*Oppa! Oppaaa! Oppaaaaaa!* A familiar voice reached his ears. At first, Jiang thought his ears were ringing. But the more he heard the whisper, the more certain he felt that it wasn't his delusion. Jiang looked around, searching for the source of the voice in the dim light. Only then, he noticed the window. Though his feet were tied, he sat up. He double checked the entrance of the room since the thugs weren't present there, his heart raced, knowing they could return at any moment. He assured himself that they weren't gonna come back soon as there were no sounds or noises coming from the outside.
Suddenly, the whispering voice returned, sending a shiver down his spine. His heart started beating fast out of fear and anticipation. He crawled towards the window, kept glancing nervously at the entrance.
He was shocked to see Ma Ri outside, though he had recognized her voice from a distance.
"What are you doing here? And how the hell did you even get this far?" Jiang whispered urgently.
"You didn't come to find me, and... I don't know where I am. I was hiding, but when I got out of the car... I…am scared," she mumbled, gripping the window railing. Even in the darkness, Jiang could see her face flush with embarrassment. He couldn't help but smirk.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous this place is? And how scary people live here? Why did you go to hide inside the trunk, in the first place? If they find you, they'd kill you, cut you into pieces and feed your flesh to the wild dogs." Jiang said sarcastically, trying to scare her.
"Um…I don't want to be fed to dogs! Waaah!" she sobbed, shaking the railing harder. Jiang panicked. He hadn't meant to make her cry. Worse, if the thugs heard her, they'd catch her too.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! I'm…argh! Don't cry! Someone will hear you! Do you really have a death wish?" Jiang hissed, struggling to reach her through the bars of the window. He glanced back at the entrance, feeling helpless with his hands tied. What should he do? If he could, he would've smacked her head to shut her up. He kept glancing back and forth and tried to get Ma Ri's attention.
"Um…ssh! Please keep quiet! I…I can protect you, but only if you listen to me. So, stop crying!" Jiang was surprised at his fate when he found himself begging, something he never thought he'd do in his twelve years of life.
"Mn…I will listen to you." she sniffled, rubbed her cheek and eyes to wipe the tears.
"Look around, can you find something sharp? I need to cut these ropes. Hurry!" Jiman's tension got higher as he was nervous about the return of the thugs.
Ma Ri disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a sharp piece of glass. She handed it through the bars, and Jiang began sawing at the ropes around his legs. After trying for a couple of minutes, he succeeded, feeling a wave of relief. Meanwhile, the little and curious girl kept watching him from outside.
"Can you come closer and cut the ropes on my hands? I can't do it with one hand," Jiang asked, trying to stay calm though his nerves were on edge.
Ma Ri reached in again, but struggled to see the bindings in the dark. As she fumbled, the window sash suddenly tilted, startling both of them. Jiang hurriedly pushed it up, realizing they had an escape route.
"Hey! Step back. I'm gonna jump from here!" Jiang said confidently. He gestured as Ma Ri was standing next to the window. He wanted to look cool as he leapt out, but the ground was higher than he expected, and he stumbled, landing awkwardly.
Instead of looking cool, he just made a joke out of himself.
"Um-hm!" he cleared his throat, pretending it didn't happen. He quickly checked if Ma Ri was laughing at him.
"Oppa, what now? Do you know the way back?" Mary came closer and asked, taking his hands as she wanted to untie them.
"I don't know, but we need to run before those guys come back. We'll figure it out from there," Jiang muttered, though Ma Ri was still focused on the knots.
Incredibly, she untied them within a few moments. Jiang couldn't hide his surprise because it seemed difficult.
"How did you do that?"
"I'm good at untying the knots. So, what were you saying?" As she didn't hear him earlier, she asked, looking at him with her boba eyes.
"Let's go!" Jiang decided to skip the explanation as he didn't want to. He grabbed her hand and started running, even though he had no idea where to go. The road ahead was pitch black, and they could barely see beyond the bushes. Jiang's heart pounded again, fear creeping back as they were lost.
When he felt a tug on his hand, he turned to see Ma Ri. She was out of breath, struggling to keep up. Now that he thinks about it, he wasn't alone anymore. His heart calmed a bit when he thought there was someone with him. Responsibility shouldered upon him, thinking he was the elder there and he needed to protect the little girl as he promised.
"Wait! I can't run anymore!" she gasped, stopping in her tracks, holding his hand tightly.
"But! There's no time to relax!" He urged.
"I can't run anymore! My legs hurt!" she whined, on the verge of tears again. Jiang sighed and approached her.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to run. I'll carry you," he said, crouching down so she could climb on his back.
"Come on! Hurry up, you fool!" he groaned as she hesitated. He grabbed her hand and pulled her near. When she finally climbed on, Jiang stood up, struggling with her weight. Though he wanted to run, he couldn't as she was a bit heavy for him.
"Hey! Why are you so heavy? Are you a pig?" he grumbled, complaining while walking fast and breathing heavily.
"I'm not!" she protested, tightening her grip on his neck, warning him not to talk like that with her.
After what felt like an eternity of walking, they reached a highway.
"Can you walk now? I think we're safe for now," Jiang said, exhausted as he set her down.
"Um." Ma Ri nodded and let go of Jiang's neck. As it was a highway, despite the nighttime, they spotted cars passing by, but none stopped. They were walking slowly as they didn't know where they should go. Jiang knew his parents' phone number, but they had no way of contacting them. As he started to think of a plan, he heard a screech.
When he turned around, he was totally astounded.
Ma Ri had stepped in front of a red car, and it skidded to a halt just in time.
"Hey! Are you crazy?!" Jiang ran to her. He yelled, pulling her back.
A young and beautiful woman stepped out of the car, her eyes widened with concern.
"Sweeties, where are your parents?" she asked softly, clearly shaken out of fear, noticing there was no guardian around the kids. She was afraid as she thought the little girl got hurt.
"Ma'am, we're lost. Can you tell us where we are?" Jiang went towards the lady and bowed very gently.
"Oh my! How did this happen? Do you know your address? I can give you a lift," she said, mesmerized by their cuteness.
"I know my house address! It's…uh…. it's…" Mary shouted, but her voice faded as she forgot.
"I... I forgot!" Ma Ri admitted embarrassedly.
"Aw! It's fine! Do you want something to eat?" She asked, cupping her cheeks as she couldn't help but dote on them.
"Ma'am, could you drop us off at the nearest police station instead? We'd really appreciate it if you at least do that for me and my sister." Jiang requested politely.
"Sure! Sure! Why not! Can I ask your name?" She grinned broadly at them.
"I'm…" before Ma Ri introduced herself, Jiang pressed her mouth tightly, causing her groan as she continued trying to tell her name.
"I'm Ahn Jiang Seok, and this is my sister, Ahn Ma Ri," Jiang lied, flashing a fake smile. He knew he couldn't tell the truth as he just lied to her about their relationship a while ago.
"Cute! Now let's go! Are you sure you'll be fine on your own after going to the police?" She asked while escorted them inside the car.
"Yeah!" Jiman assured her and took his seat.
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The two children's parents ran to the station after getting a call from the police. Ms. Ahn ran to her kid and embraced him tightly, overwhelmed with relief. She couldn't hold back her tears as she was terrified after receiving a call from the kidnappers.
"I'm so sorry, my child! I should've listened to you. I'm so sorry! A-are you okay? They didn't do anything to you, right?" She caressed his face and noticed a bruise on his cheek. Her eyes got full of tears once again. She brushed her finger through his cheek and fixed his messy hair.
"I'm fine, mom. They couldn't do anything to me. Moreover, if she wasn't there, I'd still be trapped." He pointed at Ma Ri, stared at her. She was standing in a corner with her parents, fidgeting her hands, looking downwards with a guilty face.