Warning: Unedited

Yifan couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

He woke up this morning without Joonmyun curling up against him. It was not unusual, considering his fiancé was always the one waking up first to fix him breakfast and get his suit and tie ready. But the apartment was so quiet, so dark, that he thought Joonmyun might have fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. Joonmyun, sometimes, dozed off on the couch after watching early morning news.

There was no one in the living room. The only source of light was from the small bulb next to the balcony sliding door. A frown quickly etched across his features as he padded into the kitchen and the light. There was no sign that Joonmyun had been using the kitchen since last night.

Yifan went to the living room and sat down on the couch with a part of his heart feeling restless, unsettled. Why would Joonmyun leave the apartment so early? His fiancé had never left the apartment without telling him beforehand. Something clicked in his mind and he quickly returned to the bedroom, and strode toward the side table and grabbed his mobile phone.

No new message.

A sigh unconsciously escaped Yifan as his frown deepened. His fingers moved swiftly to unlock his phone and he pressed Joonmyun’s speed dial before holding the phone to his ear.

There were ringing sounds before it went straight to voice mail.

Did Joonmyun just reject his call?

Still frowning, Yifan pressed on the speed dial again but this time Joonmyun didn’t answer the call until he reached the voice mail. Gripping on his phone, Yifan flopped down on his bed and gnawed on his lower lip. Was Joonmyun in the subway that he couldn’t answer his phone?

Yifan didn’t realize how tense he was until his alarm blared in his ears and it was then he realized how late he was for work. He didn’t have the leisure to think about breakfast or matching suit and tie and just rushed to his car after gulping down a glassful water and mismatch socks. The socks wouldn’t be visible afterall.

The pile of papers and thick files on his table weren’t able to make him stop from thinking about Joonmyun. He couldn’t focus on anything and just wished he could hear Joonmyun’s voice. He realized how his mind continuously wandering about Joonmyun, and Joonmyun, that he couldn’t get even an easy task done in time. He couldn’t stop himself from checking his phone every minute, just in case his fiancé would give him a call, or maybe send him a text message to inform he had safely returned home. That was all he needed right now. He didn’t need an apology or explanation, just a single call or text would make his heart at ease.

Closing his eyes, Yifan clasped his hands together and made a small pray that Joonmyun was alright out there.

“Aren’t you going to eat that?”

A deep, familiar voice made Yifan snap his eyes open. His stared blankly at the man across him for a moment before dropping his gaze to look at the cheese croissant sandwich in his hands. What just happened? How did he end up sitting in a café with Chanyeol?

“Chanyeol-ah, why am I here?” Yifan asked, looking at his friend with bewildered eyes.

Almost immediately, Chanyeol stopped chewing his pasta and narrowed his eyes at Yifan suspicioiusly. “Did you drink last night? You came here on your own feet of course. Don’t ask stupid question like you just spent a night with the worst hangover.”

A drink would be nice, Yifan thought absentmindedly. With a sigh, he put down his sandwich and slowly wiped his hands on a pale pink linen napkin.

“Not hungry?”

Yifan shook his head.

“You’re hungry or you’re not hungry?”

“Shut up Chanyeol. You’re so irritating. Just take it if you want it. I lost my appetite anyway.”

A squeal slipped past Chanyeol’s parted lips and he giddily reached for the food across him. “Dude, you look scary. Don’t frown like that.”

Huffing, Yifan tousled his blond hair with his right hand and leaned back in his chair.

“And don’t do that. You look even scary with that hair. Did you even take a bath this morning? You look so- I don’t know how to say it- but you look like a plate of stale fried rice made by Luhan and you only look this way when- wait-” Chanyeol paused and bent towards Yifan. “The last time I saw this kind of your face was when Joonmyun rejected your stupid cheesy love letter.”

“I’m leaving.” Yifan growled but Chanyeol was fast enough to catch his arm, a silly grin on his face.

“Okay. I’m sorry. What happened?”

“Joonmyun wasn’t home when I woke up.”

“He went somewhere?”

“I couldn’t reach him. He switched off his phone.”

“Dude, I knew this would happen.” Chanyeol gasped dramatically. “He dumped you for someone else.”

An unexpected smack landed on Chanyeol’s head as soon as he finished talking.

“I was just joking alright. Why would he leave you? You’re getting married soon.” Chanyeol muttered as he rubbed the sore spot. “Aww that hurts like .”

Yifan couldn’t stomach even his coffee after Chanyeol left the restaurant. He unlocked his phone and tried to call Joonmyun again but only received off dial tone again.

By the time Yifan reached his apartment later that night, it was already 10 o’clock. He had no idea that waiting for the elevator would be so distressing as he stood in front of the steel doors and stared up at the numbers going down. He entered and exited the elevator as soon as the doors opened to his floor and ran to his apartment. He punched in the password to his apartment door and rushed in once the door was opened. The lamp door automatically lit up when he stepped in.

The first thing Yifan looked at was the shoe rack.

Joonmyun’s shoes weren’t there.

The apartment was pitch-black and eerily quiet. Yifan switched on the lights and noticed how the apartment was still in the same condition when he left in the morning. He dragged his feet to the bedroo