wander [ hyunlix ]

41

Sometimes, when the forecast predicts sunny skies, the weather, unpredictable as ever, finds a way to bring a rainstorm.

And sometimes, when one thinks that things are finally starting to look up...

They get worse.

Substantially.

Chan had surpassed anger at this point. He was beginning to believe he'd reached apathy, the way things had been going for him lately.

Call him selfish, but it was starting to take every ounce of self-restraint within him to not tell even his closest friends to leave him the hell alone, especially over their usual trivial bullshit that usually wouldn't bother him in the slightest.

He'd barely slept for the past week. Even trying his hardest to focus on schoolwork and drown out endless worried thoughts and theories, Felix haunted his brain like his own conscience.
His poor, naive Felix, out there abandoned in the world alone, and he couldn't even do so much as help.

Or, well... he wasn't alone, after all.

To be completely and brutally honest, that fact almost pissed Chan off more.

Because no one existed in the world that knew Felix better than him. Chan knew him by the sound of his footsteps, and the scent of his floral shampoo, and the stupid emojis he used in every text message. He knew the exact look that flashed across Felix's dark eyes when he was mortifyingly embarrassed, and the nervous smile he gained when flustered.

Who the hell did this other guy think he was?

Chan didn't care what Jeongin said,
he was going to find the boy, no matter what. It was beginning to seem like he was the only one who truly gave a damn anymore about bringing Felix home—he'd even felt Jisung begin to slip away as of late, through a series of frantic calls and text messages that only increased in tension.

Minho had been growing distant recently. In any other situation, Chan would've cared. He would have sat Jisung down and let him have a long cuddle and rant night, but that was the last thing on his mind right now.

Minho had left their little detective-work groupchat. So what? Whatever. Chan wasn't exactly surprised... after all, Felix was his and Jisung's friend, not Minho's.
He found the news unsurprising, but to Jisung, it was the end of the world.

Chan could physically feel himself reaching his wit's end.

When he'd spent his nights in tears, losing his mind over whether or not his closest and dearest friend was dead somewhere in a ditch, Jisung had been the optimist—a shining ray of hope in the most grim of situations.

But now? He felt like he was watching the world move on without him.
Jisung seemed more upset by Minho backing out from their adventures than he did by the very reason they were doing all this in the first place.

And god, was Chan so exhausted.
He'd been carrying on alone, investigating, checking up at the Lees' house, searching for anything he could get his hands on, only to come up empty every time.

He was alone.

Maybe not physically, but mentally.
Felix had left him. Jisung was still around, but the smallest crack was beginning to form and Chan could feel it. He could feel it expanding with every little inch it grew, and he could see where this would end: with Chan stranded at the ledge of the canyon, and Jisung far away on the other side with the rest of the crowd...