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

- 29

| Chapter Twenty - Nine — I shouldn't have slept |

"So you just take this and fold it... and then you're gonna take the left flap and fold it over the right." Riki lifts up his contraption, "Like so. See?"

Eunchae stares blankly, her work a complete mess, "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Eun-ah, how do you not know how to build a paper airplane?" Chaewon chuckles, straw between her lips as she slurps her breakfast smoothie.

Then, from across the table, Shotaro stands up so fast it makes the whole table curse, gasping so dramatically it beats an additional laugh out of everybody, "I did it..." He says it like he's beat one of the hardest world records, throwing his airplane through the air and squealing when it maintains a straight path.

"I don't get it." Wonbin bites his tongue, focusing on flipping the wings, "They keep bending, man..."

"Like this." Chaewon laughs, scooting closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder as she explains how to fix it.

Riki looks at Eunchae, jutting a thumb, "When did that happen?"

"Last night." Shotaro whispers back instead, leaning over Eunchae.

"And they're already that close?" Eunchae widens her eyes.

"Let's say it was a long time coming." Shotaro sighs, "And now I'm a 3rd wheel." He slowly looks at Eunchae and Riki, lips pursed, "Well, now a 5th wheel—"

A pair of quickened footsteps suddenly cut through the moment, Mingyu speed walking past the kitchen as fast as he can, face twisted in a look nobody can explain and hands by his sides, clammy and shaking.

As soon as the man rounds the corner, Riki's the first to go after him, the others trailing behind him like dominos.

"Hyung?" Riki's eyes widen as he watches the older slide up one of the weapon racks, swiping so many guns from the shelves he's close to running out of places to put them, "What are you doing?"

"He's gone." Mingyu says, cursing under his breath, "Hao's gone." He slams the rack down, Riki flinching.

Mingyu walks past everybody, paying them no mind.

"What the hell is going on?" Chaewon asks, "Where'd he go?"

Mingyu doesn't answer, instead stumbles down the hallway into his room. They all watch him grab a bag, watch the way he stuffs the guns inside, not bothering to add any clothes or other necessary trip items.

"Hyung?" Riki urges.

"Hao sunbaenim is gone?" Eunchae asks, gripping the doorframe in surprise.

"Yes." Mingyu answers quickly, zipping up his bag and tossing it around his shoulder, "And I'm going after him."

"What? You don't even know where he went." Riki says it like it's obvious.

Mingyu tenses up then, gritting his jaw, "You know damn well where he went."

Riki pales and Eunchae covers her mouth. Wonbin and Chaewon stay silent and Shotaro runs down the hallway, presumably to grab their leader in a hurry.

"You can't just leave." Riki says, "Hyung, let us go with you."

"Fuck no."

"Why not?" Eunchae asks, "Our leader is missing. We can't go through this shit again." She tells him, "No, we won't go through this shit again. Fight us all you want, but we're helping you bring him back."