''~°.HIDE AND SEEK.°~'' | YEONGYU

THE BEGINNING

Hyunjoo. His bully.

The one who shoved him against lockers. Who hissed threats in his ear last week. Who laughed when Beomgyu flinched.

Now he's dead.

Beomgyu's chest tightened.

_____

Yeonjun stepped into the gym like a predator entering its cage.

The chatter died slightly as he passed. Students didn't know why, but they parted for him instinctively.

But he wasn't paying attention to them. His eyes scanned the crowd, methodical and sharp.

Then he found him.

Beomgyu.

Hunched in the corner, hands stuffed into the sleeves of his hoodie, head bowed like he was trying to disappear.

Yeonjun remembered him differently...muddy sneakers, scraped knees, laughter ringing through summer air. But that was years ago. Before everything burned down.

Now, Beomgyu looked smaller...fragile.

Yeonjun started walking, each step deliberate.

Beomgyu sensed the presence before he saw it.

The soft hush of sneakers on the polished floor. The faint smell of cologne...clean, sharp, too perfect...

A shadow fell across his lap.

Beomgyu looked up.

Yeonjun.

His name stuck in Beomgyu's throat like glass.

It had been years. Years of silence. Years of hearing Yeonjun's family's name being spat out like a curse.

And now he was here.

"Choi Beomgyu."

Yeonjun said his name low, almost gently. But there was unmistakable weight to it.

Beomgyu's pulse spiked.

Why was Yeonjun looking at him like that? Like he already knew the answers to questions no one's even asked yet...

Yeonjun leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You didn't kill him...did you?"

The words slammed into Beomgyu like a punch to the gut.

His throat tightened. His chest constricted like it was caught in a vise. He could feel it...the weight of the whispers pressing down from every corner of the gym.

"No! Ofcourse n—" he tried to say, but the words barely left his lips.

His breathing quickened...too fast. His vision edged with black. His fingers twitched helplessly at his sides.

Not now. Don't do this here.

Yeonjun saw it instantly. The shallow, rapid breaths. The tremor running through Beomgyu's frame.

If he panics here, he's finished.

In one swift motion, Yeonjun's hand shot out and grabbed Beomgyu's wrist...firm, steady. Beomgyu startled at the contact, his wide, terrified eyes snapping up.

"Gyu."

His voice was calm but commanding.

"Breathe. Look at me."

Beomgyu's lips parted, shaky breaths catching in his throat.

"They're looking at you," Yeonjun murmured low, his eyes boring into Beomgyu's.