⚠️ lengthy chapter warning ⚠️
It was late in the day now, you slept for 10 hours straight. It's 1 in the afternoon, an entire morning was wasted on recovering from a wild night. You wake up in a panic. You forgot where you were, who you were with, and why you were there. Johnny was patiently waiting for you to awaken, he only had a few hours of sleep but that was nothing abnormal. He tried to calm you down.
johnny: 'morning babe
You moaned, your eyes were barely open. It was so bright outside.
you: gosh you scared me, i forgot where i was for a sec and freaked out. what happened last night?
johnny: you don't remember?
you: jus please tell me i didn't do anything stupid
Johnny kept quiet, thinking about how to respond to your comment. He wasn't sure if telling you the truth was the right thing to do. He pondered for a minute then replied carefully.
johnny: don't worry bout it
you: ugh wish i could remember. argh. i have the biggest headache what the heck
you said with a painful face on.
johnny: you're hungover
you: was i really that drunk?
johnny: you blacked out babe
he said in an obvious tone.
you: so i did do something bad?
johnny: don't worry bout it
you: JOHNNY
johnny: hmm?
you: TELL ME
johnny: define bad
you: why do you always play smart with me!
johnny: seriously don't worry bout it
you: fine. since you won't tell me i'll ask rin
johnny: uh about that
you: what! did something happen to her?
johnny: no she was fine [pause] i think?
you: johnny!
johnny: fuck
you: WHAT
johnny sighed: while you were sleeping i texted them and rin didn't reply. so i called jaehyun and he said she was fine. now that i think about it i should've made sure she was okay. i was just so preoccupied with taking care of you i never looked into it. but knowing jaehyun—
[you suddenly got up and went out to look for Rin, Johnny ran after you]
johnny: what u doing
you, in a serious tone: like you said, we don't know if we can trust jay. and i certainly don't so
johnny: fine but i have to go with you
you: no. you go find jay and make sure he didn't do anything to my best friend ... or else i'll kill him
Your killer stare surprised Johnny. He knew right away not to argue with you. So he obliged and you parted your ways. You went to Rin's room and Johnny to Jaehyun's.
[in front of Rin's hotel room]
*knock knock knock*
you, screaming through the door: rin! riiiin! you in there?
After knocking a few more times you stuck your ear against the door to listen for movement. But not even the slightest breath could be heard. You decide to try something else. You pulled your phone out and dialed her number while still knocking on her door. Straight to voicemail. You called a few more times to make sure but each time, nothing. You're now worried sick. You texted Johnny letting him know she's nowhere to be found. She's officially missing. What were you gonna do?
[meanwhile Johnny gets to Jaehyun's room]
johnny: Hey Jaehyun! Open up
Jaehyun who just finished taking a shower, dressed in a robe walks up to crack the door open.
jaehyun: what do you want?
johnny: where's rin?
jaehyun: not here
johnny: don't start with me, i ain't playin
jaehyun: yo dude I'm dead serious shes not here, haven't seen her since last night
johnny: damn it!
jaehyun: what happened?
johnny: i was hoping you knew where she was
jaehyun: why?
johnny: she's missing you idiot! you're the last person who saw her
Jaehyun slammed his door shut again, quickly put on some clothes and ran out the door. Johnny's never seen him so concerned about anyone else before. What's gotten into him?
Johnny ran up to Jaehyun and caught up to him. Both were now searching the surroundings together for your best friend.
johnny: what happened after i left you guys at the bar?
jaehyun: i don't wanna talk about it
johnny: listen. whatever happened between you two, i really don't care. it's not my business but we need to find her right now and it might help if you told me where to start looking
jaehyun, in a frustrated worried tone: she .. well her and i were at the bar .. then uh .. i ..
johnny: what?
jaehyun: i thought she went back to her room! idk!
Johnny was suspicious of Jaehyun but he seemed genuinely concerned. That wasn't the reaction of a guilty conscience, more so of a caring one. Jaehyun thought back to the moment he threatened Rin he'd steal her heart and crush it. Was she spooked out so badly she'd purposely disappear like that? He was starting to regret everything he said, afterall he was just mad and a bit tipsy off alcohol. He didn't mean it entirely.
You were running all over the place too showing a picture of Rin on your phone to all the staff and guests on the island hoping they'd remember seeing her face or knew where she went but came up completely empty. You made your way to the bar you were at last night and coincidently crossed paths with Johnny and Jaehyun.
johnny: nothing?
you: no, I'm starting to really freak out. what if someone abducted her or raped her or even worse killed her?!
jaehyun: relax. this island is safe. the only way she'd be dead is if she walked all the way up the mountain by herself on a three mile hike and jumped off the cliff voluntarily. so highly unlikely
you: okay mister know-it-all, don't you have ways to track her down? don't you command everyone here?
jaehyun: yes. and i already sent a search party out for her as soon as i heard the news. my men are looking for her. it's just a matter of time before we find her so i propose we all go back to our hotel rooms and lay low for a bit.
You looked at him with a grin. He was right, there was nothing else you could do. She could be anywhere but at least she was safe on this island. You unwillingly walked back with Johnny.
About 30 minutes had passed and Jaehyun finally received a call from one of his men letting him know they found Rin. She was on the beach, north side of the island under a tree for shade. She was laying there and probably fell asleep by accident. Jaehyun asked that no one bother Rin until he got there. He sprinted as fast as he could towards her then quietly walked up and sat by her side. He told the men to leave. She was asleep. He watched her with relieved eyes, brushed the hair out of her face and covered her body with his jacket so she'd warm up a bit. All she was wearing was a short dress from last night. This action was enough to wake her up.
Rin lightly opened one of her eyes and saw Jaehyun sitting next to her. She frantically got up and crawled a few feet away from him with his jacket over her face.
rin: what are you doing here? omg did i fall asleep? you didn't take advantage of me did you?!
jaehyun: relax. i literally just got here. you weren't easy to find you know. and the real question is, what are YOU doing here?
Rin started thinking back to the night before: She walked back to her room still completely spooked and quite speechless. Then got ready for bed but noticed she was missing her phone. She panicked and started retracing her steps in hopes of finding where she could've dropped it. She went back to the bar and asked the bartenders and staff if they had found it but the answer was always no. She then went to the beach thinking that maybe she dropped it while talking to Johnny on that walk. But of course it'd be impossible finding a phone buried in sand. Thinking it was lost forever she accepted her fate and sobbed for a while until exhaustion settled in. That's when she fell asleep on the beach, by then it was already 6am she'd been looking all night for it.
[both sitting on shore knees up, arms crossed over, looking over the horizon as the the waves crashed on the sand and nature's beautiful sounds were all that could be heard]
rin: i lost my phone. so i went looking for it
jaehyun: you know you can just get a new one. you didn't need to go through all—
rin, raising her voice: no! you don't understand. this one was special!
calmly: i had this bracelet attached to it as a keyring. it was the last thing my mom made for me .. and i had a polaroid of my parents and i on the back of my phone case. it was the last picture of us together before ...
jaehyun: before?
rin: before they were both murdered.
Jaehyun was shocked. He wasn't expecting such depressing news from her. He realized he really didn't know her at all and that she really was nothing like he thought she was. Her character had such depths to it. It intrigued him greatly, so much so he couldn't take his eyes off of her ignoring the beautiful sea landscape in front of him.
jaehyun: I'm sorry.
rin: i don't need your pity. I'm so stupid i should've been more careful. i cant believe i lost the one thing i treasured most in this world.
Rin sucked her tears back up, she didn't want an enemy to see her in a vulnerable state. It was like losing her parents all over again, it hurt her immensely. Then Jaehyun pulled her phone out of his pocket and returned it to her.
jaehyun: this what you lookin for?
Rin's eyes lit up in relief.
rin: YES! thank god! wait. why do you have it? did you steal it from me!
jaehyun: again. chill. you really have the worst assumptions about me. I'm not that ruthless. no, i found it on my TV stand in my hotel room. i think you forgot it yesterday when you were stitching my hand up. it was dead so i couldn't find out for sure if it was yours.
rin: how's your hand doing by the way?
jaehyun: better, thanks to you
rin: it's nothing really. you weren't cut that deeply so it was easy work patching it up
Jaehyun felt a strong attraction to her. He admired her maturity. He was impressed at her level of knowledge and independence. He was touched by how big her heart was. Objects as simple as a bracelet and a polaroid but her sentimental attachment to them made him truly soft. She's really something, he thought. Something worth chasing after, something not to let go or else he might regret it.
Rin got up and distanced herself from Jaehyun. She had to watch her back, his words from last night still resonated in her head. She wasn't able to forget them. Then thinking about how worried you'd be if she didn't get back, she started walking towards the hotel.
Rin was now about 10 feet away from Jaehyun when he got up, faced her and yelled:
"Will you go out with me?"
~