Chapter 134
Chapter 134
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: Traces
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Lee Tae-seong, the headquarters manager of Chel-in Machinery, spoke up from the auditorium's audience seats.
"You know that solar cell technology they announced before the idol performance? Pretty interesting, right?"
Cha Ji-hee from the design team had just returned from meeting someone at school when she ran into her workplace superior, Lee Tae-seong, again and got held up.
She replied,
"It's a technology our company's equipment doesn't need."
Lee Tae-seong gestured into the air.
"Think outside the box. Mount those solar cells on a drone and fly it up high—it becomes a reconnaissance drone. Float it above the clouds, and it could stay airborne for hours like a satellite substitute."
"What about at night?"
"It has a battery."
"A high-capacity battery that lets it fly all night?"
"Hmm... Would the drone have to get too big to charge that battery?"
"Yes. The bigger it gets, the heavier it becomes, which means you need even larger solar panels, making it bigger and heavier still."
"Even so, couldn't we make a small recon drone for daytime combat? One with way longer flight time than what we have now?"
Cha Ji-hee rebelled a bit, grumbling.
"You're right, sir, but it has nothing to do with our company's products. We don't make drones."
Spotting her defiance, Lee Tae-seong lightly pressed her.
"Should I assign the small recon drone development to the DF design team too?"
Cha Ji-hee immediately backed down.
"Sorry! Spare me, please."
Lee Tae-seong chuckled.
"Our presentation next?"
"Yes. I should've already gone to prep, but you held me up, so here I am."
"Researching DF while developing recon drones on the side?"
"Sorry!"
Cha Ji-hee fled toward the stage side to prepare the next presentation, muttering to herself.
"Phew. If the team heard this, they'd eat me alive."
She plotted to bolt first thing after her announcement.
She arrived stage-side. The stagehands who were supposed to guide her were rushing around with panicked looks.
Cha Ji-hee asked,
"What's wrong?"
"The presentation laptop's gone."
Cha Ji-hee was stunned.
"What? It has our company's data on it!"
***
Kwon Soo-yeon chased after the man carrying the laptop.
"Hey!"
The man, trying to hurry out, had mistakenly entered a dead-end spot with no exit.
Kwon Soo-yeon blocked the only way out, caught her breath, and said,
"Mind if I take a look at that laptop? Looks just like ours for the presentation."
"No, it's not. Seems like there's some misunderstanding."
Kwon Soo-yeon peered closely at the laptop.
"It is! I saw that sticker on it just a bit ago!"
The man's face twisted.
"Damn it. Of all people, I had to run into you."
"Who are you?"
"Does it matter who I am?"
The man pulled a knife from his pocket.
"Would've been good for both of us if you hadn't seen it."
***
Na Gang-in returned to the audience seats to dodge the Ppup Girls' barrage of questions.
There, he spotted Kwon Soo-yeon's father, Kwon Dong-jin, looking around anxiously.
Something felt off. He hurried over and asked,
"What's wrong, sir?"
"Who...?"
"A friend of Soo-yeon's."
"Ah. The one talking to Soo-yeon outside earlier?"
"Yes."
"Did you happen to see our Soo-yeon?"
"She was in the waiting room with me until just now..."
"She said she'd be right back, but she's still not here. Phone's going straight to voicemail. When did Soo-yeon leave the waiting room?"
Na Gang-in's expression hardened.
"Before I did."
Kwon Dong-jin said anxiously,
"Then she should've gotten here first... This isn't good. I need to go find her."
'She might've collapsed somewhere.'
Kwon Dong-jin asked Na Gang-in for help.
"Since you're Soo-yeon's friend, you must know this school well? Help me out."
The two began searching inside the building. The hallway to the waiting room showed nothing unusual.
AI Jeon Ji-in kept scanning the interior. Suddenly, she highlighted a spot.
Na Gang-in rushed there.
"This is..."
It was the drink Shin Eun-ha had featured in her CF. She'd given several cases to the Ppup Girls, who enjoyed the freebies. Choi Ji-hye had given Kwon Soo-yeon a bottle earlier.
Kwon Soo-yeon had been holding it when she left the waiting room.
"This was Soo-yeon's. Report her missing to the police right away."
"Gasp!"
Kwon Dong-jin prayed nothing bad had happened to Kwon Soo-yeon. He hoped it was just a mix-up.
So he asked,
"You sure? Maybe someone else dropped it?"
Na Gang-in turned the bottle to show the "Not for Sale" label.
"This isn't sold in stores or vending machines. It's promo-only, and Soo-yeon got it in the waiting room."
Kwon Dong-jin fumbled for his phone. His hands shook badly.
"I-I'll call the police right now..."
"I'll go look for Soo-yeon."
Na Gang-in checked his surroundings and headed outside.
He glanced back. Kwon Dong-jin was still trembling. He'd managed to dial 112, but his voice wasn't steady.
Na Gang-in called Ppup Girls' maknae, Choi Ji-hye.
- Ah! Is Oppa treating us today? That's why you're calling?
"Soo-yeon's dad is at the back door from the waiting room. He's pretty shaken up right now, so go help him out."
- Huh? Who's Soo-yeon?
"My friend you were talking to earlier."
- Ah! Doctor Sister! Got it!
Na Gang-in still didn't know why Kwon Soo-yeon had gone missing. In a sudden crisis, the four Ppup Girls might not be enough. They needed backup muscle for any contingencies.
"Is Min Young-hee still with you?"
- No, she went to find her friend.
"Tell her to come to you guys."
- Okay!
Na Gang-in searched the area while calling Detective Park Sun-gi.
"Possible kidnapping. Missing person case."
- Whoa! What's the situation?
Na Gang-in briefly explained Kwon Soo-yeon's disappearance.
Park Sun-gi knew a bit about what Na Gang-in had been up to.
- If Master Na says so, it's definite.
"It's been a short time since Soo-yeon vanished. High chance the perp's still on campus."
- I'll contact the school security team right away. Seal all exits—no cars getting out. Search them on exit, and they can't take a hostage.
"Check perimeter CCTV too, and patrol the fences."
- School security won't have enough manpower. I'll request backup from the local precinct.
Na Gang-in looked around.
"Where'd they go?"
- All roads paved. Hard to track.
Asphalt and concrete leave almost no footprints.
Na Gang-in told Park Sun-gi,
"Can you track Kwon Soo-yeon's phone location?"
- Send the number. I'll put in an emergency request.
Na Gang-in sent it. Moments later, the last location pinged.
- Phone shut off at that spot.
Na Gang-in eyed the event hall back door, then the shutdown location.
"I have a rough idea which way they went."
He hung up and sprinted that way.
Suddenly, a sedan peeled out from the parking lot in his direction. It sped down the campus road.
Suspicious.
Na Gang-in dashed sideways, blocking the road and raising his hand.
"Stop!"
If it didn't stop, assume the perp was inside and have the gate controlled to nab them.
But the sedan screeched to a halt. The driver rolled down the window and yelled,
"What the hell are you?!"
Na Gang-in approached the driver's side. Only one man inside.
Na Gang-in said,
"Let me check the trunk."
The man got angry.
"Who are you? Why should I show you my trunk?!"
No time to argue. Na Gang-in reached through the window, unlocked the door, and yanked it open.
"H-Hey! What?!"
"Just a quick look."
Na Gang-in pulled the trunk release, then circled back.
Only place to hide someone. He flung open the trunk.
Miscellaneous junk inside. No Kwon Soo-yeon.
"Uh..."
The man jumped out, shouting.
"Who do you think you are?! I'm reporting you!"
Na Gang-in apologized.
"Sorry. Looking for someone."
"What the— I was in a hurry and just leaving. Watch yourself!"
The man climbed back in, trying to shut the door.
Na Gang-in grabbed it.
The man raged.
"You want jail time or what?!"
Na Gang-in spotted the laptop on the passenger seat.
AI Jeon Ji-in reported.
Na Gang-in asked the man,
"You look out of breath. Run to the car or something?"
"Y-Yeah, urgent call came in, so I ran to the lot!"
"Show me the call log."
"Why should I?!"
"Fair. No need for that."
Na Gang-in dragged the man out and grabbed the passenger laptop. He held it under the campus streetlight.
"Anything else?"
Kwon Soo-yeon had covered her pallor with makeup today.
People touch their faces often. She'd done so too. Makeup from her hands had transferred clearly to the laptop in her fingerprints.
The same prints were on the dropped bottle.
Na Gang-in asked the man,
"This is Soo-yeon's laptop. Why do you have it?"
The man's eyes darted. He slyly slipped a hand into his pocket.
The man drew the jackknife, flicking out the blade threateningly.
"You bastard! Hand over that laptop now..."
Na Gang-in seized the man's wrist.
"What're you doing?"
"Wha— Huh?"
The man panicked. He couldn't move his right arm. It felt clamped in rock.
Na Gang-in gripped tighter.
"Argh!"
The man's hand splayed, knife clattering free.
"Let go! Let go!"
"Where's Soo-yeon?"
"Argh!"
"Where's Kwon Soo-yeon?"
"I-I don't know anyone by that name! Who's that?!"
"You little..."
Na Gang-in grabbed the man's collar and hoisted him up. The man dangled in midair.
"Where is she?"
Terrified, the man choked out,
"I-I didn't do anything! That woman saw me and ran off alone! I was just trying to leave without trouble!"
Na Gang-in hurled the man aside. He hit the roadside.
Na Gang-in rummaged the car's glovebox. A shattered phone in the driver's armrest.
Na Gang-in had seen this phone earlier when asking Kwon Soo-yeon for her number.
He pulled out the broken phone.
"Then what's this doing here?!"
The man scrambled away on the ground, then bolted upright and ran when Na Gang-in yelled.
But no escaping Na Gang-in.
Na Gang-in started to chase, then paused. New development.
Maknae Choi Ji-hye, with Park Sun-gi, had come looking for Na Gang-in and bumped right into the fleeing man.
The man charged at Choi Ji-hye, yelling,
"Outta my way!"
Not just yelling—he swung a fist too.
Choi Ji-hye slipped inside the punch fast. She bent her knees to lower her stance, shouldering his side—not front—to unbalance him.
Finishing, she grabbed his extended arm with both hands and yanked.
"Aaaagh!"
The man screamed, sprawling on the road.
Choi Ji-hye, having thrown him, was stunned.
"Whoa! It worked!"
Her center low, arms extended. Amazed by her own success, she froze in position. But her mouth ran.
"Glad I toughed out that self-defense shoot yesterday!"
She'd learned it filming the self-defense video yesterday.
Na Gang-in taught one technique for versatile use. This rushing-punch scenario got extra reps.
"Amazing. How'd you know something like this would happen today?"
He hadn't.