Best For Me

Chapter 15

Lia smiled weakly. "I hope so, honey. She's just busy with work at the moment. She'll come by and say hi to us soon, okay?" It might be a lie, but Lia was hoping it was the truth so much that she dared to give her daughter that hope, too. Switching off the light, she went to find something else to clean.

Two more days passed, making it nearly a week and a half since they had seen Yeji. Lia knew that something was very wrong. She ached with missing Yeji and not in a sexual way.

Her heart ached and she missed the presence of the brunette in her life.

She missed her hanging around the kitchen while Lia cooked dinner, missed watching her swing Elly around the living room, playing and laughing.

She missed everything and the aching wouldn't stop. Elly was still missing her, too, although she'd stopped asking so much after her. And, of course, that worried Lia even more.

Although Elly never asked after Soobin, Lia still tried to make up for her ex-husband's lack of fathering skills because she knew Elly felt a little abandoned by him. And now she was feeling it again. That wasn't Yeji's fault, God knew. It was Lia's, if anyone's, but, still, it made her worry.

She tried Yeji's cell again. Turned off. It had been for days.

Another week and Lia had found a new definition of torture. Her own worry about Elly and herself was now pushed firmly to the back of her mind.

Yeji wasn't home. Yeji wasn't answering her phone. Yeji had someone cover for her at both the hospital and the community centre. Lia knew she was bordering on scary with her checking of these places but now it was genuinely out of concern. Her friend had disappeared.

Yeji's bosses had just shaken their heads and done their best to reassure Lia that Yeji was okay. Well, the fact that they'd heard from her meant that she was alive. But okay? No, Yeji was not okay.

There was a feeling deep in the pit of Lia's stomach that she could no longer ignore – an instinct, perhaps – but one that the blonde was willing to trust. Yeji was not okay. Now, if only Lia could find her and find out why, she might be able to do something about it.

Lia sat at home, chewing her fingernails in desperation. She'd asked her parents to take Elly and they'd agreed instantly.

Her father had taken in the bags under her eyes, her slightly drawn face and her worried look and had given her an almighty hug.

After reassuring him to the best of her abilities that she was fine, she admitted to being worried about Yeji.

Doing his social worker best, he'd pulled her inside and made her talk. After letting it all out, she felt better. She was still worried, but better than before.

She remembered her father's parting words: "You're a good friend, Lia, to worry so. She could do a lot worse than depending on you." Lia hoped so. She was just scared to the very root of her being that she was, in this case, the cause of the problem and therefore could never be the solution.

She started out by ringing all of Yeji's numbers again. They were still turned off or, in the case of the home number, ringing straight through to the answering machine.

Still determined, Lia set off for the musician's home. If she wasn't there, Lia would camp out. Or something. Or find one of the brunette's bosses and shake them until they declared the whereabouts of one Hwang Yeji.

Pulling up in the rapidly darkening dusk of the evening, Lia spied a light on at the back of Yeji's house. That definitely hadn't been there the last two times that Lia had driven past.

And it looked like there might be a car in the garage. Well, that was good. Now, all she had to do was pound on the door until Yeji let her in, or until the neighbours called the cops. Maybe the cops would let her in. Unlikely.