“Where were you?”

Himchan asked, trying to be as strict and serious as he could, but being incredibly happy that he was able to catch Junhong on the act. He thought that now he could finally get some answers.

“Nowhere.”

The boy responded with a bored expression, making Himchan’s blood boil.

“Why are you sneaking out? This is not the first time right? I noticed the other nights too.”

Himchan continued, still trying to be rough, but it had no effect on Junhong. The boy just turned around, going to his make-shift bed on the couch and sitting down.

“None of your business.”

Himchan was sort of expecting a dry answer like that, but Junhong’s tone was different, and the man couldn’t help but feel tense, without even knowing why.

“Don’t do it again.”

He said, in a much smaller voice, wanting to have the last word in, but quickly retreating to his room. He couldn’t understand why he suddenly felt so scared of a high school kid, but something about Junhong seemed really off at that moment. For a second, he didn’t seem like just a bratty high school kid.

…

“I told you, He’s doing something wrong! I’m sure of it.”

Himchan talked fast, as he was agitated, and very annoyed. He paced around the living room, unable to sit down and relax.

Hyosung at first just watched him, sitting quietly on the couch, listening to him complain, and tell the whole story, with her eyes following him around from side to side.

“And you’re sure he’s leaving the university’s grounds, right? He’s not just going out to buy juice or something.”

She finally talked, looking down since following his steps around was causing her neck to ache.

“Yeah, I’m sure! I knew there was something wrong the second I saw him!”

Himchan just started to move faster, getting anxious. Then he suddenly stopped and turned to Hyosung with nervous eyes.

“Should I tell the school? Like, inform them that he’s disobeying the rules? ‘cause I don’t want to get in trouble because of this brat.”

The more he talked the more he raised his voice. Thankfully, Junhong was in class with Yongguk at the moment, so there was no risk of him being heard.

“No, not now. Don’t do anything for now.”

Hyosung said, her eyes gazing to nowhere, millions of thoughts filling her head. She barely even noticed how nervous Himchan looked because of her words, and he was about to protest, but she continued speaking.

“We need more information.”

She continued without realizing the weird face Himchan was making at her. He was too agitated to stop and follow her train of thoughts.

“More information?”

His question snapped her back to reality, and she looked up to him, smiling as soon as their eyes met.

“Yeah. You should take pictures; prove that what you’re saying is true. Otherwise it’s your word against his, and we’ve seem that he knows how to act innocent, so they might not believe you.”

She explained, maintaining her smile. She needed to be calm to make him calm down. Her words seemed to have worked, and he sat down next to her, nodding his head slowly. Now it was him who looked out to nowhere, thinking things through.

“You’re right…”

He finally said in a very calm and controlled manner, sitting down next to her. She gave him a bright smile, patting his back lightly.

“I often am.”

The both lightly chuckled at that remark, before going silent again.

“Have you mentioned any of this to Yongguk yet?”

Hyosung asked, as that question had been of her head for some time already, mostly during Himchan’s entire rant session.

“No, not yet. I haven’t had a chance to properly talk to him in a long time. It’s because of the kid, he’s always around…”

Himchan looked troubled, as he still felt a very bad feeling about all of that, but he didn’t quite know how to translate it into words.

…

Yongguk checked his watch. Only one minute left for the class to end. It was the last one of the night, so as soon as his watch hit 10PM, he’d be able to head home.

“That’s all for today class. Remember, the papers are due next week.”

The teacher announced, and everyone started getting up, gathering their stuff, and leaving. Yongguk was doing the same, but for the first time in a while, alone. Junhong had been following him around to every class for a week and a couple of days, but early that night, the boy said he felt sick, and asked for permission to go back to the dorm earlier.

Yongguk didn’t see why not, Junhong had been a very good kid to him the entire time. He looked honest. And even if Himchan didn’t like him, Yongguk felt it was okay to trust the boy. If Junhong said he felt sick, Yongguk believed him, because he had no serious reason not to.

But after having company for so long, especially a chatty kid like Junhong, who was always asking questions, the walk home felt cold and lonely. Yongguk almost forgot how it was before, him often walking alone to and from classes. Beside Himchan and Hyosung, he didn’t find many people who like spending time with him.

While walking the dark paths of the campus, towards the student housing, he felt alone, but never scared. There was really nothing to be fearful about, he had done that route on his own many times before, and he believed it to be safe.

So when a group of large muscular men, all dressed in black and dark green, started appearing at various places around him, he wasn’t immediately alarmed; only when he noticed that those men had their eyes on him, and started to move closer, that he felt the need for caution.

He kept going his way, but they were all still moving, and quickly. He finally stopped, looking at one of them directly, ready to ask what they wanted, since he thought that would be the safest approach. But before he could even open his mouth to say anything, an object entered his lateral vision, being harshly swung towards his face. He was hit directly on the side of the head, and with the sharp pain of the blow, mixed with confusion as to what was happening, Yongguk’s sight went foggy, and he lost consciousness.