Black & White [COMPLETED]

Chapter 22: The Shackles of Freedom

The first thing I did after Junsu was finally out of my sight was cry. I couldn't believe this was happening. Was I finally free? Why did I feel like Junsu was going to come back? This was just too good to be true.

"Are you okay miss?" an officer asked me, placing a hand on my shoulder. It was meant to be reassuring, but it made me jump instead.

I nodded and quickly wiped my tears away. I couldn't speak just yet; I was too choked up with emotion.

"We're going to get you somewhere safe," another one said.

"How did you find me?" I asked after a moment, watching as they untied the ropes from my ankles.

"We've been receiving hints these past few days from an anonymous hacker that someone was being held hostage here. After gathering enough evidence, we made our move. Did you know that we have been searching for you for three months now?"

That was an excruciatingly long day. First of all, they brought me to a hospital to get me checked for injuries and the likes. Of course, they found out that I was sexually molested just a day before. My ankles stung when they were dabbing it with some cotton soaked in medicine. Both of my ankles were wrapped in bandages, and I was told to take it easy and not walk around too much.

After that, I was taken to the police station. They interrogated me about how I got kidnapped and how Junsu treated me. I also told them all about Junsu's confessions of murder. I was in the middle of telling my story when I suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence. My eyes widened as I remembered Jiho telling me about my dad. I had to know if he was safe somewhere! When I told the officers about this, they glanced at each other and decided to bring Jiho in for questioning as well. Apparently, he was arrested before Junsu was.

While they were asking him questions, I had to wait outside. A female officer walked over to me and offered me some coffee. It was nightfall, but I was probably going to need this coffee, so I said yes.

Two officers interrogated me; officer Gyeong and officer Roh. They were both nice to me and listened carefully to what I had to say. It was so weird telling other people about my kidnapping, but the molestation was the worst part. I broke into hysterical sobbing while I was telling them this and somehow also mixed my incident with Mr. Kim in the story. I couldn't shake off the feeling of being completely broken inside.

A long time later one of the officers that was doing the interrogations came out of the room. "Miss So Young, please come back inside," he said.

I nodded and got up. I was a bit nervous about seeing Jiho again, but hey, at least it wasn't Junsu. The moment I stepped inside again, the heavy air of coffee engulfed my senses. My eyes met Jiho's, and for some reason I didn't feel scared anymore. There was something about him that just made me feel... calm.

"Jiho said that he wished to speak to you alone," one of the officers said, "Is that okay with you?"

"Yes," I replied. I had so many questions to ask him as well, and I didn't want to do that in front of the cops.

"Good. We will be right outside waiting for you. In case anything happens, just call out for us."

"Okay."

I sat down on the chair across from Jiho, then watched as the cops left us.

"Hey," he said, "You're free."

His words made me gasp. I stared at my hands for the longest time in silence. I was still having trouble processing this, so hearing him say it was a shock to me.

"I told you someone was going to get you out," he said, "I just really wish you hadn't done what you did yesterday... You should have waited."

I pressed my lips together, feeling a pang in my chest. "I know," was all I said.