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The clock read 11:30 and that caused Youngmin to panic. At this point, his heart could not stop beating and his knees grew weak. His eyes also started to become really shaky as his eyes were glued onto his phone screen that read the last message Joo sent.
"Donghyun, walk to the dorms." Youngmin states as he hands over his stuff to Donghyun who has a worried expression on his face.
"Hyung-"
"Go home now."
Without saying anymore, Donghyun exits the house immediately and walks home.
Youngmin on the other hand, stays inside the house and calls Joo. As expected, there was no answer. A few minutes later, Minho and Tae come walking in with plain expressions on their face. Once they're heads raise up and see Youngmin, they couldn't say any words but give him a sorrowful look.
Something doesn't feel right.
"If you're looking for Joo, don't try." Minho says as he let his head hang low again.
Youngmin notices that their eyes were red and a bit swollen and of course Youngmin knew Joo probably looked worse.
Tae comes up to Youngmin and whispers something in his ear before giving a small pat on the shoulder and heading for his bed room.
Minho completely ignores his own brother and Youngmin, then rushes to his room following with a big slam on the door.
"She told me she's at some patio." Tae says quietly for he already knew that Youngmin was gonna look for her regardless of what Minho said. "I'm pretty sure you know where it is."
With a faint smile, Youngmin thanks Tae and leaves the house quickly heading for the patio.
While walking, Youngmin could only feel sorry for not being responsible enough to check up on Joo. He curses to himself as he quickens up his pace to the patio where he sees a small figure sitting down. Just like how he saw Joo before leaving her house, she's seen hugging her knees against her chest with her chin resting upon it. As he gets closer he can see that her face was pail. Her eyes seem normal though, which he still doesn't think is normal to him because why were Minho and Tae so worn-out looking?
"Joo?" Youngmin says, barely audible for her to hear, yet in this quiet evening, you can hear just a breath within the air.
Joo's eyes make it's way to Youngmin who was now standing in front of her with his eyes shaking.
She didn't glare at him. Nor did she give him any look that gave off a vibe that she didn't want him there.
"Yes?" She replies, almost so casual as if nothing's wrong which makes Youngmin completely confused.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault." Holding back the sadness that was engulfing her happiness, Joo forces a smile on her face. "It's bound to happen anyways."
But as soon as she says those words, tears start to stream down her cheeks nonstop. She kept her smile, but the tears showed it all. It showed everything.
"I-" Youngmin was then interrupted by a small hiccup from Joo who was crying with her still forced smile.
"Nothing could've stopped it in the first place. No one's at fault."
Everything happened so quickly that Youngmin wasn't able to think of what to do next? Can he hug her? Can he give her more comforting words to calm her down? But before he could reach out Joo's smile fades away and she buries her head in her arms. There's no sobbing heard or anything. Just soft sniffles here and there and the late night grew quiet.
As Youngmin took one step forward in order to get to Joo, he stops as she softly says something.
