“YAH!”

Snapping awake at the sudden loud holler, a groggy Kyuhyun jumped onto his feet instinctively, struggling to get his eyes open. It was only when he rubbed his eyes for a couple of times before he found the source of the loud exclamation standing crossly in front of him.

“He-Heechul hyung…”

“Cho Kyuhyun! How am I going to get out of the house when you are blocking the way? Did you think I can walk through you?!”

Aww… My neck…

Grabbing the back of his neck as a shooting pain struck him the moment he tried to move, Kyuhyun let out a soft groan. He winced as his foot came into contact with something cold and hard, causing the unknown object to be knocked over with a soft clink. Both Heechul and Kyuhyun looked down at the same moment, and the frown on the already peeved Heechul’s face deepened.

“Yah yah yah! Have you been drinking again? Aish… You kid! You are drinking even more than an old man does! At this rate, your liver’s gonna give up on you before you hit 30 years old!”

I was drinking because of your sister… But, how can I tell you that?

Forcing the indignity in his heart down, Kyuhyun managed an innocent smile at the irate man. Heechul was in one of his ‘moods’ and he didn’t want Yonni to get into any trouble with her brother. Besides, he was too tired to say anything, having slept less than 5 hours combined for the past two days.

“First Sungmin, now you… Is drinking a common thing in your family?”

Kyuhyun understood that Heechul’s irritancy was a result of the incident from the previous night. Pushing past the still boy, Heechul shot another disapproving glance at the wine-glass on the ground before walking through the door that was previously blocked by Kyuhyun’s sleeping form. With a big sigh, Kyuhyun picked up the empty glass and set it down on dining table.

How is Sungmin hyung doing? Has he woken up yet?

Opening Sungmin’s room door as gently as he could, Kyuhyun was pleased to find the boy sleeping soundly. He was really worried the previous night when Heechul, who had just returned from his late night performance at the pub, found Sungmin slumped right outside their door, babbling unintelligibly. The oldest boy, who was extremely irritated at having to come home to find a intoxicated boy at their doorstep, left Kyuhyun to take care of his smashed cousin.

“Hyung… Come on… Help me out a little. Can’t you stand prop-?”

“Kyuhyun! Another glass! I’ll have another vodka!”

“Aish… Is it necessary to get this drunk over a girl? You hardly touch alcohol on other days! You’re go-“

“Too noisy! I just want another glass! Another glass, another glass! Ano-“

“Shh! Lower your volume! Don’t piss Heechul hyung off more than he already is…”

“Just give me one more glass!”

“Hyung! Quiet down! There’s no vodka… Aish! Be careful! There’s a wall over there!”

“I wanna go home… Send me home…”

“You’re home alre-No, wait! That’s the door to the balcony!”

“I’m so sleepy… I wanna sleep…”

“Hyung! You can’t sleep here! This is the toilet! Get up!”

“It’s warm! Mmm… It’s really warm…”

“ARASSOYO! Stop pulling at your shirt like that! AISH! I’ll change for you!”

“Kyu-ah? What are you doing here? Ohh… Why is there two of you? Hmm…I’m drunk… Oh no… What should I do?”

“Just stand still! Aish!”

In the end, Kyuhyun got so tired of having to yank a disobedient Sungmin around that he picked up the drunk boy and slumped him over his shoulders, starting in the direction of the latter’s bedroom. After throwing his cousin down onto the bed, Kyuhyun had to fight tooth and claw in order to get the shirt off a resisting Sungmin. By the time he finally managed to change him out of his soiled clothes and tugged snuggly into bed, Kyuhyun was dead beat.

A quick glance at the clock showed that it was almost two in the morning. Silence resumed in the house as Kyuhyun tiptoed his way past Yonni’s room, casting a worried look at the empty room. Heaving out a resigned sigh, Kyuhyun knew that he won’t be able to get a comfortable sleep again that night. Pulling out an unfinished bottle of red wine from the wine chiller, the boy settled down right in front of the door with his back leaning again the wooden surface, wanting to be aware of Yonni’s return if he should fall asleep before then.

“And yet she didn’t come home… Where could she have gone?”

Mumbling to himself as he softly exited Sungmin’s room, Kyuhyun pulled his phone out to call Yonni again. Just like yesterday, all he got was Yonni’s cheerful voice asking him to leave a message behind.  Running his hand through his messy hair roughly, Kyuhyun threw himself onto the couch with a big sigh.

Where on Earth could she be? She was gone for the whole night! Aish… An Yonni! Can’t you at least drop a text message or something? At least let me know that I don’t have to tell Heechul that he lost his only sister! Come on, Cho Kyuhyun… Think! She doesn’t have many friends… Maybe she’s with…OH! Why didn’t I think of it before? Elephant-Jin!

Jumping onto his feet as realization hit him, Kyuhyun slapped himself mentally for the late comprehension. After a quick change of clothes, the anxious boy dashed out of the house, heading in the direction of the school dormitory.

"Park Leejin!"

Startled, Leejin jerked her head away from the book which she had been working on before the disturbance. However, it seemed to be a trick of her ears for all she heard for the next couple of seconds was pure silence. Shaking her head, she returned to finishing her homework.

"Park Leejin! Are you in there?"

Whipping her head in the direction of the windows, she was certain she wasn't hearing things. Heaving out a resigned sigh, she reluctantly laid down her pen before getting onto her feet.

"Park Leej- Aish! Why did you take this long to answer me! Aren't elephants' ears huge? You should have good hearing right?"

"CHO KYUHYUN?! What are YOU doing here?"

"Yah! Release Yonni this instant!"

Pointing an accusing finger upwards at the girl who was leaning out of the windows in her dorm room on the second floor, Kyuhyun couldn't care less about the din he was creating on a Sunday morning. Now that Sungmin was at home, Yonni's safety and whereabouts were his top concern.

"Release her? What, did I kidnap her or something? She's not here. Go away!"

"You think I will- Yah! Where are you going? I'm not done yet! Elephant-jin!"

Before Kyuhyun could finish his sentence, Leejin had ducked her head back into the room, drawing her curtains together swiftly. However, her loud exclamation of Kyuhyun's name had caused a huge commotion in the otherwise quiet dormitory. Excited shrieks emitted all over as curious girls stuck their head out of their windows and found the most popular guy in their school standing right below their building.

"Oh my god! It's Cho Kyuhyun!"

"Kyuhyun! Kyuhyun-sshi!"

"Please wait for me, Kyuhyun! I'll come down now!"

"Mw-Mwo... No no... Aish! This Park Leejin! How am I going to find Yonni now?"

Suddenly flustered, Kyuhyun turned around immediately. However, with Yonni's disappearance weighing down on him, it was tough for him to leave without validating Leejin's claim.

Besides, I don't believe that Yonni isn't here... Where else could she go?

Back in Leejin's room, Kyuhyun's demand had unsettled the seemingly uncaring girl. She tried going back to her homework, but between her concerns about Yonni and the din downstairs her fellow schoolmates were creating, it was impossible to concentrate. Pushing her chair back in irritance, she stood up and entered the attached bathroom in her room.

She got out of the bathroom just in time to see a long leg poke through the parting in her curtains, before another follow shortly. Frozen halfway in the wiping of her wet hands on a towel, she watched with open mouth as the rest of the body appear one by one, eerily similar to one of those cheap sci-fi flicks where monsters appear through a portal of some kind.

"CH-CHO KYUHYUN?!"

As the full figure finally made it through, Leejin was horrified to see the owner. However, before she could continue her sentence, Kyuhyun dashed over with his hands outstretched in an attempt to silence her by covering . Instincts kicking in, the taekwondo champion grabbed his arm and sent him crashing down painfully with a practiced flip.

"What the- Hey! Ouch! Why wou-Hey! WAIT!"

Hollering in panic, Kyuhyun raised up both hands in surrender as Leejin grabbed his collar. Hesitating, she studied his alarmed face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can you let me up first? I swear if someone comes through that door..."

Looking down at the man who was pinned down by her, Leejin carefully considered his words. She was sitting comfortably on his stomach, one of her hands grabbing his collar and the other one raised threateningly.

They certainly looked as if they were in a fight, which was a definite disregard for dorm rules. Or worse, they looked like they were in the middle of a lover's tuft, which was unacceptable by Leejin's standards.

"Fine. Now, what do you want?"

"Gosh... You really are an elephant! What did you have for dinner? Rocks? You almost flattened me! And did you really have to throw me to the ground?"

Trying her best to hide the snicker that was threatening to escape as the hilarity of the situation set in, Leejin her heels and sat down on her study chair. Kyuhyun grudgingly massaged his stomach while complaining, his eyes sweeping across the room quickly before they settled on the girl.

"You deserved it anyway. Did you think my room was a playground that you can just climb into casually?"

"Yah! Did you think I came all the way from home on a weekend just to climb into your room? This is your fault! If you had just come down instead of hollering my name out loud..."

"You started it! You could have asked the guard to phone me down, you know?"

"And you would come? Oh please, I didn't even finish two sentences before you pulled the curtains on me!"

"Aish! Stop whining! What do you want from me?"

Where could Yonni be hiding? Hmm... The bathroom's door is open, so she can't be inside... There's no space to hide underneath that bed, nor under that table... Could she be...

Without answering, Kyuhyun carefully considered Leejin's room. With determination sparkling in his eyes, he strolled over the only object that he deemed was capable of sheltering a person- a large wardrobe.Baffled, Leejin raised a finger and twirled it in circles by her temples, as Kyuhyun looked at her triumphantly before rapping twice on the wooden surface.

"An Yonni! Don't think by hiding in there I would assume you're really not here!"

"She's re-"

"Not even one phone call when you didn't come home for the entire night? Do you not have any sense in that thick skull?"

"What do you mean she didn't go ho-"

"Don't you know that I was- Your family was worried sick? Yah! Come out now!"

"Kyuhyun-sshi! Yonni didn't go home for-"

"Pig-ni! What can you achieve by staying out for the entire night? Can you avoid Sungmin hyung for life?"

"Brat-Kyu!"

"Two days! You hadn't had a proper rest in two days! Did you think you were Superwoman?"

"YAH! What did you mean Yonni didn't go home for the entire night?"

Storming over to the boy and pulling him around roughly when he ignored her words, Leejin was shocked to hear that her friend did not return home for the entire night. When she did not answer any of her calls, Leejin assumed that Yonni had holed herself up at home. It didn't cross her mind that Yonni might be anywhere else.

˝How can she go home when you're letting her hide here?!"

"Yah! Are you deaf? How many times must I tell you that she's not here! My wardrobe is already full! Unless she is as thin as a piece of cloth, there's no way she can be inside!"

Pushing past the stubborn boy, Leejin reached out and threw the doors to the wardrobe open, revealing a space packed full of different articles of clothes. The stunned boy backed away slowly, the shock on his face replaced with anxiety gradually.

"She's really not here?"

"Why would I lie? Are you sure she didn't go home for the entire night? Could you have missed her?"

"No... I stayed up to wait... No... No, she didn't come home..."

Kneading his temples with his knuckles, Kyuhyun sat down gently on Leejin's bed. The constant anxiety that he had felt for the past two days for two of the most important people in his life, coupled with the severe lack of rest, were beginning to take its toll on him.

"I'll get you a glass of water. You just stay here,"

The exhaustion on his face was obvious as Leejin took in the dark rings under his eyes. Feeling a pang of sympathy for the tired boy, she offered to get him a drink. The common corridor was in chaos as tons of girls crowded around, chattering excitedly about Kyuhyun's sudden appearance. With her mind preoccupied with Yonni's whereabouts, she pushed through the crowd, earning many complains of annoyance which quickly died down when the sources realised who she was.

Where could Babo-ni have gone? Why didn't she come and find me if she didn't want to go home? Aish... Jinja! It's almost winter now, and it's cold out there...

When Leejin got back to the room, she found Kyuhyun still sitting with his head buried in his hands. Clearing subtly, she passed the cup to him when he looked up. He accepted the glass with a small smile before he took a long drink.

"Have you tried calling her?"

"I did... But her phone's turned off,"

"So you've never seen her again after you brought Sungmin to her?"

"Yup. Aish... Where could she have gone? She doesn't have many close friends... Besides from here and home, there's not many other places where she could have gone... It's almost winter now, and it's always so cold at night... She only had a sweater and long pants on yesterday!"

With a long sigh, Kyuhyun pushed himself off the bed and started prancing around the room, his anxiety apparent in the way he keep folding and unfolding his arms. Silently, Leejin settled herself back onto her chair and began wrecking her head for ideas of where the missing girl could be.

"Did you check all her favourite hangouts?"

"She hangs out most often with you. I thought she was hiding here... Aish... Why didn't she come to you if she wanted to leave home? Shouldn't she at least give a call or drop a message? Doesn't she know that this is so worrying?"

Cho Kyuhyun's concern for Yonni seems a bit... And his attitude towards her... Shouldn't he be angry at her for ditching his friend? He seemed relieved instead... Not to mention he always bullies her, but he stands up for her too... And look at how worried he is now... Could it be...

Sneaking glances at the frowning boy as he paced the room, Leejin wondered about his feelings towards Yonni. While initially she had thought of Kyuhyun as a spoilt playboy who picks on Yonni, she had more than once seen him helping Yonni out secretly. There was that time when Yonni had to make 5000 copies of a brochures on Inhyeon's instruction and Kyuhyun, despite the initial teasings, secretly got the task done for her. In another instance, Leejin chanced upon him speaking to the teacher-in-charge of the student council about the unfair treatment that Yonni was getting. He stopped immediately when he saw her, and walked away nonchalantly.

Maybe... Maybe that playboy-

"Aish! I'm done sitting around! I'm gonna go out to look for her!"

Kyuhyun's sudden exclamation caused Leejin to break out of her reverie. Pulling him back as he reached for the door knob, she stopped him from leaving the room.

"You can't go out like this. Those lunatics outside are still looking for you. If they get a hold of you, you won't be able to go look for Yonni,"

"But... What am I supposed to do then? I can't just sit around and wait. Her brother's going kill her if he found out that she stayed out for the whole night! Besides, there hadn't been any news of her for 24 hours now. Technically, I can already file a missing person report!"

"Even so, would searching blindly help? Think about it, where have you already searched?"

"Here,"

"And?"

"Just here,"

"Mwo?! Yah! Do you know how to search for a person? You don't just go to the first place that comes to your mind and stay there you know?!"

"Aish! I know! This was my first stop!"

"Okay...Where were you heading for next?"

"..."

"Yah! This was the only place you thought of!"

"That's because this place has the highest possibility!"

"Cho Kyuhyun! Think about it. If Yonni is hiding from you deliberately, why would she be here? She knows that this is the first place you would search!"

"But... She's not one to be by herself! She definitely needs company!”

“There are times when even the most outgoing person needs to be alone… Why don’t we do this, I’ll search the school and you’ll search the places that she frequents. Try the bathhouses near your house. They seemed like the most probable place where Yonni could be,”

“Okay, whoever finds her first will contact the other. Deal?”

“Deal! But first… You’ll need some stuff to even leave this place at all…”