**Blood’s gushing somewhere in her head. She couldn’t fathom where it’s coming from. All she knows is she could feel it dripping down the right side of her face down to her chin and staining her shirt and denim pants.**
Bam: You’re fucking bleeding!
**He said apathetically. He turned into a mad man again. Chaeng thought. And she understands if he’s showing no interest in what’s going on with her. But in her surprise, he sauntered towards her, sat with his left knee erected on the floor while the other is leveled to his torso with his elbow resting on it. He tucked the hair from her right to her ear. It is indeed wet with her blood. Then he ran his fingers on her eyebrow, then to her temple, and his last stop was somewhere above her temple. She flinched when he touched that side of her skull. There’s a tingling pain that she couldn’t explain. It must be the place where the cut is. She thought.**
Bam: It’s not that huge, but it’s bleeding so hard.
**He sighed and pulled his hanky in his back pocket and raised it on her head as if in the act of pressing it against her skin, but instead of doing so, he stood up again and walked towards his chair.**
**Did he just change his mind? Did he realized that the reason they’re here is to inflict damage to her instead of saving her life?**
**Chaeng could feel herself losing her will to stay awake. Is she going to faint again? No! She screamed inside. She no longer wants to lose her consciousness. She knows she doesn’t have a match to Bam, but if he’s going to bury her alive or stab her on her heart, then she wants to witness it. At least she’s aware that someone has taken her life. Instead of wondering if she’s still alive or not.**
**She heard Bam sighed again while pouring the water from one of his bottles to his hanky.**
Bam: I should have brought some beer. I heard you love drinking cold beer. Aren’t you?
**He tilted his head towards her, grinning.**
Bam: Well, I think it will also help stop that bleeding in your head. But… but I’m not sure about that. I just heard it somewhere. Have you heard about that?
**He walked back to Chaeng still holding the now wet hanky in his right. He pressed it against Chaeng’s side where the cut is. Oh… I thought he realized that my wound doesn’t deserve to be stopped. She thought.**
**She feels better now. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the cold feel of the hanky in her head. The bleeding has indeed lessened, and the dizziness she felt earlier had vanished. But the heaviness in her eyes is still there. She’d lost some blood, might be the reason for that.**
Bam: I hope this will close the cut in your head.
**Although Bam is helping her to stop the bleeding from her head, she found no remorse in his tone.**
Bam: Aren’t you really not going to talk? Like, thank me for saving some of your blood? See… I’m not that bad, right?
**She wants to laugh but kept it instead. He might end up hitting her again if she does that. You inflicted that wound, remember? But instead of saying it, what she muttered was the ones that are bugging her. About the cold beer and the strawberry shake, he got for her at the pastry shop.**
Chaeng: Why does it sound like you know me? The way you mentioned about the cold beer, and… and the strawberry shake you chose earlier.
**Those things seemed to finally puzzle out to her. Mentioning the cold beer was the thing that caught her attention ‘cause she rarely mentions this to anyone.**
**Bam removed the handkerchief on her head and hunched down to her before he answered. He’s wearing another smug. There’s no doubt he has a lot of secrets holding about her, and he’s confident with every single detail he knew.**
Bam: Have you forgotten something? That I have a little secret that I want to tell you? I knew you will soon find out that I know something about you ‘cause a lot of people believe you’re smart.
**He straightened up and paced back to his seat. He’s exhausted, too. It’s already night time and he’d been complaining that he’s starving even before he retrieved some water bottles in his car.**
Bam: Before I showed up at the hotel I already dug in your personal life. Isn’t it cool that you being a best-selling author made it easy for me to figure out some stuff that I need to know about you?
**Before he showed up? I thought, he only arrived the other day? How…**
**Bam laughed when he saw Chaeng’s forehead creased. Of course, he’s enjoying this. He’s enjoying every single minute of them looking at each other.**
Bam: They thought I flew here just a couple of days ago. But no… I’ve been here waiting and watching Mina from afar for almost a month now. Then you showed up. Asked her for dinner. Went out to the bookstore. Had a beer outside the hotel. I knew everything and that makes me so furious.
**Then he darted at Chaeng’s neck with his right, squeezing his fingers tightly below her jawline. And that abrupt action from him startled her, catching her off guard. But even though she saw it coming, she still has no strength to save herself. She’s tide up, and he can do whatever he wants to do to her.**
**It’s much painful than the cut on her head. The pressure of his fingers on her neck is killing her. The worst part is, she could no longer breathe.**
**Bam let go of Chaeng’s neck. As if someone tapped him on his shoulder to let her go. He took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. Then he stared at Chaeng intently who’s now coughing so hard and trying to open again the passage in her mouth so the air could enter freely.**
Bam: I’ve been waiting for one whole year. One whole fucking year to win her back. But then you wrecked my plan. All my plans got shattered because of you.
**His tone was calm. There’s no sign of the thing that he did just a minute ago. Not worried that Chaeng might have lost her life if he hadn’t pulled her palm on her neck sooner.**
**Chaeng stared at him again. No longer catching her breath. Yet still coughing softly just to open up her air passage a little more.**
Chaeng: What… what took you so long to show up? If you… if you want to rekindle your love with her, why did you wait for a month?
**She wants to be more direct, but she’s scared that he’ll hurt her again if she’ll say something that will piss him off. The thing is, whatever thing that comes out from her mouth seemed to piss him off. Whether it’s sensible or not.**
Bam: Hmm… maybe because she’s still mourning the death of her fiancé.
**But instead of sympathizing with what happened to Mina, his expression is telling Chaeng the opposite. And the smugness on his face makes her stomach churn.**
Chaeng: Wouldn’t it be the perfect time for you to be the knight in shining armor?
Bam: I thought about that, I’ve seen several people attempted to get her attention and she seemed to be… unmoved by it. So, I decided to wait for a little more. Unfortunately, you came.
**Chaeng waited for him to have another episode, readied herself for another blow, but it didn’t come. He stayed calm and composed, unlike earlier.**
Bam: You know what… I’m hungry. I really can’t ignore it anymore. Is it okay if I’ll leave you here for a while? I think the nearest fast food is fifteen or twenty minutes away from here.
**Better for you not to come back. Chaeng thought.**
Bam: You can scream all you want when I’m out, you know.
**Then he cracked up, and Chaeng couldn’t understand why. Is it because he knows she’s helpless since her hands and feet were tied in her seat? Or it’s because she doesn’t know where she is and would be more afraid to move than to escape?**
Bam: No one will hear you, anyway. We’re in the middle of nowhere. So better save your strength until I come back. Okay? I promise to buy something good for us tonight.
**She doesn’t know if it’s just her imagination deceiving her or if it’s real. But she saw Bam winked and smiled at her. Shit! This guy is just so sick.**
**Wait! In the middle of nowhere? Chaeng repeated in her head. Where exactly were they?**
*****
Detective Park: Where do you think she’d gone?
Detective Manoban: I don’t know. But the correct question for that is, where did he hide her?
**They were done watching the two CCTV footages at the parking and left the forensics at the scene to check any traces of fingerprints on Chaeng’s car. They need to hurry, and they know that. They haven’t gotten a clue yet, as to where Ms. Son went.**
**The CCTV footage didn’t show that Ms. Son came back to her car after she went to the bookstore. So, the two detectives decided to check if there are other CCTVs from the parking going to where she possibly went.**
Detective Park: I hate this part of town. Everything is still old school. See, no one ever bothered to install CCTVs in their shops. Didn’t they realize that crimes will most likely occur if they don’t install one?
Detective Manoban: Most of the owners in this area are old, so they believe that they already know everything from in and out. They only rely on their instinct instead of proofs.
**Detective Park rolled his eyes. Old folks are so difficult to convince about new technology. They believe in what they want to believe in instead of thinking about their safety.**
Detective Manoban: It’s still open.
**Indeed, the bookstore is still open, though it’s already a quarter to nine. But when Detective Manoban pushed the door, the girl behind the counter is already tucking the chairs under the tables. It seems like she’ll close the shop any minute.**
**She turned instantly when she heard the door opened.**
Lia: Hmm… Good evening.
Detective Manoban: Detective Manoban.
Detective Park: Detective Park.
Lia: Oh… anything I can do for you officer?
Detective Manoban: We just want to check if you recognize this girl?
**Then she handed her phone to this young girl who manages the bookstore.**
Lia: Oh, yeah. They were here this morning. Something wrong officer?
**She returned Detective Manoban’s phone but didn’t receive an answer to her question. Instead, Detective Manoban answered her with another question.**
Detective Manoban: They? So, who was she with?
**She wants to make sure that Ryujin’s statement will match hers.**
Lia: She’s with her friend’s sister, Ryujin. They came here early this morning, but she left as soon as she found the book she was looking for.
Detective Manoban: Did you notice something strange between her and this Ryujin?
Lia: Not that I know of. I mean, they seemed to be okay. They were even teasing each other. But I didn’t hear what they were talking about. I could only assess that they're okay with the way they laugh from that corner.
**She pointed to the left side of the bookshelves.**
Detective Park: Looks like you have CCTV here. Is it okay if we’ll see it?
**He pointed at the left corner of the shop where the CCTV is installed. Good thing it’s facing the door. There’s a possibility that it might have filmed the direction where Ms. Son went after she exited the store.**
Lia: Hmm… I can show you the footage, but… I don’t think the owner will allow me to show it to you without a warrant.
Detective Park: We can get you the warrant maybe a little later, and I promise you that.
Lia: Well, is it okay to know what’s going on? I mean, at least I know how to defend myself in case my boss will fire me?
Detective Manoban: Do you know Ms. Son?
**Lia’s forehead creased, which gave Detective Manoban the answer that she doesn’t know the girl in the photo by her surname. So she changed her question, instead.**
Detective Manoban: I mean, the girl that we showed to you.
Lia: Uhm… I’ve seen her here several times. Checking some books. But we don’t personally know each other.
Detective Park: So, you remember everyone visiting your shop?
Lia: If they visit the store more than once, I recognize them immediately.
**Both the detectives nodded, trying their best to gain her trust so she could show them their CCTV.**
Detective Manoban: She’s missing, and that’s the only information that we could give you.
Lia: Missing?
**Her heart suddenly flutters. She just had a conversation with her earlier. Now she’s missing? What’s going on?**
Lia: Oh… okay. Follow me, detectives.
**She no longer thinks twice. She immediately led the two officers to the door behind the café where their monitor is located, and the two officers followed her instantly.**
Chaeng i know its very hard to get out of that place all you can do now is hang on pray and stay still rescue is on keep thinking your girlfriend mina don't lose hope Bam please don't you dare do something to chaeng.. still creepy
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