Wonwoo's pov 

It's been a few months since Alex and Jun started dating, and needless to say that I'm not exactly having the time of my life. Yes, my feelings are hurt but as long as Alex is happy, I am... well, not happy but I'll bear it for her sake.  She deserves it. It's her first boyfriend, and I'm not going to be the lovesick best friend who's going to ruin their relationship. I'm more like the sulky roommate that throws disgusted looks whenever there's way too much PDA going on. Which recently has been increasing much to my dismay.

At first, they would go on dates or just hanged on Minghao's and Hoshi's place, leaving me alone with Mingyu and bitchy Mina. I mean, Alex tried to take me with her and Jun to the movies once as an attempt to save me from Mina, but it was way too awkward for everybody. Alex felt bad for ignoring one while speaking to the other, Jun was just aching to spend time with his girlfriend in a dark room, and me...well as much as I enjoy going to the movies with my best friend, having her boyfriend trying to desperately get her attention, it's just not for me. Even if the sight of the Chinese boy pouting made me smirk a bit. 

Unfortunately for me, they decided that spending time outside our apartment just didn't feel right anymore. And that takes us to the first night that Jun spent here.

It was just a normal morning before college, with me not really feeling like getting out of the house to face the world and to make things even better, Jun just happens to be standing in our kitchen. Just casually cooking, without a shirt on!

I just stopped at stared at him like he had grown an extra limb or something. When he finally realized my presence, he didn't seem bothered at all with my shocked expression or the fact that he was standing with only sweatpants on. Oh no no, he even smiled!

"Good morning!"

Instead of answering, I just blinked at him. What was I supposed to say? 'Good morning hyung, mind telling me why you're standing shirtless in our kitchen?'

Shortly after that, Mingyu come out of his room, and once he saw the shirtless guy standing in our kitchen, his sleepy expression quickly turned into one of shock and confusion, then he proceeded to look at me, expecting some sort of explanation. I just shrugged and tried to tell him that I knew as much as he did.

Alex came out her room, looking uncharacteristically jolly in the morning, and to add to even more to my shock, she was wearing what it looked to be Jun's shirt. Me and Mingyu looked at each other again in complete confusion. Alex didn't seem to care, as she just bid the two of us a small 'good morning' and then proceed to make her way to her boyfriend's side, placing a small kiss on his lips. 

It might have been the most awkward breakfast I ever had. The four of us were sitting on the kitchen table, Jun kept talking, Alex and Mingyu were just way too busy stuffing their faces with the food that Jun had prepared, occasionally responding back, and me...well all I kept thinking was how this guy knew exactly how to work his way into my roommates' heart.

I know that Jun is a nice guy, a bit too much for me to handle sometimes, but come on, in my situation, how could I possibly like him? I just decided to stand him for Alex's sake.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Three weeks after that 'lovely breakfast', I found myself alone in the apartment, reading a book. My roommates were busy with their respective relationships, leaving me on our comfy but empty living room. Depressing, I know. 

The sudden urgent knocks on the door forced me to get up and leave my book on the couch. To my surprise, it was Hoshi and Dokyeom, looking really worried.

"He-"

"Wonwoo, we need to go now!" Dokyeom interrupted me. He wasn't smiling or laughing like his usual loud self, making me a bit uneasy with the situation. Before I could ask what was wrong, Hoshi, who looked equally worried, proceed to talk.

"Alex is missing!"

I just stared at him in complete confusion.

"W-w-what? How?!" 

They both tried to explain the situation as quickly as they could. Apparently, Alex was with Jun, when he told her that he had to go back to China, but before he could explain, she had already vanished. So now, he's desperately looking for her around Seoul. He called Minghao, Hoshi, Seungkwan and Dokyeom. They decided to slipt, Minghao and Seungkwan would look for Alex, while Hoshi and Dokyeom would break the news for her roommates. 

Due to the amount of emotions I was feeling, I could barely pass half of this information to Mingyu, but he seemed to understand it since he ditched his girlfriend to search for Alex.

God, what do I do now?

I just hope she's okay...

______________________________________________________________________

We've looked everywhere.

We've checked all the places where she usually likes to go to, hell we even called the people that she works with, and so far nothing. Absolutely nothing! I was so worried that I could barely even think straight. 

I was alone at the park. Mingyu was picked up by Jun, and they are now driving around town, Hoshi and Dokyeom are checking the Han River area, and Seungkwan and Minghao are searching the college grounds.

When I was about to lose my mind, my phone ringed. I answered it without even checking the ID caller.

"Hello?"

"Wonwoo? It's Jeonghan."

"Jeonghan?" He's Seungcheol's roommate. I can't recall giving him my number, but that's not important at the moment.

"Yeah."

"Jeonghan, this is not the best ti-"

"I know, I know. You're looking for Alex, right?"

"Yes...wait how do you-" 

"That's why I'm calling. She's in mine and Seungcheol's place." 

"What?! How?!"

"Long story short, Seungcheol found her wandering around on the street crying, so he brought her here." Never in my life have I felt so relieved.

"Oh thank God! Is she alright?"

"Well, physically yes, emotionally not so much."

"I'll warn Jun and-"

"No, wait! I'll call them, and you come here! She needs to talk to someone."

"But Ju-"

"Yeah yeah, he's her boyfriend, but you're her best friend. Now hurry up and come here!"

Before I could question him any further, he hung up. I didn't understand why Jeonghan was so demanding on me speaking to Alex, but I wasn't going to complain.

 I was just happy she was okay.

____________________________________________________________________

Once I reached the apartment complex, I started to feel a bit stupid. I mean, we've looked everywhere, except the very building where we live? 

But that stupid feeling was quickly replaced by nervousness and anxiety. 

What was I supposed to say? 

How can I comfort Alex? 

Hell, how do you comfort anyone on this kind of situation?

Sadly, I wasn't able to answer any of this questions when I arrived at the door of the apartment 711, where Jeonghan and Seungcheol live. Before I could even knock, the door was slammed open by Jeonghan, who quickly grabbed my arm and dragged further inside their house. Was he standing on the other side of the door the whole time, just waiting for me come out the elevator?

"Took you long enough!"

"Sorry?"

"You should be!"

"Wha- alright, nevermind. Where's Alex?" I looked around their apartment finding no traces of my roommate.

"She was here a while ago. Seungcheol took her to the roof. Thought she might need some air.  I told him it was better if we waited for you but he said 'he knows where the roof is, just send him there' but I said-" Jeonghan was rambling way too fast for me to fully comprehend him, so I decided to interrupt him.

"OKAY, calm down! The roof you said?"

"Yes yes! Now go!" I honestly think Jeonghan was more eager than me, but I decided to not inquiring him any longer since he looked like he was going to explode.

The roof wasn't technically speaking allowed for anyone, but the younger residents of the complex, like me, Alex, Mingyu, Minghao, Hoshi and the others, use the space to get some air or just relax. And then there's Seungcheol who likes to use it for stretching, but that's another story.

When I arrived at the roof, I saw Seungcheol talking to  Alex, while side hugging her. They were sitting next to each other, both with a beer can in their hand, and a grocery bag laid on the ground. I couldn't make up what they were saying, and once Seungcheol noticed my presence, he quickly stopped talking and smiled at me. Alex also turned around to face me, her face was still covered in tears, but despite that, she still made an effort to smile at me, like she was trying to show that she was alright, even if she was the complete opposite. 

  Seungcheol got up, petting Alex's head, and grabbing the beer can she had on her hand, ignoring her protests.

"I think you had enough for today. Hey Wonwoo."

"Hey...Jeonghan is-"

"Yeah I know.I trust you two we'll be okay in my absence?" 

He didn't even wait for any sort of response, making his way quickly out of the roof. Those two are acting a bit weirder than normal.

 I made my way to where Seungcheol was before, sitting next to Alex.  Before I could say anything, she asked, while looking back at the roof entrance.

"Is he gone?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good." Alex took another beer can from the grocery bag that was on the ground next to her.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm honoring a part of the Korean culture."

"Alcoholism?"

"And Seungcheol thought he had taken all of them." She opened the can and took a sip. She looked like an absolute mess, making my heart ache. 

"Alex...what happened to you? Why did you ran?"

" 'Cause that's what I do, Wonwoo! I run away from my problems instead of facing them! I'm like the Usain Bolt of running from problems! I avoid them and stall them until they come and slap me hard in the face.  In this case, I literally ran away from them! God, Jun probably hates me right now!" She started crying again.

"Of course he doesn't! He was so worried about you. I...I mean, we all were!"

"I'm sorry I worried you guys, I just...I didn't know how to handle the situation? Once he told me he was going to go back to China I just...stopped functioning, you know? I stopped thinking, and I just started running. I don't know why I did it, I just...yeah..."

"How did you even managed to disappear so fast?"

"The beauty of being short in a big city, is that even small crowd can become the perfect hideout. Otherwise, I would never be able to outrun Jun. I mean, have seen him?! He's super fast! Martial arts do wonders to your body...like really amazing wonders..." 

I snapped my fingers in front of her face, regaining her attention back.

"Sorry..."

"What did you do after that?"

"Well, I visited pretty much every convenience store I could find, bought enough beer cans for a year, and just walked aimlessly through the streets, while playing all the depressing songs that I had on my phone... I just felt so pathetic and mad at myself. Like I was one of those idiotic girls from dramas that cry over everything, you know?"

 She buried her face in her hands, attempting to hide the tears that kept falling from her eyes. I wasn't very sure of what to say so I just hugged her tightly, until she eventually hugged me back. After a while, I finally decided to speak up.

"Hey, you're not pathetic, you were scared and you didn't know what to do, so you panicked. It's completely understandable. I'm sure Jun doesn't hate you for it. You two just need to talk about it."

"I'm just scared of being alone."

"You're never gonna be alone. You have me...and Mingyu. We would never leave you alone, even if you wanted to." Through the tears, she somehow managed to giggle at comment.

"Promise me that I'll have to put up with you until we're like thirty five."

"Let's make it seventy three, that is if we haven't killed each other by then."

"There's a bigger chance that Minghao kills Mingyu before that."

"We'll probably be there to stop him."

"Yeah...you know you really are the best of all the friends I could ask for, right?" Those words made me ache inside, but I decided to not let her know.

"Yeah...aren't you just so lucky to have me?" I tried my best to sound like I was really joking instead of being miserable.

Lucky me, Alex fell for it, since she chuckled. We were just standing there, hugging each other, when Mingyu came in through the roof entrance, screaming 'sad group hug', while joining us.

"DON'T THINK EVEN FOR A SECOND THAT YOUR ASS WON'T BE LECTURE FOR THIS, GOT IT YOUNG LADY?!"

"Mingyu, you know you're not my mum, right?" 

"That's beside the point!"

Shortly after, Jun came in, looking unlike his usual self. His hair was a mess and he looked like he had been crying, and yet he still managed to look handsome.

"Hey...mind if I...I speak to her?"

I really didn't felt like letting go of her, but I still nodded and made my way along with Mingyu to roof exit. When I looked back, I saw Jun hugging Alex tightly, like he was afraid she would run again.

Despite how relieved I felt, I couldn't help but feel like someone stabbed me in the heart.

I know that Jun really cares for her.

But sadly, so do I.