long chapter!!!!!

This hadn't been the plan. Being stranded by a deserted bus stop at one o'clock in the morning hadn't been a part of Beomgyu's plan at all, but that's what had happened anyway.

He'd gone out from campus for just a day, one day, because his (annoyingly handsome) roommate, Choi Yeonjun, had told him that he looked stressed out with assignment work. In fact, his roommate had insisted on it, and had ushered Beomgyu out of their shared room, telling him to enjoy himself for a change, and leaving Beomgyu with no choice but to do as he was told. That and he really really hadn't wanted to sit at his desk and bully his poor brain into studying for the millionth time that week.

It was only a few weeks into Beomgyu's first semester at University, but he was already feeling the pressure. He had so much work to do that he was practically living off of coffee, and he was now suffering with constant headaches, as though a bag of brinks was being bashed against his head constantly. After suffering through yet another stressful and near sleepless night, he'd had no choice but to listen to Yeonjun's advice and not worry about work for a day:

At first, Beomgyu thoroughly enjoyed himself. He'd caught the bus into town, right into the middle of Seoul, walked around the shops, gone into arcades and fashion stores and multiple cafes, enjoying the bustling life of the town, and by the time it had gotten dark, he'd even ventured into an off campus bar, something which he'd promised himself never to do. But he must have been feeling brave, because it was actually his first time off campus in his few weeks of starting uni, and what had initially terrified him had turned into an exciting new experience as he'd sat at the bar, drinking cocktail after cocktail, staring a little dazedly at the barman, a tall young man not much older than Beomgyu himself, dressed in all black with blonde hair and whose cheeks sported dimples as he smiled and refilled Beomgyu's glass, nodding sympathetically as Beomgyu had rambled on about his uni struggles for God knows how long. Beomgyu had stayed there for quite a while, but after a certain point, the barman had refused him drinks and had instead forced a glass of water into Beomgyu's hands, sobering him up just enough to realize that it was past midnight, and that he really should be getting back to campus.

And so, Beomgyu had done what any other sensible person would have; he'd grabbed his considerably heavy set of bags that were filled with numerous clothes and accessories, and had stumbled out of the bar to wait at the bus stop, where he was currently standing now, alone, in the dark.

It had been twenty minutes, and still nothing had come by. Beomgyu had looked at the bus schedule stuck to the side of the shelter, and it had said that the bus came every half an hour- according to the schedule, a bus should have come by twenty minutes ago. Beomgyu sighed, and attempted to put his hands in his pockets, but that proved difficult considering all the shopping bags he was holding, so instead he gritted his teeth and waited another five minutes, and then another five more.

"Never again." he muttered to himself, feeling the night's cold breeze ruffle his hair, and wishing that he'd brought a thicker coat. It really was starting to get cold, and still, no sign of a bus. The wind suddenly howled, ruffling Beomgyu's dark hair as he shivered. He looked one way, and then back the other way up and down the street, but there were no people either.

Despite the fact that he knew the bus was probably just running a bit late, he started to feel a stab of panic. What if the bus didn't come? What was he supposed to do then? He didn't have anyone that he could call to pick him up- he didn't know his classmates that well yet, despite being on good terms with all of them. His friends from back home couldn't possibly drive all that way here to pick him up, and it would be mortifying to call home and ask his parents, so that was out of the question too. The stab of panic was getting worse, and Beomgyu silently fumed at how stupid he'd been when he'd walked out the door that morning, waving goodbye to Yeonjun as he went. This was the last time that he took Yeonjun's advice.

Beomgyu waited another five minutes, but nothing, and so, he was faced with the inevitable: he'd have to walk.

The prospect seemed daunting, but what other option did he have? And so, Beomgyu set off into the night, the silence a little eerie now as he tried to keep himself from jumping at every shadow.

He then turned a corner, and suddenly, it was like the night had come to life. The street that he'd been previously on didn't have a lot of shops, and the ones that were there had all been closed, but on this street, there was no shortage of restaurants and bars on the other side, and it certainly was anything but deserted:

Lights from bars flashed neon all along the street, and people were bustling through the area as though it were midday, not the middle of the night. A little way off, he could see a group of middle aged men, all looking extremely intoxicated, milling outside of a bar, jeering and wolf whistling at innocent passers by as they went past. Across on the other side, a group of young women, all dressed up giggling, poured out of the doorway of another bar, laughing and holding hands. And deep in the shadows, Beomgyu could also make out a few homeless people, sitting in doorways off to the side. This wasn't what he'd been expecting at all.

Beomgyu could already feel his heartbeat speeding up at the thought of passing all of these people: this certainly wasn't the sort of situation he'd ever expected to encounter. Back in Daegu, at home, bars were few and far between, and it was hardly as densely populated as Seoul. Beomgyu had never felt so out of his depth.

As he walked, Beomgyu kept his head down, going as fast as possible while carrying his plentiful load of clothes. This was exactly why Beomgyu didn't go out late at night. He passed by restaurant and pub windows, just about making out the noisy crowds inside. He went past busy strangers, desperate to get somewhere, like the professional looking lady stalking right towards him with here phone to her ear and an expensive bag over her shoulder, talking animatedly into her phone:

".....I don't have time for that right now! Do you realize how many invoices I have left to file?" she said crossly, not looking at Beomgyu and whacking him in the arm with her bag as she bustled past.

Beomgyu carried on, and soon he was passing the group of drunken men, many of them still holding empty beer bottles in their hands. Beomgyu kept his eyes focused on the road ahead, clutching at his shopping bags with sweaty palms, hoping he could simply skirt past them without being cat called.

"Hey, pretty boy! Come and have a drink with us!" one of them yelled, making Beomgyu flinch and look up, heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. All of the men now jeered and waved their bottles at him, leering in the most unattractive and terrifying way.

"Err...no thanks." he managed to mutter, feeling the fear rise in his chest as he quickly glanced over his shoulder at the road, and quickly crossed to the other side, while the men continued to cat call and wolf whistle at him.

Beomgyu quickened his pace, attempting to speed walk like the posh business woman he'd seen a few moments earlier, nerves on edge as he passed more groups of drunk people, but thankfully, none of them called out to him. Beomgyu wondered how much more of this he could take, but he carried on regardless, approaching the end of the bustling street. Things seemed to have quietened down. There weren't so many people here, and he was sure he was going in the right direction until-

"Yah!"

This time Beomgyu couldn't help but let out a yelp as suddenly a homeless man came stumbling out of the darkness, covered in rags and a filthy looking unkempt beard. One of his eyes was drooping, and his teeth looked as though they were old tombstones.

"You're a long way from home young man." the man said, speech slurring as he leered at Beomgyu and swayed on the spot, eyes unfocused and glazed over. He seemed drunk, or maybe drugged up, and Beomgyu wanted nothing more than to run, except that his feet seemed to have stopped moving, grounding him to the spot.

"I- I just want to go home!" Beomgyu squeaked in panic, but the old man cackled at him, waggling a dirty finger his way.

"Yes, that's right. This is no place for a young lad like you." the old man slurred, and Beomgyu finally wrenched his feet from the ground and scuttled away. When he'd gone a considerable way off, he finally turned to look over his shoulder and saw that the man was still leering at him as he sped off.

Beomgyu took a sharp turn to the right, feeling his feet pounding hard against the pavement. He was no longer walking, but running down the dark street, pulse beating hard in his ears, feeling that tight panic in his chest as he blindly took a left turn this time.

This whole experience was making him want to shut himself back in his uni dorm, lock the door and never come back out. This was his first real experience being cat called and leered at by strangers, and he sincerely hoped that it would be the last.

Beomgyu felt himself getting tired, and when he was quite sure that he'd left the bustling street behind, he slowed down to a gentle walk as he came across what seemed to be a deserted path leading past a large field with a little kid's play area off to the right hand side. On Beomgyu's other side, was a high hedge, and around that were some large trees, looming like monstrous figures in the dark. It was here that Beomgyu eventually stopped, now completely out of breath, the adrenaline from running slowly leaving him, but then he started to panic once more as he looked round, trying to remember where exactly he was. He hadn't noticed this park before when he'd taken the bus into the town.

The wind picked up, making the leaves of the hedge rustle in the dark, the branches of the trees waving eerily, and up above in the sky, shone a half moon, partially obliterated by clouds.The wind continued to howl, and the roundabout from the children's play area creaked loudly in the silence, making Beomgyu jump. He started to shiver in the cold as he felt panic tighten in his chest. What was he supposed to do now? He was well and truly lost.

Putting down his shopping bags, Beomgyu hastily took out his phone from his jacket pocket, wanting to scroll through his contacts just in case it would conjure up a non-existent emergency contact that would happily drive all the way out here to the middle of nowhere at 1 am just to pick him up, and was surprised to see that he did in fact have an emergency contact that he hadn't considered yet- six missed phone calls, and nine missed messages all from Yeonjun, starting from just before midday:

YJ (Ahjussi):

Hey BG, I think I prefer our shared room when you're not here. Anyways, enjoy your day out! 😉

I'm thinking about reorganizing our wardrobe and throwing out some of my old clothes. Do you mind if I sort yours too?

Why do you have so many plaid shirts?

I know this one's yours, but doesn't it suit me?
[Attached Photo]

What time are you thinking of coming back? I can pick you up if you like, the buses can be pretty unreliable.

How come you're not replying to me? Have you forgotten about me already? 🥺

Yah Choi Beomgyu! I've spent the whole day sorting out your clothes, you ungrateful punk! 😤

BG this isn't funny, it's past midnight. I'm getting gray hairs worrying about you

Wait, have you been kidnapped?

The last text had been at 1:02. Beomgyu read through each and every message, feeling briefly amused as he imagined Yeonjun fretting over his safety like a worried parent. That was one of the things that he had come to love about Yeonjun in the brief period that they'd know each other: Yeonjun took being a hyung seriously, which meant that Beomgyu often got scolded, but on the flip side, that also meant that Yeonjun really cared, and genuinely worried about him.

Beomgyu also took a moment to examine the selfie Yeonjun had sent him wearing one of Beomgyu's many plaid shirts, smiling at the photo and how good Yeonjun looked in it, almost as good as Beomgyu, maybe even better, although Beomgyu would never admit it.

When he was done, he called Yeonjun's number.

He answered on the first ring, and immediately proceeded to be bombarded with a string of questions from his hyung, who sounded in such a state of panic that Beomgyu almost pulled the phone away from his own ear in shock.

"Beomgyu! Where are you? Why aren't you back yet? I've been so worried about you!" Yeonjun practically yelled into the phone, sounding shrill.

"Yeah, I can tell. How many gray hairs do you have from worrying about me now?" Beomgyu asked slyly, not being able to help himself. He heard audible huffing down the line, which made Beomgyu grin.

"None! Now where the hell are you and why haven't you been replying to my texts?"

"I'm lost." Beomgyu blurted out, just to get Yeonjun to shut up, and then immediately felt sheepish for admitting it.

Silence.

"I'm lost." Beomgyu repeated, suddenly remembering the gravity of his situation, and the fear of being stuck outside in the middle of the night by an abandoned park, with no idea where he was or what would happen to him came all rushing back. "The bus was running late, so I tried to walk home, and I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere because now I'm lost." he said, voice wobbling as the leaves rustled all around him once more.

"You're lost?" Yeonjun asked almost disbelievingly, and now he heard the slight note of amusement in the older boy's voice, as though Yeonjun was trying not to burst out laughing , which made Beomgyu bristle defensively.

"Well, this is kind of your fault! You're the one who told me to go out and forget about work for the day! And now, because of you, I'm stranded here, all alone, in the dark! And as you said in your texts, I could be kidnapped! Snatched away in the darkness to never be seen again! Anything could have happened to me!" Beomgyu wailed, exaggerating dramatically.

"I told you to have fun, not stay out half the night, there's a difference." Yeonjun grumbled.

"Ok ok, fine! But I really am lost! And I ran into some people. Drunk people. And a homeless person that gave me the creeps!" Beomgyu whined, willing Yeonjun to take him seriously.

He glanced around him once more, watching the swings creek ominously close by in the abandoned park. A little way off, a lone street light flickered inconsistently, as though it were about to go out completely. This was the set up of some sort of horror movie, Beomgyu was sure of it.

He heard Yeonjun sigh down the end of the line. He could almost hear Yeonjun rolling his eyes at Beomgyu's less than smart decisions.

"I'm scared Hyung, I'm really really scared." he mumbled into the phone, voice cracking slightly, feeling a lump form in his throat.

There was silence for a second and then-

"Ok, I'll come and get you. Can you find out the name of the street you're on? Is there a sigh or something close by?" Yeonjun asked, and Beomgyu's heart lifted a bit as he now scanned the area, this time looking for a street sign.

"No...I'm near a park though..." Beomgyu started and then- yes! There it was!

"I'm at Name Chapter Park!" he said excitedly, only just noticing the small sign partially covered by shrubs, stating the name of the park.

"Great! Name Chapter Park! That's really not too far away from campus. It's only about a fifteen minute drive. I'll come and get you now. Stay where you are, and don't move." Yeonjun said. From the other end of the line, Beomgyu could hear rustling and movement, and then the unmistakable sound of car keys, and then a door slamming shut.

For the first time in a long while that night, Beomgyu felt a sense of pure relief. He wasn't going to die out here tonight.

"Please don't hang up!" Beomgyu suddenly blurted out, feeling a little panicky now as he heard Yeonjun getting into his car. At this point, Yeonjun's voice on the other side of the phone was like a lifeline.

He heard the other boy give a small laugh as he replied:

"Seriously? You've been watching too many true crime documentaries with Taehyun." Yeonjun had been teasing Beomgyu about watching those kinds of documentaries with Taehyun, saying that those kinds of shows would make him paranoid. Maybe he was right.

"Nothing's going to happen to you. You're too young and beautiful to die." Yeonjun said, and though Beomgyu knew he was only teasing, he felt his face flushing, not with cold, but with a shy sort of happiness that he couldn't quite explain.

"Really?"

"No. That's me I'm talking about, dummy." Yeonjun quipped back. Beomgyu heard Yeonjun laughing down the line, he struggled not to say something petty back.

"Fine! Just hurry up will you?" he said instead, trying not to sound too desperate, but he needn't have worried. Yeonjun's voice became softer now as he said:

"I will, don't worry. I'll see you soon."

Yeonjun then hung up, leaving Beomgyu alone once more.

The fifteen minutes of waiting was almost unbearable. Beomgyu shoved his phone back into his pocket and resigned himself to waiting. He gripped the handles of his shopping bags a little too tightly as he waited, and every times there was a slight rustle in the trees, he spun round, heart pounding as he looked for the source of the noise, but more often than not it was simply the wind, or the sound a small animal snuffling about in the night. But still, he couldn't help being jumpy; his brain seemed to be playing tricks on him. Every shadow looked sinister, every noise sounded evil, even the sky looked sketchy. The moon was half shrouded in clouds, and there were no stars.

Beomgyu absentmindedly checked his watch. The minutes ticked by at snail's pace, and all the while, Beomgyu kept thinking that he was hearing whispered voices, like tinnitus in his ears, but it was just the whistle of the wind. Funny how things could seem so sinister in the dark.

Maybe Yeonjun wasn't coming after all. Maybe Beomgyu had accidentally given the wrong name of the park (although he could clearly see the sign) he wondered if maybe there were two Name Chapter Parks, or maybe the other boy simply misheard what he'd said and had gotten lost himself driving about at night. Maybe Beomgyu would be stuck here all night after all.

But just as Beomgyu was thinking these things, mind whirling frantically, he heard from behind-

"Hey, BG!"

"AHHHHHHH!"

Beomgyu whipped round so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet, his scream echoing into the darkness and traveling with the wind. In that instant, the fear that had been building up inside him seemed to just pour out, and before he knew it he'd dumped all six of his shopping bags onto the ground and had swung his right hand back, and then-

SMACK!

Beomgyu whacked the stranger that had called out to him right in the face, causing them to stagger backwards, a hand up to their face as they yelped in shock and pain.

"Ow! What was that for?" The stranger asked in an extremely familiar voice, causing Beomgyu to freeze in shock.

"Hyung?" Beomgyu asked disbelievingly as who he'd thought was a stranger now took off his bucket hat to reveal the face of a very disgruntled Yeonjun.

"Yes it's me you idiot! Who else would it be?" Yeonjun grumbled, gingerly taking his hand away from his right cheek, which even in the darkness, Beomgyu could see was turning an angry red from where he'd slapped him.

"Oh my God you're here! I'm so glad you're here!" Beomgyu yelped, feeling relief like he'd never felt before rushing through him, all his fear melting away. He then rushed straight up to the older boy and enveloped him in a tight hug, holding on so tightly to Yeonjun's jacket, hands balled up into fists as he buried his face into Yeonjun's chest.

"What the-?" Yeonjun started in surprise, but after a moment he felt the older boy's arms embrace him back, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry I slapped you. I thought you were a kidnapper." Beomgyu mumbled into Yeonjun's chest, while the other gently patted him on the back.

"I should be offended." Yeonjun replied, but Beomgyu could hear the amusement in his voice as they both pulled away, breaking the hug.

"Thanks for coming."

"Don't worry about it. I see you had fun though." Yeonjun said, walking over to where the shopping bags that Beomgyu had been carrying were lying a little way off on the floor and picking them all up.

Beomgyu shuffled his feet sheepishly. He'd conveniently forgotten to mention that he'd also gone on a shopping spree while he was in town.

"Yeah well...that was before I got lost." Beomgyu replied a little defensively, which only made Yeonjun smirk, handing him half of his shopping bags as they began to walk down the path to Yeonjun's car.

"Hey, I thought you were going to carry these for me! I've been through a lot tonight you know!" Beomgyu said, pouting, but the other boy raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Because If I did, I wouldn't be able to do this." Yeonjun said, and with that, he transferred the bags he was carrying to his right hand, freeing his left arm to wrap around Beomgyu's shoulders, pulling him in closer as they walked together.

Beomgyu felt his cheeks heating up, and he was glad that it was dark as they continued down the path. But he was secretly pleased, and he snuggled closer to Yeonjun quite enjoying the feeling of being so close to the older boy. It felt like safety.

But still Beomgyu couldn't help but jump a bit as they passed under a streetlight that led into the park's carpark as it flickered ominously.

Yeonjun seemed to notice, because he paused for a second to ask:

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Just...I'm not sure I want to go out after dark anymore." Beomgyu mumbled, momentarily reliving his rather stressful encounters that night, shuddering, but then he smiled as Yeonjun said back:

"Well, don't worry about that, you're safe now. You're safe with me."