Lauren walked off!!!! So here is an update!

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Wooyoung was halfway through his work when a bad feeling tugged on his guts. Lauren had been eerily silent for the last half hour. He turned his head to look at her, and was shocked to find her missing.

Oh.My.God.

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I like this. I like this very much. To be able to walk finally, and see the world beyond my parents' eyes. I can see a lot of people in black clothes, walking past me hurriedly. I don't like the way they stare at me though. I can tell they're curious, but they don't know what to do about me either. When they see me, they would stop for a while, ask a random person some random questions and then walk away. Are big people always this silly? 

My legs feel a little numb but I don't care, not when I'm enjoying myself immensely. I don't even bother to look back and see if Appa Woo is following me from behind. I stare at new unfamiliar faces, watch them stare back and then move on to other new unfamiliar faces. I come across a weird looking thing that's almost the same size as me, and it has little white balls inside. Curious to know what it is, I grab one and put it in my mouth.

"Hey there, little one, you shouldn't eat trash." Someone says to me.

I look up to see a beautiful unnie staring down at me. She lets out a wistful sigh and gently yank the white ball away. "Where's your eomma, little one?" She asks.

I don't know. She hasn't come back yet. The unnie lets out another sigh and asks another question, "Where's your appa then? Or whoever you came here with?"

I simply stare at her, not because I don't understand a single word she said, but because she's just so beautiful. Would I grow up like her too?

A weird-looking man suddenly interrupts our conversation and Unnie peels her eyes away from me. I decide to move on with journey then, because there's still so much more to see.

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Wooyoung panicked. Really really panicked. This was the first time his daughter went missing and he wasn't sure who took her. The whole building was at least 32 storeys high, and that was only the floors he'd been on. He hadn't counted the extra 15 floors above him. Oh god oh god oh god...

He tossed all his workload aside and was ready to find her, when his bosses suddenly appeared. The one standing leading the party saw Wooyoung and headed over to his cubicle. It was the same old man this morning. "Wooyoung-ssi, I take it that you're done with the contracts this morning?" He asked, expecting a yes as an answer.

Wooyoung suddenly felt sick. He was dead worried about his daughter, and there was no way he could worry about some stupid paperwork. His face paled as he said, "It's on my desk, sir."

The boss eyed him warily. "Are you okay? You seemed pale."

"Never better, sir." He lied, but his body was fidgeting from uneasiness. He wanted to get out from this conversation as soon as he could, but not in front of the whole board of directors. 

"Very well then. Send the stack up to the 45th floor and don't be late. And then meet us in Meeting Room 4 downstairs. The meeting will commence in 20 minutes."

20 MINUTES?! Who in the world have twenty minutes to send documents ten floors up and then return 15 floors down?! Wooyoung was close to ripping the remaining hair on his boss' bald head. But he kept a cool composure. He couldn't afford to lose his job. Not when the whole family depended on him.

"Is there a problem, Jang?" The boss asked when Wooyoung didn't reply. 

"Yes sir. I'm on my way." Wooyoung said between gritted teeth. He returned to his cubicle and rearranged the papers he had to submit. His heart was thumping furiously, beyond worried about Lauren now. He was scared something might happen to her. Then with a fierce determination, he set off to the 45th floor, hoping to get his job done with and praying to find Lauren along the way. 

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"Omo....you're so cute! Where is your eomma and appa, little baby?" 

I cringe at the strong smell of her perfume. Their perfume. A bunch of noisy, old-looking ahjummahs suddenly crowd around me, and each of them take turn to pinch my cheeks. I whine in pain, pouting my cheeks to show my discomfort. But they're probably too dumb to get the message.

"Look at you, all adorable and frilly. Do you want some milk? Ahjummah has some left in her."

I try to pull a digusted face, but it turns out cute instead. They start squealing annoyingly in front of me, and I carefully turn around to walk away.

"Where are you going?" An ahjummah asks, gripping my arm suddenly. Why is she gripping so hard? It really hurts! I yank my arm away and pretend they're not there. They follow me instead, going around to face me, and trying their utter best to impress me. But really, it's so annoying. My daddies are normal compared to these ahjummahs.

"Come on, little baby. Do you want to eat something? You must be hungry."

I want to walk.

"We have to find your eomma anyway. We'll help you find her."

I can find appa Woo myself, thank you.

"I wonder where she is. Ooh.....how lucky I would be if I end up getting a child like you."

How unlucky the child would be, I retort.

I see two doors opening then, and I thought, yeah, that's my ticket out of this madness. So I make for it, putting my foot in front of the other carefully, because I can't afford to fall now, and manage to squeeze through just as the door closes. The ahjummahs' faces are gone forever, and I am now inside a little box. It makes me feel light, like it's moving but I'm not sure if it is.  

There is a man standing next to me and he stares down at me with surprise. "This is surprising. What are you doing inside here all alone?"

I simply return a smile because I'm not sure how to answer him there. The little box suddenly stops (so it was moving!) and the door opens again. He presses a button and urges me to get out first. "If I don't do this, you'll be stuck in here for a long time." He says. I get out quickly, or as quickly as my legs would allow me. I still need to hold on to the walls for support.

There are a lot of rooms with glasses here. And inside every room, there are tables and chairs. I learn to recognize them thanks to mummy. Some of the rooms have people inside, while others are empty. But they don't look scary. The lights above my head make the whole place look cozy. And there're windows too, so I could see Mr.Sun. Mummy taught me about that too.

Oh~I'm having so much! I explore every corners, checking out things that caught my eyes, and gurgling with excitement. I say hi to a few people in black clothes as they pass by. They stare at me, but they don't bother to do anything. Perfect. I don't expect to be bothered anyway.

Then all the sudden, I hear a familiar voice. "Lauren!" And before I could turn around, someone carries me up and hugs me tight.

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Wooyoung really felt like dying. What would the other guys say when they found out he lost Lauren? Nichkhun would kill him. And a small part in him said he didn't deserve to live if something bad happened to Lauren. After submitting the documents on the 45th floor, he rushed down to the 30th floor, where all the meeting rooms were. The directors were already seated around the long table in Meeting Room 4. And their clients were there too. Wooyoung corrected his tie and cleared his throat.

Today's presentation was supposed to pull the clients in to invest on the company for the next seven years. It was a big thing for the company, because eventhough the company could make a lot of net profit in one month, this investment would be able to take the company into foreign markets. Wooyoung was given the privilege to represent the company, given his extraordinary ability in sales.

He checked his watch and realized it had been half an hour since Lauren went missing. Oh god...please end this soon. He only needed another half an hour to end the meeting. Everything had been prepared for this day. The only thing left now was to present his slides.

"I apologize for my delay." He announced upon entry. The faces around the table didn't bother to acknowledge his apology. They waited patiently for him to begin  the meeting.

He went over to the front and started the slide after plugging in his harddrive. It was all there, two sleepless nights of work. He faced the crowd afterwards, and began his speech. That was when something caught his eyes. A frilly pink dress flashed before his eyes before it disappeared behind a wall. Wooyoung took in a shuddery breath before running out to chase after his daughter. The directors were furious by then, getting up from their seats and demanding him to return. The clients were confused though, but their eyes followed after Wooyoung.

"Lauren!" Wooyoung called out when he finally found her. She was about to turn around but he had already wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up to hug her tightly. "Don't do that to appa again..." He whispered into her ear, sobbing in relief. 

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Next chapter: Nichkhun!