All Chapters of The Missing Sixth: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I hadn't grown up with them.The five of them had been together since kindergarten.I only met Brielle in college, and she was the one who brought me into their circle.For the first few years, I tried hard to fit in. They'd talk about sneaking peaches from a teacher's tree when they were kids. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I'd laugh along anyway.They had nicknames for each other that only they understood, and I'd secretly jot them down in my notes app.I remembered everyone's birthdays, food preferences, and little habits.Whenever we went out to eat, I was always the first one there.Whenever we traveled, I was the one who booked the transportation, reserved the hotels, and planned the itinerary.But no matter what I did, whenever they talked about the past, they always said the same thing: "You didn't know us back then. You wouldn't understand."Eventually, "you wouldn't understand" became "there's no need to tell him."If they changed restaurants at the

That night, they were drinking on the terrace again.I went back to the room alone and started packing.The trip was supposed to last seven days. Only three had passed, but I was already done playing along with them.I booked the earliest flight home the next morning.It wasn't until I'd finished that I realized my charger was missing. Then I remembered Anders had borrowed it earlier that day, so I went to his room to get it.The door wasn't locked. No one was inside.The tablet beside the bed was still lit up. A new message popped onto the screen.The group chat was called: [Forever Five]Duncan had posted a video. It was the clip from yesterday of Brielle and Anders kissing. The replies underneath were full of laughing and cheering emojis.[Finally got them to kiss.][Told you this would work.][Clark's face went completely ashen, and he still put up with it.][He's really good at pretending nothing bothers him.]I stood beside the bed as my fingers slowly went cold.It

The next morning, I didn't come back.When Brielle saw that the digital wedding invitations had been deleted, she finally called the wedding planner. "Send the digital invitations to Clark again."There were a few seconds of silence on the other end."Miss Rice, Mr. Ortega officially canceled the wedding last night. All the guests have already been notified."Brielle's brows immediately drew together. "Who gave you permission to cancel it?""Mr. Ortega is the one who signed the contract, and he personally paid all the wedding expenses. He has the right to cancel."Only then did Brielle remember that I'd handled almost everything for the wedding, from the venue to the favors. She'd only glanced at the final budget and complained that I was making everything too complicated."It's just a wedding. We don't need to make such a big deal out of it."For that wedding she thought didn't need to be a big deal, I'd visited more than twenty hotels on my own. I'd sampled more than thirty d

Over the next week, Brielle searched everywhere she thought I might have gone.No one knew where I was.Her messages gradually shifted from demands to explanations.[Clark, come back.][I can apologize for what happened with the game.][We can still have the wedding.][That ring wasn't meant for Anders.][I already made him give it back.][If you come back, you'll be included in everything from now on.]She stared at that last message for a long time before suddenly realizing how ridiculous it sounded.I'd always been there. They were the ones who had never truly let me in. Now that I'd left, she was finally willing to offer me a place.None of her messages received a response.On the eighth day, Anders came over and placed the ring on the table. "Brielle, aren't we the ones who were supposed to end up together? Before Clark came along, you liked me for years."Brielle looked at the ring. "So what? He's gone now."Anders's voice trembled. "We can start over. The five of u

In the past, I'd waited so long to hear those words.If she'd said them sooner—when they left me behind for the first time, when I first watched the five of them pose for a group photo without me, when I first realized my birthday mattered less to her than Anders's tears—I probably would have gone back.But now, I simply said, "I don't need you to change anymore. Who you love, who you choose, who you stand beside from now on… None of it has anything to do with me."Brielle clenched the ring so tightly that the band dug into her palm, just as it had once dug into mine. "You really don't love me at all anymore?"I was silent for a moment. "I did."Her eyes brightened slightly.But then I added, "Those seven blank cards wore it away, little by little."Brielle didn't leave right away. She stayed in the small town for two weeks.Every day, she showed up at our filming locations. She brought water and checked the vehicles. She quietly took care of all the little things no one notice