[CHAPTER 28]

"More than Suspicions"

Just to be on the safe side, InGuk decided that it was best to hide Hongbin away from the eyes of the council until they've decided what to do next. And the safest place he could think of was his old home.

"This place should be safe, come in," he said as he invited the younger inside.

"What's this place?" Hongbin asked as he dusted the covered furniture with his finger.

It was very obvious that no one has lived here for a very long time. All of the furniture was still here but each of them was covered by a large white sheet. The cobwebs were very obvious at every corner and the dust covered the rooms entirely. 

"This place used to be where I lived before I was inside of that facility," the older told him.

"Really? Then why are all the furniture still here?"

"Because these were no point in bringing them with me in the first place. These were my parents' favorites before they passed away."

"Oh... I'm sorry," Hongbin couldn't help but apologize for touching in on a sensitive topic.

"It's fine. Anyways, you can leave your things in the back room upstairs. Once you're done, we need to continue discussing about what to do next."

"Got it."

Hongbin went upstairs as told and walked down the hallway to find the room. Even though InGuk's parents have passed away for a long time, it was evident that InGuk must have kept this place in memory of them. They must have meant a lot of the older because there were still traces of his parents throughout the hallways. As Hongbin walked pass one room after another, he saw artworks and sculptures still intact to this house. Every piece must have been a valuable memory that Hongbin couldn't help but think about his own parents for a moment.

Would I do the same too if my parents were to pass away one day? Hongbin suddenly felt guilty about not tending to his parents often enough as he's always trapped himself inside of his room since he was young.

He had no explanations as to why he's grown to be this way and there were multiple times in which his parents tried to get him out of his shell. Maybe because he grew up being told what his future should be like that he no longer wanted to hear anymore of it. It wasn't until Jaehwan and Wonshik's persistance that he eventually left his house for once. 

After a few minutes of slowly walking down the hallway, he finally came upon the room he was going to stay in. As he opened the door, the dust from above the door fell on top of him.

Gross, he thought as he tried to get rid of the dust all over him.

A bed was covered with another white sheet and he carefully took the covers off. The mattress and extra blankets was still neatly folded on top of the bed but the dust flying all over the room didn't help in keeping it clean for long. He removed the covers from one piece of furnishing to the next. He opened the windows to let the dust outside and with a little bit of time, he decided to clean out the room as much as he could. 

The amount of cleaning that was needed in this house was almost frustrating to Hongbin who preferred a more clean and dust-free environment.

"Are you done yet?" InGuk shouted from downstairs.

"Coming!" Hongbin shouted back immediately.

He dropped everything down for the moment to continue with it later. He knew it would be a bad idea to make the older waiting especially since there was more important matters to attend to at the moment.

"What took you so long?" InGuk asked impatiently. 

"Uh, I couldn't help cleaning up a bit... sorry," Hongbin felt a bit sorry to have the other waiting.

"You were always a neat freak weren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Hongbin was completely oblivious.

"Even back when you were in the Keepers, you liked to dust the books here and there. You even placed things in order and put the things back where they belong. I didn't take you for someone with such an obsessive hobby," InGuk snorted.

"I just like things clean... there's nothing wrong with that. It's better than breathing in all this dust and stuff," the younger felt a bit embarrassed for being caught. He didn't think the older paid any attention to him when he was still working inside of the facility.

"Anyways, you can clean all you want later. Let's get down to business. For the time being, both Jaehwan and Wonshik should have met Hakyeon by now from the last time I read the book before meeting you. Once we have confirmed that nothing drastic have changed within Hakyeon's story, I will send the pen across to the otherside to either of them."

"That's right! Hakyeon's book!" Hongbin remembered. "Do you have it?"

"I do but not with me at the moment. I've kept it back in my own vault just in case for the time being because I didn't want to lose it on my way here. I'll bring it back later don't worry. It's safe with me and Taekwoon believes that Jaehwan and Wonshik has it."

"He doesn't know that those two are inside of Hakyeon's story yet does he?"

"Not yet. I don't know what he might do when he finds out or what he's going to do even now that he no longer has the book in his possession. You should've seen how furious he was when he was trying to confront me about it. That Jung Taekwoon who usually has such a poker face turned out to be someone who would act so rashly."

"Do you think..." Hongbin bit his lips a little before proceeding with the question," do you think he loved Hakyeon after all? I mean, if he didn't, why would he behave like that? Everything he did was in order to carry out the mission the council and the Goddesses gave him but it doesn't make sense why he would behave like this... what if... he really fell in love with Hakyeon in the end?"

"What? Like you?"

"You know what I mean..."

"I don't know nor do I care. One thing for certain is that he has no intention of giving up on Hakyeon's story whether it is to keep him alive or kill him again. Jung Taekwoon was supposed to be the one that killed Hakyeon and ending his story once and for all. That was also his achievement but now that Hakyeon is alive again, his powers in the eyes of the council is being questioned once more. He's being pressured by the others especially since you came into the picture as well. In the end, everything leads to one question - who has more impact on Cha Hakyeon's life, you or him? In the end, whether or not he truly loves Hakyeon doesn't matter because at the end of the day, he only has powers in his eyes. There's no way he would defy the Goddesses' orders."

Hongbin couldn't disagree with InGuk nor was he able to discard of such a possibility. Whether or not Taekwoon loves Hakyeon, doesn't erase the fact that he's now going through high and lows in order to retrieve the book back from Hongbin's friends. If he was to find out that both Jaehwan and Wonshik went looking for Hakyeon in person, who knows what he would do them and to Hakyeon.

~

The morning arrived and the sun shined brightly enough to wake Hakyeon up. To his surprise though, Jaehwan had already woken up long before him and just got out of the bathroom.

"Morning," Jaehwan said as soon as he saw Hakyeon.

"Good morning," Hakyeon greeted back. He looked left and right to see if the other guest was awake yet.

"If you're looking for Wonshikkie, he's still snoring on the couch. He's a heavy sleeper so he's impossible to wake up, at least not for a little while. You should get washed up, you have work later right?"

"Uh yeah, thanks!" Hakyeon said and rushed into the bathroom to get cleaned up as well.

Jaehwan went into the kitchen to see what he could do in order to prepare breakfast. He and Wonshik was freeloading off of Hakyeon after all, so he wanted to do something to help out. He prepared a short and simple breakfast before trying to wake Wonship up. As expected, the younger was a pain to wake up. It took him too many times until the younger finally rolled off the couch and hit himself on the floor before he was actually awake.

"Do you mind if we come to see you off at your school? I'm kind of curious aobut how it looks like since all we've done was read about it in your story," Jaehwan asked as the three was having breakfast together.

"Sure! I don't mind. This week is golden week so everyone is too busy with self studies anyways. Teachers only go around to make sure everyone was studying properly and so, there's really not much to do during this time around. I can even give you a tour around the school if you want," Hakyeon offered. 

"Really? That'd be awesome!" 

"You shouldn't keep bothering Hakyeon like this," Wonshik told Jaehwan. "Sorry for freeloading off of you like this, we could have stayed at the bookstore..." he sighed.

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it. I don't mind it at all and plus, you're Hongbin's friends," Hakyeon smiled happily.

"Thanks," Wonshik smiled back at ease.

After breakfast, the three of them went to Hakyeon's high school by bus so that both Jaehwan and Wonshik could glance at the neighborhood on the way there.  

Jaehwan couldn't stop how in awe he was at the town and the many things around him. Everyone was doing so many things and all wearing very different outfits from one another. They've been so used to looking so formalized and aiming towards the same goal that they've never really got the chance to explore the other paths they could've taken. Even now, both Jaehwan and Wonshik couldn't believe that they really decided to defy the facility in order to help Hongbin. 

It felt strange but it didn't feel bad. Instead, it felt like they were finally free. 

"We're here," Hakyeon said. 

"Woah~," Jaehwan was in awe once more but was in full excitement. 

Like a child again, Jaehwan rushed through the gates to see the large track fields on the side and the three story building that extended from one side to another. They thought Hakyeon's school would be big but it was definitely bigger than what they perceived it to be. 

Wonshik cracked a smile, "hyung, don't go too far or you'll get lost."

"I won't~," the older said with much excitement.  

"Is it really that fascinating?  I'm sure your facility is much more impressive compared to this, " Hakyeon said. 

"It's big,  a lot bigger than this in fact but I think Jaehwan-hyung is feeling something more than being impressed. This world is just so different compared to Moirae's Edge. Somehow just stepping through these gates make us feel free and special as ourselves. It's a strange feeling and hard to describe it but I know exactly how he feels. Your world is strangely mesmerizing to us," Wonshik told Hakyeon. 

Hakyeon smiled happily and the two of them caught up with Jaehwan before he got lost with fascination.  

Hakyeon went to the security office and got the two a visitor's pass so that they could roam a bit and explore while he went around to his class to monitor his students' studies.  

"If you guys need anything, the teachers' lounge is around the corner okay?" Hakyeon gestured before he went on his way.  

The two waved him goodbye with a smile on their faces. 

"No wonder Kong fell in love," Jaehwan commented. "He's really sweet isn't he?"

"Yeah," the younger nodded in agreement. 

"It's almost hard to believe that just awhile ago, he was simply a character in a book we used to read. In fact, everyone we've come across already, the bookstore owner, the landlord, these students and teachers, they're all protagonists of a book in the library of fates. It almost feels too unreal," Jaehwan said as he and Wonshik explored the school for themselves. 

"It is strange. Not long ago, we would only care about obeying the laws and monitoring these people's fates but now... I don't think I want to know. It worries me... what if we become too attached to these people and what happens if we know about their story or ending?"

"This is why it was forbidden for us to ever interact with anyone here on Earth. And now I think I understand why."

Despite only having been on Earth for a few days and only getting to know Hakyeon, both Jaehwan and Wonshik felt a strange attachment towards the people around them, even mere strangers who might have been a character of a book they once read before. It got the two wondering how strange it was to not be able to know other people's lives or fate but it wasn't a bad thing because not knowing might be better than knowing the truth. It would pain them more to realize that the person they cared about the most was going to die one day due to whatever reason it may be. 

Even Cha Hakyeon.  

They've only ever read and questioned why the latter's story was so mysterious or in such a horrifying form. They have only guessed or assumed but they never had a clear answer to it. Eventually as time went on and as they continued to learn about this character, they grew attached to someone whom they have never met before.  They knew so much about Hakyeon at one point that they almost wish they didn't know.  Meeting people is getting to know them through connecting and talking with one another yet they know so much about this person simply through reading a book. 

A book they now felt that they had no rights to read about.  

~

The two of them continued to explore the school grounds as Hakyeon went to do his work. It felt so unreal for the two of them still when they realized that they were really in Hakyeon's world. 

"It seems like nothing is wrong so far with the story," Wonshik said.

"Mhmm, everything seems to be normal. Maybe we should tell InGuk to continue with the plan. The longer this takes, the more worried I get for Kong... he's all alone back in Moirae's Edge," Jaehwan said.

"He's not alone. InGuk is there too remember?" 

"Do you think... we can really trust him though? I'm still unsure about him to be honest. I mean think about it, all this time, he hasn't even done anything to defy the rules or the laws. I know he's got eyes around him for everything he does but why Kong of all people? I don't want to think this but... I hope he isn't treating Kong as a scapegoat with whatever he plans to do."

"If he is, I won't forgive him. Don't worry, he's indeed a bit on the strange side but I don't think he means harm. He must have endured a lot and kept quiet all this time because no one was on his side," Wonshik sided with InGuk.

"I guess you have a point but if he really does anything to Kong, I definitely won't let him go."

"Instead of InGuk, I think we should worry about Jung Taekwoon instead. He's dangerous and we don't know what he's plotting."

"That's true..." Jaehwan sighed.

The two walked further and was heading towards the teachers' lounge until they saw a younger man come out of the office. The taller man looked at the unfamiliar visitors for a second.

"Are you two... Hakyeon-hyung's friends?" he said.

"Um, yeah we are," Jaehwan felt strangely nervous as if he was caught doing something bad.

"I see. My name is Han Sanghyuk, I'm a teacher here as well," Hyuk said.

"Hyogi?"

"Huh?"

"Ah, I mean Hakyeon mentioned that he sometimes call you Hyogi," Jaehwan let out a nervous laughter.

"Oh. He's even told you that. Are you two close with Hakyeon-hyung?"

"I guess?" Jaehwan shrugged a bit with uncertainty. "By the way, my name is Jaehwan and this is Wonshik."

"It's nice to meet you," Wonshik greeted.

"Nice to meet you too..." Hyuk let out a strange silence as he looked at the two. "How did you two meet Hakyeon-hyung?"

Sanghyuk looked as if he was suspecting the two's relationship with Hakyeon but no one could blame him since Jaehwan and Wonshik just suddenly appeared out of nowhere in Hakyeon's life. It was all really strange.

"By coincidence. We met him through a friend," Wonshik said with only half of the truth.

"Friend?"

"Uh yeah. I don't think you know him though," Jaehwan nor Wonshik could look at the younger in the eyes.

"I see..."

There was indeed a lot of people Hyuk didn't know about in Hakyeon's life and even if that's so, it was strangely irritating not knowing anything about the older though. 

"Where did you guys come from?" Hyuk asked suddenly.

"Uh, we're from overseas," Jaehwan lied.

The younger stared suspiciously at him, making him very nervous. 

"Where overseas though?" he continued to question. 

Not knowing the answer and feeling extremely nervous, Jaehwan wanted to run away for a second. The younger was very sharp, almost too sharp and way too suspicious. It was scary how protective Sanghyuk is when it comes to people around Hakyeon.

"Jaehwan-ah, Wonshik-ah!" Hakyeon came running in just in time to save the two from the intense atmosphere. "I was looking all over for you two."

"Hyung," Hyuk called out as well.

"Oh, Hyogi, you're here too?" Hakyeon noticed. "I see you've met my two good friends already, Lee Jaehwan and Kim Wonshik from America."

"America?"

"Yeah."

"How'd you guys meet?"

"At a book event in Seoul," Hakyeon gleamed a smile, making it almost impossible to doubt any longer.

Hakyeon gave a signal to both Jaehwan and Wonshik, to play along. He was a real life saver.

"I see," Hyuk was defeated.

"Anyways, they're just visiting for a bit so I wanted to show them around. Play nice, okay?" Hakyeon ruffled the taller boy's hair.

Hyuk calmed down and lost completely whenever it came to Hakyeon. He had no choice but to believe in the older's words as well as listen to him. After a short while, Hyuk finally left the three to go back to his classroom. 

Once Hyuk was completely out of sight, the three of them sighed in relief.

"Thanks," Jaehwan said to Hakyeon. "I swear that kid is so scary sometimes."

"Agreed," Wonshik sympathized.

"Sorry about Hyogi, he's a bit of a ... worrywart," Hakyeon sighed.

"Don't worry about it. At least you saved us just now," Jaehwan said and patted him on the back.,

"Did you guys get to explore the campus?" Hakyeon smiled and asked.

"Mhmm. It was a lot of fun~" 

"Really?"

"Mhmm! When are you off today?"

"Around 4, why?"

"Wonshikkie and I was planning on exploring the town a bit and stuff. After you finish work, let's go to the supermarket! I've always wanted to go to one especially because you and Kong always went together during your dinner dates," Jaehwan teased.

"D-date?" Hakyeon blushed, "I got it. I'll see you two later then."

"Hehe," Jaehwan chuckled at the other's flushed cheeks. "We'll see you later than!"

~

Beep. Beep. Beep. Click.

Hyuk finally made it home after a long day of work. Though it was supposed to be a rather relaxing time of the year since every student was busy with their individual studies, Hyuk was feeling restless for many reasons. 

He took off his shoes and placed them back inside the shoe rack. He took off his coat and hung it neatly inside of the closet by the entrance. 

What is wrong with me lately? he thought to himself as he remembered how he was behaving earlier towards Hakyeon's two new friends. He knew it well that he was acting a bit rude and overprotective but whenever it comes to Hakyeon, he just couldn't help himself. He really didn't want anyone to hurt Hakyeon and he would do anything to protect the older. He wanted the best for Hakyeon after all because he believes that the older deserves everything especially after everything that he's been through. There were many times where Hyuk wished he could have been by Hakyeon's side but he couldn't because he was still too young and powerless to do anything. He's seen Hakyeon get hurt time and time again that he felt so useless.

That's why as he grew older, he promised to protect Hakyeon with all he's got. Hakyeon is special to him after all. In fact, the older was special to many people, Hyuk was just one of them.

Hyuk often finds himself jealous about those around Hakyeon. When he first found out that he was going to work in the same school at Hakyeon, he was estatic about it because he missed the older a lot. He was happy to see Hakyeon finally and he couldn't wait to show the older his more mature side. He thought that he was going to be extra special to Hakyeon because Hyuk is the only person from his hometown and knew everything about the older. But eventually, he realized that he was slowly replaced by both Minhyuk and Eunji. Those two were persistent when it came to being friends with Hakyeon and Hyuk should have been happy for Hakyeon. It looked like Hakyeon finally moved on from the past and was finally accepting people in his life again but Hyuk was hoping that the person Hakyeon accepts... was him instead.

He let out another sigh, Hakyeon-hyung would hate me if he knew this side of me... I can't let him know.

He headed for the kitchen to rummage throw the fridge. He took out some plates to set the tables up. He took out all of the ingredients for the night's dinner and placed them in the kitchen for preparations. As he was preparing, he kept thinking about the distance between him and Hakyeon.

Hyuk has been putting on a strong and nice front whenever he was with Hakyeon. He wanted to treat Hakyeon special and put him above everything else yet it seems like Hakyeon had other people who are more important than the kid from the same neighborhood. Hyuk knew that Hakyeon wasn't very pleased to see him at first in Gwangju. It was just too awkward and the younger knew well that Hakyeon didn't want anyone to know about his past. The older has been avoiding the chance to have people in his life for so long yet suddenly, just when Hyuk thought he was getting closer again, someone named Jaehwan and Wonshik appeared suddenly.

Where did they come from? America? What a lie... Hyuk suspected. 

After preparations, he cleaned up the kitchen and set the dishes down at the table. He took off his apron and headed for the bedroom. 

Knock. Knock.

"Hey, it's dinner time," Hyuk called out. "Come on, hurry up!"

There was a moment of lag and silence but soon, the door opened. 

"Gosh, how many times do I have to call you? Let's go eat," Hyuk said to the man who came out of the room. "Hurry it up, Taekwoon-hyung."

A/N - Oh ?  :D