Chapter 39 - Smiling Sun (12)
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....
"Sis, this way!" Minki told her. He was leading her towards the dorm which was completely empty. Jina looked around for Jiwoon but there were no signs of her.
This was odd to Jina because she knew her partner well. Jiwoon would never disappear without informing anyone. Even if she was usually the quiet type, Jiwoon was very serious about investigating everything properly.
"There's something wrong," Jina concluded. "I'm sure Jiwoon investigated this place…"
She took out her phone and was about to call Jiwoon when Chanmi called her.
"Yes Chanmi," Jina spoke into the phone.
"Boss, did you reach Jiwoon sis' phone?" Chanmi asked. "All of us tried to call her but her phone was switched off!"
"I can't find her anywhere!" Jina gritted. "Where is she?"
"Jiwoon sis sent us pictures of Minki's fake adoption papers," Chanmi revealed. "The orphanage has falsified documents of his adoption so that they could prove that he wasn't missing but rather adopted!"
Fucking bitches! Jina cursed in her head. "Jiwoon had gone missing after that," she said. "I'm sure of it. What else did you find?"
"We managed to restore the file Wonho had the day he died," Chanmi went on. "He was correct. The orphanage was stealing millions of dollars from the donors but the money was not going to the owner's account. It was going to an offshore account which transferred the money back to a local account. We're still tracking down the transaction route. The bank will let us know in a while."
"Let me know as soon as you find out anything," Jina said. She paused before adding, "If by any chance you can't reach me after half an hour, call Doctor Demon and tell him what you found. And send a backup."
Jina's gut instincts told her that something was going to go wrong. Her years of experience made her more alert about her surroundings and she always kept a backup plan in hand.
There was a long silence on the other end.
"Understood," Chanmi finally said. "Be careful, boss."
Jina hung up the phone but as soon as she did that, her battery died.
"Great!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "What else can go wrong today?"
She turned to Minki.
"I'll have to retrace Jiwoon's steps," she said. "Let's go to the matron's office."
The ghost nodded and followed Jina out of the dorm. She reached the matron's office, trying to recreate the possible actions of Jiwoon.
"The adoption papers are kept in this office," she muttered. "Right, Minki?"
"Yes," Minki replied. "I've seen the matron keep all her papers here."
"Which means, Jiwoon took the pictures of the files and sent them to Dahoon," Jina stated. "And then, she was probably returning to the main hall…"
She slowly passed through the hall and was about to walk by the kitchen when she stopped.
"What is it, sis?" Minki asked.
But Jina was not listening. She tapped on the floor beneath her. It was supposedly a tiled floor however, when Jina tapped harder, she could hear the hollow clanking of her boots.
"There's a secret door passage here," she gasped.
"Huh?" Minki frowned. "But we never saw anything of that sort here!"
Jina leaned down and checked the floor. She knocked all around the spot, verifying her theory.
"It's hollow," she declared. "There's a passage or room down there."
She studied the tile to see if it could be lifted. Jina scraped at the border of the tile until she was able to lift it and there was a small alcove there which hid a trapdoor.
"Of course!" she realized. "That night when Wonho was murdered, his body wasn't dragged out of this place! It was taken down there…"
"Are you saying that Wonho bro might be down...there?"
Minki pointed at the cellar, all of a sudden feeling very scared.
"It's possible that he is there," Jina grimaced. She had a feeling that Minki was killed elsewhere and the murderer did not have time to hide his body in the cellar. Hence, he was dumped in a trashcan.
She opened the trapdoor and saw that there was a staircase leading deep down. Stepping on the stairs, she began to descend.
"Sis, be careful," Minki warned. Jina did not have her gun on her that day because if a child had spotted it, they might have been scared. However, she had a pocket knife hidden in a hilt tied to her thigh. It was a precaution she took in case she needed to defend herself.
They entered a dark tunnel which led to a wooden door ahead.
"What is this place?" Minki gasped. Jina did some quick thinking.
"Minki," she whispered. "If I get stuck here, you must go up and warn the others."
"How?" he asked. "I don't know how to communicate with people! They can't see me!"
"There...there is a way," Jina said a little reluctantly. She did not want to use this method but she was in a hurry to save Jiwoon. If she ran back to the hall, the killers might be tipped off and Jiwoon would be in danger. Moreover, Haeji was probably with the killer as well and it was a risky situation. Backup could take hours to arrive and by then, Jiwoon could be dead.
"If anything happens to me here, go to the idol Minyoon," she instructed. "You've seen him, right?"
Minki nodded.
"As a ghost, you can possess a person as long as he or she has a weak mentality," Jina explained. "Try to find someone closest to him and possess that person. Tell Minyoon about this place."
"But will he believe me?" the boy frowned.
"He's my brother," Jina revealed. "He knows about my abilities. He'll help you."
"How will I possess a person?" Minki asked curiously.
"Just float towards that person and enter his body," she said. "You'll be able to possess them. Warn Hobin and then leave the person's body. Got it? Whatever happens, don't continue to possess that person for long."
Minki was not sure if he could do it but he nodded his head. Jina then turned towards the door ahead and slowly opened it.
It was a small room with no walls or floor. Instead, it was like an underground mine with soil for floor and a few dim lights hanging by the ceiling. In the middle of the room was…
"Jiwoon!" Jina whispered and reached towards her. Jiwoon was unconscious and her head was bleeding. Thankfully, she was still alive but only barely.
Minki stood at the doorway, watching her when he saw shadow moving.
"Sis, look out!" he yelled.
Jina turned around in the nick of time as a masked figure tried to attack her but Jina managed to kick the person in the shin. Seeing the commotion, Minki disappeared to carry out Jina's task.
"AGHHHH!" the masked figure yelled in agony, clutching his groin. Jina lunged to land a punch on him but the man was faster and dodged her attack. He picked up Jiwoon and held a knife to her throat.
"Come any closer and she'll die!" he threatened.