If you want to end the story here, you can. But I don't end it here since I feel like the story is incomplete and therefore I wrote a few more chapters.
- moonlight.
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(*'∀')♪
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Lee Heeseung POV
"Haewon" I shouted rushing through the halls. I ran through the halls and knocked on every single door to ask if they had seen her earlier today, but the only response I got was either a 'no' or a 'don't worry too much'.
Like her disappearance wasn't something to worry about.
"That's enough" I slammed my hands on the dining table and rose from my chair. "I'm going to the police"
"Don't be so dramatic Hee, maybe she has just gone out for a walk, or met up with some friends." Jake stabbed the remaining milk in his cereal bowl with a spoon.
"And besides, it isn't such a bad thing that she is gone" Niki butted in.
"How can you say something like that? She is still a person and is still gone. Jay, can you at least back me up on this one?"
Using a napkin the said make dried the corners of his mouth. "Don't worry so much Heeseung, it isn't good for you. It's Christmas me happy and joyful."
Stomping toward my room I closed the door and slumped down in my gaming chair. I started scrolling through my phone endlessly until a notification for my News app appeared.
A teenage girl committed suicide by Han River last night.
(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
Sitting by the bench I tapped my food on the ground at a rapid pace. I knew today was Christmas, and that I was supposedly meant to spend it with my loved ones. But, when one of the people you love the most has gone missing it felt kinda hard to enjoy a day like this.
I sat under a big oak tree listening to some music to try and calm my mind down. Normally I would go out and drink, but as we were supposed to drink tonight as we ate I didn't want to start drinking now.
Sipping my coffee drily I watched kids run over the snow-kissed fields.
I want to have kids in the future, maybe no more than one or two. But I want to at least have one.
I hope Haewon is alright. That she just left to visit someone and her phone ran out of battery. That she sits on a warm bed right now and enjoys something hot to drink while ranting with the person she is visiting. Or maybe went to Yeonjuns dorm and slept in late.
Just please be safe.
As the day went on I decided to head home to find Jay cooking. He had started last night by preparing some of the ingredients and was now spending the whole day cooking food for us to enjoy tonight. Though he was not a professional cook, he was one of the best I knew.
"Heeseung, do you want to go out and buy hot Chocolate with me," a smiling Sunoo asked walking up behind me.
Arguing as I had just come home I decided against it and told Sunoo I would go out with him. We walked to the small shop Haewon used to work at and ordered two hot chocolates and something light to eat.
We seated ourselves by the barstools in the window and looked out on the street.
"Have you heard anything for Haewon?" He asked me, catching me off guard.
"No, not yet"
"Have you seen the news article, about the girl who jumped off the bridge and killed herself? They said that hadn't found out who it was yet" he stabbed the salad in front of him lightly with a fork.
"Do you-"
"No. It can't be her... or I sure hope not. I decided that I would wait until tomorrow, and if I don't see her before that I would go down to the police office and tell them that she is missing. But I don't want to be overdramatic and fire all my bullets now, I'll just wait and see for a while."
The younger one beside me hesitated for a while. "You know, I miss her. She looks sick nowadays, and as much as I'm frustrated with her, I want to help her..."
"She didn't do it" I sipped the drink. "She didn't send the message. I wanted to say it earlier, but there was no physical proof for it"
"Do you believe her?"
"Yes, I do."
"Why?"
"Because... I love her"
He looked at me with wide eyes as he don't know what to say.
Love, what a strange thing.
(*'▽'*)
As the evening fell on I headed into the shower to clean myself and get dressed for the evening. The apartment had been cleaned, and the table was set. At some point today Jungwon and Jake had gone out and bought a small Christmas tree, like a really small one. Not taller than a table.
Jay was still stationed in the kitchen, sitting in front of the oven and watching the meat cook.
"Can I get some ice cream before dinner?" Niki asked holding his hand on the freezer door.
"No dinner is in an hour, you can wait."
"It's alright, I'll just have one" he tried.
"No, if you eat now, you won't be hungry later"
"Just one" he held up his hand and showed the older one finger.
"No, go play some games with Jake instead." He hushed the tall baby.
Dinner didn't turn out as tense as I had though. As we sat down by the table everyone seemed to at least be trying to enjoy the evening without holding anything against each other. But we all knew that the moment we were done with the presents tomorrow that things would turn back to the way they were. Tense.
I cut off a piece of meat and dipped it into the sauce, eating it slowly. I couldn't help but let my eyes drift to the seat beside me, the empty seat.
"Poor Yuri has to spend her Christmas with a blue nose" Jake suddenly spoke up. I arched a brow at his statement, was he what to fight?
"Let's not talk about that now. Last just focus on enjoying the evening" Sunghoon tried discreetly to avoid the topic.
"Just saying"
"Jake shut up"
After dinner, we set the two youngest to wash the dishes while us others set the table so that we could play our yearly round of Monopoly. In addition to the normal rules, we had made extra rules who only go for the players.
1. Last year's winner gets fifty dollars extra
2. If the game ended and you had under thirty dollars you had to do one thing the winner decided.
3. The winner of the game got to hold a winners speech and pick the movie we were to watch later tonight.
I reached up on the shelf and got the beat-up box. Setting it down on the table I took off the lid and reached out for the board. I unfolded it and placed it down on the table. After I stirred out the money of each of us and set up the bank for someone to manage.
Since last year's winner was Jungwon, he was the one to get the extra fifty dollars.
I sat back in my chair and sipped my liquor slowly, lost in thought. I reached out for my phone and checked the clock. Eight ozone in the evening. A few more hours and I'll go down to the police station and announce her as missing.
- 15 minutes later -
"I HATE YOU" Sunoo shouted.
"OH WELL, NEXT TIME DON'T STEAL MY MONOPOLY MONEY!" I shouted back, throwing him a nasty glare.
"Sunghoon give Jay your two hundred dollars. You landed on his property." Jungwon explained calmly.
"No, he is in jail. IM NOT GONNA GIVE MONEY TO A CRIMINAL" the said male uttered flexing his money on the older.
"That's not how you PLAY" Jay jumped Sunghoon and held him down on the ground in anger.
"Jake, why is Jay screaming," Niki asked coming back from the bathroom.
Jake shit a glare towards the younger and snarled. "Shut the fuck up... you're gonna talk after stealing my last railroad."
"I WISH I WAS NEVER BORN"
"Me too. YOU THINK I WANTED THIS"
As the clock strikes midnight we all sat down by the television exhausted. When the evening started we were all dressed nicely and styled neatly, but after our calm round of monopoly, we were all a huge mess. Hair sticking up in the air, shirts undone, shoes spread out on the floor, Jungwon even bit Sunghoon.
At least we didn't light a Santa on fire, like last year.
I chugged down the last bit of liquid in my glass and looked towards Niki who came walking victorious towards us. Somehow, when all of us were fighting, he managed to snatch all the good streets and properties and ended up winning the game.
Luckily for me, I don't lose the game by having under three hundred dollars after we were done. So I avoided the punishment. Jay and Sunoo on the other hand weren't so lucky. And, Jay who had also won last year's round and actually started the game with the upper hand, but still lost.
Niki sat gracefully down in the middle of the couch and held the controller. He strolled through Netflix for a while before finally deciding on which movie he wanted to watch.
The Conjuring.
"Are you fucking serious now? It's Christmas, pick a Christmas movie or something" Jay scolded him.
"Jay, jay, jay, I won, you lost. Shut your mouth" Niki said boldly, knowing that if he had said that in any other context, he would get his ass beaten. "Everyone ready? I'll think of a punishment for the two of them while we watch the movie" he announced referring to Sunoo and Jay.
I felt a strange kind of deja vu as the movie started. I had been through this scenario before.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING ON THE TOP OF THAT CLOSET"
"WHO DRAGS A CHILD INTO THE WALL"
It became quiet for a few seconds. We were all glued to the screen following it closely as we watched the main character walk quietly. And just as we were about to breathe out relived a jump-scare appeared on the screen and scared the living shot out of us.
"IM NOT SLEEPING ALONE TONIGHT!"
"IM SLEEPING WITH SUNGHOON-"
"FUCK NO"
"PARK JONGSEONG I'M SLEEPING IN YOUR BED TONIGHT" Sunghoon shouted and threw himself at Jay who tried to escape but was not fast enough.
"NIKI- NO. JAKE IS SLEEPING WITH YOU. Niki won't let me" Jungwon announced.
"I'M SLEEPING WITH YOU HAEWON-"
"That's not fair" I shot back at Sunoo, who folded his arms and started sulking.
It was one of our first weeks together. Haewon had been down for some reason and we decided to boast a movie night to cheer her up. We don't expect her to pick a horror movie, but we all still watched the whole thing. Afterward, we laid down on the floor, all eight of us, and slept there for the night.
A soft smile appeared on my lips at the memory.
As the night fell on I found myself sitting on the sofa in the living room. All the lights on the apartment were turned off and only the buzzing sound of the refrigerator was audible. My tie hung loosely around my neck, and the two first buttons of my shirt were undone. Lifting the thick round glass to my mouth I sipped the golden liquor in silence. The ring on my finger tapped against the glass, sounding a small sound.
Finding myself starting to become tired I arose from my seat and walked to the kitchen to set the glass on the counter.
As I was about to walk down the hall I noticed a door standing with a slight gap, and a dim light shining out.
I made my way towards it to find Sunoo lying in Haewons bed with something in his hands.
"Sunoo-ah, what are you doing?" I asked softly.
"I-I changed my mind. I believe her, and I feel bad for the way I treated her." He sobbed silently. "Do y-you think she w-will come back to us?" His eyes were starting to become glossy as his emotions had been bottoming up for a while.
"I..." I combed my hair with my long slender fingers. "I hope so. If she doesn't come home tomorrow I'll go down to the police station"
"What if she was the girl on the news?"
"Don't say that..."
Sunoo sat up in the bed and placed the item, which turned out to be a present, down on her pillow. "I really hope she comes back. If she doesn't I'll never be able to forgive myself for what I have done"
"Go to sleep Sunoo, we'll talk in the morning"
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