Minho's POV
"Ah yes. Mr. Lee, please come on in."
The young trainee nervously entered the room, stepping a foot into the office and making eye contact with the CEO of the company.
He bowed politely with his two hands in between his thighs, "Hello," he greeted kindly. To him, Minho had expected a greeting in return but when he lifted up from his bowing he saw Mr. Park with bags under his eyes with a pained expression. He had one hand resting on his forehead and a pen tapping furiously on the desk below him.
"Please come sit down," he advised. Minho quickly shifted his way to sit down in a chair that was placed in front of the desk. He pulled himself up, making himself look presentable.
"I'm going to ask you series of questions, and I want you to answer them truthfully."
Minho nodded to his response and prepared himself for any sort of question. Maybe this was a new trainee thing, where he would interview new and transfer trainees. He put on a light smile and prepared to listen and interpret the questions.
"Do you know anyone who goes by the name of Han Jisung?"
Not what I was expecting, he thought to himself. But sadly, crossing through his memory, he could not recall anyone named Han Jisung. "No sir," he shook his head no.
"He's about 5'8, dyed brown hair, he always wears a black baggy jacket, wears masks a lot?" He tried resurfacing any memory in Minho's head.
The more he searched through his memory, he came to the realization that he was now familiar with a boy named Han Jisung. The one he saw the day he arrived.
Minho nodded his head in response, finally remembering that one strange kid.
"What do you know how about him?"
Crossing his memory once more, Minho had arrived to finally to be a trainee at JYP entertainment late at night. The time was about 12:30 a.m. Believe it or not, there were some people up and awake to help assist him in the right direction, to his dorm room, helping him memorize his schedule. It wasn't that different from Big Hit, the transfer from one company to another didn't seem that difficult really. It was the same sleepless and tiring days as normal. No biggy, he was used to it. He adapted quite easily and has been training for two years now.
He remembered seeing Jisung. And from Minho's exact observations, he could tell that the boy was very unstable or upset over something. He saw one of the female trainers talking to him while the boy hung his head low outside one of the dorms (presumably Jisung's dorm), listening to her every word. He looked like he was about to cry actually, his body looked like it was tensing up and the quivering from his lips indicated his upcoming tears. The boy didn't cry though, he held it back quite well, which impressed Minho. If he was in that condition he would have probably cried.
After his tour around he came back, glancing over at the boy who had a very different aura then the last time he saw him. When Minho saw him, he was smiling weirdly, almost wickedly. His eyes were wide open and he was looking up, definitely different from last time but Minho couldn't tell the difference. He hasn't even made eye contact with this kid. The last time he ever saw him was when he pushed open the front door, sliding his hood on his head, and walking out. Minho didn't stop him though, it wasn't any of his business to stop him. He ignored it and passed it off as nothing.
He explained everything that he knew and saw to Mr. Park. He reacted differently though when he heard about what he observed when the woman was talking to him. He turned his expression to a worried one, and generally paid close attention. He didn't look that happy. He looked very concerned, making Minho as equally concerned. Something was going on.
"I understand," he said writing down some things as Minho explained how he saw him exiting the building. "And you didn't talk to him?"
"No sir," he responded. "Is there something going on?"
Mr. Park sighed under his breath, nervously tapping his pencil on the desk. "He has gone missing," he explained. "Since you arrived the day before his disappearance, we thought you might of saw him last."
"Turns out, you were right," he softly smiled. He didn't earn a smile back from Mr. Park who seriously looked at Minho. He smiled again, embarrassed and looking down at the ground to avoid eye contact.
"Let me know if you hear anything else," he sighed at him.
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No, how could there already be a problem here as soon as I transfer? I tried to get away from the problems, not into more, he grumbled to himself. He watched the other trainees dance to the rhythms perfectly to the song, easily gliding to each beat. Some struggled but it was barely noticeable. They all danced so beautifully, including one trainee with a microphone up to his mouth, singing to each note so perfectly and earning a smile from the trainer.
In Minho's response, he calmly listened to the voice coming from him, closing his eyes and analyzing his part through his head. He was sitting out for the day because the employees still thought Minho was unfamiliar with the way things work (even though that wasn't the case for him).
"Perfect," the trainer excitedly exclaimed. She sprung up from her feet, looking joyous and smiling from cheek to cheek. "We should have chosen you to sing this part from the beginning! Now the song will be complete! We might just have you do this part instead of Han Jisung."
That didn't sound right.
The trainee slightly smiled, trying to catch his breath, he bowed and muttered with a polite thank you. "You do this a lot better then he does. You now have the honor of singing this part of the song."
What had completely shocked Minho was the fact that no other trainee in the room stood up for him. He was completely shocked at how cruel this was, no one deserves to be replaced like that.
He opened his mouth to say something but reminded himself that it would be best for him not to say anything at all. As he was trying to avoid any sort of problems.
A couple minutes later, Minho curiously wandered off to the building next to JYP, which was connected to the training building. This building here had the dorms where the trainees would sleep. Sliding his hands in his two front pockets, he walked around looking at each door and the names on them. There were names that sounded foreign, and names that didn't. It was quite interesting to see the variety of nations and nationalities that are training here. The company seems quite busy, he wonders how much money this place makes a day with the artists that already debuted.
While passing by in the hallway, he remembers Han Jisung standing by the door, still hanging his head low as the trainer spoke to him. The doorway was just as normal as any other doorway.
Minho blinked, looking around the area, making sure there was no one watching him. Don't sue me JYP.
The last thing Minho would want to be labeled as was a stalker, or some kind of suspect in a murder, but he felt the need to examine his room. Maybe he could find a clue there on where he went, even though it wasn't his responsibility. He tried to turn the nob of the door, which was surprisingly unlocked. When he entered the room, still in shock from it not being locked, he noticed how similar it looked from his dorm. Same old bunk beds, same old windows, nothing special. On a certain nightstand, he noticed the cute little alarm clock set up and two empty water bottles. He looked at them closely, picking it up and then setting it down. No clues whatsoever, he thought to himself.
The cops probably already searched the room down. But if Jisung was hiding anything, where would he keep it? Minho thought for a while, coming up with places that would hide his objects in case he didn't want anyone to find it. Specifically, the trainers.
The pillows. Nothing there.
The closet. Nothing there.
The suit cases. Nothing there. He has a good sense in style, he slightly giggled to himself while shifting through the clothes.
Under the matress. Something there.
Minho carefully lifted the thin mattress up and laid it against the wall, securing it so it doesn't fall. He was shocked to find a mother load of hidden things!
Papers, boxes, pictures, and even a small stuffed animal. Seeing all of this made Minho smile, knowing that he had probably gotten a lead somewhere.
He shifted through the pictures and examined Jisung's love for photography... mainly of abandoned areas or paths or uncivilized areas. From observing the vast amount of pictures, he knew that Jisung really liked being in places where no one was, basically unexplored. Or most likely places that have been untouched for years.
Through the small shoe boxes, he found plenty of journals that were full. All notes on English, Japanese, Mandarin, and even some Thai. He was very smart apparently. From what it looks like, he can speak fluent English. Minho couldn't even comprehend that English alphabet, it was so difficult to him. Even in one of the journals was just a bunch of things about certain Science topics. Minho hasn't been interested in the arts of Science but all of a sudden, he gathered his full attention on it. Physics, Astronomy, Biology, Jisung seemed to have a very strong grip on all of these topics.
Including the one about alternate dimensions. It was all so fascinating.
He picked up some papers and noticed that they were all writings. Writings that were almost poem light that shedded every single feeling he felt onto paper. Minho read closely what one of the papers was about.
With every word on the paper, he felt his heart growing lower and sadder. World seemed to cruel to him. He explained his bruises, his fear of starving and not getting enough sleep, his frequent panic attacks- he was trying his hardest and he gets nothing in return. He is so close to giving up...
"I came here to escape my house. Not to relive something worse then it already is. I thought I could have already experienced the worst. I thought being apart of the idol world was going to be fun and an experience, I hate this. I hate it. I just want to run away from everything, to a place where I will finally be able to be myself and escape reality. A place where I can finally achieve something without someone pointing out my every flaw, my wrong notes, my wrong steps, just a place where I can breathe normally and smile when looking up. Perfection doesn't exist. Get up, you'll never be what you want, you'll never be safe where you are."
Minho felt every emotion and felt his eyes watering. It has been what it felt like years since he felt any emotion besides emptiness. He could relate. To a full extent. He has been through many of the things Jisung had explained on paper, he felt his past coming back to haunt him just like Jisung. Sure, he didn't know this boy, all he knows is that he is missing and has went through a very similar trauma.
He set the papers down, clearing his eyes and not letting the emotions take over him. Turning to a brighter side, he looked towards the small ragged teddy bear. It was about the size of his hand, maybe a bit bigger. The fur on it looked like it was very old- clumpy but clean. He smiled, picking it up in his hand. It was adorable.
While shifting it around in his hand, he pressed his fingers against the fabric of the bear but felt something inside of it. Oh god, is he taking drugs as well now? It wasn't some kind of old cotton or fluff of the bear, but it was actually hard. When he tapped on it, it sounded just like plastic. He searched around the bear and eventually found the zipper, pulling it down and opening the insides of it.
It was bottle. No, not just a bottle. A pill bottle. He pulled it out of the bear and couldn't believe what he saw.
Yes, the medicine he had was illegal but it wasn't actually a drug.
It was a placebo drug... the illegal kind.
In Korea, they banned it from ever being used for an unknown reason. How could this be? How did he have possession of it?
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Minho went back to JYP, reporting everything EXCEPT the pill bottles to him. He could feel every emotion that Mr. Park was feeling. When he explained the horrible thoughts he had from the impact of training just melted him. He almost had tears in his eyes as well as Minho.
While trying to regain himself, he straightened his back, maintaining a strong look. "Ok," he mumbled under his breath. "Did you find anything else?"
His eyes widened slightly, feeling the exact size of a pill bottle in his coat pocket. He heard the medicine tumble around as he shifted his hand, avoiding eye contact with Mr. Park. While lost in his thought, running all the possibilities of what trouble he could be put in for lying and stealing, but what came out of his mouth was, "No sir..."
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