the friendship code

|where is Lee?|

Joel's POV:

Drenched in sweat, I woke up from my sleep. What a nightmare. But why did it feel so real? As if it had really happened. With shaky hands, I looked at my cell phone. On the bright light of the display, I checked the time. Six o'clock in the morning. I knew there was no point in trying to sleep any longer. Doesn't make much sense anyway. Time to get up. Let's see who is already up. Chris certainly isn't. He's still fast asleep. With some effort, I peeled myself out from under the sheets. On the way to the bathroom, I stumbled a few times over our things, which are spread on the floor. Apparently, neither of us had felt like putting them away before sleeping and just left them there.

After a cold shower, I was finally able to think a little more clearly. Still, I don't want to get this dream out of my head. Hopefully, a good breakfast will help calm my nerves. I quickly threw on some random clothes and trotted towards the kitchen. Weird. I'm sure I closed the door to Lee's room yesterday after my brief detour. But now it's open. Is Lee awake yet? But I don't hear a sound. Extremely suspiciously. Usually, in the morning, you can hear dishes clattering from the kitchen when someone else is awake. Or the splashing of water from the shower. But there is dead silence. OK. Now my stress level is at its peak. With quick steps, I approached Lee's room. The sight there, made my concerns grow. I quickly searched the rest of the rooms. Nevertheless, no trace of her. Nor of Jojo. Panic overcame me. Desperately I tried to get a clear thought. After a few deep breaths, I succeeded only conditionally. But the memories of the nightmare and my worries about Lee didn't make things any easier. Damn it, what am I supposed to do now. If something happened to her, I would never forgive myself. Maybe Yash has an idea where she might be. I frantically ran to Richard and Yashua's room. Upon entering, the door slammed into the wall behind it with flying speed. The two brothers were jolted out of their sleep by the bang. Richard was so startled that he fell out of bed. Groaning, he rubbed his butt.

R: "Hey! What the hell on earth were you doing here? Have you gone insane?"

Y: "Yes. What's the matter? Can't you even sleep in peace?"

J: "Guys! Lee has completely gone "

R: "Huh. Are you really sure about that?"

J: "YES! I just saw her in her room before I went to bed. Jojo was sleeping next to her on the bed. But when I went to the kitchen this morning, her door was open. And I'm sure that yesterday before I left, I pulled it closed."

R: "Maybe she was in the bathroom or something at the time."

J: "That's what I thought, too. But the two of them are nowhere to be found. Not in the bathrooms, not in the kitchen, not in the living room. Didn't find a note or anything like that where she was going either."

Y: "Shit. Did you happen to see her cell phone?"

J: " That' s a good question. Don't think so."

R: "That doesn't sound good. Or, bro. You know her best."

Y: "I'm guessing she went out with Jojo. Hold on. Hand me my cell phone over here. I'll call her sometime. Maybe she'll pick up."

After Rich handed him his cell phone, he dialed her contact. But after a long ring, it went to voicemail. Yash tried again. Again, though, with the same result. On the fourth try, we all realized that this was not going to work.
Y: "Fuck. I think she turned off her cell phone. Or do you hear her cell phone ringing somewhere around here?"
Disappointed, Richard and I shook our heads. Saddened, Yash sighed. He certainly blames himself the most. Unfortunately, no one knew where the two disappeared to. Of course, the unpleasant thoughts came up again. A small glimmer of hope glowed in us since Jojo is in all probability with Lee. Nobody and nothing separates him so fast from her. That much is certain.
In no time the brothers jumped up and together we started to kick the rest of the boys out of their beds. No one knew what Lee's condition was or how she was doing. Only with effort did we manage to rouse Chris from his slumber. But that was to be expected. The boy sleeps like a rock. After twenty minutes we managed to wake Christopher up. As we loudly motioned for him to get up, Tae, Erick, Jimin, Jin, and Hobi woke up from the noise. With half-open eyes, they poke their heads through the doors of their rooms in annoyance. Sorry guys, but the more you find out about what's going on, the better.