The Witness ➳ Taegyu

29. The No Harm List

*A few days after we last saw Beomgyu*

Date: May 20th

"Why do you wanna work somewhere close to where Kami abducted you?" Taeyong asked, parking in the lot of the Purple Café.

It was where Beomgyu was on his way to meet Soobin when he was abducted. It was also where Taehyun went to be picked up by Black Reaper. Just like the other coffeehouse, they were looking for work immediately. But unlike the coffeehouse, they actually hired him.

"They hired me. Thats why."

"Why'd you even apply here in the first place?"

Beomgyu grabbed his things and huffed at the question. "This place has memories. That's why." He dropped the attitude for a moment and gave Taeyong a sweet smile. "Thanks for the ride. I can take the bus home."

***

"Well, what do you think I should eat, genius?" Kai asked.

"If you're so opposed to my opinions, why don't you go eat with your boyfriend?" Soobin snapped back at him, leading both boys to fall into laughter.

They were eating at a restaurant in an outdoor shopping mall and Soobin was basically annihilating everything on the menu for being too unhealthy.

Kai just got out of the hospital for a kidney stone.

"He's busy with his fricking internships. Besides, I like hanging out with you when you're not being a nuisance!"

"I'm sorry for caring about you and your kidneys!"

Everyone around stared at them and they both apologized profusely for causing a scene, even if their argument was just a joke.

They finally ordered and talked about their friends while they waited for their food. Yeonjun seemed very happy to be shadowing detectives, and Beomgyu seemed to be okay now. After Taehyun disappeared, he was very off. For the past few days though, he seemed to better and even had a job.

Multiple people suddenly started coughing and they both looked in the direction, seeing that teargas had been thrown into the building. "What the hell?!" Kai yelled. Soobin instinctively stood up to try to look for an exit, but only got caught in the gas while trying to do so. "Hyung!" Kai ran over to hug him and they both started coughing, squeezing their eyes shut from the pain of it.

"The leader of a crime organization known as "Necromancy" is here. Where is he?" Someone asked. When the coughing continued, he scoffed. "We'll gun you all down if nobody comes forward. Tear gas doesn't mess with your ears, you know."

Soobin was about to charge at the man who had entered through the front door, being able to see him when the fog started to dissipate. Kai held him back though after seeing through the window that on the street were a line of people with guns.

"No one's gonna talk? Fine." He turned around to give a thumbs up through the door, and Soobin started yelling at him.

Just as the they both feared the worst, a loud voice was heard.

"Hold your fire!" The two of them looked out the window and saw someone dressed in a suit, with a black cape around his neck snd his gloved hand outstretched towards the gunmen.

"But sir-" the man inside the building protested.

"There are people in there on the "No Harm List". Harm them, and I'll kill you myself."

"Sorry Sir." He hurriedly walked out and Soobin made eye contact with the man who was speaking.

His voice sounded so familiar. His height, his mouth, his jawline, everything was so familiar. The man just looked at him with much softer eyes than before, and Soobin was utterly confused.

"Someone call the police!"

Everyone was yelling, and the two friends just watched the man walk away with every person who was threatening them walking behind him.

***

"Multiple eye witnesses all heard him say it. Two of those witnesses are Beomgyu's friends, Soobin and Kai," Rosé said, coming back from questioning rooms to talk to Chief Kim and Taeyong. "Two of the people Beomgyu said Taehyun would put on the list."

"It's safe to assume that Taehyun was the man who was there, but we can't know for sure. It could have been him or Seojun. Even if it was Seojun, he would have stopped his men from shooting everyone in that building if he knew that people on the list were there." Taeyong sighed in relief. "No matter who was there, this means that Taehyun was right. We're on that list."

"Except for Chief Kim," Rosé complained. "What kind of rule is that?"

"It's fine. As long as he can do what he can to protect you both, it's fine. I don't need to be on it."

They both looked at their boss who, to anyone else, seemed way to calm about what Taehyun had done. But both of them knew how heartbroken he was. After everything he's done for Taehyun, for the boy to go off to handle everything without him hurt him deeply. Not only that, but there was no way Taehyun was gonna be able to fool Kami and Seojun without actually acting like a commander.

He was probably hurting people, and that thought alone has made the chief cry a few times already.

"Will Taehyun be arrested after all this?" Rosé asked out of the blue.

Nobody really knew if he would be. If magically, Black Reaper was destroyed and Taehyun came out alive, would he be sentenced because of his past and his return to the group? Or would people be able to see the logic in his story and why he went back there?

"Most likely," Chief Kim answered, knowing how the justice system worked nowadays. "His punishment probably won't be extreme, but he's not gonna be free for a while."

That night, Taeyong got home and saw Beomgyu sitting on the couch, watching some horror movie. "How was your first day?" He asked while taking off his jacket and shoes.

Beomgyu perked up above the back of the couch. "It was great. My coworkers are really nice. We did get pretty busy at some point though and I screwed up a few orders." He awkwardly laughed and Taeyong sat next to him on the couch.

"Sounds fun."

"How was work for you?"

The Chief told him he could tell Beomgyu about what happened with his friends and Black Reaper, so he did. It ended with Beomgyu frantically calling his friends to make sure they were okay and nearly crying in joy when they were.

"It's confirmed that we're all on it. That's what matters," Taeyong said to try to soothe his mood.

"There was almost a shooting there though. If Taehyun didn't stop them from shooting, my friends and a lot of other people could have died. It was Taehyun, right?"

"We don't know for sure. We think it was." He stood up to go to his room, exhausted, and turned to face Beomgyu once more. "We're all alive. That's what really matters. Don't let fear hurt you, okay?" Beomgyu nodded softly. "Good night."

"Good night."