Mom used to work in a post office before she married Dad. When they were still dating Mom would volunteer to take care of me while Dad was working, so some of my earliest memories were of Luhan and I playing in the post office. The Seoul Post Office used to be a small building at the end of a twisty road but now it’s a much bigger white building with underground parking and one of those annoying waiting screens that beeped your number.

                I haven’t been in a post office since I learned how to use emails, and especially since Mom quit her job. It was fun though, running around with Luhan, helping Mom sort the letters and checking their stamps. Letters and packages all over the world arrived in one place, all hoping to be somewhere. I like to think that postmen are a bit like middle-class Santa Clauses. Instead of bringing gifts, they bring messages. Probably aren’t as idolized by millions of kids as Santa Claus is, but they perform a very important function all the same.

                I found the parcel lockers on the 2^nd floor of the building and searched for the locker Luhan rented. Locker no. 618 was on the lower left corner of row 6 and I keyed in the password. The locker beeped to life and the door was released from its catch and sprung open a little. I can’t even begin to describe how hard my heart was pumping then. A clue to Luhan’s disappearance could be inside.

                Inside was a small envelope, mailed to Luhan. It was never opened, so I used my key to open it and inside was a small copper key. Attached to it was a rubber key ring. It had Japanese hiragana on it, as well as a number 11 marked on it. I flipped the envelope around but it was empty. A key was all that arrived.

                “Excuse me, does anyone here read Japanese?” I asked one of the ladies at the post office counter. She shook her head but instead gestured to another lady with short hair in another counter. “She reads a little Japanese, perhaps she can help.”

                “Thank you.” I made my way over to the short-haired girl. She read the words on the key ring and said “This seems to be the name of something. Missy Kitty.”

                “Missy Kitty?”

                “Yeah, that’s all it reads.”

                “Oh okay. Thank you so much.” I walked away even more confused than before. Missy Kitty? A quick search on Google found that there is a Missy Kitty café in Akihabara, Tokyo in Japan. I checked the stamp on Luhan’s envelope and it was indeed a Japanese postage stamp.

                Who could have sent this from Japan? And what exactly does this mean? Is Luhan in Japan?

                I looked around the post office and rolled the key in my hand. This key was the only clue to Luhan’s disappearance. If Luhan was kidnapped, what kind of kidnapper mails a key to the post office? And why would they know Luhan rented a parcel locker anyways?

                There was no kidnapper. Luhan mailed this. Luhan mailed the key.

                This is like one of those hide and seek games we played when we were kids. Or one of those Treasure Hunt expeditions. Luhan used to bury things in the backyard and give me clues to where it was found. He was always very cryptic, like giving me a leaf from a tree or a rock from underneath the sandbox. Now that Luhan has gotten older, he decided to make the game global.

                He was the one leaving me clues to his whereabouts. Luhan must be in Japan.

                “You can’t be serious, you’re leaving for Japan now?” Tao asked as he helped me roll up my clothes into a carry on.

                “There is no other explanation for it. I found this key in Luhan’s locker. He must be in Japan, or have been depending on where he is now.”

                “What about the company?”

                “I’ve called Taemin to carry out my duties in my absence. I messaged Dad, told him I was going away for a bit, it’s only for a couple of days. I don’t think I’ll be long.”

                “So you’re going to let cousin Jackson run your company?”

                “Tao, I have to find Luhan in order to stop that .” I stuffed some socks in the side pocket. “Once I find Luhan, I bring him back and then we’ll boot that man out the door and take back what’s rightfully ours.”

                “Then you better hurry up because…” he bit his lip and looked at me.

                “What? What’s going on?” I asked, pausing to look at him.

                “I heard that Jackson is trying to raise the capital necessary to buy EXO Corporation.”

                “Where did you hear that from?”

                “Through the grapevine, but then today the news said that Jackson sold off the sports division of his company. Why would he do that unless he needed money?”

                I could feel the blood vessels in my body shrinking. Now I really do have to find Luhan. And fast, or everything our family has worked for is gone.

                “I have to go. I can’t waste time.”

                “Okay Kris, be safe.”

                “I will.” I kissed him and grabbed my carry on. “Call me!” Tao called as I dashed out of my apartment. I’m coming Luhan.

*******************

                I have only been to Japan probably once on a holiday but I have actually never been to Akihabara. Yeah I know it’s strange but I came to Japan many years ago so I couldn’t remember it very well. Akihabara is just as how they all described it, busy, hectic and loud with music from every corner.

                In the day I suppose it’s a bit of a tourist trap, because I can see big tour groups making random stops, and quite a lot of Westerners taking photos of the streets. Japanese teenagers in their school uniforms were cycling up and down, headphones plugged in and others were loitering around, sneaking a cigarette every once in a while.

                I looked down at my phone and stopped at this so-called Missy Kitty. There was a girl at the door, dressed in a French maid costume and a kitty headband. She had blonde hair in pigtails and she folded her hands together. She saw me and greeted me in Japanese. Her voice was high and perky and I almost got a mini heart attack from it. Then in English she said “Welcome Master!”

                “Er…” excuse me Master? I just nodded awkwardly as she opened the door for me. There were lots more other girls dressed exactly like her. All in Lolita costumes with a kitty headband and one of them had a kitty tail. The café was brightly decorated in soft pastel colours and the whole place had a Victorian meets Hello Kitty vibe to it. I wasn’t sure whether to be confused or lightened up.

                There was a bar in the centre of the café, where similarly dressed girls were busy making drinks. I sat down at the bar and looked around. This place only had female workers. There were a few customers here and there, who sometimes stopped to take a picture with the ‘maids’ and leave messages on a huge bulletin board all scribbled in Japanese.

                “Can I help you?” one of the maids asked me in English, snapping me out of whatever I was in. “Uhm…” I took out the key from my pocket and showed it to her. “I have a key to something here in this café. Can you tell me about it?”

                “Ah,” she took the key and looked at it. “This is Luhan’s locker key.”

                “Wait…Luhan? Luhan worked here?”

                “Yes sir. He worked here as a maid for two weeks or so.”

                “Luhan was a…”

                “Please come with me sir.” She gestured, walking out of the bar and I got up to follow her. We went to the back of the café, past the busy kitchen and into the employee room. She opened locker no.11 and pulled out the contents. A blue maid outfit was placed on one of the benches behind us and some other random things, a flight ticket, train card and some other stuff.

                “Luhan worked as a maid?” I asked in shock, as I held up the costume which was really small. How in heaven’s name could Luhan fit into this?!

                “One of our bartenders quit suddenly so we were desperate to look for another.” She said. “Luhan said he was willing to work and didn’t mind the costume. He said he needed money quickly.”

                “How much was he paid?”

                “We paids get paid 900 yen an hour. We work 8 hours a day here with shifts.”

                900 yen was more or less about 9118 won or something, also about 7 USD an hour. If he worked 8 hours for two weeks or so, every day that is, he would have at least 600 something USD. What did he even need the money for?

                “Did he say what he needed the money was for?”

                “No, and he couldn’t even fit into the costume at first.” She chuckled. “See these clips? We had to clip the buttons at the back using huge safety pins and we gave him a long wig to cover his back so you would never know.”

                “So he strutted around the café in this tiny dress?”

                “He worked at the bar, so he never really had any interaction with the customers. He sang once during our open mic night but that was it. He has a lovely voice though.”

                “Yeah I know he does.”

                “These are all of his belongings. Are you looking for him sir?”

                “Yeah.” I rubbed the material in my hands. “I suppose you need this back.”

                “Yes we do,” she took the costume from me and gave me a kitty headband with leopard ears. “If you do see Luhan again tell him Mikara gave him this. A little souvenir from the time he worked here.”

                “Is your name Mikara?”

                “Yes.” She blushed lightly. “Luhan was a handsome boy, and very nice.”

                “I know.” I couldn’t help but giggle a little. Judging from Mikara’s smile and pink blush, she was probably taken by Luhan. Yes, even in a maid costume.

                “If you excuse me sir, I have to go back to work.”

                “Oh thank you Mikara.”

                “Come and have a drink, on me.”

                “Oh no I couldn’t…”

                “Oh but you must. A friend of Luhan is a friend of mine.”

                “Actually I’m his stepbrother.”

                “Wow! Then you must let me treat you!” she pulled my arm and linked hers around mine. I laughed with her and nodded. Far be it from me to turn down such a generous offer.

                I sat back at my place on the counter, all of Luhan’s past belongings in my hand. There was an airplane ticket with his name on it to Tokyo, a train stub with Japanese words that I couldn’t read and some folded pieces of paper. One of them had numbers scribbled on it, and it seemed like Luhan was trying to add numbers up. Maybe he was working out how much money he needed and how much he could spend. Another one was a Japanese song with Korean lyrics. That was the song he probably sang during open mic night.

                Luhan loved to sing, and he was good at it. He was a great performer too, and it seems like even if he was miles away he couldn’t resist open mic night. He used to perform at every talent show in school and wow the girls with his voice. As if he needed another reason to woo them off their feet.

                In the midst of all of that, I found some more train stubs and even some coins and yen notes. They were just some loose change but I pocketed them anyway. Hey, small money is better than no money, but looking through his belongings I just couldn’t tell what he was doing here. If he worked here, he had to stay somewhere, but where?

                I was holding the kitty headband in my hands when I heard the man next to me speak up. “Is that your headband?”

                “Me?” I turned to look at him. He was maybe only a few years older than me, with dark hair that was swept to one side and he wore a black coat. “No no, this belonged to my brother.”

                “Your brother is interested in being a cat?”

                “No no,” I laughed. Oh the ridiculousness of it all. “He worked here.”

                “He did?” the man’s eyes widen. “What was his name?”

                “Luhan. Do you know him?”

                “Luhan was my tenant.” The man put out his hand. “I’m Kim Joonmyun.”

                “Kris Wu.” I shook his, blinking at him quickly. “Luhan rented a place from you?”

                “Yeah, just a few blocks from here. Wanna go take a look?”

                “Yes please.” We got up, gave a nod to Mikara and escaped the café, where all the maids instinctively turned to bid us goodbye in their high pitched voices. Joonmyun took me further down the street and into one of the buildings.

                “It’s nothing much but I guess for 15 USD a night you can’t complain.” He opened the door and inside was a tiny one room apartment. I swear to you that the place was probably no bigger than 25 meter squared. There was a tiny sink and stove in the kitchen area on my left. On my right was a desk and a chair. Folded futons were in a corner next to a heater. To my right was the bathroom, which was so tiny it could have been claustrophobic for a rat.

                “This is…”

                “Tiny huh?” Joonmyun laughed. “Get used to it kid, most apartments in Tokyo are like that. You can’t get much bigger than this unless you built it yourself.”

                “So Luhan stayed here?”

                “Yep, for about two and a half weeks, with his friend Oh Sehun.”

                “He had a friend with him?! Was it a man?” I turned and exclaimed loudly.

                “Yeah, didn’t your brother tell you about it?” Joonmyun walked over to the kitchen area and put a pot on the stove. “I was the one who introduced him to the maid café just now, he said he…you okay kid?”

                “I just…” the words were stuck in the back of my throat. “I just can’t believe my brother ran away with a man. And he dressed up as a maid! In that tiny dress and screeched to his customers, came back to this tiny apartment and…” a hand flew up in front of my face and pointed down.

                “Take a seat kid.” Joonmyun pulled out a small table, only a few inches higher than the floor and I sat down on the floor in front of it. “Before you pop a gasket and all. Can’t have someone dying in my apartment. Business is bad enough as it is.”

                “You live here too?”

                “Me? Good lord no. I have another tiny apartment downstairs.” He smirked. I instantly felt bad about my little outburst and blushed. “Would you like some coffee, tea or maybe water? Japanese green tea is very good for you.”

                “I’ll just have whatever you have.”

                “Green tea it is.” He poured the hot water into a smaller pot and put it onto the table. “I rent this place mostly to tourists and some local visitors just staying for the weekend.”

                “I guess at 15 bucks this is what you get.” I took the cup from his graciously, feeling the warmth in my hand.

                “And in Akihabara too. This is a steal I tell you.”

                “So how did you meet my brother?” I asked him.

                “Well, a couple of days before they arrived, I got an email from Sehun, saying that he was interested in staying here for about two to three weeks. I sent them the address and they paid me first week’s deposit. Their plane was set to arrive early in the morning, and Sehun insisted on not disturbing me, so I just plopped the key into the mailbox and let them open it themselves.”

                “You can do that here?”

                “Oh yeah. It’s Japan, and I know all my neighbours here. Who’d want to break into a barren apartment with nothing to offer?” Joonmyun laughed. “Anyways, the next day I got up I went to speak to them. Sehun was tall and handsome. He had dark hair, sharp jaw and he was a little skinny. They were both dressed in plain clothes and there was Luhan. He was pretty handsome, albeit a little feminine looking, but not bad at all.”

                “Yeah that sounds like Luhan.” Luhan was known for his feminine features, that wasn’t anything new. What’s new is this Oh Sehun guy.

                “I figured they were a couple because you know,” Joonmyun cocked his head and sipped his tea. “They were holding hands and all. Sehun was an artist of some sort. He said he has an art project to work on. I asked where he was hired and he said he wasn’t.”

                “So he’s like a freelance artist?”

                “Looks like it. Luhan asked for a job, and then I remembered that the maid café was looking for a new bartender. I didn’t think they hired boys but when you’re desperate you’ll do anything.”

                “You’re a frequent customer of the maid café then?”

                “Only for the food. I mean I don’t particularly enjoy all those girls in the skirts prancing about and going ‘hello master! How may I help you today master? Kitty will be good today!’” Joonmyun waved his hands about imitating the girls and I choked on my tea a little. “Unless you’re into that kind of thing.”

                “No not at all.” I laughed. I better not tell him about that one time I dreamt about Tao in a maid costume with white garters.

                “Did they tell you where they went when they left?”

                “Sydney.”

                “Sydney Australia?!” I dropped my jaw.

                “Yeah. I wager that the money Luhan raised was to buy the plane tickets to Sydney. You could get cheap ones online.”

                I couldn’t believe this. Luhan ran away with some freelance artist named Sehun and now they are gallivanting around the globe, raising money and spending it all at once. He wasn’t kidnapped. He freaking ran away. Eloped.

                I suddenly wished Luhan was kidnapped. It was so much better to bear.

                “You didn’t know any of this?” Joonmyun asked me.

                “My brother is not who he looks like.” I sighed. “He is the heir and CEO of EXO Corporation, one of the biggest construction companies in South Korea.”

                “.”

                “Exactly, and just one day before his term he disappeared with this guy who is apparently his lover, leaving his family worried, heartbroken and in shambles. We called the ing police who are just plain useless and I couldn’t sleep for a month worried about him. If I didn’t find his parcel locker and that key I would have thought he was dead.”

                “Well he was certainly very much alive when I last saw him.”

                “When did they leave?”

                “About 10 days ago.”

                “And when did they check in?”

                “I think it was…on the 6^th of September. Early morning.”

                Luhan disappeared on the 5^th. So he took a flight here with Sehun. Why couldn’t anyone find out about this? That he had eloped? I mean what was so ing hard about it?!

                “There’s only so much I can tell you about Luhan and Sehun.” Joonmyun said. His eyes were a little apologetic, sensing my stress and fear. “They left some of their belongings behind when they left. Would you like to look at them?”

                “Yes please.” I rubbed my face with my hands as I tried to grasp reality. Stinging tears were forming but I swallowed them back down.

                “They are in my place downstairs. I’ll go and get them. In the meantime, would be interested in looking for a place to stay?” he raised an eyebrow at me and I couldn’t help but smile. Joonmyun does make the most interesting expressions.

                “I was actually going to look for a hotel.”

                “Yeah but you know, you’re already here and it’s got a kitchen and all.” He shrugged, as if he wasn’t shamelessly promoting his own apartment. I really couldn’t help laughing. He was cocking his eyebrows and pouting away, looking really adorable.

                “Besides, if you’re looking for your brother, wouldn’t it be better if you stayed where he did? Laid down on the same floor? Used the same bathroom?”

                “I have been doing that for years.” I laughed. “But sure I guess.”

                “Cool! I’ll bring up a form and their belongings.” Joonmyun’s eyes sparkled when I said yes as he left the apartment, leaving me there with my cheeks feeling like they have been stretched for a long time and my green tea cup still warm to touch.

                Joonmyun didn’t take long. He bought up a box of their previous belongings and I filled in a rental form. He agreed to take me out to dinner if I was free (of course I was) and left me to myself. “I figure you need a break.”

                “Thank you Joonmyun.”

                “No problem.” He smiled, washing up the pot. “Help yourself to anything in here. I always keep it properly stocked.”

                “Got it.”

                “Kris?”

                “Yeah?”

                “If I may be so inclined, I just want to say that you and your brother don’t really look alike.”

                “He’s my stepbrother.”

                “Ah.” He nodded. “I’ll see you for dinner tonight then.”

                “Yeah, thank you Joonmyun.” I closed the door behind him and went back to the box on the table. There was nothing much inside. Some random coins, a toothbrush and an unopened ramen cup. A few more wads of paper were tucked inside an envelope and I opened them with shaky fingers. It was late afternoon and I couldn’t hear anything except the buzz of the old fan on top of me. I sure hope it doesn’t fall apart.

                I can honestly tell you, I have never been more scared before in my life. Not because of a fan, but of finding out my brother was not who I thought he was.

A/N: Side note, I have never actually been to Japan (though I will be going there for a summer vacation ^^) and Akihabara's description was given to me by a friend who had been there several times. Anyways, the reason behind Luhan's disappearance has been revealed, and the upcoming chapters will reveal more about Luhan's love story XD

Thanks for all the love guys, you are the best!