Missing and Suspicion

Mia's response: "No thanks, I'm perfectly fine," she said, standing up. But she couldn't hold herself up and fell painfully to the ground. "Are yo..."

Before he could finish, she was already up. "Please, mister, I'm okay. Mind your own business." She forced her legs to walk away from the stranger, her thoughts bitter. I hate when people pity me like that.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when two strong arms wrapped around her body. She froze but then broke free from the shock and yelled, "Let me go! Who are you to hold me? What the hell? Leave me!" Her voice rose to a scream. "What do you think of yourself? I'm going to call the police. Leave me!" She fought, yelled, and cursed the man, but he didn't listen. "Cry, Mia, cry," he murmured.

"I will never trust anyone again. HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT! AAAAAAAH. Money, money, money, hahaha. Friends, my foot." Mia kept talking non-stop.

The stranger hugged her tightly, and she cried even more. "I truly hate it when anyone feels sorry for me. Stop it already and let me go. Who are you to help me? Who called you? No one, right? Get lost."

"I hate you, Sara. I hate myself, and I'm so annoyed with myself. Hahaha, why money, why? It hurts."

Mia collapsed to the ground and cried until she went silent and slept, too weak to do anything else.

The stranger's POV:

I wish I could take away all your pain. You don't deserve this. I know one thing: you will surely change, only because of one person. I hope you reconsider what you have decided because many people care for you, but she just used you from day one. I wish you saw it in the beginning.

He drove her to his home, took her to the first room, and placed her on the bed. She was shivering from the cold and anger, so he covered her properly and left her to sleep.

I wish we had met sooner than this. I want to protect you, but I think I have lost the chance because of her. Sara, if only you had waited a little longer. But no! Ah, Jake, leave it. She needs time alone. Wait, okay? I have to wait.

He went to bed and slept.

End of Jake's POV.

Mia went downstairs after washing her face and greeted the guy who helped her yesterday. "Thanks to you, I had a good sleep." After saying that, she walked slowly towards the door but stopped. "Hey, let's forget we ever met. You never helped me or knew me, okay? That's all. Please, let's not meet again. Bye." The door shut behind her.

Jake felt like his heart was pierced by a thousand needles. He couldn't move and only fell down and sobbed.

Three weeks passed, and Mia was nowhere to be seen. Her classmates looked for her at the campus, nearby cafés, and girls' dorms, but they had no useful information because she stayed in a private dorm out of town and never shared her location with anyone. Sara, on the other hand, attended all the lectures but was of no use either. The lecturer was upset. "How can you not know your best friend's dorm? What kind of friend are you?"

Jake stared at Sara, making her uncomfortable as if he knew something. She tried to talk to him, but he never gave her a chance, making Sara more suspicious of Jake's behavior towards her.

Sara's POV:

Why is he always staring at me? When I try to approach him, he seems so annoyed. Am I overthinking? I don't even know how Mia is doing. Did she, by any chance, kill herself? No, no, she is strong. She can't. Stop thinking negatively; she will soon come back to campus. She shook off the negative thoughts and went to the coffee shop to relax.

End of Sara's POV.

Mia had been in her room for three weeks, doing nothing. She didn't bathe or clean, only got out of bed to find something to eat or use the restroom. On the fourth week, she woke up at 5:00 PM, prepared herself, and set off to go somewhere. She arrived in front of her campus gate.

"Hello, Mark, how have you been?" Before Yussu could reply, he turned and couldn't believe what he saw.

"Mia, you're here! Where have you been? I thought something bad happened to you. Three whole weeks, you were nowhere to be seen." He sobbed.

Mia tried to calm him down and made a joke. "Mark, are you crying because you didn't want me to come back alive or what?!"

"You fool, come here. How dare you say that?" He ran towards Mia. She hugged him and told him she was okay and there was nothing to worry about. "Take this," she said, handing him a bag. "I made something special for you. Enjoy, I'm late." She ran off towards the hallway.

Mark watched her and sobbed. "Thank God you're well. I was so worried that I opened a missing person case at the police station." He laughed. "Now I will go and withdraw it."