''~°.HIDE AND SEEK.°~'' | YEONGYU

THE VISITOR

A soft knock echoed through the quiet house.

Yeonjun stiffened instantly. Beomgyu's fingers clutched his sleeve, small and trembling.

"Who is it?" Yeonjun's voice was low, even, but every inch of him was alert.

There was a pause, then the knock again. Quieter this time, hesitant.

Yeonjun glanced at Beomgyu, who swallowed hard. "I...I don't know," the boy whispered.

Breathing steady, Yeonjun crossed the room and cracked open the door.

Standing there was Huening Kai. Hands tucked awkwardly in his jacket pockets. Shoulders tight. Eyes darting from Yeonjun to Beomgyu and back, never staying long enough to feel natural.

"Uh... hey," Kai mumbled. His voice was low, nervous, yet oddly forced. "I... I brought... some food. Thought you guys might—" He trailed off, unsure.

Beomgyu blinked, startled, staring at the bundle in Kai's hands.

Yeonjun's eyes narrowed slightly. Something about him... felt off. Maybe it was the sudden appearance. Or the way his glances flickered too fast. Or maybe the way he kept shifting his weight, as if expecting someone...or something behind them.

"Random," Yeonjun thought, calculating. "Too random. Or too deliberate?"

Beomgyu reached out for the food, but his fingers trembled as his gaze stayed locked on Kai.

"...you okay?" Yeonjun asked. His tone neutral, but every muscle in his body ready to react.

Huening Kai blinked rapidly, swallowed, and nodded. "Yeah...just...worried about...about you guys. After...everything."

Yeonjun's mind cataloged every detail. The stammer, the avoidance of eye contact, the slight twitch of his hand as he shifted the food from one side to the other. Was it just anxiety? Or something else?

Beomgyu let out a small sigh, relief mixed with caution. "Thanks.."

Kai's lips twitched, maybe a smile, maybe a nervous habit. He lingered at the doorstep, and the silence stretched between them. Was he truly just a timid classmate, or was there more behind those jittery movements?

Yeonjun didn't move. He didn't invite him in yet. Every instinct screamed to watch.

Because something about their quiet classmate... didn't add up.

Yeonjun's gaze flicked to Kai again, the way he hunched his shoulders, fingers twisting the edge of his jacket. There was something...familiar in the tension.

He remembered. That same jittery shuffle, the careful avoidance of certain eyes, the silent fear that lingered long after the crowd had dispersed. Huening Kai had been there once, too...a target. Vulnerable. Mocked. Cornered.

Beomgyu's small voice broke through the thoughts. Hesitant, almost scared.

"I...I know what that feels like too," he whispered, glancing at Kai with a mixture of caution and relief. "Being...being picked on. Like...like nothing you do is ever enough."

Kai blinked, then slowly nodded. "Yeah...yeah, I know." His voice was quiet, raw, like he was testing the water. "They...they made me feel...invisible, worthless."

Beomgyu's hand shifted slightly toward Kai's, though not touching. The words hung in the air between them, tentative bridges over years of quiet suffering.

"Sometimes...I'd just sit there...thinking...if I disappeared...maybe they'd notice, maybe they wouldn't," Beomgyu admitted, voice cracking, almost swallowed by the room's stillness.

Kai swallowed hard, then leaned a fraction closer. "I...I used to pretend I didn't hear them. That I was somewhere else. But...it never helped. They'd always find me."

Yeonjun watched, silent, alert. Every glance, every stammer, every careful pause set his mind running through a hundred possible angles. Was Kai just anxious? Careful? Or hiding something?

Yet he didn't move to interrupt. He didn't speak.

Because Beomgyu...Beomgyu seemed lighter now, as if finally someone understood. As if he had found a person who got him. Someone who had felt the same bruises, the same sharp words, the same hollow fear.

The room was quiet again, but this time it was warm. Tentative, fragile warmth. And even with the tensed shoulders, the flicking glances, and the subtle stammers, Yeonjun couldn't bring himself to ruin it. Not yet.

He let the moment linger, silent and protective, watching as the two of them, shaken but slowly unburdening, found a strange, fragile understanding in each other.

The tension had softened. For the first time in what felt like forever, Beomgyu wasn't just trembling through silence. He was speaking, hesitantly but steadily, to someone who understood. Yeonjun sat back, watching the exchange with a knot in his chest. Gyu's shoulders weren't so tight, his eyes a little less hollow. It almost felt...safe.

Then Kai broke it.

"So..." his voice was low, careful, but the words cut through like glass, "...what really happened that day? When he...you know. When he was found?"

The air collapsed into silence.

Beomgyu froze mid-breath. Yeonjun's entire body stiffened, his hand curling into a fist against his knee. He didn't look at Kai, not immediately. Instead, his eyes flicked to Beomgyu, whose expression was unreadable, pale, caught between fear and something darker.

Kai's gaze darted between them, nervous, like he regretted even asking. But the question was out there now, sitting heavy in the room, daring someone to answer.