Chapter 24

"Why are you awake already?" Leo's father asked his son as soon as he saw him rushing down the flight of stairs. Leo, however, did not answer him and only checked up on the kitchen from left to right as quickly as he came in. Leo's father almost asked him the question again just in case the boy did not hear him but Leo frantically talked over him, "Where is he? Where is N?"

Leo's father tried to think for a moment. "Weren't you two together in your room? Why are you asking –"

He did not even finish what he was saying as his son already left the room to examine the other rooms. Leo's father watched his son panic for the first time in his entire life. Never had he seen Jung Taekwoon so nervous and scared. He remembered his wife's words about not getting in the way when Leo was not his 'normal' self and the possible consequences that he might face if he were to intervene. So Leo's father chose to just step aside and wait until his son needed him. And besides, he had to be preparing to leave their house soon anyway since he had to pick up his wife and other daughter from the airport. 

Leo was sure that he had checked every nook and cranny of his house and he had yet found his lifelong friend. He rushed back to his bedroom, hoping to find at least one thing that could lead him to where N went. Leo, however, only found the clothes that he lent his lifelong friend neatly folded on top of his drawer and it had a note that said, 'Thank you' on top of it but that was it. He crumpled the small sticky note in his hand and threw it right across the room angrily. Leo then gave up on the hopes that N was only hiding in his house somewhere and dialed Hongbin's phone number. He did not care if it was too early or disturbing the latter's family – he had to be sure that N was safe.

He waited for a couple of rings until finally, someone went and answered his call, "I'm sorry for calling this early but I may speak with Hongbin?" Leo said in haste.

"You're too early..." A female voice groaned. "We don't wake up this early for school... Wait. I'll go wake him up. Who's this...?"

"It's Leo. Taekwoon. I'm from his school," Leo answered, tapping on the railing of their stairs with the tip of his fingers. He waited and waited and waited and – 

"Hyung...?" He heard Hongbin on the other line answer groggily. "Why are you –"

"Hakyeon. Where is Hakyeon?" Leo demanded impatiently. "Tell me that you know where he is!"

"I... I... I don't know, hyung...?" The boy stammered, "He didn't really – I thought that you were with him. Ravi said that –"

"Can you call Hyuk right now and ask him? Please," Leo begged, again, interrupting Hongbin from his reply.

"W-Wait! So you're trying to tell me that N-hyung left your house without telling you anything? Wouldn't it be logical that he'd go back to his house?" Hongbin reasoned out.

"Hongbin-ah," Leo hissed in annoyance. "Hakyeon's house is not good for him. Do you understand? Why do you think he has bruises? Why –"

"B-But I thought that... I-I didn't hurt him to that extent from last time," Hongbin spluttered, panic pronounced with each word he spoke. "I-I didn't mean to hurt him –"

"What? What did you do to him?" Leo raised his voice at him. "You have no idea what's going on and you still hurt him? Bruised him?" He pinched the bridge of his noise and let out an exasperated sigh. "Give me Sanghyuk's number. Give it to me," Leo ordered furiously and with that, the latter complied and dictated the numbers for Sanghyuk's sister's mobile phone. After that, he hanged up the phone to dial the number that he just acquired. Leo did not even hear a single ring as already, the operator told him that the number that he was trying to reach was unavailable.

"I'll be going ahead, Taekwoon! Take care of your sisters while I'm away!" Leo's father shouted from downstairs. "Make sure that they wake up or your mother will be very upset!"

"Wait!" Leo called, running back down to catch up to his father who was now by the front door. His father was putting on his shoes when Leo arrived. "Can I not go to school today? Please... Just for today. I need to look for N..."

The man smiled at him and reached out to ruffle his son's hair. "You need to go to school, Taekwoon-ah. I'm sure that your friend went back home. His parents must have been worried about him." Leo flinched in an instant, taking steps back away from his father. Still, the man continued, "After school, your friend will meet you like he usually does because he'll be going to school. So you have to go too, right?"

Leo knitted his eyebrows. He found his father's words unbelievable. Of course, it was obvious since he knew nothing. How would he understand the weight of the situation? Nonetheless, Leo nodded even if he really did not feel like doing that: pretending to be a good son and acting as if he actually agreed to what his father said. Somehow, he understood his lifelong friend's reasons for lying countless of times or how N would smile in the presence of his mother.

Leo watched his father's car leave their garage, completely at loss. He did not know where to start looking since his lifelong friend surely was not that stupid to actually go back to his house. If not, then he was most likely going to contact his friends. And the only two that came to Leo's mind were Hongbin and Sanghyuk. But what if he really was just fussing over nothing? N was not the type of person who would leave without notice – Leo knew that –

"Was that father just now...?" Leo heard one of his sisters speak behind him and he nodded.

"He's early..." She commented before carrying on with her daily routine. Again, leaving Leo to drown in his thoughts.

Hongbin did not dare to speak to Leo when he saw him at their school's greenhouse. The latter seemed absorbed in his thoughts and he reckoned that Leo still had not found N. As much as Hongbin wanted to ask what the current situation was, he decided not to because he was afraid of hearing Leo shouting at him again. But when he stole a quick glance at his hyung, their eyes met and Leo was beckoning him to come rather than dismissing him. Hongbin hesitated on the spot but obliged in the end.

"I apologise about this morning, hyung..." Hongbin started as soon as he was close to where the older was sitting. "I was still –"

"It's okay..." Leo said, staring at the red knot on the former's little finger. "You did nothing wrong."

Hongbin took his words as a sign of invitation to sit next to him so he did. "I... I take it that you still don't know N-hyung's whereabouts? Hyuk also hasn't called me today so I'm not sure if he has any idea where he is. I was thinking that maybe we could wait for him and his sister after school with Ravi so..." He stopped when he noticed that Leo was shaking his head. "Why?" Hongbin asked.

"You know Sanghyuk more than I do. If he knows, he would have already told you something," Leo said simply, taking Hongbin's hand without asking. He observed the boy's very thin red thread and compared how it differed from his own. "Has Ravi told you anything about your own? Or has he only spoken to you about his or mine or others'?"

Hongbin looked down at their han