Eccedentesiast |NCT MARK LEE| ✔

Chapter 18: Cafuné

|Cafuné|

(Noun) - The act of running your fingers through your lover's hair

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Blah - A/N

'Blah' - Thoughts

"Blah" - Dialogue

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"This is absolute bullshit," Ten snapped, lips curling up into a vicious sneer as he slammed the phone down. "The cops aren't going to do shit until 24 hours are up."

"What the fuck? Why!?" Johnny seethed with rage and got to his feet with so much force that the chair he was sitting on toppled backwards.

Felix's voice wobbled when he spoke up. "This doesn't make sense. Why aren't they looking for her?"

There were dry tear tracks on his face that glistened underneath the fluorescent lighting. His hair was all mussed up from the number of times he ran his hand through it and despair was engraved on his worn face. His parents weren't in a better state than him. There were unshed tears in their eyes and a look of heart-rending worry on their physiognomy. It was the result of knowing their daughter was missing for the past twelve hours.

"She's 18 years old. The law said the police aren't obligated to find a young adult unless they have been missing for 24 hours," Ten replied with barely suppressed fury coating his tone. "Saeyoung could end up dead during these 24 hours because of those fucking useless cops sitting around not doing anything when our daughter is missing!"

"Dad, you need to calm down-" Felix attempted to placate the fuming Thai man but was interrupted by a series of repetitive knocks on their front door.

"Come in," said Johnny. The door swung open and four weary adults and five grim-looking teenagers trudged in with an air of melancholy surrounding them.

"She isn't at the park," Hoseok said solemnly, giving Ten and Johnny an apologetic look.

"Or at school. This time around, we make sure to check every room...but she wasn't there," Jimin said, looking at the carpeted floor dejectedly.

"We looked for her around town and we even asked Jisoo but we still don't know where she is," Jungkook whimpered, his voice cracking as a telltale sign that he was about to break down right there and then. Taehyung instinctively reached for Jungkook's hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

Mark turned away from the sight. There was something too intimate about the scene and it felt like he was intruding by watching them.

Meanwhile, Minji stood at the back, hidden from view so that she could stare forlornly into space without anyone looking at her with concern.

Life was taunting them by making history repeat itself.

First, it was her who had disappeared for several hours, bringing distress upon her family. Now, it was her best friend who had vanished without a trace. Misfortunes kept plaguing her family and Minji couldn't help wondering if she was the cause of it all.

"Minji, sweetie, how are you feeling?" Namjoon's low, soothing voice sounded out, gaining everyone's attention. All eyes turned to the silent girl in the corner.

A quiet Minji was never a good thing.

"I'm fine," Minji croaked out. She could feel Mark's eyes fixated on her. It wasn't hard for the occupants of the room to see through the blatant lie she had just spouted.