Heeju complied and reached out for the steering wheel.

"Do what I tell you. Don't stop until we reach our destination."

The hot breath brushing against her ear was sickening.

Trapped with an unknown and clearly unstable individual, Heeju was overcome with fear. Her sweaty palms turned the wheel.

Beep... beep...

The familiar sound of the dialling phone caught her attention. The man holding a rather large phone was putting it on speaker.

Beep... beep...

As the tone dragged on, the man began to shake like an alcoholic in withdrawal.

Beep... beep...

Although Heeju was aware of his increasingly ragged breathing, she kept her eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead.

-Yes, this is Baek Sa-eon.
"...!"

The sound of his voice made her tremble. Despite the tenuous nature of their marital relationship, his voice still evoked a strong emotional response.

A choked sob escaped her lips, but her mouth was only clamped tighter.

-"If you don't talk, I'll hang up."

Sa-eon's tired tone indicated that he was getting irritated.
The kidnapper's lips twitched in annoyance.

"B- Baek Sa-eon w- what I mean..."
-"This doesn't seem to be a Korean number."

Sa-eon's voice moved slightly away, then closer again. It sounded like she was checking the number again.

"H- Hey l- Listen..."
-"Who are you?"

Baek Sa-eon asked stiffly.

-"Please identify yourself."
"K*ll. I'll kill you!"
-"..."
"I kidnapped her. Your wife, I'll kill her."

The kidnapper's voice grew louder as he continued.

Heeju moved towards the centre, trying to take control of the wheel. A cold sweat was already running down her back.

"..."

There was a chilling silence over the receiver.

I thought I heard a short chuckle, followed by the words "What nonsense..." and then a short expletive, but I couldn't be sure.

-"I don't do phishing calls."

With a sarcastic retort, he hung up.

The kidnapper spat on the floor and banged his head against the compartment box in disbelief. But Heeju felt the impending horror.

"Arghh.. Sis.. listen to me.."

The man gritted his teeth.

"If Baek Sa-eon keeps doing this. If he hangs up again, if he ignores me again... I..."
"..."
"I'll kill you."

Heeju took a sobbing breath and swallowed.

"Do you know where we go now?"
"..."
"Here. Look at the map. We're going to the lake."

I turned my eyes to the screen and saw the address.

"You'll end up in the water," he chuckled.
"Baek Sa-eon should show some curiosity for you to survive."

I'm really screwed,' Heeju thought again.

 

***

 

"Sir, is something wrong?"

Baek Sa-eon, lost in thought, remained focused on his phone, ignoring his aide's question.

"Shall I charge your phone?"

The aide, perceptive and eager to please, was hardly on his radar.

Baek Sa-eon's phone number was public knowledge, especially among political reporters. But a few years ago, when someone who had left journalism leaked his number, he had to deal with all kinds of pranks and threatening calls.

But no one had ever called claiming to know his "wife" - not once.

The man with the furrowed brow snorted and dialled somewhere.

-Yes, sir.

The person Baek called was the head of the house, who was in charge of scheduling.

"What is Hong Heeju's schedule for today?"

He had never asked like that before and got straight to the point without even a greeting.

"An appointment with my mother, yes, I understand."

He repeated the information he had received from the other side.

So she was going to meet his mother at Chairman Hong's house. But the uneasy feeling didn't go away, so he tapped his fingers on the table.

He turned the phone back on.

"Mother, what time did you leave Chairman Hong's house today?"

After a while, Baek Sa-eon had stopped changing his number to avoid calls from crazy people.

Instead, he relentlessly blocked numbers. No wonder he was called the impenetrable shield of the house. Nothing could get through to him. But one word from the caller kept bothering him.

Sa-eon pressed his throbbing temples together.

'That girl.

She was six years my junior. I couldn't forget her curious eyes as she looked at me in my primary school uniform.

"She's probably still at home. No, it's all right. Good night."

Baek Sa-eon's suspicions weren't allayed, so he called again.

"This is Baek Sa-eon. Yes, how are you? Is Heeju there right now?"

Would his in-laws know anything? His mother-in-law chuckled confidently, sure that his wife was well looked after, as women often feel most comfortable in their mother's home.

"She's fine then."
"Of course she's fine," his mother-in-law said proudly.

After finishing the three calls, Baek Sa-eon tightened his once loose tie.

His wife's whereabouts, which he hadn't disclosed publicly...

How could anyone know? Am I reading too much into this?

"It should be a typical phishing scam."
"What?!"

His assistant was startled.

"406-000-1290."

He recited the numbers dryly, resting his chin on his hand.

"Trace that number."
"What...?"
"Have you memorised it? That..."
"406-000-1290."
"4 0 6- 0 0 0 -1 2 9 0."

The aide repeated the number as the office line rang loudly.

The fumbling junior aide quickly picked up the receiver.

"Yes, I'll notify him!"

The rain continued to pour through the window. And a shadow fell on Baek Sa-eon's face.

"Sir, they need you on the hotline right away. The Argani government has requested urgent communication. They're waiting for you!"

Baek Sa-eon glanced at his mobile phone, whose battery was down to 4%, before finally putting it in his pocket.

 

***

 

Beep... beep... Another call signal came through.

"Answer it, answer it, answer it...!"

The road continued, leading Heeju to a place she had never been before. It was a more and more desolate area.

The kidnapper kept calling like crazy, but none of the calls went through.

His face had turned red with rage and he started kicking Heeju's seat mercilessly.

"Ugh...!"

The violent kicks sent shockwaves through her body. She clutched the steering wheel and endured the queasy vibrations. Hoping this ordeal would end soon.

Should I scream?

If Baek Sa-eon answered, she could beg him to help her, to save her...! But would he recognise her voice?

After all, Heeju had failed her sign language interpreter exam three times because her voice just wouldn't come out.

If she spoke, he would probably think it was a fake.

"That b*stard! He's ignoring me again...!"

Seized by a fit of rage, the kidnapper climbed into the passenger seat and began rummaging underneath. A moment later he pulled something out with a scraping sound, and suddenly a knife was in his hands.

"...!"

"W-why is this in my car...? How long has it been there?

"Answer me! Answer me! Answer me! Answer!"

With a crazed look in his eyes, the man kept poking at the headrest beside her.

Riiiiipp!

The torn leather hung in rags like fish scales, and the metallic sound made her right ear freeze with fear.

The blade was pressed so close to her ear that if it had been any closer, it would have pierced it.

Heeju let out a shaky breath through pale lips.

The kidnapper banged his head against the window as he shouted.

This man is completely insane.

Her hands shook with the wheel as she tried to stay calm amidst his erratic mood swings.

Beep... beep...

'Please, just answer...!'

Just as she began to wish for it, the kidnapper's face suddenly went cold. His excitement was replaced by an abrupt calm.

"Ah, sis, I made a m- mistake. I completely forgot-"

He played with the phone and smiled broadly.

"I didn't modulate my voice."

Despite the foul odour, his profile was youthful and well defined.

His creepy eyes and sudden emergence from the trunk were terrifying, but his fingers danced over the phone with practiced ease.

"What if they catch me, sis?"

He didn't seem worried.

"This phone has no SIM card. I modified it. Modified it myself."
"..."
"So it can't be traced. It's a burner anyway. T- They can't trace it."

Since the knife had sunk into her headrest, Heeju kept her eyes on the road, refusing to look away.

"There's a small device installed, like the ones the police use for secure communication? I put it in here. It doesn't use signals, but it can call Baek Sa-eon directly. All calls go to him. I even put a voice modulator here."

Heeju swallowed in fear as this kidnapper was far more thorough than she had imagined.