LOST [MiChaeng]

chapter 6

Eight months later.

“Okay, so I’ll come over tomorrow to help you move the stuff in your room,” Dahyun informed Chaeyoung, the two sitting in the living room of Chaeyoung’s house, discussing Chaeyoung’s moving plans.

The year was almost over, and with that came graduation. And along with graduation, came college. Chaeyoung had been accepted into the art university she had applied to, and it required all students to live in apartments or houses nearby campus, if they weren’t going to live in the dorms. The dorms, however, were outrageously expensive, so that wasn’t an option. Plus, Chaeyoung’s house was two hours away from university, so obviously, staying there wasn’t an option either.

Thankfully, Dahyun had already moved to an apartment only fifteen minutes away from the university. Her college, coincidentally, was not too far away from Chaeyoung’s. Even better, in that same apartment, all the rooms were occupied by their friend group – Nayeon, Jihyo, Sana, Momo, Tzuyu, and Jeongyeon. Chaeyoung bought a room eagerly, and now was faced with the obstacle of moving all her furniture there. She decided she would start living there before the year ended, to get used to the new atmosphere, and also because the others had already started living there as well.

Well, if Chaeyoung was being honest, the furniture wasn’t the only thing she had to deal with.

There was Mina.

Just five months ago, Mina had moved out of Chaeyoung’s house. Fortunately, the two had made up, and even though their relationship wasn’t as tight as it used to be, it was close enough. After escorting Mina to her house several times, and not being attacked by Seokjin, Chaeyoung declared that all was safe and Mina could return to her house. She was skeptical that Seokjin would really leave her alone, so she added that she’d visit Mina every two hours, which she did. Mina reluctantly agreed to the decision, and after taking all Chaeyoung’s former clothes (Mina had protested against taking them home, but Chaeyoung really didn’t care, plus it almost, in a weird way, excited Chaeyoung – knowing that Mina would be wearing her clothes sent a strange tingle down her spine.), she permanently moved out and back to her house.

Chaeyoung and Mina would call each other every day, despite the multiple visits made by Chaeyoung, and they’d always update each other on what was going on in their lives. Not too long ago – and not too long ago meaning about two months ago – Mina told Chaeyoung how she had been accepted into the prestigious university for aspiring ballet dancers, and how that university was only two minutes away from Chaeyoung’s. She then asked if there was any place she could stay, as it was required for students to live no more than ten minutes away from the university. Chaeyoung, at that point, had already been informed about the apartment, and since there was one more room left, she offered it to Mina a few days later, who answered with a “I’ll let you know.” It was strangely vague and mysterious, but Chaeyoung figured Mina was busy at the time, and ignored it.

Again, this was two months ago. Mina hadn’t talked to Chaeyoung in two months.

Chaeyoung sent a dozen texts each day. She called Mina about three times every hour, worried something had happened. And her worry only increased everytime she was answered by Mina’s voicemail – “Hi, this is Mina...please leave a message and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible.”

So, for Mina, did that mean more than two months wasn’t soon enough?

What’s more, was that Chaeyoung had no idea where Mina had gone. According to her parents, she had moved out of her house, and none of her friends knew where she went. The last text Jihyo had gotten from her was from a month ago, and like the last text Chaeyoung had received, it was mysterious and vague. Nayeon, Momo, and Sana said the same – the last text they got from Mina was unlike her. The language was off, and nothing seemed right about it. Tzuyu reported that she had gotten a weird text from a random number saying that Mina was, apparently, “happier than she had ever been before.” Dahyun and Jeongyeon got the same texts as well, around the same time Tzuyu did.