anodyne

chapter 19

the second place was the convenience store several meters away. as he was entering the place, his phone buzzed. he pulled it out within a second with a motion that could surely be described as aggressive and accepting the call without even checking the name showed, blurted out :

"doyoungie? where are you? why haven't you called me sooner?"

for some seconds the only answer he got was silence. then jihoon heard a heavy sigh coming from the other side.

"so I guess still nothing?" 

jihoon's head hung down regretfully. 

"it's you mashi. no sign of doyoung here. what about you? did you notify the members?"

"yeah. hyunsuk hyung said we should let the company know about the matter."

jihoon's bit his lower lip. it was a little chapped due to the poor weather condition that afternoon. the cold, blowing wind, and running to and fro constantly caused the lack of liquid in his body.

"not yet. give me some more hours. I have some places to check. he might be somewhere, no he has to be somewhere. he couldn't just evaporate. please do look for him on your own too. hanging up now, see you around mashi."

"see you later hyung, you... just stay safe alright?"

after hearing such a sentence from his friend, thought that he should slow down a little came across his mind. he nodded as if the other was there to see it and briefly replied :

"of course, you too."

he cut the call and sat down on the chair that was there for customers' benefits. he hid his face in his hands and groaned. he tried to find something to take his mind off the worries but everything, absolutely everything reminded him of doyoung, the one that was nowhere to be found.

jihoon didn't lie to mashiho but he didn't tell him the whole truth. yes, he had some places to still check but that meant three in total. and after that? most probably if there is no chance they will need to contact the company which will only lead to worsening consequences. the police will get to know afterward, doyoung's family too without a doubt which the older wanted to avoid not to cause them to lose their minds out of worry.

jihoon could already imagine all these articles, the first pages in newspapers, similar titles on the websites saying"kim doyoung from treasure has gone missing. was he mistreated by his members? the company?" just then a different scenario comes up to jihoon's mind, and here he felt a pang in his heart.

"what if... we will never find him? I will never find him?"

without wasting even a second more, as if this one sentence made him terrified, he started and ran out of the building. he headed towards another location, praying silently that this will be the end of this crucial time.

how wrong he was then.

// ✧ //