Chapter 47 — THE SEARCH BEGINS
The internet had never been this loud.
Not for a comeback.
Not for a dating scandal.
Not even for a celebrity breakup.
This time, thousands of people were searching for one person.
Lucy.
After Kim-Jo collapsed on stage and was rushed to the hospital, the story spread across the world within minutes.
Videos of him falling into Seo Joon's arms flooded social media.
Fans replayed his final words again and again.
«"I don't know where you are... but I'm still looking for you."»
Those words became the center of everything.
At first, fans simply expressed concern.
Then they started asking questions.
Where was Lucy?
When had anyone last seen her?
Why had she disappeared?
And why did Kim-Jo look like a man who had completely lost his world?
Within hours, fan accounts began creating posts dedicated to finding answers.
#FindLucy
#WhereIsLucy
#BringLucyHome
#PrayForKimJoAndLucy
The hashtags spread across countries.
People who had never met Lucy were suddenly searching for her.
Some fans created detailed timelines of the night she disappeared.
Others collected every photograph and video taken around the concert venue.
Some searched through posts uploaded by people who had attended the event.
Others began contacting shops and businesses around the area, asking whether their security cameras might have captured anything.
One fan uploaded a long message.
«"Let's stop blaming Lucy for disappearing. We don't know what happened. Kim-Jo himself said he doesn't know where she is. Until we know the truth, stop attacking her."»
Thousands agreed.
But not everyone did.
Another account replied:
«"Maybe she just left. Why are people acting like something happened to her?"»
The argument exploded.
Some fans defended Lucy.
Others accused her of hurting Kim-Jo.
Some called her ungrateful.
Others insisted that nobody had the right to judge a woman whose whereabouts were unknown.
But beneath all the arguments was one frightening fact.
Nobody actually knew where Lucy was.
---
Inside the hospital room, Kim-Jo stared at his phone.
His face was pale.
The IV attached to his hand seemed completely irrelevant to him.
He had spent the last thirty minutes scrolling through thousands of posts.
People were searching for Lucy.
Strangers.
Fans.
People who had never even spoken to her.
A video showed fans outside the venue holding photographs of Lucy.
Another showed people walking around nearby streets and asking shop owners whether they had seen her.
Someone had created an online map marking places where Lucy might have been seen.
Kim-Jo stared at the screen.
His eyes became wet.
"Why are they doing this?" he whispered.
Seo Joon sat beside the bed.
"Because they care."
Kim-Jo swallowed.
"They don't even know her."
"They know what she means to you."
Kim-Jo lowered his phone.
For a moment, he couldn't speak.
Then he whispered,
"I need to find her."
Seo Joon sighed.
"You just collapsed in front of thousands of people."
"I don't care."
"You could barely stand yesterday."
"I don't care."
"Kim-Jo—"
"I said I don't care!"
The sudden shout filled the room.
Seo Joon fell silent.
Kim-Jo looked away.
His anger disappeared almost immediately.
"I'm sorry."
His voice cracked.
"I just..."
He pressed his fingers against his forehead.
"I can't lie here while everyone else searches for her."
Lee Dae stood near the window.
"We're not just sitting around either."
Kim-Jo looked at him.
Lee Dae held up his phone.
"Our team has contacted security from the venue. They're collecting footage from every camera they can access."
Kim-Jo's eyes sharpened.
"Every camera?"
"Every one."
"Parking lots?"
"Yes."
"Roads?"
"Yes."
"Nearby shops?"
"We're asking."
Kim-Jo slowly nodded.
"Good."
For the first time since waking up, something resembling determination returned to his eyes.
"Then find her."
---
Three hours later, something happened.
A fan account called LucySearchTeam uploaded a video.
It wasn't a clear video.
It was only seventeen seconds long.
The footage had originally been posted by someone who had attended the event.
The person had been filming the crowd outside the venue when the camera accidentally captured part of the street behind them.
Most people wouldn't have noticed anything.
But one fan did.
She paused the video.
Replayed it.
Paused it again.
Then zoomed in.
Her eyes widened.
There, near the edge of the frame, was a woman in a stunning red gown.
The fabric shimmered beneath the surrounding lights, even through the poor quality of the recording.
Long dark hair fell around her shoulders in loose waves.
The fan immediately recognized the gown.
It was the same dress Lucy had worn to the event.
The elegant red fabric flowed around her legs like a fiery waterfall.
"Oh my God..."
The fan's hands began shaking.
She compared the footage with photographs of Lucy from earlier that night.
The gown was unmistakable.
Then she noticed something else.
The woman was wearing the same bracelet Lucy had been wearing.
The fan quickly posted the video.
"IS THIS LUCY?"
Within minutes, the post exploded.
Thousands of people watched it.
Then millions.
People began examining the seventeen seconds frame by frame.
"THAT'S HER DRESS!"
"That's Lucy!"
"Look at her hair!"
"Wait... zoom in!"
"That's definitely the red gown she wore tonight!"
"Who is the person behind her?"
"Pause at 00:11!"
Everyone suddenly became an investigator.
Screenshots appeared everywhere.
Fans circled shadows and faces.
People slowed the footage down.
Others increased the brightness.
One fan noticed something disturbing.
The woman in the red gown appeared to stop suddenly.
Then she looked behind her.
And someone was walking several steps behind her.
The footage ended before anything else could be seen.
That tiny detail changed everything.
Because if it really was Lucy...
Why had she stopped?
Who had she been looking at?
And who was the person behind her?
---
Kim-Jo's phone rang.
He answered immediately.
"Hello?"
It was his manager.
"Kim-Jo, you need to see something."
"What?"
"There's a video circulating."
Kim-Jo sat up.
"What video?"
His manager sent him the link.
Kim-Jo opened it.
The seventeen-second clip played.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
His breathing changed.
"That's Lucy."
Seo Joon immediately leaned closer.
"Are you sure?"
Kim-Jo stared at the screen.
"I know her."
He played it again.
"There."
He pointed at the woman in red.
"That gown."
Lee Dae stepped closer.
"That is the gown she wore at the event."
Kim-Jo nodded.
"And her hair."
He swallowed.
"She was wearing it exactly like that."
Seo Joon looked at the timestamp.
"When was this taken?"
His expression changed.
"Wait."
He zoomed in.
The timestamp showed the same night Lucy disappeared.
Kim-Jo's heart began beating faster.
"So she was there."
"Yes," Lee Dae said.
"But look at the person behind her."
They froze.
A dark figure could be seen several steps behind the woman in red.
The image was blurry.
There was no clear face.
No obvious identity.
But the figure appeared to be following her.
Kim-Jo's face became pale.
"Who is that?"
Nobody answered.
His manager immediately contacted the security team.
"Get the original footage," Kim-Jo said.
His voice was no longer emotional.
It was cold.
"Not the edited version. I want the original."
---
The video continued spreading.
And then another fan noticed something.
The person who had originally uploaded the footage had deleted the post.
That only made everything worse.
Screenshots had already been saved.
People began asking why the original video had disappeared.
Was it because the person had made a mistake?
Had someone contacted them?
Or had they simply become frightened by the attention?
Nobody knew.
Then Kim-Jo received a message.
Not from his manager.
Not from Seo Joon.
Not from Lee Dae.
An unknown number.
There was no greeting.
No explanation.
Only five words.
STOP LOOKING FOR HER.
Kim-Jo stared at the screen.
His fingers went cold.
Seo Joon noticed his expression.
"What happened?"
Kim-Jo slowly turned the phone toward him.
Seo Joon read the message.
His face changed immediately.
Lee Dae came closer.
"Who sent that?"
"I don't know."
"Can you trace the number?"
Kim-Jo looked at his manager.
"Do it."
His manager nodded and stepped outside to make the call.
Kim-Jo stared at the message again.
Another notification appeared.
This time, it was a photograph.
His heart stopped.
It was Lucy.
But the photograph was dark and unclear.
She was sitting somewhere Kim-Jo couldn't recognize.
Her head was lowered.
Her face was partly hidden.
Kim-Jo's hands began shaking.
"Lucy..."
Seo Joon looked at the photograph.
"Where is this?"
"I don't know."
Kim-Jo zoomed in.
Behind Lucy was a plain wall.
Nothing recognizable.
No window.
No sign.
No clue.
Then another message appeared.
LET HER GO.
Kim-Jo's eyes filled with tears.
He clenched the phone.
"No."
His voice was barely audible.
"I won't."
He looked at Seo Joon.
"I don't care who they are."
Then he looked at the photograph again.
"I'm finding her."
Outside the hospital, thousands of fans were still searching.
They didn't know what had just happened.
They didn't know that somewhere in the world, someone was watching them search.
And they certainly didn't know that the seventeen-second video had just changed everything.
Because for the first time...
Kim-Jo had proof that Lucy might not have simply disappeared.
Someone knew where she was.
And someone wanted him to stop looking.