This Day | Gyuhao (Threequel to Youth & The Aged)

- 5

| Chapter Five — BLUEJAY! |

"You piece of shit!"

The meeting room door is barely opening before Jay is all up in Minghao's space, throwing him to the floor and straddling him with his fists all clenched. He tugs at his collar, shaking him so he understands that this all happened because of him.

"You piece of shit cocksucker jack—"

"Yah!" Multiple people try to tug him off, Minghao squirming under his hold helplessly. It's pathetic.

"Let go!" Joshua shouts, successfully pulling Jay away with the help of Hansol, "Fighting each other won't bring him back!"

Jay seems to defrost at that, shoulders finally slumping in defeat.

He lets out a breath of exhaustion, backing himself up until he stumbles to slide against the wall, back against the brick.

"What are we supposed to do?" Jay asks.

"Why would you hit him, Minghao?" Hansol asks, face twisted into a look of disappointment. Minghao watches how he crosses his arms, turning away as if he were disgusted.

"I..." Minghao's an asshole. He doesn't even have an excuse, "I-It's my fault." He says instead. It's really stupid, it's the plain truth, but Minghao doesn't know what to say, "He didn't do anything, and I... I-I hit him." He shakes his head, rising to his feet in a clumsy stumble, "I hit him for no reason." It's like he's talking to himself, "I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster. Don't take the blame." Mingyu sighs, "This is everybody's fault. We should've been more aware."

Eunchae shakes her head. She hadn't stopped sobbing since Jungwon took off. It was the same night, but it looked like she'd been crying for weeks, "Everything h-had been so good, and... and finally." She cries, sniffling, "I'm a terrible friend. I had just managed to get over Riki's death.... and now here we are again.... I-I only thought of myself and never bothered to ask Jungwonie how he felt..."

"We all fucked up, Chae-ah. Don't beat yourself up." Umji rubs the girl's back.

"I was the closest to him." Eunchae whines, "You say we all messed up equally, but he relied on me.... he trusted me and loved me just as much and I treated him horribly."

Nobody says anything, not until Jay finally breaks the silence, "We have to find him." He says, glaring at Minghao. He honestly hadn't stopped, "I don't care if I have to kill again, we're fucking finding him."

"I know." Minghao nods, "We'll find him."

"Where could he have gone?" Wonwoo asks, "We only have this location in Chicago."

"I don't know." Mingyu answers for Minghao since he's too overwhelmed to utter a single response. He holds his waist to bring him back to Earth, "But that means he's not far, and he's on foot, too. Let's send out our main troops immediately." He looks at Jihoon, Seungcheol and the others.

"Understood." Joshua responds, "Load up." He tells Seungcheol, Wonwoo, Jihoon, and Hansol, "He couldn't have gone far."

And then, they're all leaving.

"I'm going." Jay says, rising to his feet to follow them. Minghao doesn't stop him.

"Me too." Eunchae wipes at her eyes, trailing behind Jay like a lost puppy. She doesn't get stopped either. Minghao won't hold anyone back. Not when Jungwon taking off was his fault.

"Stop." Mingyu says suddenly.

Minghao blinks, eyes zoned out on the floor, "What?"

"I can practically hear you blaming yourself." Mingyu tells him, "It's not your doing. You just heard everybody... We're all at fault."

Minghao doesn't respond for a moment, settling for swallowing down the lump in his throat, "I hit him, Mingyu. I slapped him."

"I know." Mingyu sighs, "That... That wasn't okay, Hao, but it's not your fault. He ran away on his own."

"Because I didn't notice—"

"Because we didn't notice." Mingyu corrects him, eyes pure in desperation to get him to understand.

"Get away from me." Minghao growls, pushing Mingyu away when he tries to pull him into an embrace, "I don't deserve to be comforted." He shakes his head.

"Minghao—"

"I'm going." Minghao sniffles, following the others, groaning when a hand catches his wrist, "Mingyu, let go."

"But—"

"Going out to look for him is the least I could do." Minghao rips his arm away, "Don't try and stop me. Just watch the kids until we're all back, okay?" He cocks his head towards Umji, "She'll stay with you."

And then, Mingyu's forced to watch him go.