A Mother's Plea
The police’s faces weren’t exactly warm. It was only natural after so many times. The calls had come with caller ID blocked, which made them a little suspicious, but they still figured it was just some prank call. After all, they sometimes received missing-person flyers that included phone numbers. And callers like that were annoyingly common. The world was changing at a different pace these days, yet the bad pranks never seemed to stop. Whoever was doing it, had they ever wondered how much pain it added to a mother who had already lost her child? The police thought of them as psychos, plain and simple. And as expected, they had some idea of how much pain those calls could stir up in a mother’s heart. But with no real proof and time already slipping away, they couldn’t just waste it waiting for an unknown caller. “Please… please… I beg you…” Kneeling right in front of the police station, the mother of the missing daughter kept pleading. As officers, they had no choice. After nodding and helping her to her feet, they decided to resume searching from the playground where the girl had been seen. They split into teams: some to check the immediate area around the playground, others to review the apartment complex’s CCTV footage. So-yeon was stomping her feet in frustration. In her anxiety, she hoped for even the smallest clue to help find So-yeon. But… sadly, there was nothing. The officers searching the playground vicinity found no traces either. And on the CCTV screens, they only saw So-yeon wandering through the empty playground. Her daughter So-hee wasn’t anywhere to be seen. So-yeon refused to accept it. Something felt terribly wrong. She told the police she had clearly seen her with her own two eyes. Raising her voice and gripping the rail on her neck, she argued with them. “I saw her! I swear! Please believe me!” But the officers’ expressions remained unchanged. Even on the CCTV, and the people searching the playground, no clues turned up. The only thing visible was So-yeon walking endlessly through the complex, calling for her daughter. When she watched that footage, So-yeon felt a sharp jolt of shock. “I… I definitely saw her. She was there.” It felt as if she had been bewitched. She showed the police the remaining traces on her phone. This time, it was the call record with the blocked caller ID. Of course, they couldn’t confirm whether that call was really from her daughter. “I understand your pain… but there’s nothing more we can do here. We saw the CCTV footage, didn’t we? Honestly… I’m sorry to say this, but maybe you misremembered it… or perhaps you dreamed it while you were asleep for just a moment…” “No! It’s real! I… I’m not crazy! Please believe me! My daughter… my daughter called! And she was definitely waiting for me at the playground!” Again, So-yeon showed the phone’s call records, but the police scratched their foreheads in embarrassment. They had already stopped believing her. They looked at her as though the only thing they could accept was some prank call, or perhaps that the grief of losing her daughter had driven her to mental instability. That was the look in their eyes. So-yeon could read it clearly. How frustrating. Her chest felt tightly constricted, and she felt like she might truly lose her mind right there. “It’s true… I’m not lying. I’m not dreaming, and I’m not insane. Please… please believe me.” No matter how desperately she begged, the police only gave her vague expressions. In the end, some officers decided to do one more sweep of the area. Dawn was breaking, the wind growing colder, and the sky still heavy with clouds. In the end, they found nothing. Not a single trace of her daughter. “I’m sorry. Even for us, there’s nothing more we can do. I know your heart is burning, but we can’t focus on this case alone.” “Then what about our daughter? Just wait here?” “Haa… we did try our best. Please trust the police.” “Again… the same thing… every time the same thing! You just say you’re looking! But what are you actually doing?” So-yeon finally shouted, her voice breaking. “You’ve already given up! You don’t even want to find my daughter!” The officers’ faces grew even more troubled. So-yeon lunged forward, grabbing one officer by the collar and shaking him. “Find her! Please! Please find her!” Soon other officers rushed over to pull her away. So-yeon collapsed to the floor and started sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m sorry we couldn’t help. For now… we’ll increase patrols in the nearby area. Please go home for today.” //////// //////// Staggering like a zombie, without a trace of strength, she walked home. With lingering hope, she reached the playground, but her daughter wasn’t there. She had clearly been there. But according to the police, the CCTV showed nothing, and nearby there were no traces. Was it not her daughter? Had someone been pretending to be her daughter? And the call… in the end, had it just been a bad prank? But… the voice had clearly been her daughter’s. So-hee’s mother. It was So-hee’s voice. But how could a mother not recognize the voice of her precious child… It was unjust. Too unjust and frustrating. She didn’t know how to deal with this frustration. Her daughter was real. She had seen her daughter. In her deeply shadowed eyes, tears had begun to well up. Her chest felt as though it was being torn apart in a thousand pieces. “So-hee…” She called her daughter’s name desperately. And then she collapsed onto the bench facing the playground. She wept there for a long time. Some people in the complex glanced at So-yeon’s crying figure and clicked their tongues before walking away at a brisk pace. By then, everyone in the apartment complex already knew about So-yeon’s situation. So-yeon returned home. She hadn’t slept a wink. The heavy fatigue pressed down on her entire body like a lump of lead. With no energy left, she collapsed onto the living-room floor. She just lay there, staring blankly, and then doubt started creeping in. Had she really seen her daughter? She picked up her phone. There was still the call record with the blocked ID. But doubt surged again. Was it really her daughter? Hadn’t the police said it was just a prank call? Was the girl she had seen at the playground just her own illusion? She couldn’t bear the agony. It hurt. Her body hurt from the sorrow. She curled up and cried in broken sobs. The crying didn’t stop. She just kept sobbing and sobbing. Without eating or drinking anything, she lay on the living-room floor and spent endless hours in silence. How much time had passed? Suddenly, the doorbell rang. So-yeon didn’t want to respond. She didn’t want to meet anyone. She didn’t want to talk. No, she didn’t want to do anything. She didn’t have the strength to even lift a finger. Ding-dong. The doorbell kept ringing. She squeezed her eyes shut. She hoped they would just leave her alone. Then she heard the door lock click open. Someone entered, the door creaking. And then… “Mom! So-yeon!” A familiar voice came through. The sound of something spilling poured out. The one who rushed in was her mother. “Mom…” “Oh! So-yeon! What’s wrong? Why are you like this? So-yeon! Oh my!” Mother Hye-sun hugged So-yeon tightly and burst into tears. So-yeon nestled into her mother’s arms, still lost in silence. She still didn’t know what to do. Her eyes had run dry. No thoughts came to her. Her mind was foggy. She truly didn’t know what to do next. “Mom… what should I do now?” //////// //////// “Eat something… come on? You need to eat to get your strength back, right? Look at yourself…” Hye-sun was scolding her. Only then could So-yeon see the steaming rice porridge in front of her. White porridge. A drizzle of sesame oil and sesame seeds sat on top. The savory aroma filled the air and tickled her nose. Yet she felt no hunger at all. Mother Hye-sun forced a spoon into So-yeon’s hand. “You have to eat. Once you get your strength back, you’ll find your daughter, won’t you? If you keep like this, you’ll collapse too! Then how will you find So-hee? So eat! Come on? Even if you don’t have an appetite, you should at least fill yourself up somehow, okay? Please!”