Where is this place?

Nayeon looked around her, squinting a little in this brightness. The surroundings started to become clearer and Nayeon realized that she’s on a rooftop, to be exact, the rooftop of their university campus where they used to always hang out. But what really got her attention was the fact that he was there, right in front of her, standing on the edge of the rooftop.

“Jinyoung?” She whispered quietly, taking small steps towards him. “Is that you?”

Jinyoung said nothing; he turned to Nayeon and gave her a small smile. It was a smile all too familiar for her; it’s that smile, the one that warms her heart every single time. It’s that smile which she always loved seeing.

Nayeon stepped forward again then paused in her tracks when she’s right in front of him. She raised her hand, trying to reach out for him. But he turned away after he gave her a small smile. And before Nayeon could even react, Jinyoung fell from the roof.

“Jinyoung!”

“Any news?” Jaebum looked around the neighbourhood while staying on the phone. “Where in the world did this girl go?”

“No one told me anything yet. Neither did Ayeon say anything on her side.”

“Alright, tell me when there’s any update.”

He hanged up and paused in his tracks, closing his eyes in frustration as he tried to keep himself cool. Jinyoung, why did you have to leave? Can’t you see how messy everyone is right now? Jaebum sighed, shaking his head and started moving again. He needed to stay focus; the most important thing right now is to find Nayeon.

It was in the afternoon, near the evening when they’ve received the message from Ayeon about an hour ago; everyone dropped whatever they’re doing and rushed back home. Mark had almost gotten into a fight with his boss since they were in the middle of a meeting. Bambam had just rushed out of the lecture hall, not even looking back when the lecturer called out for his name.

It was one whole mess.

“I’ve gone out to find her but there was nothing. Not even her shadow.” Ayeon spoke frantically, her hands gripping onto Younghyun’s arm. “What am I supposed to do? I shouldn’t have look away.”

“Damn right, you shouldn’t have.” Mark’s cold voice attracted everyone’s attention. Jaebum threw him a glare while Jeongyeon elbowed his stomach, both indicating for him to shut up. However, neither Ayeon nor Younghyun got offended by Mark’s words; it was pretty much a natural reaction oh his when it comes to Nayeon.

“We will look for her and we will find her.” Younghyun assured his fiancée with a firm tone. “Stay here, just in case she comes back.”

Ayeon nodded and slowly let go of Younghyun’s arms. The other three were already at the door after what Younghyun had said and before Jaebum left too, he looked back at Younghyun and Ayeon.

“We will call you if there’s any update.” Jaebum stated with a nod and a soft smile, “Also ignore what Mark had said, it’s not your fault.”

-

Stopping in his tracks, Bambam took a deep breath in and looked around him.

Think Bambam, think!

He closed his eyes briefly; there’s totally no point running about blindly. There must be at least a place where Nayeon liked to go when she’s upset. There must be a place where it’s special to her. Just where is it?

He’d always taken the people around him for granted; he thought they would always be here. If only, if only he had paid a little more attention to them and not taken advantage of the fact that he’s the youngest. Maybe he would be able to figure out where Nayeon had gone. It pained him to see her – one of his favourite person in the world – being like this. If there were anything to wish for, he would probably wish for Jinyoung’s return.

But that’s impossible.

Bambam sighed and knocked himself on the head with his knuckles. He could only do it the hard way, which is to run about blindly and hopefully he would be as lucky as before.

-

Younghyun ran to the playground Nayeon used to play at with Jinyoung and Mark. It’s always been a special place for her. So hopefully, he would be able to find her there. However, what greeted him was just an empty playground.

No one’s there.

“Damn it!” Younghyun cursed, kicking on the metal pole and messed up his hair with his hand. It’s been almost a month and this isn’t the first time Nayeon had gone missing but she would usually be at this playground or just sitting nearby. This was the first time she literally went missing; thankfully it wasn’t raining like that night. But it was still cold since they’re in the midst of the autumn season.

His worries grew slowly as the time ticked by; knowing how Nayeon hadn’t been eating or sleeping properly, would she be able to withstand this cold. Right now, he could only hope that she had at least brought a jacket out.

“Nayeon, you stupid girl.” Younghyun muttered under his breath before he started his search again.

-

“Yah Nayeon!” Jeongyeon shouted against the wind; the road was pretty empty since everyone’s probably still at work during this time. There were a few middle aged ladies who looked at her like she was crazy but honestly, Jeongyeon couldn’t be bothered about that as she continued to shout for Nayeon.

“Nayeon, this is not funny. Come out now.” Jeongyeon shouted again. She’s panicking despite the little humour in her tone. Nayeon and her had used to hide from each other to scare the other when they were in their schooling days, whether it’s during high school or their university days. They had thought it would be fun; Jeongyeon was the one who started this since it’s fun to see Nayeon’s reaction when she jumped out from nowhere.

And somehow it became something special between them.

However, right at that moment, Jeongyeon wished that she had never started this game. Although it seemed highly impossible that Nayeon was doing this to scare her, Jeongyeon still wished that they’d started it. What if this time, she’s not able to find Nayeon like how she used to? What if she’s going to lose another best friend of hers?

What if…

What if Jinyoung had stayed with them?

-

Mark had been the first to run out of the house after that short discussion. He knew he had gone a little too far for using that blaming tone on Ayeon. But he couldn’t help but to be mad at her. Nayeon wasn’t really in the right state to be wandering about like this. That was the whole point of them taking shifts to watch her and now that she’s gone missing, Mark just had to let his frustration out.

He had gone home to grab his long forgotten skateboard just so he could move about faster. However, it’s not like it’s of any help since he’s just searching aimlessly; he had come across with some of the others but neither of them had any clue.

That girl, is she still around here.

Mark stepped off from his skateboard, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself. It’s definitely not the time to let his annoyance take over him. Ayeon did mention that she had no idea when Nayeon ran out and the last time she saw her in her room was about half an hour before she called them. So, if Nayeon had gone out within that period, she probably could have gone further away.

Mark opened his eyes.

There were only that few places around here which were special to both Jinyoung and Nayeon. Younghyun had informed that the playground they used to play at was empty. So that’s left with two more places – their high school and the university they’ve attended together.

Being both their best friends, he knew almost all the details of their relationship timeline. Jinyoung had confessed to her during high school at the playground and he also knew that both of them used to skip some lectures together and they would always meet on the rooftop during their university years…

Holy bucket of ice. Damn it.

The frown on Mark’s face deepened as he placed his skateboard down again, heading towards the direction of their campus. Please let him be on time; and please Nayeon, do not do anything stupid.

-

The campus was filled with students walking about. Nayeon looked around, a soft sad smile forming on her lips as memories of them filled her mind. She saw shadows of them at the different locations of the campus but she knew, there was only once place she needed to head to.

Maybe, she would see him there.

Maybe, she would then wake up from this nightmare.

She dragged her feet up the staircase among the students; a blank expression plastered on her face. This felt familiar, she would always do this just so she could meet him there. Would it be the same this time too? It would be, she assured herself. After all, Jinyoung had hinted her in her dreams that he would be there. She needed to be there before Jinyoung fell.

With that thought, Nayeon fastened her pace and pushed open the door with slight force.

“Jinyoung?”

She stood there as the wind blew against her cruelly; it was almost like it’s mocking her. The roof was empty; there was no one there. Jinyoung was definitely not there. Disappointed and pain filled Nayeon’s heart. Why did he have to lie again? He said he would protect her and she saw him earlier. So why were those never fulfilled?

Tears welled up in Nayeon’s eyes again while she dragged her feet onto the rooftop, walking to the edge of it and stared down. Jinyoung fell off from here. Would she be able to see him again if she followed whatever happened in her dreams?

Jinyoung…

She let a tear fell as she closed her eyes, remembering Jinyoung’s smile. She stepped forward again; just another step and she would be able to see him. It’s just one step, why can’t she do it? Why-

“STUPID GIRL!”

Nayeon opened her eyes at the voice and before she could even react to anything, she felt someone pulling her down then her body wrapped between two strong arms. The next thing she knew, their bodies hit on the cold ground hard.

“What the hell are you even thinking?!”

Nayeon opened her eyes again and saw Mark’s worried and anxious face. She bowed her head lower to avoid his eyes but he made her look at him again. She closed her eyes, hoping that he wouldn’t see her tears.

“Nayeon, what are you-“

“I couldn’t do it.” Nayeon mumbled, cutting Mark off mid sentence who seemed a little taken aback at what she said.

“What do you mean?” His voice softened down, his gazed fixed on Nayeon.

“I couldn’t,” Nayeon choked on her tears and finally looked up at Mark. “I saw him fell from a roof in my dreams. I wanted to join him but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t take that one last step…”

Nayeon stopped for a moment as her tears fell uncontrollably, her sobs getting louder. Mark sighed inwardly at how the girl was acting in front of her.

“Nayeon…”

“Why can’t I do it? It was just one step!” Nayeon cried hysterically, leaning her head against Mark’s chest for support. “I would be able to see him again if I did it. Why can’t I bring myself to?”

“You’ve done well.” Mark whispered and frowned as he hugged her head close to his body, letting Nayeon cry against him. Just how many times must he watch her crying like that? Just how much more time until they could see her smile again?

----------

I was re-reading the first few chapters and thought that maybe chapter 3 and 4 will be better if they're combined into one chapter. But oh well, let's just stick to this first. I do feel that the introductory part is going a little bit too slow. Which is why I will say that this chapter and the next will probably be progressing to the main content aka Jinyoung will appear soon. Like really soon. And that's probably when the characters will start showing some proper personality, I hope? Since I don't think you guys would able to choose a favourite character right now. And by that, I meant throwing all biases aside. 

I kind of went out of topic. But yeah, I'm getting a little stuck here because I feel like I'm not expressing Nayeon's emotion well. I don't know. That's why, feedbacks will be helpful. I would like to hear about any part you think is going weird or you just don't feel it. Since I believe I would be doing a whole re-writing after I finish the whole story. Re-writing as in major edit. 

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the update! There's more story in this chapter. :)

signing off, leen

p.s. I'm sorry for being slightly inactive, been busy lately and still will be for the next few weeks. However, this story will still be ongoing. Might consider slower updates for Friends of 2010 tho.