Blue Summer

Chapter 18: The Hidden

A blue summer was dawned with grey skies. It was raining heavily, and the beach was closed due to high waves washing up the shore. The treacherous weather locked up everyone inside their rooms waiting for the Sun to emerge and shine. Ibuki did not appear out of his room and by ten in the morning, Eun Yun got worried. She went up to check on him, and when she knocked on the door, there was no response. She tried to open the door, but it was locked, not from within but from outside. Eun Yun did not remember seeing Ibuki come out of his room. Then where was he?

Panicked, Eun Yun checked the hotel up and down, but there was no sign of Ibuki anywhere. The rain outside was whipping the glass windows, and the trees were being pushed by the wind. Eun Yun asked the staff at the hotel about Ibuki, but no one could tell where he was. Eun Yun concerningly went to her parents, and they, too, began searching for Ibuki at possible locations. By mid-day, it was clear that he was missing.

Misao was not known to this chaos. She was snuggling in her bed, reading a book. It was calm and serene. She was feeling happy and comfortable. But as she dwelled into her thoughts, there was a loud noise outside. She heard yells and shouts. She got out of her bed and pulled a jogger. As she wore it, the yells came closer. She opened the door and found the entire hotel in chaos. She tried discerning what they were calling for and figured they were yelling Ibuki's name.

She got hold of one of the staff and inquired about the commotion.

"Mr Ibuki Kaoru is missing!"

Misao said no further and rushed up to the hotel's balcony. She assumed that since Ibuki had been talking of death too often these days, he had chosen to jump to end his life. But when she arrived there, he was not present.

Dreading the worst, Misao contacted the police. Time rushed past them, and by evening, they realised that the situation was graver than it appeared. A stormy night, an unsettling sea and a missing young boy.

The search began at six in the evening. The locals were informed of Ibuki's descriptions and asked to let the police know if they had any information. The beach was probed thoroughly, with the shopkeepers and other locals present being questioned.

Misao remained in her room helplessly, waiting for any clue of Ibuki's whereabouts. Youra and Joon-Woo were present with her, too. Uno was with his uncle in a guest house Sungmin had booked.

The guest house was situated a few kilometres away from the hotel, more elevated and deeper in trees. It was two-storeyed, with three bedrooms on the first floor. There was a kitchen, a lounge and a reading room on the ground floor. The door of the house opened to the lounge, which had a set of chairs and a table in the centre for sitting. It also had a dining table located at the front of the kitchen. Right to the lounge was the reading room. The stairs were on the left and led to the three bedrooms.

Uno was in one of the bedrooms that was placed on the front side of the house. There was a balcony in the room where Uno sat looking at the stormy night. He was trying to discern Misao's words. He felt guilty and wanted to let her know that he had no ill intention when he said so.

Sungmin approached him and asked, "Uno, come down for dinner."

"Uncle, I am not feeling hungry," Uno replied.

Sungmin placed his hand on Uno's shoulder and asked, "Did you have some sort of argument with Misao?"

"No. I just said something that she did not like. You see, she has a friend named Ibuki. He has gone through some trauma and usually is mentally disturbed." Uno began explaining the entire situation to Sungmin, and he responded, "Uno, commenting on someone else's condition without really knowing what it is, I do not think is a good idea. Both Youra's and Misao's reactions are valid. Foremost, you should apologise to both and try to find out what really is going on with Ibuki. They never said that he is going through some serious mental health issues, for you think that he needs therapy. His mental health is not for you to diagnose."