Luna was more than a little surprised to find herself into the now upside down world of her boyfriend of only a year and a half. He had called her, sounding like he was in tears about two hours after he had abruptly hung up. He had had to repeat himself three times when explaining that Jonghyun vanished from school, and was nowhere to be found. What it ended up coming down to, was that he needed her. He was generally calm and collected about everything, usually only stating that he wanted to see her, or wanted her in his life. Never before had he needed her, and she wasn’t about to let him down.

She had let her boss know there was an emergency, and she would be taking an unscheduled leave of absence for an undetermined time frame. Her boss, always caring and understanding, had readily agreed and signed off for her to have paid absence for at least a week. She had gone straight to Jinki’s house, her heart pounding. She had only met Jonghyun the day before, but she had gathered enough in that small time to know he wasn’t the type to just take off. He needed them, maybe more than he even realized.

She had barely made it through the door before finding herself being a pillar for the most unexpected person - Key. Taemin was sitting on the couch, seeming to be in a state of shock, but Key? He was in tears, completely a mess, and Jinki was tied up talking to a small group of officers in the next room. She had been all too willing to wrap her arms around the trembling boy, escorting him back to the couch his boyfriend was sitting on with an ease she hadn’t been aware she possessed.

Meanwhile, in the other room Jinki was beginning to look more and more agitated as the police he had contacted to help find his son continued to insist Jonghyun had probably just taken off, and would return home after not too long. Jinki, who had switched from desperate to determined after not too long, slammed his fist down on the table. He knew he couldn’t afford a screaming match with Taemin in the next room - the poor maknae was going to be having nightmares as it was - but he was ready to start ripping heads off.

“We’re just saying. He spent so much time living on his own, out on the streets. He probably just felt cooped up here, and he needed a break.” The officer said calmly. Jinki shook his head, about to open his mouth and respond when he caught sight of a small blonde head from the corner of his eye. He glanced over, seeing Taemin standing shakily in the doorway.

“Jonghyun has agoraphobia. He didn’t even like being out of the house.” Taemin said softly. “Appa had to make him go to the store last week, because he gets worse the longer we let him hide inside. He goes out in the backyard sometimes, but that’s it. He didn’t want to go to school today. He...he knew something was going to happen.”

Jinki stared in shock at his youngest. Taemin had a steady stream running down each cheek, and even though his voice was shaking horribly, he was making very good points. They all had a tendency to underestimate the maknae’s observation skills, when in reality, they should be taking lessons from the blonde. Taemin slowly made his way into the kitchen, tucking himself under Jinki’s arm shyly. He was about as bad as Jonghyun when he got uncomfortable, but it was a rare case that he really needed to be comforted.

“Is there anyone who may want to hurt you or your son?” One of the cops asked calmly. Jinki swallowed, trying to think if they had ever done something to warrant this, but shook his head after a minute.

“Jjongie’s a good boy.” Jinki said. “And I keep to myself. I take care of my boys, the only person I spend time with outside of my children is my girlfriend.”

“What about that guy?” Taemin asked suddenly. Jinki’s eyebrows pulled together as he tried to figure out what Taemin was talking about. “That guy that wanted Jonghyun to go live with him. Jjong said no, and he got all mad and started threatening you. Remember?”

“Why didn’t you mention this before?” The same officer asked. Jinki looked like he was going to be sick as he took a breath, preparing to answer.

“I didn’t even think about it. It was almost two weeks ago, and we didn’t hear anything from him after that.” Jinki said, and Taemin pulled away from him suddenly. Jinki glanced over at him, watching him make his way through the small group of people in the kitchen and head toward the sink. “I don’t know anything about him. I don’t know if he would do something like this.”

“Well, just give us his name and we’ll check into it.” The officer said.

“Sangho. I...never got his last name.” Jinki admitted. The officer nodded, looking a bit annoyed.

“Is there anything else you can remember? Maybe a place he worked at, or a nickname?” The officer prompted.

“Jonghyun had a sister. She...died a few years ago, but this man claimed to be her father.” He said. The officer nodded, taking note of it.

“Do you mind if we take a look in his room? Just to see if there’s anything abnormal?” He asked gently. Jinki shook his head, leading them to the stairs silently. The only reason he wasn’t out looking right then was because he knew he would need help, and getting help meant staying calm and telling them everything he could.

As the police carefully combed Jonghyun’s room, looking for anything that might hint at the teen’s whereabouts, Luna found her arms full of two very distraught boys. Taemin’s glazed over look had given way to puddles of tears, and Key wasn’t doing much better. Roo and Eve had made their presence very well known, whining and pawing at the boys and Luna. They knew something was wrong, and Roo even seemed to be depressed when she couldn’t find Jonghyun. She had barked herself out for almost an hour when she couldn’t find Jonghyun anywhere, and that only served to upset Eve, which in turn upset Taemin, then Key, and so on.

Luna felt like her heart was breaking, watching over these kids she barely knew. It didn’t take them long to connect, but Luna knew that her distance with them made her more of an outsider to the situation, but it still hurt her to see them in such pain. More than that, though, was the empty feeling she got from only having the two of them in front of her. She knew Jinki had four kids, and while she had only been introduced to three, she knew the house wasn’t meant to feel this empty. Even with Jonghyun gone...it was lacking more than it should be.

“Where’s your other brother?” She asked softly. “Minho?”

“Appa told us not to tell him.” Key said softly, wiping at his face miserably. “He’ll be home on Friday, and...”

“Minho and Jonghyun are really close.” Taemin said softly. “Minho would come home, and he’s been working really hard on early graduation for a long time. It wouldn’t be fair to take him home early.”

“I think it’s unfair not to tell him.” Key said, his tone stubborn. “But there’s no point in upsetting him if we don’t have to.”

Silence fell after that, and it remained that way until Jinki came down the stairs. He looked completely horrified, and he took a seat on the couch beside Key. The boy in question leaned shakily on the appa, as though he wasn’t sure if it would be rejected. Jinki draped a heavy arm around Key’s shoulders and pressed his hand to his face. Luna took a slow breath, turning to look at Jinki with concerned eyes.

“Did something else happen?” She asked softly. Jinki nodded slowly, taking his hand away from his face.

“Yeah. His mother’s been writing to him.” Jinki said. “And he didn’t tell us.”