90 Days until the Auction House

Ryeowook surfaced slowly from sleep, the world coming into slow focus. He rubbed at his eyes, staring up at a white ceiling. “Just a dream, huh?” he muttered, gaze trailing to either side of him.

The width of the bed always felt greater on these days.

Laughing mirthlessly, he covered his face, trying to wipe away the remnants of a beautiful fantasy. “God, this .” Ryeowook thanked the high heavens that he no longer cried after those dreams. It was embarrassing.

More than two years had passed.

Kyuhyun didn’t want to come back.

Right?

Ryeowook frowned, twirling the wedding ring still circling his finger. Those words he had left behind were nothing short of confusing and cold and loving all at once. If he loved Ryeowook--and that was an indisputable claim--then why had he run off?

What made him leave?

His friends and family had been as equally shocked when they heard of Kyuhyun’s disappearance. The mystery only grew more puzzling when the police stated that the company supposedly employing Kyuhyun was found to be fake.

That was around the time Ryeowook’s close ones his husband. Had it always been that easy to give up faith? They tried to convince Ryeowook that it was a scam. The entire thing had been some sort of trap and the termination of their relationship had been the end of the farce.

It was time to move on.

Ryeowook called bull.

No one knew the Kyuhyun who had said goodbye that day. No one knew that he had never said a word about “goodbye” in either the note or verbally. It was part of what Ryeowook clung to during the aftermath.

Why hadn’t Kyuhyun been able to break all ties?

Not to mention, there was one very serious issue that remained. It would’ve been easy to forge or otherwise file if Kyuhyun were desperate enough to erase all traces of their relationship. However, none of that happened.

Legally, they were still married. Why? Why hadn’t he filed and forged a divorce document?

His alarm clock jolted him out of his thoughts. Sighing, Ryeowook rolled out of bed, turning off the alarm and debating whether he wanted to stay in bed mulling over these thoughts or if he wanted a work distraction.

Either way, he didn’t have a choice. His job would come first, and he’d probably be thankful for it.

At half past nine, Ryeowook strolled into the film production studio with a cardboard tray of coffees in one hand, and a smartphone in the other. He was reading through emails and replying rapid fire, only taking a second to check for spelling errors.

“Whoa! Watch where you’re going.”

A strong arm caught Ryeowook by the waist, spinning him out of the way as trolley of camera equipment rolled passed him. Grunting slightly at the sudden movement, Ryeowook tilted his head back to see who had pulled him out of the way. Immediately, he was torn between being thankful and being nervous.

“Heechul-hyung.”

“Ryeowook,” he returned with a smirk.

Sliding out of the man’s arms smoothly, Ryeowook tucked his phone away and nodded in thanks. “That was a close call. Thanks for your help.”

“No need to be that formal,” he laughed. “We’ve been out casually before, haven’t we? Speaking of which, are you free this Friday? There’s a new restaurant a friend recommended to me.”

Ryeowook cocked a brow. “Would anyone else go with us?”

Heechul clicked his tongue. “Wouldn’t it just be annoying with more people?”

The younger man shook his head, holding up his left hand. “If this isn’t platonic, I’m not free to go. And I’d prefer if there were more people with us.”

“You know,” he remarked, eyes cooling, “I’ve seen you wave that ring around like a ward, but I’ve never seen the partner in question. Is he or she ever going to join you at one of our company banquets? Spouses are always invited, after all.”

“He works out of town,” Ryeowook responded with practiced ease, “It’s hard to ask him to drop everything just for a short dinner party.”

Heechul snorted. “If he loved you, he’d just come anyway. What’s his name?”

“Kyuhyun,” he stated immediately, only cursing himself after realizing that he had been provoked.

“Ah, Kyuhyun. Cute name.” Heechul’s voice was flatter than the floor. He reached out, lightly ruffling Ryeowook’s hair as he passed. “One of these days you’ll have to introduce us properly. See you in the meeting.”

Ryeowook watched him go for only a second before he started off toward his office. Interacting with Heechul was always a bit of a chore. He didn’t know what the man’s aim was, or if he was just a natural flirt. No matter, though. Ryeowook didn’t have an interest in even playing with the idea of someone else.

As he reached his office, he immediately passed out the coffees, apologizing for their slight chill. It had been a longer walk to the company than normal. Ryeowook smiled at his team one by one, before making his way to the largest desk in the room. He took a seat and immediately pulled up his email on the computer. Although he had been checking it constantly since waking up, he hadn’t had a chance to fire off an email to the detective agency recently.

Well, it had been three days.

So relatively recently.

Ryeowook pulled up a blank email, keying in the same few sentences he always did.

Detective Kang,

I’m just checking in with you about my case. Have there been any developments? I am available to stop by the agency any day after 5pm. I’m also available every Saturday and Sunday after 1pm.

Best,

Kim Ryeowook

Despite the offers, he had yet to be called back to the detective’s agency for further questions. Or really, he hadn’t received anything beyond a few confirmation emails that stated the investigation was ongoing and he would be given details at the earliest possible time. A week or so ago, Ryeowook had completely lost his patience with the lack of information and had demanded something. Detective Kang had bluntly stated Kyuhyun was a phantom and hadn’t left a usable trace of himself.

In fact, it was almost too perfectly executed.

Finding him when he didn’t want to be found was probably impossible, but if Ryeowook wanted to keep trying, then the detective had promised to keep looking.

Ryeowook pushed forward with the investigation.

There was no way he could give it up now.

It was nearly 10pm by the time Ryeowook left the office. Filming delays had resulted in a backlog of work for the music scores that his team were in charge of. Ryeowook hated having to finalize the music before he had seen the movie scenes, and therefore insisted on waiting until entire sections of the movie had been filmed. Then editing had to take place, and then Ryeowook would willingly start editing his basic music scores to fit the scenes.

It was a process that he both hated and loved.

These days, he loved it more than hated it though. After all, there was nothing waiting for him at home.

He parked in the public garage a few blocks down from his apartment. It was immensely more convenient to pay the daily fee than to try and fight for one of five street parking spots in front of the building. There was no reason to play that game of chance when there was a perfectly cheap and useful alternative.

As he stepped out of the parking garage and headed down the street, he was hardly surprised to find it was rather empty. He had purposefully chosen a quieter neighborhood located on a side street rather than a main one. The hustle and bustle of the city felt more overwhelming each day, and although he couldn’t fully escape the noisiness, he could do things to lessen it.

Hence, the small, unassuming apartment. He wondered frequently if Kyuhyun would like it, or if he’d find it boring.

Ryeowook passed two streets before he reached his own. It was a straight shot from there. He stifled a yawn, shrugging his work bag higher up one shoulder as he trudged down the dimly lit street. Most of his neighbors were elderly or retired professionals that tended to sleep early.

That’s why he wasn’t shocked to see most of the apartments and houses on either side were dark. What did surprise him was the sound of scuffing shoes. Who else lived here that had such late working hours? Or maybe some of those retirees had gone out for drinks?

Ryeowook quickened his steps nonetheless. Behind him, several paces away, the sound of shuffling feet grew louder. He reached the front of his building, stepping into the large flood of light pouring out from the lobby before turning around.

A shadow shifted through a nearby street lamp.

Ryeowook tried to chase it with his eyes, but it was already gone.