cult.

ONE: two

normally, mark would be the one to drive renjun home. sometimes, their whole friend group would tag along, and sometimes even hang out after school. it was something that renjun had always looked forward to. he looked forward to spending time with mark.

but now that he's gone, the end of the school day became unbearable for him. he walked out of the school building and searched for any of his friends that he could walk home with. he scanned the busy crowd of students who were just as eager to go home as he was. after a few moments of searching, he eventually spotted his friends huddled together beside jeno's car (which wasn't too far away from him).
he waved his hands, hoping that at least one of them would notice his presence. he saw jisung and donghyuck cast a glance at him and then make direct eye contact. but as soon as he took a step forward to join them, he saw their eye contact shift away immediately-- almost in an anxious manner. he also took notice in jisung mumbling something to the rest of the group, and they all took a swift glance at him before hopping in the car as quickly as they could.

renjun sadly sighed as he watched them drive off. he figured maybe he pissed them off because of lunch, which was something he was able to understand. he began to reach for his phone which resided in his coat pocket... he had to get home somehow, so calling his parents seemed to be the only option left-- even if he would have to wait an hour or so...

he scrolled through his messenger app to find his mother's contact when he laid eyes on a text conversation between him and mark. the last text was sent on friday night by mark. his finger was hovering over their conversation, as renjun contemplated whether or not it'd be a good idea to look over their texts.

yes, he missed his friend so, so much, and he just wanted to hear from him again. but he knew that jaemin was right when he told him to have faith that he would come back. he could already hear jaemin's voice in his head telling him that reading their texts would not bring him back and that it would make things worse.

and yet, he decided to look regardless. he peeked through every conversation they had that Friday:

10:30 AM
RENJUN: hey could you drop me off at work instead of home? i have a shift after school.
MARK: yeah no problem. sucks though that they're making you go in tonight
RENJUN: at least i'll be makin some bank tho
MARK: yeah u right

12:40 AM
MARK: this class is so boring ... wanna play 8-ball?
RENJUN: you're lucky I have a sub for history

2:30 PM
MARK: wait where do you work again?
RENJUN: the movie theater on main street
RENJUN: forgetful as always
MARK: watch it bc this FORGETFUL guy is your ride

5:54 PM
RENJUN: do you think you can pick up...?
MARK: i would but i'm with the guys rn
RENJUN: oh okay. i'll just ask my dad
RENJUN: i should really get a car :(
MARK: it's okay. you don't annoy me w this.
RENJUN: yeah but still.....
MARK: renjun... it's fine. i'm always here when you need a ride
MARK: well except for now. BUT STILL!
RENJUN: okay... i'll see you on monday?
MARK: yeah

renjun immediately closed his phone after reading the last text. he began to think about what jeno said earlier about him running away. even reading these texts, he still didn't believe such a theory. he said that they'd see each other on monday. he wouldn't lie about that. renjun just had to believe him. 
he wondered if maybe something happened to mark-- something terrible. his mind kept jumping to every worst-case scenario. even though he was just coming up with hypotheticals, his worry had gotten the best of him.

if that's the case, he thought. then I'll find you, mark.