Seokjin
My heart was racing as we made our way to Lee Aera’s house. I could not believe I was this close to finding Dylan. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. I was finally going to potentially find Dylan and return him to his mother.
Yet, I could not help but feel somewhat bad for Lee Aera. What Misun had found out was just horrible. It must have been traumatic for her – so traumatic it ended up driving her to having some sort of mental health issues. I wasn’t sure whether she saw Dylan as her own son or if she just wanted to replace her own, either way, it was clear, she was not completely there.
I hoped that at least, this meant she never hurt Dylan. It would still impact him and be somewhat traumatic for him, but it would be even worse if she hurt him or God forbid abused him in some way.
I sighed as I ran my hand through my hair and I felt Yoongi looking at me as he drove. ‘Are you okay hyung?’ he asked and I nodded. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked again, encouraging to just open up.
‘I’m just feeling a lot of emotions right now. I’m excited and nervous and scared and happy,’ I said and he nodded.
‘I understand. This is like almost personal for you after working on it for a year,’ he said. Damn right it felt personal. Only my wife knew how many sleepless nights I spent because of this case.
‘Yeah, exactly. I got lucky this time and I can’t lose this chance,’ I said, but Yoongi was quick to shake his head in disagreement.
‘It wasn’t just luck hyung. Don’t sell your work short,’ he said but I shook my head. ‘ No, listen to me. Yes, maybe we got here at the right time this time but it’s because you never gave up that we were here in the first place. It’s because you kept looking and searching and not giving up,’ he said.
‘Yeah and also because I found people backing me up,’ I said with a smile.
‘Maybe, but still, the credit is mainly yours. We just helped a bit with, you could say with resources,’ he said.
‘Yeah, by the way, what happened earlier when you stepped out?’ I asked, unable to help myself. He smirked and let out a little laugh.
‘I went to tell that piece of * perverted * what I really thought of him,’ Yoongi said. I laughed a little at his choice of description but it was rather accurate.
‘Ah, that guy from earlier, right? God, I wanted to punch him so bad. I honestly don’t understand why anyone would just underestimate or even worse disrespect someone just because of their gender. It’s so stupid,’ I said, shaking my head.
‘You could say that again, but don’t worry. He won’t be disrespecting Misun again. I warned him if he does, I’ll dig up some dirt and get him removed from the force,’ he said casually. I could not help but let out a laugh.
‘Awesome Yoongi going at it again. I have to say, I love how you use that passive aggressive way to just do your thing. You have a certain way of intimidating someone without lifting a finger,’ I said.
‘It does have its advantages to work like I do. I can get dirt on anyone, after all, the internet does not forget. Most people, they all have something to hide. It doesn’t necessarily make them bad people, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t believe perfect people exist,’ he said.
‘I agree. How do you think Misun is doing with the cop she’s with?’ I asked.
‘The cop seemed young, like a rookie. Captain might wanted her to join to get some experience and knowing Misun, she would gladly take her under her wing,’ Yoongi said, as I nodded in agreement.
We continued the drive in silence until we finally arrived in the neighbourhood. They weren’t kidding when they said this was the part of town that was more secluded. I could see why Lee Aera would come hide here.
Misun looked at us and I nodded. I barely realized I was holding my breath as she knocked on the door. We kept slightly back, hoping we would not alarm the woman and make her scared, causing her to go violent.
The door opened and a woman appeared. She was the same one from the photo – she was Lee Aera. She looked at, worry starting to show on her face – no, not just worry but also fear.
‘Wh—what’s going on?’ she asked as she gulped. Misun took a step closer as the young officer continued to look on.
‘Ma’am, my name is Detective Yang Misun. These are my colleagues. We need to talk to you about something very important. We need you to come to the station with us,’ Misun said, trying to be gentle with her. She was trying not to spook her.
‘What is this about? Why are you here? What do you want from me?’ Lee Aera asked, clearly getting agitated. Once again, I felt my heart race.
‘We know you’re Lee Aera. We need to talk to you about Dylan,’ Misun said, ever so carefully.
‘Dylan? Who’s Dylan? My son’s name is not Dylan, it’s Dejan,’ Aera said.
‘Ma’am, Dejan unfortunately passed away a year ago. He died in that car accident, remember?’ Misun asked. Aera shook her head violently as tears started to roll down her cheeks. Her breathing started to become shallower as she clutched at her chest. She shook her head desperately.
‘NO! YOU’RE LYING!!’ she screamed as she fell to her knees, crying even louder. Even though she did something so horrible, my heart still ached for her. She looked utterly broken. ‘No, my son is in his room. He’s my son,’ she cried out as she hit her chest.
‘Jin, go. I’ll handle this,’ Misun said quietly as she kneeled next to the woman. I nodded as I manoeuvred my way inside. I hurried inside the house as I looked here and there until I reached the bedroom. I opened the door and my eyes fell on a boy. Even with the dyed hair, there was no mistake it was Dylan.
‘Dylan,’ I murmured as the boy looked at me. He stood up, almost afraid as he took a step back and blinked his eyes.
‘You…you know my real name,’ he said and I nodded as I felt my own tears falling down. I rushed to him and hugged him tightly, still in disbelief. It was almost as if only the sense of touch would convince me this was real and not some wishful illusion I conjured up.
‘I finally found you,’ I cried out as my own tears fell. I sniffed as I tried to control my own sobs. I felt the boy relaxing a little in my arms but he was still scared so I pulled back, not wanting to scare him further. I touched his cheeks, almost as if to make sure he was real once more.
‘My name is Kim Seokjin. I’ve been looking for you,’ I said, trying to use a soft and gentle voice.
‘How do…no one has called me Dylan in a long time. She keeps calling me Dejan,’ he said with a pout. If it was any other situation I would be awing and cooing about how adorable he looked.
‘I know sweetie. I know your real name because I know your mama. She has been looking for you and I’ve been helping her search for you. Can you tell me what happened? How did you end up with this lady?’ I asked.
The boy pouted as he looked down. I put my finger under his chin and forced him to look at me. ‘It’s okay sweetie, you can tell me,’ I said, trying to encourage him.
‘She said that mama was really, really sick so she asked her to take care of me, but she never lets me to talk to mama. I miss my mama,’ he said, his eyes tearing up and his bottom lip trembling as if he was ready to start bawling his eyes out very soon.
‘Ohh sweetie, she missed you too, so, so, so much,’ I said as I hugged him again. This time, he returned the hug as he cried into my chest. ‘Shh it’s okay my sweetie, it’s okay. You’re going to see mama very, very soon, okay my sweet?’ I asked as I felt him nod while I rubbed his back, trying to give him a sense of comfort.
‘Is mama okay? She’s not sick anymore?’ he asked and I pulled away from the hug. I shook my head and smiled. I did not have the heart to tell him his mama was not sick and that he had been kidnapped.
‘No, she’s okay now. Dylan, I need to ask you something important,’ I said and the boy nodded. It was quite astonishing how mature he was for a six-year-old but then again, something like this would change anyone. ‘Did the lady you were living with ever hurt you in any way?’ I asked, scared of what that answer might be, but the boy quickly shook his head.
‘No,’ he said rather clearly and then pouted. ‘Sometimes she would give me punishments like no TV or chocolate or ice-cream and sometimes she yelled at me a little when I didn’t listen but she never hurt me,’ he said and I sighed in relief.
‘Ahh I see. She was taking good care of you then?’ I asked and he nodded with a smile.
‘Yeah. She cuddled me a lot and bought me toys but…’ he said as seemed to contemplate a bit.
‘Tell me Dylan, you can tell me anything,’ I said. He frowned and scratched his head.
‘She always seemed so sad,’ he said. ‘I heard her cry a lot,’ he said, sounding sad for her. I sighed and nodded as I took his hand in mine.
‘She lost someone very important to her Dylan. Her son joined the angels in heaven,’ I said.
‘Oh…was his name Dejan? Is that why she called me that?’ he asked, once again astonishing me with his maturity. I nodded at him.
‘Yes, that might be why,’ I said. He opened his mouth in a big ‘O’ as he looked a bit stunned. ‘It’s time for us to go Dylan. Your mama will be waiting for you,’ I said as he nodded.
We grabbed some of his stuff and put them in bag as we started heading out. I saw Misun sitting on the stairs with Lee Aera who seemed as if she was sleeping.
‘Is she okay?’ Dylan asked as Misun stood up and smiled at him. She looked at me and I gave her a nod, to signal everything was okay.
‘She’s okay buddy but she was really tired and fell asleep while we were talking,’ Misun said.
‘Don’t worry Dylan sweetie. She just needs to rest,’ I said. ‘Misun, I’m taking him to the farmhouse. I’ll wait for you there and we’ll go to Seoul together,’ I said.
‘Yes, of course. Amy and I will settle this. Yoongi, go with him,’ Misun directed as Yoongi gave a single nod.
‘We’ll see you there Misun. Take care and call if you need anything,’ Yoongi said.
‘I will. I’ll see you soon,’ Misun said. I nodded once more as I started to leave with Yoongi following behind me.
