''~°.HIDE AND SEEK.°~'' | YEONGYU

THE FIGURE #2

His thumb hovered over his phone screen. Call? Text? But his hands were trembling too much to focus.

Another knock.

"Beomgyu. I need you to open the door right now..."

The voice was calm, but there was something tight beneath it...impatience? Worry?

He flinched as the faintest sound whispered from the window.

A shift. The curtain fluttering ever so slightly.

When he glanced back, the hand was gone.

But the damage remained.

His pulse roared in his ears as he froze between the door and the window, trapped.

"Gyu...do you remember second grade?"

Beomgyu froze, hand still hovering midair.

"The supply closet. The boys locked you inside for hours. You were crying so hard you couldn't breathe."

His throat tightened.

He remembered.

The darkness of that tiny closet. The smell of dust and paint. His own muffled sobs echoing in the cramped space.

And then...Yeonjun.

Slamming the door open so hard it rattled on its hinges. His small fists balled tight, eyes blazing as he yelled at the other boys until they scattered.

"You wouldn't come out at first," the voice continued softly. "You just sat there with your knees tucked up, shaking. I had to crawl in and sit with you until you calmed down."

Beomgyu's vision blurred, a sob catching in his throat.

No one else knew that.

Not his classmates. Not his teachers.

Only Yeonjun.

"You fell asleep on my shoulder that day," the voice said. "You said you felt safe there."

His fingers brushed the lock.

It's him. It has to be.

Beomgyu's feet moved on their own.

One step...two.

The space between him and the door shrank as his heart pounded so violently it hurt. His trembling fingers hovered just inches from the lock, the cool metal of the handle fogged over by his ragged breathing.

The first lock clicked free.

Beomgyu's fingers hovered over the second, his breaths shaky and uneven. The metal felt slick beneath his trembling grip.

Click.

Two down.

Only the chain remained.

His hand gripped the chain.

For a moment he hesitated, his heart hammering so violently it hurt. Then, before his mind could scream at him to stop—

Clink.

The chain slid free.

The door cracked open.

Yeonjun's presence filled the gap instantly.

His stance was sharp...shoulders squared, eyes sweeping every corner of the hallway with predatory precision. He moved like someone trained to expect danger, like every muscle in his body was coiled and ready to spring.