A witness said, “At first I didn’t even know it was Jae. Someone just rose up into the air. I mean it, shit, maybe I’m losing my mind.”
Hundreds of motorcycle gangs on the Seongsu Bridge overpass that day claimed they saw Jae ascend to the heavens. They said that rays beamed down from the sky and carried him up. Their testimonies lined up. Around three in the morning they saw a vague shape rising in a sudden path of light; they were sure that this was Jae. Some of the drafted police officers also posted online about seeing the same thing, with comments like “He spread his white wings and rose into the sky. It was definitely Jae. He had longish hair, and he was tall and thin.”
The only pictures were cell-phone shots of a dark, blurry sky. Some photographed an indistinct light in the pictures, but that was all. Many on the Olympic Highway also saw the phenomenon from their cars. Some Catholics asserted that it was the Virgin Mother appearing on August 15, the feast day of the Assumption.
Seungtae had also been on Seongsu Bridge. He saw Jae’s miserable expression when his long hair had parted, fluttering in the wind. When the boy and his motorcycle had gone over the bridge handrail toward the water, Seungtae closed his eyes.
“Ascension?” said Seungtae the next day to the chief of security. “Do you believe everything you read on the Internet? I’m telling you, it didn’t happen.”
He added, “Wasn’t I there? It’s impossible for it to happen right in front of my eyes and for me not to see it.”
The chief of security picked at his ear. “You think an ascension happens in front of your eyes? It probably happened over your head.”
A diving team found the submerged motorcycle but never discovered the body. The next day the police briefed the press on the Liberation Day motorcycle rally. One missing, 6 bikers injured, 15 police injured, 127 arrested. The gist was that swift, thorough police action at the rally had subdued a potentially large-scale public disturbance in its early stages. Still, alongside news articles titled THE MADNESS OF MOTORCYCLE RALLIES: HOW LONG WILL THEY TEST US? were critical articles with titles like EXTREME POLICE ACTION LEADS TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS CONTROVERSY. Related articles exploded all over the Internet and hundreds of commenters offered their opinions. Hatred ran like a river. But within a few days the articles were crowded out by other news as people lost interest in the motorcycle rally. Summer was coming to an end, and tourists returning from their travels waited for taxis at Incheon International Airport, holding duty-free shopping bags.