We ran into the police station, leaving the engine on and a door open, and asked for Ji Yong and Seungri. We all met in a conference room along with a policeman.

 

I stopped in the doorway, my eyes tearing up at the sight of Ji Yong and Seungri looking completely emotionally destroyed.

 

"Ji Yong."

 

He slowly raised his head and my own silent tears fell seeing that he was crying.

 

"Tell me you're wrong. Tell me it's not true."

 

He put his hands behind his back and looked down. I could see nothing but grief until I couldn't see through my own tears. In an instant, Seung Hyun was in front of me, holding onto me as I tried to cry as quietly as possible without making noise. I reached up and clung to his sweater, closing my eyes and gritting my teeth. I could hear him crying quietly over my head.

 

"Tell me what happened Mr. Ji Yong, so I can get a statement and we can start looking."

 

I'd forgotten the officer was in the room until he spoke in a quieter tone to pay respect to us. I looked over the side of Seung Hyun's arm and watched as Ji Yong sighed heavily, kept staring at the floor and began his story.

 

"We went to Choi Seung Hyun's house at around 10:00 tonight. Dongsaeng and I hadn't seen Choi Mi-Na in a month or so and Hyung and his wife wanted to go out on a date, to relax. On the way to my house in Gangnam District, Mi-Na, who is three-years-old, asked for ice cream. We stopped and-" Ji Yong sobbed suddenly and he brought his fist up to his mouth and tried to breathe evenly.

 

He began again, "We stopped at a ice cream store and stood in line to buy some and I looked away for a second, looked back and she was gone. I swear. She was holding my hand one second and the next, my hand was empty."

 

I closed my eyes and Seung Hyun tightened his arms around me. He wasn't facing them, but he could hear more than he wanted to. I put my arms around him.

 

"Lee Seung Hyun?"

 

It was silent for a minute before a thick, exhausted voice replied, "Neh, Ahjussi?"

 

Seungri had stood with his hands in front of him and cried out all he could. Now, he had to speak.

 

"Is this the same story?"

 

"Neh...Ahjussi."

 

"Excuse me. Mr. Choi? Do you have a current picture of your daughter with you?"

 

Seung Hyun slowly let me go, turned to the officer and nodded, his eyes puffy and red. My shoulder was soaked with his tears.

 

Pulling out his wallet, my husband presented the officer with a picture of the three of us on top of the Namson Tower.

 

"Is this current?"

 

When Seung Hyun couldn't reply, I answered for him, "Neh. That was taken on her birthday of this year. September 16th."

 

He nodded and took the picture from Seung Hyun, walked away. I reached out and held Seung Hyun's hand as Seungri passed tissue to us. Seungri looked like a ghost, his skin pale and eyes puffy too.

 

The officer led Seung Hyun and I into a kind of break room area and went back to ask them more questions. Seung Hyun walked heavy, no longer able to cry for the time being.

 

"Do you want something to drink, Bunny?" he asked upon noticing the vending machine in the corner of the small, well lit room.

 

I didn't really want anything my mouth was dry.

 

"Neh, please." I said slowly sitting in a cold chair at the break room table.

 

I watched as he went to the machine, digging into his pocket for loose coins to buy a drink and my heart ached. He was trying to hold it together and it was destroying him from the inside out.

 

I wondered why my phone hadn't rang when I remembered I'd turned it off.

 

As I turned my head away to power it back on, I heard a thud.

 

Seung Hyun had punched the machine in frustration and was gripping the top of it, threatening to pull it over.

 

"Tabi!" I said and dropped my phone on the table, rushing over to him.

 

I pulled his hands off the frame of the vending machine and he slumped back against the wall and slid to the floor, sobbing heavily through gritted teeth.

 

"She can't be gone, Bethani. She can't be! She's a little girl. How do you lose a child?" He said looking at the floor the table, the ceiling, anywhere but at me.

He closed his eyes and tears just fell down his face and chin. I knelt in front of him on the tile floor.

 

"Look at me, Tabi." I said quietly trying not cry myself.

 

I put both hands on either side of his face. "Look at me."

 

"Look at me, Baby. They are doing everything they can right now to try to find Mi-Na. We gave the police her picture and they are still questioning Ji Yong-ah and Seungri. It's going to be okay, I promise," I said in a whispered voice.

 

I wiped his tears away with my fingertips and smoothed his bangs down, he finally looked at me again.

 

Putting his own hand on the side of my face, Seung Hyun asked in a shaky voice, "Promise?"

 

I turned my head and kissed his palm and whispered, "I promise."

 

I leaned over and pulled his torso to me and held him until he was empty of tears again.