{Jihae}

I exit the suit to take a tour around the hotel room.

There are at least a few hundred rooms in this hotel room, each one with an extravagant exterior accompanied with a classy door. The design and architecture of the hotel is detailed and magnificent. There are carvings of Chinese characters here and there. I only recognised one.

爱

Love. Something so desirable, but yet can leave someone so fragile. Someone like me.

After spending at least an hour walking aimlessly around the never ending halls of the hotel, I decide it is time to return to my suit. If I am planning to find Baekhyun the next day, I am going to need all the sleep I can get.

And that’s when I realised, I am lost. I turn my head around and look at the halls that look identical at almost every level. Where the heck am I?

My first instinct is to call Luhan. But being the overprotective brother that he is, he will probably overreact. And I do not want that to happen.

Looking around, I realise the hotel is almost bare. There is not a single soul in sight. That makes sense, considering no one probably gets up in the wee hours of the morning. How pathetic I am, to get lost in a hotel room. I sigh to myself.

I walk a while longer before spotting a man standing a few feet away from me. He is wearing a black jacket that resembles the one that the staff wears so I assumed he is probably one of them.

“Excuse me…” I say and tap the shoulder of the man whose back is facing me. I almost lose my footing when he turns around.

The man has a sharp jaw line, small lips, a sharp nose and a set of flawless complexion. His hair is unmistakably blonde, it is unmistakably his. This man, is not any man, it is the maknae. It is Sehun.

Sehun must have been equally as shocked, judging by the way his eye widens and his jaw almost dropping to the floor.

Sehun grew a lot taller. He did not look like the playful kid that he was in the past that hadn’t liked me at the start. No. In his place stands a dashing young man. No wonder I could not recognise his back view.

But even so, I asked just to be safe.

“S-sehun…is it really you?”

I watch Sehun’s lips tremble as he makes a run for it. I run after him but he used his ability of air to increase his velocity, making it almost impossible for me to catch up.

Sehun is here, in this hotel. Then it hit me.

If Sehun is here. He would be here.

Baekhyun, he has to be here too.

“Sehun wait!” I shout, still trying to keep up with Sehun but it is useless. And when I finally came to a hallway that led to various paths, I stop running to catch my breath.

I am certain Baekhyun is here now that Sehun became so flustered after seeing me. So I am right, Baekhyun is avoiding me on purpose. He is deliberately kept his distance with me. But…why?

Another good thing about my encounter with Sehun is that I finally find my way to the centre of the hotel. I run to the staff counter at the lobby of the hotel to inquire which room he was in.

If they really do intend on avoiding me then they would have left by now. A quick snap of Kai’s fingers would have allowed that. But I just need to at least be sure that he was here once.

“Excuse me? May I check if 6 young men have checked in before?” I ask the lady behind the counter.

“Give me a moment.” She replies politely after she clicks a few times on her computer.

“Yeap. They’re checked in.” She says and my eyes lit up. There is still hope.

“A-are they still there?” I ask even though I knew the chances were slim.

“They should be. They have not checked out.” She replies.

“M-may I have their room number?”

“Actually, we are not supposed to tell others the room number of our customers. Sorry about that.”

“Please? It’s…it’s really important.” I say as I turn my gaze and make full eye contact with her.

“Erm…erh…sorry but I can’t tell you.” Her replies shatter all the hope that has garnered within me. I lower my head in despair.

“It’s okay.” I whispered and turn around but she taps my shoulder. The lady passes me a yellow post it note with something scribbled on it.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t write it down for you.” The lady says and I could have sworn she did a small wink.

I look at the post it note. The numbers ‘502’ are written on the piece of paper.

“Thank you!” I say and just as I am about to make a mad dash to find the room without a proper running plan, she informs me, “It’s to the left of the elevator. The tenth story.”

I smile at the lady before rushing off to room 502. And as my legs run, my head is in a complete daze. I have no idea what I am supposed to expect. Will Baekhyun still be there? I doubt it. But I can’t just let my only possibility of finding Baekhyun slide by like that.

504. 503.  My run comes to a halt when I see the numbers ‘502’ carved out on the front of the door. My first instinct is to knock. My hands are clenched in a ball, its knuckles facing the door, positioned to knock. But I don’t.

I am scared. I am scared that when I knocked, no one would answer. “Jihae! Just knock the freaking door already!” I whisper to myself.

Inhaling deeply, I knock once. Then again. And when there is still no answer, I find myself banging incessantly on the door with both hands.

“Baekhyun!” I shout as hot tears stream out of my eyes.

“Baekhyun, open the door. Please…” I say as I collapse to the ground, my arms wrap around my knees with my back leaned against the wall.

I know what I am doing is absolutely stupid. There is no one behind that door. They probably teleported away already. But still, I have held on to that hope that I could see him. Just once. But now as I weep along the hallways of the hotel room, I can see that all hope is lost.

The tears continue to flow out. Thankfully there is no one walking around at this time of the day or they might have deemed me mentally unsound. A crazy girl seated at the outside of a hotel room weeping. One may even have mistaken it as me being locked out of my own hotel room.

But no, I am locked out by Baekhyun.

What I really want now more than anything in the world is to see him. Even if it is only for a mere moment, I would willingly exchange it for a thousand days of my life.

I just need to ask him. I just need answers.

Why did he leave me? Why is he avoiding me? Does he still love me?

“Byun Baekhyun. Where are you?” I whisper to myself, burying my head deeper into my knees.

“I’m right here beside you.” A voice calls from behind and my eyes widen. Could it have been my hallucination? Could obsessively thinking of a particular person result in that? Either I have completely lost my marbles or he was calling my name.

It was his voice. It was Baekhyun’s voice.