The computer keys were being tapped rapidly and noisily by Bryan's fingers. He was continually scrolling through the pages and analyzing the maps. It was already 6:00 am in the morning. To his own frustration, no sign of luck for him since it was difficult to find a slight trace of his missing friend.
His hair was disheveled and his grey, baggy shirt had ketchup stains all over, whereas a few stubbles were showing on his upper mouth. The phone reverberated on the right side of his desk, which he peered at the caller, so he slid the green button to answer.
"Hello?"
"Hey, dude. We are outside of your door," Ryung said.
"Yeah. Let us in," Hwan beamed.
"Okay," Bryan bolted out of his chair and pulled the handle to open it.
The seven of them greeted him with a wave and nod. "What up, B?"
Bryan groaned in a cringe, saying. "Oh, please, don't give me nicknames."
"Come on. Where's the fun in that?" Hwan pouted teasingly and placed his arm around his shoulder.
"Looks like somebody didn't sleep the whole night. Did you have a wild party?" Jungkook grinned widely in amusement while Joon-wo and Hwan were stifling their laughter behind him.
"Shut up. You don't have to remind me of my insomnia," Bryan scoffed with his eyes squinting in boredom.
So... Any updates yet?" Jiyoo asked blankly.
"No..." Bryan muttered in exasperation and ranted. "I've been using my sonar and tracking devices to locate her, but nothing came up."
"Have you tried apps or contacted the police officers?" Joon-wo implied.
"The apps? Those are bogus. They don't even work and they lagged easily," Min-Jun commented in discontent.
"I did all of those things, but I guess I wouldn't mind inquiring about a search team," Bryan shrugged.
"Wouldn't it be better if we do this by ourselves?" Taeyun thought in a peculiar way.
"Yeah. Let's try what we did last time," Hwan said eagerly.
"I can't say 'no' to that. But if we cannot handle it, then we call for a backup," Bryan reminded.
"I'm in," Jaesang said.
"I'm in too," Ryung agreed casually.
"Positive yes from me," Hwan chirped.
"Same," Min-Jun murmured.
"Me too," Joon-wo noted, much to Jiyoo's surprise.
"Tae..." He asked as an indication of a request for cooperation and approached his best friend.
Taeyun's arms were crossed and was biting his lips while he was staring at his friends thoroughly. They all waited for a few seconds until he sighed and nodded silently in accordance.
"Yay!" Hwan cheered rapidly, including Joon-wo, Min-Jun, and Ryung. "This is going to be so much fun."
"For sure, right Hyung?" Jaesang took a glimpse of him once more for reassurance.
"No doubt..." Taeyun said neutrally, then he turned his back on them a bit to ponder to himself.
Jiyoo, on the flip side, was observing reaction attentively through the corner of his eyes. He was trying to pry into what was going on in his head. He wanted to question the equivocation that his friend has, but he cannot know for sure.
About an hour later, Bryan and the rest of the guys have been roaming around the places and streets in Seoul. They were all in disguise, wearing black hoodies and sunglasses, so that nobody would recognize them.
"Excuse me. Have you seen this girl?" He asked, pointing directly at the picture.
The citizen shook his head lightly in response and brushed off dismissively before walking away.
Bryan slumped a little with a frown. He then glanced over his shoulder to look for people to ask until he widened his eyes at the familiar figure. The woman had long, wavy red-locks while she was talking to her friend. Her short dress is designed with floral prints and her heels are white. He immediately came forward and tapped her on the shoulder, exclaiming her name. "Valerie!"
Contrarily, the woman faced and gawked at him strangely.
"Umm... Who's he?" Her friend asked.
"I don't know," the woman shrugged in bafflement.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, ma'am..." Bryan bowed his head down apologetically and watched them leave their spot. He mentally slapped himself on the face, groaning in dissatisfaction.
Jungkook and Namjoon were speaking to the two elders that were sitting on the bench.
"What's her name?" The old woman questioned.
"Valerie Nown. She's a friend of ours and we would like to know if you have seen her," Ryung stated.
"She's about this average height, not too fat or big. She wears eyeglasses with a cute nose," Jaesang described, using his hand movements.
Hwan, on the other hand, was sneaking steadily and surprised the other girl by tickling her sides.
She yelped out in a flinch of shock and anger as she slapped him across the cheek. "Hmph! You creep!"
"But I'm your sunshine!" Hwan opened his arms out dramatically when the girl shook her head in disgust. He pouted sadly and sighed.
"Sunny, no matter how many times you try to prove to them, they wouldn't care unless you actually show yourself and that is dangerous," Min-Jun said lazily and continued on. "And that's just the way we're going to live, whether it's the fans or the haters."
"I know. I was kidding about the whole act. Oh my goodness, you thought I was really flirting with the girl?" Hwan said and gasped as he placed his hand upon his chest.
"It seems so," Min-Jun assumed and saw their Hyung with an annoyed expression. He raised his eyebrow in amusement, saying. "Ooh, had a lot of crap?"
"Stop... It didn't go well with a group of teenagers. They were feeding the pigeons with crumbs of bread and one abruptly landed on my shoes," Joon-wo mumbled and was wiping the bird poop off of his shirt, then threw it to the public garbage bin near the lamp post.
"Yikes," Min-Jun noted.
"I've asked them and they just mocked her and the viral video," Joon-wo mentioned.
"Wow, that's very low," Min-Jun commented.
"Talk about the lack of decency. Sheesh..." Hwan said, scowling in thought.
"The important thing we should do is focus on the task," Joon-wo pointed out.
Now, the three of them swiftly parted to continue their searching, whereas the two best friends were sauntering on the sidewalks separately.
"Hi there, do you happen to see this girl?" Taeyun queried while he was showing the photo to the strangers.
"No," they said plainly, shaking their heads in dismissal.
"Oh, okay," Taeyun nodded slowly and kindly waved at them, saying. "Thank you."
"No problem," they smiled and resumed their conversation amongst themselves.
"Valerie is the girl with a ponytail and eyeglasses. Have you seen her pass by this area?" Jiyoo interrogated the grown adults.
"No, sorry. But I did notice a girl who is a few years younger than you," the guy answered courteously.
"Really? When and where?" Jiyoo asked ardently.
"Next to the café from here," the guy pointed at it directly and added in. "If I can recall, I may have seen her holding hands with another man. He's a bit tall and handsome per se."
"They were lovely and cozy together. I could be wrong because some couples were wearing similar clothing," the second guy said.
"I see..." Jiyoo paused for a moment, nodding slowly to comprehend. He started to falter, muttering faintly. "Thank you. Have a great day..."
"No problem, dude. You too," the guys replied in unison.
Then, Jiyoo blinked a few times and lowered his head. He was befuddled at the thought of it, but he didn't stop as he and the others were endlessly meandering and travelling to unknown sites. Though, it became incompetent when they shortly laid off for a while.
"It's already afternoon... So far, we still haven't found her," Joon-wo grumbled.
"Hard to tell if she really went into hiding again or not," Min-Jun said.
"Obviously, that could be feasible. Remember, she's not in a good condition and is probably terror-stricken," Ryung noted promptly.
"What would Valerie do if she's not feeling herself? What would she do to unwind?" Hwan wondered.
Jiyoo snapped his fingers rapidly and recalled by saying. "I know. One time, I found her drinking in the bar that I used to go to. She might be there."
"Are you sure she does?" Jaesang raised an eyebrow in doubt.
"No... I think she goes down to the river to visit. You know, that's where she wants her mind at ease..." Bryan specified.
"Which one?" Jiyoo asked.
Bryan gazed at them anticipatingly and answered.
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"Han River."