The Witness ➳ Taegyu

24. Atonement

The last time the police had such a confrontation with Black Reaper was when the boss died. Since then, neither group had sent that many members after each other. But today, nearly every cop in Seoul and over fifty members of Black Reaper, stood on either side of the tall fence surrounding the police staion.

Taeyong was standing directly in front of the main gate, the bars that would do nothing against a rain of bullets being the only thing separating him from Lee Seojun and his countless subordinates surrounding him.

"You're all highly intelligent," Seojun said. "You know that if you attack us at all, we can detonate that bomb easily."

"And you know that if you attack us, there's no way you're getting Taehyun back."

Seojun smiled and nodded. "Like I said, you're very smart for understanding that." He looked around the front yard of the station from what he could see, most of it being obscured by the actual fence. "Where's the chief? You're not him. I know he's older."

It was the only time Taeyong ever genuinely argued with the chief. The man killed Black Reaper's boss, so Taeyong didn't think it was wise for him to stand in front of Seojun like this. He was inside, trying to figure out why the hell Taehyun disappeared.

Yes, Taehyun disappeared.

On top of that, he was trying to figure out some sort of plan while Taeyong bought them time. What could make Black Reaper leave though? Seojun said they weren't playing any more games.

"What was Taehyun like in Black Reaper?" Taeyong asked. "Was he a loyal leader like he is here?"

"Yes, he was. He was a brat, but a good leader." His phone started ringing in the middle of their conversation and Seojun pulled it out, answering when he saw that Kami was calling him. "What?" He asked in irritation.

***

Beomgyu realized he could only hear what was going on if people were talking into their earpieces or walkie-talkies, so he sat on the bed in silence. Fear kept washing over him at what was going on outside, and he rested his face between his knees.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't calm down his racing heart. He couldn't calm down his fear that people were going to die. That they were going to take Taehyun. That they were going to come in here and take him as well.

His phone was ringing, but he couldn't bring his head up to look at it. He heard someone say on the speaker at some point that Taehyun had disappeared, but Black Reaper was still at their doorstep. Nothing could bring him out of the comfort of the ball he put himself into. Nothing could make him feel better now. Taehyun ran away and Black Reaper was still harassing them.

What was going on?

When his phone didn't stop ringing for what felt like forever, he picked it up without looking at the ID. "Hello?" He asked.

"Oh my God, you're okay."

His eyes widened. "Taehyun?!"

"Why didn't you pick up your phone?"

"Where are you? They said you left."

Taehyun didn't say anything for a second, but he let out a tiny, short-lived laugh. "Everything is okay. Black Reaper's gonna leave the station soon."

"No, they're not. They won't leave until you join them or some miracle happens."

"Beomgyu." He bit his lip while waiting for Taehyun to continue. "I'm at the Purple Café right now. One of the things I never told Chief Kim was Kami's phone number. Luckily, she still has the same one. I just got off the phone with her."

"But why? Why did you call her?" Beomgyu's voice broke.

"The commanders of Black Reaper have something called "The No Harm List". Anyone on that list is to not be harmed, and if they are, the person who did it will be executed. It's all I can do. Everyone except for the chief of police of any city can be put on it. You, Rosé, Taeyong, Soobin, Yeonjun, Kai, and your mom. Everyone will be put on it."

Beomgyu tried to deny it. He tried to think of any other explanation for what Taehyun was saying. "You can still put people on that list, even though you're not the commander anymore?"

Taehyun smiled, wishing that Beomgyu could see it. "No, Beomgyu. I can when I become the commander agai-"

"No! Why would you do that?!" He nearly screamed, catching Taehyun off guard. "You're gonna hurt people again! Is that what you want?! Stop! You're a cop now! I thought you changed!" He meant for his words to hurt so Taehyun would stop, but saying them made himself upset. "You don't have to keep them safe! It's not your responsibility! And I'll move back to Daegu to get away from you! But don't do this!"

"Calm down," Taehyun said in a soothing voice, doing nothing to calm Beomgyu's racing mind. "There are many reasons why I'm doing this. Not only will you be safe, but you'll be able to live like an ordinary person. You'll be able to graduate once Chief Kim sets everything up for you again. Everyone else will be okay too. Those aren't the only reasons I'm doing it though. I'll he able to tear them apart, slowly but surely. From the inside, out. It will take a lot of time, but I'll do it."

Beomgyu whimpered and held his hand against his eyes. "But even if you do it, you'll be prosecuted afterwards if you don't die. Don't give up everything just for this."

""Just for this"?" Taehyun asked. "This is something that I should have done a long time ago. Were not getting anywhere by fighting them from the outside." He sighed. "Making you happy made me believe that it was okay. That I had done good to make up for everything I've done. But Beomgyu, you'll never understand, and that's okay. I have not atoned for my past mistakes. Even if I didn't want to do those things, I still did them. Do you think the families of those people would forgive me just because I said I didn't want to do it?"

Taehyun was right, and that just made Beomgyu start sobbing a little bit harder. "You're gonna go back and just kill more people," he said in a shaky, nearly incomprehensible voice. "Is that your idea of atonement? Going to help the enemy right now just to destroy them in the end?"

"Yes." Beomgyu's eyes widened. "But I won't hurt anyone. That's one of the conditions I gave Kami when I called her, and she accepted it. They're gonna be here soon to pick me up. Beomgyu, can you do something for me?"

Knowing that he wasn't going to change his mind, Beomgyu sniffled and nodded. "Yeah, I can."

"Tell Chief Kim and my fellow captains why I did this. After everything is fixed and you get your degree, go get your PhD. I care about you probably more than almost anyone else at this point, but for your own sake, I hope to God that our paths don't cross again. Because that means that I failed and you somehow got involved with Black Reaper again. Live a life you can be proud of, Beomgyu, and know that I'll be rooting for you the entire time."

Beomgyu cried and cried, hearing the sound of people talking around Taehyun, and the boy asking them to wait a minute. He knew Taehyun wanted him to say something, but he couldn't, feeling himself start to hyperventilate. "I-I can't. I can't!"

"Take a deep breath. You're okay," Taehyun continued whispering words similar to that, and Beomgyu tried his best to do as he said, closing in on himself as his eyes squeezed shut. "Beomgyu."

"Yeah?" He finally got out, taking shaky, but increasingly slow breaths.

"Thank you."

And the line went dead.

₊ ⊹ ‧⨯ .⁺

A/N: So how are we feeling?

When I said to just wait for the bad angst, this is what I meant.

Give me like a day or two to structure everything and I shall be back.

I'm also just leaving it on a cliffhanger for a bit so I can work on Excalibur. Love you! 🥰