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ONE WEEK LATER.
It had been a week since that night with Seungje. A week in which Hyeori had barely slept well—but not because of him.
Her phone buzzed constantly with messages from the same number: Seungje. Some were short phrases, good morning or good night texts, others just emojis, and a few voice notes she hadn’t dared to play. She ignored them. Not because she didn’t want to reply, but because… she couldn’t allow herself to think about him right now.
Not when Sieun hadn’t shown up to school in days. A full week with no replies to texts or calls.
“Please, pick up…” she whispered, calling his number again, her eyes full of anxiety as she stared at the screen.
Nothing. Straight to voicemail again.
The messages hadn’t even gotten the blue double check.
She ran a hand over her face and let out a shaky sigh. Her room was a mess of half-written papers, unfinished assignments, and a cold cup of coffee on the desk. Everything was on pause. Because he was missing.
The only thing that had kept her from losing it completely was Juntae, insisting Sieun had just been going to the academy early and leaving before she could see him, that he was fine, and she shouldn’t worry so much. But that morning… not even Juntae knew where he was.
That tiny detail was enough to make her heart clench. Where the hell was he?
She called again. Nothing.
Baby
Sieun-ah, what’s going on?
Are you okay??
Can you at least decline my call so I know you’re safe?
Please, just tell me nothing happened to you.
Still nothing. The message said delivered, but no response. Not a single word.
“No…” she whispered to herself, and on impulse, she went to her contacts—longer now than it used to be.
Her fingers trembled as she scrolled quickly through the updated list.
Baby <3
Seung-i
Kimikim
Soo <3
Tae-yah :3
Tak-ah uvu
But it was the last contact she called.
“Hello?” His voice was hoarse, like he’d just woken up.
“Gotak-ah, I’m sorry if I woke you. Do you have a minute? It’s urgent.” She spoke a little fast. He made a small noise in his throat and nodded. “Do you know where Sieun is? I haven’t seen him in days. He’s not answering. Juntae doesn’t know either. I’m starting to get really worried.”
On the other end, silence. A silence that lasted way too long for Hyeori’s comfort.
“…Gotak?”
“Hyeori, you didn’t know?”
Her body went rigid. “Know what?”
“Sieun’s leaving,” he said flatly, like it meant nothing, like those words hadn’t just shattered her. “He’s going abroad. I think he’s already at the airport. Or on the plane.”
Her phone almost slipped from her fingers. “What… what are you talking about? When?”
“Today. His flight’s supposed to be this afternoon. I thought you knew. He said he didn’t want anyone to come say goodbye. That he’d already said goodbye to everyone.”
Hyeori stopped listening. Her mind could only repeat one word: No.
“Thanks, Tak-ah,” she murmured automatically before hanging up.
She jumped out of her chair, letting it fall to the ground, and began blindly searching for her shoes while calling Sieun’s number again. Her thoughts were in complete chaos.
“Why didn’t he tell me? Why would he leave like this? Why didn’t he say anything? Why is he even leaving in the first place?”
She half-put on her shoes, rushed out of her apartment, and bolted down the stairs like the floor was on fire. She didn’t even stop to lock the front door.
“Taxi!” she yelled at the edge of the street.
One pulled up, and she jumped in, barely catching her breath.
“Airport. Fast, please.”
The driver looked at her in the rearview mirror. Maybe he saw her pale face, her shaking hands, or heard the urgency in her voice, because he didn’t ask questions. He just drove.
In the back seat, Hyeori stared at her phone, hitting the call button over and over.
“Come on, Sieun… answer me. Please…”
She sent message after message.
“Where are you?”
“Why did you leave without saying anything?”
“I need to see you.”
“You can’t just leave like this…”
But it felt like screaming into a void.
The ride felt endless. Every red light was torture. Every second, one less chance to catch him. To say goodbye. To ask why. To stop him.
When they finally arrived, Hyeori nearly tripped getting out of the cab. She ran. Ran like her life depended on it. Her lungs burned, and people in the airport turned to look at her as she passed.
But she didn’t care.
“What if he already left? What if I never see him again? What if I lose him too?”
She froze in the middle of a hallway. Struggling to breathe, her eyes searched the crowd.
Suitcases. Faces. Flight signs. City names that meant nothing.
Where did you go, Sieun?
And then she saw him.
In the distance. A backpack slung over one shoulder, head down. Sitting on a bench. Defeated.
Sieun.
Her body reacted before her brain could.
“Sieun!” she shouted.
And took off running toward him. When he saw her, his eyes widened, standing up slowly and letting her come closer until she stopped just a few feet away.
His eyes scanned her—her messy hair, her pajama-like clothes—but what hit him the hardest were her eyes. They were shiny, like she was holding back tears.
“Where are you going?”
“What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” she asked, offended, disbelief in her voice as she stepped closer. Her eyes widened further. “What are you doing here? Where the hell are you going? Why…?” She stopped, swallowed hard, trying to calm down. “What are you doing? Why didn’t you tell me anything?” she asked breathlessly, her eyes still shimmering.
He swallowed. Took a step back, like just being near her was too much.
“Because it’s for the best…” he muttered. His voice was barely audible over the airport noise.
“For who?” she asked sharply, hurt.
Sieun shook his head. He wouldn’t look at her. His eyes stayed fixed on the floor. “For you… for all of you.”
Hyeori furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about?”
“I…” he swallowed again, struggling. “I should’ve protected him. I should’ve done more. I should’ve been there. Sooho… wouldn’t be like this if I hadn’t been so useless.”
His voice cracked halfway through, just like Hyeori’s heart.
“If I had been stronger, if I hadn’t gotten in the way… if I hadn’t failed you, you two could still be together. Happy. Like before.”
Hyeori’s chest tightened. She stepped forward, eyes wide.
“What are you saying?” Sieun looked up but said nothing. “Why…?”
“I couldn’t keep looking at you without thinking about it,” he said, eyes glossy. “Every time I saw you talking to him in the hospital, I thought, ‘She wouldn’t be like this if I had done something.’ If I had been useful. If I had protected Sooho… I don’t deserve to be near you.”
“Stop saying that!” she yelled, almost out of breath. The tears she’d held back made her vision blur. “I… I never thought that. Never. I never blamed you for any of this…”
He didn’t believe her. It was obvious. The way he looked away. Bit his lip. His eyes full of guilt.
“Sieun, listen to me,” she said, stepping closer, her voice breaking. “I never blamed you. Not even once. Not for a second.”
“But… if I had just…”
“Shut up.” She cut him off. “Listen…” She paused, looking down like she didn’t know what to say. “If you want to leave, fine. Do it… if that’s what helps. But if you leave thinking I blame you for what happened… I’ll never be okay…”
Sieun clenched his fists. Tears filled his eyes.
“I… I’m sorry,” he whispered, barely a sound. “I’m so sorry…”
And when their eyes met again, something broke inside him. The tears started falling, silent at first. Then stronger.
“I’m sorry, Hyeori… I’m sorry…” he repeated, trembling.
She didn’t think twice. She ran to him and hugged him tight, with her whole body, as if she was afraid he’d vanish if she let go. Her eyes shut as she inhaled his familiar scent.
And all Sieun felt was warmth. Affection. It shattered him completely.
His arms wrapped around her. He clung to her. Buried his face in her shoulder and cried like a child.
“Shhh…” she murmured, running her fingers through his hair with shaky hands. Her own eyes let tears fall, but she didn’t want him to see. “No more. No more apologies. You don’t have to.”
“But I failed you… I failed you so much…”
“No,” she said softly, voice low. “If I thought that, I wouldn’t have run here. I wouldn’t be standing here now… I wouldn’t have stayed all this time…”
He shook his head, still sobbing.
“I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered. “I have no one else. You’re all I have left.”
The world around them disappeared. Flight announcements, voices, footsteps—they became background noise. Only the two of them remained. In the middle of a massive airport. Breaking, but also healing.
“Stay with me,” she whispered. “You can stay at my place if you have nowhere to go. I don’t care. Just… don’t leave.”
Sieun looked up. His eyes were swollen, his face soaked with tears, but there was something different on his face. Something he hadn’t shown in a year and a half: relief.
“Really…?”
“Really,” she said with a sad smile, brushing the tears from his cheeks. “We’re gonna be okay. Just… stay.”
He nodded slowly. Still trembling, but… for the first time in a long time, hugging Hyeori felt like enough.
* * *
The sound of the convenience store door opening was the first thing that caught her attention. Hyeori had been hoping she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew tonight.
She was on her way home, still reeling from everything that had happened with Sieun—though thankful that he was now safe and a little more aware of how much she truly cared about him.
She stepped out of the store with a bag of sweet buns and a few juices, ready to stock up her pantry. But when someone stopped in front of her, causing her to bump into their back, she was surprised she hadn’t fallen flat on her face.
Her eyes trailed up the slightly broad back. Tall. Familiar. She recognized him immediately—and was just as shocked.
Messy hair, unbuttoned dark jacket. And a face that… well, wasn’t quite the same. Dark circles, shifty eyes, slouched posture.
“Baku?” she blurted out without thinking.
The guy froze mid-step, holding a drink in one hand and a pack of cookies in the other.
“Humin!”
Her eyes widened at the sound of his real name. And instead of saying hi or walking up like a normal person… he bolted.
“Yah?! Baku?!” Hyeori shouted, completely thrown off.
But she didn’t stay frozen. She gripped her bag tight and sprinted after him.
“Are you seriously running away from me?!”
The chase turned out to be more dramatic than expected. Baku weaved through alleys and corners, slipping a couple of times while Hyeori followed like some unhinged lunatic.
“I’m barely 5’6″! Why are you running like I’m out to kill you?!” she yelled, laughing through her panting.
He didn’t answer. Just kept running.
Then an idea struck her. Glancing at the bag in her hand, she grabbed a sweet bun, grimaced, and said, “Sorry about this, but you left me no choice…”
With sudden sniper-level accuracy, she chucked the bun and nailed him right on the head.
“What the hell?!” Humin groaned, stumbling from the shock.
In that tiny moment of distraction, Hyeori pounced onto his back like a video game character.
“Gotcha!”
“Ah! Get off me!” he shouted, flailing his arms to shake her off.
“Stop squirming, you look insane!” she snapped, trying not to laugh as she clung to him like a koala.
“Yah, you’re scaring me!”
He made a weird movement and ended up making them both tumble to the ground, landing right by some trash bins. Hyeori landed on top of him, not even bothering to apologize.
Both of them were breathless—one from panic and embarrassment, the other from sheer effort.
“What… what the hell was that?!” he said, brushing hair out of his face.
“You ignored me first!” she shot back, pointing at him dramatically. “Who runs away just because someone calls their name? Did you see me and think I was gonna eat you alive or what?!”
Humin stared at her for a moment, then looked down, shaking his head slightly. “I didn’t want to be seen… with you.”
“What…? Why? I’m not that bad, you know.”
He didn’t answer right away. He rubbed the back of his neck, his expression now not funny but… uncomfortable. Guilty. “I joined the Union,” he blurted out. “A few days ago.”
Hyeori’s eyes widened. Her smile faded.
“What…?”
“Not because I want to be part of it,” he clarified quickly. “I found out what they did… They were after Sieun. They went to the hospital where his friend is… they beat up Gotak and Juntae. I… I couldn’t just stand by. So I thought… if I’m inside, I can throw them off. Keep them away.”
His voice trembled slightly. And Hyeori could tell he’d been carrying a heavy weight all on his own.
“That’s why I’ve been ignoring everyone. I’ve been ignoring Gotak and Juntae’s calls. I didn’t want them to suspect anything… I didn’t want them to get close and get hurt because of me.”
Hyeori felt something twist inside her chest.
Part of her was confused… but another part completely understood what he had done. She didn’t blame him. In another situation, she would’ve done the same.
If it meant protecting Sieun or Sooho, she would’ve done it without hesitation.
“I…” she lowered her gaze, remembering the message she had sent to Sieun. “I told him to stay away from you, but…”
“I know,” he interrupted with a small smile, no bitterness in sight. “And I don’t blame you. You wanted to protect him. Just like I’d do the same for Gotak or Juntae if the roles were reversed.”
They looked at each other. And she smiled, reaching out to ruffle his hair playfully.
“You’re so sweet, trying to protect all of us.”
He looked away with an embarrassed smile. His tone was soft enough to make anyone nervous.
“It’s not like I saved the world…”
Hyeori leaned in a little. “Well, helping your friends is good enough for someone your age, don’t you think?”
Humin chuckled. For the first time in days.
“Thanks, I guess…”
“But that’s enough now,” she said gently. “Look at you, Humin. You’ve lost weight, you’re pale, you look like you haven’t slept in a week. You look like a zombie. Come out of that place. Stop suffering alone. We’ll figure it out together. Okay?”
He looked at her. For a long moment. Like he didn’t know what to do with words like that. Like no one had told him something like that in a really, really long time.
“What if I can’t get out that easily?”
“Then I’ll find something to throw at you harder than a sweet bun,” she said, winking.
Baku laughed.
“We’ll figure it out together, Humin.”
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