Vroom vroom…
A regular and smooth noise could be heard.
That sound was similar to the one I had heard almost every day since arriving in this world.
…It was the sound of an automobile.
I was still clawing through Sara’s recent memories, but I hadn’t expected to get this far already.
“…”
Ah, wait.
That didn’t seem right.
The sensation I was feeling now was different from the heavy feeling in dreams. It was much sharper, everything touching my skin felt vivid—a sensation of reality.
“…Ugh…”
I tried to open my mouth, but nothing came out properly.
Actually, I couldn’t even open my eyes. It felt as if I had just woken up from a long sleep; my body wasn’t listening.
“Sara?”
Someone sitting in front of me spoke.
As soon as I heard that voice, I froze.
It was a voice I had only heard a few times, but I knew exactly whose voice it was.
A voice I could never forget. And every time I met this person, it was always in an unforgettable situation.
…That voice was Choi Na-kyung.
Why?
No, how?
How in the world did Sara end up in the same car as Choi Na-kyung?
I couldn’t verify anything yet since my body was still unresponsive, but when I forced my eyes open, they finally did.
Tears formed in my eyes, blurring my vision endlessly. Additionally, blinding light streaming through the car window made it impossible to fully open my eyes.
As I tried to rub my eyes,—
“Ah…?”
I realized my hands wouldn’t move.
No, it wasn’t that I couldn’t move because I hadn’t regained control of my body.
It was something much more specific.
…My arms were restrained.
Both arms were tied behind me, bound to something. It was tied so tightly that I couldn’t identify what it was through mere sensation.
I tried to kick my legs, but they were similarly tied up.
“Ugh…!”
It wasn’t just my limbs that were restrained.
Did they think I would scream? I had a gag in my mouth.
Not just a gag. My mouth was filled with what I could only presume was mud, making it impossible to produce any sound.
“Awake now?”
That voice sent chills down my spine.
It sounded kind of tense, a bit flustered, yet her tone was like someone comforting a child just waking up from sleep.
“You woke up earlier than I thought. We still have a ways to go, but… don’t worry too much.”
Where were we going?
And what did she mean by ‘worry’?
“…It’s much earlier than I planned, but this works. Finally, it’s just the two of us.”
What in the world did that mean?
…Could it be that Choi Na-kyung wanted Sara right now?
My mind was in chaos.
“Ugh!”
As my consciousness gradually returned and I could finally move, my limbs were still tied, but I turned my head and harshly rubbed my face against the seat. Tears flowing from my eyes cleared my vision.
What I saw outside the car window was an endless expanse of trees.
How long had I been sleeping?
No, what about Sara?
Until now, Sara had been controlling my body. Because of that, I couldn’t remember properly, and I had no idea how Sara ended up in this situation.
…Sara?
I silently asked.
Typically, at times like this, Sara would respond to me properly. At least since regaining consciousness, she had never ignored my words.
But there was no answer.
…Sara?
I asked again, but still no reply.
It was just like when I first came to this world.
Chills ran down my spine.
I couldn’t completely understand the current situation, but because of that chilling sensation, my somewhat dazed mind fully woke up.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
I yelled at Choi Na-kyung.
What had she done? What was she planning? Where were we going?
Yet, all my words fell apart into incoherent sounds.
“Don’t worry too much. If you wait quietly, I’ll take care of everything for you…”
What on earth did she mean by ‘take care of’?
In this situation, what could she possibly do for Sara by acting like this…
Choi Na-kyung’s murmuring added an unsettling mood.
…Sara!
I once again shouted in my heart.
But still, there was no response.
This time, it wasn’t just chills; fear began to fill my heart.
Sara, who had been with me all this time, was gone.
She had vanished.
How could this happen?
I was still confused, but—
One thing was clear.
The woman sitting in front of me, driving, Choi Na-kyung.
That woman was related to the current situation.
*
“Senior, where are you right now!?”
Sohee yelled into her phone while driving.
“Where—Ah, you’re chasing them?”
“Are you following them?”
Yoo Ha-neul asked, and Sohee nodded before hanging up.
“Yeah. The senior knows what kind of car Choi Na-kyung has. Just in case, it seems she has been monitoring from outside the school lately.”
“What…?”
Seeing Yoo Ha-neul’s mouth drop open, Sohee shyly avoided her gaze.
“…I just found that out a moment ago…”
Her expression was incredibly embarrassed, so Yoo Ha-neul decided not to press further.
“Anyway, how do you plan to follow them?”
At Yoo Ha-neul’s question, Sohee shook her smartphone.
“Just track them with this. We can at least see where the senior is. There’s an app that allows users to share their locations.”
“…”
Did they really not know where Yang Hye-in was, even with that?
“…I-I just recently started working, okay?”
Sohee replied defensively.
“But what are we supposed to use to follow them!—”
“We have a car.”
Sua quickly chimed in.
“…”
With that, Yoo Ha-neul was left speechless.
Of the three, she had been the least helpful.
The two didn’t seem to care whether Yoo Ha-neul felt guilty and simply kept driving.
*
As Sua mentioned, there was a car parked in front of the school gate.
“…Just three of you?”
As the door swung open, a startled person sitting in the car asked.
It was a woman with short hair. The small car she drove could barely fit four people.
The problem was that the back seat was filled with bags to the point where one could question if it could fit three additional people.
“Yes!”
But Sua answered right away and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Excuse me!”
Sohee squeezed her way into the back, shoving bags aside to make room.
“Whoa! Be careful! That’s expensive…!”
But by the time she shouted that, both Sohee and Yoo Ha-neul were already in the back seat.
“For goodness’ sake… Ah, got it, let’s go!”
The woman seemed about to say something, but when she noticed Sua’s intense gaze, she freaked out and stepped on the gas.
“Ah, I wasn’t looking at you like that! Honestly, I was late waiting for you all! Another car left first!”
“That person is an acquaintance of ours. And either way, you said those photos would just be not worthy of any news, right? Do we really have competitors?”
Sua retorted with a surprising sass that wasn’t typical of her.
Watching that, Yoo Ha-neul thought it was strangely fitting how Sua’s hairstyle and her attitude matched.
“…What are you talking about? Photos?”
“…That…”
At Yoo Ha-neul’s question, Sua paused before opening her mouth.
She explained that this person was the one who had taken the photo of Yoo Ha-neul and Sara on their date and sent it to the internet newspaper.
Not only that photo, but she had taken countless others along the way…
But most of those photos were ignored by newspapers, so she was using them inefficiently; that was their explanation.
And coincidentally, they had decided to keep an eye on the school gate.
“…”
As Sohee and Yoo Ha-neul gaped at her, Sua’s face turned red.
“And this is also following an exclusive scoop. This photo will definitely be hard for the news outlets to ignore. There’s a chance a major outlet might pick it up! ‘Yang’s adopted daughter kidnapped!’”
“…It really sounds only like an article.”
“Well, photography is my main work; this is just a personal goal.”
She answered while stepping on the gas. Vroom! The engine roared. Even someone like Yoo Ha-neul, who knew very little about cars, found the sound slightly alarming.
But she didn’t bother commenting on it.
After all, Sara was in danger, and they had no choice but to speed away.
Neither Sohee nor Sua seemed to disagree, so they said nothing.
Ah, but there was one thing that couldn’t be overlooked.
“But kidnapping? Can you really tell that just by looking?”
“Oh, that? I filmed the young lady you’re looking for bound in the car. It was just a brief glimpse between the front and passenger seats, though, since she was lying in the back.”
“…”
Sohee, Sua, and Yoo Ha-neul exchanged worried glances once more.
Both of their faces were full of concern.
Yoo Ha-neul was sure that her own face looked the same.
