118.
#Escape
A cold aura emanated from Jeong Hayun, seated in the office inside the lounge. The security guards and Director Park standing before him bowed their heads, unable to even breathe deeply.
Hayun’s gaze turned to the tablet PC on the desk. The screen showed a photo of Choi Seon-gyeom entering the departure area.
“Are you certain Choi Seon-gyeom departed yesterday?”
Director Park affirmed Hayun’s muttering. Yesterday, the person tailing Choi Seon-gyeom had personally confirmed and photographed him entering the departure area.
“Did you also check the departure records?”
“He did complete the departure procedures. We also confirmed that a large suitcase was checked in under his name.”
Hayun’s gaze returned to the photo. So Choi Seon-gyeom had departed. Then who was helping Jeong Dawoon?
They had searched the airport thoroughly for over an hour but couldn’t find Dawoon. They checked airport CCTV and stationed people at all exits, but he hadn’t left the airport. If he was certainly inside, why couldn’t they find him? It’s not like he vanished into thin air or sunk into the ground…
It was too late to regret not forcing Dawoon to carry a mobile phone. Even if he had, Dawoon would have discarded it if he planned to escape. He should have attached a tracking device to his body instead.
They had monitored Choi Seon-gyeom until just before his departure yesterday, but there were no unusual movements. They had also assigned someone to watch Lee Ui-hyeon just in case, but other than meeting his girlfriend, there was nothing unusual after his visit to the mansion. Grandfather was still hospitalized, and his secretary, Mr. Kim, was focused solely on caring for him.
Hayun thought he had everything under control, but Jeong Dawoon disappeared with less than 30 minutes until boarding time. He tried to retrace his steps to see where he had let his guard down, but couldn’t pinpoint anything.
As he frowned in contemplation, someone entered and whispered to Director Park. Director Park’s face immediately hardened. Hayun raised his eyes to look at them.
“What is it?”
“Well…”
Uncharacteristically, Director Park hesitated to answer immediately.
“Speak.”
At the low voice, Director Park’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed dryly.
“We’ve confirmed that Author Choi Seon-gyeom has a departure record for today.”
Hayun’s eyebrows furrowed involuntarily, wondering what this meant. Hadn’t they said he departed yesterday?
“It seems he only completed the departure screening yesterday and didn’t actually depart. We’ve just confirmed that he boarded a flight to Greece a short while ago.”
At Director Park’s report, a sigh escaped Hayun. So Choi Seon-gyeom had only pretended to depart yesterday to deceive him. Moreover, the fact that he departed at this time today meant he had been in the departure area, and likely met with Dawoon.
“Check if Dawoon is on the same flight as Choi Seon-gyeom.”
Dawoon had his passport. So if Choi Seon-gyeom had prepared a plane ticket, he could have boarded a different flight.
“We’ve already checked, but he’s not on the same flight.”
Jeong Dawoon wasn’t on the Greece-bound flight that Choi Seon-gyeom took? He didn’t go with Choi Seon-gyeom? It felt like they were back to square one. Then where on earth had Dawoon gone?
It was strange that he had received help from Choi Seon-gyeom. Since the day he returned from the DNA test, Dawoon hadn’t contacted Choi Seon-gyeom even once. His phone had been off the entire time, and there was no trace of contact on his PC or tablet PC either.
How on earth…? He couldn’t understand how Dawoon had managed to disappear right under his nose.
“Find him. Wherever he’s gone, you must find him. Search every plane that took off today if you have to.”
At Hayun’s order, Director Park and everyone else bowed their heads and left the office. Left alone, Hayun paced the office, unable to gather his thoughts, and finally unable to suppress his surging emotions, he swept everything off the desk with both hands.
He wanted to shout, but he gritted his teeth and held back. As a result, his eyes turned bloodshot and his breathing quickened.
Jeong Dawoon disappearing… Deceiving him so completely…
The black mass of emotion was not just churning but on the verge of boiling over.
It was unacceptable to lose him like this. After everything he had done for him, he couldn’t tolerate Dawoon leaving his side now.
He had to find him. Whether in hell or at the end of the world, he would comb through the entire globe if necessary to find him.
***
Dawoon looked out the round window. The plane had already reached a certain altitude, and only white clouds could be seen below. The economy seat, unlike first class, was so cramped he couldn’t even stretch his legs fully. However, he couldn’t feel uncomfortable.
I’m really leaving like this.
Feeling conflicted, he closed his eyes and took a long breath.
‘When you arrive, someone will be waiting for you there. You can ask that person for anything you need. Don’t feel awkward or uncomfortable, make sure you do that.’
Choi Seon-gyeom had earnestly requested as he handed over the plane ticket.
‘Thank you.’
At Dawoon’s gratitude, he made a complicated expression, then put his arm around Dawoon’s shoulder, hugged him, and patted his back a couple of times.
‘Take care of yourself.’
There were no other words. That was all. Dawoon couldn’t say anything else either. He was simply grateful for his help.
The message tucked into the book he gave to Ui-hyeon contained Choi Seon-gyeom’s name and the game ID he had used to chat with Ui-hyeon.
The sharp-witted Ui-hyeon immediately understood Dawoon’s intention. He also knew that Hayun would be monitoring him. So instead of meeting or contacting Choi Seon-gyeom directly, Ui-hyeon asked Na-eun for help.
Na-eun also didn’t go to meet Choi Seon-gyeom directly. After hearing all the circumstances, Na-eun was shocked to the point of turning pale, but after calming down, she was even more cautious than Ui-hyeon. She said that to avoid being caught at all costs, she too had to be careful.
‘Unni, can you pass this on to Author Choi Seon-gyeom?’
Thinking that if Hayun was monitoring Ui-hyeon, he would surely be monitoring Choi Seon-gyeom as well, she asked Choi Yu-na. Since it was Choi Yu-na who had given the ticket to Choi Seon-gyeom’s exhibition in the first place, she would know how to meet him, and even if she met him, no one would be suspicious. Her judgment was correct.
‘Game ID?’
To Choi Yu-na, who asked what this sudden thing was, Na-eun only said that Dawoon was about to study abroad and wanted this message delivered to Choi Seon-gyeom. Choi Yu-na, who knew more about Hayun and Dawoon’s relationship than Na-eun, guessed that this study abroad might be against Dawoon’s will. She also recalled how Choi Seon-gyeom had shown a peculiar interest in Dawoon.
‘What exactly is the relationship between Dawoon and the author?’
Choi Yu-na went to find Choi Seon-gyeom and asked, and Choi Seon-gyeom honestly explained that he was Dawoon’s biological father.
‘Then this seems like an SOS signal from Dawoon to you.’
Choi Yu-na handed over the memo that Dawoon had given to Ui-hyeon.
‘Dawoon is going to study abroad in London. I checked around with some help, and it’s true that he’s been registered for admission to a graduate school there. What’s written here is a game ID. Download that game and log in.’
Choi Seon-gyeom checked the game ID written on the memo. He had said he wanted to help, but with no further contact, he thought Dawoon had refused. Because of Jeong Hayun, all his filming had been canceled anyway, so he was thinking of leaving Korea without any lingering attachments.
But Dawoon had reached out. To him, of all people.
He had already noticed that Jeong Hayun had assigned people to monitor him after warning him not to meet Dawoon again. So Choi Seon-gyeom decided to pretend to depart according to his original schedule. Once he entered the departure area, Hayun’s man couldn’t follow and turned back. Afterward, Choi Seon-gyeom left the airport, spent a day at a nearby hotel, and bought a ticket for the next day.
Wearing a bucket hat pulled low to avoid being spotted by Hayun’s people, he waited near the boarding gate he had told Dawoon about. Dawoon, having shaken off his guards, came to find him.
‘I didn’t think you’d really log into the game.’
It was a message that couldn’t contain much information for fear that Ui-hyeon might be caught taking the book out. He couldn’t even be sure if it would be properly delivered to Choi Seon-gyeom. Even if it was delivered properly, he didn’t know if he would understand his intention. For Dawoon, everything was a gamble. He thought if it succeeded, great, if not, there was nothing he could do.
Fortunately, Ui-hyeon immediately realized that what Dawoon had written was a game ID, and he correctly conveyed to Choi Seon-gyeom what game it was. Thanks to this, he was able to add Dawoon’s ID as a friend in the game and leave a message. Dawoon pretended to play the game while checking the message he left, and in reply, briefly explained his situation.
‘I said I’d help, didn’t I? We’re tight on time, so we need to board right away. I think it’s better to take an earlier flight than the one to London you were supposed to take. You have your passport, right?’
As he had said in the in-game chat, Choi Seon-gyeom handed over a ticket for a flight departing about 20 minutes earlier than the London-bound flight. He smiled faintly, saying he had been quite anxious when Dawoon didn’t show up as time was running out, wondering if he might miss the flight. He said he had also prepared someone to help on the other side, since Dawoon wouldn’t have been able to pack anything.
Thus, with everyone’s help, Dawoon was able to safely escape from Hayun.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
