The Hanes Enigma

Chapter Fourteen - Perth Revealed

Brynn Clough

The repetitive tick works as some form of lullaby, coaxing my head ever closer to the desk. The piercing cry of discharge floods the hallways and teens slither from their desks and out into the open. Lunch time.

I stare at my phone, silent and motionless. It's been almost nine months since I'd seen or heard anything from Taehyung.

Brynne: 1:03

Hope you're doing okay x

I don't message him much. Maybe an 'I miss you' or 'Hwaiting at Pharaway' a few times at first, but I haven't sent anything for months. I haven't had a response since he left so it seems more annoying than friendly to keep badgering him. He probably made better friends.

Tae: 1:07

I'm really not. miss you <3

My sandwich never makes it to my open mouth, being rapidly discarded from my hand and immediately replaced with my phone which I stare at in disbelief.

"It's like Tweedledum without Tweedledumber." Freddie sniggers.

"Or Fred after George died." Another adds causing a ricochet of laughter.

"It was Fred who died. If you're going to insult me with book references please at least get them right." I roll my eyes and throw the remainder of my things into my bag, slinging that over my shoulder and heading for the school entrance.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?." Freddie glares.

"Isn't it obvious?.. I'm skiving..? I'm skipping school, what's left of it. I'm getting the heck away from you lot." I smile slightly as the girls run to get the deputy, Freddie's father, and slip out of gates before they return.

This is the first time I've ever skipped school. Normally I'm more of the goodie-two-shoes type but I can't concentrate anyway so what's the point.

Brynne: 1:08

Library in 45 mins. Meet me if you can. x

It's a long shot but the library is reasonably close to Pharaway. More like a five-minute walk rather than the forty-minute one from Crenford Senior.

I'm so excited and anxious, I don't stop at my usual thinking spots: where the stream runs underneath a tree that somehow still grows half suspended in the air, its roots acting as a bridge; the clearing that let's sunlight through in pillars, the mountainous tree trunk that takes more effort to climb than it's worth, to be honest, but the sense of achievement is more than worth the sub-par view.

In record time I get to the library but with fifteen minutes before I'd even asked Tae to meet me, and that's if he even comes.

I smile at the librarian and grab a random book from the side as I make my way to the little corner of the little library.

***

Kim Taehyung

I've never actually been in here. It never interested me enough. I love Brynn, but I don't understand her love of paper and ink. Why not just watch the film? It's quicker and honestly more entertaining.

"Is this even safe?.. I feel like if I lean on a wall the whole building will crumble down." Jungkook grumbles until I shush him, pointing to a rusty looking metal sign at the entryway that says 'Speak, and you shall be heard. But also kicked out.'