The Witness ➳ Taegyu

25. It's Up to Him Now

A/N: I planned it out a little bit faster than expected 🤫.

"No! He only did it because he cares about us! If he didn't, he wouldn't be putting himself through Hell again!"

"I know that, Beomgyu. But the other people in leadership positions in Seoul won't listen to that excuse-"

"It doesn't matter what they think!" Beomgyu caught his breath while crying. "It isn't fair! He's trying to destroy Black Reaper and protect us! He shouldn't be a criminal in anyone's eyes!"

Before Chief Kim could reply to him, there was a knock at the door, and he gave them permission to enter. "Is everything alright?" Rosé asked. "We heard yelling." It had only been around half an hour since Taehyun left, and while the other two were both done crying, her eyes were still bloodshot.

"We're fine," the chief said. "We're having a disagreement is all. There's nothing I can do if Taehyun is arrested. Actually, the fact that I've helped him these past few years doesn't do anything to help my case either." He looked down at his desk and sighed. "Beomgyu, I care about him. I really do. But he went back there knowing that nothing will be the same if he comes back. That's a sacrifice that I always suspected he would make someday. Did I think he would do it so soon? No. But he dedicated himself to protecting the citizens of Seoul to make up for his past. This is the way he's going to do it, and we have to accept it."

Beomgyu just got increasingly upset at his words and Rosé gently grabbed his hand to lead him out. "I don't understand," he said in frustration while after finding his footing. "How is he not that upset about it? If he really cares tha much about Taehyun, then he should be doing more."

He was upset. Very upset. Rosé didn't want to argue with the words of someone whose mental state was probably shot at this point, but she wanted to give him closure. "Beomgyu..." he looked over at her and they stopped walking. "Chief Kim didn't want Taehyun to leave. That's why we were protecting the station so much. Because there was no way he would give up Taehyun. However, he left on his own and he has his own plans. Whatever they are, we have to accept it and trust that he'll still be one of the good guys, even if he is in Black Reaper. The chief knows this. If he isn't that upset about it, it could be because he still has hope for Taehyun."

Beomgyu didn't even think about the possibility that Taehyun could go back to being a bad guy. He mentioned it on their phone call to try to get Taehyun to change his mind, but the idea that the kind soul could go back to having the heart of a Black Reaper commander made Beomgyu tear up again. Reading Seojun's letter and talking to Kami face to face let him know just how cruel the commanders were. If Taehyun ended up like that while trying to still be one of the good guys...

Rosé noticed that he was about to cry again and tried to get him out of his thoughts, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. When they were in the hotel room, Taehyun told him that the luxurious life he lived, with servants and his subordinates becking to his every call, did nothing to bring him joy, or soothe his heart from the reality that he was a monster. He was born, trained, and groomed into becoming something that he didn't ever want to become again.

When telling Beomgyu that, Taehyun smiled. He smiled because he felt that the monster inside of him was gone. He didn't have to fight the side of justice anymore and was now doing everything he could to enforce it. He could also just be happy.

Without saying a word to a panicking Rosé, he pulled his phone from his pocket and clicked on Taehyun's contact to call it. He did it multiple times after the man hung up, but one more time couldn't hurt.

"Pick up the phone!" He screamed as the tears started falling again, and Rosé immediately hugged him when he nearly collapsed against the wall behind him.

Even if it was just to protect them and destroy Black Reaper, Taehyun didn't wanna go back at all. Beomgyu knew that. He felt like something was squeezing his heart as he thought about just how much pain Taehyun was gonna go through. The sympathy he felt for Taehyun and his pain was the cause of him breaking down in the arms of Taehyun's best friend.

Taehyun was just a cop, and Beomgyu was just a witness.

That was bullshit.

Taehyun was his best friend, and someone who for just one night, felt like more than that.

"He can't go back there!" He cried. "He hates it there! Even if he doesn't kill anyone this time, he's still gonna be an accessory! We can't let him go back! It's gonna break him!"

"Beomgyu, there's nothing we can do-"

"We have to try! Let's just go there ourselves and do it!" He pushed past her to go towards the nearest exit and she held him back by his arms.

"Beomgyu, we can't do anything."

"Yes we can!"

"No, we can't," she said in a much calmer voice, and he finally turned to look at her, still panting, but with a defeated expression on his face. "Taehyun was our main force against Black Reaper. We didn't know that until recently, but Chief Kim did. Taehyun and the chief were always working against Black Reaper in secret. Now that Taehyun's gone, our chance of being able to do anything has slimmed down a lot." She gently grabbed his hand and bit her lip. "It's up to him now."

As he took her words in, Beomgyu fell to his knees and stared at the floor. They really were nothing against that group without Taehyun. He knew everything. How to fight them, where some of their buildings were located, and how they left their mark at organized executions. He's been telling the chief everything all along, but now, he's not here to give them information at all.

"What do we do?" He asked in a broken voice.

Rosé just kneeled down and gently held his face in her hands. "We do what he asked us to do. He asked you to get your PhD and live a peaceful life you can be proud of, right? Just do as he asks. That way, what he's doing won't be in vain."

***

After finally calming down, Beomgyu ate in the main room with the two captains. A smile on his face couldn't be seen for miles, and he kept picking at his food, only actually eating every time Taeyong scolded him about it.

His mind continued racing, and he had to hold back the urge to cry over and over again. Every time he thought about it, he had to work his brain to something else so he wouldn't cry again. He was so exhausted from the multiple breakdowns earlier that he knew crying wasn't the answer anymore.

Anyone could tell that the captains were trying to get their minds off of it. Beomgyu stared blankly at Taehyun's desk in front of them while the two of them talked about their own cases with each other for hours. He didn't know why he didn't take a nap, go on his phone, anything. He just listened to them.

He didn't even realize what was happening until they were both grabbing their bags and everything else, and he watched them get ready to go home.

Home.

He didn't have a dorm to go back to, and his friends were all with their parents for the summer, even though they lived in Seoul. His mom was upset with him, and Taehyun wanted him to be happy, so going back to Daegu was the last thing he wanted to do. Even if he could potentially still stay in the safe house if he wasn't in witness protection anymore, going back to the huge house that was only empty because Taehyun was gone...

There it was. Tears were brimming in his eyes when he realized he didn't have anywhere to go, and the captains both turned around from where they were at the door to say goodbye to him.

But they both just became concerned when he started sobbing.