The Day Before

A small squirrel ran across the soft grass, ears high and tail bouncing, in search of food. The dew stuck to his fur, making it look more like rat than anything else. About 12 feet away, a bigger squirrel was perched on the ledge of the tree, eyes scanning the area, looking for any sign of food. Occasionally it would switch its gaze back to its partner, just to make sure it was safe.

Past the grass, there was a road. The traffic was slow, due to the fact that it was still early morning, the sun was just rising. Across that road, a dirty dog stared at the small squirrel. Its large snout smelled the wet fur, its tongue hung out from its mouth. The dog continued to stare at the small squirrel with hungry eyes, waiting for the right moment run across and attack.

The squirrel that was occupying the tree trained its gaze on the dog. Even from afar it could see the hungry look on the mangy mutt. It didn’t think anything of it, it had seen the same dog in the same place almost every day for the past week, there was no danger. It continued searching for food.

Key smiled as he stared down at the apartment’s colorful courtyard. He took a sip from his coffee mug and laughed at the small squirrel that was scurrying about, searching for something.

The sun was bouncing of the top of his head, making his black hair shine more than it already did. He hugged himself slightly, grumbling at the cold.

Key continued to watch the small squirrel, it was fascinating.

He frowned when the squirrel stopped; it stood up straight, sniffed the air, and turned its small head towards the road.

Key followed the small squirrel’s line of vision and gasped when he saw an ugly dog running towards the small squirrel.

He quickly stepped back inside his apartment and closed the balcony door, not wanting to see what would happen to the small squirrel.

“Well that ruined my morning,” He grumbled as we made his way back to his room.

Key frowned when he saw that Minho was still asleep.

“Minhooo! Wake up! It’s a beautiful Saturday morning and you promised me we would go look for a new sofa!”

Minho mumbled into his pillow, not shifting from his comfortable position.

“What?” Key stepped closer to the bed. He set his coffee on the bedside table and bent over. “Could you repeat that?”

Minho smirked into the pillow. Quicker than Key could move he turned over, pulling Key down onto the bed with him.

“Minho!”

Minho rolled on top of a flustered Key. He smiled. “What?”

“Stop playing! I want to go shopping,” Key whined, a small pout on his lips.

Minho leaned down a planted a small kiss on his lips. “Fine but you have to give me a tonight.”

Key blushed. “Minho!”

Minho smirked. “What?”

“I’m going to take a shower. When I get out you better be ready… or else,” Key said with a glare. He gently pushed a pouting Minho off him.

“Or else what?”

Key grabbed his towel and stomped into their bathroom. He turned around to glare at Minho. “Or else!” He said with finality as he slammed the door.

Minho rolled back onto their bed and smiled. He was happy and content. He had a perfect job, a perfect home, a perfect lover, a perfect life.

Nothing could go wrong.

After a few minutes of laying in peace and listening to Key sing in the shower, he decided to get up and actually heed Key’s warning.

He made his way over to their walk-in closet, immediately heading for his small corner in the back; Key was always a compulsive shopper and ever since he had started getting an employee discount at the boutique he worked in the clothes just kept coming.

Minho chose a short-sleeve shirt and an old pair of jeans, simple and quick. He made his way out of the room and into the kitchen, craving coffee.

Cup of coffee in hand, he stepped onto the balcony, humming the same song that Key was loudly singing in the bathroom.

“It is a beautiful morning,” He whispered. He smiled, his eye’s following a red bird that had flown by, it perched itself on a tree branch.

Minho frowned.

The courtyard with the green grass he woke to every morning was dirtied. His frown grew, the dead squirrel in the middle of the courtyard seem to mock him. A bigger squirrel scurried to and fro, occasionally nudging the dead squirrel.

He stepped back inside; the crimson blood was doing bad things to his stomach.

“Ready?” Key asked, stepping out of their room with wet hair.

Minho smiled. “Let’s go.”

--

“How about this one?”

Key scoffed. “Orange? That’ll look out of place in our living room. It’s not even a good shade of orange, it’s like-“

Key’s rather girly ringtone interrupted his rant.

“Hello?”

Minho sighed. After three hours of constant walking Key still hadn’t found a sofa that met his high standards. Minho was patient and after years of living with Key he knew that this was just the beginning still, he was getting impatient and Key’s picky nature wasn’t helping.

“You moved? That’s great!”

Minho’s ears perked up.

“Yeah, I’m not busy. Sure, I’m on my way. See you in a bit.”

Minho’s right eye twitched.

“You’re not busy?”

Key smirked. “You can pick out the sofa right?”

Minho frowned. “I’m picking the orange one. The game is on tonight.”

“Minho! I really have to go. Do this for me please. I have to go help-“

“I can help him Key.”

Both eyes turned to the new intruder.

Key smiled. “Taemin!”

“Hey Key. Onew and I are looking for a new sofa too so Minho can tag along.”

Minho scowled. Taemin was the much younger and evil version of Key; he wouldn’t be fooled by that innocent smile.

“Where’s Onew?” Minho asked.

“Um, last I saw him he was trying out a massage chair.”

Key laughed. “Same Onew. Okay well, I have to go. I’ll see you later Taemin and thanks.”

He turned to a frowning Minho. Smiling, he placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

“I’ll see you tonight,” He whispered into his lips.

Minho scowled. “Where are you going?”

“To help a friend move into their new apartment, now hurry up and buy a decent couch. I’ll see you later.”

“Who?”

“Someone,” He sang with a smirk. “Don’t worry; I’ll be home before 9.”

Minho felt something strange start to form in the bottom of his stomach, suddenly the image of the bleeding squirrel popped into his mind.

“I don’t know Key. We haven’t seen much of each other lately.”

Key sighed. “I know Min.” He stood up on the tip of his toes and whispered into Minho’s ears. “But Min, I promise that tonight, we’ll have the best ever. You’ll be begging for more.”

Minho pulled Key closer and smirked. “I don’t beg Key.”

“If you say so,” Key pushed himself off Minho and waved. “Okay then. Bye Taemin, bye Min.”

Taemin waved goodbye before turning to Minho. “So,”

“So,” Minho said, putting his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know you needed a new couch.”

“Yeah well Onew decided that it would be much more romantic if we had on the couch,” Taemin said with a smirk.

Minho’s right eye twitched. “Thanks for than minion.”

Taemin smiled.

“Shall we go look for new couches?”

Minho sighed. “Might as well.”

--

“Key! Where the hell are you? Its 9:30 and you’re still not home. Call me when you have the god damn time to pick up your phone.”

Minho threw his phone on the bed. He ran a hand through his hair, frustration written across his face.

Key always answered his phone, even when he was at work.

Letting out a yell of defeat, Minho grabbed his things and headed out the door. He was going to look for Key.

--

“Taemin!”

“Minho. It’s past midnight, what the hell do you want?”

“Key didn’t come home Taemin.”

“What!?”

“You heard me! He didn’t ing come home! Do you know where he is?”

“No! Have you called Dongwoon? Mir? Jonghyun?”

Minho gripped his steering wheel harder. “Yes. I called everyone. No one knows.”

“I’m coming over.”

“Taemin…what if-“

“Don’t say it.”

--

Day 1

“Minho! Don’t say that,” Key said with a small pout. “It’s just Seoul. I would be worried if we moved to New York.”

He turned his back to Minho and stared out the window, mesmerized by the city’s bright lights.

Minho wrapped his strong arms around Key’s small waist, smiling as he inhaled his lover’s sweet scent.

“Don’t be mad Kibummie,” Minho whispered, resting his chin on Key’s shoulder. “You know I would find you no matter what.”

Key let a smile grace his pink lips. He leaned back and let out a content sigh. “15 days.”

“What?”

“If I ever get lost in Seoul, not that I ever will, I give you 15 days to find me.”

Minho smirked. He turned Key around and planted a small kiss on his plump lips. “I’ll find you in 10.”

Key rolled his eyes, his boyfriend’s confidence never ceased to amuse him. “Okay Mister Hot-shot detective.”

Minho kissed Key again, this time with more passion. He closed his eyes, feeling nothing more than pure happiness and love.

--

The loud chime of the alarm clock woke Minho from the vivid dream. He slammed his hand on the snooze button, anger clouding his thoughts.

He glared at the red numbers.

5:00 A.M.

Key would be waking up at this hour, the boutique he worked at always opened up early and Key had never missed a day. Never.

Minho let a sob escape from his lips.

The tears slipped from Minho’s brown eyes, the pain in his chest was overwhelming. Not knowing if he would ever see Key again shattered him.

After what felt like hours of shameless crying, Minho angrily wiped his eyes. He threw his long legs over the side of the bed and sat up.

He grabbed the picture of him and Key from the bedside table and let a bittersweet smile graze his lips.

“10 days Key. I’ll have you next to me in 10 days.”

He put the picture back on the table and stood up. The emptiness of the room hit him hard. What was he going to do? Key had now been missing for 15 hours.

He had told himself not to panic. Key could’ve have lost his phone and fallen asleep at a friend’s house. Maybe Key went to comfort one of his girlfriends and had lost track of time, accidently forgetting to call Minho.

He had tried to convince himself, but deep down he knew that Key was in trouble.

Minho walked into the shower, letting the scorching hot water run down his toned body. This was one of the few times where he showered alone.

He imagined Key complaining about his sluggish movements. Key would complain about everything in the morning. Well, until he got his coffee.

Minho inhaled the bitter smell of the black coffee. A big lump formed in his throat.

“If you breathe any harder you’re going to the coffee up your nose.”

He sighed. “Where do you think he is Taemin?”

Taemin sat down across from him, frowning. “I don’t know Minho. All three of us called everyone we knew. Onew even stayed up calling some of his friends. They don’t even know Key.”

Minho glanced at the sleeping form of Onew. He smiled softly. “He’s an odd ball Min.”

“Yeah, well. He’s the odd ball for me.”

He stood up. “I’m leaving.”

Taemin frowned. “Isn’t it too early to go to the agency?”

“I’m going somewhere else.”

--

Nicole glared at the empty boutique. Normally Key would already be here with her, both talking about their boyfriends.

She stopped her way around the store, grunting whenever she saw something out of line. Key was the one who fixed things, she just watched.

She stopped when she heard a knocking at the back door.

“Key!”

She ran towards the back, a big smile plastered on her face. She quickly pulled the door open. “Took you long enough you bum!”

Minho raised an eyebrow at the blonde girl. “Excuse me?”

Nicole blushed. “Oh. Sorry, I thought you were Key.”

“May I come in?”

She bit her lip. “I’m not supposed to let anyone in before we open but since you’re Key’s boyfriend I’ll let it slide.” She smiled and stepped aside, beckoning Minho in.

She followed Minho’s footsteps to the counter, wondering why he was here instead of Key. “So…” She started.

“Have you heard from Key?”

Nicole stopped. She stared at Minho’s back. It was tensed but at the same time slumped in defeat. “Excuse me?”

Minho turned around, a lost look in his eyes. “Key didn’t come home last night. He didn’t call. He didn’t answer when I called. No one knows where he is.”

Nicole felt a pain bubbling up in her chest. The first thing to cross her mind was gay bashing. She shook her head, a few tears spilling out. “What do you mean?”

Minho let out a frustrated sigh. “He’s missing Nicole. Do you have any idea where he could be?”

“No-I…”

She let out a sob; the worst scenarios were crossing her mind. She pictured him dead in a ditch, or maybe all the way at the bottom of the river.

She let out a surprised gasp when Minho enveloped her in his arms. She closed her eyes and clung onto his shirt.

“Find him Minho.”

--

“Minho calm down. All I’m saying is that you’re jumping the gun on this one. So your roommate doesn’t show up one night. Its no big deal. He’s probably off with some girl.”

Minho glared at Joon. “ off.”

Joon smirked. “Calm down man.”

“Shut up Joon,” Jonghyun said, walking into Minho’s office. He turned to Minho, deep bags under his eyes. “Have you heard anything yet?”

Minho sighed. He knew that Jonghyun and Key were childhood friends. It had come as a bitter surprise to Minho when he found out that they were going to be co-workers. Key could say that they were just friends but he knew that Jonghyun didn’t feel the same.

“No, nothing.”

“Well Joon could be right you know. Maybe Key—”

Mir glared at Jonghyun. “You’re seriously agreeing with Joon? You’ve been friends with Key since you were little.”

“I’m not saying that he is right! I’m just saying that he could be.”

Minho stared at his palms while the other three continued to bicker. They weren’t helping his growing headache. He looked at the stack of papers on his desk. How he wish to burn all of them and just continue his search for Key.

Sadly he couldn’t.“Shut up. All of you.”

All three pairs of eyes turn to look at him.

“We can take this up to chief after work Minho. Maybe he could assign this case to you, us.”

Minho looked at Jonghyun and nodded. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

The four men continued their work; their minds somewhere else.

--

“No. You still have no leads on the missing foreigner case. The media is going to give us once they find out. Focus on that. Your roommate is probably at his girlfriend’s house. You know men.”

Minho glared. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend, sir.”

The old man continued to shuffle through the stack of papers on his desk. “No is no Minho. I’ll give the case to Mir. He can take care of it. You focus on the foreigner’s case.”

“But sir—”

“Choi Minho! You’re lucky I’m even making this a case. You’re lucky I’m giving this to Mir, one of the best in our agency. Appreciate what’s given to you Minho! Now go home, it’s late.”

Minho sighed in defeat. “Thank you sir. Goodnight.” He bowed and quickly left his boss’ office. His spirits crushed just a little bit more.

--

Minho must have drove for hours. He visited every single place that Key had ever mentioned. He walked through the park. He went from door to door at apartment complexes where Key had friends.

He had no leads.

Minho parked his car. He punched his steering wheel in frustration, a loud honk echoing throughout the parking garage.

He cried; nothing but a few other cars to witness his breakdown.

--

Taemin stretched out his feet on Minho’s new sofa. He was tired; both physically and emotionally. He had spent the whole day hanging up missing posters of Key all around the city. He knew it had only been one day but he had a gut feeling that Key was in trouble.

He jumped when he heard Onew let out a loud snore. Chuckling he shook him awake.

“Onew, maybe we should go home. Minho might not be happy if we slept over again.”

Onew sighed. “Okay. But I think that he needs us here more than ever. I mean, I don’t want to leave him alone.”

Taemin smiled. “I love you Onew.”

Onew smiled. He sat up and laid back down, this time besides Taemin. “And I love you.”

Taemin gave Onew’s lips a small peck. He sighed.

“Let’s get ready. Minho called and said he’ll be here soon.”

At that moment, Minho walked in; shoulders hunched and head facing the ground.

Taemin and Onew both stood up, worry on their faces.

“Minho?” Taemin asked. “Are you okay?”

Minho raised his head, red, puffy eyes meeting Taemin’s. “Can you both stay again? I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

Taemin grabbed Onew’s hand and nodded.

“Of course Minho.”

--

End of Day 1