T H R E E
ClausuraT H R E E
She only ever met eyes with one boy from her dorm. This morning, she tried to not be withdrawn – to hide inside her cocoon anymore – and gathered the courage to talk to whoever it was standing outside her room for so long. The moment she heard scurried footsteps as soon as she opened her door, unusual voices started whispering to her. He ran away from you. He hates you for sure. , who would want to be friends with you. The voices went on, never stopping for a minute to let her breathe. It’s that time of the month again. Byul joked to herself, trying so hard to ignore the unwonted noises inside her head. She wore her headphones, blasting any type of music – ranging from the classics to edms – but none succeeded in drowning the voices.
“Thank you for waiting! Here’s your order.” The waitress addressed her sweetly with top class customer service but the voices in her head ruined it all. She probably thinks you’re a piece of . Don’t flatter yourself, people wouldn’t be this nice to you for no reason. Don’t eat that food, it’s poisoned I’m positive. She took her order, fighting with those voices to find a decent seat and have a nice breakfast. She dumped all the food inside the bin instead.
She walked out of the chain restaurant, feeling so disappointed with herself. How could she let the voices win against her? She must never have succumbed to those voices. Nanna isn’t here to anchor you to reality, honey. She recomposed herself and finally regained some control over her emotions. She took another chance to have a normal day and entered a convenience store. She slipped her hand inside the pocket of her black bomber jacket, rummaging for her wallet. Her stomach was begging for some food and she was not letting another episode affects her so badly. Sliding 2,000 won on the counter, she chose her old favourite – hot bar as her snack. She asked the cashier to help her reheat the hot bar without letting the hindrance in her head stop her. This is a good start. Let’s keep it that way.
∞
“Ah, I want to eat hot bar right now!” Haechan insisted, clinging onto Mark’s arm like a koala and swaying them like a child. Not letting go until he got what he wanted. “Hot bar hot bar hot bar hot bar.” He kept on saying hot bar with the intention to annoy Mark until he surrenders. Nothing will get in the way between him and hot bars, not even Mark. Even if Mark had come all the way to school just to pick him up and spend the evening with him, he would still whine for hot bars.
“Fine! Okay, fine. Let’s go eat hot bars. Then afterwards we’ll go to Hideout, okay Jisung?” Mark patted Jisung’s head gently, feeling sorry the younger one had to give in to one of his selfish hyung’s request. Jisung nodded, liking the idea of stopping by the convenience store first. He was kind of hungry too. Hideout can wait, food first! Hideout was their hotspot go-to after school – an internet café that could cater more than 50 people at a time with all state-of-the-art gaming gadgets and an unlimited high-speed internet. Sadly, to keep the surroundings neat and tidy, the café didn’t sell any food or beverages, nor did it allow outside food to be brought in. Rather than feeling hungry and stopping his game to eat later, better to eat now. Wait for me Hanzo!
It was only the three of them today because Renjun, – avoided internet cafes like the plague – Chenle, – probably running home to play with Lucas – Jaemin and Jeno – they always disappear – didn’t want to join them. Haechan was already gone the moment Mark said okay and went searching for his ultimate favourite hot bar. He stood by the counter, not paying just yet so he could convince Mark to pay for him. Alone and not talking for once, his sense of hearing picked up bits and pieces of gossips from the on-duty cashiers.
“What should I do, man.” An older looking guy voiced out with concern. “The guy left his wallet here after freaking out like that. Should I just leave it at the police station?”
“Freaking out? So suddenly?”
“Yeah, man. The dude asked me to reheat his hot bar and I did. That time he looked normal, unbothered and… Kinda cool.” The guy joked, “I bet girls flocked all over him.”
“How cool are we talking about?” His friend joined in, “Check his ID. I need to see how handsome he is.” The guy opened the abandoned wallet, pulling out the ID to have a clearer view of it. “Damn the girl is kinda cute, man. I bet she’s his girlfriend.”
“Let me see them.” The ID card exchanged hands and Haechan was able to get a glimpse of the girl. Where have I seen her before. “Dude! She’s my type. Exactly my type. Isn’t there any phone numbers he left behind, if I’m lucky, it may be the girl’s phone number?” He slid the ID on the counter in front of Haechan. He eyed the ID card intently, focusing on her features. Staring and remembering very hard where he had seen her. All his attention was directed towards the ID card that he almost jumped when Mark patted him on the shoulder.
“You good, man? Let’s go. I paid for them already and asked them to reheat it for you.” Mark said as he handed over the hot bar to Haechan. Jisung was already eating his snack and made his way out to Hideout.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Haechan took his hot bar and exited the convenience store with a restless mind. She looks so familiar. Unable to get the girl out of his head, he took out his phone and dialled his grandmother’s number. “Granny! How are you? Are you fine?” He paused, waiting for the elderly to reply. “Have you eaten?” He paused again. “You should eat, you know. You’re not getting any younger.” A chuckle could be heard from the other line. “Granny, I want to ask something. Does Gong Yoo hyung has a sister?” He paused, “Yeah, thanks granny. I’ll come for dinner next weekend, okay?” As soon as the phone call ended, he sprinted back to the convenience store.
“Hey Haechan. Where are you going?” Mark yelled but Haechan was already gone. “I guess… See you home then?” Mark scratched the back of his head, confused with Haechan’s recent actions. He did call granny before he left. Maybe granny sent him on an errand, but he could have told me right away. Don’t need to be Usain Bolt about it. Something else is up.
“Mark hyung, are you okay? Is there something wrong? Where’s Haecahan hyung?” Hideout was just a footstep away and honestly Jisung was so eager to get in and start his online games.
“Nah, it’s nothing. He had some errand to run. Let’s go inside.” Seeing Jisung’s eagerness showing all over his face, Mark didn’t have the heart to call off their plan just for Haechan. He could hear Jisung muttered ‘but Haechan hyung is better at games’ but decided to ignore his statement. I’m good at games too, okay! Though he said that with much determination, they haven’t won one single game at all. Forget winning, he couldn’t even manoeuvre his own character.
“Umm, hyung. Why don’t we take 5?” Jisung suggested as he reached out for his phone. The lock screen lit up and it turns out they had been playing games for 3 hours now. He tapped on KakaoTalk and scrolled through hundreds of notifications. He tapped on a group chat named ‘Dreamies’ and began typing.
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Haechan hyung whr r u :’( Hyung #13 Mark hyung is rlly bad at games pls hlp me Hyung #17 Hyung #7 Hyung #17 Hyung #16 Oh no… Hyung #14 Hyung #12 Ah hyung… It’s not like that… Hyung #15 Ah, Haechan hyung? Hyung #12 Hyung #15 Hyung #17 Hyung #7 Hyung #17 Hyung #13 Hyung #14 Hyung #16 Hyung #15 Hyung #7 Yeah, the police… Hyung #15 Hyung #12 Hyung #15 Hyung #13 |
∞
Haechan locked his phone and got down from the balustrade of Byul’s veranda. He had been sitting there all this time, waiting for Byul to come back. She never did. He got more worried when he remembered the conversation he heard back at the convenience store. The fact that she freaked and ran out, leaving behind her wallet was worrisome and not getting back to her room afterwards was more alarming. The whole month he had known her, she would always be in her room. He made his way to dorm 127 when he heard someone calling for him.
“Haechan! What exactly happened?!” Ten came running to him from dorm Dream, drenched in sweat. Haechan wanted to ask him why was he drenched but he reckoned there were more important issues to address.
“I don’t know… I was just getting hot bars when I heard people talking… I’m sorry I’ll brief on the matter later, okay hyung? I need to meet the dorm owner.”
“But she went out of town, did you forget? Taeyong accompanied her too so the who’s responsible is me now. Brief. Now.”
Damn it. Haechan muttered under his breath. He forgot about the fact that the dorm owner and Taeyong wasn’t here. He only had Ten to rely on now. “I was hungry, so we stopped by a convenience store when I heard the workers there talked about some… guy freaking out and running off, leaving behind her, I mean, his wallet. I looked at the ID and can confirm it is the new manager’s ID.” Ever since he found out Gong Yoo wasn’t Gong Yoo at all and her real name is Lee Byul, Haechan didn’t know what he should address her to other people. There must be a reason, right? Why she’s hiding her real identity?
“His wallet?! Have you checked the address? Maybe she went back home?” Ten suggested, using all the possibilities of them finding the new manager back. Turns out Haechan didn’t. Blaming himself to not think of that in the first place, he took out Byul’s ID and started typing her address in the group chat.
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You shared a location Nana Thanks man |
∞
“Jeno, let’s go.” Jaemin slipped his phone inside his pocket and left the humdrum blind date they were at. It was not like Jaemin wanted to go. He and Jeno were dragged by the stampede of girls, forcing them to spend time together. Being the lady’s man, he hadn’t had the heart to reject the girls.
“Jaemin… Jeno… Where are you going? We haven’t had dinner together yet.” The girls whined, clinging onto their arms and not letting them go anywhere.
“Please accept my sincere apology, ladies. It is fun being with all of you, but something happened and, with a heavy heart, we have to leave soon.” Smooth man, Jeno monologued, giving Jaemin an inner thumbs-up.
“What happened? Is everything okay? Can we help?” The girls were concerned, enthusiastically trying to help.
“Please don’t worry about it. It breaks my heart knowing I’ve cause you all so much distressed. Continue on having fun, that will really help me out.” Jaemin’s sweet words resonated through the girls’ ears, making their heart pound harder than ever. The girls agreed and Jaemin and Jeno slipped out of their claws with little to none resistance. Though he had been with Jaemin his whole life, Jaemin’s flirtatious behaviour – or as Jaemin declared it as being a gentleman – still put Jeno at awe.
They jogged to the location Haechan sent earlier, half worried half anticipating at what may be waiting for them. They arrived at, what it looked like, an empty house. The eerie air around the house sent shivers down their spine and the lack of information from Haechan about this whole situation didn’t help at all. All they know was a new manager they never knew and met went missing and probably is hiding in this empty house. Sounds normal? They think not.
“Jaemin.”
“Hmm?” Jaemin hummed but got no response from Jeno. “I don’t mind holding hands, you know.” Jaemin attempted to light up the mood, and getting a response from Jeno, worked when the other guy made a slightly disgusted face to him. The both of them pushed open the gate. The eerie squeaks of the gate sent another wave of shivers, heightening their sense of sight just in case there was something unwanted ready to scare them in the courtyard. It had been such a long time since they’ve been inside Hanok – a traditional Korean house – and they knew better there were a lot of rooms to hide in there. They saw a black combat boots outside one of the rooms and decided to start looking for this new manager there.
The door slid open, revealing a room void of presence. The room was filled with framed photographs radiating happiness and love of an old woman with a girl. The old woman looked at the girl with her brightest smile as if she was her world. Captivated, Jaemin stared at the frame intently for a few moments before he heard sniffling sounds and whispers. It was either Jeno being too scared or there was another being inside this house with them. He couldn’t find Jeno anywhere in the immediate vicinity and that conclude his other hypothesis – someone was in there with them. He searched for the sounds, almost tiptoeing as he carefully approached another wooden sliding door. He cupped his ears, focusing on what might those sounds be. He gathered his courage and slid open the doors, bracing himself for what was behind them. A short-haired female, cowering and shivering with fear in that small space. What happened to you? Jaemin thought to himself as he crouched down and gently tapped on the girl’s arm. She was shaking so violently that it broke Jaemin’s heart knowing one knows fear so great like this.
“Hey butterfly, hey butterfly,
Come fly over here,
Yellow butterfly, white butterfly,
Dance while you come,
In the spring wind the flower petals as well,
Smilling, smilling while laughing,
The sparrows also chirp chirp chirp,
Singing as they dance.”
Jaemin lulled her, wishing to take her fears away – whatever they might be. The lullaby seemed to have some affect on her as he noticed the violent shaking died down.
“Hey butterfly, hey butterfly,
Come fly over here.”
He approached her slowly as to not frighten her.
“Yellow butterfly, black butterfly,
Dance while you come.”
He tried to play on current situation – he was asking the girl cladded in black to come near him.
“Dance while you come.”
“Nanna?” The girl lifted her head slightly, the most bloodshot eyes he had ever seen. The girl must had been crying for hours, cowering by herself in fear all alone. Well, not anymore. Jaemin took hold of the girl’s hand, rubbing them with his thumb in attempt to soothe her.
“Yeah, I’m here.” Whoever Nanna was, he had to pretend to be her this once. Technically, he was Nana too. “Come her-” He hadn’t got the chance to finish what he said before the girl locked him in an embrace. The force was too much, sending Jaemin to lie on his back. Violent crying filled the room as she held Jaemin like her life depended on it. Slurred words and rivers of tears escaped Byul. She looked so pitiful Jaemin couldn’t help but to return the hug and her hair to calm her down.
The sudden cry alerted Jeno and he rushed towards to source of the sound. He saw Jaemin, lying on his back, and a female in his embrace. “You okay?” Jeno asked, worried his friend might be injured. Jaemin gave an okay sign, asking Jeno to tell Haechan the new manager is safe.
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Jaemin Haechan Found the manager! |
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