Mark has been absentmindedly tapping his fingers on the table in a rhythm only his subconsciousness is aware of. He’s been sitting diligently in their student council office since the bell rang that afternoon for dismissal; as class representative, he has responsibilities and couldn’t rain check on impromptu meetings. He dragged himself to the office with a frustrated sigh.

Almost an hour after, their student council president continued to speak in the front with his array of future school plans, but not a single word registered in Mark’s mind. He’s too preoccupied about being upset, and can’t find it in himself to care about any school activities at the moment despite being usually an active participant on meetings. He feels like there are more important matters that demand discussion, instead of the events and petty school regulations that they keep on refreshing themselves of.

Their president reaches the last page of the papers and skims through the whole thing one last time, checking if he missed any other points. “And… that’s it? Yeah, I guess that’s it!” He beams at everyone, throwing the papers in the air. “Meeting adjourned! Thanks for everyone’s time!”

The rest of the student council members cheer in unison. They start to stand up one by one to prepare to leave when Mark almost shouted, unable to hold himself any longer. "Wait! Um… Are there no updates about… Taeyong?”

Their group falls silent after that, and Mark’s almost pissed that they seem to have forgotten about it already in such a short period of time, as if they won’t remember any of it had it been not brought up. It’s the only thing that matters to Mark currently, the only reason why he still attended the meeting in the first place. “I mean… It’s been two full weeks since the news broke out, and we still have no solid information on the case.”

“Yeah, well, about that…” Their president trails off with a head scratch. “I did ask the principal this morning when he handed me these papers, but he said the police still don’t have any clues of his whereabouts.”

“That’s really odd…” A fellow member says as he shoves his notebook inside his bag. “Just suddenly disappearing like that.”

“As unfortunate as it sounds, I seriously believe that he’s been kidnapped,” their secretary joins in on the conversation. “Knowing Taeyong, he won’t do anything like this at will. He won’t damage his records this badly by missing school for how many days.”

“And the police still can’t contact any relatives?” Mark continues, his curiosity immensely piqued. “I mean, isn’t this too bizarre? How about any CCTV footages? Or clinics or hospitals where he might have been brought to if he got in an accident?!” He clamors, letting his mind speak out. “It’s like they’re not even trying to find him or something. No one can just suddenly… vanish like that.”

“I’m sorry, but I really have no idea Mark,” their president replies in a sympathetic, almost frustrated tone. “Don’t worry though. As soon as I get anything new and verified, I’ll let you know right away. For now, all we can do is hope for the best.”

Mark pouted before heaving a sigh. He didn’t intend to sound like he was lashing out, but his emotions were just too pent up. “Yeah. Thanks for that.”

No one can really blame Mark for being too worried about his senior's safety. After all, it was the Lee Taeyong that went mysteriously missing after a night at cram school.

Everyone adores Taeyong, being the precious golden boy of their school. He aces all of his classes while juggling extra-curricular work as vice president of their student council. He’s popular and kind—all warm smiles and sheepish chuckles. He’s clever and playful—always nice to everyone, always saying what they want to hear. On top of all that, he's got the face of an angel.

In fact, he’s so well-loved by everyone in their school that he’s never been involved in any school fights yet. Considering that they’re in an exclusive school for boys where fist-fights and brawls are the norm, it’s a surprising feat to achieve.

He’s almost perfect—almost too good to be real, and Mark idolizes him to no end ever since their first student council meeting. Mark’s the representative of his class—thanks to his perfectly pristine records back in middle school—and he can’t forget how cool Taeyong was when he gave an assurance to all of the freshmen that he’s always ready to help, that he’s just one call away, that they can always rely on him. Mark’s heart was swelling with both pride and joy back then, thinking about how lucky he was to be in the exact same room as this beautiful human.

Needless to say, it was not only Mark that almost broke down when the police came rushing to the principal's office several days ago to confirm Taeyong's disappearance. An emergency school assembly was held that same day, the police announcing that they needed the cooperation and honesty of everyone for the commencing investigation.

Apparently, the last time he was seen was when he went to a convenience store after a study session in his cram school, at around 10 in the evening. He didn't come home that night nor attended school the next day. His homeroom teacher suspected something was off when his mother couldn’t be contacted either after the 3rd day of being absent.

The entire school has been subjected to further investigation the following days, with a few detectives pulling out people from classes occasionally for an interview. It continued on for roughly three consecutive days, until the police stopped coming all of a sudden and the investigation seemed to have been left in a standstill.

This made a lot of people upset and unsatisfied, but not as much as how Mark was, especially when he believes that he was the last person to see Taeyong before his disappearance. They bumped into each other in the convenience store the same night he was presumptively last seen, initially giving Mark a vital role in the investigation. However, after more than two interrogations, the police was simply unable to find any significant information or connection that may lead them to Taeyong's whereabouts, or how he disappeared in the first place.

Two weeks have passed since that eventful night, and no further news have been made available yet. Mark just can’t handle the suspense anymore, and wants to do something about it—specifically, he wants to know more and ultimately track Taeyong down, wherever he is.

Their president notices the worry painted on Mark’s face and smiles brightly at him, placing an arm around his narrow shoulders to try comforting him. “Everything will be fine in the end. You’ll see.”

Mark—pulled out from his recollection of the previous days—smiles blankly in return, with hundreds of questions still running in his mind that he decided to keep to himself for now, knowing that no one have any answers to them anyway. “Yeah. I guess we’ll see.”

 

—

Mark has always been the curious one, always possessing a natural knack for wanting to know everything and be a part of everything. Some may mistake it for being too prissy or straight-laced, and he often gets into trouble whenever people call him names like being a teacher’s pet or a kiss-. He abhors it—swears that it makes his stomach twist whenever he hear it from people, and always wished that they see him the same way they see Taeyong; just natural and effortless, not forced.

What he lacked in social skills though was compensated by his clean school records, being regarded by the faculty as a worthy and promising student. At least he can boast the fact that he and Taeyong is similar in that aspect; he just need to work more on appealing to a mass of snotty high school students.

Thankfully, his thirst for acceptance and access for confidential matters can be quenched by being a member of the student council, hitting two birds with one stone. And while he may not have the largest circle of friends, he’s lucky enough to have a few genuine ones—one of which also happens to be a son of a police investigator; Na Jaemin.

“Wait, are you hearing yourself right now, Mark Lee?" His friend asks in a suspecting tone. He contacted them to meet him after school for a kind of favor that he knew would be turned down blatantly anyway, but he still gave it a shot and asked Jaemin. "You're asking me to ask my dad confidential stuff about the investigation?!"

Mark smiles at him in an abashed manner, all doe eyes and clasped hands ready to beg. "Na Jaemin, please, you're the only one I can count on. It can even help with the investigation! I mean, the police even said that we can go to them if we have anything we think can help, right? Well, how can we start about getting information if we don't know where to start?"

"Oh my God," Jaemin mutters under his breath, lowering his head in disbelief. "So you're actually serious. I can't believe this."

Mark just chuckles sheepishly. Their other friend—Jeno—is too busy sipping his blueberry slurpee to bother joining in on their conversation. They’re in the local convenience store where he bumped into Taeyong before his disappearance, insisting for his two friends to join him there.

"Look, even if I try to ask my dad, I'll just be shot down," his friend tries to reason out. "He's not stupid. We're schoolmates with the missing person. Do you think he'll just casually let me in on what’s going on in their team?"

"But I'm not asking you to be completely involved and know everything! Just a tiny little detail that can jumpstart my own investigation!" Mark explains enthusiastically, his voice a bit pitched than normal. "It's for the greater good, Jaemin. Just... I don't know, ask him if he can let you poke your nose a little on the business?"

"Wait, your dad mentioned something about this man they went to for an interrogation, right?" Jeno finally made his presence known, asking Jaemin suddenly. "Remember? He even asked us if—"

"Jeno! Shut up!" Jaemin cuts him off in a panicky tone.

But it’s too late. Mark’s already staring at the two of them with squinting eyes.

"No. Look, it's nothing important, alright?" Jaemin tries to defend himself while shooting daggers at a clueless Jeno beside him.

"I think it is very much important, yes," Mark says in a playful tone. "C’mon Nana, spill it."

"No," Jaemin replies almost instantly. "Curiosity killed the cat, Mark Lee. That phrase was invented for you. Keep that in mind.”

"You can't get killed over a tiny bit of information though," Mark dodges his friend's protests. “I’m not gonna overstep on territories I'm not bound to be a part of, okay? I’ll just stay on the other side of the fences, peeking. Just help me out here, please?”

Jaemin remained silent for a while as he stared deep into Mark's huge eyes. Immediately figuring out that he won’t be left alone in peace until he gives in, he eventually sighs and averts his squinted gaze to his best friend Jeno instead, who is still sitting beside him innocently. "I'm gonna kill you, I swear."

Jeno freezes on his spot but didn't say a thing.

"Okay. I guess this is safe to disclose because my dad even asked me and this stupid puppy over here about it," he casually says while pointing an accusing finger at Jeno's side, who is back to sipping his slurpee again like normal. "My dad asked us if we know anything about Taeyong going to a neurologist."

"Neurologist?" Mark repeats the word, sounding too foreign in his ears. He furrows his eyebrows as he tries to recall their few brief exchanges at school. "I... can’t say it was brought up during our small conversations?" He says dubiously. "He often miss a few meetings in student council though because he goes to his dentist."

Jaemin's face lit up with that. "Dentist, huh?"

Mark’s the next to have a light switch moment, a sudden flash of clarity in his eager mind. "...You think he's actually going to a neurologist all those times?"

"He could be," Jaemin replies casually. He switched back to his usual cool persona instantly, as if he just didn't get excited a while ago. "Maybe he's getting checkups?"

"A neurologist treats disorders that affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerves,” Jeno suddenly butts in, holding his phone a few inches away from his face as he reads his Google search result. "…such as: Cerebrovascular disease, or . Demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis…” He trails off before grunting. “Ugh, I don't understand any of these.”

"So it's not a mental sickness," Mark concludes while slowly scratching his chin. "He should've gone to a psychiatrist or psychologist if that's the case."

"Yes," Jaemin adds. "Maybe he has some complication or disorder in the spine or something. Never saw him doing much athletic stuff before."

"Yeah..." Mark responds absentmindedly, his mind wildly formulating new possibilities and scenarios again. "I guess there's only one way to find out."

Jaemin rolls his eyes and exhales deeply. "Stop it. You promised me you won't get into this too deeply."

"But your dad may need the answer too!" Mark tries to justify, panicking and waving his hands around furiously. "He asked the two of you so it shouldn’t be too confidential, right? Any new information or feedback related to the case is important, right?"

"He has a point, you know," Jeno agrees, his words directed at Jaemin. "It could further help the progress of the investigation if we find out what sickness he has."

"Don't you two think that the police must've interrogated this man already?" Jaemin objects in a frustrated tone. "It won't do any good to visit his clinic in the Coex Mall anymore! They've already been there today!"

His two friends fell silent after that, and Mark stares at Jaemin with widened eyes. The latter just buries his face in his hands and sighs in defeat.

 

—

The next day at school, Mark can’t contain his excitement and almost jumps out of his seat when the afternoon bell goes off for dismissal. He couldn’t focus on anything else during his classes, but figures that he can still survive the school year with flying colors as long as he do well on his tests. He knows he can catch up on the studying later, when the whole Lee-Taeyong-is-missing fiasco is over.

Getting the rest of the information from Jaemin about the neurologist turned out to be a piece of cake after that one slip. His friend seemed to have given up and succumbed to his incessant pestering the night before, yet Mark can’t shake off the feeling that he didn’t tell him everything he knows—either that or Jaemin just simply have no further idea about the case. While his friend did confirm the location of the clinic that Taeyong used to visit, Mark’s gut feeling still tells him that there’s more to it than just that—that Taeyong might be in a deeper trouble than what the surface may have looked like.

Whether the police knows more about it or not is something he can’t confirm though, and he knows he only has one option available at the moment.

He runs to the nearest bus stop as vigorously as his legs would permit, and gets on the bus heading to Cheongdam.

He’s also alone; his two other friends refusing to join him on a mission they believe would be fruitless anyway. Jaemin tried to discourage Mark on going to the clinic as hard as how Mark tried to convince them to join him, but no one emerged victorious in the end. Mark’s determination can’t be swayed, and Jaemin’s willpower was strong enough to keep on declining his request.

The mall isn’t too far and the bus ride shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes tops, so Mark didn’t waste any time rehearsing how he will ask the doctor about Taeyong’s health. He formulated a few questions during class, tried to play around with the tone of his voice to see which sounded more professional, and even considered dropping by a shop for a quick change of clothes. Ultimately, he decided to show up in his school uniform to show the doctor that he is truly a schoolmate of Taeyong, that he can be trusted.

He goes off the bus as soon as it stopped on the station nearest to the mall, and Mark started sprinting across the sidewalk, not minding his heavy shoulder bag swinging from side to side as he runs. He eventually arrives in the entrance while panting and breaking out in sweat.

“Hello,” he greets as politely as possible to the guards in the entrance, who are all staring at him with furrowed eyebrows.

He walks through the glass doors quickly and headed straight to the electronic directory panel, tapping on the ‘Clinics and Healthcare’ category to search for the neurologist’s office.

A few more taps after and the clinic shows up on the results; 4th floor, right wing. Mark started walking as hastily as possible without looking suspicious.

He should look for a Choi Siwon, according to his friend. How Jaemin got the name was beyond Mark’s comprehension, and he hopes that he didn’t just invent a random name on the spot to shove him off. He figures that Jaemin’s father may ask students if they know anything about Taeyong going to doctors, but will actually avoid name drops as much as possible; that small detail can cause trouble if publicized. Perhaps Jaemin was secretly curious too and asked his dad, or maybe it’s his father’s plan all along to spread the doctor’s name and entice more people into the case—Mark can only guess at this point.

He reaches the place eventually and was greeted by the receptionist, followed by a query if he came with a scheduled appointment. Mark answers that he was unable to schedule one but would like to see Dr. Choi Siwon specifically for a consultation. The receptionist then asks if he has his health card with him, and Mark confirms that he does and that he’s a registered dependent of his father’s healthcare account. He hands her his card and was asked to take a seat in the lobby for the meantime. Mark thanks her with a bow and gives himself an internal pat on the back for successfully delivering his practiced lines.

Soon after, the receptionist comes back to him with a confirmation that Dr. Choi is all set to receive patients. Mark thanks her again and follows her lead.

He’s starting to get nervous as they walk, his palms sweaty and his heartbeat erratic. He was escorted by the receptionist until they reach a white door across the other side of the corridor, with the doctor’s name plated on a small, glossy steel.

The receptionist knocks on the door and waited for a few seconds before opening it, revealing a man clad in white coat sitting in a clean desk. He looks younger than how Mark perceived him in his mind, with his hair even styled in a slick suave. He looks tall too, considering how wide his shoulders are.

“Here’s the highschooler looking for you, Dr. Choi,” the receptionist says politely, the corner of her lips forming a little smile.

“Yes, please come in,” the man replies, his voice deep and intimidating.

Mark gulps hard before entering. The receptionist bows to the two of them before shutting the door close, leaving him alone with the doctor.

“Please have a seat,” Dr. Choi suggests with a smile, but it didn’t help with lightening the mood at all. He looks too sharp and professional in Mark’s eyes. “How can I help you?”

Mark sits himself on the right chair and smiles at the man, trying to summon enough confidence to not stutter. “Hi, I’m Mark Lee. N-Nice to meet you,” he says as he extended a hand to the other.

The doctor tames it and they shake hands slowly. The man’s hand is heavy against Mark’s grip; the expensive gold watch adorning his wrist seems to be adding weight to it.

After the terribly awkward handshake, Mark starts to get down on his business. “So, um, I’m a friend of Taeyong’s, and—”

“Ahh yes, a friend,” Dr. Choi cut his sentence off, crossing his arms in front of him. He looks amused. “I can tell with the uniform. You go to the same school?”

“Oh, y-yes,” Mark replies with an embarrassed smile, glancing down on his polo shirt. It’s a perfect idea to show up in his uniforms, he thought. “Anyway, um, I’d just like to—”

“That’s a bit odd,” the man cuts him off again, his voice seems to sound even more amused. “Taeyong never brought me a schoolmate before. How old are you, Mark Lee?”

Mark is starting to get confused, but tries to play along. He chuckled a bit before replying. “F-Fifteen, sir,” he said.

“Figures,” the doctor says blankly, as if he’s expecting that answer. “So…” he continues, extending an open hand to Mark, “…where is it?”

Mark is taken aback, unable to reply right away as his thoughts clash against one another. He can’t decide what answer to give. “U-Um… Where’s the what?”

The expression on Choi Siwon’s face quickly shifted after that, furrowing his eyebrows and squinting at Mark with eagle eyes. “…I’m sorry. What’re you here for again?”

Mark gulps hard again. He definitely didn’t rehearse this scenario a while ago in the bus. “Um, I-I’m here to ask Lee Taeyong’s health state? Any information about his sickness or… his medical records, maybe?”

“And who are you to Taeyong again?” The doctor asks, seemingly vexed. The amusement in his voice is gone, replaced by annoyance.

“Um, a friend?”

Dr. Choi seemed to snap after that and almost slams his fist on the table in front of them. “Please leave.”

“What? No, I—”

“If… If you’re not here for a personal consultation, please leave. We don’t disclose the information of our patients.” He firmly says.

But Mark can’t contain his curiosity again. He’s also slightly agitated, giving his confidence a little boost to resist. “No, I can’t. I-I need to understand what’s wrong with him. Please.”

“Look, kiddo,” the doctor replies in a low and threatening voice. “That’s not for you to know. I have patients waiting for me outside. Please step out while I’m still giving you a chance.”

Mark’s on the verge of lashing out again but he controls himself, clenching both of his hands into fists on his lap. “Dr. Choi, I don’t know if you’re aware, but Lee Taeyong is missing. We need any help that we can get to search for him.”

“Stop playing detective, kiddo,” the other says condescendingly in the same sharp and low voice. His expression is unreadable when he looks at him in the eyes. “I’m calling security if you waste any more of my time.”

Mark comes back to his senses at the sound of the word ‘security’, eyes widened and mouth slightly agape. “A-Alright, I’m leaving,” he says in almost a whisper. He suddenly realized that he can’t afford to get his school record tainted with misconduct and calmed down instantly. “I-I’m sorry. Please forget that I ever came here.”

Mr. Choi’s expression is still unreadable, staring at him coldly as if waiting for him to finally take his leave.

Mark bites his lower lip, staring down on his shoes, ashamed. When the agitation wore off, fear and intimidation emerged after. His knees are starting to shake when he stood up. He muttered another apology before bowing quickly and turning around to leave for the door.

He hurries to the receptionist as rapidly as possible and asks for his health card back. As soon as it was handed back to him, he sprints out of the clinic and stole one last glance behind him—the receptionist staring back at him with a confused expression—before he runs to the nearest elevator.

He was panting and sweating when he entered the elevator, and sighed in relief when the door closes. He wants to be out of that building as soon as possible, as far away from Choi Siwon as possible.

A sudden vibrations comes from his pocket and he reaches for his phone; it’s an incoming call from Jaemin. He taps the answer button with shaking hands. “Heya! How’s our lil detective Conan?”

Mark—still panting—exhaled deeply before answering: “…Damn. You’re right. Curiosity really does kill cats," he said in between short breaths. "Good thing they have nine lives.”