Book of Stories Long and Short

Fourth Prompt

Dearest reader.. Before we begin, some things need to be said!

Many characters in this story refer to other characters as "Hyung." This word means 'older brother' in Korean and is an honorific you add to someone's name (only if they're older than you, you're close, and the both of you are male!). Another commonly-used word is "-ah." That is another honorific but used between people the same age or younger.

Also, we don't live in France.. Sorry if something is inaccurate! Thanks~

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"Insoo-ah!" Leader, Minhyuk, called into the streets of Paris.

Korean boyband, Mistletoe, had a concert in the City of Lights, and the group had decided to check out what the city had to offer. However, they had lost their youngest member, and not a single member spoke a word of French. Luckily, finding the maknae wouldn't be too difficult.

Minhyuk rapidly ran around, searching for the group's pride and joy while the other three watched. They didn't know how they could help as the leader wouldn't answer them.

"Hyung.. How can we help? Maybe people have seen him.." Member, Jihoon, called.

Minhyuk ignored him as he continued running and shouting for the youngest. The missing member, Insoo, wandered off and forgot to bring his phone. A common mistake they all made.

Eventually, Taejun reached out and pulled Minhyuk to the side. The eldest instructed their leader to calm down and converse with the rest of the group. Minhyuk unwillingly complied.

They talked about their current whereabouts and where Insoo could've gone.

"He might've ventured around the rifle- Eiffel  Tower." Jihoon corrected himself before almost facing the wrath that was the infamous Grammar-Police, Kim Donghoon.

The second eldest smirked as Jihoon proved his lessons of grammar a success.

Minhyuk shook his head, claiming that Insoo wouldn't have been able to go that far that quickly.

The quartet silenced themselves as they each settled on an area to search, returning to their meet-up spot without intel on the youngest. Taejun clapped his hands together as an invisible lightbulb lit brightly above his head. He pulled up a picture of Insoo on his cellphone and smiled:

"Guys.. Why don't we ask around?"

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Minutes later, the four boys found themselves with their noses in a virtual French dictionary, using their English-speaking leader to speak with the locals in an attempt to find Insoo.

The maknae in question was spotted wandering around where they had decided to meet up. However, Insoo had left the spot before the others showed up.

"This is hopeless!" Minhyuk cried. "We'll never find our child!"

Donghoon silenced the dramatic leader, throwing an insult his way as they returned to the last place they had been. They restarted their quest and resumed asking around. Luckily, someone recognized them from an advertisement and offered to help them find Insoo. The person miraculously spoke English, French, and even Korean. Eventually, they found the youngest.

Minhyuk and Jihoon immediately engulfed Insoo in a massive, bone-crushing bear hug as they thanked the person who had helped them. Donghoon reacted in a more "idol-ly" way, while Taejun nearly killed him. "Park Insoo.. Don't you ever do that again, or I'll revoke your ice cream."

From that day on, the members each wore flashy name cards on their backs, preventing them from ever being lost ever again.. That is, until Insoo tripped, ripped the card, and got lost.

Then they just gave up.

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Word count: 555

Author: Felix Xander-Jones