It was the summer of 2007. This event happened to Min Jun who was in third grade at that time. Min Jun's mother had given birth to another baby at a late age and was recovering at a postnatal care center. During her two weeks at the center, Min Jun was staying with his dad.
"Let's eat."
One day, they were having a late dinner together. Dad's phone kept ringing.
"Hello, sir."
"Yes."
"Then I'll need to get it done by the end of the night."
It seemed like he had something urgent to take care of at work.
"Min Jun, I'm afraid I need to head to my office soon."
"I don't want to be home alone. I'm scared."
"Then would you like to come with me?"
"Really? Yes!"
"Yes."
Min Jun was excited to visit his dad's office for the first time. When they arrived at the office, it was 9:30 p.m. Since everyone had clocked out, the office was vacant. Then suddenly.....
"What brings you here at this hour?"
"I had some things to take care of."
The security guard greeted them warmly.
"Say hello."
"Hello."
"Oh, you must be section chief's son. My daughter is also around your age."
Then the guard took out a candy from his pocket and gave it to him. Then Min Jun and his dad headed to his office. His office was on the third floor. They walked down the long corridor and arrived at a very spacious room. There were dozens of computers, desks, and chairs.
(Min Jun was fascinated.)
Min Jun sat behind his dad's desk where there were no computers.
"Min Jun, be a good boy and work on the puzzle here until I'm done with work."
"Okay."
Then his dad began his work and Min Jun busily started putting the pieces of puzzle together. However, his dad gradually changed.
"If you are the section chief, who is above you?"
"There's the chief and the president."
"Is the president at the very top?"
"No, it's the chairman."
In the beginning, he'd reply back every time Min Jun talked to him. But his replies became shorter and shorter.
"Dad, I'm thirsty."
"Dad, I'm thirsty."
He didn't say anything. Later on, he wouldn't reply back at all and only kept typing.
About two hours passed, Min Jun was very bored. He looked around to find something interesting to do. That's when he decided to explore his dad's office. A young boy his age would have been as curious as a cat, so Min Jun crept outside in secret.
Scared that his dad would catch him, he hurriedly went to another floor. He slowly climbed up the stairs. When he was between the 4th and the 5th floor.....
'BHOO'
"You startled me."
He saw someone. She was around his age. He talked to the girl who had pigtails and was wearing a pink dress and black shoes.
"Why are you here?" She asked.
"I came with my dad."
"You too? Do you want to play together?"
He decided to play with the unknown girl. Min Jun was happy to meet a girl his age at his dad's office. He was also scared to explore the dark building by himself.
They played together. After some time, he was suddenly reminded of his dad.
"I should get going. My dad is waiting for me."
"Let's play a bit more."
"Let's play a bit more."
The girl seemed sad to say goodbye and asked him to play a bit longer.
"Okay. What game do you want to play??
"Hide and Seek. You are the seeker. I'll hide so find me."
It was a bit scary to play hide-and-seek in the dark building. However, he didn't want to look like a scaredy-cat in front of a girl his age. So he covered his eyes with his hands and counted.
"One, two, three, four..."
Min Jun peeked a bit before counting to five but the girl was long gone. It felt so strange, but he thought she must've hidden somewhere nearby.
"Ready or not, here I come."
After counting, he started off searching his surroundings.
But no matter where he looked, he couldn't find her.
"Where could she be?" He looked everywhere but to no avail.
"Could she have gone to another floor?"
He was looking around. At that moment, he spotted her running toward the women's restroom.
"Hey, you're in there, aren't you? Come on out."
He stopped in front of the entrance and told her to come out.
"Stop joking. I know you are in there."
But she didn't reply back. He kept calling for her, but she didn't show herself. Feeling scared, he thought he must have been mistaken. But it definitely felt like someone was inside. It felt like someone was hiding. He turned around again.
There's a gap under the stalls. He looked through the gap. He spotted black shoes in the last stall. He was happy.
"I found you. I see your shoes. Come out."
However, instead of answering to him, he heard someone eating candy. That gave him goosebumps. Something was off, so he took a better look at the shoes.
That's when he froze. The shoes were too big and rough-looking. The shoes were too big to be a girl's shoes. That's when the door opened and a man burst outside.
Min Jun was so shocked that his legs gave out.
And that man was the guard from before.
"It's dangerous to walk around by yourself. I'll take you to your dad. Let's go."
He was scared, but the guard wasn't a stranger. He was about to leave when the guard put his arm around him. And something fell on the floor. It was a duct tape.
Finding it odd, he turned his head and saw that the guard had a rope in his hand. That's when he chewed the candy and put pressure on Min Jun's shoulder.
"Why does he have that?"
Min Jun realized something was wrong and started running. He knew something would happen if he got caught, so he ran with all his might. But the guard kept following him. He heard the guard's footsteps. Feeling terrified, he hid in a random, empty office.
He crawled under the desk and waited for the guard to pass by. And that's when....