Mark III

"Wh...What?" I look at her then down at the paper I'm holding. "What do you mean? Isn't his case nonbailable?"

"I don't know what happened, Mark. But, our sources say that he just got out today. I've sent Jason to check on flights. I'm sure he'd be thinking of leaving the country."

I immediately get up and run out the office, getting in my car as fast as I can. I know Mr. Samson's firm is in charge of that case so I drive straight to his office. 

"Yes? Can I help you?" The woman behind the desk outside his office asks me. 

"I need to speak with Mr. Samson." 

"I'm sorry, sir." She smiles, "But, he just went out of the country. You can..."

But, I cut her off. "How about Trey?"

"She's not here either." 

FUCK! "Where are they?" I'm already almost in tears and I know I sound really desperate. "I really need to talk to any of them."

"Sir, they're not here right now. If you want, you can leave a..."

"Please," I beg, reaching over the table for her hand. "This is important."

She takes a deep breath, maybe almost losing her patience. But, then she sees my face and she furrows her brows, looking down at the table. "I'm sorry. Are you ... ?"

"I'm Mark. Cristina's boyfriend." 

"Oh ..." She looks up at me again, realizing something. Then she squeezes her eyes before looking back at me, sighing. "Trey is in Korea. Cristina has been missing for a while. She ... "

"What?" I can't control my tears anymore. They fall freely down my cheeks. "Missing? What do you mean?"

"You're Mark Tuan, right?"

"Yes."

"Ever since the engagement, she went missing. Trey went back to Korea since Cristina took a flight going there during that time. But, until now, they haven't found her." 

FUCK! She went back to Korea? So, Jason has been looking around the US for nothing? She's in Korea all along? Shit. How stupid can I get? But, if Trey couldn't find her, then that means she didn't go back to the training. Where is she then? 

Babe. Where are you?

I take out my phone and open my Skype, checking if she's been online since I can't contact her number anymore. 

'I'm sorry. Babe, where are you?' I send her a message.

"Is Mr. Samson with Trey?" I ask the lady. 

"Not anymore. He flew to China just this morning."

He must've already heard that Sean is out. SHIT! 

I go back to the office and find Jason, Noe and Emily already gathered, having a meeting. 

"What happened to you?" Jason asks, seeing my wet cheeks. 

"Cristina has been missing for weeks and Sean's out." I cry, slumping on the chair beside me. "FUCK!"

"Hey," Noe comes to my side, rubbing down my back as I sob. "What do you mean missing?"

"Nobody knows where she is." I yell, throwing the papers off the desk, letting them scatter on the floor in front of me. 

"What are you waiting for?" Emily asks, getting up from her chair and standing before me. "Go." She says. 

I look up at her, not seeming to understand what she meant. 

"Go after her, Mark. Noe and I would be going to China. Don't worry about the company. Go look for her."

_____

It's already almost midnight when the plane lands in Seoul. The first place I go to is the house. I try to call all the trainees, but nobody seems to be answering. They might already be asleep. The front door is locked and all the lights are off. I try keying in the code, but the door won't open. 

"Damnit!" I curse aloud. They must've changed the passcode while I was gone. 

I go to the bar where Trey used to work, but they tell me she left a month ago. I go to her apartment, but that, too, is locked. The security guard then tells me that she hasn't been home for a month now. I try calling her, too, but her number is out of reach. 

Before I get in the car I've rented, I receive a call from Jason. "Mark, Sean's left the country. He's used a different name. But, guess where he went?"

"No..." my back is already wet with cold sweats. "Don't tell me he's here."

"I wish not. But, he is. Your dad sent some men over."

"You told my dad?" I ask him, feeling annoyed and scared at the same time. 

"I don't have any choice, Mark. We don't have that many men to help us. Your mom is getting worried. You're dad is flying to China as we speak."

"China?" 

"I think something happened to Cristina's dad. From what I heard, Briggs got him."

SHIT! 

I check in a hotel very near the JYPE building and tell Jason to inform the men coming where I'm staying. 

Very early in the morning, I go to the dorm. Thankfully, someone opens the door. 

"Mark?" Youngjae's eyes are big when he sees me standing in front of him. "Is that really you?" He looks at me from head to toe, clearly stunned. Who wouldn't be? I've been gone for three months. 

"Hey ... Is ..." But before I can finish my question, I spot Jackson coming down the stairs. "Jackson," I shout. I notice a bruise on his cheek. He turns to me and his sleepy eyes turn to angry ones in an instant. 

"What are you doing here?"

"Have you seen Cristina?" I ask, hoping for a positive answer even if it's clear that he doesn't want to give me any. I step in the house and grab his arm when he tries to ignore me. "Jackson, please."

He rolls his eyes at me, running his tongue inside his cheek. Then he shakes his head. "I don't know Mark. Someone took her."

"What do you mean?" Shit. Not again. Please don't let it be Sean. Please. 

He sits on the sofa, looking down at his hands. "Fuck. I wasn't even able to protect her."

"Tell me what happened."

He takes a deep breath before continuing. "Last night ... "

She was here last night? But, I let him continue. 

"We went to a club with the others. She and I went out for ..." he pauses, furrowing his brows. 

"What?"

"We were talking and then suddenly somebody just hit me and I was knocked out on the ground. The next thing I know, she's gone."

We both stay silent, looking up at the ceiling as we rest our heads on the back of the sofa, thinking - maybe the same thing. Where is she now? 

"Jackson, the police just..." Junior stops midway when he sees me in the living room. He has the same look Jackson gave me earlier. "What the fuck are you doing here, Mark?"

I get up, "What did the police say?" I ask, ignoring his question. 

"None of your business," he rolls his eyes at me. "Jackson," he signals him, nodding. Before he can turn his back, I hold onto his shoulders, letting him face me. 

"It is my business, Junior." I snap. 

"No, it's not." He furrows his brows, flinging my hands away. "You left her, didn't you? What right do you have to know? Huh?" He licks his lips. 

"Junior... I'm s..."

He shakes his head, smirking. "I can't believe I've let her go just so she can be with a loser like you. You fucked up, Mark. You fucked up big time."

"I know." I tell him, grabbing his arms again, "And I regret that, ok? Now, tell me what the police said." They can hate me all they want. All I need is to know where the fuck Cris is. "This is really important." I try to explain. "There's something bigger happening here than just me leaving her for crying out loud."

"Like what?" He raises a brow, rolling his eyes at the same time. "Like how I found her drinking in a bar somewhere in my hometown? Or how she tried living on her own singing in different places there? Or maybe how she became dependent to alcohol and Valium just so she can fuckin' stop thinking about you temporarily?" He yells. "Is that it?"

"She....what?" I let go of him, my whole body getting weaker at what he just said. 

"Of course you don't know that." He shakes his head, "How would you? You didn't even check on her for fuck's sake."

"Mark," Jackson puts a hand on my shoulder, "just leave." 

I take a step back, sitting on the sofa again. All the guilt I'm feeling has suddenly multiplied a thousand times. 

Jackson sighs and sits beside me while Junior storms out of the room. 

"Hey," Jackson pats my knee as I plant my face on my hands. Even if he was obviously raging mad at me earlier, he's now speaking softly. "Mark."

"What did I do, Jackson?" I sob. "What did I fuckin' do to her?"

"She was with me in LA. She must've seen what I saw back there. The next thing I know, she was gone. Trey had been looking for her since then."

I curse at myself, hearing Jackson confirm everything. My heart aches at the image of her seeing me there, hurting, crying somewhere alone. 

"Junior found her just a few days ago." He continues. "As he have said, he found her at a bar in his hometown. She came to Korea that same day. The day you got engaged. Nobody knew she was here all along. She played in different bars in the south just to get some money. She's been buying those stupid pills illegally from someone she met there."

"Fuck!" It's all I can say. 

"Even when you left," he goes on, "she was already becoming an alcoholic that time. She was into sleeping pills, too. She rarely ate, she didn't go out with us. Instead, she had her own world. She'd disappear during the weekends, drinking somewhere far. She'd work her ass off during the weekdays in the company, training until late at night. I'd hear her crying every night when she comes home." He sniffles. 

I look at him and his cheeks are wet with tears. 

"I'm sorry, Mark. I tried to take care of her. But, she didn't need anyone except you." He looks at me, "How did you even take not dropping her a line? Now, you're getting married, aren't you? She told me the wedding's in a few days. What are you doing here?"

"I cancelled the engagement." I tell him. "I can't ... " I start sobbing again. 

"Why didn't you tell her? Why didn't you come after her that day? What's wrong with you? Why didn't you even tell her what was happening?"

"I was ... just .. stupid." I cry. "I thought I would be saving her from the hurt if I handle it myself. I didn't really plan on marrying that girl, Jackson. I was buying time."

"Time for what?"

And so, I tell him everything. From the very beginning up until the time I left LA. 

"That doesn't make things better, Mark. You know that." He puts a hand on my shoulder, rubbing it as my tears continue flowing. 

"I know. But, right now, I just need to find her. Sean's out and he's here in Korea." I tell him. "I really need your help, Jackson." I look at him. 

Just then, his phone rings. He answers it almost immediately after checking who the caller is. His eyes get bigger and he turns to me. "We'll be there right away." He tells the caller. 

"What?" My heart starts beating faster in fear. 

"Mark. They found a dead body of a female in a bar a few hours away from Seoul."