Forbidden Longings | Seulrene AU

Chapter XXVII (✓)

The tension in the mayor's office was thick as Seulgi, Seungwan, Moonbyul, and Joohyun settled into the office. Mr. Bae paced back and forth, his expression troubled. He paused and faced the trio, his gaze intense.

"So? What's with the silence now? Do any of you know where Bogum is?", Mr. Bae asked, his voice steady but firm.

The trio exchanged quick, guilty glances. Moonbyul finally spoke up, trying to sound nonchalant.

"We... might have forgotten about him in the old town's cellar.", Moonbyul quietly admitted and Mr. Bae's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You forgot about him? In a cellar?", Mr. Bae asked for clarification and they nodded.

"Look, he's alive and breathing. He's fine.", Seungwan interjected quickly, trying to calm Mr. Bae down.

"That's not the point.", Mr. Bae retorted, running a hand through his hair.

"Bogum's father— Mr. Park- came asking if I'd seen his son. I lied and said I had seen him around with his friends, but I had a feeling you three had something to do with his disappearance.", Mr. Bae added.

"We were a bit preoccupied. We had a lot on our plate.", Seulgi explained, frustration creeping into her voice and Mr. Bae sighed deeply.

"I understand that, but you need to do something about this before Mr. Park decides to take matters into his own hands. If he gets desperate, he could cause a lot of trouble.", Mr. Bae responded and they nodded in agreement.

"We'll handle it. Thank you for the heads-up.", Seulgi assured him and Mr. Bae gave a curt nod.

"Make sure you do. And quickly.", Mr. Bae suggested as the trio bowed.

The group left the mayor's office, their minds now racing with the new problem at hand. As they walked back to the car, Joohyun looked at Seulgi, concern etched on her face.

"What are we going to do?", Joohyun asked softly.

"Woah, there's no we. I'm taking you straight home.", Seulgi quickly said, making the older frown.

"This might get dangerous, and I don't want you getting hurt, Hyun.", Seulgi added Joohyun's eyes hardened with determination.

"I'm not leaving you, Seulgi. I want to help.", Joohyun repeated and Seulgi sighed, knowing it was useless to argue.

"Fine, but stay close to me, okay?", Seulgi requested and the older nodded before getting into the passenger's seat as the trio stayed outside. Seungwan and Moonbyul exchanged amused looks, and Seungwan couldn't resist teasing.

"Looks like Seulgi's completely whipped, huh?", Seungwan commented and Moonbyul chuckled.

"Yeah, Joohyun's got her wrapped around her finger.", Moonbyul added and swirled her finger around as Seulgi rolled her eyes, brushing off their teasing.

"Whatever. We can't risk Mr. Park getting suspicious and making things worse for us. Since we don't know how many werewolves there's left in town.", Seulgi replied, her voice determined and Seungwan sighed.