The Two Kings

To Catch a Leaf

Parker had been missing for days. The fact gnawed at everyone, a silent weight none of them could shake. MK, Mei, and the others had scoured the city and beyond, retracing every step he might have taken, calling his name until their voices were hoarse. But no matter how hard they tried—no matter how desperately they searched—it was as though he had vanished into thin air.  

Mei leaned against the counter in Pigsy's noodle shop, her phone clenched tightly in her hands as she stared at the screen, waiting for a call, a text, anything. The tension in her shoulders was visible, her usual fiery energy dampened by the crushing weight of uncertainty.  

MK paced back and forth near the door, his staff clutched in one hand as if he were preparing to charge out and search again. "This doesn't make sense," he muttered for the hundredth time, his voice tinged with frustration and worry. "Parker wouldn't just disappear like this. He'd say something. He'd leave a note or... or—something!"  

"Maybe he didn't have a choice," Mei said quietly, her voice breaking the silence like a fragile thread. She didn't look up, her eyes fixed on the black screen of her phone.  

MK stopped mid-stride, his grip tightening around his staff. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, his voice sharper than he intended.  

Mei flinched but finally lifted her head to meet his gaze. "I mean, what if something happened to him? What if—what if he's in trouble, MK?"  

The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. MK's jaw tightened, his free hand clenching into a fist. He didn't want to consider that possibility, but the gnawing fear in his chest refused to be silenced.  

Across the room, Sandy sighed deeply, his usual calm demeanor strained under the weight of the situation. "We've checked everywhere we can think of," he said, his voice gentle but resolute. "If he doesn't want to be found, then..." He hesitated, choosing his next words carefully. "Then maybe we need to think about why."  

"Why?" MK snapped, his frustration bubbling to the surface. "What are you saying, Sandy? That Parker just... doesn't want us to find him? That he's—what—hiding?"  

Sandy didn't respond immediately, his gaze soft and understanding. "Sometimes people disappear because they think it's the only way to protect the ones they care about," he said finally. "Maybe Parker thinks he's doing the right thing."  

MK opened his mouth to argue, but the words died in his throat. He looked down at the staff in his hands, the weight of Sandy's words settling over him like a lead blanket.  

"That's stupid," he muttered, though the conviction in his voice had faded. "He knows we're here for him. He knows we'd help him, no matter what."  

"Sometimes," Mei said softly, "people forget that when they're hurting."  

The room fell silent again, the only sound the distant hum of the city outside.  

But Mei wasn't entirely wrong. Deep down, MK knew Parker had been struggling, even if he tried to hide it behind small smiles and quiet reassurances. There had been cracks in the mask he wore, glimpses of something darker that none of them had dared to press him about.  

And now, Parker was gone.  

"We'll find him," MK said suddenly, his voice firm despite the tremble in it. "I don't care what it takes. We'll find him, and we'll bring him back."  

Mei nodded, the fire returning to her eyes as she pushed herself off the counter. "Damn right we will."  

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