I'm the president of the JellCorporations, Choi Jung Ho."
"Y-you're Choi Jung Ho?" I repeated. "You're Zelo's father?" He froze in the middle of his stride when he heard his son's name and didn't reply, so I asked him again, using Zelo's real name. "You're Joon Hong's father?"
His father didn't reply this time either, so I just sat there and waited for him to answer. When he did, he said it while facing away from me. "I want you to stop seeing my son."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't ever see Joon Hong again." He repeated. "Because of you, look at how he's turned out. I'm going to make sure he takes over the company so he doesn't end up like you. Whatever you're plotting with him, whatever you two did in the company building the other night, I suggest you stop now before something you'll regret happens."
"Mr. Choi-"
"I hope you understand what I mean. Hopefully we won't be meeting again in the near future." The man stood up to leave when the door suddenly burst open and two familiar figures rushed inside. One of them went straight to Mr. Choi while the other rushed towards me.
I gasped. "Zelo? L.Joe?"
L.Joe's eyes widened when he saw the bloody scrapes on my knees and bent down. He reached out to hug me tightly. "Eun Mi, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Did they do anything to you?"
"L.Joe, I'm fine." I said as his grip around me grew tighter. "They didn't do anything to me, don't worry."
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I shouldn't have let you go alone like that, it was stupid of me."
"I said it's okay, you idiot." I hugged him back, glad to finally see him again. When we parted, I realized Zelo was confronting Mr. Choi.
"Father, what do you think you're doing?" He practically shouted. Mr. Choi didn't answer and just stared at the blonde boy before him. "If it's about the company, then forget it. I was going to consider the idea but after what you did to Eun Mi, I can't."
Zelo continued. "You knew it was wrong, so why did you do it?"
Mr. Choi didn't answer his question immediately but when he did, he countered with another question. "Joon Hong, do you remember who Park So Eun is?"
Zelo stayed silent for a moment. "What?"
"Park So Eun."
There was another uncomfortable silence as Zelo stayed frozen in his position, looking at his father. His back was facing me so I couldn't see what the expression on his face was.
"That girl over there," Mr. Choi broke the silence and his eyes fell on me, "is So Eun's daughter."
I looked at Zelo, then back at Mr. Choi, then back at Zelo again. Did he just say daughter? The maknae cast a glance at me with a weird look in his eyes before turning back to face the President. "That has nothing to do with me, father."
"Joon Hong, you know very well how this-"
"Don't call me that." Zelo cut him off crossly and without turning around, he called to us. "Hyung, take noona and leave first." The tone in his voice was different than when he was talking directly to his father.
"Choi Joon Hong-" Mr. Choi said again, warningly, and reached forward for his son's arm.
"I said don't call me that!" Another glare was sent from son to father and he swatted his arm away. "Hyung, I said go now!"
L.Joe nodded and helped me up. "Come on, let's go."
"But Zelo..." I started but decided against staying. He probably had some serious things to talk about, judging from the tension in the air. "O-okay."
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~Ljjang창조♪
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