Hanbin spun around, rushing his hand through his hair. The excitement to see Rhine that night turned sour. He regretted volunteering to pick her up. Hanbin wanted to go back to the house and lie in his sleeping bag and hopefully, miraculously, forget everything that happened between Rhine and him. He wanted to rip out his feelings towards her and go back to the way they were: mere acquaintances.

            He looked towards the exit and started heading towards it. Just moments before, he walked through those doors as if there was nothing in the world that could drive him mad, yet now he felt like he was drowning. Hanbin normally wasn’t moody, but Rhine had that effect on him. She changed his emotions consistently as if he was her toy. Hanbin scoffed at the thought.

            “Hanbin?” The gentle voice laced with concern pierced through his heart, sending warmth across his chest, causing him to stop immediately.

            “So it is you!” Bobby said when Hanbin turned around. Bobby beamed and pulled Hanbin into a half hug. “Turn up, Hanbin!”

            “Turn up,” Hanbin repeated, glancing over at Rhine who flashed them both an uncertain smile.

            “Turn down,” she said slowly as if she was conversing with little children.

            Bobby laughed and flung his arm around her shoulders. Hanbin’s eyes darted towards their interaction in alarm. He searched Rhine’s eyes for any emotion that said she didn’t like the way Bobby touched her, but he found no emotion when Rhine looked at Bobby with a smile. Hanbin held back his emotions and faked a smile while nodding at what Bobby was saying.

            “Did you walk all the way here?” Bobby questioned.

            “I took the bus.” They started heading towards the exit and he turned to Rhine. “Let me help you.” She looked at him with surprise when he motioned towards her bags.

            Bobby glanced at them. “Yeah Rhine, let Hanbin help you.”

            “But it’s heavy.”

            “Hanbin can carry it,” Bobby said.

            She reluctantly handed him her bag and thanked him. They exited out of the building and into the night. The star-filled sky greeted them and the dim streetlights kissed their cheeks. The cool air rushed by, welcoming them to Jeju.

-

            “We’re here!” The door swung wide open, revealing Bobby in the entrance with arms spread wide, his gummy smile on his face. The breeze rafted into the room, causing Iseul – who was seated on the couch nearest the door, to shiver.

            Yunhyeong, who was hovering over Donghyuk’s shoulder, yelped and looked in their direction with wide eyes. Donghyuk quickly closed the browser and the rest of the members surrounding Donghyuk quickly acted like nothing was wrong. Hanbin raised an eyebrow as the three entered the house and closed the door behind them.

            “What’s going on?” Bobby asked, walking up to Donghyuk. Noticing this, Donghyuk instantly stood up and turned to face Bobby with a fake grin, blocking the computer from view. Bobby tried to peek over Donghyuk’s shoulder towards the computer screen, but Donghyuk wouldn’t oblige.

            “Yah, why do you look like you just committed a crime?” Hanbin asked, stepping towards them.

            Junhwe blurted, “Your dad did.” Eyes wide, Junhwe covered his mouth with a gasp and the other trainees glared at him, but the room fell silent. In the distance, pots banged while Jinhwan’s mom cooked.

            “What?” Hanbin stared at them, surprised. When nobody answered, he walked over to Donghyuk. “What is he talking about? What about my dad?”

            “It’s nothing, Hanbin,” Donghyuk muttered, refusing to step away from the computer.

            “Tell me.” When Donghyuk refused to reply, Hanbin gently pushed Donghyuk from the computer, but Donghyuk stayed glued to his spot.

            “Hanbin, you don’t have to see this,” Jinhwan said.

            “What’s going on?” Bobby asked, looking at the trainees but no one said anything.

            Hanbin turned around and looked directly into each boy’s eyes. “I have the right to know everything that has to do with my family.”

            Yunhyeong shook his head. “Not this, Hanbin.”

            “I don’t care how bad it is, this is my father we’re talking about.” Everyone averted their eyes and he sighed. “We’re friends, friends tell each other everything.”

            Jinhwan sighed, looking defeated. “Show him.”

            Donghyuk hesitantly turned around and opened up the browser. His Twitter, behind the name Ezra, popped up and he clicked a link that led to a forum. Bobby and Rhine moved closer to Hanbin and looked at the forum from behind. The first post was an article that was copied and pasted from another source. The headline stared back at Hanbin, as if mocking him: IKON’s leader BI’s father caught embezzling 2.4 billion won.

            His curiosity took the best of him and he grabbed the mouse and scrolled down. The trainees looked worriedly at him, whom was oblivious to their existence. As Bobby read, he glanced to check on Hanbin every other second. Hanbin’s chest constricted and he shut his eyes tight after he finished reading. His breathing became slow, rigid and he stepped back. He opened his eyes and stared hard at the floor.

            “What is this? Is this some sick joke?” Bobby demanded, staring at Donghyuk. Bobby’s pulse was racing the more he stared at his best friend, whom was falling apart by the seconds. He felt like he needed to protect Hanbin and hide him from the viciousness of the world. Their leader didn’t deserve all the injustice the world gave him, Hanbin had been through enough.

            “We don’t know. None of the credible news sites posted anything regarding this, but we did find one article but it was blocked. Netizens said that this is Mr. Yang took down every article,” Donghyuk explained in a small voice.

“Hanbin-ah, everything will be okay,” Jinhwan patted Hanbin’s head and the others nodded.

Hanbin looked up at them and forced a smile, although his heart was breaking. He looked down and the silence settled around them. The silence was sickening. His thoughts clawed at him. He felt foolish and embarrassed, standing in front of the trainees, his friends. He probably failed them; he probably wasn’t worth the title of leader anymore. Every second that ticked by was out his life force. Every second that ticked by was a slap to the face. Hanbyul. His mom. His dad. He wanted to go see them. He wanted to know if they were okay. Most of all, he wanted to know the truth.

            “I’m calling my mom.” With that, Hanbin headed for the rooms and nobody tried to stop him. They watched him drag his feet across the floor, heavy and clumsy. Bobby shook his head and looked at the ground.

            “They want him out,” Yunhyeong muttered the second Hanbin was out of sight.

            “Who?” Rhine asked, looking at him.

            “Netizens,” he answered. “They’re blaming this on him.”

            “What for? He didn’t do anything wrong.”

            “Whatever one’s ancestors did, their descendants get blamed too,” Jinhwan said.

            Eiseu shifted in her spot. “Do you think it’s true?”

            Jinhwan shrugged. “We can’t believe anything right now. There are journalists who hate Mr. Yang and will do anything to ruin the lives of the people under him. We’ll have to see if it’s true or not.”

            “We’re supposed to be on vacation, why is this happening now?” Junhwe muttered as he rubbed his face.

            “I’m going to check on Hanbin,” Bobby said as he left the room.

            Yunhyeong’s phone rang and he picked it up. “It’s Chanwoo!” He swiped to answer the video call and three unfamiliar faces popped up on the screen. Yunhyeong grinned and waved. “Chanwoo, Jinhyeong, and Hongseok, it’s good to see you guys again!” Yunhyeong turned the screen to the other boys and they all exchanged greetings. The boys hovered around the phone.

            “Guys, these are the girl trainees and girls, these are Chanwoo, Jinhyeong, and Hongseok. Chanwoo is the other member,” Jinhwan explained and they exchanged  greetings, but both the boys and the girls looked flustered.

            “How have you guys been?” Donghyuk asked into the phone.

            “If Chanwoo’s a member, why wasn’t he around?” Rhine asked Jinhwan. The boys and the girls were conversing while Jae and Iseul left to go help Jinhwan’s mom set up the table.

            “Chanwoo had to go see his family due to personal issues.”

            “Did you guys know about Hanbin’s dad?” Hongseok asked. Yunhyeong nodded and Jinhyeong said, “Is Hanbin okay?”

            Rhine quietly excused herself and headed to find Bobby and Hanbin. She walked up the stairs and down the dim hallway. She stopped in her tracks when Bobby came out of the room and closed the door. Noticing her presence, he turned to face her. She looked at him with concern and Bobby smiled weakly at her.

            “Is he okay?” she asked.

            “He’ll be fine.”

            “Did he call his mom?”

            Bobby shook his head. “Her phone was turned off, he couldn’t get to her.”

            She nodded and glanced at the floor. “Can I go see him?”

            “Give him a few minutes. He wants to be alone, but when you do see him, don’t tell him you’re sorry. Hanbin doesn’t need your pity. The most you can do is stand by him and support him.” She nodded. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”

            She watched him head down the stairs and then she turned to look at the door. She reached for the doorknob, but hesitated and pulled back.

            What should I do? She thought.  Recalling Bobby’s words telling her to give him time, she paced the hallway. Her fingers locking together, thoughts ran through her mind. A moment like this was tough for him. He was isolated from his family and couldn’t contact them; he was also in the midst of debuting and making his dream come true. So why exactly did this occur at the most important moment of his life? Jinhwan did say that many journalists hated YG and this could be just a rumor. But Bobby did say that Hanbin’s father wasn’t around much.

            Rhine sighed and closed her eyes. Her mind traveled back to the first time she met Hanbin. He seemed so innocent and carefree when he moon-walked to the bathroom that day, almost as if he was the happiest boy on the planet. She recalled the time when he had volunteered to help her practice, putting aside his time to rest without hesitation. Every night, he was there and guided her no matter how much she lacked. Then there were the times when he went out of his way to cheer her up. And then there was that moment when he opened up to her and took her to his secret spot. He sacrificed his time for her and there was not one time when she helped him.

            She opened her eyes. This was the moment for her to step up and stand by Hanbin. He needed someone and she was going to be that person.

            Taking a deep breath, she walked to stand in front of the door. She held up her hand and formed it into a fist. Letting the breath she had been holding out, she gently knocked against the wood. She braced herself for what’s to come, but was surprised when there was no answer. She knocked again, but still no answer. Confused, she knocked and there was only silence.

            “Hanbin?”

            She opened the door and a gush of air greeted her, taking her by surprise. The light was on, but the bed was empty and nobody was in the room.

            “No.”

            The realization hit her with impact and she hurriedly rushed over to the open window. She looked outside, but only darkness stared back at her. Her heart hammered inside her chest and blood coursed through her veins. The sound of her heart racing drummed in her ears and she frantically rushed to the hallway. The stairs were a blur to her and she stumbled down them, falling right into Bobby’s arms. Everyone looked at her with concern but then horror when her words registered in their brains.

            “Hanbin’s gone.”

A/N: Oh geez, I haven't updated in months :/ I'll probably update less and less since school is taking up majority of my time and exams are coming up, but on the side note, I finished taking the SATs Saturday! That aside, I want to thank you for subscribing, commenting, and upvoting♥ Thank you for being patient, you guys are the best :) 

About the issue with Hanbin's father, (you'll probably hate me for including this in the story) nothing has been confirmed yet and all we can do right now is stand by Hanbin and iKon and support them. Let's also hope the best for the victims involved and hope that everything will be okay.