IMPORTANT:
I just realized I forgot to publish 2 crucial chapters. I remembered someone mentioned it, but I totally forgot to address the issue. I am SO sorry. I understand that I am fucking up your understanding and the flow of the story by adding these now, but they explain events in the later chapters I already published as well as motivations behind character actions.
Again, I'm sorry. Pls forgive ;o;
1/17/2018
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Watching the basketball team practice was, all in all, repetitive. Chanyeol constantly looked over at the bleachers, waving at every chance he could get without being called out by the coach, and Baekhyun would only raise a few fingers in return. Though public appearances, especially in situations when it'd be blatantly clear that they were together weren't in his preferable tastes, Baekhyun already figured the entire team knew. They were Chanyeol's friends, jocks or not, and that was something the brunet couldn't change.
Midway through drills, Baekhyun started thinking about the inevitable event of prom. If Chanyeol asked him how he felt about the subject rather than what he thought about it, he wasn't sure whether or not he'd actually be truthful.
The thought of prom was scary in a way that Baekhyun didn't like. It was uncomfortable. Aside from a few people and those he tutored, he had no actual friends or individuals from the school close enough to keep him company through prom night. There was Chanyeol, but his boyfriend was only one person. He was bound to get pulled aside by his friends or other people wanting to dance.
Baekhyun already knew how he'd spend the night. Either he'd spend his time sitting down or hang around whatever free food the school decided to provide at that time. And though he knew Chanyeol didn't mind spending quiet time together whether that meant reading in his room or sitting quietly to try and finish homework, it would be different. They wouldn't be in a quiet bedroom. Everyone's eyes would be on them, and how pitiful would it look to others if they saw Chanyeol sitting down just to keep him company?
But then again, it did sound nice...
Baekhyun propped his elbow on his knees and cupped his face loosely as his eyes watched Chanyeol running back and forth the length of the court. For someone so serious, it was an odd thought to think that he was the same clingy person who'd trip on his own feet when alone.
Frowning, the brunet looked down at his hands, staring at the rawl cuts. He'd been working hard, picking up more hours, even on days when he usually didn't have work, just to make a little more. The trip would be more than enough for him. It'd make everything worth it, even for a little while. A memorable trip into the mountains for a weekend with no one else but them was the very thing Baekhyun was working for with a heavy heart.
He'd make sure their memories then were happy ones. Maybe they'd last a lifetime, he didn't know. Long evenings and late nights were spent working in the back for the mere hope that maybe, just maybe, one memory would suffice the amount of hurt following after.
The thought made the idea of prom even better. Obviously, it'd mean the world for Chanyeol to have him go. There were already rumors that the giant athlete made it onto the court nominations for prom king, and there wasn't a doubt in Baekhyun's mind that if he won, he wouldn't even dance with the prom queen, adamantly insisting that the brunet was already his royal queen. It'd be embarrassing but for Chanyeol, it would be nothing more than a happy, naive little moment.
Sighing, Baekhyun placed his hands, palms down on his thighs. The team was still running back and forth when he rose from the bleachers with his head down to avoid the way Chanyeol was looking in his direction.
Leaving the gym, he looked around the area before heading over to the main building. The student council room was located on the third floor. It usually ran during the afternoon, but sometimes, students would stay long after the ending bell. However, despite this unspoken policy, rarely anybody stayed behind. Only Kyungsoo.
Leaving the gym was dramatic, but Baekhyun needed the air. Just thinking about the trip, his hands, prom... Subjects that were supposed to bring happiness only made him feel like an absolute coward.
Taking out his phone from his back pocket, Baekhyun closed his running applications before placing a call. Kyungsoo's phone rang a few times before the brunet heard the latter pick up.
"Hi."
"Hey," Baekhyun greeted back, dragging out the word from his lips. "Are you in the student council room?"
"I am... Why? Basketball practice too boring?"
"No, not really... I need to talk to you about something."
"Is this going to be about me, Baekhyun?"
Shaking his head though he knew Kyungsoo would never see, Baekhyun pursed his lips. "No. Not you... Someone else. I need help."
"Hn... Come up. The last scrawny son of bitch left here is about to leave-- Close the door behind you! Shit... Anyways, come in. I'm not leaving until six. Your company doesn't bother me."
"Alright. Oh, and Soo?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
After a brief silence, Kyungsoo hummed. "Yeah. Whatever... Spare me your thanks and get over here."
It happened all too fast for Baekhyun to fully react. One moment, he was ending the call, and in the next, he was struggling just to breathe. He wasn't being suffocated, but the feeling of being bagged over the head with a sack was enough to terrify him into hyperventilating.
Multiple hands were touching him, trying to hold his arms back and attempting to grab a hold of his legs, but Baekhyun put up more of a fight than his perpetrators estimated.
Though useless, Baekhyun screamed out the name of the only person he wanted to save him. He was met with laughter. He wanted to rip the black sack off his head, wanted to see who was behind the experience, but he couldn't. They only held on tighter, the cloth gripping his throat, meeting nicely with his skin.
Out of desperation, he struggled harder. Though blinded, he could hear the voice of a male cursing and another one murmuring orders. Finally, he heard the words, "Just do it", and the last thing Baekhyun remembered was feeling himself drop to his knees.
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By the time practice had ended, Chanyeol was still confused and concerned as to why Baekhyun had left prematurely and never returned. He had checked his phone in the locker room only to find three messages that were from friends, none from the brunet himself. Calling Baekhyun's phone did nothing but leave him in voice mail five consecutive times.
Maybe the latter wasn't feeling well. Maybe he had gotten bored... Chanyeol wanted to believe that it wasn't like him to disappear without a word, but he knew that it'd be false. Baekhyun always disappeared, always ran... He did whatever he felt like he needed to do, and even without a viable reason, he'd do it.
Chanyeol was forced to believe that the brunet had gone home. What else could he do? It gave him no comfort to think that perhaps his boyfriend might've been going through another one of his emotional phases. They were still on the rocks, which made everything uneasy. He always needed to be hyper aware of when Baekhyun needed to be kissed so his mind wouldn't drift to heavy thoughts about them and the future. There were times when he felt like he always needed to see the brunet's dark brown eyes just to so he could tell how he was feeling, because Baekhyun's lips had the tendency to lie with the false belief that he'd be less of a burden if he was always just fine...
With his bag swung across his chest, Chanyeol walked out of the locker room, headed towards the main entrance. Thinking about the possibility that Baekhyun might've just felt a little sick, which would've explained his departure, made the giant feel somewhat of a comfort. But it wasn't enough.
Chanyeol kept his eyes low on the ground, uncaring for if he was truly watching where his feet were headed. Though some might've thought this was a reckless fault, it proved to be a little useful.
On the pathway he was using, he spotted a dark object. It lied alone against the white concrete, further creating contrast that made the object even more obvious. Chanyeol curiously approached it, wondering what it could be until he was near enough to realize that it was a cell phone.
Furrowing his brows, his eyes widened when he realized that it might've looked a little too familiar for him. Bending over, Chanyeol picked up the cellular device and pressed the home button. On the lock screen was his face, the same photo he had set Baekhyun's phone months ago before the camping trip.
Suddenly, his eyes darted to the notifications. Eleven missed calls. Eight missed texts. Swiping to the right, Chanyeol opened the phone's call logged and saw that Baekhyun had missed calls from home, him, and Kyungsoo.
Though it wasn't extremely rare for Baekhyun to leave without notice or ignore calls, it was extremely out of his character to lose a device he considered a lifeline. Even more, it was odd to see the phone abandoned in such an open area where, if Baekhyun felt as though he had lost something, he could've always turned around and seen the black cell phone plainly against the light concrete.
Something was wrong. Deep in his gut, Chanyeol knew the situation was skewed. Scrolling down the call log, he tried to make sense of Baekhyun's last known activity and saw green little arrows, indicating that his boyfriend had made a brief call to his ex.
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Constantly glancing over at his quiet cellular device, Kyungsoo frowned in annoyance as he tried to focus on cleaning his work area. Baekhyun never arrived, and when he was called, he never answered, letting the calls fall right through. It should've been a raging concern, but it was only mild. The president knew how fickle the latter could be, but a sense of danger had been looming, one he couldn't ignore very effectively.
It was nearly six-fifteen. Running late though in no serious rush to leave for home, Kyungsoo quickly put away with all the manila folders on his desk and placed the files that needed to be taken home into his bag. It was routine work, tiring and bothersome, but he had to push through with it to finish off strong for some university judging his worth and character by ink and paper.
The classroom was quiet except for the sound of his own footsteps. It's grave-like silence, however, was broken by the tone of his cell phone, blaring. Taking a quick glance at the caller i.d, Kyungsoo answered the call without a second thought, thinking that it might've been the other calling to apologize.
"What kind of lame excuse do you have, Byun Baekhyun. I waited for you--"
"Kyungsoo."
Freezing, the student body president blinked. He tore the phone from his ear to check the number, but once he confirmed that he had picked up on the understanding that it'd be Baekhyun, he pressed it back against his ear. "Yes?"
"This is Chanyeol."
"I can gather as much, thank you." Kyungsoo meant to sound hard. And he did. "Why're you calling me?"
"Have you heard from Baekhyun at all?"
Leaning against a desk, Kyungsoo glared at the floor. "You have his cell phone, Park. You're calling me with it right now. Shouldn't you know whether or not I've heard from him at all seeing as how you have his phone?"
"But I--Kyungsoo. I found his phone on the sidewalk... He's not with me. He left the gym two hours ago, and I thought he just went home, but I called his mom and she said he wasn't there."
No words wanted to fall from his mouth. Kyungsoo stood, listening in silence as he tried to maintain his calm.
"Have you really not heard from him?"
"The last time I talked to him, he said he was coming over to the student council room," Kyungsoo said. "He never came up. I assumed he changed his mind and went back to watch your little practice."
"He didn't... He didn't come back. I thought-- Fuck."
"Chanyeol--"
"What happened to him, Kyungsoo?" The voice on the other end sounded desperate. "You know everything that goes on at this school. What could've happened?"
Swallowing, Kyungsoo turned back to look at his desk. Slowly, he walked over, using a key from his lanyard to unlock a drawer on the side. "I know a lot of things, Chanyeol. This, however, is beyond me."
"Maybe he ran away--"
"Don't be the fucking moron that you are," Kyungsoo snapped viciously. "Why would he run away? When he runs away on purpose, Park, you'll know, but this? It's not like him."
"Then what should I do!?" Chanyeol cried, frustrated. "He might've been kidnapped and I'm just here being useless as hell--"
"You know what? Shut the fuck up. You're giving me a goddamn headache." Kyungsoo pulled open the steel drawer, taking out bag filled with envelopes. "Come up to the third floor, student government room. Hurry if you care."
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To his credit, Chanyeol arrived at the room much faster than Kyungsoo had anticipated. The tall athlete didn't wait to be let in, bursting through the door in a hurry. Kyungsoo almost didn't recognize him due to the fact that the latter had his hair pushed back with the use of a headband.
It took a moment for their eyes to meet, but when they did, Chanyeol was quick to start moving towards the president. "Kyungsoo--"
"Calm down. You look like a damn psychopath." Shaking his head, Kyungsoo nodded his head over to an empty desk near his own. "Set your things over there."
"I..." Biting down on his tongue, Chanyeol stopped. He looked conflicted for a split second before making up his mind and following the latter's order. After putting away with his duffle bag, he looked up to see Kyungsoo watching him.
"The school's alarm system sets off at eight. If we want to find Baekhyun before then, we have less than two hours." Turning his back against the giant, Kyungsoo reached for a print out lying on his desk, marked with several circle and notes. "I took a map of the school and circled places where he could be--"
"Where he could be?" Chanyeol looked at him incredulously. "What if he's not even here? What if they took him off campus--whoever the hell they are!"
"They wouldn't," Kyungsoo pressed. He held the map out for Chanyeol to take, but latter made no indication that he'd move. "Park Chanyeol--"
"I think we should call the police."
"No."
"What do you mean no?" Chanyeol clenched his jaw. "He's missing, Kyungsoo!"
"He's missing, not gone." Stepping forward, Kyungsoo pushed the map against the basketball player's chest, crushing it. "Check the areas I circled in blue. I'll check the red."
"How were you able to pinpoint these locations?"
"Don't ask me questions--"
Chanyeol took the map, but unconsciously gripped it, destroying it even more. He glared furiously at the male, taking a step forward, closing the gap between them. "My boyfriend's missing, you're calm as hell, and you seem to know where he might be... Is this a game of yours?"
"How fucking brazen of you to even accuse me... Don't associate me with her bullshit, Park," Kyungsoo growled, moving back. "You're wasting time. This school isn't exactly small."
"Tell me how you came up with these spots."
"Intuition. Happy?"
Chanyeol reached forward, grabbing the president by the collar of his shirt. Kyungsoo, however, was unfazed. "If I find out that this is all your doing--"
"How many times do I have to tell you that it's not?" Kyungsoo grabbed the athlete's face and shoved him away, breaking free from his hold. "I have eyes and ears around this school. I know people and how they think. A little insight on psychology will get you far in life, Chanyeol."
Raising a hand to his jaw, Chanyeol rubbed the place where he had been held. "I don't trust you, Soo..." he muttered angrily. "I'll never trust you."
"I'm helping you for once and you pay back the respect with this attitude?" Kyungsoo's stare was cold. The latter was uneasy. "I could have just as easily lied to you... In fact, that would've been easier. But I didn't. I let you come up here and I offered you a map. Pay respect where it's due."
"This map could be a lie," Chanyeol argued. "This could all be a lie. And what if he's not on campus? They could've taken him somewhere else just as easily!"
"Don't give them credit they don't deserve," Kyungsoo sneered as he walked back to his desk to pick up the other map copy. "A bunch of morons would think it's too much of a hassle transporting a struggling victim more than mile from the scene. This is nothing but a scare tactic."
"A scare tactic?" Unclenching his hand, Chanyeol finally looked down at the map. Much to his surprise, there weren't as many marking as he thought there'd be. Only a few blue and a couple red. "Who would do this as a joke?"
"Oh, love is patient, love is kind... Love is ugly, love's a lie," Kyungsoo hummed quietly to himself as he folded the map four times. "Now, I never said this was a joke. I said that it's a scare tactic. They wouldn't go through a lot of trouble just to scare someone."
"Who would want to scare Baekhyun?"
Kyungsoo stopped momentarily before raising his eyes to meet the questioning stare of the jock in front of him. But ultimately, he shrugged. "Maybe he wasn't even the intended victim... Wrong place, wrong time, I suppose."
"But--"
I'm done talking, Park." Putting the map in his back pocket, Kyungsoo cocked his head over to the door. "You take blue, I'll take red. Call if you find him. I'll do the same."
Chanyeol stood by, watching as Kyungsoo began to approach the exit. He wanted to move, but he couldn't. There was a sense of urgency inside of him when it came to finding the brunet; however, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was getting less of what he truly deserved to know.
"Kyungsoo."
"Hm?"
The president made no move to turn back or look behind. He continued on.
"Are you sure we won't be wasting our time looking at these areas only?"
Kyungsoo's eyes were down on the floor when his fingers touched the handle of the door. Without another glance in the boy's direction, he hummed. "Absolutely."
-
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Everything was dark when he woke up. The grogginess and pain on the back of his neck was enough to keep him calm for the first few minutes after awakening, but it didn't take too long for Baekhyun to recall what his last memories were. Immediately, he moved his limbs, scared of the possibility that he'd be tied, but was then quick to sigh a breath of relief when he felt himself free. After moving ever so slowly, Baekhyun put his hands on the dark ground and used his sense to try and make sense of his surrounding.
He felt rocks, similar to the ones that were around the school, and after rubbing his fingers together, he felt dry dirt. From what he gathered, he was outside or some place enclosed in darkness with the earth beneath kept completely untouched.
Crawling around and moving his hands wherever he could, Baekhyun eventually came to touch a cold vertical surface. It wasn't smooth. Instead, it was wavy and felt somewhat rusted. Experimentally, he closed his right hand into a fist and weakly hit the barrier. It resonated with a clang, letting the brunet know that the wall wasn't thick.
He tried to cry for help, but found that his voice was soft. Thinking that it must've been from the shock, he tried to think. Baekhyun didn't know how long he'd been out cold, but judging from how dark it was, he could only guess that the sun had already gone down. Even in such a place, cracks of sunlight should've shown through, especially if it was somewhere outside. However, there was nothing but pitch black darkness.
Reaching behind, he had the thought of making a call, but couldn't feel his cell phone anywhere. Desperately, he tried to feel around, hoping that it had slipped out accidentally inside his little prison, but as the minutes passed, hope began to diminish.
Cursing, Baekhyun felt a lump in his throat. His eyes started to burn from the feeling of helplessness and the thought that he didn't matter enough for anyone to notice his absence. He questioned who would've done such a thing to him and for what purpose. As far he knew, he had no enemies, and though he received letters consistently, they never indicated actual threats.
Sitting down, he drew his knees up against his chest and leaned in.
He wanted Chanyeol... Just the thought of him was depressing. If only he never left the gym. They could've gone home together or at least walked to the bus stop to live another day without being shoved into god-only-knew what. He didn't even know if he was a target or an unfortunate random victim to a stupid joke...
It was a scary feeling not knowing when he'd get out. Who would find him? What if his disappearance was taken too lightly? If no one was looking for him, then how long would it take for them to start? Aside from that, what would he do if the attackers returned? Baekhyun didn't want to fight anyone. In his mind, he had done nothing wrong to deserve anything. Four years spent, trying to be nothing more than just a wallflower just to end up some place dirty and dark over a reason that was even unknown to him was not what he had envisioned for him.
Silently, Baekhyun started saying Chanyeol's name over and over again, hopelessly hoping for something to change. Despite the way he pushed and pulled him, Baekhyun started praying that the player would somehow feel differently that night and realize something was amiss...
A loud pounding hit against the barrier that kept him imprisoned. Thought blinded by the dark, Baekhyun looked up and turned his head in the direction of the origin.
"Hello?"
No answer replied back to him. Even the hitting stopped. The only thing left for Baekhyun to hear were of footsteps as the individual crushed rock and gravel beneath their feet. Gulping, the brunet pressed his back against the surface behind him and moved further back, away from the source.
The borderline between relief and fear was thin and Baekhyun balanced on the line. A part of him wanted the person on the other side to open the door or opening just to inform him that it was just a prank, but he already knew how ridiculous that hopeful thought was.
The sound of metal clinking against metal followed after the brief silence. A minute passed before Baekhyun finally recognized what kind of sound it was that he was hearing; the unlocking of a padlock.
As soon as the realization hit, a disruptive sound erupted in the small environment as the heavy opening was pushed aside and a bright light hit Baekhyun's eyes painfully. He tried to squint against the glare to see the person standing there, watching him like some sort of animal, but he couldn't. It was only when the light was pointed farther down towards the ground that his pupils finally dilated enough to see his savior.
"You look worse than me... and you had me worried sick."
Baekhyun bit his dry bottom lip to keep himself composed, but the sound of that voice was enough to make him choke. "Kyungsoo."
Moving quickly to his side, Kyungsoo entered, dropping to his knees to pull Baekhyun against him. It was during this time when Baekhyun could finally see that it came to him that he was in the sports utility shed just outside the perimeter of the soccer field.
"Baekhyun..." Burying his face against the brunet's shoulder, Kyungsoo held onto him tightly, shaking. "You better not be hurt... Are you?"
"No, I..." Baekhyun closed his eyes. He was tired despite his fears and anxiety. Resting his forehead against Kyungsoo, he inhaled. "I'm just...thirsty."
Giving a low and dry laugh, Kyungsoo pulled away, cupping the brunet's face with both hands. "You were thrown in here and I saved you. The first thing you say to me is that you're thirsty?" He held his gaze. "You're something else, you son of a bitch... Come on. Let's get out of here first. Then I'll get you something to drink."
"Chanyeol," Baekhyun said, managing to say despite the roughness in his voice. "Chanyeol."
Kyungsoo's lips formed a thin line. "Let's take care of you first and we'll--"
"Call him, Kyungsoo... Please."
"I will," the president assured, "but you--"
"Soo... I need him." Baekhyun hung his head, his shoulders slanted in defeat. "He has to know."
"Know what?"
"That I'm okay."
Kyungsoo glared at him. "But you're not okay."
"Just let me talk to him, Soo," Baekhyun pleaded. "I need to call him."
"Shouldn't you be more concerned about who put you in here?" Kyungsoo asked, not meaning to sound as sharp as he did. "Your needs come before him. If you're thirsty, then let's go and get you water. He can wait."
"I want him here..."
"For all you know, he could be at home or playing a late night game of street basketball with some neighborhood pals while you're sitting in this dungeon of a shed, wailing for him instead of taking care of yourself first." Standing up, Kyungsoo leaned over and pulled Baekhyun to his own feet. "If we walk outside this place in the next minute, then fine. I'll let you call him while I get you water. If you can do that for me, then we have a deal. Got it?"
Nodding, Baekhyun wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo's waist and started walking steadily out the shed. Once outside, he felt himself being lowered down on the ground again. This time, Kyungsoo crouched over and hesitantly handed over his cell phone to the brunet before looking in the direction of the nearest water fountain.
"I'll give you five minutes. After that, hang up because we'll be walking over to that drinking station."
"Okay..."
Taking the phone in his hand, Baekhyun unlocked the device, paying no mind at all to the latter's simple way of organizing and customizing his device's features. Pulling up the keypad, he began typing in Chanyeol's number until tiny notifications caught his attention.
Chanyeol had called Kyungsoo several times, all of which, except for one or two, went unanswered or ignored. It was an odd detail that made him wonder briefly about what kind of business the giant needed for him to be calling Kyungsoo that frequently at such a time. But then, he figured it wasn't the time before he resumed putting in his boyfriend's info.
As he pressed the phone to his ear, Baekhyun watched as Kyungsoo looked at him for a moment before standing up and walking away, presumably to give him privacy. But the distance put between them wasn't enough to make the president deaf to volume of his voice. When he heard the line pick up, it was surreal.
"Chan--"
"I have been calling you! Why haven't you been answering!? You know I'm about to go out of my goddamn mind with this stupid map you gave me! I've checked every room and every other room in between, Kyungsoo!" Hearing the giant yelling through the phone was a whole new experience. Baekhyun had never heard him sound that way before. "Where the hell are you? I told you we should've called the police! He's not here and you haven't been giving me any updates like you said you would! Where are you!? Oh, you're just going to keep quiet not? Are you waiting for me to shut up? Kyungsoo, say something, damn it! If you don't, I'm hanging up and I'm calling the cops. I'm done--"
"Chanyeol, it's me... Hi..."
"Baek?"
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a/n: whispers sorries
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