six months later

Byun Baekbeom sits with his head in his hands, barely listening to the police detective’s words.

“I’m sorry, sir,” the detective says regretfully. “But most of the time, in missing persons cases like these, the person-”

“-doesn’t want to be found! I KNOW!” Baekbeom screams. “But this is my brother! He- he’s not like that! He wasn’t depressed; he didn’t want to run away! SO FIND HIM!” his voice cracks, and tears flood his eyes. Taeyeon squeezes his shoulder, swallowing back her own tears.

“Calm down, Beom,” she whispers, “W-we’ll find him.”

“Oh, Taeyeon,” he cries, burying his head into her neck. “What if- what if he knew?” he looks up at her with fearful eyes. “What if that’s why he ran away?”

“Oh, stop it,” she says firmly. “He didn’t know. Baekhyun is adorable, but he’s… well, he’s kind of slow. He wouldn’t have even doubted it. He looks up to you like a god, Baekbeom-ah,” she says, carding her fingers through his hair. “He wouldn’t have known.”

“We will keep an eye out for him, sir,” the detective says, standing up. “But we have decided to close his file for now. If we get any new clues, we will surely re-open the investigation, but for now…” he shakes his head.

The detective leaves, and Baekhyun’s mother breaks down.

“Oh, my son,” she cries, punching the floor with her fists. Baekbeom rushes to her, begging her to stop. “Baekbeom-ah,” she sobs, knuckles bleeding. “Wh-why would he leave?” she asks. “Why would he leave us?”

“I- I don’t know, umma.” He says. “I don’t know.”

Chanyeol bites into his toast.

“So, Channie,” Baekhyun says, sitting opposite him. “Are you ready for your presentation today?”

“I am. I’m ready. I can do this!” Chanyeol says.

“Yes, you can, Yeol,” Baekhyun smiles. “You can do this. I know you can.”

“Sir, the members of the Board have all arrived,” Jongin says, and Baekhyun disappears, like the ghost of a memory that he is.

Chanyeol nods, smiling. “Thank you, Jongin.” He picks up his notes and the presentation pen-drive and follows Jongin to the conference room, trying to keep his mind off Baekhyun.

“Please tell Taemin to arrange orange juice for them all,” He says to Jongin just before entering the conference room. Jongin smiles, nodding, “I’ll do that, sir,”

“Thank you, Jongin,” Chanyeol enters the room, bowing to all fifteen of the major shareholders.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” he says, chipper. “Beautiful day, isn’t it? I had a bit of trouble waking up today, to be honest. Ah, I can still feel the warmth of my bed… is it just me or is it tougher to get out of bed when it’s cold outside? I mean… the warmth of the blankets… the comfy pillows… the darkness, ah -it just feels amazing, doesn’t it?”

The board members only grunt in response.

“Well, you may all be wondering why I arranged for this meeting so suddenly.” Chanyeol says, plugging the pen-drive into the projector. “But first, orange juice!”

The caterers that Chanyeol had hired a few months ago enter with trays of orange juice. They place it in front of the Board, and leave.

“Okay, let’s get started! I’ve been working on this project for a few months now, doing viability studies and meeting up with various researchers, and only last night the final test came back valid and I decided to put my idea in front of you. Here’s my idea,” Chanyeol clicks on the projector.

The first slide of his presentation is titled from my heart to yours.

“I want to introduce a new phone that can connect to anywhere in the world, from wherever you are, using radio waves.” Chanyeol says.

The board members stare at him with passive eyes.

“A solar-powered cell phone that can connect to anywhere in the world, people! Isn’t it a genius idea? Our company has a stronghold in almost all sectors of the economy; except electronics. This is ridiculous, because electronics is one of our country’s main exports. With this product, I want to make our debut into the world of digital technology, and with a bang!” he pounds a fist on the table, making the Board members jump. “But I cannot do this without your approval. With this presentation, I seek your approval and support to do this.”

Chanyeol flips through the presentation, and by the end, the shareholders are in awe. The votes are unanimous: every single Board member has agreed for the company to take on this new project, and Chanyeol feels so happy that he might burst.

He exits the conference room, and skips out of his company’s headquarters. As expected, the press is waiting, with their cameras flashing and mics at the ready. A few months ago, Chanyeol would have grumbled and shoved his way through the teeming crowd.

But this time, he smiles right into the cameras and waves.

“SM is going to come up with a brand new product in a sector tha