𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | 𝐚 𝐭𝐱𝐭 × 𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

fifteen - the bell tower

the bell tower

"huh? rice?"

lia followed the trail of grains fro and back and concluded, "it was that boy." she pointed to the direction wherein he had disappeared and to the spot he fell. "he fell here and there are more grains."

ryujin and yeji inspected her claims.

"you're right."

"but why does he have rice in school?"

"'dunno," said ryujin.

unfortunately, the bell chiming for the continuation of their academics shortlived their curiosity as they parted with short, friendly 'byes' and 'see ya'.

lia sat down with a smile, and the teacher entered not long after asking where soobin and yeonjun were to which one of the boys got up with a note of absence the boys had asked him to deliver for them.

and lia was snapped back to seriousness; concerned with what sort of situation the boys had encountered to submit a note of absence.

i just hope they aren't in any danger.

a futile prayer, as across the yard and in the bell tower, a frantic yeonjun and soobin were trying their best to pry off the wooden cupboard that had knocked down beomgyu.

"hey! choi beomgyu, wake up!" yeonjun kicked the guy given that his hands were busy.

"nnngh." beomgyu groaned, face creased into a painful expression.

then soobin realised that his left arm looked odd. and since he was standing in the left, he gave his arm a little nudge. just as he suspected, beomgyu winced and shot open his eyes immediately.

"ack!" he yelped when he tried to sit up, his feet were still under the cupboard.

"we're gonna try to lift it so pull it out slowly, kay? it's not broken, is it?"

beomgyu shook his head, the rim of his eyes reddening.

slowly, but surely, they managed to pry off the boy from the trap. "hey. who did you even get under there?" asked yeonjun the moment the boy was at a safe distance.

beomgyu shook his head, scowling at the numbing pain on his arm. "there was a wavering silhouette at the edge of the tower when the bell tolled so i rushed here when that," he pointed at the cupboard, "fell on me."

soobin looked at the thing, then furrowed his eyebrows and said, "someone deliberately placed the cupboard here."

"what?!" the other two turned their heads at him.

then yeonjun glanced at the cupboard and he replied, "he's right. there was never a cupboard here."

beomgyu looked puzzled. he had been to the bell tower less than the other two so he couldn't have remembered everything that had or hadn't been here so he didn't argue when the other two talked about the strange cupboard. it also looked like they were right seeing as the ground where the cupboard was placed would be spotless, hidden from exposure but that wasn't the case.

"so, someone is trying to harm me?" it was all that beomgyu made sense of.

"yes. first, let's check the tower. beomgyu, you should head to the nurse's office."

"no, hyung. i wanna come too."

"b-" yeonjun surrendered. they didn't have time.

"fine," he grunted and they ran up the stairs, well, yeonjun did while soobin slowed down every now and then to check on beomgyu.

"there's no one here," was the first thing yeonjun said when they reached the top of the tower.

"it was a girl's silhouette with long hair," explained beomgyu, face pale.

upon seeing his state, yeonjun regretted rushing here. "forget about it. first, we need to patch you up." saying so, he squatted down and said to the latter, "hop on."

but beomgyu flatly denied, "no. the last time you carried me, you dropped me and i broke my ankle. soobin-hyung, help me."

yeonjun clicked his tongue. "suit yourself, you heavy idiot."

soobin reluctantly lent his back for the injured boy. first of all, beomgyu was darn heavy. he was skinny but that didn't mean he had hollow bones and slices of muscles. the boy ate well so while his physical appearance didn't give away anything, soobin almost went weak on the knees.

"it could be a foreshadowing or a warning. or both," said yeonjun as they hurried to the medical room.

"i vouch for both. it felt too real just to be a dream. i still remember the silhouette, the length of her hair and her height so i'll be sure to keep an eye out," responded beomgyu.

"d-don't move," grunted soobin, sweat rolling down his temple. his steps were fast, rushing to set down the boy or he felt his legs would give out.

when they reached the nurse's office, beomgyu came down on the bed roughly. "ow!" he yowled, one hand immediately rubbing his bum. "thank you very much!"

"shut up." soobin bit back, exhausted.

yeonjun was already hovering next to the window. "we can see the tower clearly here. gyu, sleep here and keep an eye out will ya?" he pointed at the bed closest to the window.

"where are you guys going?" despite their former squabble, soobin readily lent a hand when beomgyu tried to switch to the bed yeonjun had pointed out.

"i have to get to the clubroom. oh. the nurse is here. see ya." yeonjun rushed out after having said his share.

"choi beomgyu, what's wrong with you?" the nurse walked over to beomgyu.

"he twisted his ankle. miss, please take care of him. I have to go somewhere," said soobin already half-way across the room.

"wait! you too?" beomgyu yelled after him but soobin had already left. "hyung!"