Caught || The Boyz

~ 4 ~

Seungyoun searched through countless new articles of the book Dasom had told him about, but he annoyingly couldn't find any spoilers for it. Either the fans were very careful about posting spoilers and ruining the experience for new readers, or all spoilers had been taken down. He couldn't quite figure it out.  

There was a common thread though. 

All of the brief summaries mentioned something darker, something mysterious. It said that the boys seemed nice at first as they romanced the main character, but there was something darker in them. 

It made him worried. 

He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that they came out of a book. His mind couldn't believe it. Logically, he knew it was impossible. 

But their names were the same. They looked the same as the boys on the cover picture. And his heart was telling him something else. Deep down, he knew Dasom was right. Somehow, they'd exited their book. 

And now he had to figure out how to get them back in. 

"Are you reading it? I just started and I absolutely love it!" 

He looked up at the sound of an eager and excited female voice, recognizing her as the office intern, Lee Eunha. She was holding two cups of coffee. 

"Are one of those mine?" he asked. She nodded, not taking her eyes off of the screen as she read the summary he had pulled up. He sighed, taking the cup from her hand. "Go away," he told her, wanting to get back to researching. He'd rushed through all his work that day because he wanted to research this case, a case that he couldn't tell anyone about. 

"I've heard so many good things about it," she told him excitedly, apparently having not heard him. "If you're reading it, we can be reading buddies! What part-" 

"No," he snapped, losing his patience. "Just leave me alone and go back to your work." 

Her face fell, and he couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt. 

"Sorry," she said, bowing to him and hurrying away. 

He sighed, turning off the computer and grabbing his stuff. He had other things to worry about besides Eunha's feelings. He was worried about Dasom. He didn't trust the boys from the book, especially not when he could find any real information about their characters. 

All he knew was that they weren't as they seemed, and that scared him. 

As he walked home, he was so deep in thought that it took him a while to realize he was being followed. He saw the person's shadow behind him, and when he slowed down, they did too. When he sped up, so did the person behind him. His heartbeat sped up, wondering if the characters were onto him, angry at his suspicions, and were out to get him. 

He pushed the thought away. That couldn't be it. 

Seungyoun started running, then sharply turned a corner and reached out just in time, grabbing the person who'd been following him. His hand covering their mouth, he turned the person around... 

To find Eunha. 

"You again?" he asked, sighing as he dropped his hand from her mouth. 

She looked sheepish and awkwardly stared at the floor. "Um... sorry for scaring you," she muttered. 

"Why'd you follow me?" 

"I wanted to say sorry again," she said, looking up at him with a half-smile. "I'm really sorry for disturbing you while you were working. I should have just given you your coffee and left without saying anything, but I made a mistake," she said. "Sorry. It won't happen again. I hope you're not too mad at me or anything-" 

"I'm not mad," he assured her quickly, something about her sweet and sincere apology melting his heart a little. He realized that she was the only person his age in the office, and suddenly remembered that she only became an intern a few weeks ago. Random memories came flashing back, like how he'd see her eating lunch alone, or awkwardly trying to strike conversations with the older workers, only to be pushed away. 

"Since we're around the same age, I guess we should be friends anyway," he said, shrugging his shoulders. 

"Really?!" she exclaimed, looking up at him excitedly. "Do you mean it?" 

Seungyoun laughed at her excitement and nodded. "Yeah, of course, I mean it." 

Eunha grinned up at him. "I'm glad. You're my first friend at the office," she said brightly, but her happy expression changed as her eyes focused on something behind him. She grabbed his arm, holding on tight. "Oh my god," she whispered. "No way. It's him." 

"It's who?" he asked, turning around, following her gaze. 

"He looks just like the guy from the book. Sangyeon."