117.
#Disappearing
After arriving at the airport, Dawoon completed the departure procedures with Hayun and Haram and was waiting in the Haedo Group’s CEO-only lounge until boarding time. With only the three of them in the quiet lounge, Haram soon became restless and started pacing around.
“Should we go out and look around?”
When Dawoon asked, unable to watch any longer, the child’s face brightened as if he had been waiting for this.
“I’ll take Haram to look around the duty-free shops for a bit.”
As Dawoon stood up, Hayun grabbed his wrist. Dawoon looked down at him sitting on the sofa with a questioning gaze.
“Take a security guard with you.”
The words “What could possibly happen inside this airport?” rose to his throat, but he swallowed them back. He knew it wasn’t because something might happen, but to monitor him. Even though they had already come to the airport, Hayun hadn’t let his guard down.
“Alright.”
He agreed to follow Hayun’s instructions and left the lounge with Haram. Although the lounge wasn’t small and had glass walls allowing them to see outside, it seemed confining to the child. As soon as they went out, Haram’s steps quickened.
“Is there anything you want to buy?”
Dawoon asked just in case, but Haram shook his head. Then, as if spotting something, his eyes sparkled.
“That!”
What Haram pointed at was a small cafe. It was selling drinks and ice cream, among other things, and Haram’s eyes were fixed on the ice cream machine.
“Okay.”
“Really?”
Haram’s face brightened when Dawoon immediately agreed to buy it for him, expecting to be told off for wanting ice cream in such a crowded place. When Dawoon bought the ice cream and handed it to him, Haram was so happy he looked like he might start jumping up and down. Though they often had homemade ice cream for dessert at home, it was different from buying and eating it in a place like this. Neither Dawoon nor Hayun particularly controlled Haram’s diet, but since he usually commuted to and from school by car with a driver, he rarely had the chance to buy and eat street snacks with his peers. Because of this, he was more childishly delighted by such small treats.
“I’m sorry.”
At Dawoon’s sudden apology, Haram looked up with the ice cream to his mouth.
“For what?”
“Just because.”
Unable to voice any of the many things he wanted and needed to say, Dawoon just smiled faintly and patted Haram’s head.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay in London?”
“Come on, hyung. How many times are you going to ask? I told you I’m really confident. My English is good so there won’t be any communication problems, and studying is the same anywhere, isn’t it?”
Haram repeated the answer he had already given several times.
“Are you worried about the dormitory? Even if I lived with you guys, I’d only see your faces at mealtimes on weekdays because you’re both so busy. It’s the same, really. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
Instead, the young Haram was trying to comfort Dawoon. Dawoon nodded with a bitter smile. It seemed he was the only one worried about separating from Haram.
Suddenly, he wondered if this was how Hayun felt when dealing with him. Feeling anxious like leaving a child by the water, worrying that something might happen if he’s out of sight even for a moment, and feeling the need to follow and protect.
There was a 7-year age gap between him and Hayun, and a 13-year gap with Haram. So he thought it was natural that he treated Haram more like a child, but on the other hand, he realized that to Hayun, he might seem just as childlike.
No, it’s not the same. What Hayun wanted from him and what he wanted for Haram were completely different. Wishing they were the same was just his own desire.
“Is there anywhere else you want to look around?”
There was still nearly an hour left until boarding time. Since the flight would be over 10 hours, Dawoon thought it would be better to move around as much as possible before boarding. When he asked, Haram pointed in a random direction. He didn’t know what was there, just that there were many people.
Dawoon smiled, nodded, and took Haram’s hand. He thought Haram might shake him off, saying he wasn’t a kid anymore and that holding hands was embarrassing, but Haram just glanced up at Dawoon, looked at their joined hands, and smiled brightly. He was still a child in front of Dawoon.
They wandered around the airport for what felt like a long time, but not much time had actually passed. However, perhaps because it was more crowded than usual, Haram quickly became tired.
“Should we go back and rest?”
When Dawoon asked, noticing Haram’s pace slowing and the smile fading from his face, Haram nodded as if he had been waiting for this suggestion. As they were heading back to the lounge, Dawoon rubbed his stomach with one hand.
“Are you feeling unwell, sir?”
The security guard who had been following them asked.
“No.”
Dawoon shook his head, forcing a smile.
“My stomach just hurts a little. I’ll go to the restroom for a bit. Please take Haram to the lounge first.”
“Huh? Hyung!”
Haram called out, but Dawoon walked away quickly towards the nearest restroom without looking back.
“Let’s go first. I’ll come back, so don’t worry.”
The security guard placated Haram and took him back to the lounge.
***
At the sound of someone sitting down in front of him, Hayun looked up from the tablet PC he had been watching. In that short time, Haram, who had been walking around so much that his forehead was sweaty, was sitting in front of him.
“Where’s Dawoon?”
When asked why he was alone, Haram answered ‘bathroom’.
“Bathroom?”
There was a bathroom inside the lounge. But Haram’s answer didn’t seem to refer to the one inside. Hayun shifted his gaze to the security guard who had brought Haram in.
“On the way, he suddenly said his stomach hurt, so I brought the young master back first.”
Before he finished speaking, Hayun abruptly stood up.
“Where is he?”
As Hayun’s voice instantly turned cold, the security guard became flustered.
“Is there a problem…?”
“I asked where he is.”
He didn’t even shout. It was an ice-cold voice that could freeze the air. This made even Haram scared, looking up at Hayun with wide eyes. The security guard, sensing something was wrong, took a step back and bowed his head.
“I’ll go bring him right away.”
Without even listening to his words, Hayun moved first. The security guard hurriedly followed and guided him to the bathroom where Dawoon had gone.
“It hasn’t even been 3 minutes yet, so you don’t need to worry too much…”
The security guard swallowed his words at Hayun’s sharp gaze. Hayun gritted his teeth and turned his head abruptly. Finding Dawoon was more urgent than blaming the security guard. He arrived at the bathroom and knocked on each stall to check if anyone was inside. However, Dawoon was nowhere to be seen.
“I’m sure I saw him go into the bathroom…”
At the security guard’s muttering, Hayun let out a sigh.
“Why didn’t you follow him in?”
“What? Well… It was just the bathroom, and he told me to take the young master back…”
At his excuse, Hayun clenched his fist, trying to suppress his rising anger.
“What was your job?”
At the voice filled with coldness, the security guard couldn’t answer immediately and just blinked.
“I asked what my instructions were.”
It might have been better if he had just shouted and gotten angry. His questioning while using extremely polite language felt even colder.
“It was to protect Jeong Dawoon of the Haedo Group.”
That was clearly the request that came to the security company. However, from the security guard’s perspective, since Dawoon and Haram usually moved together, he had to interpret it as protecting the Haedo Group’s children, and he judged that between 23-year-old Jeong Dawoon and 10-year-old Jeong Haram, the young child should be prioritized.
“Do you now understand what it means to have lost ‘Jeong Dawoon’?”
Hayun asked in a low voice. Only then did the security guard realize his priorities had been wrong.
“I’ll find him right away.”
The security guard bowed deeply and left the bathroom, contacting the other security guards waiting outside via radio.
Hayun took a long breath and looked around the bathroom again, even though he knew Dawoon wasn’t there. If he had known this would happen, he would have brought more security guards in… Dawoon had persuaded him to bring in only the minimum number of people, saying they needed to go through immigration to enter the departure area, or else they would have to get special permission from the airport. Recently, Dawoon had been obediently following orders, so Hayun had been complacent when Dawoon said they didn’t need many people just to monitor him.
“Ha… Jeong Dawoon…”
Could he have been planning this from the beginning? Hayun had been suspicious because Dawoon was too docile, but since he had come to the airport without resistance, Hayun thought he might have given up. Thinking about it now, he laughed bitterly, realizing this might be why Dawoon had told him to cancel his phone service.
He took out his phone and called Director Park.
“Dawoon has slipped away. Get permission from the airport and bring in all the security guards waiting outside to search thoroughly. It doesn’t matter if we miss the flight, just find him without fail.”
[Understood.]
“Block all exits that could lead outside the airport.”
Even so, it was inside the airport. All Dawoon had was his passport and one card, and even the card was in Hayun’s name, so they would know immediately if it was used. If they could just prevent him from leaving the airport, they would certainly find him. At that time, Hayun believed this without a shred of doubt.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
