Beomgyu was not present the day after. And the week after, either. And Taehyun worries.

Taehyun worries over the fact he was worrying. Why the fuck was he worrying? over Beomgyu out of all people? Maybe it was the fact that the used to be a good student who had never missed a single day of school; was now absent for a week, two, actually. Or maybe it was the fact that Taehyun ends up tapping an unknown inconsistent rhythm on his desk during music, looking at the other students who were happily discussing their work among their teammates.

Or maybe because of today. The third week after the clip becoming viral, Beomgyu arrives in school. Hand in his pocket and glancing around the school as if he hadn't been missing in action for three weeks.

The ugly bruise on Taehyun's jaw had decreased and faded as days went by. When the video came out, he really shouldn't have been shocked when his sister found out. She was a social media addict anyway. 

Hyerin was weeping when she saw the bruise and Taehyun thought she was being dramatic, but then again, she wasn't used to the wounds like Taehyun were to them. Hyerin and his mother bought cream and made sure Taehyun iced his injury every night, they babied him more than they already did (which was already a lot anyway).

Taehyun doesn't know if his father caught wind of it, but whether or not he did, Taehyun doesn't hear anything from him since he left.

Back to the present, Taehyun was looking at the raven-haired boy from across the canteen where he sat with his friends. Kai's sandwich fell onto his tray when his eyes caught sight of the guy who had beaten up his best friend.

"The fuck?" Yeonjun scowled across the room, "Is that Choi Beomgyu? why did he show up back here again like he didn't just go MIA for a whole month?"

"It wasn't a whole month," Soobin nudged the boy, "Three weeks and two days. A personal record for not only him, but students his grade,"

"He even beat that one cube entertainment trainee kid who went missing for two weeks from his audition," Kai adds, "I heard he didn't pass the first round, too. Sad,"

"Stop worrying about other people, what the heck," Yeonjun said, irritated. He drops his spoon angrily on the table, making it clatter with the fiberglass tray and into his carrot bits, "I thought he had jumped off a cliff. Do you have music today?" 

Taehyun looks up from where he had been playing with his salad, he meets Yeonjun's eyes that looked into his with concern. Even if his hyung jokes and teases them often, he knew that the oldest always cared for them. Yeonjun had the tendency of not making fun and playing around with them, but at the end of the day, they were his best friend. His baby brothers.

"Yeah, last period," Taehyun says simply, "Don't worry, hyung. I doubt he'll try anything,"

"If you're going to pull off that 'all bark no bite' thing, I suggest you look back at Han's video," Soobin utters as he munches on the carrot stick that he got from Yeonjun's plate, "You're the smartest among us, yet sometimes I think you're brainless,"

Taehyun rolls his eyes, and Kai sips his drink.

"The bell is going to ring in a bit, we should get to class early," the younger decided, standing up, "Come on, Hyunnie, let's go to class together!" 

"Yah, what about us?" Yeonjun asked, offended, "Hey, are you eating my carrots?" 

Soobin giggled a little, his dimples making an appearance. Yeonjun glares at him, and Kai takes the opportunity to pull Taehyun along.

"See you, hyungs!"

.

"So, are you going to tell me or what?" Taehyun said when they reached the quieter part of the halls. The longer route, where fewer students used. The air was cold as it was aligned with currently vacant laboratories with doors wide open that belonged to the seniors. the lights flickered as if they were characters in a horror movie, and the metal lockers only added to the freezing temperature.

"H-Huh? Tell you what, hyung? I didn't even say anything," the youngest looks shocked like he was caught right-handed. he halts in his step and his shoulders tense. Oh, was it really that bad? Taehyun could see right through the boy's faux pas.

"You're calling me hyung, something is definitely up with you," Taehyun quirks his eyebrow curiously, "Come on, Kai ah, tell me what's up already,"

Kai- defeated- sighs and slumps his shoulders.

"You got me," He laughs nervously, "There's actually something I wanted to tell you about Beomgyu hyung.,"

Now that? that caught his interest. But he quickly reached up to the extremely tall boy and shut his mouth, both hands clasped on his mouth.

"Are you insane? He could hear you, you know?" 

"You didn't panic like this when Beomgyu was in the canteen not even ten feet away from us," Kai said simply.

In the school they attend, saying his name was like a curse, a death wish. They referred to him as Choi, usually. Taehyun doesn't know when or how did it start, but he remembers very vividly the first day he attended the school, he had heard that someone his age had been sent to a hospital because he fought with a blonde boy a year above him.

Beomgyu was blonde back then, and he was also a year above him. He was only held back a year now due to the fact that he wanted to change courses in the middle of the year. Taehyun and the other students will never know what drove the once talented, calm art prodigy to become violent and move classes.

"Don't worry so much, Hyunnie," Kai says. And finally, the kid calls him without the honorifics, "Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Tell me later," Taehyun replies promptly, "I'm going to be late, and I really want to get there before he does,"

Huening Kai nods sadly.