He had appeared suddenly one day out of thin air and he had gone with a thud but he had gone. Or so you had started to accept for it has been four days already since Hoseok had disappeared leaving you alone in that room. 

No matter how much you called for him, you got no reply and even after you rushed out of that building, and searched for him in the skies, you were only met with a heavy downpour. The rain hadn't stopped you from calling his name a few more times, but as you started getting weird looks, you stopped. 

Even if you were worried, there was no one you could turn to for this issue, no one but Yukio, to who you had run immediately after you thought of her. You had presented an excuse and left Lola with Jake and his friends, claiming that something had come up and Hoseok will be driving you and her home. And once outside of the club, you had spilt everything to her, while ignoring the heavy rain, in which you both got soaked in till you managed to get a taxi and reach home.

After a general call with her grandma that Yukio did, unfortunately, you didn't find out much but a way people used to leave messages to the fox spirit and that method was odd enough for you two to dismiss the need for it, at the beginning.

It wouldn't be the first time he would be gone and he was capable enough to handle his business, even though you were feeling bad because it was your fault for letting him in on the information that he most likely shouldn't have gotten to know. But he would settle whatever the issue with that may be and he would return, you had both reassured yourselves and thus you had waited.

However, he had not shown up. Nor left any signs that he was okay. The more days passed, the more worried you started being, even though you had yet to admit to that. How could he not show up? And why had your seal not awakened at all from the moment he disappeared? It used to torment you at least once a day but now nothing.

Even though it was beneficial for you, because with him gone, you could literally have your soul eaten by it, the fact that the seal had not made its presence noticeable at all, had left you with anxiety. 

What if it was undone? There were only two ways for that to happen and one involved the death of either you or him while the other meant his departure for the spirit realm. Both cases meant that you would most likely never see him again.

It should have been good news honestly. You of all people should be rejoicing at the possibility of those things happening for as long as it meant that you had your freedom back, it should have been enough. Even if he was to have lost his soul and not made it to the spirit realm, he was already a spirit and hence not precisely alive so there was nothing to mourn about him.

There was really not, yet here you were, in your apartment instead of attending your evening lecture, just so you could perform that method to contact him that Yukio had explained to you as best as her grandmother had told her.

You had said that there was no reason to go that far yet here you were holding the notebook with the drawing image, while Yukio was on her knees, trying to perfectly recreate the image with chalk on the floor.

"If anyone was to find us like this, they could think we are into witchcraft," Yukio murmured with a light giggle following her words.

"Would they be far from it though? At this point, we may just be in way worse things. We have literally been hanging out with a fox spirit." You retorted, adding to whatever was that she was finding funny and making her laugh loudly.

"Who would have thought you of all people would ever be doing such things with me? You used to be such a firm believer that such things are nonsense and spirits aren't a real thing."

"I would have stayed a firm believer if that lunatic of a fox, hadn't kissed me in a forest out of the blue...now that I think of it, he is lucky he is a spirit or I would have sued him for assault." Your tone of voice rose towards the end of your sentence, making Yukio laugh more as she finally stood back on her feet.

"Okay, you can file your lawsuit complaint to him now. I think I did it well enough to work." She gestured towards the completed circle that was connected with different geometrical figures and had a big dot made in a perfect round form, right in the middle of it.

Yukio proceeded to approach the table where you had left previously a half-filled glass of water as per her request and then placed it right at the centre of the perfectly made dot and stepped out of the circle, then she snatched her notebook from your grasp.

"Take the Hyacinth flowers and get in there." She urged you and you looked her way without telling a thing but your hesitation was showing in your orbs. After inhaling a deep breath, you went and grabbed the flowers you two bought on your way back and stepped inside the circle.

"Do you really think it's okay for us to be doing this? -I mean, what if that Goddess gets mad at me? She should be already mad by the fact that I let Hoseok know, even though it wasn't intentional-"

" If she was you most likely wouldn't have been alive by now, so no worries." Yukio tried to reassure you but your face distorted at the thought and only.

"You ain't being much help, you know."

"I have been drawing this thing for three hours now. You better use it!" She left her frustration to show and you pouted slightly as you turned your back to her and sat down on the floor, with the flowers at hand.

"Remember you are supposed to dip one petal at a time and speak only while the petal is in the water." She gave you further instructions just as a wonder got born in your mind.

"How long am I supposed to leave a petal in the water though?"

"I have no idea. Granny said you will know by yourself." Yukio shrugged her shoulders and you looked over your shoulder at her, to give her a look that portrayed the fact that you were thinking that she wasn't being reliable at that moment.

"I will start but if I disappear into thin air too, I hope you live with the guilt." 

"Girl you were the one that told me you wanted to try it. I didn't force you. " She replied while chuckling a bit at how much of a scaredy cat you were being.

"Whatever, just let me be and stay quiet." You sent her off and she continued giggling on her way to the couch, where she could have you in sight while giving you your privacy as well.

Once left on your own, you took a deep inhale as you pulled a petal from the flower and waited there, staring at the glass of water for a few seconds as you still were unsure about this. Despite your fear and uncertainty, however, you really wanted to know if Hoseok was okay. Even if you were to find out that he won't ever be coming back, you had to at least not be living in worry about him. Nor in waiting for him.

After one more inhale, you hesitantly reached out your hand and slowly dipped the petal into the water, only to feel a strange breeze blow against your knuckles that made your eyes grow wide over the surprise that this was really working.

"Oh! What should I say? Ehm...Hello?" You uttered in a low voice, uncertain if anyone was really listening or not.

"I just wanted to talk to the Fox Spirit...Hoseok...Ehm, or just ask about him...whatever is that you can do, I will appreciate it." You went on, only for your face to fall, as the breeze by your knuckles stopped, making you pull the petal out and look at it.

"They are ripping us off! This lasted barely some seconds! Do they even know how much Hyacinth flowers cost nowadays?" Your complaint as you let that petal at the side and proceeded to pull another one and dip it in the water.

"Apparently you are worse than a telephone company but I just wanted to know if he is okay!" You spoke again but the breeze this time around, disappeared way sooner than the first one.

"What the heck?" You furrowed your eyebrows in slight annoyance as you placed that petal on the side too and tried again with another one, but for some reason, you didn't feel that breeze with that petal, so you took it out of the water and observed it up close, in wonder if something was wrong with that petal since it was not working, but no matter how much you were dipping and re-dipping it in the water, that one didn't seem to be working.

"Ah Gosh!" You exhaled as you tried another new petal, and another and another as for some reason, they didn't seem to be working anymore.

"Yukio! I don't think it's working anymore! Come here!" You called out to her as you pulled one more petal and dipped it in the water, this time your eyes growing wide and a smile reaching instantly on your face as you got to feel that breeze again.

"Oh! Wait wait, don't go, don't go...I just wanted to say that..."You tried to rush yourself knowing that this most likely wouldn't last long but for some reason, your brain got stuck as to what to say to him, if he was really listening on the other side, somewhere.

What could possibly make him want to get back? Maybe he was the one that chose to not be returning back and no one was holding him. And if that was the case what could make him, respond to you? Maybe he was mad that you knew that he had a first life yet you had said nothing to him or maybe because he has found one to love- that being that you of the past that he knew-, he could turn back home and he has no plans of ever getting back here. What could possibly sound like you wanted him to show himself again, without actually saying that out loud? Because the truth was that, you wanted him to.

It was absurd and stupid, for his leave meant everything you wanted. It meant your life getting back to how it used to be yet even though at some point, going back to how things used to be sounded ideal, now your everyday life, without his shenanigans and having to interact with him for one reason or another, felt a bit empty.

Your everyday life was feeling as if something was missing from it. Someone that you had been constantly worrying about and waiting for from the moment he disappeared and upon making that realization, the only words that escaped your lips at the last second before that breeze too died away, were- 

" I miss you".

---To be continued...