The vibrating sound filling the hastily set up Choi Daehyun Abduction Task Force office felt strangely ominous.
Everyone tightened their nerves.
“Hello?”
Choi Daehyun’s Father answered the call cautiously.
— Is the money ready?
“Y-yes, it’s ready… What should I do now? Sir.”
The child’s father asked in a voice full of desperate longing.
He must want to save his child no matter what.
Parents whose child has been taken hostage can bow their heads and kneel before anyone.
Despite the father’s desperate voice, Park Yech’an continued in a cold tone.
— There’s a place called Onseo Rest Area. It’s about an hour away.
“Yes, yes.”
The father nodded repeatedly.
Finally, a clue about the location had been given.
He must be thinking that if he goes to Onseo Rest Area, everything will be resolved.
— If you come there, you’ll be able to see the kid. Bring the money with you.
“I’ll go right away, sir. Please, let me hear my child’s voice just once!”
It was an absurd situation, calling the child abductor ‘sir’.
But no one present could say anything.
Until the child’s safety was secured, everyone understood the father’s position—he had to remain utterly submissive.
— She’s asleep…
“Then, at least a photograph to prove the child is safe! Please, sir!”
— A photograph? Of course not.
“Then how can I believe…”
— Believe it or not, it’s up to you.
He replied bluntly.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I trust you. Sir, I’ll go to Onseo Rest Area.”
— Once you arrive, wait quietly until I call you.
“Yes, understood.”
— And, of course… if you bring the Police Officer, you know what happens, right?
“I’ll go with just my wife, I promise.”
— Uh, no. I’m alone, so you should come alone too.
Park Yech’an insisted.
Judging by how much he emphasized being alone, it seemed he wanted to hide Go Hyunsook’s presence.
Lee Jaehyun furrowed his brow.
Even in his previous life, Go Hyunsook’s involvement hadn’t been revealed.
It was clear they were intentionally hiding her.
If there was intent, there was a purpose.
Why hide Go Hyunsook’s involvement?
Just to mislead the investigation?
That seemed unlikely.
Throwing off the investigation only makes sense if you assume the Police Officer is already investigating.
Just as Lee Jaehyun was beginning to suspect something, the father’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Alone? What do you mean—”
The father tried to speak quickly, worked up with emotion, but Team Leader Oh Min-seok immediately waved his hand, signaling him to stop.
He quickly typed a message onto the Surveillance Monitor and showed it to the father.
It was vital that the father not give any hint that he knew Park Yech’an wasn’t alone.
After all, the abductor still had no idea the Police Officer had uncovered their identities.
He suspected Choi Daehyun’s parents might have reported to the Police Officer, but didn’t know if they really had.
Just as the other side withheld clues, it was important that they gave away nothing in return.
“…Hmm?”
“If I go alone… my wife will struggle with this.”
— Your wife must be quite overprotective.
Team Leader Oh Min-seok quickly managed to redirect the conversation with cleverness.
Park Yech’an answered in a rather sinister tone, letting out a fake cough.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for his next words.
Soon, Park Yech’an spoke as if granting a favor.
— Fine, then. Just bring your wife.
Thankfully, Team Leader Oh Min-seok’s quick thinking had worked, and the situation was resolved.
Moreover, they gained the unexpected benefit of being able to bring the wife.
But why was that?
Lee Jaehyun couldn’t shake the feeling that something about this situation was artificial.
As if Park Yech’an had changed his mind far too easily.
It felt like they were walking into a trap set by Park Yech’an.
And there was a clear reason behind that gut feeling.
A desperate plea based on emotion working on a child abductor?
If he was someone who could be moved by that, would he have kidnapped a child in the first place?
Unable to get rid of his uneasy feeling, Lee Jaehyun kept listening to the conversation between the child’s father and the kidnapper.
“Thank you…”
— Honestly, I don’t want to kill a little kid like this. I just need the money… I don’t kill anyone, and you get your kid back safe. Everybody wins.
“Yes, that’s right. I just want my child back safely.”
— Good. Then, let’s meet at Onseo Rest Area later.
“Yes, sir. Thank you. We’re leaving now.”
With that, the call ended.
After confirming the call was over, Team Leader Oh Min-seok clapped his hands to get the team’s attention.
“Okay! You all heard that, right? We’re heading to Onseo Rest Area. We can’t be too careful, so request backup…”
Team Leader Oh Min-seok quickly gave orders to the team members.
Meanwhile, Lee Jaehyun carefully observed the father’s face.
At this stage…
It might sound strange, but they had to keep an eye on the parents.
In child abduction cases, the biggest concern isn’t external but internal.
Parents of abducted children often experience extreme anxiety and fear.
Naturally, distrust can grow toward everything, including the Police Officer.
If the kidnapper says, ‘I just want the money. I don’t want to kill the child,’
The parent might think: ‘If I go alone, maybe I can get my child back safely?’
Fifty million won ransom?
That’s not what’s important.
As long as the child comes back safe, the parent doesn’t care if the kidnapper escapes or not.
Since the father might entertain such thoughts, they needed to act carefully.
Fortunately, the father only looked overjoyed at the possibility of hope; his expression wasn’t complicated.
Lee Jaehyun watched the father for a moment, then shifted his gaze.
Everyone was quickly getting up from their seats, hurrying out to depart for Onseo Rest Area.
Some were explaining action Instructions to the father, others were requesting support from other Capital Region Police Stations.
Watching all this, Lee Jaehyun couldn’t shake off an inexplicable sense of unease.
But he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was, and that made him even more unsettled.
“The father’s sudden actions…?”
So far, he didn’t seem likely to do anything unpredictable.
Then what was bothering him?
Lee Jaehyun quickly ran through the situation in his mind, checking everything one by one.
Seeing him lost in thought, Team Leader Oh Min-seok called out.
“Lee Jaehyun, Sergeant.”
“Ah, yes, Team Leader Oh Min-seok.”
“Aren’t you going?”
“I am, sir.”
Lee Jaehyun forced himself to move, unable to ignore Team Leader Oh Min-seok’s words.
Whatever was making him uneasy, they still had to get moving.
So, as he walked alongside Team Leader Oh Min-seok,
They made their way out to the parking lot, and as he saw the car, a thought struck him.
Even if Park Yech’an didn’t know how, Go Hyunsook knew how to deceive and use the Police Officer.
She was someone who could calculate all the possibilities and would likely have suspected they might have reported to the Police Officer.
Such a person had chosen a Rest Area as the meeting place… and all Police Officer attention was now focused on Onseo Rest Area.
If she had reported to the Police Officer, they might think choosing such a spot was foolish.
It might have been just a psychological tactic—relaxing them by talking about the money and gently saying, ‘I just want the money, I don’t want to kill the kid.’
But was that really all?
“Uh, Team Leader!”
“Yes, Sergeant Lee Jaehyun. What is it?”
Lee Jaehyun called Team Leader Oh Min-seok carefully, who responded as if he’d been waiting.
His eager response made Lee Jaehyun pause for a moment.
Oh Min-seok gestured for him to speak quickly.
“I think it’s suspicious. Rather than all going to Onseo Rest Area… we should keep other possibilities in mind.”
“And why is that?”
Team Leader Oh Min-seok tilted his head, signaling him to continue.
From the start, Lee Jaehyun had doubted the Rest Area was the real meeting place.
It wasn’t difficult to explain his reasoning to Oh Min-seok.
“Rest Areas are easy to escape from, but you can only flee in one direction.”
“That’s right. That’s why I called for backup at the next Rest Area as well.”
Team Leader Oh Min-seok knew that, and had arranged for backup to wait at the next Rest Area.
If you think about it, Go Hyunsook, who always acted cautiously, would surely have considered that too.
Of course, it’s possible she hadn’t, but they had to consider all possibilities.
“Yes, and the suspect probably thought about that as well.”
“Then, the Rest Area isn’t the real exchange location?”
Team Leader Oh Min-seok quickly caught on to what Lee Jaehyun meant.
“They’d pick a place with fewer CCTVs, where even if the Police Officer came, there’d be multiple escape routes. It would be somewhere close to Icheon, a place that would feel psychologically safe as well.”
Lee Jaehyun looked at Oh Min-seok as he spoke.
The more he continued, the more certain he became.
If Park Yech’an was pushing the ‘I’m alone’ angle to eliminate other possibilities—
If he only pretended to be moved by emotion and let the wife come, just to make sure she didn’t go elsewhere—
Then all of his actions made sense.
At Lee Jaehyun’s words, Oh Min-seok smiled faintly.
“Right, I called for extra support just for insights like that. Well done.”
Team Leader Oh Min-seok welcomed Lee Jaehyun’s input.
Still, Lee Jaehyun couldn’t help feeling a bit uneasy.
He had pointed out that gathering everyone at the Rest Area might not be a good idea, but he still couldn’t predict the actual meeting place.
If not the Rest Area, then where?
It had to be somewhere near Icheon, but not along the highway…
He kept running through possibilities in his mind, but there just weren’t enough clues.
Perhaps realizing Lee Jaehyun was struggling, Team Leader Oh Min-seok snapped his fingers lightly.
Snap.
With that small sound, Lee Jaehyun snapped back to his senses.
“We have to move toward Icheon, our only real clue, right? You can worry about the rest on the way.”
With those words, he dug into his pocket and tossed a car key to Lee Jaehyun.
Lee Jaehyun caught the key reflexively.
“You’ll drive, Sergeant Lee Jaehyun.”
“Yes, sir.”
Oh Min-seok strode off briskly.
Lee Jaehyun followed after him.
And—just as he thought—Team Leader Oh Min-seok was proving to be a rather impressive person.