Chapter Text
“ What? ” Only Jungwon was the one who got to utter a word in the quiet time at the dorm.
They were there, with their manager, sitting in the living room. Solemn expressions can be seen in their faces. The manager looked at them with an unreadable expression. He took a swift look from left to right, very aware that someone was missing among the group.
“Sunoo left… for a reason” The manager said.
Jay furrowed his eyebrows, suspicion rising in his head. Ever since they had been given to a new manager, he noticed that Sunoo was acting strange and not himself. Jay would see Sunoo biting his nails, anxiousness vibrating around him, but he doesn’t know why. It's not just Jay that has noticed this, everyone did.
“He left!? It’s so sudden! There is no way he left like that-!” Jungwon said in an outburst, he was so confused. Just earlier they saw Sunoo smiling at them and waving them a happy goodbye, telling them to take care. For some reason, the six of them, except for Sunoo, had a shooting. Sunoo told them he got the shot first, which they don’t remember when as he never mentioned any of that nor it was even on their schedule. And then this came in the evening, when they got back home, the dorm was unusually quiet, no lights that had greeted them, and worse, Sunoo’s room was completely empty. They panicked, called their manager and here they were.
“Can’t you tell us the reason? Surely we deserve to know!” Ni-ki desperately asked their manager, tears pricking in his eyes with Jake side hugging him to calm the younger down (and himself)
“He said not to tell you” The manager said and looked at his phone. He stood up and went to the door. “I am sorry… activities will resume, I will post an announcement for fans to know.” and with that he left and closed the door.
Silence went on inside the dorm, not until-
“This is fucking absurd! He is not telling us anything!” Sunghoon, who was observing their manager, said with an angry tone.
Jay nodded his head in agreement “Something is not adding up here.” He looked at Jungwon, who was thinking deep in his head “Jungwon-ah, you have something on your mind?”
“Let’s call her sister, Sunoo-hyung might be in their house, Heeseung-hyung, I remember you got her number when Sunoo got hospitalized, you have her number right?” Heeseung nodded and fished out his phone from his pocket, he dialed the number and a girl’s voice rang out as if it had been accepted.
“Hello?” She greeted, confused as to why someone called her late at night.
“Eui-ssi? This is Heeseung, Sunoo’s fellow member”
“Ah! Heeseung-ssi, yes, is there something you need?”
Heeseung stayed silent, he looked at his members, signaling them as to what to say. Jungwon extended his hand and Heeseung gave him the phone.
“Good evening, Eui-ssi, this is Jungwon.. We just want to ask if Sunoo-hyung is there at your house?” Jungwon asked, hoping to hear a yes, but his hope broke when she answered oppositely.
“No…why are you asking this? Is Sunoo not there?” She questioned, confusement evident in her voice. Couple of seconds passed as she had not heard anything from the other side of the phone.
“Eui-ssi… look, can you tell Sunoo-hyung if we did something wrong?” Jungwon asked again, ignoring her question.
“Jungwon-ssi, I am telling you, he is not here, what do you mean? I-is he missing?” She said, her tone shaking, thousands of thoughts now popping in her head.
“Eui-ssi, Please calm down, look it’s-” Jungwon rubbed his face, a movement to calm himself down “We don’t know anything either, it happened all of the sudden, our manager said that he left- and- and not a single thing from him can be seen in his room!”
“W-what…?” She whispered, his words not processing in her mind. What did he just say? Sunoo? He left? He never mentioned that when they called, he didn’t even text him!
“I-I will call him-” She said as she grabbed her other phone.
“I already did that” Jay interjected, he tried, but all that greeted him was a beeping noise. It was possible that Sunoo blocked their number, or worse deactivated his own number, which was hugely concerning.
A sobbing can be heard, Eui was crying now. That was when the members also finally cried. The situation was now settling in their minds. They were so frustrated, they didn't know what happened, what the reason was, nothing to know where Sunoo is, and they were disappointed in themselves for not knowing anything at all.
That night was the night that they lost their brightest star.
May 18, 2027, Seoul Olympic Stadium
There they were, at the center, with thousands of fans surrounding them, the fans who had been supporting them and given love for them . They were singing HIGHWAY 1009 as their last performance. They had given their all, eager to give all the ENGENES a memory they will never forget. But yet, there was always something missing, a piece in everyone’s heart yet to be completed.
The members had their own tears, their voices shaking, from pain and joyment. Sunghoon had finished his lines, he looked to his left and he cried even more. There it was, an empty spot, a spot respected for that one person. If only Sunoo was here at this moment, it could've been more precious, they imagined him crying too, sobbing uncontrollably and they will be there to comfort him. But no, of course he was not there. The ENGENES knew that as well. Ever since the news broke out, social media went into chaos. Theories have been made by fans. They were devastated, some even went out of the line to file a missing report. And their manager has been accused as well as he was the only one that knew what really happened. But he stayed completely silent. Even when he got into jail.
As the concert came to an end, fireworks were shooting up to the sky, forming different shapes and emitting with different vibrant colors. There was also a flying plane, with a banner on its tail. Words so comforting, that everyone cried even more. Everyone will never forget this moment. It will go down to history.
“It’s done, huh?” Jake was the one who broke the silence in their van. They were waiting for their manager to come and get in. Fan’s shouting and voices can still be heard outside their parking lot, waiting for the member’s van to pass and say goodbye to them. After a week of full concerts, the journey has come to an end. ENHYPEN has now disbanded.
“Yeah…” Jungwon confirmed Jake.
“Man, I cried so much this month, my eyes looked like it had been stung by a bee!” Ni-ki exclaimed.
“That’s a dramatic explanation, but I'll let it pass since you are still cute” Jay chuckled and pinched Ni-ki’s cheeks, which he slapped immediately.
“Cut it hyung! or I'll bite your hands” He glared at Jay playfully which earned a laugh from the members. Except Sunghoon. Jungwon, who was sitting next to him noticed this and nudged him. Sunghoon got startled and looked at Jungwon.
“You okay?” He softly asked and tilted his head. The members, who heard the question, stopped laughing and looked at Sunghoon with concern.
“What’s wrong?” Heeseung also asked, concerned of Sunghoon’s lack of engagement.
He looked at them one by one and shakily sighed. “It’s just…I just wished Sunoo was here” They stilled and some of them ducked their heads. Right, nothing was complete ever since Sunoo left…or was missing.
“Hyung…” Jungwon didn’t know what to say. Every time Sunoo was the topic, his throat hurts as he stops himself from crying.
Sunghoon softly smiled at them, but it was not his usual smile. “Sorry.. I can’t help but think of him…I-” He gripped his pants and looked down, shutting his eyes, shaking. “I missed him” Droplets of tears then fell down to his shoes. Heeseung bit his lip, trying to stop himself from crying, it wasn’t until he held his face as he felt his wet tears.
“We know, Sunghoon, everyone misses him” He hugged him and tried to comfort him.
After a couple of minutes, everyone settled in their own place, with dry tears evident on their faces. It was silent. Realization hitting them that they still don’t know about Sunoo’s whereabouts. Or… If he was still alive.
They had come up with a plan one time when they were at the table eating together back at the dorm. After they disband, they would still live together in the dorm and focus on finding their precious member.
The van door in the front opened, their manager greeting them along with their driver. He looked at them and saw their puffy faces, clearly visible that they had just recently cried. But Jungwon assured him that they were okay to which the manager hesitantly nodded.
The van started its engine and drove outside the parking lot of the stadium. A path was made for them, with ENGENES on both sides cheering and shouting their name. The van was moving slowly, the windows left open for the fans to see and the members to look. They smiled at everyone, interacting from the car as much as possible.
Ni-ki looked at them with adoration, his smile so wide that his cheeks had started to hurt. He scanned them, one by one, but his smile dropped, his own heart skipped as he saw something familiar, or rather, someone familiar. There was this boy wearing a black hoodie, a black mask covering his face and a black cap sitting in his head, just behind another fan, and it looked like it was trying to hide. Ni-ki would ignore him as he looked suspicious and weird, but no, he could never, not with those familiar eyes.
As their eyes came into contact, the boy’s eyes widened, and he panicked.
Ni-ki quickly grabbed the driver’s seat “Stop the van, now!” he shouted desperately, not caring how loud he was and how he got everyone startled. The van came to an abrupt stop, the manager looking at Ni-ki with confusement and everyone asking him questions.
“Ni-ki? Is there something wro-” Jay was about to ask but he panicked as he saw Ni-ki opening the door “ Hey! What are you doing!?” He grabbed him but Ni-ki pushed him. The others saw this and tried to stop him but he was already standing outside, running somewhere..
“G-get him!” The manager shouted, his heart felt like bursting at the sudden scene.
The others then opened their doors, but they closed it again as the fans came close.
“Shit! There are people just outside!” Heeseung screamed in frustration.
Ni-ki’s name can be heard outside now. Jay turned his palm into a fist. He was shocked because their youngest will never act impulsively like that. There must be a reason. He bolted and opened the door, which added more panic to everyone.
“Jay!” Jake tried to stop him.
“I'm going to get him.” He said firmly and closed the door, he pushed himself through the crowds, shouting at them to get out of the way. It was suffocating, with phones recording him on every side, but he didn’t care, his focus was to find Ni-ki. “Please let me get through!” He shouted again, this time with a bit of anger in his tone. Thankfully, some of them moved, and he finally found Ni-ki standing stiffly. He moved forward and grabbed his wrist, Ni-ki looked back and Jay stilled. Ni-ki was crying, his eyes void with no emotion.
“Tell us later” He said to him, but Ni-ki didn’t respond, he pulled him and started moving towards the van, slightly pushing people out of the way and telling them to move. It was hard, but he gritted his teeth until he saw their own van. As they got close, the van door opened immediately, Jay pushed Ni-ki inside and rushed himself to get in, he grabbed the handle and closed the door strongly. As he finally settled, he caught his breath, sweat dripping on his face.
Heeseung grabbed Ni-ki’s shoulder, facing him, his expression angry. “What is wrong with you!? You-!” He shut his mouth as he saw Ni-ki’s miserable expression. He gripped his shoulder again and pulled himself, sitting back in his place, shaking his hair with his hand. Everyone watched as Ni-ki cried.
Jungwon grabbed him by his hand “Ni-ki, what happened?’
“I…” He whipped his head to look Jungwon into the eyes. “I saw him” Jungwon furrowed his eyebrows “Who? Who did you see?” Ni-ki looked back down again.
“Ni-ki-ah, who did you see?” Sunghoon repeated Jungwon’s question, trying to soften his voice.
Ni-ki mumbled, his words in whisper. Jungwon, who was close, widened his eyes as he heard him, his mouth hanging open. The others, who didn’t catch what the younger said, were left hanging.
“C-come again?” He wanted confirmation, a confirmation that he heard it right.
“Sunoo-hyung” He looked up, his tears stopped and suddenly his eyes were now serious.
“I saw Sunoo-hyung”