WEDNESDAY

7:28 A.M

Sehun jolts awake to a loud ringing noise. The first thing he registers is a dull pounding at the back of his head, which he manages to shove aside as he reaches for his phone. 

Not even bothering to check the caller ID, Sehun just hopes that it isn’t Luhan asking to pick him up some bubble tea for breakfast as he mutters a low greeting. The static on the other side only adds to his headache, and it takes Sehun every ounce of energy to drag himself out of bed when he realizes that he’s got two minutes until he’s supposed to get up.

”Are you…are you still angry?” a quiet voice asks after nearly a full minute of silence. 

Sehun has to smack his lips together when he realizes that his tongue is as dry as sandpaper. It takes him a moment to process what he’s hearing. ”Why would I be angry?” He mutters, mostly to himself, as his eyes trail across the dark bedroom.

”Because I was rude to you yesterday,” Jungah says apologetically. 

Sehun runs a few fingers through his hair. ”I’m not mad at you, don’t worry,” he replies, turning the loudspeaker on and leaving his phone on the mattress. Jungah’s sigh of relief is all he hears as he fumbles around in dark in search of his newly ironed suit. 

Sehun nearly forgets to bring his phone with him as he makes his way to the bathroom. To his relief, he doesn’t look as awful as he feels, but he still makes sure to splash a few drops of cold water on his face to kickstart his brain. 

”Dad hasn’t come home yet,” Jungah sighs. ”Since you work together, can you tell him that I’m sorry for what I said to him?” She goes on to complain about how tired she is since she sat up all night waiting, but that she needs somebody to take her to school. ”I have to hand in an important Science project later, so I need to be there on time.”

”Wait, you’ve been by yourself all night?” Sehun blurts out, unable to mask the worry in his voice as he hurriedly removes his jeans, which are stiff as cardboard.

”Yeah,” Jungah hums before a rustling noise is heard in the background. ”I’m putting on my clothes now, but we don’t have any breakfast, I think,” she says, all while she can be heard skipping down the stairs.

Sehun hears the sound of cupboards squeaking on their hinges while he runs a hand down his face. All Sehun can think about when Jungah complains about there hardly being any food left is Jongin’s dead empty kitchen, and he’s throwing on his dress shirt, pants and suit jacket before he can think another thought.

”Stay where you are, okay?” Sehun hears himself say as he blinks the sleep out of his eyes. He’s forgotten to comb his hair, but he dismisses it as he puts his socks on the wrong feet and stuffs his tie in his pocket. ”I’ll be right over.”

8:00 A.M

With his briefcase, as well as the small packet of yogurt he brought along for Jungah, in the passenger seat, Sehun lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. As much as he regrets drinking at all last night, the fog in his head is the only thing keeping Sehun from searching up the nearest bar, bursting through the door and strangling Jongin to death at this point. All Sehun hopes is that Jungah’s teachers won’t kick him off the school or call the cops on him property for taking Jongin's place.

It’s not until Sehun’s headache makes him unable to locate Jongin’s address that he pulls out his phone. However, he doesn’t get a chance to open up the GPS when he’s greeted with his recent call history. He suddenly recalls the unknown number that called him up last night, and Sehun finds himself pressing it in worry of it possibly being his boss trying to reach him via her private cell phone.

Sure enough, an automated voicemail goes off, and Sehun doesn’t bother leaving a message as he chucks his phone on the dashboard.

8:57 A.M

Practically tumbling out of the elevator, Sehun nearly screams in relief when he realizes that their morning meeting hasn’t started yet. Every member of the sales and production department are mingling on the first floor in wait of their boss’ next orders. Sehun makes sure to greet them all before excusing himself and slipping up the stairs.

After hanging his coat on the coat rack, Sehun slams his briefcase on his desk just as his phone vibrates. Thankfully, Jungah decided to respond to his text asking her what time she got off school, and he’s relieved to see that her last lesson ends at around four o’clock. Sehun makes a mental note to ask (or rather, beg) for an early leave before responding with a thumbs up emoticon and shoving his phone away.

It doesn’t take Sehun long to pick on the sound of shuffling coming from one of the cubicles nearby. His brain automatically assumes it to be their newest Sales member, Choi Siwon, who is probably unaware of the commotion taking place downstairs. Knowing his boss will throw a fit if not all of them are present, Sehun rounds the corner to remind Siwon about their meeting, only to blink when he sees none other than Chanyeol typing away at his desk. He seems to be in the midst of creating a last-minute graph to present at the meeting, but Sehun forgets all about it when he notices how downright miserable Chanyeol looks with his hair tousled and suit disheveled beyond belief. Sehun doesn’t get a chance to open his mouth, though, before he hears footsteps scurrying up the stairs. A second later, Jongdae hectically gestures at him to come downstairs, so Sehun jogs over without a second thought.

It’s not until they’ve reached the lower floor that Jongdae clears his throat. ”You don’t wanna get to him right now,” he mutters, keeping his voice low. ”Or today, for that matter.”

Sehun raises an eyebrow. ”What do you mean?”

Jongdae is silent for a minute. ”Let’s just say that it isn’t good,” he mutters, straightening his tie.

Sehun feels a spark of curiosity ignite in his chest. ”What are you even talking about?” he asks with his eyes trailing across the packed crowd. 

"Didn’t you get the memo?” Jongdae sighs. ”Baek and Yeol broke up sometime yesterday, no one knows why, but Baek sent out an email canceling everyone’s invites last night.” He bites his lower lip. ”Try not to get under Baek’s skin today, he’s an absolute wreck.”

Sehun eyes the crowd again, and this time, he thinks he can spot Baekhyun’s fiery red hair next to Taeyeon's sky high ponytail. As much as he wants to walk up to Baekhyun and give his condolences, Sehun finds himself stuck to the floor as their boss unlocks the door to the meeting room. One thought leads to another, and Sehun finds himself eyeing the crowd again, this time in search of another face - a face that he doesn’t seem to spot no matter how hard he looks. Their boss is going to give it to Jongin for missing their mandatory morning meeting, but Sehun doesn't get a chance to ask anybody about it before they're all ushered into the cramped room.

1:23 P.M

It’s a soaring pain that threatens to rupture every capillary in his body that awakens Jongin a few hours later, and it takes him a good minute to realize that he can barely move due to being sandwiched between the steering wheel and the driver’s seat. 

In his semi conscious state, Jongin manages to locate the lever on his chair, which he pushes back until he’s able to stretch out his legs. Except he gives up when he’s unable to move a muscle with his thighs cramped up. Not to mention his right shin shrivels up with pain just looking at it, so he opts to lift his head to scan his surroundings. With the afternoon sun sitting high in the sky, the entire garage is chocked full of colorful cars, and Jongin catches a glimpse of Luhan’s BMW and Jongdae’s red Prius before he squeezes his eyes shut. Even though his head is no longer feeling like it's about to explode, he can’t bring himself to stare at anything for longer than five seconds. 

One thought leads to another, and Jongin is suddenly struck with the thought of how on Earth he ended up in his car. Amid the cracks in his mind, he thinks he recalls dragging himself into the driver’s seat at some point after dawn in worry of his drenched clothes making him freeze solid. With his aching body making him unable to turn the engine on, he resorted to sitting perfectly still and not moving a muscle, after which he assumes he must have crashed.

After gathering enough strength to move his arms, Jongin fumbles through the random junk up front in search of his cell phone. He finally finds it five minuter later, wedged between the seat and cup holders. Unsurprisingly, it’s completely dead, but Jongin can't bring himself to fetch the spare charger from his briefcase. Not to mention nobody has tried to reach him during the night, anyway.

Jongin runs a hand down his face, only to wince when his jawline throbs. He figures that it must be around noon, if the fluffy clouds above the garage building are anything to go by. It tints the gray walls slightly golden, but it makes Jongin nauseous just looking at it.

A cold shiver shoots up Jongin’s spine when his eyes land on Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s silver car in the corner. Next to it, Chanyeol’s black Lexus, the car he drove before he and Baekhyun decided to buy a car together, parked a few spots away. All Jongin knows is that there’s no way he’s stepping foot in the office in the near future, since he knows for a fact that Chanyeol has told everybody by now, including Sehun. 

Jongin tries ignoring the stabbing in his gut when he leans forward. His dress shirt is still stained with dry rain water and bits of asphalt. Lisa’s mother probably followed Jungah to school this morning, so he isn't too worried about her not having a means of transportation. Come to think of it, Jongin wouldn’t be surprised if Jungah ends up moving in with Lisa as time passes. 

Shifting as much as his aching body will allow him to, Jongin runs a hand through his hair. He regrets it when he catches a whiff of Chanyeol’s perfume, which has him scrambling for the door handle.

Not eating anything the night before makes him unable to upchuck all over the asphalt below, but it brings him little comfort when the silence of the garage dawns on him. Not even the pipes creaking can distract him from the heaviness in his heart, and by some miracle, Jongin manages to bite back the stream of warm tears that well up in his eyes. 

Jongin manages to muster the strength to turn the key in the ignition. He nearly cries in relief when he sees that he’ll most likely have enough gas to last him all the way home. 

Because right now, all he needs is some sleep.

3:01 P.M 

Sehun shuffles through the piles of papers on his desk. He finds himself sneaking glances at his cell phone, which is sitting on the table and hasn’t lit up in nearly four hours.

For the most part, the whole office has been dead silent for the whole afternoon, given that majority of his colleagues chose to flock to Baekhyun’s cubicle with jokes and halfhearted stories in an attempt to cheer Baekhyun up. Despite the unusual amount of calmness, Sehun has found himself unable to concentrate on his godforsaken report ever since he returned from the break room two hours ago. 

It’s not until the worry within his chest nearly shatters his ribs that Sehun reaches for his phone. He has no idea what number to dial, but all he knows is that he’s better off talking to a wall than hitting up Junmyeon again, so with that thought in mind, he turns his attention back to his computer screen. 

Since he wasn’t blessed with an elephant’s memory, ergo unable to memorize more than three colleagues' phone numbers at most, Sehun has to scroll down the never-ending list of contacts on the screen until he stops at Jongin’s business photo. All Sehun can bring himself to stare at is Jongin’s bedhead and slightly wrinkled collar, due to him coming in nearly two hours late for picture day. Three years ago, Sehun found it drop dead adorable, and he still does, but there’s something about knowing that Jongin’s tardiness was most likely a direct result of his insomnia that makes Sehun’s gut churn.

Sehun dismisses the thought by hurriedly typing out the number just below Jongin’s photo. Sure enough, there’s nothing but static for a few seconds before a robotic voice asks him to leave a message at the beep. However, Sehun can't bring himself to. He doesn’t know who he’s more frustrated with, Jongin for ditching the office to drink himself to death, or himself for going out of his way to act like such a fool when Jongin specifically told him he never wanted to see him ever again.

What exactly was he expecting?

The clock strikes ten past three just as Sehun checks his watch. The last thing he wants right now is a full hour with nothing to do before he’s supposed to pick up Jungah. With the pity party going on further down the hallway, Sehun opts to avoid it like the plague as he makes his way in the opposite direction.

It’s not until Sehun nears the last row of cubicles that he comes to a prompt halt. The sound of frantic typing can be heard from a mile away.   

Because if there’s anybody who might know where Jongin might be, it’s Chanyeol.

Sehun almost doesn’t want to interrupt when he sees how focused Chanyeol looks while typing, and a part of him hopes that he won’t end up giving Chanyeol a heart attack when he softly clears his throat.

Chanyeol must be too worn out to be surprised, since he merely spins around in his chair with a blank look on his face. His tie is tousled and his hair resembles a silver crow’s nest, and it only takes Sehun three seconds to notice that his ring is missing from his finger. 

Sehun makes sure to keep his voice down as to not alert his boss. "Is it alright if I ask you something real quick?”

Chanyeo sighs as he nonchalantly gestures at the purple couch behind him. ”Be my guest.”

Sehun inches towards it before taking a seat. He’s silent as he tries racking his brain for the right words to say. ”There was something…” He bites his lip. ”I mean, this might sound weird, but do you know where Jongin might be? He hasn’t come in all day and I heard Miss asking about him a while ago.”

For a moment, Chanyeol looks like he’s fighting an impulse to roll his eyes. ”That’s what you came here for?” he deadpans. ”If you’re planning on entertaining me, do a better job.”

Sehun blinks. "I’m serious,” he mutters, to which Chanyeol sends him a look. ”I don’t think he’s-”

”Dude comes in like, three hours behind schedule 24/7, two on a good day,” Chanyeol grumbles and massages his right knuckles, which are red and swollen. ”Find someone else to waste your time on instead.” He runs a hand through his hair. ”Why’re you asking me about this, anyway?”

Sehun swallows. ”I...figured that you might have a clue, that's all," he says. 

Chanyeol raises an eyebrow. "And why might that be?”

”Because,” Sehun replies, ”if I’m not mistaken, Jongin used to like you, didn’t he?” He shifts just as Chanyeol’s gaze visibly hardens. ”So I figured-”

”You’re asking the wrong person,” Chanyeol promptly says, the exhausted spark in his eyes gone without a trace as he sits up straight. "And I don’t need this right now, if you couldn’t already tell.”

Sehun bites his lip. ”I know that, and I apologize,” he sighs. ”But it’s true, isn’t it? It's just that I figured he'd tell you something, at least.”

Chanyeol clenches his jaw. ”Don’t make me say his name out loud, I swear to God.”

”The hell is it with you?” Sehun retorts, ignoring the irritation stirring in his gut. ”You know, I actually talked to him and-”

”Of course you did.”

”Let me finish,” Sehun huffs, ignoring Chanyeol’s dramatic eye roll. ”I talked to him and it truly did seem like he felt ty about how you things ended between you guys, so it’d be real ing swell if you didn’t talk about him like some daft fool.”

Chanyeol is silent for a second. ”If it’s what it takes to get you out of here, I never hated him,” he mutters. ”He was a fast learner and damn good at what he did, but we weren’t meant to be together.” He buries his face in his hands with a drawn out groan. ”I dunno what the he might've told you, but that's that.”

Sehun only blinks.

”He was the one who came onto me,” Chanyeol suddenly growls, a wild glint in his eyes as he gestures everywhere. ”God, I never asked for any of this, I never wanted any of this, I never wanted the ing thing in the first place.” He chuckles to himself. ”He looked so goddamn lonely that I...God, I just had to. I had to, okay?”

Sehun opens his mouth to respond, only to close it when realization dawns on him like a ton of bricks. His buzzing nerves must have wiped out his ability to string together a coherent sentence, because he only ends up blinking like a dazed owl while Chanyeol grumbles incoherencies to himself.

A tired chuckle leaves Chanyeol's lips. ”I legit thought he went through with it, but I guess I was wrong,” he mutters, retrieving a pen from his pocket and twirling it around. 

Sehun raises an eyebrow. ”What do you mean?”

Something flashes in Chanyeol's eyes. He opens his mouth to speak, only to close it again. ”Is she out there?” he lowly asks.

Sehun blinks. He barely registers dragging himself off the couch to scan the dead empty hallways. Sure enough, their boss is nowhere to be found, which doesn’t surprise him, since she's most likely off on one of her many meetings.

It’s not until Sehun sits back down that Chanyeol curses. ”I thought he would've told you by now,” he sighs. ”I mean, I had to throw him off, I had to, so don’t you dare give me for-”

”Get to the goddamn point already,” Sehun blurts out, not even realizing how fast his heart is racing until he exhales into the room.

For a second, Chanyeol looks like he's on the verge of flying out of his chair and punching a hole in the nearest wall. However, he remains in his seat while fiddling with his pen. 

”So basically," Chanyeol mutters, "Jongin went berserk when I told him I couldn’t raise the damn thing with him,” he says. "Like, bawling his goddamn face off over the phone and threatening to ing hang himself if I didn’t oblige and all, it was actually kind of sad.” He runs a hand down his face. ”They called me up a day after that, and…yeah.”

Sehun ignores the raging pounding in his chest. ”They?” he echoes.

”Some hospital people, the do I know,” Chanyeol grits before he emits a deflated sigh. ”Jongin tried giving himself alcohol poisoning for nearly three hours straight.” He shrugs. ”Some guy named Junmyeon told the staff he denied Jongin service when he didn't look too good, and according to him, Jongin told him that he needed more since he was trying to get rid of his own damn kid, so naturally, Junmyeon freaked the out and called 911.” His pen falls to the floor with a dull thud. "Jongin apparently asked them to call me up, but I couldn't come over since I was on a business trip in Manhattan, but yeah."

Chanyeol leans back in his chair. Even though he’s doing his best to keep his voice tame, Sehun easily picks up on the way his breath trembles when he exhales.

”He seems to be doing better now, though,” Chanyeol mutters, fidgeting with his cuffs. ”You’re lucky you didn’t know him when he was in his rookie phase, dude was just a walking ball of anxiety and mistakes.” He looks up and sends Sehun a sharp glare. ”If this is your attempt at getting me back on that track, you’re dead ing wrong, just saying.”

Sehun shakes his head. Frankly, he wasn’t even planning on asking Chanyeol if he could be of any assistance with raising Jungah, but he doesn’t say it out loud. ”I don't actually think he's doing any better," he blurts out.

"News to me," Chanyeol snorts. ”Why’re you even here to begin with? I mean, that and all, but I’ll be damned if you drag me into this again.” He's silent as he gestures at Sehun. ”He’s better off talking to you about it, anyway.”

Sehun blinks. ”What’s that supposed mean?”

Chanyeol lowers his voice when Taeyeon walks by while taking selfies. ”Because he likes you, ,” he huffs with an eye roll.

Trying to ignore the sharp coiling in his chest, Sehun scratches the back of his head. He can't bring himself to respond no matter how hard he tries. 

”I mean, aside from the fact that everyone in’ knows,” Chanyeol mutters, seemingly reading Sehun's mind, ”Look, the thing is, when he told me, y'know that he loved me and all, he had this…look in his eyes.” He crosses his legs. ”Lemme just say that I noticed it when he ogled at you in the lunchroom.”

Sehun remains glued to his seat, and he’s glad that the barely working ceiling lights do a terrific job at concealing his reddening neck from view. Frankly, Chanyeol is the last person he expected to school him about all things lovey dovey, but he shoves the thought aside. Because at this point, he could care less about what Jongin thinks of him, as long as he knows that Jongin is safe.

”I know what you’re thinking, and you’re free to assume whatever you like,” Chanyeol says after two minutes of silence. ”But believe me when I have zero business in this, in any of this.” He sends Sehun a cold look. ”And neither do I want any, is that understood?”

Despite the warmth flooding his chest, Sehun can’t help the pang of rage that shoots up his spine when Chanyeol goes on to pick his pen up off the floor. All Sehun hears is Luhan trying to cheer Baekhyun up with crappy dad jokes before he gets to his feet, just in time to see Chanyeol pulling down his sleeves to cover his bruised knuckles.

Sehun is glad that he doesn’t end up toppling over when he makes his way out of the cubicle. The commotion downstairs lets him know that he's missed the entire meeting, but he can't be bothered to care about his boss possibly slaughtering him as he turns back around to face Chanyeol.

”Sorry about the wedding,” Sehun mutters before stepping back into the hallway.

____

Sehun is relieved that he went out of his way to set an alarm for four o’clock, since he knows that he would have forgotten to pick Jungah up due to how drop dead exhausted he is. He hasn’t even worked a full day, yet he feels like he’s been stuck in the hectic office for nearly a week straight. 

However, he doesn’t even make it out of his chair before somebody loudly bangs on the walls of his cubicle.

Jongdae emits an unattractive string of guffaws when Sehun falls halfway out of his chair in surprise. ”Leaving already?” he confusedly asks when Sehun goes on to slide his coat on.

Sehun nods, but he doesn’t bother elaborating while he grabs up his briefcase. He wishes that Jongdae would step out of the way and let him out, since he really doesn’t want to risk arriving late to Jungah’s school.

”I see,” Jongdae hums, leaning against the wall. He’s silent for a minute. ”Is something wrong, by the way?”

Sehun raises an eyebrow. ”What do you mean?”

”You’ve been looking stressed as ever since this morning, dude,” Jongdae says, pulling out a pen from his inner pocket. "And don't think I didn't notice you not responding to my emails, just so y'know." He twirls it around with a contemplative look on his face. ”Is this about Jongin, or what?”

Feeling himself flush at the mention of Jongin’s name, Sehun blinks. ”What are you even talking about?”

”I haven’t see the guy all day,” Jongdae hums before his eyebrows furrow. ”Come to think of it, I think I saw his car down in the garage when I arrived this morning, but maybe I was just seeing things. He drives that black, jeep looking thing, doesn't he?”

Sehun is halfway down the stairs before Jongdae is even finished talking. Even though he knows that Jongdae is most likely just imagining things, Sehun finds himself flying out of the elevator and onto the streets outside less than a minute later.

___

Amid all the vehicles, VIP parking spots and barely working lights, it takes Sehun less than five seconds to deduce that Jongin’s car isn’t, in fact, anywhere in sight. As much as he wants to give Jongin another call, Sehun knows that he won't be receiving a response. With that thought in mind, he makes sure to dunk Jongdae in the nearest trash can before making his way towards his own car.