{ prologue }

“Jiyong, stop it.” Dara muttered. “Where are you, really?”

Dara was expecting Jiyong to jump from behind her and scream “boo!” to startle the living daylights out of her, but nothing came. The cool night breeze made her shiver as she hugged her cardigan closer to her body.

“Ji? YAH KWON, IT’S NOT FUNNY!” She’s starting to get really worried for Jiyong. He asked her to meet but...

Where is he now?

Dara’s tears streamed down one by one. Her heart was thumping wildly on her chest as she racked her brain for an event when Jiyong made her worry and cry like this.

There were none.

Jiyong loved to make fun of her, yes, but never did he crossed the line like this. He only loved the annoyed look on her face and her futile attempts on punching his lean body.

Dara grabbed her cellphone from her backpack. She nervously dialled TOP’s number. It rang for a few minutes before someone answered the call. “Hello?” A woman’s sleepy voice answered. She quickly recognized her friend Bom’s voice.

“Bommie...” She whispered, her voice trembling. “Bommie, Jiyong...”

The urgency and fear in her voice seemed to wake up Bom. She heard some shuffling of the sheets before Bom answered. “Dara? Why, what’s wrong?”

Bom’s concerned voice was enough to push Dara at her wits’ end. She sobbed harder and harder with each passing minute, alarming Bom. “Dara, c’mon, calm down, hmm? Tell me what happened. Where are you?”

“Bom, I’m here. Re– remember the park where Jiyong–” She instinctively cried as she mentioned him.

“Calm down there, Dee. I know where you are. We’ll be there. Okay? Don’t go anywhere and wait for us.” Bom instructed.

Dara nodded her head, oblivious to the fact that Bom couldn’t see her. It was only when Bom called her attention that she whispered a faint ‘yes’ before ending the call.

She sat at one of the wooden benches where they always hang out. She couldn’t fully understand what was happening. Jiyong asked her out last night, he told her that he has something important to say. She was eager to meet him, but when she got to their meeting place... nothing. There was no Jiyong. No text. No call. No note. Just... none.

She endlessly tried texting him, and her calls couldn’t get through. After what seemed like her hundredth missed call, she panicked and called TOP, one of Jiyong’s best friends.

After another ten minutes, she saw the headlights of TOP’s car near her.  TOP barely parked the car properly when Bom jumped out, terrified of the urgency in Dara’s voice. She walked towards her, and Dara couldn’t do anything but cry.

“What happened, Dara?” TOP asked. She could also sense the anxiety in his voice.

“I thought you have a date with Jiyong tonight, Dee?” Bom added.

Dara nodded her head. “Yes, and when I got here I thought Ji’s only fooling around, wanting to prank me, but three hours passed and no Jiyong showed up.” She answered, crying. “I thought he was only making fun of me but...” She shook her head miserably and cried harder.

Bom could only embrace her crying best friend as she looked helplessly at TOP.