Pandora's Box

Chapter 23

Minho scowled, but Taehyun could tell he didn't mean it. He couldn't blame the other for being frustrated, having experienced a similar thing on multiple occasions lately.

Jisung frowned. "Isn't he with Yeonjun?" 

Great, so Jisung had been gone even longer than he had. "Yeah. He was, and now I guess he's somewhere else. Thanks anyway." He closed the door, hoping to never be desperate enough to do that again.

He was starting to get pretty worried. As a last-ditch effort, he asked Chan and Changbin in the middle of their shotgunning. As expected, both shook their heads.

Fuck. So no one had seen him. Taehyun was turning to head to the yard when he saw Yeonjun and the blue-haired boy again. Both seem concerned to find Taehyun still alone.

"Wait, you still haven't found him?" Yeonjun frowned.

Exasperated, Taehyun threw his arms out to the side. "No! And I've basically asked almost every single fucking person at that stupid table yesterday! Who else does he even hang out with!?"

"Well, no one. It's always either Yeonjun and his friends, or me." Soobin said. Suddenly, his face lit up. "Oh! Or this new guy he hangs out with now, Taehyun I think? I'm not sure, I never see them together. Maybe he's with him!"

Taehyun just stared at him. Yeonjun whispered something in his ear, and Soobin looked mortified. "Oh, shit. I'm Soobin! His roomate...I'm so sorry. I don't get around much. No wonder you're worried!"

All Taehyun had the energy to do was nod. "Yeah. I'm about to go full Seungmin and burn this place to the ground if I don't hear something soon-"

It suddenly gave him an idea, and Taehyun looked around helplessly. He found him and Jeongin in a corner, and thanked the gods for another option.

He knew it was a stretch, but he headed over followed by the other two. "Hey. Any chance either of you have seen Beomgyu?"

They looked at each other, and Seungmin nodded. Thank Titan. Taehyun sighed, relieved, until he heard the boy's words. "Yeah. He had been there most of the night," he pointed to the spot Beomgyu was in. "But then Felix came by, and they talked, and he reached in his pockets for something. We were only watching at first because of how upset Felix looked, but then Beomgyu looked even worse a second later."

Jeongin picked up from there. "He pulled out these papers and looked really upset, and then ran off. I think he left the party."

Yeonjun just frowned and looked at Soobin, both confused. Taehyun didn't understand either, until he did.

He thought of what Beomgyu was wearing...and it knocked the life out of him.

The jacket...The slips...

An indescribable dread filled Taehyun. His entire body went cold.

He needed to find him right fucking now.

"Did you see where?" If he had any fight left in him, he would've disguised his voice breaking. But it didn't matter. The two seemed to notice, and simply pointed in a direction without a word.

"Hey, Taehyun. Is something wrong? Like...should we know?" Yeonjun looked concerned, and the other three did as well.

Taehyun thought about the contents of the note. He became increasingly distressed as he tried to think about what Beomgyu would think, and do. He decided to be as direct as possible. He knew the others wouldn't truly understand, but it would get the urgency across.

"I think Beomgyu's going to kill himself."

At first they all simply stared at him. Then, when seeing his unchanging expression, realized how serious Taehyun was.