Weeks turned into months again without a sight of her, although this time, they never gave up.

Every possible sighting they were sure to investigate, they even went as far as staying in other cities for weeks on end in hopes to find her, but those visits came to no avail.

Jacob lead the investigating, the boy felt lucky if he slept for three hours at night. "Someone has to stay here with him."

"I will," Hyunjae volunteered, earning a shake of the head from the blonde. "What? I'm not staying to hold my grudge, you know I've let that all go."

"You better have," Jacob warned, raising an eyebrow at the brunette. "Fine, you can stay."

Truthfully, the boy had let go of that hatred he had once felt towards the girl. He barely remembered that night, although when he was told that he made it home safely without a scratch upon his body after cornering and kissing her, he knew she had pitied him.

The fact that she took that pity upon him and let him off safely spoke volumes to him. She let him cry, she let him breakdown and kiss her without her consent.

That told him enough about her, and he began to believe that she was actually the person Jacob and Sangyeon claimed she was.

So tonight, he would stay with his leader. The leader who sulked again, the one who refused to leave his room or see daylight.

He let her away, he let her leave without a fight - again. And this time, it cost him more than hoping he would've just done things differently.

He spilled a bit of his heart to her, then she was never to be seen again. He had never done that to anyone, but maybe that was because he wasn't sure if he had ever cared that deeply for anyone other than his family or the boys he mentored.

But he never told her he cared for her deeply. It was a simple sentence that didn't explain the depth of his feeling, yet the thought of that scared him more than anything.

Hyunjae sighed as he opened the room door, closing it behind him. "Shouldn't you be doing what a leader does?"

"You can do that for me, right?" He scoffed sarcastically as the boy sat on the edge of the bed.

"I can't," the brunette shook his head. "Only you can, we all know that."

It was surprising to the boy that Hyunjae hadn't taken charge of the groups activities for now. They had calmed down in the last year or so, ever since meeting her, maybe that was why he didn't want to have the power. It wasn't exciting anymore. "I trust Jacob."

"Right, he has that emotional attachment," the boy agreed, leaning back against the wall. "What if she doesn't want to be found, Sangyeon?"

"I don't believe that," he shook his head, clenching his eyes closed to see visions of her getting into that taxi. "Something in my gut tells me not to believe that."

The brunette tilted his head, curious of the leaders thought process. "Then what does your gut say?"

"That something bad has happened to her," Sangyeon sighed, his face scrunching up at the mere thought of it. "I really believe that."

The two fell silent, the inevitable thought was on the younger's mind yet he couldn't bare to say it, no matter how he had once felt about her.

"Say it," the leader breathed out. "You think she's dead."

Hyunjae panicked, shaking his head almost instantly as his hands motioned for the boy to stop talking. "Don't think like that-"

"Everyone's thinking it, right?" He looked over. His eyes were lost, yet when it came to her and disappearing, they always seemed lost and helpless. "There isn't a single trace of her. There isn't a single trace of Jaekyung. It all adds up."

"You think he killed her?" The boy tilted his head as though the thought had never crossed his or any of the boys' minds before.

"I think something bad has happened to her," he reiterated, his stomach churning at the thought. "That night was strange, but she seemed alright when she left me."

Hyunjae nodded, sitting up straighter. "What did you talk about?"

Sangyeon recalled the night that had become a distant memory now. He remembered how she spoke to wisely to him, the same way she always did.

It was that night that now haunted his dreams whenever he could actually sleep. His computer in the corner of the room stared at him as though to question why he wasn't doing more.

Why wasn't he doing more to save her? Why couldn't he bring himself to do as much as Jacob was currently doing?

"We talked about Minyung," the boy recalled sadly. "I told her she was my sister, that you and Jacob loved her. She asked what she was like, I said 'just like you'."

Hyunjae chewed the inside of his cheek nervously at the thought of that night, and even the mention of her name.

The leader sucked in a deep breath, exhaling shakily as he fidgeted with his fingers. "I told her I cared about her."

With a nod, the brunette smiled lazily to himself. "Well, we could see that one coming."

"Shut up." Sangyeon nudged him with a pathetic effort, smiling to himself at the thought of it all.

"You've never been like this with anyone," Hyunjae continued, making the boy sulk a little more. "I mean interested in them. You always wanted to know where she was, what she was up to. You always wanted her forgiveness, it was rare and strange to see."

"Well," the boy shrugged. "I'll beg for her forgiveness until the day I die, if we ever meet again."

"We haven't gave up, you know," the brunette reassured. "It's easy for you to sit here and feel sorry for yourself and what could have been if you had taken her home that night, but do you think she would've wanted you to give up?"

Sangyeon stayed silent. He recalled how she convinced him that doing was better than asking.

For the first time in a while, he felt convinced and motivated.

He remembered how the next day, he found himself at her door, a bag of hot food in his hand and a box of chocolates in the other. He knew she wouldn't appreciate the cliché bouquet of flowers, and that she'd prefer this.

Words replayed in his mind as he whispered under his breath, reciting what was right to say and what would make everything right again.

"Screw this," he had murmured to himself, looking down at his feet. "Just say it."

But when the door never opened, he simply assumed she was elsewhere. At that point, he wandered around the small town, peaking into every store window he saw.

Did she have a new job now? Did she have friends here?

He even went as far as to stop the odd person who found themselves walking down that street at the time. He pleaded with them that he needed to know where she was, but none of them could even recognise the description he gave them.

Maybe that's because he had gotten ahead of himself. He was frantic by that point, rambling on about the things he had once hated about her that he had came to eventually tolerate, and maybe even admire in her.

"She's tall, slim. She has a deep voice, it matches her face well," the boy had rambled to a stranger. "That's once you get to know her, of course. She appears intimidating, and that's because she is. But underneath it all..."

The boy sighed, looking desperately at the stranger between their eyes, shaking his head that had surely built up a sweat.

"She's beautiful," he said exhaustedly. "She really is, and I'd be the last person to admit that-"

"I'm sorry," the man shook his head, hurrying by him. "I'm in a rush, good luck with finding her."

He shook his head, glancing over at Hyunjae. "She wouldn't have wanted me to give up."

"Then why have you?" The brunette smiled sadly.

"I feel helpless," he admitted, chewing upon his bottom lip momentarily. "I don't know what else to do."

Just then, voices from outside the door caused the boys to sit up, their eyes widening slightly at the commotion. It was enough to make the leader jump from his bed, his hand going to open the door before it opened before him. "Sangyeon, you need to see this."

The boy followed Kevin into the room of boys who went quiet at the sight of him. His stomach churning, the boy gulped. "What's going on?"

"It's Hwayoung," Chanhee spoke up, earning warning looks from those around him. "What else was I supposed to say?"

His eyes searched for the blonde boy instantly, yet he couldn't see him. "Where is Jacob?"

"He's outside," Haknyeon said from beside the other two youngest. His face was sad, his words were gentle - he was trying to let him down gently about whatever this was. "He needs a minute."

The sheer panic on the leaders face was enough to make all their stomachs drop, although one had to take it for the team and be brave enough to speak up. It just had to be Changmin. "We've been sent coordinates."

"Coordinates?" Sangyeon breathed out, placing a hand upon his forehead. "Coordinates to where?"

"Her body," the boy dropped his head as did the others. "The message asked for Jacob to come alone-"

The leader raised his hand, scrunching up his face as his body began to tremble. He couldn't speak the words he wished to, his body remained in complete and utter shock.

The boys knew this state well, they had seen it once before. The day Minyung died, he seemed void of any emotion, although they knew his world was shattered. She was the only thing he had left to care for, and when she was taken from him, it took him a while to get back on his feet.

Now Hwayoung was gone, and although none of them could be sure of what she meant to him, they all knew that she was somewhat important to him, or he wouldn't have them chasing the clouds for a sight of her.

But they had no idea, except for Hyunjae who had remembered their conversation not long ago. "Sangyeon, let's go and sit-"

"Send me the numbers," the leader cut the brunette off, looking at Changmin desperately. "I'll go."

"It's surely a trap, Sangyeon," the boy shook his head. "They asked for Jacob, and only him."

"How do they know his name now?" Younghoon quizzed, the others nodding in agreement.

"Well, he's one of our most wanted," Eric reasoned, raking a hand through his hair. "Jaekyung has been off our backs for almost a year."

"What makes you think it's him?" Sangyeon asked, his voice croaking noticeably.

Eric pursed his lips, shrugging gently. "I can't imagine it being anyone else."

The leader knew this to be true, yet his mind couldn't piece things together just quite yet. He couldn't ask himself why he would lure Jacob to this location, or how they had even come to be wise to more names of the group.

Just now, all he could think about was getting himself to those coordinates. He never had the time to brace himself for what he might see, or what would happen when he got there.

Just like these last few months, he could only think of one thing, and that was getting to Kim Hwayoung.

Dead or alive.