''~°.HIDE AND SEEK.°~'' | YEONGYU

THE OUTING

The next morning crawled in gray. The house felt colder, quieter...like even the walls were holding their breath.

Yeonjun sat at the dining table, laptop open, blue light reflecting in his tired eyes. Pages upon pages of articles, latest forum posts, archived school newsletters. Every corner of the internet that mentioned the murder.

"Local high school student found dead in auditorium."

"Police suspect internal dispute among students."

"No official suspects identified."

He scrolled, jaw set. There was so much speculation, so little truth. But some details stood out, the time of death, the mention of "an unidentified witness," and one strange line in a comment thread buried beneath the news post:

"He deserved it. Someone finally did what we all wanted."

Yeonjun's stomach turned. The timestamp was the same night Beomgyu was alone at his house before he spotted the figure outside his window and called Yeonjun.

He shut the tab with more force than necessary.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed movement. Beomgyu pacing near the living room window. He wasn't even looking outside, just...hovering. Pulling the curtain an inch open, then closing it again. Over and over.

"Gyu," Yeonjun called softly.

Beomgyu didn't respond. His fingers trembled slightly as he pressed them against the glass, eyes flicking to invisible corners.

Yeonjun sighed and closed the laptop. "You're gonna drive yourself insane doing that."

"I just..." Beomgyu's voice was hollow. "It feels like someone's still out there."

Yeonjun stood, walking over slowly. "We checked everything last night. Locks, cameras, doors. No one's getting in."

Beomgyu turned, and for the first time that morning, Yeonjun saw the dark rings under his eyes. The kind that came from more than just lack of sleep. Fear had carved them there.

"I can't stay here anymore..." Beomgyu whispered.

Yeonjun's shoulders eased a little. "Then we won't."

Beomgyu blinked. "What?"

"You need air. Light. Something that's not four walls and bad memories. At least for a while." Yeonjun grabbed his jacket, tossing another toward Beomgyu. "Come on. We're going out."

Beomgyu hesitated, glancing at the window one last time. "What if—"

"If anyone's watching," Yeonjun said, voice steady but sharp, "they'll see you're not afraid anymore."

Beomgyu stared at him for a beat then nodded slowly, pulling the jacket close.

Outside, the sun was pale and weak, clouds hanging low like they could press the whole street down.

Yeonjun kept close as they walked down the quiet road, his eyes scanning the distant corners, the parked cars, the shadows between trees.

The world looked normal. But it felt wrong.

The café wasn't far...A small, quiet place tucked between a florist and a bookstore, one Yeonjun vaguely remembered from years back. The kind of place that smelled like coffee and rain, where everything felt too normal to be dangerous.

A bell chimed as they stepped inside. Warm air wrapped around them, rich with the scent of roasted beans and vanilla syrup. Beomgyu flinched slightly at the sound, but Yeonjun's hand found his shoulder before he could retreat.

"Hey," Yeonjun murmured, voice steady. "It's fine. Just the door."

Beomgyu nodded, though his eyes kept darting to the barista, to the people chatting in corners, to the window beside their booth. He still hadn't learned how to stop searching for danger.

They sat near the back, away from most of the crowd. Yeonjun ordered two drinks. Beomgyu's untouched, cooling by the minute.

For a while, they didn't talk. The low hum of conversation around them filled the silence, along with the faint clinking of spoons against cups. Yeonjun watched the way Beomgyu's thumb rubbed at the paper sleeve of his cup like a nervous habit.

"You ever used to come here?" Yeonjun finally asked.

Beomgyu blinked, like he had to pull himself back into the room. "Once. With...her."

"The maid?"

Beomgyu nodded. "She said the world looks softer when you're around the smell of coffee. I didn't get it back then." His gaze dropped to the table."Now I think she just liked taking me somewhere quiet."

Yeonjun smiled faintly. "She sounds like she knew what you needed."

"Yeah." Beomgyu's lips twitched upward, but it didn't last long. His eyes wandered toward the window again, expression tightening.

Yeonjun followed his gaze. Just an empty street. People walking by, umbrellas brushing against puddles. Nothing out of place.

Still, he felt the shift, the invisible tension crawling back in.

"Gyu," Yeonjun said quietly. "Look at me."

Beomgyu hesitated, then did.

"You're safe," Yeonjun said, slow and firm. "We're not trapped. I'm here with you."

For a second, something in Beomgyu's shoulders eased. He nodded faintly, exhaling a shaky breath.

Then the bell above the café door chimed again.

Yeonjun didn't look immediately. He didn't have to. Beomgyu's body went rigid beside him.

Yeonjun turned slowly, eyes scanning the doorway.

Someone had walked in. A man, wearing a gray hoodie, dripping faintly from the rain. He looked normal enough...except he lingered. Didn't order. Just looked around.

Their eyes didn't meet, but Yeonjun's pulse ticked higher anyway. The man's gaze swept the room once...then stopped.

Right on them.

Yeonjun's jaw tightened. He leaned closer to Beomgyu, keeping his tone even. "Drink your coffee."

Beomgyu's hand trembled slightly as he picked up the cup. "Yeonjun..."

"I see him," Yeonjun murmured. "Don't react."

The man turned away a second later, walking toward the counter but the unease didn't fade.

Not yet.