Last Stop: Pyongyang

A long-awaited return

He leaned against the wall, powerless. Monika had never stayed away that long! She was extremely punctual. Whenever they met, she usually showed up before him, and that meant a lot - after all, Tak always arrived at least ten minutes early. How could it be that no one in this family noticed when their own child didn't come home in the evening?

Tak stared into the cloudy sky. He only saw Monika's mother out of the corner of his eye. She had been frozen to the spot the whole time. Her indifferent attitude made Tak angry. This was about her daughter! He had to control himself so as not to shake her violently.

"I have to go... we're rallying for more diversity at universities today," Sabine said in a thin voice and with a confused expression on her face. She turned around and wanted to go back into the house.

The little piece of sympathy Tak still felt for his girlfriend's mother immediately vanished. He literally pierced her with his evil looks. Many insults came to mind, all of which he swallowed. Her daughter had disappeared and she wanted to go on a rally... what was going on?

"Forget about it!" he hurled at her, while the furrow on his forehead grew deeper and deeper. "You're coming to the police with me right now. And if you downplay Monika's disappearance in any way, you'll be sorry!" he shouted threateningly. “Come on, let’s go!” He grabbed the dishevelled Sabine roughly by the arm, pushed her over to his car and opened the passenger door.

Normally, Tak would never have worked Monika’s mother so hard. But his gut feeling told him that this was a matter of life and death. They couldn’t waste any time! He quickly drove off and stepped on the gas.

***

Monika didn’t show up again. Tak, who had stopped by at Emma’s to ask her a few questions about the previous evening, was now completely distraught. His search in the forest – together with Daniel he had walked the path that Monika must have taken twice – had also yielded nothing. Not the slightest trace could be found!

Sang-wan, who wanted to locate Monika’s cell phone, also had to admit defeat – it was switched off.

“Sit down,” Min-ju said reassuringly to her son and put her arm around him. Since she was almost a head shorter than Tak, she had to look up at him. "Perhaps it really is a misunderstanding." Tak snorted and looked angrily at his mother. She didn't believe that!

The front door was unlocked and Yu-ja and Daniel entered the house with worried expressions. Daniel, who still remembered Yu-ja's words about the lurking danger, wondered if that had perhaps been a premonition. Had she sensed something that everyone else had missed? Even though he didn't usually believe in superstition - so many unbelievable incidents had happened in the past year that he felt that he needed to reconsider his stance.

Hand in hand, the two of them came into the living room. Yu-ja looked questioningly at Tak. "Any news?" Her brother shook his head wearily.

She wanted to hug Tak, but he turned away. Then she noticed the tears on his face. Yu-ja, who had never seen her brother cry, hugged him tightly. At that moment, Tak could no longer hold back. He sobbed like never before in his life. Min-ju came over and put her arms around her two children.

***

Three long weeks passed. Tak had hardly any appetite and slept very badly. Monika couldn't just disappear! In his desperation, he visited all her friends at home, but nothing provided the crucial clue. Even his numerous inquiries to the police yielded nothing.

Frustrated, Tak wondered how the authorities could remain so calm in the face of three murders and one disappearance.

The whole time he was wondering whether someone had been going after Monika. But who? She was popular with everyone. Or had she been in the wrong place at the wrong time? By now, he felt a dull despair that had a firm grip on him. Only with difficulty was he able to cope with his studies.

He had considered dropping out of his study, but his parents were firmly against it. In the end, it was Daniel who convinced him to continue. "Monika wouldn't want you to give up. What if she comes back and sees you like this? You can always take a break later so you can look after her. A leave of absence is definitely possible." Daniel was deliberately optimistic in order to cheer Tak up.

Daniel was also affected by Monika's disappearance. He was sad to see his best friend so desperate and hopeless. After a few initial difficulties, Tak and Monika had been so happy together! Things could change so quickly.

By now, it was obvious to everyone that something terrible must have happened. Monika would never have left without saying goodbye!

Late in the evening, Min-ju spoke to Sang-wan about a suspicion that had been bothering her since Monika's disappearance. "What if there is another reason for this? First Amelie, now Monika. Maybe someone hates the family?"

Sang-wan, who could see how much the whole thing was weighing on his wife, hugged her tightly. Unfortunately, he didn't know the answer to her questions either.

***

"The spot is up ahead. As I said on the phone, the damage inflicted by the deer is so bad that we have to do something. The young trees are particularly badly affected." The young forester Sofia Paulus went ahead and showed her more senior colleague the way.

The summer heat was at least somewhat bearable in the forest. Sofia loved plants and animals and was glad that she had been so stubborn about her career choice. I wouldn't be in the right place in an office, she thought.

Suddenly, she heard a muffled sound. She turned around, but could no longer see her colleague. He had just been behind her!

"Manfred?" she called out uncertainly. "I'm here!" It sounded as if the voice was coming from below, from somewhere in the ground.

Sofia slowly came closer and was surprised to see the large hole that suddenly appeared in the mossy forest floor. She took another cautious step forward and peered into the opening.

Her colleague was sitting there, his face contorted in pain, rubbing his ankle. An unpleasant curse escaped his lips. "Dammit! What’s that, an animal trap? Are there any poachers in this forest?"

He was in for a shock when he let his gaze wonder through the dark subterranean chamber. "Call the police, quickly!" he called to Sofia. "There's a dead woman in here!"

***

Tak and Daniel were participating in preparation classes when Tak's phone buzzed. Disinterestedly, he stared at the display and rejected his sister's call. For Monika’s call he wasn’t even waiting anymore. His girlfriend had been missing for six weeks. By now, Tak had given up all hope of seeing her again.

But today, the buzzing never stopped. Yu-ja called him again and again. Why was she so persistent? After her twelfth attempt, Tak went outside and called his sister back. A deep frown formed on his forehead as he stared out of the window at the pouring rain. "What is it?" he asked grumpily.

Excitedly, Yu-ja gave him the news. "Imagine, they found Monika! Two foresters broke into a hole in the ground, and there she was! At first they thought she was dead, but she's alive! She's in pretty bad shape. I'm at the hospital with Mom, but they’re not telling us anything because we're not related to her."

Tak could hardly believe it. Monika was back? For the first time in weeks, the tense expression on his face disappeared. His face brightened. He quickly turned around and ran down the long corridor, back to the seminar room. Panting, he cursed his poor condition - since Monika's disappearance, he hadn't even been able to get himself to work out.

"Come on," he said, pulling Daniel, who had just finished his preparation of an eye, up from his chair by his sleeve. "What's going on?" his friend replied in surprise. He cast a blank look at Tak.

The professor, who found the commotion too much, intervened. "We're all going to sit down and finish the task."

Tak turned to him. His breathing returned to normal. Under the curious gazes of his fellow students, he said: "My girlfriend... they found her. She's in hospital..." The face of Tak's professor, who knew the sad story, relaxed. "That's great news! Come on, go! All the best to your girlfriend!" Tak just nodded.

A smile appeared on Daniel's face. Finally, the redeeming news they had been waiting for so long had come! He felt hugely relieved. Quickly, he grabbed his backpack and Tak's shoulder bag and waved with the car keys. "Well then... let's go." The two of them hurriedly left the room. They ran to the parking lot.

Inside, Professor Metzger breathed a sigh of relief. When people disappeared, it was always stressful for those around them. He had hardly recognized Tak anymore - had he performed excellently at the beginning, he was now barely able to pass the exams. But there was apparently a happy ending. Hopefully, his best student would soon be himself again!

When they got into the car, Tak and Daniel were soaking wet from the rain, which was pouring down harder and harder. In any other circumstances, Tak would have put a blanket underneath, but today he really didn't care about the seats getting wet.

***

At the hospital, it was sobering for Tak to see that apart from his family, only Monika's sister Angelika was present. In the long corridor, she looked even smaller and more scrawny than usual. What the hell were her parents doing?

"Dad is still at his new building site, and Mom is accompanying a student from an underprivileged household," Angelika stammered unhappily when Tak glowered at her. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with the situation.

Tak could hardly contain his rage. He had felt this way all along about the Traunbergers. Their pomp and circumstance, but above all their indifference towards their own children, made him incredibly angry.

"The student could certainly be looked after on another day, and isn't your dad a self-employed architect? He can arrange his appointments accordingly!" After all, it was the same with Sang-wan, who ran his own IT services company.

"Don't they care about their children?" Tak asked forcefully. Angelika didn't answer and looked down in distress. Tears welled up in her eyes. Yu-ja quickly came over and put her arm protectively around Angelika. Pressuring Monika's sister was pointless.