Fic: Family Arc II - 30A
Title: Family Arc II - 30A
Author: vic_sim
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. I apologise for any incorrect portrayal of people or any inaccurate details mentioned in my story.
Pairing: None at the moment.
Category: Angst/Comfort
Rating: NC-16 (just to be safe)
Summary: They were on their way home from a performance. Eeteuk's thoughts.
Arc I Arc II
They piled into the van, tired from their performance, but happy that all went well. Eeteuk settled in the van and watched the rest around him. He rested his head on Kangin’s shoulder, smiling as he felt Kangin’s hand wrapped around his.
Eunhyuk and Donghae were poking each other in the van, playing a game that was only understood by the two. Eeteuk smiled at them, glad that both were stepping out of their dark times from the accident and the guilt for Heechul’s accident respectively. It was comforting to see Eunhyuk and Donghae laugh so heartily at each other, back to acting like the kids they were and not so troubled by nightmares of things they had no control over. Eeteuk could still remember the first few days when he was back at the dorm. Every night without fail, one of his dongsaengs would timidly enter the room, asking to sleep with him, as if to be reassured that their leader was really back. It had the same effect for Eeteuk - helping him know that he was really back with his family.
Sungmin was talking to Hankyung and Shindong about making pumpkin pies for Kyuhyun, wanting to do something for their magnae who was left home alone for the second night in a row. The previous night they had found their magnae nodding off in front of the television which was showing one of their old performances. The three were talking animatedly about what the various things they could make for their magnae, seeing that they were returning early from their performance for one of the rarest times. Their leader shook his head at the three. Only these three would be thinking so hard about food for their magnae. But seeing how engrossed the three were, Eeteuk was grateful. He was grateful that Hankyung was able to perform with them despite his visa issues. He was grateful that Shindong was back to his usual bubbly self that seemed to have deserted him after the accident. He was grateful that Sungmin was no longer looking like a kicked bunny because he had resolved the problems with Kyuhyun and Ryeowook. He was grateful that he was able to be there to witness it all.
Ryeowook and Yesung were the quiet pair at the corner of the van. What Eeteuk meant by quiet was in comparison with the rest of the members. Ryeowook was talking animatedly to Yesung, his hands moving frantically around as he described about the various things that happened on stage to his hyung.
“Hyung, wait till you tell Kyuhyunnie about that later. He would be so tickled to hear about it!”
Yesung laughed at the eternal magnae’s enthusiasm, holding down Ryeowook’s hands so that Ryeowook wouldn’t hit anyone with his gestures. Eeteuk smiled at the tenderness Yesung was treating Ryeowook with, delighted something good had resulted from the accident. The members were more willing to show their love and concern for each other because they realised how easily one of them could be ripped from them in a mere accident. Eeteuk had heard from Hankyung how Kyuhyun had aided Ryeowook and Sungmin to reconcile with each other. And Eeteuk couldn’t help but be impressed by their magnae - his perception and his kindness despite his childhood.
If only he could be that perceptive with regards to our love for him.
“Hyah! Don’t poke me!”
Heechul’s scream rang through the van. Heechul lashed out at Eunhyuk and Donghae. The two were in the middle of playing their game when they accidentally poked Heechul who sat next to Donghae with Siwon.
“Ahhh! Cinderella’s mad! Siwonnie! Save us!”
Donghae was dodging Heechul’s poking. Siwon laughed as he held on to Heechul, knowing that Heechul was just pretending to be mad at his hyungs. Eeteuk hid a knowing smile as he knew that Heechul was indulging his dongsaengs in the game. He was beginning to understand the resident Cinderella better. A lot of the things Heechul did were with his dongsaengs in mind, and even though most people thought that Heechul was self-centred, Super Junior knew otherwise. Siwon was still the same, but more mature and more willing to show his care for the rest and did not act as gentlemanly towards them anymore.
Eeteuk then focused his attention on the last member sitting in that line - Kibum. It always amazed Eeteuk that Kibum could lose himself in the world of his despite all the noise around him, especially since he was next to Eunhyuk. But their second youngest was opening up more to them as well with his concern for Kyuhyun and his concern for Super Junior. Eeteuk understood from Hankyung that the magnae in their dorm had sometimes talked to him about his parents, about the insecurities that he faced. Hankyung didn’t really know why Kibum chose to talk to him, but Eeteuk knew it was because Hankyung never judged a person. He merely sat there and listened. Eeteuk was glad that Kibum chose someone to confide in even if it was not him. Eeteuk was about to call out to Kibum, not wanting his dongsaeng to trap himself in his own world when they were so happy.
“Kibummie! Help your hyung!”
Heechul called out to Kibum, drawing him into the mindless game that Eunhyuk and Donghae had created. Kibum poked Eunhyuk, a mischievous smile appearing on his face.
“Not you too, Bummie!”
Eunhyuk turned his attention to Kibum, tickling Kibum. Kibum dissolved into giggles as he couldn’t stand the tickles. Eeteuk laughed lightly at the scene, though he wondered if he should stop them before it got more complicated. Hankyung, on the other hand, had already been drawn out of his food conversation and was now trying to stop them in their game with Siwon. But like Eeteuk, Hankyung was never really able to convince any of them to listen to him anyways.
Kangin took pity on the two and got the rest to stop.
“Behave!”
All stilled in their actions, turning to the band Appa. Eunhyuk stopped tickling Kibum, but the boy was still laughing from the previous tickling. Donghae sported a guilty look, halting in his process of poking Heechul. Heechul settled in Siwon’s arm, pouting as to why he needed to listen to someone who was younger than him.
Kangin turned his attention back to Eeteuk who was still leaning on him. As Kangin’s attention was turned away from them, Eunhyuk began tickling Kibum again and Donghae was superstitiously poking Heechul again.
“Hyung ah, why don’t you rest a bit? There’s still some time before we reach home.”
Kangin said to Eeteuk. Kangin was still worried that their leader was pushing his body too hard to be there with them.
Like it was with Kyuhyun, Kangin wanted his hyung to rest more instead of returning to work just past one month after the accident. Due to all the travelling that they did, Eeteuk had slowly gotten over the fear of travelling in the van and was now unafraid to ride in the vehicle anymore. Eeteuk shook his head at Kangin’s question, wanting to watch as his dongsaengs fooled around with each other. He wanted to remember the moment as it occurred.
“I wish Kyuhyun was here.”
Eeteuk whispered, letting weakness show from him for the moment in Kangin’s embrace. Kangin looked at Eeteuk and then back at the chaos in front of him.
“He will be with us soon. He will be.”
Kangin said, tightening his hold on Eeteuk.
“Until then, we will tell him everything that happens to us, every single bit so that he will be part of us.”
Eeteuk smiled at Kangin, nodding to his statement. He did not notice the smiles that graced the faces of the rest around him as they all agreed with Kangin’s words.
When they reached the dorm, Ryeowook rushed out of the van, pulling Kibum with him.
“Come on, Bummie!”
It was weird that Ryeowook chose to pull Kibum instead of Yesung who was beside him, but Yesung just laughed as he exited the van, turning back to collect Ryeowook’s and his bags. It was normal to him as he knew that the three were close to each other. For both of them, Kyuhyun was the one they could pamper and dote on as Kibum was the youngest before Kyuhyun came in and Ryeowook was the eternal magnae that everyone felt that they needed to take care of.
Kibum willingly let himself be pulled by Ryeowook as he too wanted to see Kyuhyun very much after a whole day of work. It was when they reached the door that they realised in their haste none of them thought to grab their keys from their bags.
“Ryeo, did you bring your key?”
Kibum asked after he searched his pockets but coming up empty. Ryeowook looked at Kibum.
“I thought you had them on you.”
Kibum looked at his hyung and burst out in laughter.
“What? What’s so funny?” Ryeowook asked, not getting it.
“Us. Stuck outside the door because we were too excited to see Kyuhyun that we forgot our keys.”
Ryeowook stared at Kibum, not really getting the humour in the situation.
“Bummie, you’re too stressed.”
Ryeowook patted Kibum on the back as his dongsaeng continued to laugh.
“So how are we going to get in?”
Ryeowook asked as Kibum finally stopped laughing.
“Ryeo, something called the door bell?”
Kibum pressed the bell next to him as Ryeowook blushed.
The smile still remained on Kibum’s face as they waited outside for Kyuhyun to open the door.
“What do you think he did the whole day?”
Kibum turned to Ryeowook, wondering how Kyuhyun spent his day.
“Gaming? I think Hae-hyung just got him a new game the other day.”
“Really? I’ll have to play it as well. Can’t always let Kyu beat me in the games.”
Ryeowook laughed.
“Kibummie, he’s nicknamed Game-Kyu for a reason, you know.”
“One can always try right?”
They laughed, knowing that Kyuhyun had always been the best at the games. No one had beaten him before since he joined Super Junior more than one year ago.
As they joked around, their hyungs slowly exited from the lift.
“Why are you two outside the door?”
Shindong asked as he saw the two joking around. Kibum and Ryeowook turned towards Shindong, sheepishly.
“Cos they forgot to take the keys.”
Yesung said, as he swung Ryeowook’s bag in front of him.
“Thanks Hyung.”
Ryeowook said as he took his bag from Yesung. Kibum took his from Hankyung, blushing a little at his forgetfulness as Heechul ruffled his hair.
“Didn’t you press the doorbell?”
Donghae asked puzzled.
“We did.”
Ryeowook and Kibum answered simultaneously.
Hankyung by then had opened the door with his keys. They walked into the house expecting to see Kyuhyun walking towards them. After all, if Kibum and Ryeowook had pressed the doorbell, Kyuhyun would be heading towards the door to open it.
But there was no one. The television was turned off, so was the computer. The windows were closed. The house was silent.
“Kyuhyunnie?”
“Kyu, we’re back!”
Kibum and Ryeowook checked the kitchen, the rooms and the bathrooms, but both came back alone. Hankyung exchanged looks with Eeteuk, wondering where their magnae was. It was not like Kyuhyun to not let them know where he was ever since that incident. Kyuhyun had promised the two to always let them know where he was going to avoid the same situation as before.
“I found a note!”
Siwon exclaimed as he saw the note that was stuck on the wall near the entrance. All of them had missed it when they entered in a hurry.
“Hyungs,
I’m writing this in case one of you gets back early and panic about where I am, even though I think I’ll be back before you do. I’m going to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for dinner as the fridge is almost empty.
Oh, I’ve messaged Eeteuk-hyung and Hankyung-hyung. So don’t worry about me.
- Kyuhyun.”
Eeteuk and Hankyung dug through their bags for their phones and true enough they found a message from Kyuhyun.
“He messaged us almost two hours ago! How come he’s not back yet? The supermarket is just down the road.”
Eeteuk exclaimed as he saw the time on the message. That caused frowns to form on their faces, wondering where Kyuhyun had gone.
“Call his phone.”
Hankyung dialled the number, praying for an answer. He reached the answering machine.
“He didn’t answer.”
“Let’s split up and search for him. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”
Eeteuk immediately said, grabbing his cap from his bag and heading to the door. Everyone jumped into action following Eeteuk’s words.
“Teukie-hyung, maybe you should stay with Chullie-hyung here in case Kyuhyun comes back.”
Hankyung ventured, wanting to let his hyungs rest as Eeteuk and Heechul had been working very hard the past few days with Eeteuk’s stitches on his back and Heechul’s leg injury.
Eeteuk looked torn between wanting to search for Kyuhyun and staying at home to wait for the news. Heechul wanted to follow them as well, but he knew that he would most likely slow the search down as his leg had been throbbing with pain for a while during the day. He pulled Eeteuk to the sofa with him, signalling for the rest to go search for Kyuhyun and he would make sure that Eeteuk stayed at home.
They all rushed out through the door, remembering to grab their phones and caps before leaving. Eeteuk’s words had brought the memories of that day. They did not want a repeat of it again.
When they all left, Heechul turned to Eeteuk. Eeteuk’s worried frown was back on his face - the one that showed that Eeteuk was letting his imagination run wild with all the possible things that could happen to Kyuhyun.
“Teukie, calm down. Don’t let your thoughts run wild now. Kyuhyun will be fine. For all we know, he’s stuck at the supermarket trying to decide what to buy.”
Eeteuk turned to Heechul.
“But what if it happens again?”
Heechul was confused. This was the second time he was hearing about something which he had completely no idea of.
“Teukie, what are you referring to?”
“The incident.”
Eeteuk answered before realising that Heechul had no idea about it when it happened as they did not want to worry Heechul who was recovering from the car accident then. Eeteuk knew then that he had roused Heechul’s curiosity and when Heechul’s curiosity was aroused, it was hard to hide any secret from him.
“What incident?”
Eeteuk turned to Heechul, debating internally how he should go about telling Heechul about it.
“You were in the hospital when it happened. It was a hard day at practice and Kangin was not in the best of moods. In short, he was hot-tempered at everyone but that day Kyuhyun bore the brunt of his anger.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It started out as a normal day of practice. They were preparing to attend a show and were currently practicing their dance. Kangin and Shindong were the only two who had late jobs the previous night. So they weren’t of the best of mood during practice. They wanted the practice to end fast as they wanted to go home to rest. So they were naturally irritated if anyone made any mistakes that slowed down their progress.
“Ryeowook! You’re out of formation! Get back in!”
“Kyuhyun! Follow the beat!”
“Kibum! Your leg! Lift it higher!”
“Kyuhyun! The beat! It should be faster!”
“Kyuhyun! Listen to the beat!”
Finally Kangin could not take it anymore.
“Stop! If you’re not going to practice seriously, then there’s no point in continuing.”
Kangin looked directly at Kyuhyun when he spoke. He took his jacket from the chair and stomped off. Everyone was stunned, even Eeteuk and Shindong. Shindong was upset at Kyuhyun as well, but not that upset. Eeteuk hurriedly rushed out after Kangin after saying that training was over for the day. Slowly one by one they gathered their things and left the practice room, all still in shock over what happened.
Ryeowook was about to leave the room when he noticed that someone had hung back.
“Kyuhyun? Are you coming?”
“I’ll like to practice a little while more.”
“You want me to stay?”
“It’s okay. It’ll just be a while more.”
Kyuhyun shook his head, indicating that it was fine. Ryeowook nodded and left as he was tired. None of the others had noticed that Kyuhyun stayed behind as they made their own way home, tired from the practice.
It was only late at night that Eeteuk noticed that they were missing someone.
“Where’s Kyuhyun? Anyone seen him?”
Everyone looked around, just noticing that Kyuhyun was missing. Then Ryeowook remembered.
“Kyuhyun stayed back to practice.”
“Oh. He stayed back to practice. What? He stayed back to practice? That’s like two or three hours ago!”
Everyone sat up from their positions. What?
Kibum and Hankyung immediately volunteered to head down to find Kyuhyun as Ryeowook attempted to reach Kyuhyun on the cell.
“It’s switched off.”
Hearing that, Kibum and Hankyung left the house.
“Oh no. What if something happens to him? What if he fainted? Or was kidnapped? Oh no. What are we going to do? How come I didn’t notice that he wasn’t here?”
Eeteuk panicked and started pacing around the room.
Everyone felt guilty. How could they have not notice that they were missing one person? It was true that it was hard to keep track when there were so many of them. It was true that Kyuhyun was so quiet that sometimes one would miss his presence completely. But they were a group. How could they not notice that one was missing?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hankyung and Kibum rushed off in the van. Kibum was driving, his mind focused on getting to the destination as fast as possible. Hankyung felt for some reason a deep sense of fear in him, in what he might see when they reach the practice room.
Kibum quickly parked the van; surprising himself with the ease he had parked the van. But he didn’t dwell on it as his main concern was still Kyuhyun. He had noticed that Kyuhyun was a little more tired than normal but still going about their activities with all the energy. He could sense that Kyuhyun was feeling a little down, but because they stayed in different dorms, Kibum could not find the time to corner Kyuhyun. And in his dorm, they were distinctly missing the presence of Heechul-hyung that Kibum forgot about Kyuhyun when he got back to his dorm.
They ran past the security that recognised them and headed straight for the dance studio. The corridor was dark and there was no light coming through any of the doors. Hankyung knew in his heart that Kyuhyun was no longer at the dance studio.
“Kyuhyun!”
Hankyung shouted into the practice room, even though it was obvious that it was void of people.
“He’s not here Hyung.”
Kibum turned to Hankyung, a worried look on his face.
“Where could he be?”
“Try calling his phone again.”
Kibum took out his phone and dialled, praying for an answer.
“It’s still turned off.”
“Let’s get back to the van and think of where he could have gone to.”
Hankyung and Kibum left the room, heading back to the van.
“Sir, did you see Cho Kyuhyun-sshi leaving?”
Kibum had a sudden thought to ask the security.
“Cho Kyuhyun-sshi? He left more than one hour ago.”
“Really? Did he say where he was going?”
“No, sir.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
Kibum thanked the guard and left with Hankyung.
They sat in the van, pondering on their next action.
“I’m calling Eeteuk-hyung.”
Kibum nodded, churning in his mind all the possible places that Kyuhyun might have been to.
Home? Friend’s place? Heechul-hyung?
Kibum’s eyes lit up at that.
Heechul-hyung! Why didn’t I think of that?
He took out his phone to call Heechul-hyung, but it was switched off as well which was logical considering it was rather late at night.
“Hyung! Let’s go to the hospital. Maybe he went to visit Heechul-hyung!”
Kibum exclaimed, forgetting that Hankyung was talking to Eeteuk on the phone. He started the van and drove off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest were anxiously waiting at the dorm for someone to call. It was so silent that Eeteuk’s ring tone pierced through the room.
“Hello?”
“Hyung, it’s me Hankyung.”
“Hannie! Did you find him?”
“No, he’s not at the dance studio. The security guard said that he left about an hour ago.”
“An hour? Where did he go? It doesn’t take that long to come back home.”
Then Eeteuk heard Kibum’s voice in the background saying something about Heechul.
“Hyung? Kibum thinks that maybe Kyuhyun went to find Chullie-hyung. We’re going to the hospital right now.”
“Okay. We’ll search from our side on foot as well. Call us if you find him.”
Hankyung nodded on his side and hung up.
Eeteuk turned to the rest.
“Hyung? Did they find Kyu?”
Donghae asked, frowning. Eeteuk shook his head.
“He’s no longer at the dance studio. The security saw him leaving. Hankyung and Kibum are going to the hospital.”
“Hospital?” Eunhyuk exclaimed, fearing the worst.
“Kibum thinks that Kyu may have gone to find Heechullie. Anyway, we’ll be searching from our side as well. One of you has to stay at home, just in case he comes back.”
Kangin was the first to stand up, having regretted what he said to Kyuhyun during practice. Yesung volunteered to stay back with Ryeowook. The poor boy was upset that he didn’t notice that his dongsaeng was not around. Siwon, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Sungmin, Eeteuk, Shindong and Kangin rushed out of the door, their tiredness leaving their bodies.
“Come on Ryeowook. Don’t worry too much. Kyuhyun will be fine.”
Yesung led Ryeowook to the sofa to wait. He too was nervous about where their magnae was. It was the first time that this had happened to them and they couldn’t help but feel that they had failed their magnae who was barely out of high school.
Eeteuk kept glancing at his watch in the lift. Where could he be?
They rushed out of the lift as the door opened on the first floor. Donghae and Eunhyuk headed in one direction while Sungmin and Shindong headed in the other. Siwon, Kangin and Eeteuk headed straight down the road. Eeteuk didn’t know what he was going to do if Hankyung and Kibum could not find Kyuhyun at the hospital.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Part B
Author: vic_sim
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. I apologise for any incorrect portrayal of people or any inaccurate details mentioned in my story.
Pairing: None at the moment.
Category: Angst/Comfort
Rating: NC-16 (just to be safe)
Summary: They were on their way home from a performance. Eeteuk's thoughts.
Arc I Arc II
They piled into the van, tired from their performance, but happy that all went well. Eeteuk settled in the van and watched the rest around him. He rested his head on Kangin’s shoulder, smiling as he felt Kangin’s hand wrapped around his.
Eunhyuk and Donghae were poking each other in the van, playing a game that was only understood by the two. Eeteuk smiled at them, glad that both were stepping out of their dark times from the accident and the guilt for Heechul’s accident respectively. It was comforting to see Eunhyuk and Donghae laugh so heartily at each other, back to acting like the kids they were and not so troubled by nightmares of things they had no control over. Eeteuk could still remember the first few days when he was back at the dorm. Every night without fail, one of his dongsaengs would timidly enter the room, asking to sleep with him, as if to be reassured that their leader was really back. It had the same effect for Eeteuk - helping him know that he was really back with his family.
Sungmin was talking to Hankyung and Shindong about making pumpkin pies for Kyuhyun, wanting to do something for their magnae who was left home alone for the second night in a row. The previous night they had found their magnae nodding off in front of the television which was showing one of their old performances. The three were talking animatedly about what the various things they could make for their magnae, seeing that they were returning early from their performance for one of the rarest times. Their leader shook his head at the three. Only these three would be thinking so hard about food for their magnae. But seeing how engrossed the three were, Eeteuk was grateful. He was grateful that Hankyung was able to perform with them despite his visa issues. He was grateful that Shindong was back to his usual bubbly self that seemed to have deserted him after the accident. He was grateful that Sungmin was no longer looking like a kicked bunny because he had resolved the problems with Kyuhyun and Ryeowook. He was grateful that he was able to be there to witness it all.
Ryeowook and Yesung were the quiet pair at the corner of the van. What Eeteuk meant by quiet was in comparison with the rest of the members. Ryeowook was talking animatedly to Yesung, his hands moving frantically around as he described about the various things that happened on stage to his hyung.
“Hyung, wait till you tell Kyuhyunnie about that later. He would be so tickled to hear about it!”
Yesung laughed at the eternal magnae’s enthusiasm, holding down Ryeowook’s hands so that Ryeowook wouldn’t hit anyone with his gestures. Eeteuk smiled at the tenderness Yesung was treating Ryeowook with, delighted something good had resulted from the accident. The members were more willing to show their love and concern for each other because they realised how easily one of them could be ripped from them in a mere accident. Eeteuk had heard from Hankyung how Kyuhyun had aided Ryeowook and Sungmin to reconcile with each other. And Eeteuk couldn’t help but be impressed by their magnae - his perception and his kindness despite his childhood.
If only he could be that perceptive with regards to our love for him.
“Hyah! Don’t poke me!”
Heechul’s scream rang through the van. Heechul lashed out at Eunhyuk and Donghae. The two were in the middle of playing their game when they accidentally poked Heechul who sat next to Donghae with Siwon.
“Ahhh! Cinderella’s mad! Siwonnie! Save us!”
Donghae was dodging Heechul’s poking. Siwon laughed as he held on to Heechul, knowing that Heechul was just pretending to be mad at his hyungs. Eeteuk hid a knowing smile as he knew that Heechul was indulging his dongsaengs in the game. He was beginning to understand the resident Cinderella better. A lot of the things Heechul did were with his dongsaengs in mind, and even though most people thought that Heechul was self-centred, Super Junior knew otherwise. Siwon was still the same, but more mature and more willing to show his care for the rest and did not act as gentlemanly towards them anymore.
Eeteuk then focused his attention on the last member sitting in that line - Kibum. It always amazed Eeteuk that Kibum could lose himself in the world of his despite all the noise around him, especially since he was next to Eunhyuk. But their second youngest was opening up more to them as well with his concern for Kyuhyun and his concern for Super Junior. Eeteuk understood from Hankyung that the magnae in their dorm had sometimes talked to him about his parents, about the insecurities that he faced. Hankyung didn’t really know why Kibum chose to talk to him, but Eeteuk knew it was because Hankyung never judged a person. He merely sat there and listened. Eeteuk was glad that Kibum chose someone to confide in even if it was not him. Eeteuk was about to call out to Kibum, not wanting his dongsaeng to trap himself in his own world when they were so happy.
“Kibummie! Help your hyung!”
Heechul called out to Kibum, drawing him into the mindless game that Eunhyuk and Donghae had created. Kibum poked Eunhyuk, a mischievous smile appearing on his face.
“Not you too, Bummie!”
Eunhyuk turned his attention to Kibum, tickling Kibum. Kibum dissolved into giggles as he couldn’t stand the tickles. Eeteuk laughed lightly at the scene, though he wondered if he should stop them before it got more complicated. Hankyung, on the other hand, had already been drawn out of his food conversation and was now trying to stop them in their game with Siwon. But like Eeteuk, Hankyung was never really able to convince any of them to listen to him anyways.
Kangin took pity on the two and got the rest to stop.
“Behave!”
All stilled in their actions, turning to the band Appa. Eunhyuk stopped tickling Kibum, but the boy was still laughing from the previous tickling. Donghae sported a guilty look, halting in his process of poking Heechul. Heechul settled in Siwon’s arm, pouting as to why he needed to listen to someone who was younger than him.
Kangin turned his attention back to Eeteuk who was still leaning on him. As Kangin’s attention was turned away from them, Eunhyuk began tickling Kibum again and Donghae was superstitiously poking Heechul again.
“Hyung ah, why don’t you rest a bit? There’s still some time before we reach home.”
Kangin said to Eeteuk. Kangin was still worried that their leader was pushing his body too hard to be there with them.
Like it was with Kyuhyun, Kangin wanted his hyung to rest more instead of returning to work just past one month after the accident. Due to all the travelling that they did, Eeteuk had slowly gotten over the fear of travelling in the van and was now unafraid to ride in the vehicle anymore. Eeteuk shook his head at Kangin’s question, wanting to watch as his dongsaengs fooled around with each other. He wanted to remember the moment as it occurred.
“I wish Kyuhyun was here.”
Eeteuk whispered, letting weakness show from him for the moment in Kangin’s embrace. Kangin looked at Eeteuk and then back at the chaos in front of him.
“He will be with us soon. He will be.”
Kangin said, tightening his hold on Eeteuk.
“Until then, we will tell him everything that happens to us, every single bit so that he will be part of us.”
Eeteuk smiled at Kangin, nodding to his statement. He did not notice the smiles that graced the faces of the rest around him as they all agreed with Kangin’s words.
When they reached the dorm, Ryeowook rushed out of the van, pulling Kibum with him.
“Come on, Bummie!”
It was weird that Ryeowook chose to pull Kibum instead of Yesung who was beside him, but Yesung just laughed as he exited the van, turning back to collect Ryeowook’s and his bags. It was normal to him as he knew that the three were close to each other. For both of them, Kyuhyun was the one they could pamper and dote on as Kibum was the youngest before Kyuhyun came in and Ryeowook was the eternal magnae that everyone felt that they needed to take care of.
Kibum willingly let himself be pulled by Ryeowook as he too wanted to see Kyuhyun very much after a whole day of work. It was when they reached the door that they realised in their haste none of them thought to grab their keys from their bags.
“Ryeo, did you bring your key?”
Kibum asked after he searched his pockets but coming up empty. Ryeowook looked at Kibum.
“I thought you had them on you.”
Kibum looked at his hyung and burst out in laughter.
“What? What’s so funny?” Ryeowook asked, not getting it.
“Us. Stuck outside the door because we were too excited to see Kyuhyun that we forgot our keys.”
Ryeowook stared at Kibum, not really getting the humour in the situation.
“Bummie, you’re too stressed.”
Ryeowook patted Kibum on the back as his dongsaeng continued to laugh.
“So how are we going to get in?”
Ryeowook asked as Kibum finally stopped laughing.
“Ryeo, something called the door bell?”
Kibum pressed the bell next to him as Ryeowook blushed.
The smile still remained on Kibum’s face as they waited outside for Kyuhyun to open the door.
“What do you think he did the whole day?”
Kibum turned to Ryeowook, wondering how Kyuhyun spent his day.
“Gaming? I think Hae-hyung just got him a new game the other day.”
“Really? I’ll have to play it as well. Can’t always let Kyu beat me in the games.”
Ryeowook laughed.
“Kibummie, he’s nicknamed Game-Kyu for a reason, you know.”
“One can always try right?”
They laughed, knowing that Kyuhyun had always been the best at the games. No one had beaten him before since he joined Super Junior more than one year ago.
As they joked around, their hyungs slowly exited from the lift.
“Why are you two outside the door?”
Shindong asked as he saw the two joking around. Kibum and Ryeowook turned towards Shindong, sheepishly.
“Cos they forgot to take the keys.”
Yesung said, as he swung Ryeowook’s bag in front of him.
“Thanks Hyung.”
Ryeowook said as he took his bag from Yesung. Kibum took his from Hankyung, blushing a little at his forgetfulness as Heechul ruffled his hair.
“Didn’t you press the doorbell?”
Donghae asked puzzled.
“We did.”
Ryeowook and Kibum answered simultaneously.
Hankyung by then had opened the door with his keys. They walked into the house expecting to see Kyuhyun walking towards them. After all, if Kibum and Ryeowook had pressed the doorbell, Kyuhyun would be heading towards the door to open it.
But there was no one. The television was turned off, so was the computer. The windows were closed. The house was silent.
“Kyuhyunnie?”
“Kyu, we’re back!”
Kibum and Ryeowook checked the kitchen, the rooms and the bathrooms, but both came back alone. Hankyung exchanged looks with Eeteuk, wondering where their magnae was. It was not like Kyuhyun to not let them know where he was ever since that incident. Kyuhyun had promised the two to always let them know where he was going to avoid the same situation as before.
“I found a note!”
Siwon exclaimed as he saw the note that was stuck on the wall near the entrance. All of them had missed it when they entered in a hurry.
“Hyungs,
I’m writing this in case one of you gets back early and panic about where I am, even though I think I’ll be back before you do. I’m going to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for dinner as the fridge is almost empty.
Oh, I’ve messaged Eeteuk-hyung and Hankyung-hyung. So don’t worry about me.
- Kyuhyun.”
Eeteuk and Hankyung dug through their bags for their phones and true enough they found a message from Kyuhyun.
“He messaged us almost two hours ago! How come he’s not back yet? The supermarket is just down the road.”
Eeteuk exclaimed as he saw the time on the message. That caused frowns to form on their faces, wondering where Kyuhyun had gone.
“Call his phone.”
Hankyung dialled the number, praying for an answer. He reached the answering machine.
“He didn’t answer.”
“Let’s split up and search for him. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”
Eeteuk immediately said, grabbing his cap from his bag and heading to the door. Everyone jumped into action following Eeteuk’s words.
“Teukie-hyung, maybe you should stay with Chullie-hyung here in case Kyuhyun comes back.”
Hankyung ventured, wanting to let his hyungs rest as Eeteuk and Heechul had been working very hard the past few days with Eeteuk’s stitches on his back and Heechul’s leg injury.
Eeteuk looked torn between wanting to search for Kyuhyun and staying at home to wait for the news. Heechul wanted to follow them as well, but he knew that he would most likely slow the search down as his leg had been throbbing with pain for a while during the day. He pulled Eeteuk to the sofa with him, signalling for the rest to go search for Kyuhyun and he would make sure that Eeteuk stayed at home.
They all rushed out through the door, remembering to grab their phones and caps before leaving. Eeteuk’s words had brought the memories of that day. They did not want a repeat of it again.
When they all left, Heechul turned to Eeteuk. Eeteuk’s worried frown was back on his face - the one that showed that Eeteuk was letting his imagination run wild with all the possible things that could happen to Kyuhyun.
“Teukie, calm down. Don’t let your thoughts run wild now. Kyuhyun will be fine. For all we know, he’s stuck at the supermarket trying to decide what to buy.”
Eeteuk turned to Heechul.
“But what if it happens again?”
Heechul was confused. This was the second time he was hearing about something which he had completely no idea of.
“Teukie, what are you referring to?”
“The incident.”
Eeteuk answered before realising that Heechul had no idea about it when it happened as they did not want to worry Heechul who was recovering from the car accident then. Eeteuk knew then that he had roused Heechul’s curiosity and when Heechul’s curiosity was aroused, it was hard to hide any secret from him.
“What incident?”
Eeteuk turned to Heechul, debating internally how he should go about telling Heechul about it.
“You were in the hospital when it happened. It was a hard day at practice and Kangin was not in the best of moods. In short, he was hot-tempered at everyone but that day Kyuhyun bore the brunt of his anger.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It started out as a normal day of practice. They were preparing to attend a show and were currently practicing their dance. Kangin and Shindong were the only two who had late jobs the previous night. So they weren’t of the best of mood during practice. They wanted the practice to end fast as they wanted to go home to rest. So they were naturally irritated if anyone made any mistakes that slowed down their progress.
“Ryeowook! You’re out of formation! Get back in!”
“Kyuhyun! Follow the beat!”
“Kibum! Your leg! Lift it higher!”
“Kyuhyun! The beat! It should be faster!”
“Kyuhyun! Listen to the beat!”
Finally Kangin could not take it anymore.
“Stop! If you’re not going to practice seriously, then there’s no point in continuing.”
Kangin looked directly at Kyuhyun when he spoke. He took his jacket from the chair and stomped off. Everyone was stunned, even Eeteuk and Shindong. Shindong was upset at Kyuhyun as well, but not that upset. Eeteuk hurriedly rushed out after Kangin after saying that training was over for the day. Slowly one by one they gathered their things and left the practice room, all still in shock over what happened.
Ryeowook was about to leave the room when he noticed that someone had hung back.
“Kyuhyun? Are you coming?”
“I’ll like to practice a little while more.”
“You want me to stay?”
“It’s okay. It’ll just be a while more.”
Kyuhyun shook his head, indicating that it was fine. Ryeowook nodded and left as he was tired. None of the others had noticed that Kyuhyun stayed behind as they made their own way home, tired from the practice.
It was only late at night that Eeteuk noticed that they were missing someone.
“Where’s Kyuhyun? Anyone seen him?”
Everyone looked around, just noticing that Kyuhyun was missing. Then Ryeowook remembered.
“Kyuhyun stayed back to practice.”
“Oh. He stayed back to practice. What? He stayed back to practice? That’s like two or three hours ago!”
Everyone sat up from their positions. What?
Kibum and Hankyung immediately volunteered to head down to find Kyuhyun as Ryeowook attempted to reach Kyuhyun on the cell.
“It’s switched off.”
Hearing that, Kibum and Hankyung left the house.
“Oh no. What if something happens to him? What if he fainted? Or was kidnapped? Oh no. What are we going to do? How come I didn’t notice that he wasn’t here?”
Eeteuk panicked and started pacing around the room.
Everyone felt guilty. How could they have not notice that they were missing one person? It was true that it was hard to keep track when there were so many of them. It was true that Kyuhyun was so quiet that sometimes one would miss his presence completely. But they were a group. How could they not notice that one was missing?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hankyung and Kibum rushed off in the van. Kibum was driving, his mind focused on getting to the destination as fast as possible. Hankyung felt for some reason a deep sense of fear in him, in what he might see when they reach the practice room.
Kibum quickly parked the van; surprising himself with the ease he had parked the van. But he didn’t dwell on it as his main concern was still Kyuhyun. He had noticed that Kyuhyun was a little more tired than normal but still going about their activities with all the energy. He could sense that Kyuhyun was feeling a little down, but because they stayed in different dorms, Kibum could not find the time to corner Kyuhyun. And in his dorm, they were distinctly missing the presence of Heechul-hyung that Kibum forgot about Kyuhyun when he got back to his dorm.
They ran past the security that recognised them and headed straight for the dance studio. The corridor was dark and there was no light coming through any of the doors. Hankyung knew in his heart that Kyuhyun was no longer at the dance studio.
“Kyuhyun!”
Hankyung shouted into the practice room, even though it was obvious that it was void of people.
“He’s not here Hyung.”
Kibum turned to Hankyung, a worried look on his face.
“Where could he be?”
“Try calling his phone again.”
Kibum took out his phone and dialled, praying for an answer.
“It’s still turned off.”
“Let’s get back to the van and think of where he could have gone to.”
Hankyung and Kibum left the room, heading back to the van.
“Sir, did you see Cho Kyuhyun-sshi leaving?”
Kibum had a sudden thought to ask the security.
“Cho Kyuhyun-sshi? He left more than one hour ago.”
“Really? Did he say where he was going?”
“No, sir.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
Kibum thanked the guard and left with Hankyung.
They sat in the van, pondering on their next action.
“I’m calling Eeteuk-hyung.”
Kibum nodded, churning in his mind all the possible places that Kyuhyun might have been to.
Home? Friend’s place? Heechul-hyung?
Kibum’s eyes lit up at that.
Heechul-hyung! Why didn’t I think of that?
He took out his phone to call Heechul-hyung, but it was switched off as well which was logical considering it was rather late at night.
“Hyung! Let’s go to the hospital. Maybe he went to visit Heechul-hyung!”
Kibum exclaimed, forgetting that Hankyung was talking to Eeteuk on the phone. He started the van and drove off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest were anxiously waiting at the dorm for someone to call. It was so silent that Eeteuk’s ring tone pierced through the room.
“Hello?”
“Hyung, it’s me Hankyung.”
“Hannie! Did you find him?”
“No, he’s not at the dance studio. The security guard said that he left about an hour ago.”
“An hour? Where did he go? It doesn’t take that long to come back home.”
Then Eeteuk heard Kibum’s voice in the background saying something about Heechul.
“Hyung? Kibum thinks that maybe Kyuhyun went to find Chullie-hyung. We’re going to the hospital right now.”
“Okay. We’ll search from our side on foot as well. Call us if you find him.”
Hankyung nodded on his side and hung up.
Eeteuk turned to the rest.
“Hyung? Did they find Kyu?”
Donghae asked, frowning. Eeteuk shook his head.
“He’s no longer at the dance studio. The security saw him leaving. Hankyung and Kibum are going to the hospital.”
“Hospital?” Eunhyuk exclaimed, fearing the worst.
“Kibum thinks that Kyu may have gone to find Heechullie. Anyway, we’ll be searching from our side as well. One of you has to stay at home, just in case he comes back.”
Kangin was the first to stand up, having regretted what he said to Kyuhyun during practice. Yesung volunteered to stay back with Ryeowook. The poor boy was upset that he didn’t notice that his dongsaeng was not around. Siwon, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Sungmin, Eeteuk, Shindong and Kangin rushed out of the door, their tiredness leaving their bodies.
“Come on Ryeowook. Don’t worry too much. Kyuhyun will be fine.”
Yesung led Ryeowook to the sofa to wait. He too was nervous about where their magnae was. It was the first time that this had happened to them and they couldn’t help but feel that they had failed their magnae who was barely out of high school.
Eeteuk kept glancing at his watch in the lift. Where could he be?
They rushed out of the lift as the door opened on the first floor. Donghae and Eunhyuk headed in one direction while Sungmin and Shindong headed in the other. Siwon, Kangin and Eeteuk headed straight down the road. Eeteuk didn’t know what he was going to do if Hankyung and Kibum could not find Kyuhyun at the hospital.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Part B