Chapter 22

Haneul’s POV

“So, I think after we ride this subway, we’ll ride a bus.” Haneul guessed. She and Henry were looking at a map in the subway station.

“Are you sure, noona?” Henry asked warily beside her.

“Err, yeah.” To be honest, she doesn’t have an idea where to go from there. She had been to Mokpo before with Kyuhyun but they had his dad’s car with them and Kyuhyun was good with directions.

But a woman’s intuition can never get wrong. “Don’t worry, Henryah. We’ll get there. Let’s ride the subway.”

Henry looked skeptical but decided to go along with her. It wasn’t easy getting out of the camp without the authorities’ eyes on them but because they were sneaky, they finally got on their way. Haneul was really worried about Donghae. There was no way he would go back to his evil grandfather if it wasn’t important. Maybe they threatened him with something nasty that’s why he can’t refuse. They also tried contacting Donghwa, Donghae’s older brother but his phone was unattended, too. Something felt very wrong.

“I just wish they’re alright.” Henry said grimly. It was obvious that he really cares for his hyungs.

“Have you met your grandfather, Henryah?” She asked him as they sat inside.

He shook his head. “I haven’t even been there yet. I was born and raised in Canada. And.. because I’m adopted, and to top it off, a Chinese.. I’m not accepted by them.” He said in a heartbreaking tone.

Haneul squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. “It’s alright. It’s their loss for not knowing a very cute and special guy like you.”

His eyes crinkled as he smiled at her. “Thank you, noona. If Donghae hyung didn’t love you so much, I might have fallen in love with you.”

“That’s too bad.” She said jokingly.

“Anyway, noona, where have you and Kyuhyun hyung gone last night?”

“Uhh, we spent the night at a cabin because it was raining hard and Kyunnie was sick so I can’t risk getting him soaked.” She tried to simplify things as she can.

“Oh. I hope he’s alright now. But aren’t you worried, noona? You’re supposed to be there when he wakes up, right?”

“How did you know that?”

He shrugged. “Well, you’re supposed to take care of him now that he is sick since you’re the closest one to him and I had a feeling there’s something already going on with you two.”

“Oh.” She fidgeted with her fingers. “Is.. is it that obvious?”

He nodded. “Anyone could pretty much tell with the way you look at each other. You know, if I hadn’t known that our grandfather’s involved in all of this, I would have thought that Donghae hyung left because he’s heartbroken.”

Haneul felt guilty. What if that was the case? She shook her head mentally. “No. I told Donghae oppa already about me and Kyunnie and he understood.  But it still wasn’t that clear.” She sighed.

She had another reason why she wanted to get Donghae back and see him immediately. She had to tell him that her feelings are clear now and she doesn’t want to give him false hopes any longer.

Haneul and Henry got off the train after about an hour and rode the bus going to Mokpo. They still had a long way and she hoped they won’t get lost. She was already tired and nodding off on her seat when her phone rang. She half-expected it to be Kyuhyun but she remembered that his phone wasn’t with him at the infirmary.

It was Dara. “Dara-yah, what’s up?”

“How dare you say ‘what’s up’ when we’re almost dying of worry in here?!” Dara said in a loud voice that she had to move the phone away from her ear to keep her from getting deaf. “Why did you just answer the phone now?! Where are you?! Are you with Henry and Donghae?! Are you eloping with him and taking Henry as your son?!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Seriously, her friend has a very wild imagination. “I’m going to Mokpo now with –“

“So you are eloping?!”

“Stop with that eloping thing! Listen to me first! You’re more hysterical than my mom.” She took a deep breath. “I think there was no signal when we were at the subway so your first calls didn’t reach me. I’m with Henry right now. We’re going to Mokpo to get Donghae oppa back. I think he has some problems so we want to help him. I can’t just leave oppa alone.”

“Isn’t this like what happened three years ago with you guys?”

Haneul sighed. “I know, right? That’s why I’m not going to let that happen again.”

“I understand that Donghae’s important to you but..what about your boyfriend here in the infirmary?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Well, not yet. She hoped Kyuhyun won’t know she said that or he might have the wrong idea. “If he wakes up, tell him that I had to get Donghae back. I’m sure that if Kyunnie’s not sick now, he would personally come with me, too.”

“A-alright.” Dara sounded a bit off. Was there something wrong? “Just get back here safely, okay? And you might want to go back straight to Seoul if you can’t get back tonight. We’ll try to cover you guys up from the authorities if you don’t want your parents to ground you for the rest of your life.”

She made a face. She hoped her parents won’t give her a hard time if they found out that she skipped camp and went to Mokpo. The call with Dara ended and she stared out of the window.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Henry mimicked beside her. “So, what exactly, noona?”

“To be honest, I’m still not sure.”

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Dara’s POV

So first Haneul and Kyuhyun were missing, then Donghae and now it’s Haneul again with Henry. Some students saw Donghae left the camp early in the morning with his bags and then another saw Haneul and Henry. Just where the hell did they go?!

She went to the infirmary again to see if they were just mistaken and Henry went off with some other girl. Haneul surely won’t leave Kyuhyun alone. But then, she wondered how he will react if he finds out she wasn’t there anymore. Surely he will be pissed.

She got a little terrified to see that Kyuhyun was now awake. But then he looked calm. “Oh. You’re awake now.” She said awkwardly. Ugh. She was classmates with him since 1st year but he was too unfeeling and only talks to guys and Haneul.

“Where’s the girl that’s supposed to be here when I wake up?” Kyuhyun said in a surprisingly calm tone. Or was he just acting like one?

“The thing is.. Neullie’s missing.”

His eyes narrowed at her and she felt impending doom so she immediately added, “But I think she’s alright since they said they saw her leave with Henry. Donghae’s been missing since early this morning, too, so I think they went after him or something.”

At the mention of Donghae, his face changed into something similar to worry but it was immediately replaced with a blank one. “Did you try calling them?”

“Yeah. But their phones are out of coverage area.” She got her phone. “I’ll try calling Neullie again.”

Please answer, Neullie, or this guy might kill me. She was so relieved when Haneul’s phone rang but when Haneul answered, her patience snapped because of her nonchalant tone.

She set her phone to loudspeaker mode so that she won’t have to explain again where Haneul was to Kyuhyun. Throughout the call, she watched Kyuhyun’s reaction. When Haneul explained that they went to Mokpo to get Donghae back, worry was evident now in his face but he remained silent. So this guy could also show this kind of face.

“I understand that Donghae’s important to you but..what about your boyfriend here in the infirmary?” Dara asked her.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Haneul answered. Her eyes shot back at Kyuhyun to see his reaction but she wished she didn’t. His face became unreadable now but the room felt like it got colder. There was also this ominous aura in the air. Uh-oh. He definitely didn’t like the sound of that. Maybe I shouldn’t have set it to loudspeaker.

When the call ended, she glanced at Kyuhyun warily. “Uhh, so I think Neullie will be okay.. right?”

He didn’t answer. Well, she could count in her fingers the times that this guy spoke to her so it was alright. She wondered how Haneul managed not to get bored around this guy. But then, he treats Haneul differently so she guessed her friend tolerated it eventually.

“I’ll inform the others about this so I’ll be –“

Dara got cut off when someone rushed in the infirmary. She was surprised to see Seohyun looking worried sick. The latter approached Kyuhyun who was also a bit shocked of Seohyun’s sudden appearance.

“A-are you alright, Kyuhyun?” Seohyun asked him.

He nodded. “It’s just flu.”

Seohyun sighed in relief and sat down on the chair next to his bed. Dara raised an eyebrow. That’s Neullie’s place, missy. She wanted to say it out loud but then she wasn’t that much of a . The girl was just genuinely worried about the guy. She knew s