Chapter 5

"Please"

 

 

..around 8:30 am in the morning..

 

Yijeong wakes up in shock to loud high-pitched screams. He very hastily and worryingly opens up the tent, only to see Jaeho running around being chased by Dokyun, holding what looks like some kind of snake.

 

“Hyung! Please stop!”, Jaeho screams in a winded voice, still running away from the other

“Come on, he only wants some love!”, Dokyun screams back in response while laughing

“You know I’m afraid of snakes, stupid! Why are you doing this to me?!”

“Because it’s fun to tease you, hahahahah”

 

“Both of you, stop running around like idiots. Come and eat instead.”, Sihyoung says with a smile trying to stop himself from laughing, while pouring some ramen into a bowl.

“What’s going on?”, utters a confused and sleepy Yijeong

 

“Oh, look! Our baby has woken up!”, Dokyun expresses in happiness followed by a cute chuckle, while sitting down next to Sihyoung

“Slept well?”, Sihyoung then asks in concern

“Is our leader also awake? Is he feeling any better?”, a worried Jaeho utters while grabbing some drinks from the supply box.

 

 

 

“I thought he was out here with you guys..” ,Yijeong responds in now a very concerned tone

 

“What?!”, Dokyun and Jaeho outbursts in panic

“No, we thought he was in the tent with you!”, Sihyoung replies with an angst filled voice

 

“Wait, wait wait. If he’s not here then where the hell is he?!”

“Did he say anything to you, Yijeong?”

“When did he take off?!”

“Why didn’t he say anything?!”, the other members all groan in worry

"He didn’t say anything to me..”, Yijeong responds

“I wish he did..”, Yijeong mumbles to himself, while taking out his phone from the pocket off his jacket.

 

Unlocking his phone, he quickly starts sending a message to their missing leader

 

"He’s reading my messages but not responding”, he tells the others, as he’s swiftly changing his clothes.

 

“I’ll go look for him”, Yijeong utters while he’s putting on his shoes.

“Alone?”, Jaeho asks in concern

“Yes, it’s better if you start looking here, maybe he’s out in the woods again. I’ll head back to our dorm and continue from there”, he replies

“But how are you gonna get back? We don’t have a car.”, expresses a worried Sihyoung

“I’ll call for a cab”

“We’re literally out in the middle of nowhere, how will the driver even find you? Please, can’t we all work together on this? We’re all worried”, Dokyun says while packing up their stuff.

 

“Then I’ll walk”, Yijeong stubbornly replies as he’s walking away from the camp area, down the narrow road they came from.

 

...About 10 minutes later…

 

*pling* *pling* - Yijeong’s phone got a message notification. Hoping that it was their cherished leader, Yijeong quickly got his phone out of his back pocket to answer the long awaited message. “Aiish, I thought it was you, stupid”, Yijeong disappointedly mumbles to himself, while kicking the ground. It was just Sihyoung "Be careful and don’t forget to call us if you find anything, we’ll do the same. I hope we find him soon.” .. “Arraseo”, is all Yijeong replies.

Yijeong decides to try and call their leader but with no response, all the attempted calls went straight to voicemail. He left numerous voice messages, not knowing if any went through at all.

...1 hour of walking later...

 

The younger finally arrives at their dorm. He rushes up the stairs, not even thinking about using the elevator. That thing never works anyway.

 

“Hyung!”

“Kyungil!”

“Hyung, are you here?”, Yijeong’s anxious voice echoes throughout their dorm.

 

No signs of their leader anywhere. He doesn’t seem to be here. He tries to call him again but yet again, with no response. Only straight direction to voicemail. The younger searches the dorm room by room, now reaching Kyungil’s door. He knocks a few times in case he’s in there but since he’s not getting any response, he decides to open the door. Opening the door, his eyes meet complete chaos. It looks like the room has been turned upside down. Most stuff are completely broken with glass being scattered everywhere. Thoughts of “What happened in here?” “Did hyung do this?” “Why?” is repeatedly circulating like a ferris wheel inside the younger’s head. “I need to find him, quick”, Yijeong mumbles in worry and fear.

 

As the younger was about to turn around and leave, he saw something that looked like the leader’s phone in the midst of all the scattered glass on the damaged bed. He quickly realized that it was in fact, the leader’s phone. Yijeong carefully stepped over all the glass to rapidly grab the phone in hopes of not getting cut by the sharp fragments. He successfully grabbed the phone but on his way back, he tripped over a box that must've fallen down from the broken cabinet positioned next to the bed. A sharp-edged piece on the busted table in front of the bed grazed against the younger’s cheek when he tried to break his fall.

 

Luckily the cut wasn’t too deep but it did leave a mark. Yijeong put the leader’s phone in his pocket and ran to the bathroom, quickly washing of the blood on his cheek, holding a chunk of paper over the wound until he finds some bandage of sort. Searching in the cupboard above the bathroom sink, he lay eyes on a pack of patches. It’s the only one he kind find and based on the patch cover...it’s Jaeho’s. It’s the Hello Kitty ones.. “Of course we only have the most childish ones left, thanks Jae-innie..”, he sarcastically mumbles to himself, while applying one onto the wound.

 

*pling* *pling* *pling* *pling* - Yijeong’s phone got non-stop message notifications. Again thinking that it finally was from Kyungil, he immediately took his phone out of his pocket with a big smile on his lips..”Finally!” …….

Once again the message was not from the one he’s waiting oh so anxiously for. It was from Sihyoung again. “What does he want now?”, the younger annoyingly mumbles to himself as he clicks to open the message...

 

“YIJEONG!”

“HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEWS?!”

“IF NOT, YOU HAVE TO NOW”

“WE NEED TO FIND HYUNG RIGHT NOW”
“HE MIGHT BE IN DANGER”

“PLEASEEE ANSWER”

 

Before Yijeong manages to hit “send”, his phone rings. It’s Sihyoung.

 

"Yijeong, we need to find him quick"

"He’s not safe by himself"

"Please tell me you’ve found something", Sihyoung utters in angst on the other line

 

"Wait, wait, slow down, hyung. What are you talking about?", the younger replies in concern followed by "I found his phone, in his room..But his room is completely trashed. Looks like he or someone went on a serious rampage in here"

 

"You found his phone?? Have you looked through it?"

"No, not yet. I was about to but you called"

 

"His father escaped from prison"

"I mean his step father"

"We think hyung saw the news and panicked"

"And that’s why he took off from the camp earlier"

 

“WHAT?!”, the younger shouted in utter shock

 

“Yes. You heard me.”

“That’s why we need to find him quick”

“He’s not safe being alone”

“Do you understand me?”, Sihyoung worryingly replied

 

“Yes, hyung. I hear you.”

“Where are you right now?”

 

“We’re leaving the camp now”

“Our manager and staff called and came back as soon as they heard about the news”

“Are you still at the dorm?”
 

“Yeah, I am”
“I’m about to look through his phone”, Yijeong replies

 

“Good. We’ll meet you at the dorm in about 20 minutes”

“Call me back if you find anything”, Sihyoung says before abruptly hanging up

 

Yijeong quickly took out the leader’s phone and pressed the power button, hoping that it still worked, since it looked quite beat up. Fortunately it works fine with minor issues and to his surprise, no passcode was needed to unlock it. The younger immediately notices all the messages and missed calls from Yijeong himself but more importantly, Kyungil’s mother…

     




The younger could feel tears starting to slowly drip down his cheek as he read the messages from their leader’s mother. Trying to figure out where he can be, Yijeong keeps focusing on the last two messages sent by his mother… "if you want to hide you know where you can right?" .. "at our safe place, only our place"...

 

Yijeong keeps repeating those two messages in his head, thinking back of conversations in the past he’s had with Kyungil. Their leader talks very little about his family also neither much about his personal life. He’s never really had a really deep conversation with Kyungil either when he thinks about it but something is slowly appearing in his memories as he’s desperately seeking answers within his thoughts.

 

“Ahh!! I know where he is!!”, the younger suddenly outbursts in excitement

He swiftly picks up his phone and dials Sihyoung’s number when all of a sudden he hears someone knocking on their door and seconds later their doorbell going off. Yijeong quickly runs towards their door to look through the peephole to see who it is. If it were one of the members or staff, they’d open the door themselves since they have their own keys... so the abrupt knocking made the younger a bit suspicious. Looking through, Yijeong quickly unlocks the door when realizing it was Sihyoung.

"Sorry about the aggressive knocking, I forgot my key in the van, haha", Sihyoung says with a smile while scratching the back of his head.

 

“It’s ok!”

“I was just calling you”

“I think I know where hyung is!”, says the younger while locking the door behind them, grabbing Sihyoung’s wrist, dragging him back downstairs to the van.

 

“We need to go right now!”

“Get in the van”

“I know where Kyungil is”

“Or at least...I think I know where he is!”, he tells the manager as he gets in the van

 

...after about an 1 hour long drive....They’ve arrived at Seoul Land in Gwacheon.

 

“Wait, why are we at an amusement park?”

“Do you really think he’s here?”, a confused Dokyun asks

 

“Yes, I do”

“I mean, I’m not 100% sure but it’s a hunch. I’m going after my gut feeling, okay?”

“It’s better than nothing, right??”, the younger responds with an slightly annoyed voice as he’s getting ready to get out of the van

 

“You’re going in there now?”

“How do you expect to find him in the mass of people in there?”, Dokyun asks again

 

“I don’t care about that”

“I care about Kyungil hyung”

“I want to find him”

“We need to find him”

“Stay here if you want, I’m going in to look for him. I’ll call if I find him”, utters a stressed and worried Yijeong as he’s getting out of the van.

“Woah, this place is huge”, the younger mumbles in awe as he’s walking around in the amusement park.

 

Yijeong spots one of the theme park’s tour guides and asks for directions to something called “Space Palace”, the place that their leader may be at.

 

...after a few minutes of walking…

 

Yijeong is now standing in front of the “Space Palace” entrance, hesitant to go in. He knows that the leader might be here, if his sudden hunch was right but what would he do if he finds him? What should he do? What should he say? Maybe he just wants to be alone and him coming here...might make it all worse? Before the younger overthinks to much, he decides to go in…

 

Strolling around in the “Space Palace” looking for Kyungil, he quickly realizes why it’s called a “palace”.. “This place is amazing”, he thinks to himself. It doesn’t exactly feel like you’re actually in space, it feels more like...you’re somewhere you want to be. It’s relaxing and quiet, except for the hyperactive kids running around.

 

While looking for their leader, a swift glimpse of something named  “space room”  catches Yijeong’s attention and he walks towards it. He sneakily peep into the dark room through the slightly open door. Taking a brief glance around the room, he instantly sees him. Their leader, Kyungil. He’s laying down on his back with his arms and hands supporting his head, gazing up onto the space filled ceiling...

 

“Heol...he looks so peaceful”, the younger quietly mumbles to himself in awe at the sight of their leader..

 

Before a thought even crossed his mind, Yijeong was already standing next to Kyungil. Squatting to sit down next to him, he gently nudges his shoulder “Hyung, I finally found you”, the younger says, letting out a sigh of relief.

 

“What..?”

“Yi---Yijeong…”
“Why are you here?”

“How did you even know I was here??”, the leader flinched by the younger’s sudden touch in confusion

 

“You just took off earlier...without saying anything”

“Did you expect us not to worry??”, utters a worried Yijeong

“No, not really..”, Kyungil replies while pouting his lips

“Of course we would be worried, stupid”

“We were insanely worried”

….

“I was extremely worried..”

“I still am..”, the younger sighs

 

“Why? You’ve found me already..”

“I know, hyung..”

“But...after hearing the news about your stepfather…”

 

“What?”, the leader asks in a stern voice

“Well, I went looking for you”

“I walked back to our dorm...to see if you’d be there and...”

 

“Wait, you walked all the way back?”, the leader abruptly interrupts the younger mid-sentence

“Yeah...the cab driver would obviously not know where I was, we were literally in the middle of nowhere…”

“And I wanted to find you quickly because I was worried....”,  Yijeong continues..

 

“Really?..”, Kyungil responds with a smile on his lips.

“Yes, really”

“When I came back to the dorm to look for you..”

“I went into your room..and well, saw it…”

 

“Ohh…”, the leader turns his head away while scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

 

“You must’ve been really mad, huh?”

...
“Anyway, I found your phone...and looked through it, hoping it would help me find you..”

“And well, it did and now I’m here”

“How did you find me through my phone? Are you McGyver’s twin or something? haha”, the leader responds with a chuckle of amusement

“I saw messages from your mother..”

“And the two last messages from her...made me think and it brought me here..”, the younger replies with a shaky voice..

“Oh, I see”, Kyungil says while standing up

 

“Where are you going?”
“Don’t think about running off again..”, Yijeong utters in worry

 

“No, stupid”, the leader says while smiling as he reaches out for Yijeong's hand.. “Come with me, we’re going back”

 

“To the dorm?”, Yijeong asks in confusion

“Yes, genius. I need to clean up the chaos in my room.”

“I’ll help you, hyung”, Yijeong replies with a smile as he takes the leader’s hand

As they get out of the dark space room, Kyungil notices the hello kitty patch on the younger’s cheek..

 

“Yi--Yijeong what happened!”, he outbursts while poking his cheek.. “Who hurt you?”

 

“No no, it’s nothing, hyung. I just fell on some glass in your room while I was looking for you..”, Yijeong respond in a shy voice

 

“My mess caused that wound?!”, the leader utters in shock and concern

“Technically yes, but it’s nothing. Trust me. It doesn’t even hurt.”, the younger says in a reassuring voice

 

“Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?”, the leader giggles with a grin on his face as he pokes the younger’s cheek

“Yaah!! Hyung!”, Yijeong slaps Kyungil’s hand away from his face

“See, I knew it really hurts hahaha”,

“Hyung…”, the younger pouts his lips at him

“Oh come on”

“Let’s go back already”, the leader says as he takes the younger’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers and leads him towards the exit of the theme park..


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Note: Hi hi!! I'm extremely sorry for this major slow update/new chapter. I kinda froze. Didn't know which story to continue on, didn't know what to write etc. BUT now i'm back on track! I updated one of my other stories yesterday and now this one today. This chapter turned out a little longer than i thought but i was on a flow, haha. Didn't know exactly where to cut it off. I also changed the title to something i think this story is going for, since this is obviously no longer a "one shot" kind of story, xD + i made a new cover for this story.

 

I'll shower you with some adorable Kyungjeong softness while I cry over the fact that I miss them so much. I miss the whole group so much it hurts. >_<''' Do you all miss them too or am i the only one? D:

 

ALSO: the "Space Palace" is a place i just made up while writing this chapter xD i also made up the "space room" lol it sounds cheesy as heck but yeah, it's valuable to the story, it might sound really confusing with all the space stuff right now but it'll hopefully make more sense later on in the story. :3