A Waste

~Kyuhyun POV~

“Are you sure his flight is landing at 3?” Kibum asked Zhou Mi for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Yes! I’m positive!” Zhou Mi exclaimed, “He told me before he left! And I looked it up online!”

Kibum shrugged, “Just checking.” I rolled my eyes. He’s been “checking” for the past hour now. It’s already 3:30 and there’s no sign of a plane from his hometown.

“Wait, it just landed,” Zhou Mi said, looking at the board near the luggage claim. I smiled. Come on, Hankyung-hyung. We need to see you...

“Where is he?” I asked, watching as people started filing into the luggage claim. I was looking for a guy with a hat and sunglasses on, trying to stay unnoticed. But, there was no man looking like that.

“Hey, he looks familiar,” Kibum said, pointing to a man talking on a phone, “I’ve seen him with Hankyung-hyung before...”

“Yeah, that’s Sun Le!” Zhou Mi exclaimed. He started running to him and I followed. If we stuck close to him, then he must know where Hankyung-hyung is!

“Sun Le,” Zhou Mi greeted, waving. Sun Le looked surprised to see us.

“Oh, Zhou Mi,” he said, blinking, then looked at Kibum and me, “And you’re Kyuhyun. And Kibum...”

“You remember?” I asked, surprised. I only met him briefly a few times, and who knows if Kibum has met him before...

“I never forget a face,” Sun Le chuckled, “So, what brings you here?”

“We’re actually looking for Han Geng,” Zhou Mi explained, “Do you know where he is?”

Sun Le frowned, “I’ve been wondering the same thing. He didn’t make his flight.”

“What?!” I exclaimed in Korean at the same time Zhou Mi yelled it in Chinese.

“So he’s still with family?” Zhou Mi asked.

Sun Le shook his head, “I don’t know. I tried calling him, but his phone is disconnected. And his mother said that he left for the airport...”

“So he’s MIA,” I said, throwing my hands up. Kibum raised an eyebrow at me. He wasn’t following the conversation.

“Ah, thank you, Sun Le,” Zhou Mi said. He nodded.

“Please, if you hear from him or find him, call me. I’m really worried about him...”

“We will, and same for you,” Zhou Mi replied.

“I will. Take care.” He waved and then left the airport. Zhou Mi then turned back to Kibum and me.

“Where is he?” I asked, more to myself than to anyone else.

“So...he’s not here?” Kibum asked, getting the idea of what we were talking about.

“Yeah,” Zhou mi explained, “He didn’t make his flight.”

“Should we go to his hometown then?” Kibum asked. I sighed.

“Who knows if he’s even there,” I said, “And if he isn’t, where could he be?”

“Maybe he knows we’re here,” Kibum suggested, “And he doesn’t want to come back.”

“How would he know we were waiting for him though?” Zhou Mi asked, “I didn’t contact him.”

“And we’re not allowed to contact him,” I muttered. Zhou Mi raised an eyebrow.

“Company rules,” Kibum explained.

“Well that’s stupid,” Zhou Mi scoffed. Kibum nodded in agreement. I was thinking. Maybe we should go look for him? It might be easier to persuade him to come back if he isn’t in a venue that is packed with screaming fans.

Just as I was about to tell them my idea, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and frowned at the caller ID. Why was he calling? I pressed the answer button and held the phone to my ear, walking away from Kibum and Zhou Mi so I could talk to him.

“Hello?”

“Kyuhyun-ah...”

“What do you want?”

“Where are you?”

“You know I can’t tell you that...”

“Screw this, Kyuhyun! You need to get back here, now!”

“I told you, Hyung. This is going to take months...”

“Well then you need to hurry up! This month long journey you have planned needs to end within the next three weeks!”

“Three weeks?! Why?!”

“Because...Aish, Hyung stop it! You can’t walk on your own!” He started screaming at someone else.

“Who’s with you?”

“Heechul-hyung...it’s a long story. Look, you need to get back here before September 1^st, Kyuhyun-ah.”

As Kyuhyun left to talk to whoever had called him, Zhou Mi was pacing in front of me.

“Should we go find him?” Zhou Mi asked.

“Who? Hankyung-hyung? I say no. It’s obvious he doesn’t want to be found,” I said, sitting on the bench nearby.

“But maybe he stayed longer there than expected?”

“You heard Sun Le. Hankyung’s mother had said he went to the airport. That was the last we know of him.”

“So, he went to the airport, but didn’t get on the plane? Why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything about him anymore...” I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees, holding my face in my hands. What happened to you, Hyung? What happened to the happy, supportive Hankyung that I’ve always known?

“We’ll find him, Kibum-ah,” Zhou Mi said, patting my back, “Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried about him...” I said. I wasn’t. Hankyung was a big boy. He knew how to take care of himself. And he was obviously doing well with his solo career. But...

My gaze drifted to Kyuhyun, who was still talking on the phone. I know how he feels. I want to help him see this through. I want to return to Super Junior with the Kyuhyun and four other members by my side, not three. I want the full fifteen Super Junior too...fourteen won’t cut it.

Just then, Kyuhyun ran back to us, his face pale. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.

“What’s wrong, Kyuhyun-ah?” I asked him, seeing him. Zhou Mi stood up with me, staring at Kyuhyun. He looked like he was going to throw up any minute.

“Change of plans,” Kyuhyun whispered, “We need to get to Canada, now.”

“Why?” I asked.

“What’s going on?” Zhou Mi followed.

“We don’t have time anymore,” Kyuhyun said, softly. He was staring off into space as if he was trying to comprehend what he must have just heard.

“Who was on the phone?” I asked.

Kyuhyun shook his head, “That’s unimportant. What is important is us getting a flight to Canada. We need to hurry.” Kyuhyun started running to the flight desk, probably to reserve us a flight.

“Kyuhyun!” I shouted, running after him. Zhou Mi was right behind me. We finally reach him right before he reserved us a flight.

“Stop, think for a second!” I yelled at him.

“We don’t have time!” he shouted, “We have three weeks to get Henry and Kangin! We don’t have time to worry about Hankyung!”

“Why?” Zhou Mi asked, eyes wide at Kyuhyun’s odd behavior, “Guīxián, what is going on?!” He held Kyuhyun’s shoulders, making sure he faced him. Kyuhyun took a deep breath.

“Heechul-hyung is leaving,” Kyuhyun said, tears in his eyes, “He’s entering the army on September 1^st.” I felt as if my world had shattered. Heechul...was leaving? September 1^st...that’s in three weeks! If we don’t get to him before then...

“If we don’t get back before then,” Kyuhyun said, as if reading my mind, “Everything we’ve done to bring us together again will be a waste."