Daeul - Kwon Hyuk

11

Pressing his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose, Hyuk sighed heavily to ease his throbbing headache. 

He hadn't slept in almost a full day and once the sun began to rise he and the rest of the household still sat in the dining room. The police had left hours ago and told him that they would inform him if any news on Daeul would arise. 

The rest of the housekeepers resisted the urge to fall asleep on the dining table, in fear that their boss would either call them out for their carelessness during a time like this or just fire them altogether. 

He sat in his usual spot of the table, signifying his role as the head of the household. In front of him rested everyone's phones in eagerness of a call about Daeul to arrive. On his right where his son would usually sit, sat another man whom Hanji had seen hours prior. 

"Do you want me to call the officers? It could be of help if someone can watch the house.", Woo Jiho suggested, leaning closely to his friend. 

Hyuk nodded slowly, figuring that the rest of the people in the house could feel safer if a police officer was watching over them. Jiho was quick to send one of the housekeepers to call the station to request them to send someone over. 

He sighed as he watched Hyuk bite his lips and focus his eyes on one spot of the table, a habit he often did when he was either nervous or in deep thought. 

"Who was that girl a while ago? W-Where is she now?", Jiho asked. 

"She's Daeul's..."

What was she to Daeul? To him? Certainly, she herself didn't think of her as his mother not after her argument with Hyuk. 

But she was more than just a caretaker -- she was his son's educator, his teacher, his companion you could say. 

So what was she to Hyuk, himself?

"Her name's Oh Hanji -- she uh, she left to look for Daeul herself.", Hyuk scoffed tapping his finger on the table.

"You said something, didn't you?", Jiho questioned with a raised brow gaining a frown from the younger who tried to deny him.

"Y-yea, you did -- call her. Call her right now and tell her to come over, we need her help.", he suggested, pointing toward Hyuk's phone.

The said man began to shake his head until Jiho grabbed his phone and attempted to unlock it, making Hyuk take it back in slight annoyance.

"I-I'll do it.", he insisted, gaining a tight smile from the other.

~

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a freckled ceiling -- covered in spots of mold and dust which immediately made her sit up in disgust. 

Looking around her, she was unable to recognize the old furniture starting from the broken desk to the old school television sitting alone on the floor. She sat on the creaky bed which seemed sketchy enough to reside in an old abandoned hospital. 

She furrowed her brows harshly in confusion and quickly brought her hand to her head once she felt a migraine coming. Wincing at the pain, she slowly stood up toward the door all to find that it was locked when she tried to open it. 

In a panic, she rattled it harder in an attempt to escape. By now, her heart was pounding enough to worsen her headache but it was the last thing on her mind as she realized that she was trapped in the small room. 

There were no windows only a small light bulb on the ceiling which was the colour of white, a certain light she hated. There was no way of telling if it was night or day.

"Help!", she yelled loudly, placing her mouth close to the cracks of the door in hopes of someone hearing her. She continued to rattle the doorknob at this point trying to break it. 

"Please! Somebody!"

She heard footsteps just outside and thought someone may enter her designated room. Quickly, she searched for an item which she could use as a weapon and the next best thing was a remote control placed on the floor near the television. 

Grabbing it quickly, she backed away from the door and was ready to strike when the footsteps stopped. The sound of the door unlocking almost terrified her, however it wasn't her door they were opening -- it was the one next to it. 

The next thing she heard were cries all to familiar, belonging to a little boy whose voice she had grown to familiarize just by the quickest sound. 

Throwing herself onto the door, she pressed her ear into it and her heart dropped once she knew it was him. 

"Oh my gosh, Daeul?!", she almost cried. 

"Please! D-Don't hurt him!"

She could hear his cries for help, a loud no! every now and then. 

"Abba! Abba!", Daeul screamed thinking that maybe, just maybe his father might save him in that moment. 

Hanji's heart broke slightly, feeling helpless. She continued to scream at the unknown people and in her head she could only imagine the little boy being carried away.

~

Please leave your message after the tone.

Beep.

"Hanji. I-It's Hyuk. Listen, I uh...Could you come over? There are things I still need to speak to you about. And uh, I know how offended you might be feeling right now but...Please, I-I need your help. Call me back."

Her phone lay flat on the ground of the long corridor, the same hallway which the boy had been carried out of his will. No one was around to hear his message, in fact the rooms were silent. No screaming, no footsteps, just plain silence. 

Considering Hanji was unable to answer, Hyuk attempted to call her house phone which he had gotten from Missus Chae on the day of Hanji's interview. 

When it was about to bring him to voicemail once more and as he began his sentence, someone finally picked up.

"Mister Kwon?", a voice spoke. It sounded deeper than Hanji's but also similar.

"H-Hanji?"

"N-No, sir i-it's her sister, Oh Minji. I-Is my sister with you? She said she would return home but I-I haven't seen nor heard from her in hours.", she spoke with slight panic in her voice.

Frowning through the phone and straightening his posture, Hyuk glanced at Jiho as he answered Minji's question.

"No. She left the house hours ago."

--

Fun Fact #11:

Lee Daeul, the boy in the story, has an older sister in actuality named Soeul who also stars in The Return of Superman.