Take on Me

14

¤ Sights
London Grammar ↲

Wonder where your heart came from
What have you done
My only friend keep on
Wander or leave
Turn into winter lights
Keeping your strength
When it gets dark at night

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Taehyung couldn't find Jungkook around campus that night. He ran all throughout the Art Department, searched the surrounding area, and went down to the guest parking lots. He sent a couple texts and called once, all which went unanswered.

The hours passed by slowly that night. Taehyung kept his phone's volume on high in case he fell asleep and Jungkook reached out, but the younger never did. Come morning, there were no new texts or missed calls at all.

He tried to convince himself nothing was wrong. The two hadn't really communicated over the phone before, so maybe Jungkook wasn't always attached to the device. It was normal not to text friends back immediately, right? Sometimes small things got in the way.

But as the next morning started to unfold, this didn't feel like a small thing to Taehyung. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach and he could barely eat. All he wanted to hear was that Jungkook was okay, that he left his phone somewhere and wasn't able to respond sooner. Hopefully when they met for their private session tonight, everything would be righted. They'd laugh about a silly misunderstanding of some sort.

During his two morning classes, all his attention went to Jungkook. When he was supposed to critique Hector Gonzales' work, Taehyung sketched images of the younger's eyes, wide and curious. In his landscapes course, he drew that lake they went to instead of the canyon displayed by a projector. Every thought he had linked back to Jungkook and wondering where he was.

Tightness gripped his chest when early evening arrived and there was still no word from the younger. Taehyung sent out a few texts before trying to call once more. The phone rang four times before sending him to voicemail. After the tone, Taehyung started talking.

"Kook, it's me. If you couldn't tell by all my texts, I'm getting worried. I couldn't find you last night and . . . You weren't supposed to go prostitute yourself, remember? Shit. Sorry. I don't know why I said that. I just want to know you're alright. Let me know when you can, okay?"

He hung up before stalking out of his apartment. A short while later, he was back at the construction site, thinking he was stupid for not checking here earlier. Scanning the group of men for Jungkook, he found a familiar head of purple hair instead.

"Namjoon!" Taehyung called as he ran up to the worker.

"Whoa, man," Namjoon said, ushering him away from the building. "No one's allowed this close. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Taehyung nodded his head, but stepped in front of the elder before he walked away. "Yes, I will, but I'm here about Jungkook. I'm his friend."

"Ah. You're Jin's friend, too," Namjoon said in realization, giving the younger a few more moments of his attention.

"I'll leave, just please tell me if he's here. I haven't been able to get in touch with him." Taehyung was hopeful as he asked, craning his neck to continue searching for the boy.

But Namjoon shook his head. "I haven't heard from him either. A bit out of character, if I'm being honest."

"Do you know where else I can search? Who elss I can ask?" Taehyung asked, aware of the desperation coating his tone.

Namjoon's name was called and he looked over his shoulder. "Look, I have to go. But you can check with his old roommate. Park Jimin."

The elder left him there at that, with no mention of how to find this Park Jimin person. Taehyung racked his brain, trying to remember anything Jungkook had mentioned about his past college career. They talked about his experience briefly, amazed they never saw each other given they were both in the Art Department.