March 29, 2009.

It’s . My old diary is missing and I can't seem to find it everywhere. But lucky me, Mom buy a new one for me and I like the color of this one better than the old one.

Now enough about my new diary. There is something way more important that I want to write here than a story about my new diary.
Jaebum. Im freaking Jaebum finally asks me out today. Yes, in my birthday. Doesn't he such a romantic? And yeah, you can imagine how Sooji's smug smirk fall as soon as Jaebum asks me out in the middle of the cafeteria earlier.

Oh, how I love seeing her lost.

She needs to learn her position and I'm honored to be the one showed it to her.
By the way, I fancy high school so much because my life only getting better by now. Crushing Sooji, after all, is my top priorities in life.

×××

Jinri was officially gone.

There was no one who knew where she was, either her friends or her boyfriend. Someone even said Jinri left the party early and that was the only time they ever saw her.

Jongin had even helped her to ask his other schoolmates but really, Jinri just disappeared like that.

Jinri's mother threw accusing statement toward Soojung once she knew that her daughter was missing and she almost launched herself at Soojung with full speed, but her father saved her. He brought the woman to their bedroom and later that night, he went out to ask Soojung if she knew anything about it.

“I don't really know, Dad.” She had said the exact reply for nth times already and honestly, it tired her out. Jinri was also someone special for her and losing Jinri meant losing half of her soul. “She only told me she was going to Sooji's party that night and then she didn't come back.”

Her father looked at Soojung skeptically, unlike his wife, he actually knew how close the two were. And their past history of running away together at Christmas night on 2006 did not help either.

“Well, I'm sorry for doubting you, Soojung.” He finally said after a long silence of looking at each other. “But I need you to cooperate with a detective that I called and answer him with the most honest answer, alright?”

She nodded obediently. “Okay, Dad.”

He caressed her hair softly before went back to his bedroom.

Her mind drifted back to the red diary and wondered if Jinri did leave it on her bed for Soojung to see. Her paranoia started to get inside her head, image of bad thing happened to Jinri flashed slowly, one by one. She voluntarily shuddered.

“Jin, where the heck are you now?” She hissed in annoyance. The pain in her head increased like crazy and she immediately ran to the kitchen to take a glass of cold water to calm her nerves.

“Miss Soojung, are you okay? You look pale.” Jihyun, the young maid, asked her as soon as she entered the kitchen. Jihyun was cleaning the dishes left after dinner.

“Little bit dizzy,” Soojung took a glass and opened the refrigerator then took a bottle and pour it into her glass. “But it's just because I think too much about Jinri today.”

Jihyun's brows knitted together. “You clearly don't look great now. I will get you the aspirin, Miss.” She then walked hurriedly to the medicine box and pulled out it contents. “Here you go.”

Soojung declined her help as polite as she could manage. She hated the bitter flavor of the medicine. But Jihyun apparently would not take a no as an answer so she succeeded persuading Soojung to drink it.

She groaned inwardly as the bitter pill slid onto and Jihyun thankfully offered a candy as soon as Soojung drank it.

“Thanks. I'm going up now.”

Her room was dark, the curtains closed and it felt suffocating all of sudden knowing that there was no Jinri who would knock at midnight and asked to sleep on her bed.

She the lamp above her bed, just enough to see the wrinkle of the edge of her bed and nothing more. Her eyes flickered to where she put Jinri's diary and could not help but took it out. She pondered a lot of time to just open it and maybe there would be a hint about her whereabouts now.

And she did exactly what her gut told her.

×××

Sehun looked at the frame on his study desk. Seven people including him were on it, all smiling cheerfully with a beach as the background. It was taken at middle school, sophomore year, and they all were in a study tour trip.

He remembered the happy times but he did also realize that their friendship had crumbling at some parts and knew they would never be the same.

The old selfless Sooji he knew became the new self‒centered Sooji.

The old happy go Seulgi he knew became this new reserved Seulgi.

The self‒restrain that Jaebum had slowly wore off and he became much worse of handling his temper nowadays.

The mature Jongin did something unforgivable and he could never look him in the same way ever again.

The chirpy Jinyoung tried too hard to please other people with his stupid joke now.

The bright Seungwan he knew had somehow lost the sparks inside her eyes.

The social butterfly Jinri he once knew was still there, partly, but there was a sign of exhaustion on her face everytime she was alone.

And lastly, he, the observant one of them all had failed to notice the sign of when everything started to change.

Their conversations were mostly about school club now, or the juicy gossip about student body and whose party they would attend tonight. They never really got together when they gathered in the middle of busy cafeteria at lunch break.

Seulgi would often talk to Seungwan, he noticed the two were as close as ever and he could literally see the shield they had when they chatting. At some other time, she also spoke to Jongin, but they only discussing about some new moves they learnt at dance club. They were bounding over the same passion for years and deep down, he knew Jongin treated Seulgi as a sister rather than friend who shared the same hobby. But after enrolled high school, they looked somehow distant and fake.

Jaebum was in an official relationship with Jinri in freshmen years of high school and God knew how long the two flirting and wooing each other since the senior year of middle school. But Sehun would be lying if he said that he did not notice how quiet Sooji began after that. She normally laughed with her signature high‒pitched laugh when Jinyoung cracked a joke about something around them but now she only smiled blankly as if she did not really hear his joke out of politeness.

Their friendship started to suffocate him and he wondered if they also felt the same.

“Gold old day, right?” Jinyoung came out from bathroom with towel wrapped around his waist, hair wet and it dripped off his body to the carpeted floor. He had caught Sehun, who apparently staring too long at the picture of them.

“There is something that bugging me since this morning.”

“Is it about Jinri?”

Sehun forgot that sometime Jinyoung could be so sharp. “Do you think Jinri is running away?” From us.

Jinyoung frowned for a moment before shook his head. “Well, technically speaking, Jaebum is still here and it just look absurd if she just left him here, knowing how she couldn't stay away from him for too long.”

It actually made sense. But Sehun's heart clenched at the possibility of never seeing his dear best friend.

“Hey, stop thinking too much, okay?” Jinyoung grinned and patted his shoulder, he was not called the vitamin in the group for nothing. “It's Jinri we talking about. And Jinri always did something spontaneous. She will be back later when she miss us, alright?”

A lot of what ifs running inside of his brain and sent shiver down to his body. He shook the thought and offered a small smile to Jinyoung. “Yeah, you're right.”

Except that Jinyoung was totally wrong. Jinri never came back to school anymore.

×××

“So, she didn't really say anything to you?”

Soojung pushed back her groan but failed miserably. “I told you all I know, okay? Why are you pushing me for all information? I'm not the only one who know Jinri that well, okay?”

“Actually you seem really fishy by now‒”

“What? Are you suspecting me?” She could not help but being more irritated as the minutes passed. She silently reminded herself to tell his father that the so called expensive detective he recruited was a total failure.

The man across of her laughed and she glared at him. “Sorry, sorry, my fault. I'm only messing up with you.” He paused to wipe the tears that formed on the outer corner of his eyes and she scowled at him for being too easy going when he handled a serious case. “Now tell me more about Jinri's close friends.”

Honestly speaking, Soojung only familiar with Jongin, while Jaebum, Seulgi, Seungwan, Jinyoung, Sooji and Sehun were bunch of strangers she never met personally.

“I'm afraid I can't tell you much about it.” She frowned, hated at how helpless she was right at the moment. “I never really met all of them except Jongin.”
Junmyeon, the detective her father picked, shrugged nonchalantly. “Can you arrange me a meeting with this Jongin boy?”

“Sure.” She glanced at the time on her phone. It was 5 p.m. and Jongin usually was having a dance practice at school by now. “I'll try calling him now.”

He picked up almost instantly, as if he was waiting for her to call. Well, she could not blame him, really. The missing case of Jinri had left her stressed out and she rarely text him back or even picked his call recently.

“What's wrong, baby?” He sounded breathless. ”Are you okay?”

Okay was such a hypocrite word to her. She was not okay at all.

“Jongin, can you come over to my place tonight after your practice?” She glance