Going Back Home

"Understood," Sohee said as she hung up the phone. She was talking to Kwon Jinhyung, informing him of Jiwon's wish to leave the school. 

Grandpa Kwon was in a dilemma. He did not want Jiwon to stop his training but hearing about Jiwon's tears, his heart could not take it. After all, he was only ten years old. Maybe Grandpa Kwon was being hasty in his decisions. 

"I will send for him tomorrow," Grandpa Kwon replied to Sohee over the phone. 

Sohee sat at her desk, pondering the situation. Jiwon was an exceptionally bright child. He was hardly a few months older than her own daughter. She was looking forward to training the boy because his father was her and Taewon's close friend. Jiwon even reminded her a lot of Sungmin. 

She knew her methods might have been a bit too much. There were times when she wanted to give Jiwon a friendly pat. 

But as a teacher, she needed to be resolute. Showing weakness may result him in learning nothing at all. 

Sohee sighed. If Jiwon wanted to leave, then there was nothing she could do. 

…. 

Jiwon was in seventh heaven. He was about to escape this school! No more hellish headmaster to tolerate. 

Hyun Jung was still sombre after Jiwon almost throttled him the other day. He noticed Jiwon's happy mood. 

"You're making a mistake, you know," he voiced out as Jiwon was packing his bags. 

"Mind your own business!" Jiwon snapped. 

"You got a chance which most children in this country will die for!" Hyun Jung said angrily. 

He did not care much about Jiwon but the latter took up a seat in a prestigious school which could have gone to a much more deserving candidate. 

"I didn't want to come here!" Jiwon said coolly. "Escaping this place is the best thing that happened to me. This place is a nightmare! Teacher Sohee was making me run through the entire field up in the mountains and did nothing else! I mean, what's the point? I was just running around like a lunatic." 

"You really don't know anything about her do you?" Hyun Jung asked in a sour tone. 

"Know what?" 

"The headmaster is not an ordinary woman," Hyun Jung explained. "She is the best marksman in the country! And her legendary takedown of the terrorists in X country? It was the talk of the town. Of course, you weren't born that time." 

"Legendary takedown?" Jiwon frowned. 

"Hmm," Hyun Jung nodded. "In country X, there was a terrorist group which took some Koreans hostage. They were demanding the government to provide them with nuclear weapons in exchange for the hostages." 

"The government was in a dilemma," Hyun Jung went on. "They could not let those terrorists get the technology but they could not let the people die either. So they sent the Eagle." 

"The Eagle?" Jiwon snickered. 

"That was Ms. Sohee's codename," Hyun Jung informed him. "They sent her and her team to deal with the terrorists. Those criminals were hiding in a cafe in country X. After getting there, Ms. Sohee first took out the map of the entire city. She figured out that all the sewers in the city were connected with each other in a complicated maze."

Despite his resentment towards the woman, Jiwon could not help but listen to Hyun Jung's tale. 

"So she split her team into two. She led one team through the sewers while the other team was left to negotiate with the terrorists directly. Ms. Sohee's team scoured the sewers for five days. They braved through the dirty waters and toxic gases to reach the terrorists' cafe."

"The hostages were kept huddled together in a single cell. It had a toilet for their usage. Ms. Sohee's team silently broke the toilet and created a hole to sneak into the cell. They quickly evacuated the hostages and disguised themselves in their stead."

"Meanwhile, the deal with the terrorists broke down and they decided to get rid of the hostages. When they came to kill the hostages, they were ambushed by the rescue team. The terrorists fought back. They killed almost everyone from the rescue team." 

"But Ms. Sohee charged forward. She went straight for the leader and engaged him in a one-to-one match. He almost had the upper hand but Ms. Sohee managed to shoot him through the head! Without the leader, the terrorist group was thrown into confusion. Taking advantage of their momentary distraction, the remaining rescue team finished off."

Hyun Jung listened intently. He knew headmaster Sohee was a good fighter but he seemed to have underestimated her abilities… 

"Whatever," he shrugged. "I'm outta here. I don't wanna train with her at all."

He was very adamant. Hyun Jung sighed. The rich brat was a moron. 

…. 

Jiwon was done packing when one of the school staff knocked on his door. 

"Your car is here," she informed him. Jiwon's face broke into a smile. Finally, he was going home! 

A few of the on-site helpers were assigned to help him carry his bags to the car. Jiwon expected his grandfather or Secretary Lee to be there but to his disappointment, only their old chauffeur, Driver Hong, was present. 

"Master Jiwon," the old man bowed to him. "Your grandfather and Secretary Lee had to go out on a trip. They are extremely sorry that they could not make it today." 

"That's alright," Jiwon said. "As long as I can go home. Let's go Uncle Hong." 

Jiwon got inside the car while Driver Hong took the driver's seat. 

Jiwon was giddy with excitement. Finally, he was going to see his grandfather again! 

….. 

Sohee did not bother to wave him goodbye. She did not want to waste her time on someone who did not want to learn. Instead, she was going through some papers when her office door suddenly opened. 

Secretary Lee was standing there. He looked extremely worried. 

"Where is Jiwon?" he demanded. 

"He left with Driver Hong," Sohee frowned. "How come you're here? I was told you were abroad!" 

"What?" Secretary Lee exclaimed. "I was sent by MD Kwon to pick up Jiwon! I was waiting for Driver Hong to pick me up but he took a day off so I came here on my own!" 

"Driver Hong took a day off?"

Realization struck Sohee. She rushed towards her drawer and took out a gun and spare bullets. Reaching towards her desk phone, she furiously dialed a number. Someone picked up on the other end. 

"Hello, Detective Hyunseok?" Sohee greeted. "A child from my hostel has been kidnapped. Scan all the CCTV footage from this area and find him. I'll send you the child's photo." 

"Understood," the man called Hyunseok replied. "Send it to me now!" 

Hanging up the phone, Sohee wasted no time in sending Jiwon's picture to the Detective. 

Meanwhile, Secretary Lee was trying to reach MD Kwon but his phone was unavailable. 

"What do we do?" Secretary Lee panicked. 

"We'll have to find him on our own!" Sohee snapped. She cursed herself for not escorting the boy herself. Sometimes, her silly pride can blind her to a fault. 

Just be safe, Jiwon, she prayed. 

…. 

Jiwon was happily humming a song when he noticed that Driver Hong was driving away from the highway. Instead, he was taking a road which led towards the shipping docks. 

"Uncle Hong, which way is this?" Jiwon asked. "I don't remember this route." 

Driver Hong did not say anything but the speed of the car increased. 

"Uncle Hong?" Jiwon probed. "Where are we going?" 

The driver was still not replying. A strange feeling was building up inside Jiwon. 

"Stop the car!" he demanded. "Stop it right now!" 

But the driver kept on going, showing no signs of stopping. Jiwon was frightened. What was going on? 

"You know," Driver Hong turned back to reveal an evil smirk. Jiwon never saw this look on his gentle face before. 

"I really hate you," the driver's face broke into a psychotic expression.