You smiled at the man pouring you a cup of tea. It didn’t seem like he was much older than you were. The tea in your cup was a bright red colour, but that didn’t matter. Tea could be any colour in the world. At least, that’s what the pourer of the tea had assured you. It smelled sweet, like strawberries and mint. You were about to take a sip when someone placed their hand over the cup.

“It’s not perfect without Honey Juice.” A voice told you. You turned your head, smiling at a man who was wearing a long black coat. There was no good reason for that kind of clothing in the middle of the summer. Still, you placed your cup back down.

“Suga you really shouldn’t be walking around in all black. Aren’t you warm?” You asked him, getting up from your seat. Suga shrugged and tilted a small, yellow bottle over your cup, pouring in some of the yellow liquid.

“I’m just as warm as I wish to be, Areum. Now drink your tea, I promise it’s much better now..” He was smiling really brightly. You weren’t sure if you wanted to drink the tea. He was probably pranking you! Chuckling you raised the cup for him.

“You first!”

In the morning you found the can of chocolate milk in your bag. Smiling you traced your fingers over the cold metal, before the same feeling you’d experienced the day before hit you again. You might not see Namjoon. For whatever reason, it was a terrifying thought. You swallowed deeply and tried to focus on something else. There had been a boy in your dream, clearly. You remembered him still, but his features were slipping your mind like fine sand through a sieve.

Sugar, or something like that. You scribbled the name down in your notebook, trying to connect it to something. Soft, rounded cheeks and vaguely red hair. With a sigh, you closed your notebook and left it on your nightstand to get ready for school.

The bad feeling you’d had was confirmed when you entered the school. No Namjoon, and instead there was a police officer talking to your teacher. You stepped closer to them, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. What happened to Namjoon? Why wasn’t he here? You had to know, desperately. The police officer glanced down at you.

“Please take your seat, your teacher will inform you all in just a few minutes.” He said. That didn’t sound good. You bit your tongue and gathered all the courage you didn’t think you had.

“Is Namjoon okay? It’s about him isn’t it?” You asked, speaking quickly. The man froze, then turned to you.

“We don’t know. His parents reported him missing this morning.” It felt like someone had dropped a bucket of ice water onto your head. The police officer tried to ask you some questions, but you couldn’t hear what he was saying. Your hands trembled as you sat down by your desk. Beside you, you could hear someone mentioning it, but you didn’t care. Namjoon was gone. And you had known he would be. Where could he have gone?

Time passed more and more slowly. Every few seconds you glanced over at the empty seat and wished very much that Namjoon was there. Why was no one else looking? Why didn’t anyone else scream in terror? Your eyes washed over your classmates. They were just chatting about, as they normally would. New album, new clothes, same boring stories. Namjoon wasn’t there anymore, and you were feeling tired.

During break time you stopped by the restroom and noticed how pale your face was in the mirror. Had your eyebags always been this dark? They seemed to be getting worse. Maybe it was just the lighting. Then you had to grab hold of the sink as a sudden wave of dizziness went through you. You heard voices behind you. A group of girls entered the restroom as well.

“Are you okay? You look really tired.” One of them commented. A second of them offered to lend you their concealer. You thanked them but brushed it off and headed back to class. Once there you stopped by Namjoon’s desk. It was spotlessly clean. You wanted to sit down here and find something of his, but you couldn’t. This wasn’t your seat, and there was nothing to find here. Where did he go?

You didn’t know what was making you so tired, but you could barely keep your eyes open for the rest of the day. You missed everything the teacher talked about, but luckily she didn’t ask you any questions. Maybe she’d seen you stare at Namjoon’s empty seat because she stopped you before you could exit the classroom. She sighed, but you couldn’t tell why. You were too tired to care about that.

“Areum, why don’t you stop by Namjoon’s house? I’m sure he’ll want his homework when he comes back. And he will come back. He’s a smart guy, okay?” You couldn’t care any less whether or not Namjoon wanted his homework, honestly he probably didn’t, but still nodded. With some luck, she could give you Namjoon’s address and you could stop by his place. You sincerely doubted that he would come back, but didn’t want to give up hope. It was just a stupid gut feeling, and it had been wrong before. Just never when it came to Namjoon, but you chose to ignore that.

Namjoon lived very close to school, it turned out. You didn’t have enough time to calm down your nerves whilst walking over to his house. His house was a fairly ordinary looking house, sitting right in the middle of a block of ordinary looking houses. The walls were white, the windows were bordered by wood that was painted an ugly shade of green. There were no gardens in front of the houses, and there was no real sign that anyone living in these houses wasn’t a mannequin because everything looked just a little too similar. Namjoon might have gone crazy living here, you thought.

After swallowing a few times you rang the bell to his house, number 19. Behind the door you heard hurried footsteps. This was a bad idea. Why did you come here? His parents wouldn’t want to see a stranger when their son was missing, wouldn’t they? You were about to run away when the door opened and a woman with a tearstained face appeared. She glanced down at you and seemed to deflate. Obviously, she was hoping her son would come back. You opened your mouth to say something but couldn’t think of anything suitable.

“Hello there. You’re a classmate of... Of my son... Aren’t you?” She asked, her voice was trembling. You nodded quietly. The woman stepped back and held the door open to you. “Please do come in.. N-Namjoon isn’t here right now but..” She sniffled at the name, “but you’re always welcome here..” Her voice broke and you quickly stepped inside.

She led you through a small hallway to the living room. The living room had a single window that looked out on the street. The floor was covered by a thick carpet that had lost most of its colours. The walls were painted red, but you could tell the paint was starting to fall off in some corners. Across a television, in front of a low coffee table, a man was sitting on a large chair. You assumed he was Namjoon’s father.

“Dear, we have a visitor..” The woman spoke in her trembling voice. The man only barely looked up from the television. It was focused on the news. Although the man looked very stoic, you could tell that he, too, had been crying. Now you felt even worse for intruding in their life. You had no good news for them at all.

“Excuse me... I wasn’t expecting..” The man stopped and shook his head, more to himself than anything else. The woman held out a cup of tea to you with shaking hands. You took it, standing awkwardly near the door.

“Please, sit down. We.. we didn’t expect any of Namjoon’s classmates to come visit. He’s... He’s missing you know?” Yes, you knew this very well. You took the seat she offered and placed your tea down on the table.

“I-I know... I..” I what? You tried to think of anything to say. “Namjoon was a friend of mine. At least... I mean.. We got on well, you know?” You offered. To your surprise, the woman burst out in tears. Frozen you watched her collect herself. After wiping her tears she sat down beside you on the couch. The whole situation still felt so uncomfortable.

“It’s so nice to hear that Namjoon’s friends are worried about him. We didn’t really think he had friends. I was so worried that he was alone and that he ran away because of that.” Her voice trembled. You reached over and gently patted your hand, not sure what to say. “If you don’t mind... What was Namjoon like in class? O-of course you don’t have to tell me your secrets.” She was smiling now. Apparently, she’d been encouraged a little by what you had said. Your stomach turned. Had you been lying? No.. You wanted to be Namjoon’s friend.

“He was... He is great. He’s very nice. Lately, he doesn’t talk as much..” You tried your best to remember him as he had been, “we’ve both been having trouble sleeping.” At least that was true. The woman glanced over at you.

“I know what you’re thinking... I mean.. He sleeps, right? I sleep, too.. It’s just that when we wake up we’re even more tired.” You tried to explain it. A strange expression came over the woman’s face, then she started crying once more.

“My baby... I wasn’t understanding enough. I just thought if I sent him to bed early..” She sobbed. You let her, glancing instead at your tea. It didn’t look very appealing at the moment, but you picked it up anyway. It smelled bitter.

“It’s not like that... I’m sure he thought it would be better if he just rested and ate well.” You spoke softly, sipping from the tea against your better judgement. It was far too strong for your liking. “I tried keeping him awake during class, and he woke me up when I fell asleep. He’s one of the few people who call me by my name. He’s really very nice.” You tried summing up everything you knew about him. Why was there so much you didn’t know about him? You decided not to tell them about the gut feeling you’d had the day before.

“He is a very nice kid. We raised him well.” There was some pride in the woman’s voice. She dried her tears on her sleeves and smiled at you. Apparently, she was trying to make the best of the situation. “So.. what is your name? I didn’t even ask. Our Namjoon found such a pretty girlfriend.” You didn’t bother protesting for some reason.

You stayed at their house for a while longer and let Namjoon’s mother talk to you about him. Not once did you mention dropping off homework, it wasn’t important right now. After about an hour, when her husband had left, the woman said she would go cook something. You excused yourself and said you’d come by again. The situation was a little strange to be in.

Your mother didn’t ask why you were late when you got home since you were nodding off through dinner. She did take your phone, as if you needed it, and sent you to bed to catch up on your sleep. Maybe if she kept pretending you weren’t sleeping, you could pretend to catch up on it, and become less tired. Without thinking too much about it you closed your eyes and let yourself slip away into a deep slumber.

“Where have you been Areum?! You’re late for the party!” Suga exclaimed, fidgeting with his coat, “Everyone is already there except for you! JHope hates waiting for his guests you know!” He scolded you. You shrugged, looking around you. The table that was so often filled with teacups was empty and wiped down.

“I’ll just tell him I was playing with Jungkook.” You offered a small smile. Beside you, you could hear purring. When you looked, it was the boy with cat ears. Jungkook. He grabbed your arm and tugged on it playfully.

“It’s not nice to lie or to blame others Areum! But if you play with me it won’t be a lie!” Once more he tugged on your arm. “Come on! Let’s play catch! Catch me if you can Areum!!” He grinned excitedly and jumped away, crouching down and waiting for you to approach him. Behind you Suga could be heard coughing sternly.

“We really don’t have time for this!” But you ignored him and chased after Jungkook, who made wild leaps to stay out of your reach. His tail swished happily. Just when you thought you had cornered him against a shed, he let out a laugh and vanished. Disappointed you turned around, noticing him sitting on the branch of a nearby tree. His eyes seemed to be glowing.

“That’s cheating.” You pouted. He shrugged, vanishing once more. Suga tapped his wrist impatiently. He wasn’t wearing a watch, but you understood what he was talking about.

“Oh come on.. JHope won’t really be mad, right?” You asked as you ran around the tree, trying to find Jungkook once more. Stupid cat and his tricks. Whoever said foxes are tricksters had clearly never met a cat. Suga grabbed you by your sleeve and tugged on it, making you face him again. The invitation had said six thirty, it couldn’t be that late already could it? Before you could ask him what time it was, you heard a new voice jumping along behind you.

“Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! There’s no time!!” It was a boy. His hair was light brown and his lips that were normally smiling, were now pulled into a frown. Rather than walking he seemed to bounce off the floor with every step he took. Not like Jungkook the cat, but more like a rabbit. Of course, he was a rabbit. There were rabbit ears sticking out from beneath his hair. Large, soft white rabbit ears. You wished you could touch them, but he was too fast.

“Suga, Suga! We must go! Or the duke will be displeased! Come, friends! Hurry up! Hurry up!” He stamped on the floor as if to add power to his statement. Beside you Jungkook started laughing.

“Jimin, you can’t rush good times. Come on then, Areum. I want to dance with you!” Between his shoulder movements and the flicking of his tail, you could swear he was already dancing. With a smile you took his hand. Off to the party you went!