Chapter 1
Sweat drips down her forehead. She has been running for the past 30 minutes.
'Oh my god, I really can't run anymore. Never knew meeting with your father would be this hard. This time, I didn't even get to talk to him properly. Miss Kwak, my mother's diligent secretary, made sure that I never met my dad as per my mother's instructions. My mom never let me talk or even think about my dad after their divorce.
"Kim Jin Ah, from now on, you don't have a father. You don't need him. Forget about him. From now on, it will be you and me." Those were the first words she said as a single mother.
She never told me anything about him. But he is my dad, and I am his daughter. How can I live like he never existed? So, for the past few years, I had been searching for him, privately, and a while ago, I finally got his address. I still remember that day, I skipped school and went to his studio. He looked so different and old, yet he was the same dad I knew. I thought he wouldn't recognize after all these years, but as soon as he saw me, his first words were, "Min Ah-ya, is that you?" Hearing his voice call my name so sweetly made me cry. I had missed that very much. We talked for so long, about both of our lives, but time flew, and I had to leave before school hours got over. From then on, I had been meeting him secretly, skipping classes, hagwon (after-school private learning centre).'
"Ah, I seriously can't run anymore. " She says, out of breath.
She reaches the end of the road.
"Now where to???"
"Left or Right??"
She hears the loud steps of the secretary and her minions approaching. "Oh no... They are getting closer. I can't be caught. "
'I don't have any other way... but... to jump across this wall... ', she thought.
Thud.. She jumped.
"Wow, I didn't know I was capable of this," she whispers to herself.
She sees a house that was, of course, very unknown to her.
"Where did she go?" she hears the secretary asking.
"Don't know, ma'am." Both reply. "Maybe she jumped across that wall", suggests one of them.
'Oh no.. I need to hide. But where?'
Panicking, she searches for a hiding spot in the yard of the house. 'No, no, I can't hide here. It's too obvious. Just peep from the other side, and I will be caught. I need to... get INSIDE the house. But how? She finds the window of the first-floor bedroom open. 'But how to get in there?' She climbs onto the old desk and then jumps to reach the windowsill. Then, using all her strength, climbs in.
She looks out the window. She hears her secretary's voice. "There's no way she jumped across that wall. And even if she did, don't worry. The police will catch her; they are searching every house. And in no time, we will get her back."
"So we are done?" asks one of the men happily. "NO, YOU SILLY BIMBO, WE WILL NOW SPLIT UP AND LOOK FOR HER UNTIL ANY NEWS." Replies the raging secretary.
And they split up and ran into the only 2 options they could find.
'I have been trying for an hour to escape from my secretary. She somehow found out that I visit my father, which was forbidden by my mother. Though I have been coming here for the past 2 months, I still don't know my way around here.' Her thoughts changed when she saw where she was. 'This is a boy's room, and it looks like the owner isn't here. Well, I will wait for another two minutes and then leave.' Like that, when she was just about to leave, she was caught by the owner.
"Not so fast. Where do you think you are going?" He had been watching her since she got in. He had dialled the cops' number on his phone. "Just wait for a minute, and you can leave with the co-"
She snatched his phone out of his hands and cut the call. When he tried to take it back, she put her out of the window like she was about to drop it."Uhmm....See if you come any closer, I will drop your phone. Look, I know I look suspicious, but I came in here to take refuge from some people trying to kidnap me. I can explain everything. Okay?"
They hear the doorbell ring. He looks outside, ' Cops?, but I never called.'
"They must be here searching for me. Please tell them you didn't see anyone. Please....."
"Oh, they are already on your tail. Why should I? And, why are they after you? Are those your ", air quotes," YOUR KIDNAPPERS?"
"No, no, I am innocent. I will explain after they leave. Here, take my phone and wallet. Okay?"
He grabs them and goes downstairs, closing the door behind him. He looks into the wallet while climbing down the stairs. He finds her student ID, 'Kim Jin Ah, she is a student, huh? A student breaks into a house, and she has the police searching for her. She is up to no good. But her eyes really looked scared. So much she gave her phone and wallet to me, a stranger.'
Jin-Ah, on the other hand, was panicking upstairs. 'What if he snitches on me. I shouldn't have given him my phone and wallet, if he hands it over.... I am done for. Aahh... What do I do? I need to leave before.'
She jumped out the window onto the old table. "Ouch", she whispered so that cops won't hear as she fell straight into the bushes. She hears officers say, "What's that noise at the back?"
"I didn't hear anything", says the owner.
"I am pretty sure I heard something," she heard a cop say.
"Shouldn't you hurry and look for this girl right now?" the owner stuttered.
"Yes, well, thank you for your cooperation. Have a good night, sir."
"You too, hope you find the girl."
'He didn't tell them... Phew, now I need to get over the wall.' THUD. 'Okay, now run before Miss. Kwak finds me.' She looks back and sees him looking out the window.
'She ran away? But her phone and wallet is with me.' he goes back in and finds a note on the table.
"Sorry, I had to leave before somebody found out. It would put you in trouble, too. And I don't want that. As for my phone and wallet, can you bring them to the S-Cafe tom evening 5 pm. I will be waiting.
~ Kim Jin Ah"
"Whoa, this girl. I can't believe her."
The next day, he went to S-cafe. He reached there at 5 pm on the dot. She wasn't there. He ordered an iced Americano, sat at the table beside the window looking out onto the street, waiting for her. Ten minutes later, she walked in. She was wearing a black hoodie and black sweatpants. Her face was covered with a black cap and facemask. Yet he recognised her. She was moving in slow motion. She had a light shining upon her, which made her look like an angel in a hoodie. She turned her head slightly, looked out and started running towards him. She put her cap on his head, grabbed his hands, and they ran out of the cafe.
