The Witness ➳ Taegyu

8. The Number 14

A/N: Y'all are not ready for what I have planned for this story.

*Same day*

After skating, they went grocery shopping. "Next time we go skating, I'll be a lot better than you. That's a promise," Taehyun said in the car after the shopping trip.

"I doubt it. I already know how to do it now while you don't." He looked over at Taehyun who was just contently staring at the dashboard. "Who was that woman you were talking to?"

Beomgyu saw him?

Shrugging, Taehyun turned the car on. "I don't know. She just walked over to talk to me about hockey. No big deal." Beomgyu accepted that answer and Taehyun internally sighed in relief before driving away. "Do you wanna go to a park?"

It was a random idea, but Beomgyu nodded and they drove to one nearby. It was almost completely empty since it was a little cold out. Beomgyu hurried over to the swings and sat on one, waiting for Taehyun to do the same.

"Why did you want to come here?" He asked. "Is there any particular reason?"

"Just to get some fresh air while we talked." He looked at the few kids who were playing on the equipment. "I wanted to ask about your parents. What are they like?"

Beomgyu huffed and looked at the ground, making Taehyun giggle. "They live in Daegu." His eyes widened. "I never told you, but my father is a police officer too."

"Really? I'm kind of surprised you didn't tell me before. Does he like his job?"

He nodded. "I think so, yeah. He always came home late, but he would come home happy. I think that he liked it."

Seeing that Beomgyu didn't mind talking about it, Taehyun stared at him for a moment before asking, "did he ever bring you to the station?"

"No." Beomgyu let out an angry-sounding chuckle, but he had a smile on his face. "No. He would never have done something like that. My parents were insanely overprotective. They always have been. I would still be locked away in the confinement of my house on the weekends if I wasn't an adult." His smile faded and he sighed. "I went to a private school near where I lived. It's where my mom teaches to this day. Seeing the freedom others had was disheartening."

They sat in silence for a while after he explained it, but he wasn't nervous about the silence. He knew Taehyun was just processing what he said. "Your parents abused you? I can get them in trouble if you want-"

"No, no. They didn't actually lock me away. I just wasn't allowed to leave on the weekends. I've never gone to a party, not even in college. They never interested me anyway though." He realized there was a lot he didn't know about Taehyun still. "What are your parents like?"

Taehyun just smiled like usual and took out his phone. "Oh, I got a text from Taeyong. He said he needs me down at the station in a couple hours. Anyway, where were we?"

It didn't take long into the week until Beomgyu realized how overworked Taehyun was. Not only was he protecting him constantly, but he went down to the station every day. He remembered the first time they met and Taehyun said that it was his first day off in two weeks. He had to go into work that day and meet Beomgyu. Since then, he's been working every day as well.

"I asked you about your parents."

"Right." He stood up and Beomgyu followed him to a fountain a few minutes away that was being occupied by more people, confused as to why Taehyun didn't say anything else. "Do you want something to eat?" He asked, walking up to a concession stand.

Beomgyu looked up at the menu and shrugged before muttering "popcorn". They ate lunch at the school and then at the ice rink. He supposed it was just Taehyun's weird appetite and went along with it, deciding he could just eat it later if not now.