1 Kidnapped

Disclaimer: the following content contains depictions of religion and ethnic disputes continue at your own will.

Hello my name Youngho and this is my story to greatness.

There is not a single part of my body that's not aching. The swelling in my cheeks has lessened, and I can finally open my eyes with ease. I forced myself to look around, but the scene has not changed a bit.

A light bulb dangles from the ceiling and the small, Iron barred Windows are merely touching the ceiling at the top corner. They seem to function as a vent to circulate air rather than for letting sunlight into the room.

It has been three days since I got locked up in this room, but all they have been doing is giving me some thin soup and tough bread. They beat me so hard the first day I was dragged here, but from the next day onward, they haven't even laid a finger on me.

I have no idea why I got beaten up since I am just an innocent merchandiser who came here to sell Korean unmanned security systems. But before that let us return to the beginning.

Baku, Azerbaijan 2:30PM

Youngho, who was drinking a cup of coffee at a café, was threatened at gunpoint. The men dragged him and beat him with sticks. It was no use to plead or protest with his poor English.

Youngho had a bad feeling that he was being terribly misunderstood by these people. As they wanted to scare him, they covered his eyes, threw him into a car and drove him to a who-know where for several hours.

At first, they slapped his face, brutally taking down his self-esteem, and later they beat his shoulders with a large, thick rubber stick. It was terrifying to get beaten up without a single word of explanation.

Youngho figured that these people were not from the official Armenian army when they started beating him. He came to this conclusion not only because of their inconsistent beatings. But also because their beating was leading to nowhere. They seem to be tormenting him without a purpose. He thought that this organization must be a sloppy one.

Youngho was saving his words since he could get into grave danger if he exposed their identity. He needed to gain their trust and make them believe that he was not their foe, but it seemed impossible since he couldn't communicate with them.

There were three to four people guarding him around the clock, but he recognized nobody. He became desperate when he found out that he couldn't communicate with them even with his poor Russian because as far as he knew, most Armenians spoke Russian.

After all the hassles of the first day, Youngho noticed a change in their behavior.

It was clear that someone was watching Youngho who had been staying in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for 15 days going in and out of the ministry of foreign affairs and main police department. It didn't make sense to abduct Youngho, who just came from Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory, if they hadn't been watching him.

Even with little ambiguity in his look, Youngho considered his appearance a natural Korean's. He wasn't sure if there might have been some Westen blood in his ancestry because his family was often told they look a little western back in Korea, but his passport clearly showed that he was from the 'Republic of Korea'

They must be startled to find that he was a 27 year old Korean named Lee Youngho, as they went through his stuff after abducting him.

There was no doubt that they were Nagorno-Karabakh organizations that were fighting against Azerbaijan. With hope of getting released, Youngho felt uncertain about the possibility of his adductors making a reckless decision to avoid the Korean government's protest.

Youngho managed to find a little trading shop in Yongsan Electronic Market with his friends.

It was a bad idea to start a business in eastern Europe. Trusting his English skills, since he majored in English literature back in college, he decided to come here to sell Korean unmanned security systems which were popular here.

His friend Cho Sangchun tried to stop him because Youngho was going to a disputed territory, but Youngho insisted for he thought he could make even more money from the business in a place like this.

He confidently thought that his Western look could attract more people. But here he was, all locked and beaten he felt like laughing.

The situation was not funny at all since he wasn't sure whether he could be facing death soon. It drove him crazy that he didn't understand any Armenian or Azerbaijani, not to mention nobody spoke English in this group, which was systemized enough to abduct him.

It was uncertain if they just did not want to communicate at all

Whether they wanted to terrorize him enough so that he could confess anything was unclear, but it was no use since he did not know anything.

The insides of his mouth hurt, but he forced himself to chew on the tough bread, recovering was his first priority.

He felt clear pain in one of his outer thighs ever since he got beaten up with a rubber stick, but he tried To get used to walking with it.

He had been staying in shape, his body was not robust, but that didn't help with all the pain from the beatings. The situation was so absurd that he kept on cussing

If he was not threatened at gunpoint, he could have defended himself because Youngho once belonged to a naval special force unit. But now what? He was already tied up unless he possessed some special fleeing skills..

His beard was looking pretty bushy since he could not have shaved for the past three days.

He spoke English to a huge guy who came to give him his meal as if it was a normal meal time.

"Hey, got any cigarettes?"

The big guy stared at him and took out a cigarette and a lighter.

Surprisingly, this big, dumb-looking guy understood English.

The fact that the guy started to communicate with him after three days was telling Youngho that their attitude towards him had changed. Youngho was excited to think that he might be able to get freed. After thinking about how to act, he chose to try showing boldness rather than nervousness.

The cigarette was American and the lighter was "Bultina" , a Korean brand. Youngho felt frustrated noticing that it was his.

How dare they touch my lighter!? Don't they know that smokers are attached to their lighters

"Aaaaaahhh…"

He felt a little dizzy as he inhaled the cigarette smoke for the first time in three days. After he sucked up his entire cigarette, the guy was generous enough to give him one more cigarette.

Even though they covered his eyes when they beat him, Youngho knew that this was the one who had beaten him harshly. His humongous hand that was like a big cauldron lid was proof.

"Is there anybody here who speaks English or Russian?"

The big guy jerked, which meant he understood

"Do you know why I am here? I am a citizen of Korea!"

Saying that made him choked up for no reason. It was nothing to cry about. Embarrassed by his tears, Youngho breathed heavily

"You dick! Are you mute?"

"..."

As Youngho got up from his chair and started to approach him. The guy stepped back and stopped Youngho with his hands. Youngho's height was 185 cm, but this guy was at least a head taller then him.

"I'd like to meet the person in charge"

Youngho pulled out his thumb and repeatedly said "captain"

After looking down on Youngho for a moment, the guy stepped out of the room, saying "Wait"

What was wrong with this guy? He spoke English but was playing dumb all along.

"Hey, you jerk! You understood me but ignored me all along?"

The huge guy did not answer and shut the Iron door.

Youngho was startled.

Even though his English bore a hard accent, Youngho felt hopeful in knowing that he could speak to him. At second thought, he felt leery. They already knew who he was. But they were not letting him go. A sudden thought popped into his head

They can't be assassin's sho leave no witnesses

Youngho began to think about how troublesome he could be as an eyewitness for them. They might be discussing Youngho becoming a cause for another trouble after abducting him.

I've got to escape. They'll kill me like a dog.

He swiftly looked around his surroundings, searching for tools to escape with. There lay only a chair, desk, and a light bulb. No; a wooden meal tray and spoon were there as well.

Since they had taken his shoes to prevent him from running away, Youngho was already barefoot. He felt helpless to know where to go after leaving the room, but his mind was telling him to flee.

Youngho began to think hard. He could take one big guy, but what would he do after that? He had no idea where he was.

This Nagorno-Karabakh was a Plateau of over 1,000 meters/3281 ft above sea level. He would starve to death if this place was located in the midst of the mountain.

On top of that, an organization this big would locate him wherever he went in this country. However, sitting and waiting for them to turn friendly felt stupid enough. He stretched his body to prepare for the next move.

He did not have enough strength to escape. He had not fully recovered since all he had been eating for the past few days was thin soup and rough bread. He tried to do some push-ups, but he felt pain along his sides and back as soon as he began. He had to stop after forcing a few repetitions.

He finally realized that he could not take those guys down by himself even with his well-built body. After all, they belonged to a big organization with guns and knives.

Youngho's new strategy was to convince them that he would not report them if they freed him, but he was not sure if he could do that with the current state of his brain, which didn't seem to be working properly at the moment.