Doodlebug | Beomjun, yeongyu |

Chapter 5

Beomgyu stumbled into his dorm room, eyes heavy with the late-night conversation with Yeonjun. His heart, still a tangle of emotions, didn't register the figure sprawled on his bed until he was halfway across the room.

Taehyun, usually a whirlwind of energy, was lost in the glow of his iPad, a rare smile playing on his lips. Beomgyu's worry flared, a pang of concern slicing through his weariness. Taehyun, known for his coldness, didn't smile often, and when he did, it was usually followed by a sarcastic quip.

But as Beomgyu approached, the smile vanished. Taehyun's face, so often etched with amusement, became a mask of studied indifference. "Hey," he mumbled, eyes glued to the screen. The silence stretched, punctuated only by the rhythmic tapping of Taehyun's thumb.

"There's a package for you," Taehyun said abruptly. He tossed a small, wrapped box onto Beomgyu's lap, the gesture rough and dismissive.

He picked up the box, curiosity warring with the unsettling feeling in his gut. It was light, wrapped in plain brown paper with no markings. His fingers itched to tear it open, to unravel the mystery wrapped within.

The brown paper yielded easily, the box popping open to reveal its chilling contents. Beomgyu's heart plunged into his stomach, a icy fist squeezing the air from his lungs. Inside, stacked neatly like playing cards, were photographs. Not just any photographs, but chilling snapshots of a night he desperately wished he could bury in the deepest recess of his memory.

There they were, him and Yeonjun, silhouettes against the pale moonlight, carrying – Zico. Another picture showed them digging frantically, the earth spilling between their trembling fingers. More followed, each image a hammer blow to Beomgyu's already fragile sanity. These weren't just pictures; they were incriminating evidence.

The room seemed to shrink around him, the air suffocatingly thick. He could hear his own heartbeat, a frantic drum solo against the silence, His breath hitched, a strangled gasp that echoed in the stillness of the room. Even from across the bed, Taehyun's head snapped up and from across the room, his gaze burning into beomgyu's flushed face. He could hear Beomgyu's heart hammering against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the silence.

But Beomgyu didn't speak. He couldn't. Words seemed to have deserted him, swallowed whole by the icy fear that gripped him. His trembling fingers reached out, not towards Taehyun, but towards the damning evidence. With a desperate swipe, he shoved the photographs into the yawning darkness of his drawer, slamming it shut as if slamming shut the gates of hell.

Beomgyu, his face pale and drawn, sat frozen on the bed, the weight of the photographs pressing down on him like a physical tomb. Taehyun, perched on the edge of his own bed, watched him with a slow, unnerving smile playing on his lips.

It wasn't the playful grin Beomgyu was used to, the one that crinkled his eyes and softened the sharp angles of his face. This was a smile carved from ice, a dangerous glint in his eyes that sent shivers down Beomgyu's spine.

"Did you see a corpse?" Taehyun asked, his voice deceptively light, a mere whisper that hung heavy in the air. Beomgyu's breath hitched, caught in his throat like a trapped bird. The question, though simple, felt like a loaded gun pointed straight at his heart.

Stifling a tremor in his voice, Beomgyu managed a weak shake of his head. But his eyes, wide and terrified, betrayed him. They flickered towards the drawer, a silent scream trapped behind the barrier of wood.

Taehyun's smile widened, the corners of his mouth stretching into a predator's grin. "Or did you bury one?" he added, his voice laced with a chilling nonchalance.

Beomgyu felt the room tilt, the floor beneath him turning to quicksand. Panic clawed at his throat, threatening to choke him. He wanted to scream, to deny, to plead for mercy, but the words wouldn't come. He was trapped, a rabbit cornered by a wolf with a hungry smile.