[January 10, 2018; 3:42PM KST]

~.~.~.~.~

~.~.~.~.~

"Hey, this is Yeji! I can't make it to the phone right now, so just leave a message at the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Or...just shoot me a text. Thanks!" 

[At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press 1 for more options.​​​ BEEP.]

"Yeji, you're not answering any texts. You're not answering anything. I...I saw your texts. I saw the news. I'm sorry, I was taking an exam and--Are you okay, Yeji? Please, please answer the ing phone. Sehun is five seconds away from calling the police and--holy ing , Ji. Please, be okay. Please, be okay."

~.~.~.~.~

[January 12, 2018; 2:36 PM KST]

She watches the way Baekhyun sits in the chair, his elbows resting on the side of her hospital bed, his pretty fingers splayed out, outstretched right next to her thigh in a way that makes her think it's an invitation--she's welcome to hold onto him, use him as an anchor, and she is grateful, she really is, but--she can't think. She can't. His eyes droop as if he hasn't had a wink of sleep in a while and maybe he hasn't. His hair sticks out in all kinds of directions, his beanie resting beside his arms, crumpled up as if he's been gripping it too tight, close to tearing it apart, somehow, someway. It lies beside her knee, dark and heavy somehow against the backdrop of hospital white, freckled with multicolored confetti designs. She sits, cross-legged, on her hospital bed, under the flannel blanket, and she is acutely aware of the fact that he is not meeting her eyes, that his jaw is set, clenched. 

He is quiet.

She is quieter.

Sehun is loud.

Sehun is leaning back on the hospital wall. He is angry, a firestorm of rage, warming up the cold tension in the room. He is angry the same way Baekhyun is, but where Baekhyun is quiet, bristled, on edge, Sehun is animated, pacing, expression twisted as if he wants to shout. She doesn't know what or who he wants to shout at. 

She thinks, perhaps, it is her. 

She looks away, turns her gaze to the wall. 

Baekhyun asks again, before Sehun can shout it, grit out angrily and startle her even more than she already is, his voice soft, soft, soft, like her blankets back home, the blankets she wants to be under right this moment. It's almost desperate to her, pleading. "What happened?"

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. 

The door slams shut with a loud, resounding thud. She jumps. Sehun is gone. Baekhyun sighs, dragging a hand through his already messy hair, and his eyes are just as wild as his hair, just as wild as the thumping in her chest, the thoughts running through her head, the thoughts she wants to sort through before she says anything else.

"I need time." She murmurs, finally breaking her silence. Her voice is much too shaky. "To process."

Baekhyun takes a deep breath and it sounds like a the beginning breaths of a drowning man heaving for air. "Okay. Okay." His splayed fingers reach out and he gently, hesitantly, places it against her knee, patting her, "Take your time, okay?"

He is all reassurance and she thinks she really doesn't deserve him.

~.~.~.~.~

[January 14, 2018; 5:55 PM KST]

[Static]

"Disturbing reports have emerged today from SM Town, a gated community located right outside of Pyeongtaek, roughly 64 kilometers from Seoul. Police have received a series of calls from unknown numbers, all tracing back to SM Town, reporting an unidentified emergency. However, emergency services and officers arrived on the scene to a peculiar result: nobody was there. We will cut to analyst K--"

[Helicopters in the background, camera flashes, indistinguishable voices]

"We are at the scene, outside of the gates of SM Town, and it seems the sheriff in charge is attempting to unlock the front gates. Authorities have confirmed that they are still receiving 119 calls from multiple victims within the gated community, however, there is no sound at all, Mr. Kim. Can you hear that? There's nothing. Not a sound from beyond those gates. Can you hear it?"

[Crackling]

119 Operator: 119, what is your emergency?

Unidentified male, screaming, voice hoarse, distant, breathing heavy: Help us, God, please...please. Please.

Operator: ...sir, please calm down so we can--

Unidentified male, voice hoarse: You said that last time. You said that last time and I was left here. We were all left here. You never looked for us.

Operator: Sir--

 Male: If you don't send every policeman, every ambulance, every ing thing you have, I WILL [cut off by a loud crash and shouting, indecipherable noises, loud sobs]

Operator: Sir? Sir! Sir! Sir!

[LINE DISCONNECTED]

[BEEP]

[BEEP]

~.~

[BEEP]

"Dear listeners, welcome back to Moonlight Radio. I'm sure you've all heard of the disappearance of SM Town by now. I truly apologize for the sudden disturbing calls broadcasted so soon, but I'm sure you're all asking yourselves: what does this have to do with the missing college students case we so avidly introduced last week? Well, I propose that it has everything to do with the missing college students. First off, the phone calls. The Phone Calls."

[Sehun hums in agreement] "If you've read my blog after last week's show, you'd have seen all the recorded 119 calls. There was...a lot going on there, huh?"

[Baekhyun snorts] Understatement of the century, Hunnie. Yeji, who unfortunately still cannot be here, went through each and every one of them, bless her soul, and she found...outliers? All of them are definitely real creepy. Hunnie couldn't sleep that night."

"Neither could you!"

"Pfft, can you believe this kid? Where'd you learn to lie like that?" [Baekhyun kicks Sehun under the table, Sehun lets out a string of muffled curse words, Baekhyun laughs] "Anyways, we were reading texts and emails sent in by our lovely, beautiful listeners--" [Sehun faintly mutters up, Baekhyun tries to kick Sehun again, misses and kicks the table] "Ow, ow, ow. Sehun, shut up before Yeji barges in here and kills both of us--stop laughing! Anyways, like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, some of you all had some interesting theories going on."

"Someone said you look like two mochis smushed into one. 'Baek's certainly the right height for two mochis'." [Sehun cackles while reading the printed out comment] 

"Hey! Do you want to fight? I have two fists, hapkido skills, and I can do the whole TT dance without taking a break. Square up in the cafeteria parking lot at three."

"Two fists as opposed to what? Three? One? None? Do you have something to tell all of us, Mochi hyung?" 

"Shut up, Sehun."

"You, shut up, hyung."

"No, you."

"No, you."

"No--"

[Door slams open with a sudden bang, the room goes dead silent.]

"Y--Yeji?"

[Yeji stands at the door, arms thrown out, chest heaving, her eyes wild, glinting with a sort of frantic light that's almost...scary.]

[Baekhyun stands up immediately, his hands held out in front of him, as if he's trying to calm a wounded animal.]

[Voices are clearly distant, away from microphones, but clear.] "Yeji, what's wrong?"

"That voice." [Her voice comes closer, until there's the sound of a chair sliding out and she plops down, adjusting the microphone and grabbing a pair of headphones, wild look still too present in her eyes.]

[Baekhyun and Sehun exchange a look. Slowly, they both sit back down, on either side.]

"That unidentified male's voice. I've heard it before. Among the other records. It wasn't a person of interest's voice."

[Baekhyun blinks, rapidly.]

[Sehun drops his pen, the resounding thud echoing in the room,]

[She doesn't continue.]

[Sehun speaks up when the silence stretches on] "If what Yeji's saying is correct, then--then there's more reason to believe that this town's disappearance is connected to the missing students'. There was a comment, from the ID LILYpayne21:"

"Kris Wu spoke of a "town" that he should not have gone to...so could it be like a deserted town that people visit for camping to defy the haunted stories surrounding it and just happens that someone lives there..like a psychopath..."

"And it got us thinking. This town...what if it's SM Town?"

[Sehun looks at Baekhyun expectantly, but Baekhyun is staring at Yeji's wild eyes, her fingers clutched around the microphone while she peruses the papers scattered across the desk.]

"Hyung?" 

[Baekhyun coughs, jolting upright.] "He's right, beautiful listeners. What if--what if this is all connected to SM Town somehow?"

[Yeji gets up and grabs Sehun's laptop off the side desk.]

[Baekhyun falters for just a moment.] "Like, what if it was all a precursor to the of our mystery? For the big bad main event? The disappearance of an entire town. It couldn't possibly get any better than that. A gated community town that...supposedly contains--or rather contained--a voice from within our 119 records folder, according to Yeji? A town that was still making calls, similar calls to our missing students, while authorities were prying open their doorways and discovering that nothing was there. Not a single soul haunted SM Town that day. 112 people, gone without a trace. Nothing was there. Right, Yeji?"

[Yeji stares at the papers under her hands, at the laptop screen in front of her.]

[She takes a deep breath before she speaks, Baekhyun hesitantly reaches out for her, before retracting his hand.]

"No. There was something there."

[Yeji presses PLAY on file #12 from 119 Recordings Folder.]

~.~

119 Operator: 119, what is your emergency?

Caller, Male: My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang.

Operator: Okay, Mr. Kyungsoo. Can you please tell me what your situation is?

Do Kyungsoo, 22: My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang.

Operator: Sir, are you unable to speak freely? Please, say yes if you are.

Kyungsoo: My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang.

Operator: Kyungsoo, I need you to tell me what's wrong.

Kyungsoo: My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old.

Operator: Sir, please calm down. You're hyperventilat--

Kyungsoo: Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster. I was born in Goyang. My name is Do Kyungsoo. I am 22 years old. Year of the Rooster.I was born in Goyang.My name is Do Kyungsoo.I am 22 years old.Year of the Rooster.I was born in Goyang.My name is Do Kyungsoo. Iam 22 yearsold.Year oftheRooster. Iwas bornin Goyang.Mynameis DoKyungsoo. Iam 22 yearsold. Yearof the Rooster. IwasborninGoyang. My name isDo KyungsooIam 22yearsoldYearoftheRoosterIwasborninGoyangMynameisDoKyungsooIam22yearsoldYearoftheRoosterIwasborninGoyangMynameisDoKyungsooIam22yearsoldYearoftheRoosterIwasborninGoyangMynameisDoKyungsooIam22yearsoldYearoftheRoosterIwasborninGoyangMynameisDoKyungsooIam22yearsoldYearoftheRoosterIwasborninGoyangMynameisDoKyungsooIam22yearsoldYearoftheRoosterIwasborninGoyangMynameisDoKyungsooIam22yearsoldYearoftheRoo

[Line Disconnected]

~.~

"He spoke the most. Out of the all of them, he spoke the most and his voice is--I remembered it. He didn't say anything important, but I remembered it."

"Shouldn't we tell someone...the police or someone?" Sehun's voice is quiet in the lingering silence left behind by the recording.

"Will anyone believe us?" Yeji asks. She sounds doubtful because she has a distinct feeling they won't. They already dismissed her, earlier this week.

Baekhyun's eyes are lingering on her face, her eyes, the way her fingers tighten into fists. She doesn't meet his gaze. 

Instead, she speaks, knowing full well that they are still on air. She doesn't care. She's had time, time to process, time to think, and when she had heard the voice over the radio station, loud and clear, velvety smooth, familiar, she had--she ran.

She's still wearing her slippers.

She closes her eyes and she begins:

~.~

"It  was strange, how easy it had been to get past all the news trucks and the handful of police that had actually showed up. It was strange and it should have been scary. I should have been scared. It was around three thirty when the crowd began to disperse, when I walked past the yellow tape and the harrowed police officers and I thought--why aren't they turning around? Why aren't they telling me to stop? Stop walking, I thought. But I kept going.

I remember SM Town vaguely. I used to live there, but I barely remember it. It's quiet. There were news reporters in the town, too, with their video cameras. They were all so confused. Police officers were everywhere. Maybe that's why they didn't stop me either. Technically, it wasn't a crime scene: the town, because there was nothing there. I walked past all these houses, big and white and the same, each and every one of them. I've only ever seen houses like that in American movies. Suburbs, I think they called them. They hung over me like judges and somehow I felt like I was walking towards a verdict. I wasn't wrong.

It's pretty. SM Town. I'm sure you all saw the videos. There were bikes laying there, bikes and a few cars and baskets, purses, like skeletal remnants of a town that was once thriving. And it was. I remember that much, at least. I remember seeing a huge, windowless building, up ahead. But I never really made it that far, you know. The funeral home came long before it, though that building, round and cemented, loomed higher than the white houses, higher than a judge, really, and it was...hard to forget? The funeral home was different. It was darker, smaller, caught in between worlds, between this suburban neighborhood and the world as I know it, outside this strange little gated community. Like Seoul, like here. It was different, too normal. 

I walked in and I--I noticed the portrait first. It was--my father's portrait hung over the coffin, covered in such pretty flowers, and I remember thinking, I'm not wearing my funeral clothes. I remember wanting to go back to my car, out of this weird, in between place, in this off-kilter town. I wanted to leave. Instead, I stepped forward. I couldn't go anywhere but closer. The casket--it was closed. And my--my [BEEP]ing hands had a brain of their [BEEP]ing own. The room was empty, so so empty, but suddenly, at that moment it felt so full, it felt like that casket would explode. So I opened it and--he was--he...bones. A pile of bones. That's it. That's all there was. An empty funeral room in an emptier town, his portrait staring down at me, and a casket filled with bones that could very well not be his.

I ran and ran until I just--I collapsed somewhere. That was a mistake. "

~.~

~.~

"The police say...they confirmed that the bones belonged to my father. Forensics or some sh[BEEP], but the last time I spoke to him was two years ago. A body doesn't decompose like...like that in just two years. Yes, sure, it was over the phone, but I'm sure that was him. It had to be him. He--he could be alive. He could be missing just like the rest of SM Town. Just like those college kids. Just like Do Kyungsoo, a college student from Goyang who went missing one and a half years ago, at the age of twenty-two, and reappeared only to disappear again with a whole town."

~.~

DING.

"There's--there's an email." Yeji stumbles over her words, startled.

Sehun and Baekhyun scoot over beside her. Baekhyun places a tentative hand on her forearm and she leans into it, she can't help it. Her fingers are shaking. 

"'You're right.'" Sehun reads out loud. 

"Open it." Baekhyun whispers, right next to her, his voice low at her ear. 

She does. 

Sehun blinks. 

She reads it out loud, "'You need to talk to him.'"

Sehun blinks at her, mouths who?

Yeji finds herself staring and staring at the Anonymous tag, the jumbled up letters and numbers making up the email address.

She's shaking her head. Baekhyun is, too.

She is suddenly afraid, chills running up her spine.

Then Yeji looks up and she notices the red ON AIR sign. She blinks, rapidly, and she--she leans into the microphone, real close, her fingernails digging into her palms until it stings. She speaks clearly, carefully, because--this Anonymous person, they're listening. They're listening to their broadcast. "Who?" She whispers. "Who?"

Baekhyun grabs the laptop, his shoulder pressed up against hers, his thigh pressed to hers, and she finds comfort in his warmth. She finds comfort in the way Sehun presses a hand over her shaking hand, even while he watches Baekhyun type out a response and send it to the anonymous email address. 

He types, Who?

Two minutes pass and then they get a response.

~.~.~.~.~

The red ON AIR light is turned off. They sit in silence for a long, long time. 

"We should make the call." Sehun murmurs.

"Not now." Yeji speaks, suddenly, shaking her head. "I...I don't want to call it--him, right now. I don't want to know yet."

Sehun's eyes soften significantly. Baekhyun presses further against her side and she can't help but smile at him, especially when Baekhyun murmurs, "You look tired."

She rolls her eyes but it certainly doesn't have the effect it usually has, "Thanks, Mochi. Just what I wanted to hear. Might as well tell me I look like and go."

Baekhyun's lips twitch upwards, even as Sehun snorts, "Smooth, Baek."

Baekhyun throws Sehun a small glare before he gently pats Yeji's knee, rubbing it soothingly as he glances over at her, gaze lingering on her face, "Let's get some good food in you and then get you home, okay?"

Slowly, Yeji nods, smiling slightly at the thought of food. Only then does she remember her growling stomach and the fact that she hasn't had a proper meal all day, "Okay."

When she stands up, their gazes travel downwards and she reddens when she remembers she's still wearing her slippers. Sehun glances down three times, but, surprisingly, he doesn't say anything. He doesn't poke fun and she knows that's his way of taking care of her, removing the attention from things that are actually of consequence. Instead, Sehun shrugs off his jean jacket and dumps it on her head, "You forgot your coat, idiot."

She smiles, her heart swelling at the little furrow of his brows, but she still makes a move to kick at Sehun, who easily avoids the kick, stepping back as he glares at her playfully. She goes in for another one.

After successfully landing two kicks on Sehun's shin, she decides she does want to go home. She turns, looking up at Baekhyun, and he's smiling, his grin boxy and feathery soft, a pair of sandals dangling from his fingers. He drops them in front of her, the soft thud jarring. She blinks, surprised. 

He shrugs, dragging a hand through his hair, before he says, nonchalant as ever, "I always keep a pair in my backpack. You know that."

(She does know that because he had been her saving grace when she had to wear heels to class for a huge presentation and then she hadn't had time to head home. He was there with these same too-big pair of Adidas sandals and a lopsided grin and she and her blistered feet almost cried that day.)

She grins, "You're the best, Mochi."

He scowls instantly at the nickname, "I swear, I'll make you walk barefoot."

She's still grinning. He can't stop grinning. Sehun just sighs, long and suffering almost. She glances at him and Sehun's glancing between Yeji and Baekhyun, halfway through an extremely obvious eyeroll, "Can we go?"

~.~.~.~.~

Dear listeners,

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a/n: omg sorry for the late update, smh. but thank you everyone!!!! this fic is going to be pretty short, by the way, like it'll only run for 15 to 20 chapters, at most. I hope you enjoy this! xoxo