88 Cheng-A Silent Vow

Panic set in. Where did Deen go? I searched frantically around the bench and the subsequent park area, but he was nowhere to be found.

'Excuse me,' I stopped a couple. 'Have you seen a seven to eight year old boy, wearing a blue shirt with pink panther striped on it?'

They shook their heads and moved on. I stopped a few other passerby but no one saw him. I looked into the bathroom stalls but he was not there either. Fear crept in my head. What if he was kidnapped? Or worse?

I refused to think of the possibilities. I had to be calm and focus. 'Think!' I scolded myself. 'Where could he be?'

'He wanted to go on the roller coaster...' I said out loud. Did he go there?

I rushed back towards the roller coaster ride, searching through the line of people. But Deen was nowhere. It was as if he suddenly vanished. I returned to the bench again to look for him. I wandered the area but there was no sign of him.

Just when I was about to call the cops, I heard a childish squeal. A few meters away, I saw the frame of a seven year old boy, patting a large black dog. Standing over them was a man, wearing a face mask like mine. It was hard to tell who he was but there was something familiar about him.

The panic building inside me was replaced with caution and anger. As I got near, the man noticed me. His eyes darkened.

'Deen!' I cried out. Deen looked up from the dog and smiled. He ran towards me and I scooped him up in a hug.

'Never do that again!' I scolded him. 'I was so worried!'

'Relax, hyung,' Deen assured me. 'I just ran into Mona!'

'Mona?'

Deen pointed at the black dog and the owner but they were gone. I frowned. That man looked very suspicious but I could not help but feel that I had seen that man somewhere before.

'Who was that man?' I demanded.

'He is our neighbor,' Deen replied. 'I play with his dog, Mona. He and the other two ahjusshi's he lives with are very close to us. The ahjusshi you just saw is a very good cook.'

I frowned. Mia's neighbors are all men and she is close with them?

'What are their names, Deen?' I asked curiously.

Deen wondered for a while, biting his lips.

'Mee said that we can't tell people that we're friends with them,' he finally answered. 'Otherwise, bad people will come after us.'

Bad people? My curiosity grew stronger. What if they harmed her and Deen?

Deciding that I will have a talk with Mia, I put Deen down and squeezed his hand.

'Do not ever run away like that,' I told him seriously. 'Do you understand me? What if something had happened to you? Your mother would have been devastated. And I...I could have never forgiven myself.'

Deen gave me a guilty look. He looked down and uttered an apology. My heart went out for the child and I pulled him into another tight hug. The few moments when I thought I had lost him, nearly killed me inside. For the first time in years, I felt the fear of losing someone again. It felt like hell.

As that moment, I made a silent vow to protect Mia and Deen. Forever.

The tour bus pulled up in front of our agency's office. It was almost 6 PM and all of us returned to T-Net's office to call it a day. Deen was sleeping in my arms. I nudged him awake.

'Deen, we're back,' I woke him. He yawned and stretched wide.

'Did you have fun today?' I asked.

'Yes! It was the best day of my life!' He nodded enthusiastically.

'How about we hang out again this weekend?' I asked. 'This time, we'll bring your mom too. And maybe even Soo-Yon hyung can join us.'

'We're going on a trip this weekend,' Deen replied. 'To Jeju Island.'

I was taken aback. 'You and your mom are going to Jeju Island? All by yourselves?'

'No,' he said. 'We're going with our neighbors. My babysitter, Shae noona and her mom will also join us. We're going to be living at a hotel owned by the ahjusshi you saw today.'

I frowned. It had been hardly six months for Mia in Korea and she was already close to a group of mysterious men? Something was amiss. Why were those men hiding their identities? What if they were criminals who lure women into traps?

'That's great,' I faked a smile as I opened the car's door. As soon as we got off, Mia came running.

'The shooting took so long!' she fussed. 'Did Deen even get the time to eat anything?'

He ate a burger, two glasses of juice, a large french fry and also finished the entire tteokbokki stall, I snickered inwardly. 'He ate alright,' I said aloud. Deen giggled.

Mia frowned, confused at our inward joke. I ruffled her hair. 'It's a joke between us,' I winked.

'Men!' she said exasperatedly.

She took Deen's hand and walked away. As I saw the figures of the mother and son retreat, I called Manager Ahn.

'Manager Ahn, schedule our MV shooting this weekend,' I ordered.

'Ehhh? The set aren't even complete yet!' Manager Ahn complained.

'We'll do it on a real location,' I informed him. 'We're going to Jeju Island. I'll tell my friend Jaebum set up booking for us at his hotel. Inform Soo-Yon hyung too.'

Before Manager Ahn could say anything more, I hung up. It was time to meet these mystery men in Mia's life.