The Kidnapping of Lee Jia
"Mmm..."
A woman opened her eyes in a pitch-black room. Her name was Lee Jia. Her beauty was so striking that she could easily put most female celebrities to shame. It was only natural, of course—she was a former idol who had retired from the industry. Though three years had passed since her retirement, her looks had only grown more mature and alluring. With a face that forced every passing man to steal a second glance, paired with breasts and hips so voluptuous they seemed almost unreal for a Korean woman, her physical appeal was undeniable. She was, by all accounts, a goddess walking among mortals.
As soon as Jia opened her eyes, she gasped at the unfamiliar surroundings and tried to sit up.
Clank!
She immediately felt a strange resistance; her body wouldn't move the way she wanted it to. Jia looked down at her hands. Bound tightly around both of her wrists were heavy iron handcuffs, the kind she had only ever seen police officers use on criminals in movies.
"W-what is this?!"
Startled by the handcuffs, Jia thrashed around, only to feel a cold, ominous sensation of metal pressing against her neck. She raised her bound hands and carefully touched her throat. It was a thick iron collar, constricting her neck. What on earth is this? She cautiously turned her head and discovered a heavy chain running from the collar, bolted firmly into the wall. Am I... have I been kidnapped?
Anxiety clawing at her chest, Jia scanned the room. It was entirely empty, devoid of any furniture except for three doors—one on each side and one directly in front of her. Then, her eyes caught a security camera mounted on the ceiling.
"Excuse me! What is this? Is this some kind of prank show? A hidden camera?"
Jia shouted toward the lens, but her voice was met with nothing but dead silence.
There's no way a prank show would go this far... Am I really kidnapped? Her last memory was drinking with her friends, coming home, and collapsing onto her bed. Waking up in a completely unfamiliar, dark room sent a wave of primal terror rushing through her. Scenes from the horror movies she loved to watch flashed vividly through her mind.
"Hey! If this is a broadcast, say something! This isn't funny!"
Jia screamed at the ceiling, desperately trying to drown out the rising panic in her chest. If she didn't make noise, the sheer terror would consume her. When there was still no response, she began frantically twisting and pulling, trying to slip her hands out of the handcuffs. But the metal bit into her wrists, refusing to budge. The iron collar around her neck was just as unyielding.
"Hey! You crazy bastard! Undo this right now! What did I even do to deserve this?!"
When the cuffs and collar wouldn't budge, Jia's fear curdled into rage, and she screamed at the camera. But soon, tears welled in her eyes, and she began to beg.
"Please, I'm begging you. Why did you kidnap me? Huh? Please, just say something..."
Still, there was no answer. As the minutes stretched into hours without a single sound, her mind began to spiral, painting horrific pictures of her dying slowly and alone in this empty room.
Shivering with fear, losing all track of time, Jia was on the verge of exhaustion when the sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears. The sudden noise in the dead-silent room startled her, and her eyes locked onto the door in front of her.
Slowly, the door began to creak open.
A man stepped through the threshold. Who is that? Jia couldn't recognize him. The man walked in carrying a chair, set it down directly in front of her, and slumped into it.
"Hey. You awake?"
"Who... who are you? Why are you doing this to me..." Jia's voice was weak and raspy; she hadn't had a single drop of water in hours.
"Hmm... You don't know who I am? Well, this is fun. Though, I suppose it has been ten years, so it makes sense you wouldn't recognize me."
The mention of "ten years" sent Jia's mind racing. Ten years? Ten years ago... that was high school. It didn't take long for her to connect the dots. There was only one person from ten years ago who would have a reason to do something like this to her.
"Are you... no way... Kim Dohyung?"
"Oh, ding-dong-ding! Correct!"
The man—Dohyung—clapped his hands and laughed in delight as she guessed his identity. Jia stared at him in shock. The Dohyung she remembered was a scrawny, pathetic boy with a frail frame. The man sitting before her now possessed a completely different, imposing physique. But as the realization settled in that her captor was indeed Kim Dohyung, the terror in her heart gradually morphed into indignation. She was utterly furious that she had been captured by a loser she used to play with like a toy back in high school.
"I thought you were dead... No, that doesn't matter. Hey! Undo this right now, you piece of shit! Do you really think you'll get away with this?"
In the past, a shout like that from Jia would have had Dohyung trembling in fear, scurrying to obey her. But the Dohyung sitting in front of her now didn't flinch. Instead, he merely offered a playful, mocking smirk.
"Wow. I. Am. So. Scared. Seriously, I'm shaking. What's going to happen to me?"
"Do you have any idea what year it is? This is kidnapping. You'll rot in prison for over ten years for this. If you let me go right now, I'll make sure we settle this quietly. So hurry up and unlock this." Jia thrust her bound hands forward, gesturing to the handcuffs.
"Is that the same kind of 'quiet settlement' you used to offer me ten years ago?"
"Stop talking bullshit and unlock me. I'm telling you, if you let me go, I won't report you. We can just forget this ever happened. Hurry!"
"Wow, really? You won't report me?"
"I promise! We're high school classmates. Let's not do this between friends, okay?"
The moment the word "friends" slipped from Jia's lips, the playful smirk vanished from Dohyung's face. His expression turned instantly cold and rigid. Jia flinched at the sudden, chilling shift.
"Friends? Do you honestly think I was ever your friend?"
"U-uh? Well..." Jia stammered. She had blurted it out instinctively, but she was well aware of how brutally she had bullied him in high school.
"We were just so young back then, we didn't know any better... It was just a stupid prank! I'm really, truly sorry! I'll apologize properly, okay?"
"An apology... If you actually intended to apologize, what did you do after I disappeared?"
Dohyung had thoroughly investigated the lives of his four tormentors from the moment he was summoned to the other world. His investigation revealed that when he first vanished, they had shown a brief flicker of anxiety—only to quickly dismiss it, treating it as though they had simply lost a disposable toy.
"If you wanted to apologize, shouldn't you have looked for me? With your families' money and connections, you could have easily found me if you had actually tried. But you didn't do a single damn thing."
"That's... well... but I'm apologizing now! I was a brainless bitch back then. I should never have played those pranks on you... I'm so, so sorry."
"Oh, a prank... In that case, I guess we can just call this kidnapping a prank too. You pranked me, and now I'm pranking you. That makes us even, right?"
Dohyung's cold expression melted back into a playful, mocking grin in an instant.
"No! How is this a prank?! There are CCTVs and dashcams everywhere these days! It'll be a piece of cake for the police to track you down! If you let me go now, I swear I won't report you. I've learned my lesson, I really have. So please, just let me go, okay?"
Jia looked up at Dohyung with a pitiful, pleading gaze. She did this knowing full well how beautiful she was. Every man she had ever met would instantly soften and forgive her if she looked at them like this, no matter how angry they were. But that look had absolutely no effect on Dohyung.
"Are you really reflecting on what you did?"
Hearing a hint of leniency in his voice, Jia nodded frantically. "Yes, yes! I really, truly am. So please, please unlock this. Okay?"
Though she spoke in a sweet, coquettish tone, her inner thoughts were entirely different. Fuck, what does this piece of shit think he's doing? The second I get out of here, I'm throwing your ass straight into prison. If I tell Taehyun or Eunji, they'll handle this in a heartbeat.
But there was one crucial fact Jia was completely oblivious to: she couldn't hide her thoughts from him. Dohyung possessed the magical ability to read her mind as clearly as an open book.
"Well, since you're so deeply apologetic... I suppose we should prepare for it."
Dohyung stood up and walked out of the room. A few moments later, he returned carrying a small wooden table, which he placed directly in front of Jia.
"If you're truly reflecting... that means you know exactly what you did wrong, right?"
Hearing his words, a cold dread began to creep back into Jia's chest. "Y-yeah, of course."
"Then write it down."
"Write... write what?"
Dohyung placed a stack of paper and a ballpoint pen on the table.
"What else? Write down every single thing you did wrong. I'll even be generous and give you a full six hours, so make sure you write it all down."
"What? Six hours? Are you fucking kidding me?! Just unlock me already!"
Furious at his demands, Jia kicked the table away.
"Sigh... And you claim you're reflecting?"
"Stop this bullshit and let me go! Now!!" Jia shrieked, her voice dripping with venom.
In that instant, a flash of light crossed her vision.
Slap!
For a second, Jia couldn't comprehend what had happened. But her head, whipped to the side by the force of Dohyung's palm, and the burning sensation blooming across her cheek quickly dragged her back to reality. Having never been struck even by her own parents, this was a shocking, unprecedented experience.
"You... you just hit me? Do you really think you'll get away with this?!"
The throbbing pain in her cheek only fueled her rage. She had never, even in her wildest dreams, imagined she would be struck by the pathetic boy she used to torment. Yet here it was, happening in reality.
But her anger was utterly useless.
"Heh, right... That's the Lee Jia I know. But let me ask you something. I'm the only one who knows where we are. Do you think the police will find and arrest me first, or will I beat you to death first?"
"What?"
Slap!
Her head whipped to the side again. Jia stared at him, utterly stunned that he had struck her a second time. Before she could even open her mouth to protest, Dohyung's palm flew at her face once more.
"I'm not done yet, you bitch."
Dohyung grabbed her by the hair and slapped her across the face several more times.
"Kyaah! S-stop! It hurts! It hurts!"
"I'm hitting you so it hurts, you fucking cunt!"
After a few more strikes, Jia curled into a ball, covering her face with her hands and trembling violently. Seeing her break, Dohyung finally let go of her hair.
"Now, do you feel like writing?"
Dohyung pulled the table she had kicked away back in front of her and offered her the pen. Trembling in absolute silence, Jia slowly, carefully reached out and took the pen from his hand.