I waited for Min Gyeong's call forever. I didn't have to go to the store that evening, so what I did was only eat ramyeon for dinner while glancing at my cellphone and TV alternately. According to my calculation, Min Gyeong should have arrived in Seoul around five-thirty or six p.m.—depending on the traffic situation. Yet it was already half-past eight, and my cellphone was unstirred.
The news on TV only added more to my uneasiness. They were all talking about the number of kidnapping cases that rose dramatically in South Korea in the last few weeks. Most of the missing ones were young women in their twenties, but some girls were barely sixteen or seventeen. This happened nearly every week. The most recent one was two days ago when three more women were missing. No one understood the motives behind these abductions yet, if it was an abduction indeed. Such cases had happened a few months ago. Since then, it was like an outbreak. It happened everywhere to every woman alike. A few people—mostly the victims' relatives or friends—commented on the interview that they suspected those women had gotten caught in the human trafficking business. But to go investigate the concern would also put everybody's lives at risk.
The night grew later, and my eyes slowly descended into sleep. Sometime after midnight, my cellphone vibrated and woke me up from slumber.
Groggily, I struggled to open my eyes and glanced at it. Who could be calling this late at night? Then I remembered that I'd been waiting for Min Gyeong to contact me. It was probably her, I thought. But then I didn't recognize the number on my phone screen. I decided to pick it up anyway. "Hello?"
"Park Sook Ja?" the male voice on the other end of the line sounded urgent. "Is that you, Sook Ja?"
It took so long for my foggy brain to be aware of whose voice I heard. "Min Gi?"
"Yes. Where are you, Sook Ja? Are you with my sister?"
I furrowed. "Min Gyeong? She left Daegu this afternoon. Didn't she tell you?"
"She told me, but she hasn't called me yet. Has she called you?" He sounded impatient, perhaps even on the verge of fury.
My voice, still raw with sleep, replied, "No, she hasn't called me yet either. Did something happen?"
Min Gi clicked his tongue. "I can't reach her. I probably called her dozens of times, but she never picked it up. The phone always rang, but nobody answered. I thought she left with you. Where are you now?" he repeated his question.
I sat up straight, trying to put my thoughts in order. "I'm at home. Min Gyeong didn't invite me to go to Seoul with her. She even told me that she was leaving just this afternoon. Weren't you supposed to pick her up at the bus terminal?"
"That's the problem," I heard him clicking his tongue again. "I didn't see her anywhere at the bus station. You sure she was leaving by bus, right?"
"I am! I myself accompanied her to the terminal. I saw with my own eyes that she went into the bus, and she waved to me through the window." I paused for a moment, then, hesitantly, said, "You don't think that she—"
"Don't make any assumptions right now," Min Gi's voice was clear and sharp—yet I also detected fear and confusion. Min Gyeong was the only family left for him, and he was very protective of his younger sister. The late cases of missing women had increased drastically—especially in Seoul—so both of us had reasons to worry about Min Gyeong's safety.
I waited for him to say something. I imagined he was at a loss for words, wondering where Min Gyeong was and what to do to find her. Then, "Fine."
"Are you going to call the police?" asked I.
Min Gi was slow to respond as if he was carefully considering how to reply to my question. "There's no way I report this to the police. They can do nothing. I'll take care of this case by myself."
There was something in Min Gi's voice that alerted me. "What do you mean, Min Gi? What are you planning to do? Aren't you still in the army?"
"I quit," Min Gi simply said. "I now work as an independent investigator, along with my friend. He used to be a police officer, but he also quit and now we're working together in Seoul."
Oh. "Then, by 'taking care of this case by yourself', you mean you're going to look for Min Gyeong without notifying the police?"
"Yes. That's exactly what I plan. But," he cleared his throat, "I need your help, too, Sook Ja."
"What is it?" I wondered. If he was now working as a private detective, he must have his ways to investigate cases. Why would he ask for my help, of all people? And I was no detective.
"You and my sister are great friends," Min Gi remarked. "I want you to go to her apartment and see in there for any clues. So far, both of us only know that she was invited to work in Seoul, but with whom she worked, or where exactly she had to go, we haven't known that yet, correct?"
I agreed. Min Gyeong was only excited about the chance that she finally could go to the capital city, but she never told me the details. It appeared that she didn't tell her brother, either.
"Right. So, I was hoping you could help with this investigation from there. If you find anything, any phone numbers, any notes—I think Min Gyeong keeps a diary or something like that—any photos, in her apartment, call me immediately. If you know how to reach her manager there, ask him or her about Min Gyeong's whereabouts. But, in any case, it's better to call me first once you find something."
"Okay," I replied. Suddenly I felt scared for Min Gyeong. What was happening to her?
"I don't want to jump to any conclusion right now, but at this point, we should consider the possibility that something has happened to Min Gyeong. My sister tends to be a little reckless, like trusting strangers much too easily, so I'm worried like hell right now. I hate to talk to you like this, but at this moment we can only pray and hope she's fine."
He thanked me, and the phone call ended at that. I was left with the feeling that things would be more complicated from now on—at least until we could know where Min Gyeong might be.