LUHAN-

I stood there and watched as I let my best friend’s back disappear from sight.  The anger I had felt just before, disappeared. It was replaced with emptiness.  

I was too stubborn to run after him and apologize, but I also didn’t want to just stand there and feel guilty for making Minseok run away after coming so far from home.  Finally, I made my decision and began moving forward, but before I got to take another step, Dilabra called my name. I turned around and found her standing at the door waiting for me.  

“Where’d your friend go?” she asked.  

“He just dropped by for a short visit,” I lied and put on a smile.  

“Wow, what a friend he is to come here so shortly and not even take the time to have a nice conversation.”  I heard the sarcasticness in her voice and was taken aback. I’ve never heard her talk like that before and felt a little bit of that anger coming back.  

“He was just in the area, and he needs to get back home now.  He’s a bit busy,” I told her as I walked passed her and headed into the building.  

She caught up to me and asked, “What’s his name?”  

“Xiumin.  That was Xiumin from EXO.”  

“Oh…  So he’s an old friend?”  

“Yeah.”  

“Why is he in China?  And why did he come to see you?  He wasn’t there for you back then, but he’s coming here to see you now?”  

I sighed and stopped walking.  “Dilabra, where did you get that kind of rumor from?”  

“I mean… people talk.  It’s been around online sites for awhile, you know?”  

I sighed again and continued walking back to my room.  Dilabra followed me until we reached my room and stopped.  I turned and looked at her.

“I’ll see you next week,” I said, still faking a smile.  

“You don’t want to go out to eat?”  

I shook my head.  “I’m a little tired from today.  Next time, alright?”

Her face dropped and she nodded saddly.  I caressed her cheek and placed a little kiss on her forehead.  “I promise. Goodnight.”

She looked up at me, then wrapped her arms around me.  “Goodnight, Lu. I’ll call you.”

“Okay.”  

Then she left and I closed the door to my room.  Only my manager was in the room.

“Ge,” I called, “did you know Minseok was going to be here?”  

“Yeah.  Where is he by the way?” my manager asked me, looking up from his phone.  

I sat down across from him and leaned back.  “He… ran away.”

“What?  Why?”

“We got into an argument…”  

“Well?  Aren’t you going to go after him?”  

“Why?” I asked with a shrug.

“Because he’s your friend, Luhan," he stated as if I didn't know.  "What if something happens to him? You know he’s not exactly all that fluent in Chinese.”  

“I can’t…  I don’t really want to see him and I don’t think he wants to see me either.”  

My manager didn’t say anything else.  All he did was pack up the rest of his items and tell me that he’d be waiting for me in the car.  I finished gathering my stuff and headed out to the car. I climbed in and without a word we drove off.  

When I got home, I took a shower and laid in bed while looking at my phone.  Minseok leaving in such a way like that had been bothering me. I was ecstatic to see him at first, no doubt, but then things went downhill so fast that I was still processing.  To add to that, Dilabra said that about Minseok earlier. I knew that the media talked, but still, she didn’t have to say it like that.

I picked up my phone and unlocked it.  I tapped on the contacts app and scrolled down to Minseok’s name.  I hovered over the call button for a few minutes before finally clicking it.  The phone rang and rang and rang, but he didn’t pick up. I began to worry. Minseok barely ever had his phone switched off unless he was at his schedule, but I knew for sure right now he didn’t have a schedule to go to.  

I ended up pacing around my room until I received a text.  I jumped and reached for my phone, thinking it was Minseok, but it was only my manager. He sent me my plans for tomorrow and told me the time he would come to pick me up. Then another text came in, but it was from Sehun this time.  He asked me how I was doing and if Minseok was doing okay. I hesitated for a long time because I didn’t know what to do. Minseok was long gone, and I didn’t know where he was staying at- or where he was at the moment, and now I was starting to feel terrible.  

Soon, Sehun called me, probably because I was taking forever to text him back.  

“Hello?” I answered.  

“Luhan hyung?  Are you busy right now?” the younger asked.  

“No, I just finished showering.”  

“Oh… Anyway how are you?”  

“I’m good.  How’s everyone?”  

“They’re doing fine.  Where’s Minseok hyung?”  

“Oh… well…. He’s not here.”  

“What do you mean he's not there? He's not with you right now?”  

I sighed.  “Minseok said that he was going to head back home.”

“Why?  He planned out this trip since a while ago... maybe a couple months or something.”  

“R-really?”  

“Yeah, he was so excited to come and see you.  I wonder why he cut it short… Was he feeling alright?  I mean it might’ve been a little overwhelming for him, y’know?  Since he doesn’t do too well by himself in unfamiliar places.”

How could I forget that? My worries for Minseok grew even larger after remembering that.

“Do you know what hotel he’s staying at?”  

“No, I didn’t ask.”  

“Oh… I have to go, I’ll text you later.”  

“Okay, bye.”  

We hung up and I immediately went to grab a sweater.  Then I left my apartment to go search for Minseok. He probably would’ve stayed at a place near the airport, so I decided to check around there first.  But when I got closer, I realized just how many hotels there were, and if I were to search them all, then I would be there all week.

I continued to keep calling Minseok as I checked some of the bigger hotels that Minseok would most likely stay at.  I had absolutely no luck whatsoever. It was close to 3 am when finally decided to give up. Depressed and tired, I slowly made my way back to my apartment.  As much as I was angry at him, I didn’t want him to disappear. I just really wanted to know if he was safe or not. In the end, he was still and will always be my best friend.

When I got home, I took off my sweater and slid into bed.  I tried going to sleep, but all I could do was toss and turn and think about Minseok.  

MINSEOK-

I ran and ran and ran until my lungs hurt and my legs were numb.  I swear I probably would’ve collapsed if I didn’t force myself to stop and rest.  My heart was beating fast and the tears that had fallen were dried on my cheeks. I was a complete mess.  

It was dark now and there were barely any people out on the streets.  I leaned against a building and felt relieved, but that only lasted for a little while because I looked up and realized I had absolutely no idea where I was.  “Perfect,” I sarcastically muttered to myself.

After resting for a minute, I tried retracing my steps to get back to a main road so that I could get some sort of hint or help to where I was.  

As I was walking back, though, I bumped into this very tall guy.  He was probably even taller than Chanyeol and Kris. I had accidentally knocked his drink out of his hands and spilled it all over him.  I apologized, but he wasn’t having any of it. He kept yelling in Chinese, and usually I’m pretty good at listening and translating it in my head, but this dude was just speaking way too fast and using words I’d never heard of before.  Then without warning he swung his fist at me. He hit me pretty hard and I probably would’ve knocked out, but the panic within me arose when he was about to take another swing at me. That time I was prepared and was able to dodge him and slip away.  I guess he was just too drunk to stop me from getting away so easily, but I was thankful. Then I reached the main street where there were a lot more people, and they were nicer, too, thankfully. I asked many street vendors and other pedestrians for directions and such.  Finally, I was able to make it back to my hotel. I took off my jacket and laid in the hotel bed and stared up at the ceiling.

A sigh escaped my mouth and I rolled over to my side.  When I did that, I ended up groaning in pain and sitting up because there was a sharp pain in my cheek.  I cupped the cheek where the drunken man had punched me and then went to get some ice for it. After icing it for a while, I looked in the mirror and saw how swollen and purple-y it looked.  I didn’t even dare look at my legs. They were probably all scratched up as well, but I was too lazy to even care about it. I let out a loud sigh and went to lay back down in the hotel bed.

Despite all that had happened that night, I couldn’t seem to fall asleep.  I checked the time on the digital clock on the bed side table and it read 2:57 am.  I was surprised that it was already this late. Usually, since we’ve been on a tight schedule lately, I fall asleep very easily, but sleep was just not coming to me.  

It was dead silent and I was bored.  The t.v. was on, but I wasn’t paying any attention to it, besides, it was in a totally different language that I didn’t understand.  All the ice had melted in the bag I had it in, so I went to empty and refill it. When I came back, I took my phone off it’s charger, since it was dead the whole time, and turned it on.  As soon as it was on, it buzzed like crazy because all of my notifications were coming in.

I looked and saw that I had a million missed calls from Luhan and him alone, a couple missed calls and texts from Sehun and the others, and some other notifications from social media.  I hesitated as I stared at Luhan’s name. I wanted so badly to talk to him, but I angry with myself. At first I had blamed him for everything right there and then, but as I spent time alone and really thought about what he said, I knew that it was actually all my fault.  I had no right to be angry at him. Luhan had done nothing wrong. It was me being dramatic. It was me who was jealous and took out my rage on him. It was all me. It was all my fault, yet I tried to blame it all on my best friend. God, I felt so stupid. I shouldn’t have blamed him.  I should have just talked it out like the adult I am, but I just let my childish side take over. Luhan was right. I should be happy for him. What kind of a friend am I to not be happy for him when he found his love. His special person.

Finally, I pressed the call button.  It rang, and rang, and rang, but he didn’t answer.  

Hi everyone!  Thank you for being patient!  I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter!  Oh and Happy 6 Year Anniversary to EXO!  :D

~Angelflyer