Chapter 08: Basement of criminals

"What?" Taehyun asked shockingly. He never thought Jungwon could say something like that. Though he likes Jungwon a lot, he himself didn't realize if he likes him romantically or bromantically. He always cherishes the cute little boy who accidentally met him one day while both of them were in a rush.

They bumped into each other and Jungwon's hand loosened by the sudden hit and he dropped his bag which was open as he was going to put out something. All of the books including the lunchbox fell on the stairs and as there were so many people, they crushed his lunch. Meanwhile, Taehyun's bag was on his back so he didn't drop it. He just got a little hit on his arm. Both of them apologized to each other though Taehyun didn't want to remove his eyes from the boy. Taehyun ended up sharing his lunch with Jungwon that day because he was the only one who destroyed his lunch. Jungwon was quite fascinated by Taehyun's cooking and since then he finds him very cool and has a soft spot for Taehyun.

"No! I mean, you know there will be a quiz show next month and as the top student, everyone is forcing me to participate but I need a partner for that. And I know you're a walking encyclopedia. So, there's nobody else whom I can trust." Jungwon explained with a big smile and looked at Taehyun's eyes seeking for the answer.

"Ah! About that! You should've told me sooner! I was startled!" Taehyun laughed softly even though he was happy.

"Then? Would you like to be my partner?" with a bunch of hope, Jungwon looked at Taehyun and blinked twice.

"But I don't think I'm capable of doing something like that." Taehyun wasn't confident in himself so he just said what he was thinking.

"No! you're perfect for this! Everyone says that you are a walking encyclopedia. So, if you're not capable then I don't think any other person is capable of this." Jungwon said proudly and tried to melt Taehyun's iced heart even though his heart was already melting by Jungwon's warmth.

"Okay, But can you take your seniors as your partner?" Taehyun asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it. You agreed and that's enough for me." Jungwon came closer and hugged him for a while then gave him a very big smile and backed a little.

"Then, I should leave. Come to my house and practice a little bit tomorrow." with a very gentle smile Jungwon said and was ready to leave.

"Okay," replying with a tiny word, Taehyun turned around. He didn't start walking but he was standing firmly with a big smile even though he was trying very hard to hide it. He was feeling so happy because he was praised and the person who praised him was none other than Jungwon.

"Ish! How cute!" He remembered the smile and said to himself. Seems like he would start dancing out of joy but it's a busy street and he needs to hide his emotions no matter how happy or sad he is. He started walking but stopped in the middle and turned around again to see if Jungwon was still there or not. But Jungwon was too far and he was looking very tiny from Taehyun's sight. Taehyun chuckled again and started walking his way back again. This time he didn't look at his phone and instead of that he was looking at the sky and nearly jumping and dancing in a tiny way.

[On the other side]

Beomgyu was going back to his home. He was thinking about a lot of stuff and also about his dream. Should he go to Namjoon? Can he help him to remember his past? He couldn't understand what he should do. He sighed and suddenly he felt that someone was following him. He looked back but nobody was there. So, he started walking but he didn't go home. Rather than walking his way home, he was walking to the path from where he picked the suitcase up. Though he couldn't realize that he was walking in the wrong way.

There was a trash bin a little far from Beomgyu. And a guy wearing a sleeveless black top and black colored pants was going to the bin with a big plastic bag full of trash. Beomgyu noticed it but he didn't pay attention to it since it was a common duty of every citizen. He kept walking and walking slowly but he didn't notice that the guy who just threw the trash away was following him. He kept walking but this time, he was walking fast because he remembered he noticed something strange when he went inside the abandoned building.

So, he needed to recheck if there was something wrong with it. The guy was also following him silently. Soon, Beomgyu reached near the building and went inside to pay a visit. It was a big place without any other rooms or walls as he saw before. Still, he went deeper to look for something though he didn't know what he was actually looking for. He kept looking here and there and kept running slowly here and there. After some time, he found a little entrance which led to the basement. There were so many stairs leading to the underground. Beomgyu took his phone out and turned on the torch. It helps him to see the stairs and ride down. He was surprised when he saw there were so many rooms there and they weren't empty. It wasn't quite dark but it wasn't so bright either. He couldn't understand if there were really people inside those rooms. He heard footsteps coming from the upside and got afraid.

What should he do if it's a place for the basement of criminals? What if he got caught? Won't they kill him? He started sweating out of nervousness. He saw a room wasn't locked and the door was open. He was going there but suddenly he heard the scream of girls coming from one of the rooms. He gulped and tried to follow the sound. He heard it again. But suddenly he remembered the scream of that girl which comes to his dream often. His ears have been locked and he couldn't hear anything other than the scream and the terrible laugher sound. His heart started beating fast and suddenly he couldn't move even though he needed to escape from this place.

He put his hands on his ears and pressed them hard because he didn't want to hear the noise anymore. He was out of his breath as it was his trauma. Suddenly a guy came to him and grabbed his arm. Then he pulled Beomgyu with him and reached one corner. Beomgyu got afraid and he closed his eyes, shrinking his face. As if the other party is going to kill him.

"Hey! Beomgyu! What are you doing here?" the boy was whispering as he couldn't talk loudly because there were people who could hear them and also hurt them if they found out. Beomgyu knew this voice and could understand that he wasn't in danger. He could feel that he was leaning against a wall and the boy was too close to him. He moved his hands from his ears and opened his eyes slowly. Though he could guess who the boy was by hearing his voice, he was surprised by seeing Soobin in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" rather than replying to Soobin, Beomgyu asked by whispering.

"I was following you because I saw you coming here. Don't you know it's a dangerous place?" Soobin was talking with force but with a very low voice.

"I-I d-didn't know." Beomgyu looked down and noticed Soobin was still holding his arm. He was so close to him that Beomgyu could hear his heartbeat.

"But, Why didn't you inform me when you saw me? And since when are you following me? Why were you following me? And....." Beomgyu couldn't finish his questions. Soobin put his palm on Beomgyu's mouth and pressed his lips to shut him down.

"Slow down! They'll know about us! Let's go find a way to get out of here." Soobin said by whispering and looked around to check if there was someone or not. But noticed there wasn't anyone or anything but he didn't notice that the person who's mouth he was holding, was getting hot. His heart was beating fast not because he was afraid but because of Soobin.