I tried to call Baro a thousand times but he wouldn’t pick up. After about an hour of me trying to contact him I gave up. To distract myself I started rearranging my closet. Thanks to P.O.’s little shopping trip a while back I had way too many clothes, most of which I didn’t even wear. I had a good pile of clothes to donate when I heard my text tone go off. When I checked my phone I had a messaged from Baro.

Sorry love! Working on some new things. You can come by later if you like!-Prince Squirrel

Well at least he had the decency to let me know something was going on. I told him I would see him later and went back to my cleaning. At the end of thirty minutes I was way more tired than I should have been. I took a shower and changed after a nap then headed to see my boyfriend.

The closer I got to the dorm, the sicker I started to feel. More than once I had to pull over and make myself take deep breaths to calm down. If I thought about it, things really couldn’t go that badly. He’d already admitted that he wanted to be with me, that he wanted kids in the future. Maybe things were happening a bit faster than he’d planned, but it was still his plan.

Of course, I wasn’t sure about the whole ‘it might be someone else’s child’ part. I think that’s what was making me scared. I mean, he’d told me countless times that he understood and accepted what I did for a living but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t going to be all too thrilled about CAP. I mean, he’d freaked out over a picture.

After what seemed like forever, I made my way to his dorm and took the elevator up to the right floor. When I got to the place, I realized I didn’t have the door code. I text Baro to tell him I was there but he didn’t text back. Ten minutes passed and I gave up on waiting for him and just knocked on the door. Finally, Gongchan answered it.

“Hi noona!” he said brightly.

“Hey Gongchan. How are you?”

“I’m fine. What brings you here?”

“Sunwoo said I could come over.”

Gongchan’s eyes went wide. Why won’t he let me in? I thought.

“Oh, um…hyung’s not here right now.”

“That’s not a problem. Do you think I could come in and wait for him?”

I heard a door open and close in the background. Gongchan looked back nervously then turned back to me. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Now I was confused, and a little bit suspicious. “Just let me in Gongchan. My feet hurt,” I complained.

“Who’s at the door Channie?”

Gongchan looked down at the floor, caught in his lie. I could recognize Baro’s voice anywhere. Why did Gongchan not want me to come in?

I pushed the door further open and stood there in shock. I guess the kid had been trying to protect his hyung. Baro was standing there with his hair tussled and his shirt turned inside out, with a girl I’d never seen before right next to him. She had her hand on his arm and the other was playing with her hair.

“Anna?” Baro asked, obviously confused.

“Who is she?” the girl asked possessively.

I lost it then. I couldn’t breathe, let alone think. I muttered something about having the wrong address and hightailed it out of there as fast as my legs would carry me.

“Anna wait!” I heard call. It could have been Baro or Gongchan but my ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton so I couldn’t really tell. Besides, I was so singularly focused on getting out of there that I didn’t care.

Tears blurred my vision as I weaved in and out of traffic, narrowly avoiding other cars and earning myself numerous cussing outs from cab drivers. I made it back home safely, letting myself in through the back to avoid Jin Ae questioning me about the tear tracks on my face.

For once, I was deeply, truly, appreciative of the fact that my room was soundproof. I was able to cry and scream and curse to my heart’s content and didn’t have to worry about someone trying to calm me down or try to figure out what was wrong.

How could he? I couldn’t believe it. Baro, my Baro, my Prince Squirrel, was cheating on me!? The rational side of me said that I had no right to be angry, that I wasn’t completely innocent in all this, but that side of me was on vacation. I let the emotion driven person inside me come out and take over.

Who was she and why was she in his room? Why were his clothes and hair messed up? I shook my head against my thoughts. I really didn’t want to know. My room suddenly felt claustrophobic. I went out on the balcony, but that wasn’t the best idea. Immediately I was reminded of my tryst with Baro before he left for Japan.

“I’ve gotta get out of here,” I whispered to myself. I went back inside, grabbed my duffle bag, and started throwing stuff into it. My laptop was stuffed into its case, all chargers thrown into a side pocket, and I was ready to go. I set my bags by the door and went over to my desk. I couldn’t leave until Jin Ae and Chan Hee left for the night, so I wrote a few letters to explain myself.

Minho,

            Tag, you’re it! Let’s make a game out of this, just like any other time. Think of this as the ultimate game of hide and seek. If you don’t find me soon, I’ll take it as a victory to me. If you do happen to find me, then it’ll make up for when we first met, okay? Good luck!

Chan Hee,

            Words cannot express my thanks towards you. Because of you, I met so many new people who changed my life in their own ways. I learned so much about myself in a short amount of time. I gained a new family when I thought the old one was gone. You cared for me, gave me a house and a purpose when I needed it the most. I should tell you this in person, but if I did I’d start to cry and lose my resolve. Please don’t worry about me. I promise I will be fine. Besides, we both knew the day would come when I left you. The day seems to have come sooner rather than later. Don’t look for me, okay? I’ll keep you updated as much as I can on my own, but this is something I have to do. Express my thanks to Jin Ae as well.

CAP,

            I’m sorry. I’m so, so, sorry for doing this to you, but I have to go. Sometimes, I really wish we could have met under different circumstances. We could have had a shot then at being lovers, or at the very least good friends. Don’t ever think you were just a client to me. I care about you a whole lot, another reason why I couldn’t stay. Thank you for loving me even when I couldn’t fully do the same for you. You never said so much in words, but I could always tell. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to explain myself to you. I won’t ask you to forgive me, but at least hear me out, okay?

I sealed my letters and set them to the side. After checking my bags one last time, I made a quick sweep of the room. My eyes landed on CAP’s picture but I decided to leave it there at the last second. I snuck out of the house and made my way to the bus stop with all my stuff. I waited a few minutes before the bus came. I got on without a clue as to where it was going, but I would deal with that when I got there.