A character returns!

“Taekwoon wasn’t at school again,” Hakyeon said with a sigh. It was the second day in a row he hadn’t seen Taekwoon, and the other boy wasn’t even answering his calls and texts. Hakyeon knew there were times that Taekwoon needed his space, and Hayeon respected that. But whenever that happened, Taekwoon would reply at least once, and he certainly wouldn’t allow two days of silence to pass. “I think we should go check on him,” Hakyeon finally suggested.

“Yeah. He hasn’t been answering me either,” Hyuk said. “He usually does...even when he’s busy.”

“Has he been sick?” Hongbin asked.

Hakyeon shook his head. “Not that I know of,” he answered. “I mean...He was hurting a lot when I last saw him but…” he trailed off. Hakyeon shook his head. “He’d still tell one of us if he was sick.”

“So we really should go his house,” Wonsik stated.

Jaehwan’s eyebrows creased in concern. “But what about his dad?” he asked. “He gets angry when we come over.”

“I’m not gonna sit idly wondering whether something bad happened to Taekwoon,” Hakyeon said. He sighed. “Let’s just stop by his house. If anything, we’ll just say that we’re here for school matters and leave it at that.”

Taekwoon’s uncle was the one to answer the door. Hakyeon felt his breath catch in his throat when he noticed the faint scratch marks on the older man’s face. By the way Hongbin tensed up, Hakyeon could tell that Hongbin, and possibly the rest of his friends, noticed the same thing.

“He ran away,” Taekwoon’s uncle answered, not even trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

“Ran away?” Hakyeon asked, looking to his friends to see if they’d heard the same thing. By the surprised looks on their faces, Hakyeon confirmed this wasn’t a part of his imagination.

“He ran away,” the older man repeated. “The ungrateful brat wrote a letter and took off. As if nothing his father ever did was good enough for him.”

Hyuk shook his head in disbelief. “Taekwoon wouldn’t just run away,” he said. “Not without…” Not without telling his friends first. Taekwoon had finally begun to trust in his friends. There’s no way he would just leave and cut them out without an explanation.

Right?

Hakyeon bit his lip. The scratches on the man’s face were clearly from another person, and he was desperate to ask if Taekwoon had given those to them.

“Well he did,” his uncle deadpanned, bringing Hakyeon out of his thoughts. “He left a letter. He ran away when his father needed him the most and he should be ashamed of himself. If you hear from him, make sure you let him know that we don’t want him back here. He’s done enough damage to his family.” WIth those words, Taekwoon’s uncle slammed the door shut.

“He’s lying,” Wonsik said, stating the obvious as they started leaving Taekwoon's house.

The story didn’t make any sense. Taekwoon running away, leaving his father when he was sick sounded absurd enough; but would he really leave without telling any of them?

Why would Taekwoon leave a letter for his father and uncle and not for any of his friends?

“Those scratches on his uncle’s face,” Wonsik continued. “I’m not the only one who noticed those, right?”

“Of course not,” Jaehwan said angrily. His hands curled into fists at the thought. His mind was racing; all of theirs were.

“Taekwoon has a cousin in America that he talks to everyday,” Hakyeon announced suddenly. It helped to change the topic a little. “If we can get a hold of him, that might answer some questions.

“So how would we get a hold of him?” Jaehwan asked.

The boys stood in silence as they pondered that question. Taekwoon was so closed off. Before the five of them had come into his life, was there anyone else he would talk to?

“His job,” Hyuk said suddenly, his eyes widening in realization.

Everyone turned to the youngest, realizing where he might be going with this.

“Maybe his boss heard something from him,” Hyuk continued. “Or...at least someone there could help us get in contact with his cousin?”

Hakyeon nodded. “Hyuk has a point,” he agreed. “Taekwoon especially wouldn’t leave his job without any explanation. He was too dependent on it. We gotta go there now.”

“Table for five?” a waiter asked, guiding the boys to a table before Hakyeo