Lost & Found

Chapter Sixteen

Present Day
22-Years-Old

He'd had lunch at Aera's apartment, going over what had happened with Sunhee. He was telling Aera all about how he found he wasn't sad, just simply relieved to be rid of Sunhee now.

Then, he'd gone back to his studio and added his boss and several coworkers back into his phone contacts. He began working on a new song, which helped his shot nerves. He'd always found such comfort in music.

And then he'd been heading home, walking again just because he wanted to, when he received a call from Aera.

"Hey!" he said happily. "How was the rest of your d – "

"YOONGI!"

Yoongi stopped in his tracks. Aera was crying. No, sobbing. And she'd just yelled out his name like it was torturous to say anything at all.

"Where are you?" Yoongi asked, more and more worry beginning to consume him.

"I-I'm at the daycare!"

"Okay. What happened?"

She answered, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Aera," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "I can't understand you. Can you try to calm down a bit?"

"They took him!"

Yoongi's heart dropped. If she was at the daycare, there was only one 'him' Aera could be referring to.

"A, it'll be okay. I'm on my way there right now," he said, taking off toward a nearby bus stop. "We'll figure something out, I promise."

But all Aera could do was continue to sob. "I'll be there as soon as possible," Yoongi said as he boarded a bus. "Stay on the phone with me, A."

He said that for her benefit, to try to keep her calm. It was certainly not for his own, as listening to her absolutely break down was excruciating. The bus could not possibly move any slower in his opinion. He kept willing it to speed up.

By the time the bus had made it and Yoongi had jumped off of it, Aera was sitting on the bus bench, phone to her ear, quietly hiccupping sobs. Yoongi rushed to her, sitting down beside her and pulling her into a hug.

"What happened?" he asked. "Why did this happen?"

Aera shook her head. "I brought him here this morning, like normal," she said so quietly, he almost couldn't hear her. "No one said anything. No one acted like anything was amiss. They said his caseworker and a police officer came by around lunchtime and took him away." Aera pressed her face into the crook of Yoongi's neck. "No one called. No one said anything until I got here to pick him up." She started shaking as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Let it out, A. It's okay."

"How could this happen?! How could they do this without informing me?! If I knew they were going to have to take him, I would've prepared a bag for him. His toys, his clothes...his damn toothbrush! He has nothing again now!"

"Do you have the caseworker's number? Can you call her and ask about what happened?"

"I tried. She's not answering. I don't know if she's just busy or if she's avoiding me." Aera let out another tortured cry. "Yoongs, what if I never see him again?!"

"Shh," Yoongi said, holding her close. "You'll see him again. I know you will. We just need to figure out what happened. C'mon, let's go home. You can try the caseworker again when we get there."