missing in action

'active 3 days ago.'

joohyun puts her phone down, sighing as she looks away. she then glimpses the framed red bracelet on her shelf.

where could seulgi be, she thinks. she looks at her phone again, rereading the bunch of apologies seulgi sent that night they fought--that night she pushed the woman away.

yes, joohyun admits she purposely ignored seulgi for days because she was mad--because she wants seulgi to stand up for her. but this morning, joohyun couldn't take it anymore. she logged back into the app they use to communicate, sees seulgi's messages--and a missed call--and got worried because there was nothing else after that day.

seulgi's last message to her was, 'it's over. i already told her.'

if seulgi had already told eunae, how come she hasn't appeared in joohyun's place yet?

how come she hasn't made any effort to reach out to joohyun again?

did something happen? is seulgi alright?

joohyun groans.

she needs to find out where her soulmate is.

---

"she crashed here at my place three days ago, after she talked to eunae," heeyeon says on the other line. "then the next morning, she went to her in-law's to personally apologize to them. that was the last day i saw of her."

"did you ever at least heard from her after she went there?" joohyun asks, walking across the room, one hand on the phone and the other on her hip.

"no. she left her phone in their apartment, saying it wasn't hers because it was a gift."

joohyun's getting more headache now. "do you have any idea where could have she gone then?"

"i don't know. she even left her clothes here," heeyeon says. "but she did mention she's going on a hiking and that i am 100% in charge of all team gomhyoni communication for now."

"hiking? where?"

"i'm sorry. i really don't know, joohyun. i mean, it's seulgi. this isn't the first time she's done this. whenever she's sad or wants to think alone, she disappears like that in the mountains."

joohyun closes her eyes and groans.

mountains? could it be where they went before? but that's far. joohyun doesn't even remember the trail.

"hey. she's going to be alright," heeyeon says. "i know you're worried. but she'll be back. maybe she needs time to think, to heal. she was a mess that night she came here."

joohyun bites a finger, feeling guilty for it.

was it wrong for her to snap that night? maybe they could have talked it through instead?

joohyun doesn't know anymore.

"thanks, heeyeon. if ever you hear from her first, please let me know, okay?" she says.

"i surely would. and i would give her another punch in the face for making your worry like that."

despite feeling sad and worried, joohyun smiles.

---

"unnie! unnie! aunt mimi's coming home in a few weeks!"

joohyun's nose flares. "yerim-ah. can you not shout at my ear? we're sitting beside each other."

but her little sister didn't seem to mind her. yerim showed her the ipad with their chat conversation on the screen. "see? she's asking for my shoe size now!"

joohyun rolled her eyes when her sister jumps on the couch.

"she's asking if there's anything you'd want her to bring home for you, unnie," yerim says, eyes on the device.

if she can bring home seulgi, that would be great, joohyun thinks.

she inwardly chuckles. she must be going crazy.

"unnie?"

joohyun clears , flipping the channel on tv with the remote. "nothing really. i've got all i need here."

"come on." yerim elbows her. "it's not everyday aunty mimi comes back here for vacation. might as well make sure she brings the things you want her to buy there."

sighing, joohyun looks around the room, looking for anything that can give her an idea, until she sees it. "oh. can you tell her to bring those black tea bags for me?"

yerim raises an eyebrow at her. "just those teabags?"

"yeah. i'm happy with that."

"you are a lousy person." yerim shakes her head.

joohyun chuckles. she doesn't care. she wants to make sure she's got enough stock of that black tea, so when a specific person comes back and requests for a chocotea, they can share one together.

---

'active 5 days ago.'

joohyun thinks she's about to lose her mind.

she stalked seulgi's social media accounts, and there isn't a single activity since then.

where could seulgi be?

she was close to calling seulgi's parents to ask if they know where their daughter is, but she hesitated the last minute because: first, it may worry them; second, she doesn't know if they know already of what happened.

joohyun is massaging her aching head when her phone suddenly rings, startling her.

to her surprise, the caller id is: jo eunae

she stares at her phone for a few seconds before putting it next to her ear, feeling like her heartbeat is in her head.

"miss joohyun," eunae immediately speaks. "is... is seulgi with you?"

joohyun's relieved eunae's voice sounds calm. "no. she's not here."

"did you, by any chance, have seen her these past few days?"

joohyun shakes her head. "not a shadow of her for five days now."

she hears eunae sighs.

"i see. i called her parents. she told them she's hiking," eunae says. "i thought it was just an excuse. i thought she was staying with you."

"no. she's not here. i'm also wondering where she could have been. i called heeyeon the other day who told me the same thing, that seulgi's hiking."

there was silence on the line before eunae hums. "the thing is, she left some personal stuff here. i don't think she'd want to dispose these."

joohyun stays silent, hearing eunae's movement on the other line whom she assumes is in their old apartment.

somehow she envies eunae's calmness during this situation. maybe she's too mad at seulgi to worry, or maybe she knows seulgi that much to know that's just how seulgi is--like what heeyeon says.

this makes joohyun still feel envious of eunae.

"do you think i can drop these by to your place today? i mean, only if you're at home?" eunae asks.

joohyun flinches, not emotionally prepared to see eunae today. but why not? she does owe eunae an apology too, doesn't she?

"y-yeah. i'll be here the whole day," she says. "i'll text you my address."

"thank you. i'm sorry to disturb you with these. i just think you have the right to get these."

joohyun's not sure what it means. "may i know what stuff are those?"

"drawings. a bunch of drawings. drawings of you."