Chapter Seventy-two (1/2)
Jeonghan looks at the small house. It was a comfortable small that kind of reminded Jeonghan of Seungcheol's house. "This looks so warm," Jeonghan commented as he went on the stone path with flowers bordering it. "Our house is warm too." Seungcheol pouted once more. Jeonghan giggled and poked Seungcheol. "Of course it is." He winked. "Your turn." He pointed at the door. Seungcheol knocked on the door and waited for the door to open. A young girl with curly hair looked up at them. "Hello~" Her smile was bright. "May I help you?" Jeonghan was shocked at first. Thinking about Nana, she's an emotionless girl who doesn't like to talk. Or at least that's how she appears to be. Jeonghan has spent a couple afternoons with the girl and has found out that Nana does, in fact, have all the emotions any other human being has. "Hi, my name is Jeonghan, Dino's father." He introduced himself with a small smile. Seungcheol watched her bow. "And I'm Seungcheol, his other father." He said. "Nice to meet you, I'm Yuqi. Nana's sister," She let them walk in. "Sorry for the mess, my sister seems to not like cleaning up after the twins." She slightly grumbled with a bubbly attitude. Jeonghan sat down when she offered a seat. He sat close to Seungcheol and crossed his legs. "So, are you close to Dino?" He asked. "Dino's so cute," She said with a giggle, "but of course Shownu is my boyfriend. There's only so close I can get to Dino without that guy thinking Dino's trying to flirt." She waved her hand. Jeonghan pouted. "Is he controlling you?" He asked. "A little.." Her eyebrows raised. "Sometimes it seems like he's being selfish.." Jeonghan hummed. "Slap him a couple times, he'll come around." He leaned back on the couch. She nodded and picked up her tea. "Oh, would you like something to drink?" She stood up right away. "That's alright," Seungcheol put his hand up, "we'd like to talk about Dino, if that's okay." He said with a friendly smile. She sat down. "Yeah, sure. What's up?" She put her hands together. "Shownu said he's back home. I was so worried when I heard he was missing." She pouted. Jeonghan looked the other male's way in confusion. "No, Dino's still missing." He said. "But.." Yuqi widened her eyes. "Shownu said.." She whispered. "I really wish he was right, but Dino's not with us." Seungcheol said, noticing her start tearing up. Jeonghan moved to her couch and put an arm around her. "Did he act any different when you were baking with him?" He asked, holding her hands to comfort her. "He said he was a little stressed.. but that's all I know." She looked at Jeonghan before Seungcheol. Seungcheol frowned and looked away. "We'll tell you when we find him, Yuqi-ah." Jeonghan assured in a kind voice. "Please take care of yourself." He stood up. Yuqi nodded and watched them head to the front door. "I really shouldn't say this," She started, "but I kind of like Dino." She confessed. Jeonghan looked at her with a soft smile. "He'll be really happy to hear that." He said. "Be good." He waved.
The parents go back on the road. They see that it's nearing the evening. Seungcheol sighed and shook his head. "She was lying." He stated. Jeonghan looked at the man in disbelief. "Seriously? Cheol, she was crying." He said. Seungcheol nodded. "I know, but when she said that Dino was feeling stressed, her eyes shifted a lot." He stated. "Something wasn't adding up. Maybe she wasn't lying, but she wasn't telling us something." Jeonghan hummed and looked toward the road. "So Hoshi is missing too." He stated. "What would they need Hoshi for?" He asked. Seungcheol put his turn signal on. "I heard that when Minghao came back from college that night, Hoshi was still awake. He went out to investigate on his own." He said. Jeonghan shook his head. "He said he left for work.." He remembered. "Who told you he went to investigate?" "Seungkwan." Seungcheol said nonchalantly. Jeonghan chuckled and shook his head. "Seriously, that kid needs to learn how to not spill the tea." He said, looking out the window.
Parking, the men went into the house. Joshua looked at them with a knowing expression. "Any luck?" He asked. "No.." The parents said at the same time. Mingyu came down the stairs. "Hey, so the cameras on campus are down. I can't get any footage from when Jun was on campus." He said. Seungcheol pouted his lips. "Locate the phones of everyone who is missing." He said. Mingyu bowed and went back up the stairs. Jeonghan sighed and looked around. "You," He pointed at Jaemin, "get in there and cook for the kids." Jaemin raised his eyebrows. "Me? I can't cook." He stood up straight. "Forget it," Joshua walked up to them, "I'm putting chicken in the oven." Jeonghan shrugged at Jaemin and went upstairs.
*** Hoshi slowly wakes up, looking at the darkness around him. He wiped the drool from his chin and sat up. He noticed someone else near him in the faint light. He looked at the light that had a small cage around the bulb. The walls look like stone and the floor feels like concrete. The other person looked back at him. "Hoshi?" He heard Jun's voice, "are you awake?" He asked. "Mmh.." Hoshi grumbled as he held his head. "I don't know where we are or how we got here," Jun said, picking up a lantern and getting closer to Hoshi, "all I know is that we've been here for two days." He said. Hoshi looked at his watch. The time displayed it being early in the morning. "Sunday.." He noticed. "Dino's been missing for four days.." He muttered. Jun nodded and looked around, feeling the walls. "And we've been missing for awhile too." He said. "I don't have my phone or wallet, do you?" He asked. "No," Hoshi felt his pockets as he stood up, "someone even took my tissues.." He frowned. Jun sighed. "I'm sorry for getting you in this mess.." He said. "It's not your fault," Hoshi said, "I shouldn't have come looking for you. But I gave up and decided to go on the tram to work. That's all I can remember." He said.
Jun looked around once more. "I was looking at the security cameras with Minghao's teacher," He remembered, "and then the feed went blank. The kidnapper was making an escape at that time, I think." Hoshi raised an eyebrow. "Or was it because he was tying up loose ends?" He looked Jun's way. The Chinese male nodded. "That could have been it. The kidnapper could have predicted us being around and didn't want us to make a commotion.." He sighed.
Hoshi walked with the other male until they saw tracks. The lights in the tunnel were all on, showing it was a subway track. "We're in a subway?" Hoshi asked. Jun looked around and nodded. "Look! A maintenance tram." He pointed. "Let's go inside." He ran to it. Hoshi saw that the keys were inside. "Woah.." Jun hummed. "The kidnapper wants us to investigate." He slumped his shoulders. "We're just playing a game until he's done.." He realized. Hoshi raised his eyebrows. "A game? We can find Dino like this, can't we?" He asked with hope. Jun shook his head and turned on the engine. "Dino's not here.. Why would you put the star of the show with the supporting cast? We're trapped here until the kidnapper's done with Dino." He said in a depressed tone. Hoshi frowned and watched the doors close. "Let's play then."
*** "Yeosang," Yeji poked him, "Yeosang, wake up!" She shoved him from sitting to the floor. Yeosang scrunched his face and looked at the girl with an annoyed expression. "I'm awake." He grumbled when she slapped him. He sat up and looked around. He saw that they were in a tunnel. He was sitting up against a wall, and if a tram went by, they would both be crushed. He looked at her and stood up. "Where are we?" Yeosang asked, cracking his neck. "I'm not sure, I was walking around a little, but it's only tracks.." She sighed. Yeosang looked forward then backward. "Well, I'm going this way." He pointed forward. "What? You think that way will lead to your precious Woozi?" She asked with folded arms. He breathed in and out. "Look, if you're not willing to be quiet while we're trying to escape this place, don't bother following me." He said. Yeji folded her arms with a huff. "I was going to go this way anyway." She turned around and put her nose higher.
Yeosang rolled his eyes and continued walking. I'm sure both ends will lead to some sort of exit.. He thought as he looked at the walls and felt around for his phone and wallet. He sighed when he didn't feel either. Not but five minutes pass and Yeosang sees the girl return to his side. He rolled his eyes. "I thought you wanted to go that way." He commented, kicking a stone on the track. "I heard a weird noise that way," She said with a shocked expression He raised an eyebrow. "What was it? Could you see it?" He asked. "No.. it just sounded weird. I don't know how to explain it." She held his arm. He sighed. "If that was Minghao's teacher thinking he's being taken by aliens, it's your fault that he stays over there." He said, letting her cling onto him. He looked at his watch and saw that it turned to noon. He looked around and saw a station. "Let's rest here." He pointed. Yeji sat down on a bench and sighed. She looked at the sign and saw that they're at an Iksan station. "We're far from home." She commented. Yeosang looked at the sign and sighed. "I hope the others are doing better than us." He said. "We've been walking for hours. Let's sit for a little while." He said, noticing a vending machine with water bottles. The machine looked old, but the water was still in closed bottles. He walked up to the machine and wrapped his hand in a towel that was nearby. Yeji watched him smash the glass. "Woah, that's real glass. How old is this place?" She stood up. Yeosang shrugged. "We know it's abandoned, for the most part. Someone has the lights on. Most likely the kidnapper." He said. "We just need to ration the water and find a way out. The way out over there is bolted shut." He pointed to the double doors that were bolted down. Yeji nodded and looked around. "Do you think Jun and Dino are here?" She asked as she accepted the bottle he gave her. "Jun, yes. Dino most likely is not here or a place far away from anywhere else we were put." He said. "For example, we're in Iksan. What if Dino is at a station in Seoul? It's going to take forever to get there by foot." He stated. "By the time we get there, the kidnapper could move Dino.." She muttered. Yeosang hummed. "Exactly. But I'm sure we'll find Jun, Haechan, and Dahyun somewhere around here." He said. "There's a way out, we just have to find it. And by that time, Dino will be revealed." Yeji raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She asked. "The kidnapper doesn't want to kill any of us, otherwise he would have just done it when we were passed out." Yeosang said. "He wouldn't let us be together or have a chance to find each other." He stated. "He just wants to keep us here long enough to do with Dino what he wants." Yeji pouted and sat down, looking at the track. ***Minghao's teacher slowly opens his eyes. He looks around before seeing a tall, big man. "Where am I?!" He stood up. Woobin looked at him and shrugged. "We're in Gwangju." He pointed at the sign on the wall. "Some subway station." He said. The teacher looked around and noticed the counters. "Do you think the food is good?" He asked, seeing bags of popcorn and chips. "No, we don't have time to eat. We have to get out of here." Woobin said with an upset glare. The other male pouted. "I'm hungry though.." He picked up a bag and opened it. Woobin rolled his eyes as the teacher ate the chips that were surprisingly good still. "How can you think of food?" He squinted his eyes at the teacher. He shrugged and looked around. "Hey, muddy footprints!" He pointed out, jumping off of the counter. "Wasn't it raining when Dino was kidnapped?" Woobin asked. "That's right." The teacher confirmed. "Maybe we can try to get those doors open." He put the bag down and tried to open the bolted doors. Woobin sighed. "It's going to take a little bit more than that to get the doors open." He sighed. "Let's think of a plan first. And.. fill your stomach." He looked at the teacher. ***
"I got a signal on Jun's phone." Mingyu said as he approached the dinner table.
Seungcheol looked at the make while putting his fork down. "Where is he?" He asked.
"Everyone's phones are located outside some abandoned subway." Mingyu stated. "They're just idle there, most likely the kidnapper just tossed them in the mud nearby." He continued. Jeonghan cleared his throat. "Get us the location and we'll drive in the morning. I want my Dino before the seventh day." He said, looking at his watch.Minghao looked at Seokmin. "Is it a Suji-gu subway?" He asked.
Mingyu tapped on his phone and nodded. "The abandoned subway is owned by Yook Sungjae.." He looked up from his phone.