The Witness ➳ Taegyu

7. Friends and Strangers

*The next day*

The next day at school went better than the first. Beomgyu ate cocoa puffs, went to his classes with Taehyun, and went to eat lunch with him again. This time, Taehyun went with him to sit with his friends.

"How do you know Beomgyu?" Taehyun asked, unbothered by their shock at the multitude of empty slushy cups in front of him.

Now they were slushies, Beomgyu thought.

"We've gone to school with him for a few years, Captain," Kai said. Beomgyu couldn't tell if he was nervous to be talking to a police captain, or if he was trying not to laugh at Taehyun's personality. It was probably a mixture of both.

Maybe he was nervous to laugh at his personality.

Captain Kang is the name he gave them. Since it was a very common surname, Taehyun said it was okay for it to be given out. It was also okay that these three knew he was a captain, but it shouldn't just be blurted out for everyone to hear.

The people in the food court were thankfully too distracted by their conversations or homework to listen to them.

"Do you have classes together?"

"We have had some together over the years. We all just kind of met up in this food court in our first year and started talking," Soobin informed him. "We're all very close."

Taehyun nodded in understanding before beginning another drink and Beomgyu smiled. He was very glad that the questioning was finally happening. Maybe now, his friends could come over.

After talking about more personal stuff with them, Beomgyu had a couple of hours until his last class, since his next one would have been with Mrs. Park.

"Am I gonna be able to hang out with them now?" Beomgyu asked while sitting on a bench outside with him.

"Perhaps. I'll have to be there though."

Beomgyu sighed. "Of course. It's basically your house after all."

Taehyun stared at him in confusion. "They're not coming to the house."

"Huh?!" Beomgyu nearly yelled. "I thought that was the whole point."

"Do you think it's smart for anyone who isn't a trusted cop to know where our witnesses are being held?"

He slumped since he understood Taehyun's point, but it was still annoying that they had to be so careful. He understood completely. Especially now that he's been threatened directly, he needed to be protected at all costs. Besides, he couldn't get angry with Taehyun for the way he was protecting him.

He was protecting him.

Beomgyu shouldn't have been anything but thankful, and he truly was. He would just have to get used to the over the top level of protection.

Maybe the reason he was so pressed about it was because it brought back memories of his childhood, but when he thought about that, he realized that he was actually being protected from something now. Back then, his parents were just helicopter parenting. Now, he really was in danger.

"How about we skip your last two classes and drive around the city?" Taehyun asked out of the blue, taking Beomgyu by surprise. "You have permission to not go to them."

"I want to though." A faint pout was on Taehyun's face and he smiled. "Why don't we go afterwards?"

"There are a lot of things I want to do today."

He seemed like he was gonna start begging at any second and Beomgyu sighed. "Sure. Let's go."

***

Beomgyu didn't understand. If Taehyun didn't know how to skate, and if Beomgyu told him he didn't know how to either, then why did the cop insist that they go to an indoor ice rink?

The question was a valid one that had been running through his mind since they stepped inside the building, but it was quickly overshadowed by the events currently unfolding.

Taehyun had fallen multiple times while attempting to start skating, and Beomgyu was hanging onto the boards, nearly falling over from laughing so hard. Eventually, Taehyun started laughing too, and they both held on for dear life while wheezing hysterically.

"Oh God," Beomgyu said while out of breath. "Oh, this is hilarious." Agreeing, Taehyun took a deep breath to calm down, but giggles were still there.

They ended up going back to sit down with bruised knees and they both got a few things to eat. There ended up being a lot more laughter than they expected today, but Taehyun didn't mind the pain in his chest from it. He was just trying to make Beomgyu happy with everything going on, and sacrificing his knees for it was just a small price to pay.

"Do you guys want us to teach you how to skate?" A girl asked, walking over with a few others. "We saw you failing and thought it was endearing, but we can actually help if you want."

Beomgyu looked at him for an answer, seemingly wanting to go with them, and Taehyun just waved him off. "I'm beat for now. You can go."

"Are you sure?" Taehyun nodded and Beomgyu stood up. "Okay. If you want to later, I can show you how to do it after they show me then." He laughed and walked away with the girls to put his skates back on, and Taehyun moved all of his snacks to a table near the boards to watch him.

It probably looked weird. He was wearing his usual disguise and just staring at one person skating. He couldn't bring himself to really care though. He brought Beomgyu here to have fun, but he had to protect him while doing so, even if he looked suspicious.

"Are you watching anyone in particular?" Someone asked, sitting across from him at the small table. "You seem very focused."

He looked at her and his mouth opened slightly for a moment before he spoke. "Yes. I'm watching my friend." His voice lowered an octave and he looked back at Beomgyu who was now taking small steps without falling.

"Your friend? You seem to be watching this friend very closely. Are you not more than that?"

Taehyun's eyes narrowed as she spoke. "We're not. We're just friends. And I think you should mind your own business."

She didn't look affected by his words at all, only smiling. "You're a cop, aren't you? And the person you're watching is a witness. You're not as secretive as you think."

His glare turned into a cheeky grin and he clasped his hands together. "Great! You caught me! What will you do now?"

She just stood up and bowed. "Nothing actually. Have a nice day Sir." And then, she left. Just like that.