As Jaeyun stepped into Taehyun's house, the tension in the air deepened, he hesitated to bring up the topic that had been bothering him all day.
"Hey guys," Jaeyun greeted, forcing a smile as he accepted Taehyun's offer to take a seat. "Thanks for having me over."
Taehyun and Yeonjun exchanged glances, sensing Jaeyun's unease. They knew he had something on his mind, but they also understood that he was struggling to find the right words.
Jaeyun took a deep breath, "So... about what happened at school," he began tentatively, "I couldn't help but overhear some pretty strange stuff from the illness room.
"Like what, exactly? just say what you have heard." Yeonjun replied, making sure what he's talking about is what they think it is.
+×+
"It's getting late we should go." Soobin said. They both headed their ways towards the hideout. "Have you called Kai? What did he say?" Beomgyu asked.
Kai is not planning on getting out of the house. He wants to spend more time with his mother before anything worse happens. Since they're getting closer to the treasure, he's afraid that something might go wrong again.
Sauntering across the silent road, the streetlights started flickering which made the boys flinch. "I just hope nothing weird happens again" Soobin started praying in fear. Laughing at Soobin, Beomgyu joked, "Scaredy cat".
"Since you found out the truth, what's your surname now?" Beomgyu asked. "Choi Soo Bin?"
"Leave it, I don't want to change my name." Soobin sighed. "So, Kim Soo bin?" "It would be funny if you changed, we both would be Chois but with different fathers."
"Right?" Rather than deeply thinking about the situation in stress they found it funny and laughed it off.
+×+
"Taehyun, I know this is crazy and you might think I'm not normal but... I swear I saw you going transparent... more like translucent."
Both Yeonjun, who never saw this happening and Taehyun, who don't even remember this happening to him, stared at him, confused.
"Gosh c'mon guys believe me for once!" Jaeyun stood up and pleaded.
"Dude I'm getting hungry, let's order something" Yeonjun said. He started going through his phone, wondering what to order.
"Guys! listen" Jaeyun sighed in frustration. "I'm listening" Taehyun crossed his arms. Yeonjun wanting to avoid the situation of Jaeyun almost bringing up their secret started again, "Pizzas? sounds good right?" "Any drinks for yall?"
"That peach flavoured one, my usual" Taehyun replied. "Grape flavoured for me" Jaeyun sighed, "Nobody's believing in me" he starts sulking.
"Bro what you've just said doesn't make sense, you studied too much and now it's affecting your brain" Yeonjun rolled his eyes," This is why I don't study."
"So, what about the stuff I heard?" Jae yun said, he removed his jacket placing it on the sofa.
"What exactly did you fucking hear?"
"Some riddle shit, You guys were talking about dying."
Taehyun exchanged a quick glance with Yeonjun, a silent understanding passing between them. They both knew they had to tread carefully to avoid Jaeyun probing further into their secrets.
"Ah, that... it's just some inside joke we have," Taehyun explained with a forced laugh, hoping to deflect Jaeyun's attention away from the unsettling topic. "We were just messing around, nothing serious."
"Yeah, exactly," Yeonjun chimed in, flashing a reassuring smile. "Just some weird riddle we heard from a movie or something. You know how it is."
"But you guys looked so serious..." Jaeyun persisted, a furrow forming on his brow as he tried to make sense of their nonchalant responses.
"Trust us, it's nothing," Taehyun insisted, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "Probably just caught us at a weird moment, that's all."
"Anyway, pizza sounds way more appealing than dwelling on some random conversation," Yeonjun interjected, eager to change the subject. "Let's order some, yeah?"
Jaeyun hesitated, still visibly unsettled by the strange turn of events, but eventually relented with a resigned shrug. "Fine, whatever," he muttered, sinking back onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.
+×+
The two men finally reached they're hideout. Not knowing what to do they just sat on the stairs and stared at the pool. "But why are we here?" Soobin said.
"It's been long since we came here, right? There's no one here..." Beomgyu sighs. "There's one more part of the key left" "But why are we doing all of this, what is this anyway".
"I'm tired of this already. I just want some rest already" Soobin layed on his back.
"Should we go back?" Beomgyu asked.
"I wonder what Yeonjun and Taehyun is doing right now".
"Are we actually doing this?" Yeonjun rolled his eyes. He didn't want to study, But Jaeyun forced him and Taehyun to do so. Now they have no excuse but to study.
"Study maniac" Yeonjun rolled his eyes.
"Just study if you don't wanna end up repeating another more year" Beomgyu chimed in.
"How the heck did you get inside" Yeonjun stood up. Beomgyu and Soobin texted Taehyun that they are staying over at his house, since his parents left for vacation.
"Where's Kai?" Taehyun asked.
"He's not leaving his house, since his mom dissapear-" Beomgyu spoke without being aware that there was another person among the group."
"Shh! Be quiet, Gyu!" Yeonjun whispered urgently, glancing around to make sure they hadn't been overheard. "We can't just go around talking about that here." he murmured, poking Gyu's butt.
Beomgyu nodded, his eyes wide with surprise at Yeonjun's sudden caution. "Sorry, I forgot Jaeyun was here."
Jaeyun raised an eyebrow, curiosity evident in his expression. "What are you guys whispering about? And what's this about mom dissapearing?"
Yeonjun glared at Beomgyu before applying a fake smile on his face. "Oh, nothing. Kai's mom just came back from U.S, yeah yeah" Yeonjun nodded abruptly.
"Oh well", Jaeyun at this point gave up on his suspicions, "Dude, where's the restroom?" he asked, hopping out from the seat. Taehyun hastily showed him the way.
As soon as Jaeyun was out of the range, Yeonjun released Beomgyu and let out a frustrated sigh. "We can't let him catch on to what we're really up to. If he finds out about the key..."
Beomgyu nodded sternly, understanding the seriousness of the situation. "Agreed. We have to be more careful from now on. We can't risk anyone else getting involved."
"Where is the last key? Did you check the map?" Soobin asked.
"I have it with me!" Taehyun opened the map which shined bright golden, following a riddle which popped up.
"find your real self, lies can haunt you forever"
"What the- why is it showing... My house?" Soobin floored.
"It must be connected with you then" Yeonjun stated.
Soobin frowned, trying to make sense of the cryptic message. "Find your real self... What does that even mean?"
"Is there anything more that we missed out other than about your parents" Taehyun asked.
Jaeyun barged in, chattering with someone on the phone. Taehyun quickly closed the map and hid it in his pockets.
"Yeah, Hoon, I'll call you back" he paused. "Why are y'all standing there suspiciously"
Yeonjun glanced at Taehyun with a knowing look, silently urging him to keep the map hidden. "Just talking about our plans for the weekend," he replied smoothly, trying to deflect Jaeyun's attention.
"Hyung I'm super tired, let's go sleep" Beomgyu yawned pushing Soobin towards the bedroom. "Yeah! it's getting late sleep everyone!" Yeonjun clapped his hands.
"Hyung?" "Wait isn't he the same age?" Jaeyun scratched his head.
Soobin started clarifying, " Well the thing is, I actually joined late and also-"
"Shut it" Beomgyu taunted, "Bro why are you always curious about stuff?"
"WHAT ARE YOU? DETECTIVE?"
"What did I do?" Jaeyun murmured, "Why is he getting angry at me".
"Come here, I'll show you the bed" Taehyun called Jaeyun. "Let's not ruin the mood with unnecessary arguments."
Reluctantly, Beomgyu relented, shooting a playful glare at Jaeyun. "Fine, fine." "Go sleep" he rolled his eyes.
+×+
"Look who's here" "Haven't seen you in a while"
kai
Kang Hyun... When will he leave me alone...
It all started few years back, much before I met my friends, I liked a girl.
Hyo Jin, she was the class topper, everyone liked her. It felt like a dream to date her, but i'm nothing compared to her. Everything started falling apart... 4 months after dating, she started isolating herself from others. She stopped contacting me and coming to the school. And one day she all left us.
Her brother who used to adore me before, made me his enemy in a flash
...
Kai clenched his fists, feeling a surge of frustration. Kang Hyun's presence always seemed to bring back memories he'd rather leave behind.
"Don't ever think you can escape from what happened" "It will always be with you"
Kai kept silent. He didn't have the strength to fight back.
"I'm never forgiving you for what you did to my sister." Kang hyun scoffed.