[Date: February 11, 2021] [Fortune of the Day: What you see on the surface is not everything. Do not hold prejudices.] The moment a kind-looking police officer in his late twenties, about 170cm tall, walked into the meeting room, the fortune of the day came to mind. Usually, fortune appeared when something relevant happened or when I met someone relevant. In other words, this fortune was related to the police officer in front of me. 'If what you see isn't everything... Does that mean he's not kind despite his appearance?' I almost doubted my eyes, but the second line of the fortune snapped me out of it. 'Do not hold prejudices.' Everyday has never lied to me. After a brief hesitation, I decided to put this police officer, who looked like he couldn't hurt a fly, on my watchlist. At that moment, Lee Soo-Yeon, sitting next to me, waved and smiled brightly. "Sweetie~ over here~" The police officer in his late twenties smiled shyly and raised his hand. I had heard that Lee Soo-Yeon had a boyfriend, and it turned out he was this guy. That's when I felt a chill running down my spine. If this movie succeeded, Lee Soo-Yeon would be rewarded handsomely. And if he turned out to be a bad person, Lee Soo-Yeon could be in danger. I figured I should better look deeper into who Choi Sung-Hyun really was. Just then, Ahn Jung-Hae began to introduce the young officer in more detail. "This is Lieutenant Choi Sung-Hyun, partner of Mr. Park Dong-Joon. He graduated from the police university with top honors in criminal psychology. He's here to consult on the film alongside Mr. Park." Choi Sung-Hyun gave a polite bow. "Hello. I'm Lieutenant Choi Sung-Hyun of the Violent Crimes Unit 1 at Gwacheon Police Station. Please feel free to ask me anything." As soon as his introduction ended, Park Dong-Joon addressed the actors with a solemn expression. "The police will cooperate as much as possible with the filming. Although we failed in the initial investigation twenty years ago, please emphasize that we eventually caught the criminal. Also, we will continue to solve any heinous crimes in the future..." As his speech began to resemble that of a school principal, Choi Sung-Hyun gently tugged on his arm. "Mr. Park. I'm sorry to interrupt, but maybe we should stop here since the actors are rehearsing?" Park Dong-Joon smiled sheepishly and acknowledged his mistake. "Oops. My bad. All right then. I'll just observe the rehearsal and let you know when we're needed for consultation." After bowing once more to the actors, Park Dong-Joon approached our side with Choi Sung-Hyun. Yoo-Jin stood up and swapped seats with Lee Soo-Yeon. Lee Soo-Yeon gave a slight nod and a bright smile, gesturing for Choi Sung-Hyun to sit beside her. Choi Sung-Hyun took the seat next to her. "You should've waited until I was done. Why did you come alone?" "It's fine. I should get used to going places on my own anyway." "But I'm not fine. I worry when you're out alone." The exchange of sweet glances between Lee Soo-Yeon and Choi Sung-Hyun was so sugary it could melt. If it weren't for Everyday, I would have believed that Choi Sung-Hyun was not only kind and smart but also considerate. Just then, Ahn Jung-Hae announced the resumption of the script reading. "All right, let's continue with the script reading. Scene 25. This is the scene where Miso wakes up after being kidnapped. Miso, start acting when you're ready." Miso answered and closed her eyes. Then, she slowly opened them halfway and began to scan her surroundings. 『Oww... where... am I...?』 Miso looked around blankly and rubbed her eyes with both hands as if she couldn't see anything. As she gradually put on a frightened expression, she eventually began to whimper. 『Mom... where are you... sniffle sniffle. Mom...』 The moment Miso started the script reading, she transported all of us to the scene of the incident from twenty years ago. Her immersion in the role was always awe-inspiring. Thanks to Miso fully immersing herself in the role, the atmosphere became increasingly intense as the script reading continued. Ahn Tae-Sik, playing rookie officer Park Dong-Joon, slammed the table with his fist. 『Chief! Why! Why won't you believe me!? I'm telling you, it's not a simple missing person case—it's a kidnapping case!』 Ahn Tae-Sik furiously questioned the actor playing Chief Park Bong-Seo from twenty years ago. It felt like we were truly back on that day, twenty years ago. Twenty years ago, Park Dong-Joon had dinner at the snack shop run by Lee Soo-Yeon's mother, Oh Jung-Hyun. Even on the night of the incident when it was pouring rain, he stopped by the shop on his way home to grab a kimbap just like always. But inside, the chairs were knocked over in disarray and the rain pouring through the open door had soaked the floor. Park Dong-Joon returned to the station and reported it. However, Park Bong-Seo insisted that Oh Jung-Hyun had run away overnight with her daughter to escape debt and postponed filing the case. Because the scene sharply contrasted two viewpoints—missing person versus kidnapping—the actors portraying each side delivered their lines with extra intensity. At that moment, Park Dong-Joon's eyes turned red. Back then, he had pleaded desperately with his chief, but couldn't logically explain why an investigation should begin. He had been too inexperienced even to think of using luminol to test for blood. For such a reason, it took quite some time for the missing person case from twenty years ago to be recognized as a kidnapping and for the investigation to begin. As a result, all the missing persons were later found dead except for Lee Soo-Yeon. Park Dong-Joon was heartbroken, thinking back to that time. If only he had been more forceful and if only he had known more, maybe he could have saved Oh Jung-Hyun, who remained alive for a long time after being kidnapped. Ahn Jung-Hae raised his hand with a satisfied expression. "Okay. Good job, everyone. Let's stop here for today." Only then did the actors exhale deeply and slump into their chairs. Every actors were vividly reenacting the events from twenty years ago: Choi Dong-Woo; the intense actor playing the cruel criminal, Ju Yung-In; currently the highest-paid actress in Korea, putting all her strength into the role of a mother protecting her daughter, Child prodigy; Jung Miso, and passionate Ahn Tae-Sik; who delivered a performance better than usual, influenced by the others. "Everyone, you did an amazing job today." Too exhausted to respond properly to Ahn Jung-Hae's words, the actors only nodded their heads. "We'll have one more script reading in three days, and then we'll begin filming right after." After the successful script reading ended, the actors began to rise one by one. Miso also stood up with a sigh and walked past us to approach Lee Soo-Yeon. Standing in front of Lee Soo-Yeon, Miso asked with a nervous look. "Auntie Soo-Yeon. Did I do well?" Lee Soo-Yeon nodded. "Yes. You looked just like I did twenty years ago." Miso placed a hand on her chest in relief. "Phew~ what a relief." Miso believed that acting with all her might make Lee Soo-Yeon happy, so she gave it her all. Just then, Choi Sung-Hyun, standing next to Lee Soo-Yeon, smiled and spoke. "Miso, please take good care of Soo-Yeon from now on. Oh, and your acting too." Suddenly, Miso flinched and took a step back. Then she came over to my side and clung to my arm. Miso had good eyesight, so it was possible she saw something in Choi Sung-Hyun, just as Everyday had warned. I immediately stepped in front of Miso and said, "I'm sorry. Miso is a little shy around strangers." Choi Sung-Hyun responded with a smile, not appearing offended. "Oh, I see. I'm sorry. I must've scared her." With that, Choi Sung-Hyun finished his farewell and started to leave the meeting room with Lee Soo-Yeon. Park Dong-Joon was also about to step out with them. At that moment, I called out to Park Dong-Joon. "Mr. Park. Could I have a moment of your time? There's something I really want to ask you." "Um... I was hoping we could talk privately." When Park Dong-Joon turned around, Choi Sung-Hyun nodded and helped support Lee Soo-Yeon. "Then we'll go down and wait for you, Mr. Park." "Yes. I'll have the engine running." Choi Sung-Hyun left the meeting room, supporting Lee Soo-Yeon. Soon, I asked Yoo-Jin and Miso to wait for a bit and stepped into the hallway with Park Dong-Joon. Before the regression, the number of children reported missing in the Gwacheon serial child disappearance case was five in total. Yet, since the culprit was never caught, it was impossible to confirm if there were only five. Moreover, not even a single missing person was ever found. As a result, the film Missing 2 – The Story of That Day contained a lot of creative liberties by Ahn Jung-Hae. That meant it was unclear what in the film was based on objective evidence. Fortunately, I did know who the first victim was. Chronologically, the first missing child was seven-year-old Lee Jun-Sung from the Gwacheon Anrak Orphanage, who lived only with his father. Because Lee Jun-Sung often left the orphanage claiming he was going to visit his father, the report came in late and he was added to the statistics belatedly. I planned to save that first victim and stop the serial child disappearance case in Gwacheon. At the same time, I hoped to build a rapport with Park Dong-Joon and ideally catch the culprit as well. The door opened and we stepped into the hallway. Now alone with Park Dong-Joon, I brought up a suggestion to get closer to him. "While working on this movie, I became interested in the hardships faced by families of missing persons. Since you're in charge of missing persons, I assume you might be connected to some support organizations... Could you perhaps introduce one to me? I'd like to make a donation." Families of missing children often gave up their livelihoods to search for them, so most of them were financially strained. After all, even printing flyers to search for their children could be a heavy burden. When I said I wanted to help support those kinds of costs, Park Dong-Joon brightened up and responded. "Of course. I'd be happy to introduce you. The families would really appreciate it. Oh right, I should give you my card." Park Dong-Joon fished out his business card from his inner pocket and handed it to me. I also handed him mine and concluded the brief introduction. "And please continue guiding us throughout the filming. Especially since Miso is still young and might make some mistakes, I hope you'll be understanding." "Oh, don't even mention it~ I didn't see any mistakes earlier. She was great. Don't worry about anything. The film has to succeed. Soo-Yeon's life depends on it, so I'll fully support it. And thank you again for your donation." I could feel the distance between Park Dong-Joon and me closing rapidly. I had already planned to support families of the missing with this project, so it was all working out well. As we were about to part ways with smiles, I cautiously asked one more thing. It was about Choi Sung-Hyun. "By the way, who is Lieutenant Choi Sung-Hyun? He looked far too gentle to be involved in violent crimes." Park Dong-Joon smiled warmly and opened up about him. "Oh~ Soo-Yeon's boyfriend? That kid graduated from the police university and was just assigned to violent crimes. At first, I wasn't too keen since he looked too frail for the job. Violent crimes require catching bad guys, but he's so kind and small-framed that I thought criminals would underestimate him. But guess what? He's a genius at criminal psychology. He sees right through where criminals are and what they're thinking. Now he has the highest arrest rate at Gwacheon Station. So don't worry about his consulting." Park Dong-Joon, still haunted by the case from twenty years ago, never married and now lived with and protected Lee Soo-Yeon like his own daughter. Apparently, he introduced Choi Sung-Hyun to her because he was not only competent but also kind. "So you're the one who introduced him to Ms. Soo-Yeon, huh?" "Haha. Busted. Yes, I did. The kid has no parents, so he understands Soo-Yeon's heart better than anyone. That's how it happened." Because Park Dong-Joon had unwavering faith in Choi Sung-Hyun, I figured it would be difficult to ask whether he might be a corrupt officer. At that moment, Park Dong-Joon hesitantly brought something up. "Um, it's a little awkward to ask the director directly, so I'll ask you instead..." "Yes? Go ahead, Mr. Park." "Do you know why there's no mention of Lee Hyun-Sung, the son of Lee Tae-Gil, after Lee Tae-Gil gets caught in the script?" Lee Hyun-Sung, the nine-year-old son of Lee Tae-Gil, was arranged for adoption to the U.S. by Park Dong-Joon himself after the incident. It was out of concern that he might be stigmatized as the child of a criminal for the rest of his life in Korea. However, that choice meant for the child's sake led to the worst possible outcome. Not long after Lee Hyun-Sung was adopted to the U.S., they received news that he had died in an unexpected accident. "Ah, I heard they left that part out of the film because it would make it too tragic. Honestly... what Hyun-Sung went through was just too cruel, wasn't it?" Park Dong-Joon looked pained and then nodded in understanding. "Yeah... with his parents ending up like that and even his aunt..." I tried to console Park Dong-Joon and said, "Let's do what we can to make sure something never happens again, Mr. Park." "Yes, Mr. Jung. And thank you again for the donation." Park Dong-Joon bowed and headed toward the elevator. Watching his back, I quietly murmured to myself. "I'll see you soon in Gwacheon, sir." Now that I had built rapport with Park Dong-Joon, it was time to start preparing in earnest for the Gwacheon serial child disappearance case. After Park Dong-Joon took the elevator down, Yoo-Jin and Miso came out of the meeting room with Lee Soo-Chan. I wasted no time making a request to Lee Soo-Chan. "Soo-Chan. Is it possible to discreetly observe and protect someone from a distance without them knowing?" "Absolutely. The guys we used to work with from The Best Detective Agency are doing security work these days too. Who do you need guarded?" "Lee Jun-Sung from Gwacheon Anrak Orphanage. He's a seven-year-old boy. I want someone on him 24/7. I'll cover the cost." "A seven-year-old? What's going on?" "I'll explain later. Please just take care of it for now." Lee Soo-Chan nodded without pressing further. "Understood." Then I thought of one more person I needed to assign someone to—Lieutenant Choi Sung-Hyun. He was the one Everyday warned me about, and Miso had shown signs of wariness toward him. But before that, I wanted to ask Miso something. "Miso. That police officer earlier... he looked like a nice person. Why did you avoid him like that?" Miso, who had been all smiles, fidgeted with her fingers and hesitated to answer. "Umm... it's just..." "It's okay. You can tell me." Suddenly, Miso nestled into my arms and whispered in my ear. "He scared me." "He scared you? But he's a police officer." "There was no emotion in the way he looked at Auntie Soo-Yeon." "No emotion? He looked at her warmly and even smiled." "No. There really was no emotion. It was like he was looking at a rock! And with me too!" Miso seemed frustrated, unable to explain further with her vocabulary. Yet I told her I understood and reassured her. 'Still, no emotion while looking at the woman he loves? And looking at our sweet and adorable Miso like she was just a rock?' At that moment, my suspicion about Choi Sung-Hyun, just as Everyday had warned, turned into certainty. 'He must be a corrupt cop or some kind of fraud.' I asked Lee Soo-Chan to keep tabs on him too. "You want someone to tail that nice-looking cop from earlier?" "Yeah, please. Assign someone discreet and reliable." Lee Soo-Chan hesitated briefly and asked, "Should I do it myself?" "No. If you get caught, it'll cause too much trouble. Just keep your distance and track his movements. I'll handle the rest." "Got it. Then I'll assign someone who can monitor him in a way that allows for plausible deniability if caught." After wrapping up the requests, I headed home with Yoo-Jin and Miso. Once I dropped Miso off, I moved on to managing Yoo-Jin's schedule. I also made up my mind to visit Comfort Orphanage myself tomorrow and meet Lee Jun-Sung. I woke up to a thunderclap that sounded like the sky was being torn open. The torrential rain that had started last night was getting heavier. Today was the final rehearsal for Miso's kindergarten graduation performance, but with weather , I worried how many kindergarteners and parents would actually show up. At that moment, a message appeared on my phone by the bedside, showing five missed calls. Rubbing my eyes, I checked the caller to find out it was Lee Soo-Chan. I quickly sat up and returned the call, and his urgent voice came through. -Hyung-nim! It's an emergency. "Huh? What emergency?" -The kid is missing. Lee Jun-Sung. "What do you mean missing? There was no problem as of last night, right? What are you talking about this early in the morning?" -According to the private eye, they confirmed Jun-Sung returned to the orphanage around 6 p.m. yesterday. But apparently, Comfort Orphanage doesn't do bed checks. So this morning, they asked the other kids and found out he ran away around 8 p.m. last night. "Then you have no idea where Lee Jun-Sung is right now?" A chill ran down my spine. I had thought Lee Jun-Sung would go missing around the end of this month. However, that information was wrong. Because Missing 2 – The Story of That Day had been heavily dramatized by Ahn Jung-Hae, much of the information differed from reality. Despite my donations through the orphanage and assigning someone to watch over him, I had still lost track of Jun-Sung. It was as if fate itself was toying with me. Lee Soo-Chan spoke in a remorseful voice. -I'm sorry, hyung-nim. I should've been more careful... "No, it's not your fault. You've got your own responsibilities. It might just be a runaway case, so contact me as soon as you find anything. I'm heading straight to Gwacheon now." -I'm already on my way too. "Really? Then I'll see you in Gwacheon!" I quickly threw on a raincoat and dashed out to the yard where my Binz sedan was parked. No matter what happened, I was determined to save that young boy, Lee Jun-Sung.