you have to be quiet, jiminie.

you can't make a sound.

it's like a game of hide and seek, and we don't want you to be found, do we?

you want to win, don't you?

that's right.

now be a good boy and be silent.

***

"Jungkook? That's your name, right?"

Jungkook frowned, looking over at his siblings.

"Jungkook, I need you to answer me please."

Jungkook looked at Lisa, but he didn't trust her. "Yeah."

"All right, Jungkook. Can you tell me what happened today?"

And again, Jungkook looked back to his siblings, and Lisa knew that if he were left next to them, he wouldn't tell her the truth, or at least, not all of it.

"How about we do this somewhere else?" she suggested, standing up and holding out a hand for Jungkook to take.

"Where are you taking him?" Namjoon asked, worried.

"Just to an empty interrogation room. Don't worry, Namjoon. I just need to make sure I hear everything from him without his story being altered because he knows you guys are here. You're welcome to sit in if you're worried about his rights being violated, but then he might not tell me the whole truth."

Namjoon hesitated before nodding. "Fine."

Lisa smiled and took Jungkook's hand, leading him to an empty interrogation room and sitting next to him rather than across from him to make him more at ease. "So, Jungkook. You were about to tell me everything that happened today."

Jungkook frowned. "I woke up for school, had breakfast, and brushed my teeth. Then we all got in the car - Jimin too - and Daddy dropped me and Jimin off at preschool."

Didn't Namjoon say he dropped off the older kids first?

Lisa noted the small detail and listened as Jungkook went on.

"Our teacher called attendance and then said we could play."

"And who do you usually play with, Jungkook? Tae and Jimin?"

Jungkook shook his head. "I already play with them at home a lot. In school, I play with the girls."

Lisa nodded, writing everything down and making sure her recorder was still running. "And who does Jimin play with?"

"He plays by himself. Well, sort of." Jungkook frowned, glancing at the mirror. "Why can't I see anything in it?"

Lisa blinked. "Because it's one-way."

"What does that mean?"

"Someone on the other side can see us in here, but we can't see them."

"Is there someone there right now?"

"Nope. Now, Jungkook, you were telling me about who Jimin plays with?"

Jungkook crossed his arms. "These two kids always pick on Jimin."

"Which kids?"

"Jongup and Hyukk. Jimin likes to play with blocks, and they always knock his stuff over. But Taehyung picks on them back because he's always babying Jimin."

Lisa frowned, hearing bitterness in Jungkook's tone. "Jungkook? Do you have more you want to say about Jimin? How you felt about Jimin?"

Jungkook scowled. "He was always crying! Always. And everyone always spoiled him because of it."

"Was he crying in class today?"

Jungkook hesitated.

"Jungkook?"

"No," he said, shaking his head and looking away.

"Jungkook, I need the truth or else I can't work properly."

Jungkook pursed his lips. "Fine. Yeah, Jimin was crying. When isn't he?"

"Why was Jimin crying, Jungkook?"

"How should I know?"

"You didn't see him?"

Jungkook hesitated. "We were playing a game. I wasn't paying attention to Jimin."

"Well, did you hear anything?"

Jungkook paused again. "I think...they knocked his tower over. I heard the blocks. And I heard Jimin crying. And then..." Jungkook swallowed, looking up guiltily. "Am I going to get in trouble?"

Lisa shook her head, patting him encouragingly. "We need all the information you have, Jungkook. Don't you want us to find Jimin?"

Jungkook sighed after a long moment. "Yeah. I don't always like Jimin but...he's still my brother." But then Jungkook made a face. "Just because he was born in Busan first."

"All right, Jungkook, go on."

Jungkook sighed. "I...I think I heard Jimin say my name, only...I didn't...we were playing the game and I didn't even look. And then he said Tae's name-"

"But Taehyung wasn't there," Lisa said, looking at Jungkook, who nodded, shrugging.

"Taehyung is always there for Jimin. Like I said, he babies him."

"What else did you hear, Jungkook?"

"Nothing. That was it. Then Daddy came, and we didn't see Jimin."

"Jungkook? When did you start playing the game with the girls?"

Jungkook hesitated. "Before snack time?"

"When is snack time?"

"Before lunch."

"So when did you last see Jimin?"

Jungkook's eyes avoided hers as he thought about it. "I don't...I guess...snack time?"

Lisa stared at Jungkook for a moment. "So the last time you saw Jimin was snack time?" she asked before flipping through a printout she'd made of the preschool's schedule. "That was 10:00 AM?"

Jungkook shrugged, nodding.

"And you left around 3:00 PM?"

He shrugged once more, nodding again.

"So you didn't see Jimin for five hours and you didn't say anything?"

Jungkook's brows furrowed as he panicked slightly. "You said I wouldn't get in trouble!" Jungkook hesitated, lowering his voice. "We were...we were playing a game...I didn't..." Jungkook looked up with wide eyes. "Are you going to arrest me?"

Lisa blinked. "Arrest you? Why?"

"Because I wanted Jimin to disappear," Jungkook whispered. "Just for a second! But...then he did. Isn't this my fault? Isn't that why you took me away from Daddy?"

Lisa stared at him for a long second before closing her eyes, sighing, and shaking her head. "No, Jungkook. It's not your fault, and I'm not going to arrest you. I just needed to hear what you had to say about Jimin.

Jungkook made an oh face. "Jimin is nice. When he found out that he was taller than Taehyung and Taehyung was upset, Jimin offered to write Taehyung's name on his spot instead, but Taehyung wouldn't do it."

"So Jimin is nice, but you wanted him to disappear?"

Jungkook's eyes drooped, and his lips turned down at the corners. "I just wanted them to pay more attention to me," he said softly. "I'm cute, right?" He looked up, looking dejected. "But it doesn't matter because I'm not cuter than Jimin. Everybody always wants to hug Jimin. Even Yoongi likes hugging Jimin. What about me?"

***

Lisa brought Jungkook back to the others with a sigh. Namjoon looked up, and she shook her head, a signal for we'll talk about this later.

Then she set about talking to the rest of the children.

***

Taehyung was next, since she'd figured that she'd work from the youngest on up.

"You're going to bring Jimin back, right?" was the first thing he asked once they were in the room, and she nodded.

"I'm going to do my best."

"That's not a yes," Taehyung said, and she hesitated.

"We don't know who took him or how they took him or where he is or even if it was a kidnapping at all at this point. But we're going to figure out everything we can, okay?" Should I really be saying this to a 4-year-old? But Jungkook was right, he seems so mature...He's just got this face that I can't lie to... "So what can you tell me about Jimin?"

Tae sucked his bottom lip in. "Jimin is my precious little brother."

"But you're younger than him?"

Tae squirmed a little bit. "Yeah, but...Jimin's...he's...special. He can get really sad sometimes, and I don't like seeing him sad."

"Jungkook said he cries a lot?"

Tae frowned. "Well, yeah, but Jimin's feelings are easily hurt. You have to be careful. But Jungkook loves Jimin too. Didn't he tell you that?"

Well, I got the feeling that he might love him but not particularly like him... "Your dad and Jungkook both told me that you look after Jimin?"

Tae nodded.

"Why is that?"

Tae sighed. "Because some people know how Jimin is and they're mean to him because of it. It makes me mad."

"And so you protect him?"

Tae shrugged. "I try to let him protect himself, but he doesn't. I think he doesn't know how to."

"But you won't teach him?"

Tae hesitated. "Jimin's just not like that. And...I don't mind protecting him because I love him. It makes me happy because I know that he needs me and he loves me too. He told me that he couldn't live without me." Tae looked at Lisa, troubled. "You need to find Jimin, because I'm not there with him. I can't protect him right now." Tae looked down, playing with his fingers. "I shouldn't have left him along at school. I bet Jongup and Hyukk took him," he mumbled.

"Jongup and Hyukk?" Lisa asked, searching back through her notes from Jungkook's interview. "The two boys who picked on Jimin?"

Tae nodded, scowling. "They're always destroying the stuff he makes and laughing at him, but they're scared of me so they won't bother him when I'm with him."

Lisa nodded, writing it down. "All right, Taehyung. Anything else?"

He hesitated.

"Go on. You can say it, whatever it is. Even if you think it's silly."

"You need to find Jimin," he repeated. "He can't sleep if he isn't tucked in right. The monsters will get him."

"The monsters?"

Tae nodded. "He's scared of them, and if you don't tuck him in, the monsters will come. And Jimin doesn't have his blankies or his stuffed animals or me so they're definitely going to come and he's going to be scared and he's going to cry and I can't make him happy again if I don't know where he is so you have to find him," Tae said, his eyes watering, and Lisa nodded quickly, afraid to make a 4-year-old-cry.

Tae clammed up after that, wouldn't say a word.

***

"And you're-" She dug through her notes.

"Hobi! I'm your hope, I'm your angel, I'm Hobi!" the little boy began, forcing a smile, but a second later, he was sobbing. "Where's Jimin?!" he cried, resting his forehead on the table. "I want to see Jimin! Bring Jimin back!"

And so he went on for fifteen minutes. Lisa couldn't even get a single question in.

***

"Where is he?" Yoongi asked, glaring at Lisa.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"It's your job. Aren't you supposed to be good at it?" he asked, and she pursed her lips, trying not to go off on a 6-year-old.

"It's a process, okay? And we're at the beginning of it."

"Well, hurry up." For the first time since entering the room with Lisa, Yoongi looked a bit unsure. "Jimin is scared of a lot of things. He's probably scared right now."

"How close are you with Jimin?" Lisa asked, trying to get back to the questions.

Yoongi crossed his arms. "You think I did it?"

Lisa restrained herself from rolling her eyes. "No. I just want to know how you got along with Jimin."

Yoongi frowned, looking away. He didn't like saying sensitive things to people, and it helped if he didn't make eye contact. "We got along well. He's a good kid. He's nice, unlike me. Sometimes I made him cry. I didn't mean to. I just say things I don't mean to say and he gets upset. But he always forgives me. Every time. Right away. I would say something, he would cry, but then I'd hug him and he'd forget about it and somehow walk away thinking that I was a great older brother."

"Why did you say mean things to him?"

"I don't know, okay? Sometimes I just wanted to see his reaction. And..." Yoongi looked down. "Sometimes I just wanted an excuse to hug him. I don't get a lot of hugs cause I'm not a good kid. But Jimin didn't care. He always gave me hugs. I didn't like it from other people a lot, but I didn't mind if it was Jimin." Yoongi looked up, his face hard again, like he'd shut off his sentimentality tap. "Are you going to ask me for an alibi?"

Lisa sighed. "No, I'm pretty sure we've already established that you're not guil-"

"Do I get a lawyer?"

"No, like I was saying-"

"Then am I done here?"

Lisa sighed. "Fine."

He hopped off the chair and opened the door. "Officer Lisa?"

"Yes, Yoongi?"

"Please find Jimin."

She was shocked to hear the word please come out of his mouth. "That's what I plan on doing."

"Good. Because I want to give him a hug and it's hard to do that when he's not here." He left, and the door swung shut after him even though he was only a head or two taller than the doorknob.

***

"You're the oldest."

Jin nodded. "When is Jimin coming home?"

Lisa sighed. "I wish I could tell you. Anyway, can you tell me how you got along with Jimin or anything helpful that you remembered?"

Jin thought to himself for a moment. "Daddy was gone a long time today. We were sitting in the car, and when he came back, it was just with Jungkook. He didn't have Jimin."

Lisa nodded, exhaling slowly. "Namjoon - your dad - thinks somebody took Jimin. As in, they stole him."

Jin blinked. "Well, can we steal him back?"

"We don't know who took him or even if anyone took him. That's the problem."

Jin shook his head. "Jimin wouldn't wander off. He's too scared to be alone. He would have stayed in the classroom because Jungkook was there."

Lisa stared at Jin for a moment before writing that down quickly. "What else do you think Jimin would have done?"

"Well...Jimin's too nice. If somebody asked him to do something, I think he would do it. As long as he didn't have to leave the room."

Lisa scribbled everything down. "Thank you, Jin. That's very helpful."

"Officer Lisa?"

She stopped to look at Jin. "Yes, Jin?"

"Do you think you'll find Jimin?"

She hesitated before smiling. "Of course, sweetie."

But Jin didn't smile, he just kept staring at her.

"What's wrong, Jin?"

"That color."

"What color?"

"Your lipstick."

"What about my lipstick, Jin?"

"That's the same one my mom used."

"Oh." Lisa blinked, confused, before shrugging. "It's a popular shade-"

"I don't believe you."

Lisa stared at Jin. "About the color? It really is popular, it's called Effervescent Cranberry and it's-"

"About you finding Jimin."

Lisa didn't know what to say or do. "Why not?" she finally asked.

"Because she lied about loving us and you're lying about finding Jimin."

"Jin, that's a bit of a le-"

"You don't believe Daddy that Jimin is missing. You think he just got lost somewhere." Jin was quiet and still. "Jimin wouldn't. He would never leave Jungkook alone in that room, not just because Jimin is scared and clingy, but because he's stupid and selfless and he would never let anyone or anything hurt Jungkook. He would never leave his baby brother alone. But now Jimin is alone somewhere and you're writing stuff down in your little pad but you're probably just waiting for a bus stop or train station to call in saying they found a 4-year-old boy, but that's not true. You won't get that call because that isn't going to happen. My little brother is out there somewhere, scared and alone, and you aren't taking this seriously." Jin's eyes watered with anger. "You just let us in because you think Daddy is cute."

Lisa was shocked speechless. "Jin, that's not-"

"Then prove it," he cut her off. "Prove it by finding Jimin."

And then he left.

***

"I'm sorry, Jungkook. I had a follow-up question that I forgot to ask you," Lisa said, still shaken from her interview with Jin.

"Yeah?" Jungkook asked, and his eyes still didn't show any trust for her.

"What was that thing that you were going to tell your dad?" she asked gently.

"Oh. That." Jungkook waited a long moment.

"Yes, Jungkook?"

"I forgot it."

***

"I'm sorry, Namjoon, but nothing's come up so far. I had someone check the security cameras outside the school, but they didn't see any kids that looked like Jimin. And...I hate to say it, but he's small enough to fit in a backpack. Anyone could have smuggled him out."

"But why would he have climbed into a backpack?" Namjoon asked, stressed.

"I don't know, Namjoon. I don't know." Lisa sighed. "You should all go home and try to sleep. Who knows, maybe he'll have wandered home. In the meantime, I'll keep checking footage. Maybe someone ran a red light and he was in the front seat, I don't know."

Namjoon nodded, mumbling a small "thanks" as he took his kids out to the car, all of them in worse shape than when they'd entered. Lisa felt horrible for making that happen, but she'd needed information.

And when she found out that Jungkook had used all of her sticky notes, she felt a little less bad.

But as the sky grew darker outside the station, Lisa was left staring at the wall with one huge question weighing down on her:

How do you smuggle a kid out of a room of kids without anyone noticing?

And something else weighed down on her as well:

After the first 24 hours, the chance of the child being returned drastically decrease.

Which means I have until 3:00 PM tomorrow or earlier, because we don't know when Jimin disappeared.

All we know is that he was in the room at 10:00 AM.

I have to talk to everyone else in that classroom.