5 Days-Day 3
5 Days-Day 3
IF I GET 500 PRIVILEGE COINS, I'LL GIVE A MASS RELEASE!
......
Kwak Shujin carried a tray of food and made her way upstairs towards Junho's tiny room. The man had not eaten properly for the past few days and had shut himself up in the room, refusing to come out unless it was necessary. What's wrong with him? She wondered.
"Open up!" she exclaimed, knocking on his door. It took him a while to answer but the door slid open and she walked in. Junho shuffled towards a small chair while Shujin glanced at some pictures on his desk and sighed.
"You took out your old albums again?" she asked, putting the tray on the desk. There were a few pictures strewn across the desk of a family who were happily posing for pictures.
Junho was younger and slimmer in them, looking very handsome while his wife Suna was an olive skinned beauty with dark chocolate colored eyes and a pretty smile. She was holding a little baby who was barely a few months old while her other arm was around a ten year old boy with the same eyes as hers.
"If you really miss them so much, then go and talk to them," she suggested. "Minho might actually listen to you if you just explain!"
"He won't," Junho lamented. "He won't believe me. And my little girl… she probably hates me for leaving them like that! She doesn't even remember her own father! I can't face them when their mother's killer is still out there."
He was bitter and angry at himself for how everything turned out to be. This was not supposed to happen. Their family was supposed to be happy! At this age, he was supposed to have retired and spent all his time with his wife. Minho should have been married and had children of his own while Mina chased her own dreams. They were supposed to stay together as a family.
But there he was, depending on the kindness of outsiders while he hid from his children out of guilt and fear.
Shujin knew the dilemma going on in his mind and felt sorry for this man. He had been through so much and was still trying to accomplish his mission to bring his wife's killer to justice.
"I saw her that day," he said. "Mina."
Shujin gaped at him in astonishment. "How?" she asked. "Where?"
"At a store right outside the hospital Gayoon was visiting," he revealed. "I was about to go into the hospital but I saw my old friend Jason's son, Kanji,going in so I backed off. He would have recognized me so I hid in a store. There, I met Mina who was buying a jacket for her friend."
He could not help but smile at their little altercation over the jacket. Seemed like his daughter was also a keen bargainer like him and would stop at nothing to go out of her way to shower her close ones with gifts and love.
"She's a doctor now," he went on. "I can't believe it! She was so tiny the last time I saw her. I could carry her around in one arm and now she grew up to be a beautiful young lady! And I couldn't even tell her how proud I was of her."
His voice croaked and he averted his eyes to hide his tears. Shujin did not speak but simply listened to him talking about his daughter who probably did not even know about his existence.
"Seeing her made me happy and also sad," he admitted. "I thought that after all these years, I have become strong enough to face them but I was wrong. The moment I saw her name on the hospital's name badge, I couldn't face her anymore and walked away. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't…"
"Just go and meet her," Shujin urged. "You don't have to tell her that you're her father! Meet her as a patient and talk to her. As long as your son does not find out, you can meet her in secret. Just be careful."
"I-" Junho began to protest but Shujin was not going to hear any of it.
"I'll tell you what, you can take me with you," she pressed. "I'll pretend to be your aunt and we'll go to visit her chamber as patients. You can catch a glimpse of her! Now, come on! Get dressed."
The old woman tugged at Junho's palm. Despite wanting to resist, his heart yearned to see his daughter again and he did not protest much. After half an hour, they were all dressed up and headed for the hospital in a cab.
After a while, they got off the cab and walked towards the hospital. "Do you know which department she works for?" Shujin asked.
"Let me inquire at the reception," he replied.
Stepping towards the reception he asked the front desk staff, "Excuse me. I would like to have an appointment set up for my aunt and have her checked by Doctor Hwang Mina. I've heard many good things about her treatment plan."
"Does your mother have any previous cardio conditions?" the receptionist asked.
Cardiologist, he realized. My daughter is a cardiologist!
"Uhh, yes," he lied. "She suffers from frequent heartburns. We thought that we should have it checked up on."
"I can give you an appointment with Doctor Lin today," the receptionist stated. "Doctor Hwang is currently unavailable until further notice."
Junho frowned. Unavailable until further notice?
"Is she alright?" he asked in a casual tone. "It's just that she's a friend of my daughter's and she was the one who recommended her. I hope she is doing fine."
"Uhh…" She did not want to say anything but Junho slipped in a hundred bucks through the flexi glass and her eyes lit up at the sight of it.
The receptionist looked around before lowering her voice to talk.
"I've heard that she went off to find Doctor Dohyun, an intern at our hospital," she whispered. "Doctor Dohyun had mysteriously vanished the night before and Doctor Hwang went to look for her. Moreover, there were some tests done on Doctor Dohyun and what they found was so disturbing."
"What were the test results?" Junho asked quietly.
"Apparently, Doctor Dohyun was consuming human hearts!" the receptionist winced. "It became the talk of the hospital and Doctor Mina went to find her only to end up missing herself! We've heard that Doctor Dohyun might be the CCK! You know, the serial killer who's kidnapping women and slicing them up after taking their hearts?"
Junho froze in shock. Mina was kidnapped by the CCK?
"And that is not all," she went on. "One of the police officers who came here after Doctor Hwang was kidnapped, told us that the CCK had some sort of personal enmity with Hwang Minho, Doctor Hwang's elder brother. His name was written on one of the crime scenes."
"I see…"
Junho quietly backed away, his face pale with shock and anger. His daughter was kidnapped by a serial killer? His insides were fuming with anger as he pictured his little girl, cold and helpless while a serial killer loomed over her, threatening to end her life.
"What happened?" Shujin asked once he reached her.
Junho quietly told her everything and her eyes widened in fear. "That's the same case Gayoon is working on!" she revealed. "Which means Gayoon must know about what is going on with Mina!"
"I can't risk asking Gayoon," he said. "I'll have to find this killer myself before it's too late! I'm gonna ask around in my hunter circle if they know anything about any such serial killer."
"Those old men only know about ghosts and spirits," Shujin frowned. "Serial killers are way out of their league!"
"You'll be surprised at what they know," he stated cryptically. "They can summon nearby spirits and ask them as well."
Before Shujin could argue further, Junho walked away, determined to find his daughter. Taking out his phone, he dialed Shinjin's number.
"Shin!" he barked. "Get ready for a seance."
Shinjin, who was fast asleep and was not amused by being woken up by the unexpected call, frowned in annoyance.
"Now?" he asked. "It's still early in the morning!"
"Yes, now!" Junho scolded him. "Prepare everything. We'll do it tonight. I need information."
"On what?"
Junho took a deep breath and said, "On the CCK. He has my daughter and I have to save her."
...
Jina was climbing the pipe which led to her room. She had snuck in through a hole in the garden which only she knew about and somehow managed to avoid the numerous CCTV cameras on the grounds. Thankfully, Casper knew about the blind spots and instructed her on which route to take so that she can sneak in and out undetected.
Heaving herself in through the window of her room, she landed with a soft 'plop!' on the ground.
"Made it!" she exclaimed. She could tell that the adults were still out and no one had realized she was missing since it was still the wee hours of morning.
Yumi and Casper appeared next to her.
"What are we gonna do now?" Yumi asked. "Send another note?"
Before Jina could reply, the door knob began to rattle. She quickly scrambled on her bed and pulled the blanket above her head, pretending to be asleep while Yumi and Casper retreated to a corner, standing very still.
Gayoon entered the room, careful not to wake up Jina. The little girl was sleeping comfortably on her bed, unaware of the nightly visitors and Gayoon could not help but feel sorry for her. She lightly stroked Jina's head.
The latter did not dare to move but stayed still as Gayoon patted her.
"I know you two are standing behind me," she said, still patting the little girl. Casper and Yumi were taken by surprise. What?
"Now, tell me everything you know about the CCK, Yumi," Gayoon demanded in a calm tone.