below the surface

~Three~

Taeyong's pov

After yesterday's events, I couldn't sleep, I beat my alarm in the morning. Usually, I get at least two to three consecutive hours of sleep. Last night though, I probably only managed 30 sporadic minutes. I just kept falling asleep only to wake up literal minutes later, it was awful. I even took three melatonin gummies, way over the recommendation. I was exhausted, but my body basically refused sleep. I barely managed to get myself out of bed. I didn't bother checking for snow. It didn't matter.

But what if Yuta was lost outside? He cant survive the snow, especially for so many nights. I tried to just drown my thoughts as I quickly showered. I know it's cold, but I just grabbed a black thin long sleeve and jacket, blue jeans for once. I forgot to do laundry I guess. I live here, I can pass it off as natural resilience. If anything it's weird how much everyone here has to dress up when it snows. It's only three to four months out of the year it snows, but still, people should be stronger. I saw both my grandparents were walking around, but I didn't spare many glances. After getting my bag and phone, I was outside. Usually, Kai texts me first in the morning, he must have slept in. I don't blame him, He can't handle the sleep loss I always deal with.

My body is borderline trained to ignore sleep deprivation. Once I made it to kai's house I knocked on the door. I waited for the door to bust open. I waited for Kai to grab me and pull me inside. His parents were already off to work, they work night shifts, so they actually get home around the same time as Kai gets out of school. I started to worry when Kai never came out. He never fails to be up on time, even if he's not completely ready. By now I would be picking his outfit so we can make it to school on time. I lit up when the door started to open but was confused when I saw Kai's Mom. I guess she has Tuesday off. "Oh, Taeyong! Come in, You must be freezing out there in that tiny jacket." wheres Kai?

"If you wanted to walk with Kai, I'm sorry but he's actually not here." I think My entire body stopped when she said that. Her tone told me everything, She sounded concerned, worried, scared. Kai is gone, he's gone like Yuta, isn't he? "He just vanished in the night, we ate dinner together, then he was gone when I woke up." Where could he have possibly gone? I think Kai's mother was getting concerned with how quiet I was, but I didn't know what to say to her. I just stood in shock. I need Kai at school with me, We go together every day. Even when one of us got sick, we visited each other. Just to make sure the other wasn't lonely. "Hey cheer up, maybe he went to that one boy's house... Yuta! Yeah, you three seem to be good friends." Does she even know about Yuta? Doesn't anyone care about him? All I could manage was a small unconvincing "maybe."

She gave my shoulder a little pat. You know Kai is clearly his mother's son. Those two always work to make sure everyone is happy, but sadly her reassurance won't work on me. Kai is the only person who could convince me everything is fine, even if the world was on fire. I could be dying and Kai could still calm me down. "How about you go get one of his jackets, I know he wouldn't want you to be cold at school." He would hate it if I got 'cold'. I silently agreed with Kai's mother by nodding. I went up to his room, turning his light on. I shut his door when I saw the state of his room. His school stuff was still at his desk, his phone was still on his desk. He has no way to contact anyone. My hands slightly shook as I tried to come up with some kind of practical excuse. I noticed his closet light was on. I slowly pushed the door open, My anxiety spiking when I saw his clothes completely thrown everywhere. I could notice a lot was missing, and his gym bag wasn't hung up on the back of the door like it usually was. He packed before leaving.

Kai intentionally left with a plan. But where could he possibly be? I fell to my knees in front of one of the hoodies on the floor. He made a rule a while ago. I get one hoodie at a time, otherwise, he would have nothing to wear. It was a funny little rule since it was too often I would get ahold of half his hoodies. I've always been bad with returning them. I picked up the hoodie, it was a school one. The football players all had one, It had our school name on the front in the corner, the back had his name and number. Of course, he's number one. I know this isn't dirty, It was pulled from a hanger, his dirty laundry goes in the hamper in the far corner of the closet. Red isn't my color, but I can settle for this.