༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶

Hyungwon didn't show up the next day. Nor the next. After a week of his absence, people began to grow worried

Minji speculated

said her friend, Eunha

I snorted. Half of the girls I knew were delusional, thinking Hyungwon was in love with them

I muttered under my breath

It must have come out louder than I intended, because Eunha whipped her head towards me and bared her fangs

I was unfazed

Eunha placed her talons on her hips and glared at me with her beady eyes. She was a full head shorter than me, so it was comical.

She never got the the chance to finish her sentence. Right then, Eunmi came by behind her and pretended to trip, causing her bottle pf pomegranate to spill all over Eunha

Eunmi giggle sweetly

Eunha's mouth hung wide open as Minji took her arm and led her away. We watched as the two of them disappeared down the hall, minutes away from a girly freak out. Eunmi let out a sigh

I chewed my lip. The only reason why I knew where he lived was because of the third grade project. It never occurred me that so many people weren't aware of his place of residence. I supposed that I had always taken that bit of information for granted

I said

Eunmi asked

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶

As I rode the bus home, I scrolled through our old texts. Maybe he was alright, and just needed to distance himself from school. The last time I texted him was the night of his panic attack. He hadn't replied since

I got off three stops early, at the bus stop at the edge of his neighbourhood. His house was located at the end of his street, right by the woods. I clutched the straps of my book bag as I rang his doorbell. His house was quaint. In the daylight, it was well-kept and clean, like something out of a picture book

somebody called

The door was opened by a woman in her early forties, presumably Hyungwon's mother. She looked like a model. A typically young for somebody of her age. Her dark hair was styled in an updo and her lips were accentuated with red lipstick. Somebody could probably mistaken her to be his sister instead of his mother

She smiled, and the corners of her eyes crinkled.

she said

I cleared my throat nervously

Her smiled faltered, but it was still present. Perhaps a little bit more forced

Mrs Chae smiled again, more teasingly, this time

I said, a little too loudly

She laughed, and it shocked me how much it resembled Hyungwon's

Hyungwon seemed to have such a perfect family, why would he try to hide it?"

I pleaded

Mrs Chae seemed really tentative to let me in, but eventually, she caved

I thanked her as I followed her into their house. I sat on the couch in the living room as I waited for Mrs Chae to call down Hyungwon. I twiddled my fingers and looked around. The house was as neatly arranged as their lawn. Picture perfect. Almost too perfect

My eyes fell on their coffee table, where the first thing I spotted was a business card. Tentatively, I examined it.

Lee Baekho, MD

Psychiatrist

Mrs Chae stood at the edge of the staircase.

Their staircase was perfectly polished and not creaky, unlike mine. Hyungwon's door was open, and his room was as neat as the rest of his house was. He lay motionless in his bed, the only thing that was a mess. He was pale and gaunt.

He opened his eyes, but they lacked light. They were so sullen, it was like they weren't even his

Wow. Okay?

I had expected my blood to boil, but it didn't. Instead, I felt something different, something I wasn't familiar with

Confusion. Frustration

Hyungwon was never like this. He was never lifeless, and never this cold

When he didn't answer, I said it louder

I hated feeling confused. I always knew everything, and this time, I had no idea what was wrong with him. I began to lose my cool

I screamed,

he uttered

I couldn't believe my ears. Chae Hyungwon, king or arrogance, claiming he was worthless?

I shrieked, louder.

He didn't respond

I shrieked again. I was grateful that Mrs Chae was outside. So she couldn't hear my hysteric screams

I turned to leave. If I stayed any longer, I would've lost it completely and thrown a fit. My heart hammered in my chest as I grabbed the business card on his coffee table and raced to the bus stop.

I was determined to fix him. The Chae Hyungwon I knew would've tormented me endlessly if I had beaten him

I never thought I'd ever admit it, but I liked that Hyungwon. That morose boy living in his messy sheets was not the Hyungwon I knew. He was somebody else, somebody entirely different

And it scared me.