The next morning, Wonsik woke up to the sunlight shining through the window. He squinted at the harsh light as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, and realized the Jaehwan was already up and out of bed. Wonsik groggily stumbled off the mattress and shuffled out of the bedroom to the kitchen where his boyfriend usually is in the morning, cooking breakfast. However, Jaehwan was no where in sight, and the kitchen was still clean and unused.

For a moment Wonsik's heart jolted with panic at his boyfriend's absence, but quickly calmed down when he remembered that Jaehwan was supposed to be gone for an interview that morning. He sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck which had a small kink in it from sleeping awkwardly, and then he noticed the new sheet of paper stuck to the refrigerator. It looked like a brochure to a college, and he assumed it was the campus Jaehwan was interviewing to be the caretaker of. There was also a yellow sticky note attached to the front with Jaehwan's handwriting on it, saying:

Morning Wonsikkie,

I made some egg sandwiches and kimchi jjigae for you. They're in the fridge, just

heat them up and enjoy! I should be done with the interview by noon, so I'll be home

around 1. If you need to get in touch with me during the interview, just call the

number on the brochure. By the way, your boss called and said that your shift

starts at 10 instead of 11 today. Don't be late!             Love, Jaehwannie

Wonsik looked at the digital clock on the stove. 10:03.

"!" Wonsik shouted, and scrambled out of the kitchen back into the bedroom to throw some clean clothes on. He nearly face-planted when he simultaneously tried running and pulling his jeans on. Within ten minutes he was outside of the apartment locking their door with one cold egg sandwich in his mouth and a second one in his free hand. When he heard the click of the lock, he sprinted all the way to work eating his sandwiches and praying that his boss- and Jaehwan- will forgive him for being late.

~  ~  ~

Luckily, when Wonsik arrived at the music store his boss was the one who apologized for changing his schedule on such short notice. Apparently, the reason why he wanted to open the store earlier was because there was a shipment of guitar picks and strings coming in that they have been waiting a long time for. Since his boss felt bad about causing Wonsik extra trouble, he was let out off of work an hour early. By 4:30, Wonsik was stepping back into their apartment, anxious to dive into the kimchi jjigae Jaehwan made for him that was waiting in the fridge.

"Jaehwannie~" Wonsik called into the apartment. "I'm home." When there wasn't an answer, he shouted again. "Jaehwannie? Are you not home yet?" Only silence replied back to him, so he assumed that Jaehwan must still be out. It wasn't uncommon for his boyfriend to be out late job hunting.

If he's not home by now, he must not have gotten the job. Wonsik thought to himself, and he decided that he should try making dinner tonight to cheer Jaehwan up. He walked into the kitchen to look in the cupboards to see what they had, and he settled on just making instant ramen since it was one of Jaehwan's favorite foods. It was still early for making it, so he just set the two cups on the counter to lie in wait until he was ready to cook them.

Usually, Jaehwan never stayed out later than six when he went job hunting, so Wonsik plopped onto the couch in front of the tv while he waited for his lover to return. He surfed the channels looking for something interesting to watch, and he searched for a long while before he settled on watching M Countdown.

When the episode ended he realized that it was long past six already, and Jaehwan still wasn't home. Starting to become concerned, Wonsik left the couch and walked into the kitchen to look at the brochure that was sitting on the counter next to the forgotten ramen cups. He walked back into the living room to grab their home phone and dialed the number on the bottom right corner of the page.

"I'm sorry, the number you have reached is no longer in service and has been disconnected." 

Wonsik frowned at the phone like it had done something wrong, and dialed the number again making sure he doesn't make any mistakes.

"I'm sorry, the number you have-" Wonsik hung up before the message could end, and anxiety was starting to pool in his stomach.

What the hell? What kind of college uses outdated brochures to hire people?

It's moments like these that had him worried about Jaehwan not owning a cell phone, yet the man insisted that he didn't need one, saying that his iPad was enough for him. Wonsik's anxiety increased at the thought of something happening to Jaehwan, and right now his gut was telling him that something wasn't right.

He tossed the phone onto the couch, stuffed the brochure into the pouch on his sweatshirt, and switched the television off before hastening down the hall to the entryway of their apartment. Slipping his sneakers on and grabbing his car keys, he left their home without even putting a jacket on.

~  ~  ~

Before he left their apartment's parking lot in his red 1986 Kia Pride, he looked at the address on the brochure and typed it into his smartphone's GPS. He pressed the 'Start Navigation' button, and started his journey to the edge of the city where the small college supposedly was.

Half an hour later, he was parking his car in an empty lot of a three story brick building with a sign in the front lawn saying: CLOSED. Wonsik stepped out of his car, and looked up at the gloomy building confused. He glimpsed a man taking a night time jog on the sidewalk in front of the parking lot, and Wonsik called out to him.

"Excuse me, sir!" Wonsik ran to the man who had stopped running upon hearing him. He gestured to the building behind him as he asked, "Since when did this college close down?"

The man replied, "Last year. It didn't get enough funds or something, so they had to shut down. Why?"

Wonsik felt his veins run cold as the man spoke, and he didn't even reply to his question before turning around and racing back to his car. He turned the key in the ignition, and sped out of the parking lot ignoring the jogger's shouts of confusion. He wasn't even sure where he was driving to, but all he could think about was finding Jaehwan.

If the college isn't even open, then where the hell did Jaehwan go? The question repeated itself in his mind endlessly, panic beginning to set in. He gripped his steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white, and a nervous sweat broke out on his forehead. Trying to think as rationally as he could, he decided to go back to the apartment to see if Jaehwan had gotten home while he was gone.

The city passed by him in a blur as he drove back home, his mind filled to the brim with thoughts of Jaehwan. He remembered the last conversation they had the night before, and he suddenly wished he had been more understanding and said kinder words to his lover. 

~  ~  ~

When he returned to the apartment it was as empty as when he had left, and Wonsik rushed back out to his dialing a number in his cell phone. The person on the other end picked up as he drove out of the parking lot once again.

"Hello?" a man answered.

"Hey, Eunkwang." Wonsik spoke, trying to keep his voice calm. "Have you seen Jaehwan today?"

"No, why? Is something wrong?" Wonsik felt his hope falling more and more by the minute.

"He left for a job interview at some college this morning, and I haven't seen him since." He replied, his voice shaking slightly in anxiety. "The thing is, I just went to the campus and found out it's been shut down for a year. A year, Eunkwang, so where the hell is he?"

"Okay, calm down Wonsik." Eunkwang said in a soothing tone. "I'm sure he's at one of the bars and just lost track of time, or something. He has done that before." 

Wonsik shook his head even though Eunkwang couldn't see him, "This is different. Jaehwan would have called me as soon as he found out the campus was closed. I'm telling you, something is wrong." He slowed down when he found an open parking space on the right, and quickly parked not caring that the back end of his Kia was too far out from the curb. Slamming his door as he got out, he rushed around the front of the vehicle and ran up to a red wooden door with a large window next to it that had a bright neon sign shining 'Budweiser'.

"Where are you?" Eunkwang asked, hearing the slam of the door over the phone.

"You'll see in a sec." Wonsik answered while he walked into the dim place filled with rowdy people watching a soccer game. He spotted the blonde head he was looking for in a corner behind the counter of the bar with a cell phone to his ear. The man turned around to look at the exit Wonsik was standing in, and he put the cell phone down.

Wonsik slipped his own cellular device into his pocket as he ran up to the counter, zig-zagging through the small crowd that had their eyes glued to the television set up over the bar.

"Come on, let's talk outside." Eunkwang said, moving out from behind the counter. "It's too loud in here."

The two of them made their way back out the red door, and into the cool night air. Their breath fogged as they conversed.

"Are you sure you're not overreacting?" Eunkwang asked the younger.

Wonsik glared at him before speaking, "Yes, I'm sure. I haven't heard a single word from him since this morning, and he hasn't been back to the apartment."

"Do you want to go to the police?" the blonde suggested.

"No." Wonsik shook his head. "It hasn't been 24 hours yet, so they're not going to do anything. Could you call the others while I check the bars?"

"Yeah. I'll see if Sungjae or Minhyuk have seen him at their bars. Which ones are you going to check?" Eunkwang already had his cell phone out and was dialing while he spoke.

"All of them."

Eunkwang paused and looked at him with a frown. "Wonsik, that's crazy. It'll take you all night."

"I don't care if it takes me all week." Wonsik was already walking around to the driver's side door of his Kia and opened it while he looked at the blonde, saying, "I'm gonna look in clubs and karaoke bars too. Don't forget to call Onew. He's told me that Jaehwan stopped by his restaurant a few times."

"Okay." Eunkwang replied, the corners of his mouth drooping with worry. "Be careful."

"I will." And with that, Wonsik drove off into the first of many long nights to come.

~  ~  ~

Two weeks. Jaehwan's been gone for two weeks. Wonsik thought solemnly, sitting behind the counter at the music store. For the past fourteen days his mind had done nothing but wander through thoughts and memories of Jaehwan. When his friends couldn't find him on their own they went to the police, who had put up missing posters and sent out alerts with Jaehwan's picture across all of South Korea. Now all of them were waiting to hear from the authorities while trying their best to carry on with life like normal. But it was impossible for Wonsik. The dark circles under his eyes were proof of sleepless nights and his slightly thinner body showed how little he was eating these days.

His eyes were unfocused, not seeing what was in front of him but watching Jaehwan smile at him from across the kitchen table while eati