favorite crime #beomjun

01_vending machine

[ SMALL NOTICE ] the first four chapters were written in 2021, and my writing has improved since then, but i doubt i'll ever make any time to actually rewrite them... despite this, i still hope you give this fic a chance, since it does get better (and longer) around chapter 7 :*

another late night in the classroom. as always, beomgyu was the last to leave. he is one of the top students in his school, and that comes with a price. his whole life is based around studying. what's sleep? doesn't know her. social life? we don't talk about that.

"11:32 PM" the tired boy whispered under his breath as he checked his phone. no messages. of course.

he closed the door and stumbled towards the stairs. beomgyu's vision was usually blurry at this point in time. all he wanted was to be in the comfort of his own bed, but he knew damn well that after he arrives home he will still have to finish a project from today.

suddenly, he stopped dead in the mid-way of the stairs and crouched down, hands over his face. the back of his throat was aching, trying to hold back the painful lump, but it all unraveled into tears.

there's no use to put up a facade now, no one is around. he is allowed to feel things. tears strolled in nonstop motions, like someone just made a crack in the dam. it was all too exhausting to handle. he needed a break.

all of a sudden, beomgyu jolted to a loud crash of glass coming from downstairs. he knew it was most probably coming from the cafeteria as it was the closest to him. instead of staying still and thinking it through, beomgyu decided to run straight towards the sound.

as he stood in front of the cafeteria's entrance, he noticed that one of the doors was unlocked.

that's strange.

he took a peak through the opened door to see a tall figure standing right before the vending machines.

it was too dark to really make out what was going on, but the sound of plastic bags being torn and the crunching of potato chips made it all too evident.

"hey!" called out beomgyu, a sense of bravery awakening within him, something he didn't know he had, "may i ask you what the hell you are doing?"

startled, the figure slowly turned around to face beomgyu, hiding the bag of chips behind his back. "uh... nothing..." the figure replied, struggling to find an excuse, "i'm just a hallucination...go home boy."

beomgyu let out an unbelievable sneer, "i'm not that mentally ill yet, you know?

"are you sure?"

beomgyu, certain in his claim, took some steps towards the unknown man, trying to make out his face. unfortunately, he was wearing a mask and a hat, all black, and the fact that it was pitch-dark did not help. he was able to, however, make out the vending machine that now stood vandalized with broken glass all around it. all the snacks and drinks were easily accessible now, and the man didn't waste any time stuffing his bag with them.

"put the chips down and return all of that back right now."

"you've got some nerve kid."

"i'm eighteen. and, actually, we have trillions of nerves, so don't be too surprised about that."

"oh you've been counting?" the man let out sarcastically, "listen... i'm hungry, okay? i haven't had any food for the past two days, so be nice boy and let me enjoy my chips."

"you could have enjoyed them legally. do you not have any money?"

"you are smart, aren't you? so suppose, if i had money... would i have hammered this damn vending machine?"

beomgyu plastered on a puzzled look.

"just go home, alright? i'll leave you alone as well. don't make this difficult," the man retorted.

"i'm not making anything difficult, i'm doing the right thing!" expressed beomgyu, "i seriously advise you to stop or i will call the security."

"okay, go on," unbothered, the guy continued to munch on his chips.

beomgyu hesitated for a second. this whole situation began to weigh down on him.

"i don't understand. why did you have to break into a high school to rob the vending machine? couldn't you have done that outside or something?"

"there are people outside."

"well, there are people and cctv cameras here as well-"

"you ask too many questions. do you like hanging out with a burglar or what?"

"n-no," the student stuttered, "it's just-"

"hey, you two! what are you doing over there?" an unknown voice echoed from behind. they looked back just to get blinded by the security guard's flashlight.

the masked guy reacted fast. he hastily took his snack stuffed bag and beomgyu's hand, and set off to the fire exit. beomgyu doesn't know why he let the man drag him along, but this was an 'in-the-moment' decision, plus they had to escape the security.

they sprinted down the staircase and through different hallways beomgyu didn't know his school had. once they were out, the younger dropped to the floor to catch his breath. this was the most exercise he had done in his last 18 years.

"yo, you good?" asked the unknown robber guy.

"why did you grab my hand?!" beomgyu yelled in desperation.

"sorry about that, i just though you didn't want any problems."

"now they will think i'm involved with you!" beomgyu looked to the floor frantically, searching for answers in his head, "oh no, no, no... what should i do?"

"chill out. it's not the end of the world." yawned the other.

beomgyu shot him a death glare. he got up just to stare into his eyes with pure resentment.

"you have no idea how hard i had to work to earn my status at this school," he said, teary eyed, "this will be the end of me. what if i get expelled?"

"...that's gonna be a big yikes," the other chuckled nervously, "ouch... don't stare at me like that, i feel like you're gonna pierce a hole in my forehead."

after an intense moment of eye contact, beomgyu's eyes finally lit up with an idea.

"kidnap me."