Jiho’s POV

It had been a week since the night Sehun practically thrown me out of his house. I had to admit, for the first couple of days, I had been mad at him, so I didn’t bother to text him or look for him in school. But I had come to my senses that maybe it really was something bad that was bothering him, and I had decided to try and make things right, only to realise that I couldn’t. I couldn’t make things right. Because I couldn’t find Sehun anywhere.

The fourth day after that night, I had already become very worried. I asked Chanyeol and the rest of his friends, even those I barely knew- Suho and gang. They were apparently the ones Sehun usually played basketball with after school. All of them said that they haven’t heard from him as of recent, and that only got me more worried. They did seem worried too, so they helped me look for him. We all went by his house, only to find that nobody was there. It was either that, or Sehun wouldn’t open the doors to us, but that would just be weird, so I ruled out that possibility.

Since none of us could find him, we could only assume that whatever happened that night- which I took the liberty of telling them- had only lead to him needing time to cool off, and he may be doing that somewhere none of us knew. Maybe he didn’t want to be disturbed, so we accepted that it was that way, although I knew all of us still felt uneasy. We were all worried sick. But the teachers never asked a single thing about Sehun. Kai said the teachers came in as per normal, and never asked of his whereabouts, which they usually would if they didn’t know why students weren’t attending lessons. When Kai pressed on, he said the teachers just told him to mind his own business. One even remarked, “he already has a hard enough time, will you stop it already?” Although, Kai had no idea why she reacted that way.

Nowadays, I just hung out with Chanyeol and Kai and Suho and gang. They were really good and friendly people, and I felt glad that Sehun had friends like them around, although it beats me why he wouldn’t go to them for help too. He gave me the impression as though he was alone. As I looked around the canteen at the bright faces surrounding me, I knew that Sehun was far from alone. Maybe he just didn’t realise it.

“Why is she still looking so gloomy?” I heard someone remark. As I looked up, I saw that it was Kyungsoo. His expression was blank, and he cocked his head to the side.

I smiled and made a face at him. “No, I’m not,” I replied.

“Still worried about Sehun?” Suho, who was sitting across me, asked.

“Yeah, of course,” I admitted softly. I looked around. Beside me was Chanyeol, and I couldn’t help but notice there was something off about him. He looked frustrated and he was biting down on his lower lip. He was just staring at the ground. Maybe he was very worried about his best friend himself.

“What’s wrong with that kid anyway?” Baekhyun wondered aloud, munching on his chips. Everyone shrugged. Well, everyone except Chanyeol, who was still in his own world. “He seemed okay up until…”

“What?” Most of them asked in unison. I stared wide-eyed at Baekhyun. Did he know something?

He held his hands up in surrender upon our reaction. “Chill, I don’t know anything!” he whined. “I just noticed that he started acting weird around a month ago.”

I furrowed my brows. That was before I got here. Just a week before I happened to transfer to this school. “Any clue what happened?” I asked, to everyone in general. They all shrugged, and I still didn’t get any response whatsoever from Chanyeol.

Then, I got curious about Sehun himself. “What was he like before that, though?” I don’t know where I could go with this question, but I guess the thought of a happy Sehun would make me feel a little better at least.

Kai smirked at me. “If you have to know,” he teased, causing a few of them to chuckle, knowing where he was going with this. “He probably still is the same charming, suave Sehun you know now.” He winked at that. I rolled my eyes in warning. He sighed, knowing I wanted him to get to the point. “Just that he was usually more… cheerful. He wasn’t one to be happy all the time, he’s far from that. But at least he had a pep in his step and wasn’t as cold as he is now. We all nicknamed him the ‘ice prince’ because of his general coldness to everyone but us. But lately he’s been so distant even to us. Even to Chanyeol, so that was quite surprising.”

At that, everyone turned to face Chanyeol, who had apparently woken up from his daydream and was finally tuning in to our talk. He shrugged and shook his head, looking a little defeated. I felt a little sad seeing him like that. He was probably so worried about his best friend, who hadn’t even bothered to give any news of his whereabouts.

I looked up at Kai, who was about to say something else, when he suddenly fiddled in his pocket for his phone. “Well, what do you know? Our little ice prince is alive,” he commented, still looking at his phone. I was about to ask him what Sehun said when he raised a finger at me, not looking up. “He’s just asking what work is due tomorrow.”

After a whole week, and the only thing we get to hear of him, is that he wants to know what’s due tomorrow? I shook my head. “Ask him where he is!” I demanded.

Suho nodded in agreement. “It should only be fair that he tell us where he went.”

Kai conceded and started typing on his phone. I could see that everyone’s face was slightly brighter. They were all probably relieved that they finally heard from their friend and I could see that Baekhyun was resisting the urge to dance around in glee.

I heard a vibration and we all immediately turned to Kai. He fiddled with his phone and he looked a little taken aback. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

He turned his phone around to let us look at the screen. He seemed a little confused, or that’s what I got from reading his face. Puzzled, I shifted my gaze to his phone screen. It was from an unsaved number, which I’m assuming would be Sehun’s.

America.

I widened my eyes. What is Sehun doing in America?

Sehun’s POV

I sighed as I put my phone back in my pocket. I would have to catch my flight soon, if not I wouldn’t be able to rush back in time for school, not that I had any urge to actually attend it. I had no mood for anything. Now that I already texted Kai, I’m sure everybody else- Suho and all- would know that I’m okay. I just felt guilty not telling them of where I was, since I knew that people like Baekhyun and Suho had a big tendency to worry, although Suho was the more calm one, trusting that if anything was awry that I would know how to handle myself.

It hadn’t been my plan to hold back on where I was or stay here for this long. The days just seemed to go past really quickly this past week. I took my phone out and looked at the date. It was April 9. I sighed. Usually this time of year I would look forward to, since my birthday was coming soon. But now I don’t even know if I was in the mood to celebrate it. I shouldn’t be celebrating it, should I? Not given what had happened.

“Are you ready to go?” I turned around to see my mum standing by the car door, her eyes red and puffy. I knew that she was very sad and very affected by what happened, but I couldn’t find it in myself to feel sorry for her. I guess this was the part of me I hated. I just really wasn’t that forgiving of a person. I tend to take things too personally.

Not bothering to look at her, I replied, “Hold on, I’m going to go talk to him for a while.”

“O.. okay,” she managed, and I knew she was trying to contain herself from crying.

Without looking back, I walked across the plot of land. The wind was blowing in my face and it felt cooling. This was probably the nicest weather I’ve seen since I got here. 8,10… 12. Here it was. I stopped and looked to the ground. I could feel my heart in my chest. It was yearning for something- his company, his voice, his hugs. I gulped as I took a seat down on the grass. I looked at the piece of upright stone in front of me and pursed my lips. I had no doubt that I was going to burst again.

One hand on the stone and one to cover my face, I just sat there, knowing fully well my mum was watching. I wanted to speak but my sobs were too strong. In the distance I could hear the birds cooing and the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind.

“Today is a good day,” I remarked, managing to stop my large sobbing. My vision was blurred as I stared at the stone. “I just wish you were still here with us…. dad.”

After a few minutes of me trying to communicate with my late father, I finally got up and took my hand off his tombstone. “Goodbye,” I whispered. I still couldn’t believe that he was gone.

I’m sorry, dad. I really miss you dad.

A/N: here you go guys... this brings back memories :'(