The Sun to my Moon

Chapter 39: In four hours

Haeri, Dal-geon, and Tae-ung dropped what they were doing and raced to Se-hun's apartment, sirens blaring.

Hwa-sook met them outside the door, her face sheet white. "Bom's dead," she said without preamble.

Haeri nodded, her heart sinking. It was about what she'd expected, but to have it confirmed was a blow nonetheless. "Namjoonie?" she asked, her throat tight.

Hwa-sook shook her head, and Haeri could see tear tracks down her cheeks. "No sign of him."

"That's good," Dal-geon said.

Haeri looked at him incredulously.

He met her eyes unflinchingly. "That means he's still alive."

Hwa-sook hesitated. "There's something else."

"Mwoga?" Lisbon asked.

"Samael left another note for Dal-geonssi," Hwa-sook said reluctantly.

"Well, let's see it," Haeri said impatiently.

Hwa-sook avoided Haeri's eyes as she handed the evidence bag containing the note to Dal-geon.

He read it aloud. "Dear Cha Dal-geon —If you do not wish your friend Kim Se-hun's son to share the fate of your nephew, please arrange for Go Haeri to be delivered to me at the Target Theater at 4pm today. Please be aware that only you giving me Agent Go Haeri willingly could possibly persuade me to give up my current prize. If you favor me with this gift, you have my word that I will release the boy unharmed and will never come after him or his family again. Should you fail to provide me this token of your esteem, I'm afraid Namjoon boy will suffer the effects of my displeasure and his poor father will become a wraith of his former self, just like you. Kindly refrain from engaging any members of law enforcement outside your Vagabond team to oversee this transaction, or I will be forced to end our game in a way that will prove most unhappy for the Kim family."

Haeri looked at her watch in panic. "Four o clock? That's only four hours from now!"

"Then we'll have to think fast," Dal-geon said. "We won't have much time to come up with a plan to rescue Namjoonie."

Haeri felt a great weight pressing down on her and for a moment she feared the sickening dread in her stomach had paralyzed her.

Then she realized it was Tae-ung's hand, heavy on her shoulder.

She reached up and patted his hand, gently extricating herself from his grip at the same time. Apparently, this was Tae-ung's way of expressing solidarity. She appreciated the sentiment, but she didn't have time for that right now.

"I need to talk to Shrek," she said brusquely.

"He's inside," Hwa-sook said.

Haeri went into Se-hun's apartment. The rest of the team followed behind.

She found Se-hun standing at the end of his front hallway, staring dazedly at the red smiley face over his babysitter's dead body. The bloody shark symbol, unlike the one in Dal-geon's house, untouched for more than a year, was marred by a large hole in the wall. The knuckles of Se-hun's right hand were swollen and bruised, but it looked as though he'd spent most of his initial rage in that blow. Now, his face was haggard, his eyes hollow - he looked like he'd aged ten years in the past forty minutes.

"Shrek," Haeri said.

He looked at her, but his eyes were unseeing.

"Listen to me," she said, putting her hand on his arm. "We're going to get him back."

His eyes refocused and he met her gaze.

"It's gonna be okay, you hear me?" she said fiercely. "We're going to get him back. I swear to you, I am not going to let him hurt one hair on Namjoonie's head. I won't allow it. Do you understand?"