The Wolf and The Fox

24

Soojin almost kicked the apartment's door down as she walked in, with Yuqi right behind her; The older woman screamed for her daughter, but silence greeted her which could only mean the worse as Soojin ran into the hallway and began to open every door as she called for her girl; She didn't pick any of Soojin's calls or answered her texts, all but silence is what they got.

"Soohua!" Soojin screamed as she opened another door, but nothing; Everything was clean, with no signs of any break-in. "No, No, No..." She muttered, sitting down on Soohua's bed as she fought the urge to cry.

"Unnie," Yuqi called. "We should look around and maybe we can find anything that might help us," She sat next to Soojin and grabbed her shoulder. "The quicker we act, the quicker we might find your daughter."

They heard the door close, followed by a woman's voice calling for Soojin. The woman quickly stood up and ran to the living room and saw Sophie with a few shopping bags.

"The door was wide open, What happened?" She asked, confused as she looked at Soojin and then at the girl next to her.

"Soohua..." Soojin started, but couldn't bring herself to continue, she felt dizzy– Overwhelmed by all the emotions she was feeling. "She..."

Sophie placed her bags down and walked to Soojin, holding her by the shoulders.

"What happened?"

"Someone took her," Yuqi said, and then looked around. "Unnie, you gotta think... Where would they leave a hint for you?"

Soojin shakes her head, too out of it to respond before she feels Sophie shaking her by her shoulders.

"Soojin!" She said, loudly before grabbing the woman by her face and forcing her to look into her eyes. "Listen to me! We will find her, all we need to do is listen to Yuqi and try to find any clue to help us,"

Soojin looked at her for a few seconds before nodding; Sophie released her and they began to look around the apartment, and Soojin checked her phone several times hoping to get any news from the kid.

"Nothing in the living room," Sophie comments as she enters the kitchen where Yuqi and Soojin are looking around.

"Nothing in her bedroom either."

Soojin was quiet for a moment before suddenly and without saying anything she walked out the kitchen and went into the hallway– Confused, both Yuqi and Sophie followed her; Soojin stopped in front of that room from before, The one with the white butterfly that she said Sophie should stay away from.

"It's unlocked..." Soojin comments as she opens the door. "I never leave it unlocked."

The room was heavy with grief as everything in there was things that belonged to Shuhua. From her old bed, to her clothes neatly folded inside several boxes– Pictures of the girl covered the walls, and old plushies decorated the shelves. The movies she loved placed into a pile next to the TV, where Soojin would rewatch them over and over.

"What is this room..." Yuqi comments, mostly to herself as she notices a photo of a girl in a soccer field, posing to the camera with the ball under one arm and a very younger looking Soojin was right next to her.

"This is the Shuhua room." Soojin replied.

"Who is–" Yuqi stops as Sophie touches her shoulder and shakes her head, as if to tell her to not ask about it before pointing to something next to her and the girl felt a bitter taste in her mouth as she turned and suddenly was face to face with a photo of the girl.

She had a wide smile in this framed picture. However, the two ribbons on top gave away what type of picture it was. A Funeral Photo.

This girl had passed away a long time ago, and Soojin, in her desperation to keep this Shuhua with her in some form, decided to keep everything related to her inside this locked room.