“I want someone near Mir who knows about all of this. More importantly, at least someone aside from me can see why Taemin and Mir just don’t work. Do you see it?” “...they’re too similar. I’m guessing Mir sees himself in Taemin’s lonely, guarded personality. Mir will always be there to comfort him but that’s not what either of them needs.”

Joon’s words were always pounding in Dongwoon’s mind. They were the only things keeping him hopeful. So long as even one other person thought he was meant for Mir, then there would always be a chance that it was true.

Somewhere out there, they were supposed to be together. Even if they couldn’t be together in that moment, maybe in a few years, maybe in another country, they would fall so deeply in love neither of them would be able to find the exit anymore.

The campus was barren, most of the students away on the annual Spring Break beach trip. It just made looking for Mir easier though. Dongwoon turned a corner, slowing down when he caught sight of a taxi and a certain pretty boy.

“Taemin!” he shouted, snatching the kid’s shoulder, whirling him around.

“What do you want?” he retorted, shrugging the hand off of him. Taemin’s eyes were cold, mouth a set line. There was darkness dripping from every pour – as if he had just seen Hell and didn’t plan on leaving.

Dongwoon caught his breath before asking, “Where’s Mir? He’s your boyfriend so you must know right?”

“What? He ran away before you guys could run away together?” he bit back. “It doesn’t matter where he went off to.” Taemin started turning away, one foot planting itself firmly inside the taxi.

“Why are you being so indifferent?” Dongwoon snapped, gripping the heavy taxi door tightly. “Why aren’t you worried about him? You guys have been inseparable all break–!”

“—stay out of it!” Taemin cried. “Mir is the one who didn’t trust me. I kept writing to him but he stopped replying! He’s the one who decided I’m not worth talking to anymore! I’ve been looking for him for two days and he still hasn’t shown up. I’m done. Obviously he doesn’t want me—”

Dongwoon jerked the boy out of the car, fingers loosening the seams of his collar. “THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU!” He shook the kid roughly, teeth grinding together so hard there was a crunching noise.

Taemin fell silent, eyes widening at the volume of the normally controlled person’s voice.

“You were the only one who knew Mir has been missing for two days and you didn’t tell anyone?” his erratically spoken words dropped to a hoarse whisper, loathing drenching his expression, “Do you know what could have happened in two days?” Dongwoon fought the urge to punch the scrawny boy, “…You know about Mir’s past. You know more about his past than any of us. So how can you be so selfish right now? Where the were you running off to?”

He clenched his fists, speaking softly, “Let go of me.”

Dongwoon shoved the boy aside.

Taemin winced, straightening and fixing his crinkled clothes. “I just need to get away.”

“No. You need to go find your boyfriend.”

“No,” Taemin responded, shaking his head, “this is what Mir taught me. I want to run away. If he has been honest this whole time then he’ll come for me. He’s going to run away with me. He said he’ll be with me from now on.”

Dongwoon’s lip curled in disgust and he shook his head, backing away from the boy. “Do you even hear yourself? Do you know what you’re trying to ask of someone who’s exactly like you?” He wanted to shout Joon’s words in Taemin’s face but he could already tell it would do nothing. “You just don’t get it Taemin,” he muttered, “you can’t ask a broken person to fix another broken person. You’re both stuck where you are and if one falls over the edge, you can’t save them.”

“You’re wrong,” Taemin whispered, climbing into the taxi. The door slammed shut and the car pulled away.

Then your relationship ends here. Dongwoon started walking back through the campus, absolutely feeling like he wanted to puke. His pocket vibrated though, effectively making his heart beat faster with hope.

“Hey, I’m with Minho right now,” Sungmin reported, “we just checked all of the dorm buildings and we’re going to check the music building. Have you found anything?”

“Tell Minho his best friend is a ing selfish princess,” he remarked, breaking into a faster jog, eyes scanning the familiar array of shops, buildings and lamp posts. Through the phone he could hear Sungmin telling Minho exactly that. Dongwoon would have laughed or smiled in another situation. “I’m checking the main building now.”

“Okay, we’ll call if we find anything else,” then Sungmin ended the call, turning to Minho. “We should hurry up. Dongwoon sounds like he’s losing it.”

“Should we split up?” he asked, considering how much faster and more expansive their search could be if they did that.

Sungmin shook his head, touching Minho’s shoulder. “You don’t know Mir well enough to do anything if the situation is bad. We should stay close.”

Tip #6

Bros before Hoes:

You should know this applies to more than just dates and hang outs. This is emotionally speaking too. A good friend won’t put their own needs first – not when things are going really horribly for their friend. Always remember that you have to look out for one another, even if that means sometimes you have to be a little uncomfortable.

It was just a random thought, but a thought relating to Mir nonetheless. Minho had stumbled upon the quirky little guide site saved on the kid’s phone and had seen that particular tip first.

He glanced at Sungmin’s determined form. So he must’ve been a really great friend, huh? Sungmin had willingly come to ask Minho for help even though he had essentially “” him two months ago.

“When was the last time you saw Mir and Taemin?” Sungmin asked.

“Three days ago or something,” he replied immediately, not wanting to do anything that could piss off the other boy.

“Was Mir normal? Did you notice anything wrong with him?”

Minho shook his head, “No.”

They walked up to the music building, testing the door. It was locked.

“,” Sungmin cursed, circling around the building to look through the windows. What if Mir had purposefully locked the building? Normally it was left open for students to use. “We should try getting in through the basement.”

“Are you serious?” Minho asked, following the other boy anyway.

“That’s the only way to get in,” Sungmin replied, finding a dusty window near the base of the building. He tried prying it open and when that didn't work, he took a step back, doing a low kick. The glass shattered and Sungmin turned around to see Minho’s staring open mouthed. “C’mon, let’s hurry up!”

“What the…,” he muttered, pretty positive it was inappropriate to be thinking how hot that just was.

The black haired boy swung down agilely, slender boy gliding through the open space. “Be careful, there’s a drop!” Sungmin shouted from the darkness of the basement.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Minho sighed, testing his legs for tenseness before swooping through the window at an angle. The drop came and tingles raced up his legs at the impact. “Damn…” he winced, rubbing his ankles.

Metal rattling caught his attention and he looked up to see Sungmin struggling with the door. Dread raced through his bloodstream at a sudden realization. “Don’t tell me—!”

“Shut up!” Sungmin snapped, trying to knock the door down somehow. Why was everything in the music hall locked? The basement should’ve been free to open.

“Why the hell didn’t you know that this place was locked?!” Minho panicked, staggering to his feet and pounding on the metal as well.

“It’s not normally locked!”

“Well a lot of things aren’t normal today! Why didn’t you think this through?”

Sungmin checked his phone, seeing no signal. A string of curses flew through his mind. There was no way this was happening. No way – not when something so serious was going on…

***

Dongwoon received another phone call as he hurried down the steps of the Main Building – the search having failed. The caller I.D. displayed: Ryeowook.

“What is it?” he demanded, praying for good news.

Sniffling and sobbing could be heard on the other side. “W-We found him.”