meet me at midnight

chapter 13

Anton had been absent for 2 days now, and I was already getting worried. Everybody was worried, even my parents were looking for him since he wasn't showing up in our house like he'd normally do.

That explains why I'm now standing in front of their house- more like a mansion to be honest, as I wait for someone to open the door for me. I was supposed to be coming here along with our friends, but Dohee and Jiwoo made sure that it'll be just me so that, and I quote, "Have some alone time with Anton."

"Oh! Noona, you're here!" I was surprised to see Anton's younger brother opening the door and greeting me enthusiastically. He's taller now, even almost surpassing my height and from what I can remember, he's only in middle school.

What on earth does the Lees eat for them to grow so tall? I mean I am tall too, but heck, Anton and his brother are just giants.

"Hello, Andy." I greeted him with a smile on my face.

"Come in, Yumi noona! I missed you so much!" I could only chuckle, because I can clearly see the difference between Andy and Anton so much. Andy's the extrovert, while his older brother's the introvert one. They're polar opposites which makes it more adorable.

"I came here to check on your brother, how is he? Is he here right now?"

Andy's smiling face turned into a frown when I mentioned his brother, and I wanted to hit myself because I'm afraid I might be crossing a line for even asking and coming here right now. Because, what if Anton doesn't even want me to be here? What if he gets angry?

"He says he's fine, but whenever I put my ear against his door at midnight, I can hear him sobbing like a baby. Do you think someone hurt my hyung, Yumi noona?" Andy asked innocently, and I wanted to run and hug Anton right now.

Sobbing? Anton's hurting, and once again, we're not aware. I don't know if he's just so good at hiding his emotions, or if we're all just not paying much attention to him just because we got used to him having days where he just go missing but comes back after he recharged his social battery.

"Andy, can I see your brother right now?" I asked Andy, kneeling in front of him so I can see his face clearly. He had this worried look on his face, but he still gave me a nod.

We went to the second floor of their house, and when we reached the last room in the hallway, Andy knocked before he dashed out, leaving me alone as I wait for Anton to open his door.

"Andy, I told you I'm not hungry-"

"Hey," I cut him off, smiling awkwardly as Anton and I were now facing each other.

"Why aren't you in uni?" he asked, and I don't know why I suddenly felt nervous when I saw him looking so serious, and his voice that had always been gentle, sounded so blank and monotonous.

What the fuck actually happened?

"I can ask the same to you, Lee Anton. Why are you ignoring us? Why are you ignoring me?" I went straight to the point. I needed to know why he's acting this way again. The last time he did this was when we were in high school, so something must have come up for him to be this way again.

"You know... just tired. I'll be back tomorrow, I promise. You know me, right? I just have days like this." He answered, and it sounded so scripted that I wanted to slap him to wake him up from something that's making him act like this. He didn't sound like Anton at all.

"You know I'm not buying that excuse, right?" I countered back, not minding if I'd have to skip all my classes today. I know something's up, so I'm not leaving until I figure out what it is. Anton has been there for me all the time, and I feel like, we're never really there for him every time he goes through something bad.