Ishihara // ATEEZ ✔

15 Lost

Birds chirping are the first thing that he hears as soon as he opens his eyes, and he listens carefully to their early morning conversation. A mother bird just caught her largest worm and is about to feed her hungry children with it. The mother instructs her babies to be patient and orderly, but it proves to be of little use as they keep on stepping on each other to get the first bite of the catch. Seonghwa smiles at the sight in front of him, and he splits open the curtain to allow all the sunlight to come pouring in. He chuckles, before carefully asking the birds to obey their mother. The chicks must have been surprised that a human is talking to them as they become quiet and strangely obey. The mother looks at him with grateful eyes and he nods in satisfaction. He rests his elbows on the windowsill, looking out at his most prized possession - the garden.

He had specifically requested a room on the ground floor with a window that overlooks the garden, because he knows that is what the first thing he wants to see as he wakes up everyday. If it means that he can see the garden from his window, it also means that he can spot Akira's room at the guests' building. He glances at the window - the very same one Akira had fallen out of - and sees that it is tightly shut. He wonders if Akira is still sleeping. Yesterday's events play around in his mind like a film, and he does not let himself stop on anything in particular. It was just a blur - only confusion and partly-answered questions remain in his head.

He is disturbed by a hurried knock on his door, the speed increasing every second. The knocker then tries the door, but when he sees that it is locked, continues rapping on the door.

"Wait a second."

"Seonghwa, are you awake? There's been an emergency." Wooyoung's voice comes from behind the closed door.

He opens the door to find a worried Wooyoung. He's holding a set of keys and Seonghwa recognizes it as the ones for the rooms at the guests' building. Could it be? His mind quickly stops on Akira as the words stumble out of his mouth, "Did something happen to Akira? Is she okay?"

"I don't really know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Seonghwa is already stepping out of his room, closing the door behind him. "Can you be more precise?"

"She's... she's not in her room."

"Did she go somewhere? Maybe she went to grab something to eat." They plod down the hallways, their shoes clicking on the tiled floor.

"Yes, but I don't think she's coming back."

His steps slow down before coming to a complete stop. Wooyoung who's matching his steps do the same. "How can you be so sure?"

"I went to her room this morning because I wanted to invite her for breakfast. I also wanted to offer her to stay in another room since what happened. Maybe even invite her to the main building. I knocked a lot of times and I was worried that something had happened to her again because there was no answer. I quickly grabbed the keys and when I opened the room, the bed was made, her belongings were gone, she wasn't there and there was a note on the bedside table. I grabbed the note before reading it, and went to search the whole palace. I thought, and I really wished... that maybe she found the room uncomfortable since what happened and wanted to change rooms but no... she really is gone."

"What does her note say?"

"Ah," he pulls out the note from his pants' right pocket. He unfolds it, smoothens it before skimming through. He sighs a few times until he reaches the end of the paper. Curious Seonghwa wants to look over his shoulder to read it, but Wooyoung closes it before he even manages the first sentence. "She said she is sorry and that she is very grateful for all the hospitality that we've given to her. She apologized if she ever behaved out of her place and she said that the reason she behaved awkwardly was because she was genuinely surprised by the kind treatment we've given her. She even personally listed down our names and said thank you to each and every one of us. She told us not to worry about her as she can take care of herself from now on. She wished all the best for us."