You turned off the engine of your car. You looked at your wrist watch and saw that it's exactly 6:32 in the evening. Yeri had said to you that the spa's closing time was exactly 6:30 and Joohyun would sometimes get off work ten minutes after. You had asked Yeri this morning if you could pick Joohyun up from work and the songwriter agreed. Of course you knew the possibility that your soulmate would decline your invitation, just like what she did this morning, but you atleast had to try. You promised Yeri that you would call her if Joohyun refused you though. You really hoped that she would not.

You remembered the phone call you had with Joohyun and you smiled. Joohyun's shy and soft thank you to you might not be a big deal and some would probably say that she was just being polite but for you, it's enough for you to be more determined this time. That simple “thank you” was so much better than the usual cold voice that Joohyun had been using when talking to you ever since you dropped that “I am your soulmate” bomb and you would literally do everything just to hear it once again. Just crumbs, you thought, Just crumbs but I'd take it.

You stayed inside your car for ten minutes before you got out. You adjusted the baseball cap on your head. You walked to the entrance door and upon seeing you, the guard immediately put himself between you and the door. You stopped and bowed at him “Hello. Good evening, sir.”

“Good evening, Miss… Kang Seulgi?” the guard said with a slight surprise in his tone. You suddenly remembered that you did not wear your face mask. The guard looked slightly surprised to see you there but he immediately recovered and smiled formally to you. You that the spa's customers were mostly rich and well known people and the guard was surely used to people like you visiting the establishment everyday, that's why. You felt relieved. 

“I’m sorry, Miss Kang but the spa always closes at 6:30. I'm afraid I cannot grant you entrance,” he said in an apologetic tone.

“Ah, it's okay, mister. My friend works here and I am actually here to pick her up.”

“Is that so?” he tilted his head to the side. “Let me know her name and I'll make one of the guards inside to look for her for you. I have to confirm to her first before I can let you in since it's past the spa's time. That's our protocol, sorry.”

“Oh no! It's okay!” You felt somehow at ease that Joohyun's working environment was safe and had this great security. This was so unlike the other establishments that you'd been to that always gave special treatment to people like you. “I can wait here.”

“Good. What's her name again?”

“It's Joohyun. Bae Joohyun.” Upon hearing the name, the guard visibly stiffened and you frowned. You decided to ignore it and continued speaking. “Her, uh, her sister Yeri said that I could pick her up but,  uhm, Joohyun doesn't know that I'm picking her up. I-It's ah, kind of a surprise so, uhm, just please tell her that I am waiting here.” You bit your lip, remembering the possibility that Joohyun might not let you in. You sighed. Well maybe Joohyun would at least let you see her, right? 

“I'm sorry but I’m afraid that I can't let you in.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“Miss Bae is not here. She went home early.”

“What?” You felt confused. Yeri didn't inform you of Joohyun's change of schedule and that she would pick her up instead. You suddenly felt worried. Did Yeri even pick her up? Surely if she did, she'd inform you, right? What if Joohyun went home alone? Did she even know how to go home alone?

“I-I don't understand. Why did she go home early? Who picked her up? Yeri didn't inform me of such thing. Did she go home alone?”

“Her sister didn't pick her up. Our boss gave her a ride home. Miss Bae was… She's not feeling well. That's why she had to go home early.”

The guard’s statement did not make your worry go away. In fact, it made you worry more. You heard something in his voice. Like he was trying to hold back something. Like he was not telling you the truth. You could already feel that unpleasant tightening of your belly. Something was not right.

“O-Okay. Thank you.” You said. You didn't wait for the guard's reply and immediately turned around, your hand already in your pocket to get your phone. You quickly dialed Yeri's number and started the walk back to your car. You got in and closed the car's door with force. The line kept ringing and you impatiently waited for Yeri to answer it. “Come on, Yeri. Pick up... Pick up...” 

After a couple of rings, you finally heard Yeri's voice. “Seulgi…”

“Yeri! Thank God you answered!” you exclaimed. “Listen. Joohyun is not here and the guard said that she went home early! He said that her boss gave her a ride home 'cause she isn't feeling well. I-Is she already there? Is she okay? H-How is she?”

There was silence after that. You couldn't hear anything from the other line. You were already at the edge of your seat and holding on the stirring wheel tightly. Every passing second that Yeri's silent made your anxiety and dread grow. You kept on telling your brain to stop worrying too much and that you're probably overreacting but you just couldn't. Something inside you was telling you that something happened. You gulped and tried to control the wild beating of your heart.

After a few seconds of silence, Yeri cleared and spoke. “Unnie is here, Seul. She's…. She's resting.”

“Yeri…”

“Can we just… Can we just talk some other time? I-I need to take care of unnie.”

You did not miss the way Yeri's voice cracked like she was about to cry. You closed your eyes and clenched your jaw. If that wasn't indication enough that something bad really happened, then you didn't know what would. You needed to see Joohyun. You needed to know what happened. You needed to know what you could do. You just needed to make sure that Joohyun was really okay because you doubt