Chapter 56 - Be Safe, Jiwon!

"A black limo was spotted driving off the highway," Detective Hyunseok said. He had the CCTV footage in front of him in a monitor. "Unfortunately, that's where the footage ends. There was no other cameras along that route."

Sohee's brows furrowed in tension as she listened intently to the detective's words over the phone. The road trailing away from the highway led to several different places. One was towards the village where the appearance of a black limo would be too conspicuous. Second route led towards a forest which was quite deep. It will take them days to find him there. Third route led towards the docks where ships anchor for breaks. If Jiwon was taken there, he could be easily shipped off to any part of the world and they would never find him.

Sohee let out a series of curses. If anything happened to the child, she would never be able to forgive herself. He was not even fully trained to protect himself and…

She did not want to think of the possibilities. It was not the time to act rashly. 

"Alright, Hyunseok, listen up," she ordered. "Send your men towards the forest. I'm sure those kidnappers would use the dense area to hide their presence. Meanwhile, I'll have my men search the docks."

"Understood," he said before hanging up. 

"What are we going to do?" Secretary Lee asked. "Are you sure he took Jiwon towards one of those routes?"

"I can't see any other way," Sohee admitted. "These two seem to be the only routes the kidnappers could take."

Secretary Lee bit his lip. Please be safe, Master Jiwon, he prayed.

…..

Jiwon stirred. He was knocked out in the car by Driver Hong and brought to an unknown place. His hands were tied to a chair and was blindfolded. It was impossible to see anything. 

Panic was setting up in his mind. What will those kidnappers do to him? Why did they kidnap him anyway? For money? 

"Let me out!" he cried out. "Let-"

His cries were cut off by a blow to his face. Someone punched him on the cheek.

"Don't ruin his face!" a man said angrily. "That's his asset! Our clients would be delighted to see such a handsome young man to serve their needs."

"He was being loud," came another man's voice. Jiwon recognized that voice. It was Driver Hong.

He pretended to be unconscious, listening to their every word. 

"The boss wants him alive," the other man was saying. "You know that."

"Yeah yeah, I know Lee," Hong sneered. "I don't wanna offend the Cartel. I just wanted to hit this kid only once. I've always hated his smug insolence."

The man's voice was full of malice. He was different from the Driver Hong who raised Jiwon. The warm, kind and sweet Driver Hong was replaced by a bitter and spiteful man. Jiwon did not know whom to believe anymore. All he knew was that he needed to escape.

And what was this 'Cartel' he spoke about? Jiwon tried to recall but could not come up with anything. 

"First lesson, never let your guard down." Ms. Sohee's words suddenly echoed in his head. Huh?

Jiwon kept still but his mind was alert. Never let your guard down, he thought. Even though his eyes were shut, he was listening carefully. Amidst the bickering of the two men, Jiwon listened to the other sounds around him. 

He heard the waves in the background. Was he near some kind of river or sea? He listened harder. There were no chatters of other people around though. However, he could hear some birds chirping nearby. He also smelt a faint scent of some kind of metal. 

"They'll never findus here," Lee was saying. "We fooled em good. They think we took him in a limo, whereas it was a decoy. Little do they know that we ditched the car at the forest and took another car for a detour. The Cartel sure is useful."

He snickered. 

"Don't underestimate the Kwon family though," Driver Hong warned. "They can track us down anytime. We'll need to hand him over to the Cartel within an hour. Otherwise, we'll be doomed."

"Relax," Lee assured him. "Everything will be fine. Let's go out and wait."

"What about the kid?"

"He's all tied up," Lee shrugged. "He won't be able to escape."

Driver Hong sighed and Jiwon heard the shuffling of footsteps. After a few seconds, the sound of a door closing was heard.

Jiwon sat up straight. His legs were not tied but his hands were bound behind him. Thankfully, he had years of experience with his half sisters. They had tied him up like this on multiple occasions and thus, Jiwon knew how to untie himself. It took him a few tries to undo the knot but finally, he managed to slip free. Taking off the blindfold, he scanned his surroundings.

He was in a shabby cabin. Peering outside the window, he was that the cabin was next to a stream. Two men were standing right outside the door. One was the old Driver Hong while the other one was a tall, lanky guy in his forties. It was probably Lee.

The cabin was in a remote place. He could see a bunch of trees surrounding the area but it did not look like a forest. There was a faint smell of metal in the air but there was no metallic object around. However, Jiwon noticed smoke coming out from somewhere in the distance, which meant they were in a place with people around. 

Slowly backing away, Jiwon searched the area till his eyes fell on a window above a shelf. It was big enough for a child to climb through. Careful enough not to make a noise, Jiwon climbed atop the shelf and squeezed through the window. He looked down.

The fall would not be difficult for an adult but for a child, it was dangerous. He gulped. What if he broke his bones?

But there was no time to think. He took a deep breath and jumped.