Chapter 58 - Thank You and Sorry

Sohee's words took a little while for Jiwon to sink in. A murderous gang wanted to annihilate his entire family. He did not care for his half sisters but his grandfather was in danger too.

"Is that why he sent me here?" Jiwon asked her.

"Yes," Sohee replied. "He wanted you to train yourself so that if they come to attack you, you'll be able to fight them off at least."

"How…" Jiwon hesitated. "How did my legs get so strong all of a sudden? I mean, I managed to kick two grown men really hard…"

"The mountain running you've been doing the past month strengthened your legs," Sohee answered. "Unlike other runners who only practice at roads, you were trained at the mountains. As a result, your legs gained more agility and strength. However, luckily for you, the two men you fought off were weak. If you were against stronger opponents, you'd have lost. The Cartel underestimated you this time but they won't repeat the same mistake again."

Jiwon was silent. They will come for him again. What will he do then?

Reading his mind, Sohee said, "I'll give you the whole night to think. Your grandfather said he'll have Secretary Lee and a protection squad escort you home tomorrow morning. However, if you want to rethink your decision, then I'll be at our training ground tomorrow at 6 AM. Choice is yours."

She gave him a small smile and patted his head. A gush of warmth rose within Jiwon. He never had the chance to feel any motherly love from anyone and this is the closest he got to receiving it. 

"Go to sleep," she said in a gentle tone. She tucked him in and watched over him as he drifted to sleep.

Watching the little boy sleeping peacefully, reminded Sohee of her own daughter back at home. She was aware of the bullying incident Mirae witnessed and how Jiwon denied the abuse in front of everyone. Sohee had hoped that Mirae and Jiwon would become friends like she and Sungmin were but alas! Mirae refused to go back to that mansion after the fiasco and did not even want to meet Jiwon.

Sohee understood Jiwon's motivation to lie as well. After all, he could have gotten worse treatment from his sisters if he had told the truth. 

Children are a handful, Sohee thought wearily. She turned off the lights and instructed the two guards stationed outside to watch over Jiwon every half an hour. She then proceeded towards her car outside. 

"Where to madam?" he chauffeur asked.

"The Police Station," she replied. Bowing in obedience, the driver drove to their destination.

….

Inside the Police Station, two men were hung upside down in a cell. They were in the deepest part of the station. There were no other prisoners around nor were there uniformed policemen. Instead, there were men dressed in civilian clothing, looking down at the two kidnappers they had tied up inside the dingy cell. One of the men stepped forward and poured soda over Driver Hong's nose.

"Arghh!" Driver Hong muffled as he felt like he was being drowned. The liquid was rushing to his brain, making him dizzy.

"We don't know them!" Lee cried out. "We were only paid in cash! A man wearing a fox mask delivered it to us."

Beside him, Driver Hong was losing consciousness. One of the men beat his leg with a stick, causing him to scream loudly. But no one could hear them in that remote area. 

Suddenly, the jail bar opened. A slim woman walked in. She was wearing a heavy jacket and stilettos. The woman commanded authority; the other men bowed down to her. The clanking of her heels echoed through the room as she walked towards the prisoners. She peered at them carefully, before stepping on Driver Hong's face. 

He cried out in agony as the woman's heel dug into his face. 

"I see you guys love to harm children," she said in a dangerous tone. "If it was simply a matter of harming the old man Kwon, I'd probably have been more merciful by handing you over to the cops. But you dared to harm an innocent child! That is unforgivable."

She was almost crushing Driver Hong's nose. "You were a trusted aide of the Kwon family," she said. "And yet, you dared to harm the hand that feeds you."

"We said everything we knew!" Lee begged. "The cash was delivered to us through a henchman who was also disguised! We were only instructed to board the boy in a ship which was going to Country D! We don't know what else they were going to do to him. I swear!"

"We know you guys were mere pawns," the woman said. "We are also aware that you don't have any information."

"Then why are you doing this to us?" Lee asked fearfully. "Just let us go to prison!"

"You will go to prison, alright," the woman gave an ominous smile. "But to our prison, where you will be tortured everyday. You'll beg for death, but you won't die easily. Your screams will be contained within the four walls and your soul will be sucked out as you rot away. That is your punishment."

"Please…" Lee was sobbing now. Driver Hong was completely unconscious, blood coming out of his nose. 

"Make sure they don't get to sleep for three nights," Sohee ordered her men. "If they dare to close their eyes, beat them until they wake up. But don't let them die either. Make sure they to endure a long and slow torture."

"Understood madam," one of the men bowed to her. Sohee exited the jail, the clanking of her heels still echoing throughout the empty police station. 

As she headed out, her phone rang up. It was Kwon Jinhyung. 

"Hello sir," Sohee greeted. "I hope you are well."

"I won't be well till I see my grandson," Kwon Jinhyung said. "How is he?"

"He is fine, sir," she replied. "He will be discharged tomorrow morning and Secretary Lee will escort him home."

"I am sorry, my dear," the old man apologized. "I requested you to train him and yet…"

"I understand," Sohee said gently. "I was too harsh on him anyway. We will respect his decision to leave."

The old man was worried. If Jiwon did not agree to the training, then he would not be able to protect himself against future threats. Moreover, studying at Sohee's academy would have kept him away from his half sisters. He could have enjoyed his childhood with friends and people who would come to care for him. But now…

"I will make the arrangements for his journey," Sohee went on. 

"Alright, my dear," the old man relented. "Have a good night."

"You too, sir," she said, hanging up the phone. 

Sohee sighed. Jiwon was truly a promising student. Even if she was hard on him, she noticed considerable improvement in him over the past month. Any teacher would be proud to have him as a student. She wished he would have stayed long enough to finish his studies, but even she was helpless against the cries of a child. After all, she was a mother too.

Accepting her fate, Sohee got into her car.

"Back to the school," she instructed the chauffeur.

….

Next morning, Sohee was awakened by a call.

"Ms. Sohee!" Secretary Lee's panicked voice came through the speaker. "Master Jiwon is missing!"

"What?" Sohee exclaimed. "For how long has he been gone?"

"I came into his room to pack his bags and saw that he was not in his bed! I asked the guards and even they have no idea where he is!"

Cursing loudly, Sohee hurriedly got dressed and sprinted out. She ran through the grounds, sending her men all over the place to look for Jiwon. They asked the guards at the gates but they had not seen him either.

Sohee went around the school and headed towards the training ground. She was frantically scanning the area when a voice came out, "You're late!"

She spun around to see Jiwon, dressed in his training clothes. 

"You're late!" he repeated. "You said 6 AM. It's almost 7 now."

Sohee looked at him in confusion before realizing what he meant. A slow grin formed on her face.

"So, you've decided to stay?" she asked.

"For now," he said curtly. "I've already ran ten laps around the ground!"

"Ten more laps on the go!" Sohee ordered. "Otherwise, you'll be cleaning all the dorms for a week!"

Jiwon smiled at her and scurried off to run. Behind him, his teacher was beaming proudly with slight tears in her eyes. Unbeknownst to her, Jiwon's older counterpart was watching her teary face.

"Thank you, teacher," KJ said gratefully. "And I'm sorry…"

Sohee could not hear his words, but she felt a brush of air pass by her. Startled, she looked around. Strange, she wondered. It's not windy today. 

Shrugging off her momentary distraction, she kept on ordering Jiwon to run faster.