。 • ˚ ˚ ˛  Seungmin POV。 • ˚ * 。 

She hung up the call so quickly, I barely got a chance to finish what I was going to say. This happens so often to me. Every time her parents would fight, she'd leave the call. What was she doing when she'd leave? She probably just wanted to be alone. I've been her best friend for the last 4 years; I know everything about her. If there was something else going on, she would tell me.. right? I'm sure of it. It's not business anyways, but it still bothered me.

I checked the time. 9:24 pm. Why was time going so slowly? I didn't want to wait until morning to see her again, but I also wanted to make sure she was really okay. She looked so sad, and her voice sounded so tired. Something was wrong. I could hear it by the way she promised as if she knew it wasn't going to last. We both know she'll break those promises. At least the first one.

My older sister walked in. "What are you doing, Puppy~?" She asked me, teasingly. I scoffed. She's been calling me that ever since Yumi has.

"I'm waiting." I told her. She looked at me, confused. "I'm waiting for Yumi to call back." Now she was laughing at me. For some reason, I couldn't laugh. A bad feeling ran through my whole body, making my heart sink.

"Love sick puppy," She teased me, but I didn't care. I tried to smile, although it was very weak. Am I lovesick? I don't think so. I just really care about her, that's all. Unless I really did like her, that would explain why the thought of her keeps me up all night.

I looked at my night stand. The teddy bear she got me for my 14th birthday still sat there. The stringy, brown fur was all messy now and the two small button eyes stared at me as if daring me not to think of her whenever I saw it. A little purple bow was wrapped around its neck. That purple ribbon was the one she had in her hair the day we met. That day on the roof. I could never forget that day, even if I tried.

I still remember the black 'Sweet Chaos' Day6 shirt she was wearing. Her torn, dark blue denim jeans. I remember that she was wearing her favorite red high-top Converse. The sad look in her eyes. The way she cried when I promised her I'd never leave her side b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶ shattered my heart into a million pieces. I never want to see her cry, because she looks so broken and it makes me feel like I broke my promises. I promised to protect her. I can't fail.

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I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice my sister had left the room. I sighed. Maybe I did love her. Maybe I just really cared for her.

"AHHHHHHH"

I flinched at the sound. Who's scream was that? It was outside. Probably just some kids playing at the park nearby. It sounded close though, and I live on the 7th floor. I'm sure there's a logical explanation behind it. Hopefully no one's hurt. If I was religious, I'd pray for them.

Checking the time on my phone, I realized it was getting late. She promised she'd call back soon. I must've been right because it was almost 10:30 and there was not even one text. It was a weird coincidence that she lived in the condo directly underneath mine, but it helped because I could usually hear when she was awake. Sometimes, when she's bored she'd stay up watching YouTube. That, or she'd be listening to music. Specifically a playlist that we created together called 'Streetlights'. It had all of our favorite songs on it. I could sleep easily whenever I heard her playing the playlist because it meant that she was thinking of me. Most importantly though, it meant that she was okay. I closed my eyes, easing all of my thoughts. She'll call me when she can. It didn't take long for me to slowly drift into a deep sleep.

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Loud sirens cut the atmosphere in half. I jumped up from my bed and ran to the window to see what all the commotion was about. Someone was lying on the sidewalk. The ambulance picked them up in a stretcher and wheeled them into the van, soon taking off down the road. The noisy sirens followed behind as if announcing to the world 'someone got hurt, so be grateful you're alive'. The scream I heard earlier started to ring in my ears. Is that why that person screamed? Was there a mugging or a murder? Something didn't seem right. It wasn't my business, although it felt like it was.

I laid back down, closing my eyes. All of my thoughts disappeared, only for another to reappear. Was Yumi okay? Is she hurt? Was she involved? She said that she was going to leave her house. Well, condo.

No matter how hard I tried to make all these thoughts disappear, I knew that they wouldn't go away anytime soon. That's what started to slowly kill me and cripple me down to nothing; it was the thought of Yumi never talking to me ever again. Or worse- if she got hurt.

I stared remorsefully at the teddy bear for a while. It's time to sleep, I shouldn't be staring at a toy I got years ago. Finally, I could close my eyes. Don't worry, the morning will be a restart. Everything will go according to plan. Nothing will stop me.

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The morning came quicker than I anticipated. I checked my phone as soon as I woke up. No calls or messages from Yumi. Whatever happened with her parents must've been really hard on her. I just hope that she knows I'm here for her. I glanced at the time.

8:23 am

I woke up surprisingly late. Usually I wake up early. It's probably because I woke up in the middle of the night to see what was going on with the sirens. I left my room, walking into the living room. My family greeted me. Breakfast was on the table; Umma must've made something while I was asleep. However I didn't have any interest in eating. I was rather immersed in what was happening on the TV.

"Today the body of a young girl was found...." The news anchor reported with a flat sounding voice. I was shaking. So this was what happened, wasn't it?

Pictures flashed on the screen of the ambulance and our apartment building. They never showed the girl; Rightfully so, though.

"... Officials are still trying to figure out what happened that night. No one has been able to identify her so far, which adds on to the mystery of who she is and what she was doing..."

That's when Umma's voice intruded.

"Seungmin-ah, can you take the trash out?" Umma called. I resumed my life outside of the TV, grabbing the trash and heading outside. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts but was unsuccessful. I was outside while the news still played inside of my house. I wonder what they were saying.

"Some believe that the girl jumped off of the roof of the building in an attempt to commit suicide. Others are saying she might have even been pushed. There is reason to believe, however, that this was just a simple accident. But whatever she was doing up there is still unknown..."

If only you didn't miss that, Seungmin.

You would've known.