#102
-Ho-woo?
Ho-woo quickly scanned his surroundings, taking the phone away from his ear. He responded to Oh-yul’s faint voice without taking his suspicious gaze off his surroundings.
“I felt like someone was watching me, but I guess it was just my imagination.”
-You felt someone’s gaze?
“Hmm… I just suddenly got chills.”
While listening to Oh-yul’s voice with his ears, he continued to scan the area with his eyes. It was a neighborhood quite far from the city center, so it was sparsely populated. Still, on weekends, there should be at least a few people visible, but today there was no one in sight.
It could be a simple illusion. How could one feel something like a gaze? Still, the sudden chill he felt was eerie. Because of this, his steps towards the subway station naturally quickened. By the end, he was almost running, which made him out of breath.
-Are you alright? You sound breathless.
“…Whew, I ran to the station, that’s why.”
Ho-woo checked the pager on his wrist while catching his rough breath. It was the one Oh-yul had given him after Bae Gi-hong had discarded the previous pager. It had the same functions as the previous one, so if he wanted to, it would be easy for him to find out Ho-woo’s location.
Standing at the entrance leading down to the subway, Ho-woo checked a few cars parked on the street and let out a small sigh of relief. There were some people around the station. With this many people, even a mental Esper wouldn’t dare to attempt a kidnapping recklessly. Trying to think as rationally as possible, his vigilance eased a little.
“Yul. I need to take the subway now, so I’ll call you again when I get home.”
-I’ll be waiting.
Oh-yul seemed to want to continue the call, but he hung up obediently. Putting the phone in his pocket, Ho-woo went down to the platform.
Somehow, while there were people outside, there were only a few visible inside the subway. Two men in casual clothes with hats pulled low were standing together, glancing at Ho-woo. Their gaze didn’t have the same eeriness as before.
Was it really just my imagination?
Feeling momentarily embarrassed, Ho-woo scratched his cheek. Looking at the electronic board showing the train intervals, the subway that came every 20 minutes had already passed, leaving everything quiet. Stuck having to wait, Ho-woo looked around thinking about sitting on a nearby bench, and once again met the gaze of the unfamiliar men. Even if it seemed like an illusion, their gaze was blatant.
His heart, which had just calmed down, stirred with a strange sense of crisis. Unconsciously taking a step back, Ho-woo gripped the phone in his pocket so tightly his knuckles hurt.
Meanwhile, the men who had been watching Ho-woo approached threateningly. A few people who had been standing outside the station also approached from behind Ho-woo and grabbed his shoulders.
“―!”
Startled, Ho-woo twisted his shoulders trying to shake them off, but the strong hands firmly held him. He couldn’t escape. With his escape routes blocked front and back, it seemed difficult to shake off their hands and run away. Ho-woo tried to remain as calm as possible and first examined the eyes of the men who approached.
Are they Espers?
No, no. They’re not Espers.
Ho-woo was certain and checked if he could get anything from their attire. Carelessly worn t-shirts and jeans, hats pulled low. They were quite big in stature too. And the transparent in-ear devices caught his eye. The moment he recognized them, Ho-woo heard a voice as if whispering in his ear.
-Team A has secured the target. Moving to the designated location.
A voice flowing from the in-ear devices, mixed with a bit of static noise.
“……”
“Are you Lee Ho-woo?”
One of the men surrounding Ho-woo asked in a stiff voice. Already knowing the answer, he spoke threateningly as if to intimidate.
“You’ll need to come with us.”
The hands gripping Ho-woo’s shoulders and arms gradually increased in strength. Ho-woo swallowed a faint groan at the force strong enough to leave bruises.
“Search his pockets, take out the phone, and remove the pager on his wrist.”
At the order of the man who seemed to be the leader, they subdued Ho-woo and swiftly searched his pockets, taking his phone and pager.
-No Esper reaction, rapid movement required.
Another urging voice was heard through the in-ear devices.
The Esper they’re referring to must be Oh-yul. Somehow, I think I know which organization they belong to.
Is it Kim Dong-cheol?
After failing once, it seems they prepared more thoroughly this time. A total of four men approached Ho-woo, two of whom stood on the platform holding Ho-woo’s confiscated phone and pager.
It seemed they planned to take the subway as is.
If they’re trying to buy time so Oh-yul notices late, it’s a good strategy. Bad for me though.
Ho-woo bit his lower lip as he was dragged away by the remaining two men. All means of contact had been taken away. Although he wasn’t completely subdued like with Bae Gi-hong, his arms were firmly held, leaving no room to escape.
“Let’s go quietly.”
“Ugh―.”
“If you scream or try to run away…”
The man slightly pulled out a stun gun from his pocket to show.
So they’ll zap me if I do.
Ho-woo deeply furrowed his brow. It would be disadvantageous to resist recklessly and faint. It’s better to comply quietly for now. The decision was quick. Ho-woo obediently let himself be led away from the subway and into a car parked on the street. Even his vision was blocked as they put a blindfold on him.
-Team B moving by subway, will dispose of the phone and pager at an appropriate location.
-Team B confirmed, Team A ready to depart.
It was somewhat comforting that he could at least hear the sounds going back and forth on the in-ear devices. Although it wasn’t pleasant to lose the phone he had just bought and the pager he had just received again.
Where are they taking me?
Even after forming several hypotheses, nothing was certain, only amplifying his anxiety. Ho-woo clutched his clothes. With his eyes covered, it was hard to tell how much time had passed. It felt like quite a while, but in reality, it might not have been that long.
-Team B has completed disposal of phone and pager.
-Confirmed. Espers for Team A’s escort have arrived, moving to another city.
Ho-woo, who had been trying to maintain his composure, took a deep breath at the content he heard next.
“Hah!”
Keeeeek-
The sound of a rusty iron door opening harshly pierced Ho-woo’s sensitive eardrums.
To think my first time leaving the city would be through kidnapping.
Ho-woo felt somewhat dejected. He thought he would at least come out with Oh-yul.
With a cooled head, he pondered various possibilities. From the thought that they wouldn’t easily kill him if he had value as a hostage, to the idea that they might kill him and use his death for threats since managing him would be troublesome.
He also considered the possibility of rescue, but the probability was extremely low. At least with Bae Gi-hong, it was within the same city, but now they had left the city. He hoped Oh-yul would find it strange that he couldn’t be contacted and act quickly, but that was just Ho-woo’s wishful thinking.
This is serious.
It really is serious, but strangely, his calmed mind led Ho-woo to rational judgments.
For now, let’s stay quiet.
There’s no way out at the moment. All he can do is wait for an opportunity as best he can.
It was when Ho-woo thought a considerable amount of time had passed, even though his sense of time wasn’t accurate. When Ho-woo felt the bustling movement around him, the surroundings were already in panic.
“What is that!”
It was a scream close to shock. The previously stable car body shook violently, swaying this way and that. Ho-woo’s body bounced, hitting his head on the ceiling. The car, which seemed to have turned the steering wheel urgently, couldn’t overcome inertia and overturned sideways, sliding roughly across the road.
“Ugh!”
His head was shaken, and nausea welled up. A suppressed groan burst out involuntarily at the feeling of being hit all over.
Don’t faint!
If he faints here, he’ll surely die. His survival instinct sounded a loud siren. Ho-woo protected his head by wrapping his arms around it. When the car body that had been sliding for a while finally stopped, Ho-woo heard a growling sound that had been inaudible under the loud noise of metal scraping.
“―!”
So that’s what caused this commotion.
Ho-woo removed the blindfold that was already half off and waited for his eyes to adjust to the light.
Just in case, I should grab something useful from the car.
The men sitting on either side of him were both unconscious. If left like this, they would be killed by the monster, but Ho-woo was overwhelmed just trying to save himself.
“I’m sorry.”
Muttering an apology that no one would hear, he took the stun gun from the pocket of the man who had threatened him. It’s better than facing a monster empty-handed. Ho-woo tried to think as positively as possible. Anyway, an opportunity to escape had come.
Before leaving the car, Ho-woo poked his head out through the gap of the broken window to try and grasp the monster’s location, but he quickly ducked his head when he saw a black mass lunging at him.
“Urgh!”
There was a squelching sound of a shapeless, slimy mass falling. His heart was beating madly. If he had been a little slower in ducking his head, it would have been eaten from the head down. If that monster ate him, would it then mimic him?
Somehow, it made his skin crawl.
He probably can’t handle that with a stun gun. They say if you keep your wits about you even in a tiger’s den, you can survive, so there must be a way out. Although he had only glimpsed outside for a moment, there was clearly an Esper fighting the monster.
They probably came as escorts, but since it’s difficult to survive outside the city without Espers, it’s worth trying to persuade them.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
