The blowback from the entire incident was huge.

Eun Mei bravely identified all three of her attackers. She reported that three men ambushed her on her way home and abducted her by force. She also told the investigator that she heard them planning to end her life once they had confirmation from their boss. In a four-hour interrogation, Eun Mei identified the dead Jae Kyung in the morgue, as well as Guang and a third man she alleged is the leader of the three. The third man did not take part in her capture, but she can tell from the manner he delivered commands that he is the leader of the three.

A helpful “informer” is able to lead the militia to find the third person by placing him at the scene of the crime with an intact footprint that is similar to the prized foreign boots that the person wears all the time. The third man is identified as Im Iseul. He is a former sergeant in the North Korean Army and is staying with his live-in partner, Doctor Han Soyeon, the town’s local doctor.

After a brief interrogation, Mr. Im finally revealed the identity of his “boss,” whom he claims is the true architect of the kidnapping.

It was the principal of the people’s Guanzu school, Professor Noh.

This revelation caused a shock wave throughout the entire town since the principal is a well-regarded citizen of the community. He is also a prominent member of the local communist party. He is also a friend of the mayor. The principal, of course, denied these allegations.

But then the militia began to show a massive amount of evidence of possible illegal black market dealings in unspecified medicine boxes. They have checked with the ministry of trade and verified that there are no known official transactions with the information given by the official trade papers obtained in Mr. Im’s possession in the doctor's apartment. Due to further tip-offs, the militia expanded the search and found more medical boxes of the same products found in various places in town, including the Guanzu school’s storage facility and a basement owned by a prominent businessman in the area selling bikes. The school principal, the town doctor, and the prominent businessman were all ordered to the militia station for questioning.

*****

Meanwhile, Jung was working in the junkyard the following day after Eun Mei's abduction when he heard a commotion outside. When he went to the streets of the town, a huge pitbull was roaming around the streets. The moment their eyes met, the huge dog came bounding up towards him.

Food, the huge gal said. So Jung did.

Unfortunately, he knew he and his family could not keep the dog on their premises since they did not have the financial capability to maintain such a creature. Instead, he brought the dog to Kwang's place. He knew Kwang was looking for a pet for a long time now, ever since he saw Jung's bird.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

It was love at first sight. Well, at least Kwang did. His eyes turned into hearts the first time he saw the magnificent dog. Kwang readily accepted when Jung asked him to take care of the dog since he couldn't do it himself.

Who is this creature? The dog asked. He smells.

****

Four days after her abduction, Eun Mei returned to school without fan fare. She brushed off any attempt to talk to her by any school staff, and she quietly kept her head down when she was in class. No one learned of Kim Jung Hee’s involvement in the incident, including his closest friends, and they are all speculating with him when they are in the canteen. Jung didn’t say anything but kept glancing at Eun Mei with concern.

The speculation escalated a bit when the people's court charged Ryeo Guang with 12 years of imprisonment in the gulag. Jae Kyung is also charged 12 years posthumously, but no one cared except his girlfriend, Chaeyoung. The last one, Im Iseul, got off lightly because of his cooperation with the militia and because he did not actually hurt the girl during the abduction. Some said that there was a considerable bribe given to the militia to reduce the sentence, but that is also subject to speculation.

2 years and 8 months later, Iseul was discharged from Inchanghei political prison as a free man. Where he went after that, no one knows. Guang died of an unknown cause seven months into his sentence and is forgotten by the world at large.

Back in school, everybody was aware that Eun Mei's brief romance with Cho Garam was also over, since the boy could barely stand to be with her in the same room and always leave the place if he could when she was around. Eun Mei’s behavior with Jung Hee also changed a bit, and it baffled Jung’s friends.

Eun Mei now waited for him outside the gate, and Jung escorted her on her way back home. No words are ever exchanged, just comfortable silence. The truth is, Jung didn’t care if she was still with Garam. From that moment on, Jung decided to watch her every day and make sure she was safe. Jung vowed that nothing like the kidnapping would ever happen to her again under his watch.

As Eun Mei refused to talk about the abduction, the mood of the school started to ebb and lean towards the likable principle. The school staff is already solidly on the principal's side, but more and more kids are also siding with the old man. They might grumble with the militia’s accusations, but no one is brave enough to really challenge their assertions and evidences. Except for one single person: The clinic doctor, Soyeon. She visited the old man in his cell daily and continued to talk with the public defender assigned to the professor by the people’s court. Unfortunately, there are no private lawyers around to ask for a second opinion. With her influence, the public defender demanded to confront his client’s accuser and made enough stink that the militia was forced to admit that their witnesses and evidence were obtained with the help of a concerned citizen.

That was when Jung’s name was first mentioned.

And the entire school went wild. Most kids easily grasped the situation. The moment Eun Mei was kidnapped, Jung started investigating. Most kids knew how capable and relentless Jung is, and the fact that it was Eun Mei, the girl he has had a crush on for years, who was missing, put fire in his ass. Then he found the culprit and reported it to the militia. Most of the details are not available to them, so speculation went rampant. How the principal got involved doesn’t matter, but did Jung throw the professor under the bus? That was the question, and apparently he did so in a heartbeat.

The government disavowed any knowledge about the acquisition of the medicine, as the professor claimed it to be. And yet, they took possession of all the medicine within days of the scandal.

But as the days and weeks continued, the school interest subsided as well. Jung kept himself busy by helping his friends cram for the finals. Ironically, the five students with him are the only real people who did not change their minds drastically about Jung Hee. They are Kwang, Sang-ki, Bon Won, Il-seul, and Minzu. and for a while, they became a core group together.

Jung was hoping everything would settle down afterward, but the night after their finals, Jung received a visitor at his home.