Revelations

Tae-sik drove like a hurricane all the way to the Choi's apartment, only to find a message waiting for him.

< You want her? Fight for her. >

And an address was left for him.

An old hauntingly familiar address.

-----

So-Mi slowly woke up from her drugged stupor, to find herself tied to a wooden chair.

Both her hands and legs tied with thick gunny ropes.

"I'm so sorry, So-Mi, dear. I'm never one for theatrics, you know that. But I'm just tired of going slow. So let's end this once and for all."

So-Mi looked up at the owner of the voice.

Her eyes widened at finally knowing who was behind all the recent fracas.

Her sleep laden eyes, now wide awake taking in her surroundings.

She was in an old, yet vaguely familiar place.

A second hand bookstore or library of sorts.

Now abandoned and decorated by cobwebs and layers of dust.

She had been there before.

A long time ago.

Her eyes darted over the room, trying to recall the time.

Eyes that were barely visible above her gagged mouth.

The room was lined with bookshelves, still semi filled with old books.

In front of them stood long tables and benches, quite like in a library.

This was where the ants were kept, she recalled.

Once before.

Guarded by thug dogs.

And an old halmoeni, who acted as the pied piper of street children and served as unsuspecting decoy for the authorities.

A haven as well as prison for the children.

Dirty, dusty and musty.

Then and now.

But it provided a dry place for the children to take shelter at nights.

"You remember now, don't you? You were here before? Even for a short while, you were here," her captor smiled. "I was here too, but we never got the pleasure to meet, then. I was at the drug factory, while you were here with the other mules."

Child mules or ants, who were used to transport drug packages and the money exchanged for them.

Drugs that were produced in illegal factories, also operated by similar children, watched by gun totting, oxygen masked goons.

"It was kismet when I met you," again the sweet smile lighted the face, yet brought a slow impending dread in So-Mi. "You were only a name before. I bet you didn't even know that you were a legend amongst us. And it was fate that brought us together."

< I found her. And I like her. I think she'd be a great addition to our family. I know now what he saw in her. Support me on this one, Noona. Let's keep her.>

Her eyes wide as she tried to piece the information together.

"Knowing you were passionate about the children of the streets and that you were fighting for their better future in your own way, told us that you belonged with us. And to think I hated you at first," the person in front of her laughed, in fond memories. "I mean, I grew up hating you, knowing that my brother died because of you. But then as I got to know you, I finally saw what he saw in you."

"And I decided to keep you," the shrug of the shoulder was slight and shy. "I'm the slow and easy type. I wanted to gain your trust first and woo you to us slowly. Eventually I wanted to let you know what we do. And how you could support us."

The perpetrator continued to persuade her.

"But then your Ahjussi came back. And he came back early too," So-Mi could somehow sense the change in her captor's demeanor, turning sour and agitated. "I seriously and totally forgot about him."

And turning cynical.

"He's a legend too." Hands flew in the air, trying to push the points across. "Of course he was. How can he not be? He took down the whole clan in one night!"

The floor in front of her was paced left and right.

"He rescued all of us from those heartless bastards. Setting us all free. But then again … he took my one and only brother away too. Then where would we all go?"

So-Mi could only stare up with observant eyes, detecting moves and mood swings.

“At least with the clan, we had a roof over our head. And food. My brother ensured that. Besides, what other choices did we have?" Her captor paused, recollecting the past. "Just like you, we were all going back to abusive parents, who hit and hurt us, and made us go hungry when they were stoned. How can that be a better option?”

Such was the rhetorical question.

“In fact, my very own old man sold me off, and shipped me all the way here," perfection of a nose sneered, marring a beautiful face. "Oh, mianhe. I'm Thai, by birth, by the way, from Chinese father and Thai mom. Hence why I speak fluent Mandarin. Thai too, of course. Foreign languages you so loved. I can teach you, you know. We have all the time in the world now."

The enemy smiled again.

-----

Tae-sik speed dialed Kim with one hand and maneuvering his truck with the other.

Expertly speeding through the streets and beating the red lights.

"Chi-gon, an address was left for me. It's Man-seok's old nest."

A car honked and swerved as Tae-sik overtook a car while racing head on towards another. "So-Mi's laptop is in the living room. Her password is fireflies09."

"Got it! I've sent people to back you up," Chi-gon shouted over the siren of his car, as he raced towards the Choi's apartment.

Tae-sik, on the other hand, head the opposite direction.