The Witness ➳ Taegyu

35. Nightmare

A/N: Hello 🙂.

*Same day*

Date: June 2nd

Hyunjin got out of his car and walked up to the door of Black Reaper's shooting range nervously. Like headquarters, it was disguised as a normal company, but it was owned by members of Black Reaper.

There were ordinary people there, which would have made it hard to find a member of his group. That is, if this specific member wasn't a commander and wasn't wearing his flashy uniform in public. Hyunjin guessed that it was his right as a commander, but still. Members of Black Reaper were always told not to stand out in public.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked, walking over to Taehyun who was staring calmly at the window. The window that showed them people who were shooting. Some who were training to be members of Black Reaper, and some who might have been training in self defense in case they came across someone like a member of Black Reaper.

Thoughts like that put a bad taste in Hyunjin's mouth.

"Would being my right hand man be a valuable reward to you? You know the perks of it, don't you?"

The commander's right hand? It meant that he would get paid a lot more and hold a lot of respect within the group. Or course it was valuable. There was just one confusing thing about it.

"I'm not under you though."

"I've already talked to Seojun about it. He said you're very intelligent. He just has people that he is closer to who make up his main squad. Besides, he said you've never killed anybody. If that's a virtue that you have, wouldn't it be better to not be working under the executioner?"

Hyunjin frowned. "He knows I don't kill anyone? He's never really acknowledged me though."

"It's on a record that no one has ever seen you kill anyone." He sighed and adjusted the collar of his cape. "I'll give you time to think about it. I just wanted to ask you because you helped me out. You don't have to-"

"I will!" His eyes widened and he bowed. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I raised my voice."

Taehyun just smiled softly and shut his eyes. "You don't need to apologize to me. I'm just glad you agreed to joining me. Would you like to get some coffee?" Hyunjin looked out the window at the parking lot and Taehyun waved his hand. "We can take my car. I'll have someone pick up your car later. Is that alright?"

"Yeah." He smiled and bowed slightly. "Yeah, it is."

***

Hyunjin was confused as to why they drove so far to get to the "Purple Cafe", but he decided not to question it. Taehyun was very set in driving across town from the shooting range to get to it, and he didn't really wanna question why.

As we all know though, it's where multiple important events happened.

There weren't many people inside when they entered, which Hyunjin was glad about since Taehyun was wearing his flashy uniform. Something besides that was on Taehyun's mind though. The girl behind the counter was the one he saved from his own ally just over a week ago. She looked to be doing better, and she didn't seem to recognize him. Maybe it was the darkness and her traumatizing night that made her not focus on him of all people.

They both gave her their orders and waited while she made them.
"Have a nice day, Yuna," Taehyun said after reading her name tag.

They smiled at each other and Hyunjin also said "bye" to her before they walked out.

A couple minutes later, Beomgyu walked in and went behind the counter to get his check. "I'll be back soon," he said, gesturing towards his arm and chuckling sadly. "Has it been dead?"

"For the most part. A couple regulars are here, and we just had a couple new customers." She leaned against the counter and grabbed the credit card slip Taehyun signed. "They left a fat tip too."

"Of course it's a day I'm not here," he playfully scoffed and opened his check.

Yuna continued working, but her curiosity peaked when she saw Beomgyu's arm again. "What happened?"

Beomgyu was in the middle of eating a muffin and stared at her mid-bite. "Um..." he swallowed it and laughed a bit. "I fell from a little height. No big deal."

It was a big deal.

Considering his friends already knew about Taehyun and Black Reaper, he didn't think the police would want someone else knowing too, especially because she wasn't on the list and had really no connection to Black Reaper. Except... his eyes widened when he remembered what happened to her and the possibility that it was Taehyun who saved her.

No. He couldn't tell her anything without permission.

A customer walked in and ordered multiple things, and when Beomgyu heard that the total was fourteen something, he thought about fourteen. If Taehyun's killed more people since he joined Black Reaper, has the number gone up? When he got back, would it be a new number that triggered him?

*Later that night*

How could this have happened?

Taehyun jumped in front of him to save his life and took the bullet instead. Beomgyu looked down at his body with tears in his eyes and started screaming. He heard the faint sound of his name being called, but he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to it.

Until finally, he sat up abruptly and breathed heavily while looking around his lit-up bedroom. At his side was Taeyong who was calling his name to wake him up.

"T-Taehyun's in trouble," he said, stumbling out of bed and heading for the door.

"Wait, what?" He stood up and walked after him. "What do you mean?"

"He got shot. He got shot... trying to... protect me." He stopped when he realized it was a nightmare and sighed. "Nevermind." He went back to his bed.

"What was he protecting you from?"

"Why does that matter?" He sat on the edge of it and saw that Taeyong was looking at him with a straight face. "...I think they were other members of Black Reaper."

Taeyong held his finger to his chin and looked at the floor. "Interesting. Maybe it's your brain trying to cope with the fact that he's with them now. It's trying to believe that he's still on your side and not theirs. You were crying. Was it that sad?" Beomgyu nodded. "I see. If you need me at all, you know where to find me. Don't hesitate to ask for help."

Stupid, kind Taeyong. Beomgyu groaned and laid back down under his blanket to try to fall back asleep. He doesn't remember having a nightmare in so long, so it was weird to have one at such a random time. And something like that?

What would Taehyun think if he knew Beomgyu was imagining him dying? Actually, Beomgyu didn't really have to worry about that, he realized. Taehyun's level of emotional intelligence was astounding for someone who grew up in Black Reaper. He would probably completely understand why Beomgyu had that nightmare and try to comfort him as best as possible.

Thinking about all that just made Beomgyu miss him more that night and he would have had a mental breakdown if he wasn't tired enough to fall asleep immediately.