Taehyung throws his phone to the side when his call got to her voicemail box for the 30th time that night. He has been trying to call Haru but to no avail. He texted her but received no reply at all. Everyone has been trying to call her and none of them got to reach her.
"God damn it Tae", he hits the empty seat beside him, holding in the anger. "You really messed up".
"Hey"
Seokjin's voice made him look up, and immediately his brother gives him a cup of warm drink gesturing him to take it.
"It's very late", Seokjin takes the seat beside him. "Go home"
"Hyung—"
"I know", Seokjin cuts him off, nodding knowingly. "We will find her. I informed her friends, and they are trying their best to reach her. So, please, don't torture yourself".
He stares into the empty space, breathing in and out slowly yet heavily. There are just too many things going in his head till it feels like he might explode any second. But the most apparent is the anger towards himself.
Every time he remembers the disheartened look Haru gave him, it felt like someone just poked his heart with the sharpest needle. Or maybe a knife. Either way, it pains him. His heart feel like it is being crushed bit by bit as he recalls how disappointed she looked earlier.
"Don't touch me"
When she said that to him, he swore with his entire existence it felt like she hated him. Will he ever recover if Haru really hates him? Will she really hate him?
It never crossed his mind to make her look pitiful in his eyes. Everything he did was to make her happy and nothing else. He may have known the truth about Haneul earlier, but it doesn't change the way he treats her.
All he wanted to do is to make her happy.
But it turns out, he could have done better. Maybe it was better to talk about it to her. Things might not end up like this if he had been honest to her. He could have been with her right now, holding her in his arms as he comforts her. It could have been easier if only he thought it through.
"Tae", his brother taps on his thigh. "Stop blaming yourself"
"How can I not?"
"You know it's not your fault", Seokjin sighs silently, glancing at his brother. "She doesn't hate you, Tae"
Taehyung groans lowly as he looks down at the floor, trying to calm himself. It is his fault. He did her wrong and he broke the trust she has for him. Why did not he think about this thoroughly. Haru has every right to be mad and disappointed.
Wouldn't he feel the same if that happens to him?
"I hurt her, hyung"
"We all did", Seokjin sighs audibly. "Not just you"
"I want to be with her—but I don't know where she is", his voice trembles, unable to control him overwhelming emotions. "I just want to be with her"
"I know", he pats Taehyung's shoulder, pressing it gently. "You know what else I know?"
"What?"
"As much as Haru said she doesn't want to see you, I know she needs you the most right now"
-
The second his online conference ended that afternoon, Taehyung wasted no time but to continue searching for Haru. He could barely focus on whatever the speakers talked about the entire two hours. All he wanted to do is to find her. Everyone has been trying to reach her, but it seems like she had switched her phone off. He checked her house last night, but she was not there. Even her car is not at the parking lot.
It felt like she just vanished into the thin air.
"Come on, Haru", he pressed her name on his phone again and again, desperate to reach her. "Don't do this to me"
It kept going straight to her voicemail box and that was the last straw. He slams both hands on the steering wheel and groans so loudly it echoes in his head. He is angry at himself for allowing this to happen. He didn't even get any decent sleep the night before, restless, worried, mad and regretful at himself.
He keeps thinking about the possibilities of things being better if only he had been honest with her.
"Please...", he sighs, eyes fluttering as he looks at his phone again. "Please, just answer me"
He feels like a madman tapping on her name again and again even knowing he can never reach her. He keeps texting her as if she will even reply him. But he is desperate and the feeling of remorse taking over him is not helping him.
The soft knock on his window stunned him. Seokjin stands at the passenger's side, gesturing him to let him in. Once he got inside, he watches as his brother offered him a cup of warm drink and a packet of sandwich.
"I know you have not eaten. Eat", he puts the sandwich on Taehyung's lap. "Please"
Sighing heavily to himself, he takes the cup from Seokjin's hand only to realize it is a cup of hot chocolate. The rich smell of hot chocolate lingers around them, asserting a certain feeling of comfort and nostalgia.
A bitter laugh left his mouth at the remembrance of those days when he used to bring warm chocolate drink for Haru whenever she is sad. Time sure have flown fast.
"Tae"
He looks at his brother, watching as his brother fishes his phone out of his pants' pocket. "What?"
"I talked to Haru's mother just now. And also, Areum", he scrolls his phone and starts typing something in his phone. "Haru's mother said this is not the first time she disappeared. She did this a few times when she was small"
"W-What?"
"Apparently they are used to this", Seokjin rubs the back of his neck, sighing. "She said Haru will hide till someone finds her"
"But w-we can not even find her?", Taehyung's voice shakes, another rush of feeling waving in. "We don't know where—"
"Listen", Seokjin meets his eyes. "Areum said she loves quiet places. Somewhere she can be alone—really alone—and cry. She mentioned Haru once run to her late grandmother's cottage. So, she might be there".
"How are you sure she is there?", there's hope glinting in Taehyung's eyes when he heard that. "Can I go there? Where is it?"
Seokjin curves a small smile as he taps on his phone again and then a loud "ping!" is heard from Taehyung's phone.
"That's the address", he points at Taehyung's phone. "Haru's mother gave me all the information needed, the lock combination and the passcode. So, I think you know what to do"
-
The one-hour drive to the address felt like eternity to Taehyung. Losing focus every minute as his mind drifts away from the road, unable to think of nothing but Haru. The sky is getting dark each second but he didn't even realize till the front car's flashed their back light to signal him that he didn't turn on his car lights.
His head is otherwise occupied with everything that happened yesterday. The blame he puts on his own shoulder is beginning to eat him, sucking all rationality to the point Seokjin had to put some sense in him. Taehyung couldn't think properly, too afraid he might lose Haru on which, Seokjin assured him, he will not.
As much as he wants to pinpoint everything to himself, Seokjin was the one to properly sort everything and make him see from a different perspective. Haru could have been too shaken with the sudden revelation; Haneul being her biological sister and then, she could have hoped Taehyung to be the one she could share the shock. Taehyung knowing the truth before her might have messed up the entire system thus her abrupt reaction of lashing on him.
Nevertheless, he still believes he could have done better for her.
Reaching another red light, he finally snaps out of his intrusive thoughts and look up at the night sky. He's almost there according to the car's navigation and by looking at the surrounding, he's reaching the outskirts of Seoul. Not many tall buildings around, less cars and the crowd are definitely smaller in number than the city's. It looks like a peaceful suburb hidden in the city of Seoul, a calming escape away from the buzzing city life.
As he waits for the green light, his mind travels back to the short phone call between him and Haru's mother a while ago.
"Taehyung-ssi, I am sorry I put this heavy burden on you. But, I know among her very own family members, she needs you the most. It's better for you to go and find her than me, her own mother but a blood stranger. I can't thank you enough for doing this but I hope you're able to find her and bring her back"
Fifteen minutes later, he drives into a very big house on which is guarded with an automated gate. Pressing in the passcode Haru mother provided him, he easily gets in and parked his car in front the main door. He looks around the big porch, searching for Haru's car and feels relieved when he sees it near the small garden at the left side of the big space.
He tries calling her again but it went straight to voicemail and that worries him. What if she is not here? What if she has gone somewhere and he could not find her? He might be overacting but his mental state seems to leave no space for him to think with sense.
Without wasting anymore time, he heads straight to the house and pressed on the combination he remembered by heart. The house is completely dark, no lights were on and the smell of trapped air pierces his nostrils. He stands in the middle of the walkway, unsure where to go first to search for her.
"Haru?", he calls his name while his hand searched for the switches. He found it instantly and pressed all of them, immediately all the lights go on and the house becomes bright. "Haru?"
He turns around, scanning the house to find his way out of the big walkway that leads all the way to the back on which he assumes the kitchen. He checks everywhere; the vacant rooms, the living room, the store, the playroom, the library, the rooms upstairs on which some are locked—everywhere. He still couldn't find any trace of her.
Sighing to himself as he pressed both hands on the counter table of the kitchen, head hanging low as his messy emotions beginning to eat him up again. The regret resurfaces and it makes him feel terrible standing there in the empty kitchen and she is not there. He could have done better for her-he really could.
The sound of the waves crushing the shore made him look up at the big windows in front of him, surprised to see the beach right in before his eyes. He was probably too into his search to realize the house is located along the beach. He scans the area, hoping Haru might be there but the dimness of the surrounding and the distance are not helping.
So he walked out of the kitchen, ran straight towards the beach and then he looks around again. There is a small beach house at the right-side and the feeling of relief rushed through him when he sees a light is on from inside. He wasted no time to walk into the unlocked beach house, searching for her only to find her phone which is dead by now, her small purse on the small day bed and her belongings sprawled on the table.
She is here. She is definitely here.
"Haru?", he searched the toilet, the small pantry and around the house but couldn't find her.
He walks out towards the small balcony that gives him a clearer view of the beach. Scanning around as he squints his eyes due to the lack of light, he spots a familliar figure sitting on the sand.
Haru
~~~~
NOTE
Hello everyone! Here is another update! I hope this chapter is good and enjoyable! Thank you for waiting and also for reading! Love youu~