Chapter Text
Taehyun has prided himself as the Beomgyu Expert albeit just in his head (because who knows what kind of teasing he’d get from his friends and he loves them enough not to injure them further). He intimately knows the said man like the back of his hand – like how he knows the back of Beomgyu’s hand as well; he already knows that both of his hands are always warm with the times he has caressed those veins while feeling the calluses of his palm.
He knows all of his favorite things, his dislikes, and his language. He can translate whatever his hyung says no matter how skewed or unique his sentences could get. He knows every one of his facial expressions and each of their meanings because he has closely observed his face every single time. If he were to write a book, it would be a Beomgyu encyclopedia, and his major in the conservatory wouldn’t be voice anymore. Heck, he’d probably write Beomgyu’s biography first before his own. Therefore, he is, without fail, a Beomgyu Expert.
So, of course, he is not overreacting to say that the one he’s staring at is an impostor.
Right now, this Beomgyu is making a horrid face because he drank the coffee Taehyun bought him. Which should not happen. Because the coffee he ordered was the same thing that he had been buying for his hyung almost every day ever since they became acquainted – Iced Americano, no sugar, no cream, three shots of espresso, and more ice. He has this memorized easily, and he never dared change anything for that simple recipe despite Taehyun himself wincing at its hellish taste.
With that, Taehyun pouts, “Don’t you like it, hyung?”
Beomgyu Not Beomgyu grimaces and tries to smile, “No, no. It’s fine; I like it, Tyun-ah. Thank you for this.”
“If you say so,” he mutters as he sips his extra-sweet caramel macchiato. However, he can’t help tasting the bitterness because of what’s unfolding in front of him.
When their Solfège professor arrives, they go inside the classroom without Taehyun getting the chance to voice his concern further. Everyone is now focused on their Dannhauser books, murmuring the notes hurriedly for the upcoming recitation.
"Beomgyu” sits down beside him while skimming the book and leans closer to him, “What’s our assignment again?”
“It’s number 54.”
“Fuck yeah, it’s just Andantino,” His seatmate celebrates while Taehyun notices the way he enunciates the cuss word awkwardly when usually he’d say it with more edge.
“Choi Beomgyu,” their professor calls; said man stands up with the book opened, “Recite number 54. Transpose it to alto clef.”
When it’s this-so-called Beomgyu’s turn to recite, he watches him closely. To his surprise, he acts the same as the real one with how confident he sings the notes correctly while conducting gracefully. But there’s something different with how certain and precise he is on how he recites but Taehyun couldn’t point it out.
The professor nods in contentment when “Beomgyu” finishes his recitation with no sweat. Even Kai couldn’t help but hang his mouth open. The man bows shyly, his smile exposing a bit of his dimple. For a second, Taehyun forgets himself with that smile, but instantly remembers that he’s on a mission to investigate this Beomgyu anomaly one way or another.
His seatmate asks cutely – or attempts to be as cute as the way Beomgyu does it at least, “How did I do?”
“Perfect as always, hyung,” he compliments him as he usually does, although not as heartfelt because of his doubts.
When it’s his turn to recite, he waits for a gentle squeeze of his hand but never gets to feel that familiar warmth. He casts a brief look at his seatmate and gets disappointed by his clueless reaction. He hurriedly faces the music instead.
He recites their assignment when he’s asked to transpose it to tenor clef. Of course, as a voice major, the professor is more keen to observe and critical of grading him. For that, Taehyun recites with applied dynamics and proper phrasing.
Once he’s done, he takes his seat. “Beomgyu” smiles at him and gives him a thumbs up, which is, in Taehyun’s opinion, awkward as fuck.
This is so not his Beomgyu-hyung at all. And he’ll make sure to prove it.
After their Solfège class, all five of them go to their Music History class. There’s a reason why Taehyun loves mornings. Because in the first half of the day, the five of them share them. It’s a common thing in the conservatory where students of different years can still share classes because they get to decide their schedules, as long as the required units are met per semester. It’s so that the music students can allot their practice time for their majors.
That’s why Soobin and Beomgyu’s schedules have the most classes, because they barely need practice time as conducting and composition majors, respectively; while three of them are performance majors.
But right now, he doesn’t appreciate this class because for some reason, Not-Beomgyu isn’t beside him when he should be because the real Beomgyu consistently sits beside him. So, his area of observation is unfortunately limited.
All he can see is that he’s laughing at whatever Soobin is saying, and Taehyun sighs at the distance between them. Kai is beside him, also partaking in their conversation while Yeonjun is on his other side, watching his group’s recent rehearsal video of Kinky Boots, listening closely to Prof. Jung’s commentary on their footwork.
When their professor comes in, the class behaves and listens attentively while some are sneaking a nap, just like any other history class.
When the class is dismissed, other students have left while the five of them stay as their next class is also assigned here. Music Literature is kinda in the same vein as Music History, just sprinkled with art of criticism and more yapping. When their professor comes in, Soobin instinctively fixes his posture since that’s his major professor, who’s also the conductor of their university’s symphony orchestra – Maestro Kim Namjoon.
Funny enough, Not-Beomgyu follows Soobin’s action, as if he thinks he needs to do that as well, so he won’t get caught, probably. Taehyun squints at that because Beomgyu doesn’t usually give a fuck with formalities. He’s pretty close to the professors here in the conservatory and treats them like colleagues. He even has the guts to insult their dean in front of his face, and Taehyun is just in awe that he never gets reprimanded. Notably, his major professor, Prof. Min Yoongi, is the only person in the faculty whom he regards highly enough to treat him as an actual teacher and sincerely wants to impress.
As the class goes on, he checks Not-Beomgyu from time to time, and raises a brow when he sees him doodling in a unique art style — something that the real Beomgyu hasn’t drawn yet. He knows every art style his hyung has made because he always shows them to Taehyun. This impostor sure knows Beomgyu enough to know what his hobbies are, but not enough to know how to reenact them.
When Prof. Kim announces homework and concludes their class, all of them stand up to either get to the next class or stay and chatter. Soobin heads to the front while the four trail behind him. He consults about the piece he’ll be conducting later in their lessons with the orchestra, and Taehyun glances at Not-Beomgyu to see if he’ll greet and talk to Prof. Kim jovially as he always does. Predictably, he doesn’t, and that just adds more to the list that Taehyun has mentally created and updated.
As they see Soobin bowing politely and bidding a “see you later, sir” to Prof. Kim, they all go outside the classroom to get to the other side of the building.
Their next class is MIDI Basics, where the room is basically aisles of computers. Personally, Taehyun isn’t a fan of it as someone whose major is all about performing. What they do here is mainly arranging and encoding existing works, and making sure they look presentable within a given timeframe. When it comes to this class, Beomgyu excels in this subject since composition is all about, well, composing music.
Again, Not-Beomgyu sits away from Taehyun, and of course, he takes offense at that. He’s making it harder for Taehyun to judge him further. He blows some berries out of frustration (with a bit of vocalization) and opens Sibelius.
He’s pretty much a slow typist in general, so imagine him typing complicated musical notes in this confusing software — he swears that voice majors like him should not go through this.
Fortunately, his ears are sharp, so when he’s not hearing familiar keyboard noises from the typing speedster that is Beomgyu, he mentally confirms and lists down how he’s very much an impostor.
When he reaches the last measure, Taehyun inwardly cheers. Thank fuck, he’s done for this class. But of course, he’s technically just in time for it to be over, as his friends are already outside waiting for him, even Yeonjun is there.
These traitors with their averagely fast hands, he commends some of them for being chronically online when it comes to gaming. He still wonders where the hell they get the time for that.
While they walk downstairs, he immediately goes to Not-Beomgyu’s side (like second nature with the real one), and he senses the way he jolts at his presence. He huffs at his reaction and humors him, “Hyung, it’s just me.”
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you walk beside me.” That’s a first. The real Beomgyu is often aware of where Taehyun is so he never gets jumpy around him.
They keep walking until they reach the ground floor, conversing about the classes they’ve been in.
🎶
Their group gathers at one of the circular picnic tables outside their building, and Beomgyu is tasked with buying lunch for them. While waiting for their friend, Yeonjun softly recites his script for acting class, and Soobin lies his head on Kai’s thigh, reading a book. Kai reviews and taps his piano sheets as if playing his piece on an imaginary piano. Taehyun tries to focus on annotating his recital piece, but his mind wanders off to Beomgyu, and/or Not-Beomgyu.
Because of that, he breaks the peaceful silence, “Guys, have you noticed Beomgyu-hyung acting weird today?”
Yeonjun looks up from what he’s reviewing, “Hmm, not really. Why do you ask?”
“The way he drank his coffee,” he explains the obvious, “He didn’t enjoy it.”
“So? Some days, drinks can be inconsistent and taste shittier,” Yeonjun shrugs and returns to his script.
“And,” Taehyun proclaims, “He didn’t ask me to come with him to buy our lunch.”
Kai stops tapping and decides to join the conversation, “I’m pretty sure he can handle buying our lunch on his own.”
Taehyun argues, “He usually asks for my help though. This time, he just walked away when he got our orders.”
Overhearing them, Soobin sits up and fixes himself to add, “Taehyun-ah, if you want to help him in the first place, then you should’ve volunteered.” He then leans his head on Kai’s shoulder as he continues reading.
“But I didn’t need to before? It’s always our thing that whenever he asks for help, he can just look me in the eye without words and I can tell right away that he wants me to be there with him.”
“And you’re upset that he didn’t? My poor baby.” Yeonjun coos, “Gets rejected by his boyfriend even though there’s no asking-out that has occurred yet.”
“No!” Taehyun gets flustered so he reaches forward to flick Yeonjun’s forehead, “All I’m saying it’s out of character.”
“First of all, ouch?!” Yeonjun complains as he soothes his reddening forehead. “Second, why are you even upset about these things? They’re not that big of a deal?”
“They are to me because I’m his friend,” he says a-matter-of-factly, “Aren’t you guys concerned about Beomgyu? Because he’s also your friend!”
Soobin drones, “The fact of the matter is that nothing’s concerning as of the moment. He happens to get a shitty coffee and now he just prefers to buy lunch on his own, Taehyun-ah. Calm down.”
“But–” Taehyun wants to list more of the suspicious things Not-Beomgyu has done today but cuts himself off and huffs, “Fine.”
Not liking the way his friend is down, Kai sympathetically promises, “If something’s off with him, then we’ll let you know, okay?”
Taehyun smiles at him in appreciation, “Sure. Thanks, Hyuka.”
Not-Beomgyu returns with a lot of plastic bags of their food in hand, skipping like how the real Beomgyu would. He distributes their meals, and so far he gets it all correct. Not until when he distributes the drinks. All of them are colas. Coca fucking colas. Is he nuts?
Not-Beomgyu gives him a can, while Taehyun raises his brow; the real Beomgyu would know he prefers cider. He doesn’t say anything because his friends are being meanly dismissive of his concerns and might end up putting more gas into the flames. He can sense that Not-Beomgyu is uncomfortable because of the way Taehyun is leering at him. From a normal perspective, he’s staring like usual, his larger-than-average eyes set on default. But if you know him enough, he’s glaring rather intimidatingly.
As if trying to act naturally, Not-Beomgyu proceeds to remove the tomatoes from his burger, and no one comments on it because it’s basic Beomgyu 101. Yeonjun and Soobin continue complaining about their Forms and Analysis quiz yesterday and how merciless their professor is, while Kai is talking to Not-Beomgyu about their Music Business class. It is quite convincing because he knows what he’s saying.
However, Taehyun is not convinced. This impostor thinks he's slick but he forgets that Beomgyu automatically offers those tomatoes to Taehyun — a rookie mistake.
Here’s another thing Taehyun knows about Beomgyu that this Not-Beomgyu doesn’t know: Beomgyu knows Taehyun as much as Taehyun knows him.
There are too many things he can list down that Beomgyu expertly knows about Taehyun, and here are a few of them:
1. Beomgyu knows Taehyun likes helping him since they have this sort of symbiotic relationship dynamic where Taehyun wants to feel like a hyung from time to time, and Beomgyu wants to feel pampered like a baby. (Sometimes, the hyung role turns into a dad role.)
2. Despite item no. 1, Beomgyu cares for him and has this habit of stopping Taehyun from scratching his neck because he knows he has skin irritation, and this Not-Beomgyu didn’t do shit. Because right now, he feels the consequences of Not-Beomgyu’s inactions and feels the sting on his skin.
3. Because of item no. 2, Taehyun can bet he’d get bell-peppers in his lunch if he had ordered something else that often includes that cursed vegetable.
So the audacity of this Not-Beomgyu to pretend that he’s Beomgyu is not it. He may have fooled the others, but he can’t fool Taehyun, oh no. He’ll have to wipe his hippocampus squeaky clean first before he can do that.
“Tyun-ah,” Kai, seated beside him, leans and whispers, “I know we’re at lunch but Beomgyu-hyung is not part of the meal.”
“The heck are you talking about?” He whispers back.
Kai silently regards him and points at Beomgyu then back to him using his eyes.
Taehyun replies by doing the same but his brows are furrowed to emphasize concern.
Unfortunately, Kai doesn’t get the memo as confusion is written all over his face.
Taehyun mouthed “That’s not him” and side-eyes Not-Beomgyu again for emphasis – that earned a more confused expression from Kai.
“Care to share what’s up, guys?” Soobin asks with a raised brow.
“Nothing. Kai’s just asking if he can copy my homework,” he hears an overdramatic offended gasp from his seatmate.
Soobin regards him with doubt but doesn’t push it, “Sure.”
Sulking inside, he continues eating without saying another word. He let the others chat about anything, not forcing himself to pretend that he can follow the topics. When he feels his phone vibrate, he retrieves it from his pocket to see the message.
From: my everyday-hyung
Hey, don’t forget what we talked about yesterday. Usual meetup, okay? I’ll see you there, my tomorrow. :>
When he looks up, he’s met with Beomgyu’s smile. At that moment, he forgets his suspicions and gets comforted by what he sees. He wants to tear up at the sight, but he reminds himself that he needs to ask his hyung if there’s anything he needs to tell him, and why he has been acting strange today.
So he plans on doing that when they meet up later as promised.
When all of them are done with their meals, they go ahead inside the building walking in the same direction until each of them heads toward their own classes.
🎶
Taehyun’s class is Vocal Pedagogy; it’s one of the mandatory subjects for voice majors, and Taehyun’s personal favorite because it’s a mix of science and music — so two of the things he likes combined. But at this time, he’s distracted by his phone pinging multiple times. His heart clenches at that because it’s awfully familiar, like the day turns normal again.
As he opens the notifications, he grins at how Beomgyu-hyung spams him with messages that are just so Beomgyu.
from: my everyday-hyung
You’re in Voc-Ped, right? I know you’ve been working hard the past week so I’m sure you got this, my tomorrow. Fighting!
Meanwhile, I’m dying here, so please live for the both of us. Tell Toto I love him, and Hobak too while you’re at it 😩
He rolls his eyes at how melodramatic his hyung can be. He bites his lips to stifle his laugh.
from: my everyday-hyung
I can’t wait for this to be over, I swear to god. 🥹
Not gonna lie, but I miss you already. 😔
to: my everyday-hyung
That’s because you didn’t sit beside me the entire morning 🙄
He watches the three dots for a long while, and it disappears. Then, in a second, he immediately receives a series of replies.
from: my everyday-hyung
I hate that I did that. :/
I hope you forgive me for how I act today, and that I can get to explain everything, probably for way later.
But for now, please trust me.
I really hope tomorrow is better, just like we always promise to each other.
One day, I just know we’ll just laugh over this, despite how scared I am.
I hope you don’t worry too much.
to: my everyday-hyung
You do know that saying that makes me worry more, right?
from: my everyday-hyung
I know, but it’s worth a shot. I just want to have your thinking caps on vacation mode at least for today, okay?
Your big sexy galaxy brain needs to rest from time to time, y’know? 😔
Just keep that in mind, Taehyun-ah. Pretty please? 🥺
He snorts at his hyung’s choice of words, and of course, indulges him.
to: my everyday-hyung
Okay, you big baby. I’ll try.
Only for you.
from: my everyday-hyung
:>
Now, he feels embarrassed with the accusations he listed down in his head the entire half of the day. Maybe all this time they just need to talk, just the two of them, and whatever oddities his hyung has displayed were simply out of stress or nervous ticks that Taehyun hasn’t discovered yet. Maybe he’s just unraveling another Beomgyu fact that he’ll have to record in his mental encyclopedia.
The afternoon becomes lighter with each passing moment and with each passing conversation with Beomgyu. Taehyun just notices how stiff his shoulders have been, indicating how much on edge he has been the entire half of the day, and feels himself relax the more he talks to the hyung he deeply cares for, despite how he surreptitiously hides his phone in class.
He doesn’t notice that he isn’t paying attention to class anymore until he feels a judging stare from his professor. He gulps and rests his phone in his pocket.
Only Beomgyu can make him ditch listening to his favorite class. But unfortunately, he needs to take notes or else the professor who’s also one of the juries for their upcoming departmental forum recital will whack him.
When he immerses himself in the subject, he gets carried away and raises his hand to every question their professor will throw after each topic. He doesn’t notice that the class is over until they’re being dismissed. Hopefully, that earns his brownie points back.
Immediately, he pulls out his phone when he gets outside the room.
to: my everyday-hyung
Done with Voc-Ped. I swear Prof. Park was going to deck me.
from: my everyday-hyung
Pfft, what? What happened? She’s one of the nicest voice profs out there
to: my everyday-hyung
🙄 You’re literally friends with the entire faculty.
from: my everyday-hyung
Not really. Some of them are my besties 💅
to: my everyday-hyung
Weird flex but okay.
from: my everyday-hyung
So what did you do to make her mad?
to: my everyday-hyung
Well, we were texting and I wasn’t paying attention.
from: my everyday-hyung
owo?! Kang Taehyun? Not listening to class??
to: my everyday-hyung
🙄 I blame you.
from: my everyday-hyung
uwu
Okay, then I won’t text you as much.
I don’t want to be the one who’s withholding you from reaching your dreams. ú.ù
to: my everyday-hyung
Pssh, what are you talking about? Did you forget?
You’re the main reason I still pursue my dreams, y’know. 🙄
It’s why I do care about your chance to talk, at all times.
I’m willing to risk being decked by one of your besties for you.
Despite his comparatively slow replies, Beomgyu never interrupts him. He sees him typing again, and looks like whatever he’s writing is pretty long judging by how long the three dots have stayed on display.
from: my everyday-hyung
…Oh.
:>
He stands corrected, though, he grins. Looks like his hyung is flustered by his compliment, as always — he’s awfully smug about this fact. But he decides to feign innocence instead of teasing him; besides, he’s genuine about it and doesn’t want his hyung to get the wrong idea.
to: my everyday-hyung
???
from: my everyday-hyung
You’re so annoying, Kang Taehyun.
😔😩😖😫😠🥺🥹
I miss you so much OTL
Ugh, anyway, duty calls.
Talk to you later, my tomorrow 😘
He snorts at the emojis except for the last one. The last one is a menace. How dare this man send that to him. He sighs and pockets his phone and walks to his next schedule.
Art of Accompaniment is a class for piano majors — he’s here as a seat-in like the rest of the other performance majors. Kai requested him to be his singer beforehand, so he has been prepared for this.
If you were to ask Taehyun, he doesn’t have stage fright in general. He’s fine performing his heart out on stage. However, it’s different when you’re in a classroom. It feels like being a nude muse in a painting class. So of course, he wants to gather courage from his number one source.
to: my everyday-hyung
I’m getting nervous even though Kai’s the one being graded, but he’s so relaxed it’s so unfair. Please tell Toto and Hobak I love them 🥲
from: my everyday-hyung
Just imagine me holding your hand, okay? You’re already perfect the way you are so no need to give more than what you have
With that text alone, like magic, it feels like whatever weight in his chest is lifted and evaporated. No trace of nervousness in his system.
to: my everyday-hyung
You always know what to say, huh?
from: my everyday-hyung
Of course 😏
I’m just returning the energy I receive from you, Mr. “I do care about your chance to talk”
Don’t get cocky and think you know me better than myself, when I know you better than yourself 😤
to: my everyday-hyung
I beg to differ. You gave me coke just this lunch 🙄
from: my everyday-hyung
I’m sorry I was so out of my mind! 😭
This is why I miss you so much 💔
Truthfully, Taehyun gets confused whenever Beomgyu brings up how much he misses him. As if he’s far away. But remembering his promise not to overthink, he focuses solely on the present.
to: my everyday-hyung
Don’t worry, hyung. I feel the same.
His and Kai’s performance goes smoothly. One thing he’s thankful for being invited in this class is he gets to learn from an accompanist’s perspective on how to perform together with someone. Their professor is also kind enough to give pointers to all the soloists invited.
Somewhere in between the hour, he daydreams of his favorite hyung inviting him to be his singer in his recital, singing his compositions and learning their stories, so it would mean an opportunity to be with him more.
When the class is over, he and Kai walk together until the younger has decided to rent a studio and practice for his major later. He bids him good luck and see you later.
Taehyun heads to his next class, Music Education, which is all in all, uneventful. They’re assigned to report and discuss their chosen topic every meeting, and have them treat the class like they’re their students. Since it isn’t his turn yet, he checks his phone to see if there are any new messages from his hyung.
When he sees none, he assumes that he’s busy with his own class. Still, he texts him.
to: my everyday-hyung
How are you doing there?
He doesn’t get a response after a while so he hides his phone, hoping to feel a tiny vibration of a notification. As the class passes by, that doesn’t happen. So of course, he sulks.
Remembering the text Beomgyu sent during their lunch, he holds on and looks forward to that instead.
🎶
Under the trees, Taehyun waits by the shed near the old bird bath. He watches a sparrow dipping itself cutely and flies off. He watches some students walk by, familiar faces but aren’t close enough for him to greet them. The breeze is fair, while the leaves fall gently. Despite the calming scenery, he taps his foot, and from time to time, stretches his leg when he feels too jittery.
Witnessing the shadows cast changing ever so slightly, he is getting anxious. He’s waiting for Beomgyu to appear in his line of sight, but his hyung isn’t still here – their usual rendezvous point.
He checks his phone to see if there are any messages from his hyung, but he receives none. He glances at the clock, and without doubt, it’s past half an hour already.
He knows Beomgyu has the tendency to overstay in his major lessons because of how passionate he can be with their topics, but not to the point their schedule is stretched. Prof. Min does have other students and classes to attend to. If that happens, Beomgyu will text and apologize that he’ll be late.
When all the worries seem to seep into his mind, he can’t take it anymore. He strides to Prof. Min’s studio so he can check if Beomgyu is still there. He gets to the third floor, he speeds up to the ninth studio, and peeps through the door’s small window.
His heart stops at what he’s witnessing, the ringing in his ears swelling and reverberating as the scene unfolds.
Beomgyu is towering over Prof. Min by the bookshelves as he has his hands by their professor’s head. The two are staring at each other unmoving for a long while. Beomgyu’s eyes are intense - in a way that makes Taehyun sick like butterflies filled his guts and he wants to puke them all - while Prof. Min seems to be affected by their position. He can see Beomgyu leaning closer, and Prof. Min doesn’t seem to do anything about it, like he’s entranced.
As if electrocuted, Taehyun spins himself away from the studio door, his heart starting again but this time its beat is speeding up and thundering in a frenzy. The ringing stops but the unwelcoming sounds of his surroundings hurt his head.
What the actual fuck.
Taehyun runs away, while he feels pain flowing throughout his body, and the source of it is coming from his heart. Everything he sees meshes together, just like the emotions inside him are mixing haphazardly.
That’s not Beomgyu, he keeps chanting to himself.
He knows that’s not Beomgyu, because he has never seen him look at someone that way.
Unless… he’s been wrong all this time. Maybe he’s not the Beomgyu Expert that he claims himself to be. Maybe he misread everything, and maybe he doesn’t know shit about his hyung. Maybe his hyung is really into Prof. Min, and maybe that’s why his hyung wants to impress him so badly and has been hoping to have his feelings returned.
But why does he feel so betrayed? He’s the only one who assumes that he knows Beomgyu the best. He’s such a fool to think this way from the start.
One day, I just know we’ll just laugh over this, despite how scared I am.
Beomgyu’s text message earlier brutally appears in his head. Did he really misinterpret their conversations? What was Beomgyu afraid of? Finding out that he’s in love with his professor?
He doesn’t notice that he’s already outside the building as the tears have been blurring his vision until he trips himself and lands on the grass. He lays there for a while staring at nothing, feeling a little more pathetic as the time goes by.
Thankfully, no one is perceiving him – let himself rot with all the hopelessness choking him and in turn feeling lightheaded, at least for a while.
“Taehyun-ah?” He hears someone calling him nearby, their footsteps getting closer, “Taehyun-ah, hey. Sit up, will you?”
Wordlessly, he does what the voice tells him and faces the sound. Oh, it’s Yeonjun-hyung.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you planted there? Do you plan on watering the grass with your tears?” Yeonjun jokes albeit with a worried face.
Taehyun, though fragile and small, smiles at him and his attempt to lighten the mood. He sniffles and croaks, “Hyung, does Beomgyu-hyung like like Prof. Min? Has he told you that?”
“Where the hell did that come from?” Perplexed, Yeonjun asks and clarifies, “Beomgyu is not into professors, or older people at all. Maybe he can be too expressive about how he idolizes Prof. Min, but he’s not going to kiss his ass literally.”
Taehyun hiccups while his face is a mess, “You’re not bullshitting me, right?”
“Do I look like I’d do that to you?” Yeonjun wipes his face with his handkerchief and fixes his hair and uniform.
“Yes,” he replies and earns a light slap on his shoulder, “Just kidding, hyung. I just…” Taehyun sniffs, “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
“Hey, come here,” Yeonjun hugs him and Taehyun cries even harder. “Do you mind sharing why you asked that question, Tyun-ah?”
“It’s just…” Taehyun tries to gather a semblance of clearheadedness, “I saw Beomgyu-hyung and Prof. Min in a… compromising position.”
Yeonjun incredulously repeats, “Compromising position?”
“They… Beomgyu,” he struggles to detail the memory he wants to bleach in his head, “Beomgyu-hyung was cornering Prof. Min on his studio’s bookshelf, and they were stuck like that for who knows how long, just staring at each other. I didn’t stay long enough but the last thing I saw …Beomgyu-hyung was leaning closer to him.”
“What?! That doesn’t sound like him at all!”
Taehyun becomes oddly energized, “So you think it’s not him?”
“Of course that’s not him! No way he’s into Prof. Min,” the older says with utmost conviction, “Besides, I know who he's into; a certain voice maj—“
Taehyun jolts at what he just heard, “Wait, what? You know? He’s interested in someone? Romantically?”
Yeonjun regards him with a pitiful stare, “You sweet summer child,” Taehyun gets confused by his statement while the older continues, “Anyway, I’m perfectly confident that Beomgyu doesn’t fancy Prof. Min that way, not in a million years. Do you want me to let the others know that we need to look out what’s up with Beomgyu? Something’s off with him, that’s for sure.”
He can’t believe this is happening. He isn’t actually delusional. He does know who Beomgyu is and has never gotten it wrong. He tearfully nods at Yeonjun which earns him a reassuring smile. “That’d be great, hyung. Thank you for listening to me.”
“Sure thing, Taehyun-ah. I don’t like seeing you cry. It feels like a bad omen.”
He chuckles at what Yeonjun said, and sighs when he remembers what he said before that, “So… who is he into?”
“I can never confirm nor deny,” Yeonjun zips his mouth animatedly.
“That answer doesn’t even make sense,” he whines quite petulantly.
“Okay, smartass,” Yeonjun rolls his eyes and advises, “Just let Beomgyu tell you about it instead. He’ll do that eventually. Just trust him, m’kay?”
He swallows whatever insecurity he feels and focuses on confronting Not-Beomgyu instead so he can have his Beomgyu back. “Alright, I know he will.”
“That’s the spirit!” He stands up and offers his hand. Taehyun grabs it and stands up as well.
Now that his head is clearer, he asks Yeonjun to message their friends as he promised so they can meet up before meeting Not-Beomgyu for their last class of the day.
🎶
Their next and last class of the day is Orchestration. This is Taehyun’s second-favorite subject in the conservatory, not because of his major, but because his favorite person often shines the most in this subject.
Prof. Min has the tendency to bring out the creativity in everyone, especially when he demonstrates how his mind works. He’s arguably the most passionate professor in the conservatory when it comes to music. He has exceptionally bleed his life into his works, putting his heart in every note like every measure is a memoir.
Each student presents their homeworks, and they’ll never hear harsh criticisms from their professor. They’ve always received encouraging notes out of gentle suggestions, that it’s up to them to decide which route is better. Every comment from Prof. Min is from his musician heart. People previously mistaken it’s because he looks scary and strict, but when they discover it’s the opposite, the more inclined they are not to dare cross a line.
That’s the reason why Beomgyu is lucky to be his student, as he’d often hear from his hyung. And oftentimes, Taehyun becomes as enthusiastic as him because of his infectious passion for composition and music.
However, Taehyun notices Beomgyu’s eyes look different. Whenever they’re in this class, he would see the sparkle of wonder in them, but this time, they look dark and… seductive? It feels uncanny, and it seems that he’s not the only one thinking the same way.
He glances at his friends, and all of them have worry written all over their faces. It doesn’t help that Beomgyu licks his lips every time Prof. Min writes something on the board, or plays the piano when he demonstrates a chord progression.
When class ends, Not-Beomgyu calls them, “Hey guys, I’ll just help Prof. Min with these stuff. Go on without me.”
“We can help, y’know,” Soobin points out with his arms crossed.
The impostor pouts, “Sure. You can push the projector cart back there. And Kai, you go ahead and turn the speakers off properly. And you two, help me erase the board.”
“You don’t really have to do all those,” Prof. Min raises a brow.
Not-Beomgyu grins and winks, “Don’t worry, sir. I got you.”
“Suit yourself,” their professor huffs in amusement as he fixes his satchel bag. When he hears and sees that his students are done putting things back to where they are, he bids them farewell and goes straight to the door.
Not-Beomgyu stops erasing the board and turns around. When he notices Prof. Min halfway outside, he runs towards him and grabs his hand.
The professor stares at their hands clasped together and raises a brow at Not-Beomgyu.
“Sir, uhm. Do you need help with anything else?”
He huffs, “I can handle myself, kiddo.”
“Do you want me to walk you home?”
Prof. Min glances at the four of them then back to the impostor, “I don’t think your friends would appreciate that. Besides, I can do that on my own. Thank you for the offer.”
“I insist. They can go on without me, right, guys?”
Kai has a hurt expression but he nods instead; Taehyun reaches his hand and holds it for the both of them.
He tightens his hold as tight as his heart. He fakes a smile and voices out a “Yes”, hoping it’s convincing. Soobin does the same but he can tell he’s peeved.
Yeonjun tells him, “Sure. Don’t forget we need to practice for our group project.” They actually don’t.
Not-Beomgyu grins in victory and turns to Prof. Min, “So?”
The professor rolls his eyes affectionately, “Yeah, let’s head to the faculty office first.” He regards his other students, “Sorry, your friend is too stubborn for his own good. I’ll take care of him while you guys take care, alright?”
They politely smile at them as they leave. When the door is shut, all of them have their eyes wide. Taehyun is tearing up again and Yeonjun places a hand on his shoulder to immediately calm him down. They aren’t the only students left in the room, and eventually there’ll be more if they linger since there’s another class coming in.
Soobin holds their gazes at him, silently commanding them to follow him. They trail him and understand that he’s going to the office to rent a studio.
Throughout their entire walk to the empty studio, no one says a word but all of them have the same thing in their minds: Their friend is either possessed or someone replaced him.
Soobin locks the door as soon as they are all inside; he peeps through the small window for extra measure and signals that the coast is clear. “So, we all witnessed that, right?”
Yeonjun starts venting, “Is that person insane? And to tell you the truth, I wanted to call him out and verbally slap him but the real Beomgyu’s dignity is on the line. Why is he eyefucking Prof. Min the entire time?”
“That’s just so creepy. No way that’s Beomgyu-hyung,” Kai shivers and inputs, “I’m pretty sure that’s a shapeshifting demon.”
The oldest walks back and forth, “How can we even help Beomgyu snap out of it? This is some legit paranormal activity shit,” he says, understandably scared of the situation.
Taehyun’s heart is hammering at the confirmation of his suspicions. He knows he’s been right, but it doesn’t mean he likes that fact right now. His Beomgyu-hyung is in danger, and he cries at the thought that it’s been hours since he needs their help.
“Taehyun?” Kai consults him in concern. “What do you think we should do?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never encountered anything like this before,” Taehyun weakly mumbles.
The youngest starts to tear up as well, “What do we do?” he looks at Soobin as if pleading to comfort him. Soobin looks at him like the world is shattering around him, his eyes lingering at Kai as if he’s ready to risk it all. Like he’s cursing the heavens because they’re making the youngest cry like this.
Soobin closes his eyes as breathes in, “Promise me, all of you,” he then opens them and states sternly as his resolve becomes solid while he looks at each of them, “To swear in secrecy on whatever I’m gonna share. To emphasize, this is something that no one else should know. This is the same level as me agreeing to bury a body for you guys, and I can promise you I can grant that if you need to. Do each of you understand that?”
“You overdramatic hoe, get on with it!” Yeonjun exclaims exasperatedly.
Soobin doesn’t falter as he lets the insult fly over his head, determinedly focused on the task at hand, “Pinky swear! Each of you!”
“Fine, fine!” They hand out their pinkies and Soobin links his to each of them. He even presses his thumb down on theirs as a seal of contract.
“Remember the gigs I’ve mentioned before?” They simultaneously nod at that, “Well, some of those aren’t the gigs you’d think of.”
Kai’s eyeballs absorb his tears back and he proceeds to shriek, “You’re a stripper?!”
“No, you adorable idiot!” Soobin pinches Kai’s cheek in frustration and maybe he just wants to, “I’m a wizard’s apprentice!”
“You’re a what?!” Yeonjun reasonably shouts.
Taehyun’s eyes get lit by hope, “Wait, so you’re saying you can save Beomgyu-hyung from whatever entity that possessed him?”
“It’s possible, but I can’t confirm it yet, Taehyun-ah.” Soobin sympathetically says, “I’m not much of an expert like my mentor, but I’ll do my best to cure Beomgyu.”
“That’s fine,” Taehyun sighs in relief, “At least we have you.”
Yeonjun brings up, “Are we just gonna ignore the part where Soobin lied about the gigs and admitted to being a wizard? We’re really just gonna believe this?”
Kai nonchalantly shrugs, “I see ghosts all the time. It’s not impossible to believe he is.” Yeonjun’s eyes go wider at that.
Soobin flatly replies to Kai, “But your first thought is I was a stripper.”
The youngest casually explains, “For the record, I used to think I was just imagining ghosts but turns out they’re real. Anything is possible, that’s what I’m saying.”
Soobin wants to question and have Kai elaborate what he’s implying but Taehyun crosses his arms and remarks, “You guys have been gaslighting me that Beomgyu-hyung is being his usual self when he’s not.”
“We’re not as obsessed with Beomgyu as you,” Yeonjun deadpans.
Taeyhun throws his hands, “His reaction to the Iced Americano is a dead giveaway!”
Yeonjun retaliates, “You have to admit that’s something a normal person can’t possibly catch? Do you know my favorite drink, Taehyun-ah? Can I trust you to order mine correctly without asking me first?”
Kai unhelpfully adds, “And remember the first time we ordered drinks then you mixed up our requests and somehow you have Beomgyu-hyung’s right? I’m your best friend, Tyun! Your very first friend in the conservatory. You said so yourself! What happened to bros over hoes?!”
Taehyun is offended, “Did you just call Beomgyu-hyung a hoe?”
“That’s your takeaway?!” The youngest gets more offended.
Soobin clears his throat, “Guys, let’s not stray from the topic. We have an impostor or a possessed guy on the loose.”
Yeonjun nods and suggests, “Right, so do we tie him to a chair while we figure out how to exorcise him or something?”
A beat of silence.
And that silence means yes.
When they send a message to Not-Beomgyu that they’ll be hanging out in Soobin’s house to practice for one of their classes, the four of them are already there, waiting for him to show up.
Once they hear the doorbell, three of them are alert, nervous about what they’re about to do. They just hope Soobin is already done with the magic circle he’s been setting up in his room.
Yeonjun opens the door and greets Not-Beomgyu, “Hey, BG! You’re just in time!”
“Hey, hyung, hey guys! Sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye earlier. You know how it is, Prof. Min needed me with something.” Not-Beomgyu rambles while all of them try their best not to roll their eyes.
Taehyun notices that Not-Beomgyu is taking in the interior of a house he hasn’t visited before, oblivious of how obvious he is. He scans the floor and sees that their shoes are there so he removes his to put them by theirs.
Kai walks up to him carefully so Not-Beomgyu visibly gets surprised by his nearby presence. The impostor chuckles nervously, “Hueningie, you scared me.”
Not even trying to be subtle anymore, Kai covers Not-Beomgyu’s nose and mouth with a handkerchief doused in Soobin’s sleep potion. Taehyun and Yeonjun watch the impostor struggle then limp once he’s inhaled enough of the potion.
The youngest proceeds to lose his cool, “Holy fucking fuck, what have I done?!”
“There, there,” Yeonjun hushes him in comfort, “You had to do what you had to do.”
Kai pouts, “Remind me why am I assigned to do that?”
Yeonjun explains casually, “Taehyun is a softie who can’t hurt his possessed boyfie.” Mentioned softie is already carrying the mentioned possessed boyfie bridal-style, focused on his boyfie’s face, not hearing their conversation as he goes to Soobin’s room.
“And what about you, hyung?”
He crosses his arms, “For starters, listen to your elders!”
“Now, you’re using your age card?! What happened to being offended about it all the time!” He justifiably whines.
“Well, what if he bites me? Beomgyu historically has bitten me to annoy the hell out of me and I’m afraid his being possessed will amplify that.”
Kai squints and pouts in defeat by the sound argument. “I’ll tell Soobin-hyung about this.”
Yeonjun rolls his eyes and carries on; both of them walk to Soobin’s room. When they get inside, they feel the atmosphere change.
They’re thoroughly impressed with how intricate the room became thanks to the setup on the floor, unbelieving that Soobin did all of these. The circle is perfect; they’re wondering how the conducting major drew it in the first place. The candles’ flames are steady despite the movements that should have fanned them a little.
There are ancient-looking books littered on his desk, while Not-Beomgyu rests on his bed, while Taehyun is staring at his face with furrowed brows.
Soobin cues them that he’s done with the setup and gestures that it’s time to tie him to the chair placed in the middle. Taehyun carries the body with (tender-loving) care and places him like a fragile doll.
Kai and Yeonjun tie him up on both sides, while Taehyun lectures them to be more careful. Looks like the chair itself has a spell since it never moves in its place no matter how they accidentally shove it a few times.
When Soobin deems that everything is all in the right places, he snaps his finger.
The impostor slowly opens his eyes, realizing he’s tied to a chair in the middle of a circle with foreign writings. “…Where am I?”
The apprentice walks slowly in front of him and greets, “Hey there, demon. It’s me, ya boy.”
Not-Beomgyu gives him an unimpressed stare – Soobin deserves it. He then takes a look at each of them, trying to coax some understanding but no one budges. “Guys, why am I tied to a chair? Why is Soobin being spooky? Or attempts to, at least.”
“That’s Soobin-hyung to you,” Kai corrects, “Unless, you forget Beomgyu-hyung’s younger than him?”
“What? Can’t I disrespect him from time to time since he’s my bestie? And I am Beomgyu, for your information.”
Taehyun immediately loses his patience, “Hell no, you aren’t. You may have his face, but you suck at pretending to be him.”
“I don’t need to pretend because I am Beomgyu!”
“Yeah?” Yeonjun challenges, “What’s his childhood name?”
“Cookie, duh. That’s what my Ma calls me because I ate too many cookies,” he answers without hesitation.
“What about his other parent, then?” Soobin adds, “What do they call Beomgyu when he was a kid?”
“Bear, because I sleep like a bear according to my Mom.”
Yeonjun is seemingly annoyed with how correct his answers are. “Stop using ‘I’ when you’re not him.”
“Yeah? Prove it until you guys stop feeling ridiculous, then.” His smug expression definitely matches Beomgyu’s, but it doesn’t matter when they all know it’s a farce.
Taehyun steps closer, “What do you do when I feel nervous?”
Not-Beomgyu pauses to think, “I’ll try to calm you down?”
He hums, “How, exactly?”
The impostor is dumbfounded, “…I give you a hug?”
“You’re wrong. Beomgyu holds my hand before I recite or perform. Which you didn’t do this morning, by the way. I’m allowed to squeeze his hand like a stress ball, and he lets me hold his hand even if he falls asleep watching horror movies. This is why you suck at pretending to be him.”
Not-Beomgyu widens his eyes at the information, or revelation in his perspective. “…Are we dating?”
“I don’t know. Are we?” He sarcastically says.
“Do you get why you’re here, demon?” Soobin says in an affectless tone. “It’s either we do this the hard way, or give our friend back. What do you say?”
“Hey! No, I’m not a demon. What the? Just because I don’t know exactly where me and Taehyun are doesn’t mean I am one?!”
“That’s what you’d think,” Yeonjun remarks, “They have a deep mutual understanding you can’t just decipher; they have their own love language.” Not gonna lie, but Taehyun blushes at that.
“It’s kinda annoying to acknowledge, but Taehyun is his most-favorite person among us,” Kai adds and Taehyun feels his cheeks on fire. Why these sudden attacks?
“And to hammer the final nail of your coffin, Beomgyu is never into Prof. Min,” Soobin states, “And Prof. Min will never be into you.”
Not-Beomgyu sharply inhales through his nose, looking like he’s been slapped in the face.
Soobin regards the impostor again, “So now that we got you tongue-tied, can we proceed to exorcise you since you’re not leaving his body yet?” Without hearing his answer, the apprentice hovers his hands over Not-Beomgyu’s head while he chants the words they can’t understand.
The magic circle glows while the fires in each candle grow. They can feel a gust of wind whirling inside the room. Yeonjun and Taehyun both hug Kai for support as they watch the scene unfold.
Taehyun observes Not-Beomgyu getting affected by the spell, his eyes glowing as his pupils disappear, while his mouth agape. Taehyun’s eyes then wander randomly to the object peeking out of the tied man’s pocket, and something clicks inside his head. His eyes widen at the forgotten yet essential detail.
“Wait!” He shouts amidst the strong magic, “Soobin-hyung! I think we got it all wrong!”
Soobin stops what he’s doing and all of the magic slowly fades, the wind now absent.
Not-Beomgyu gasps for air while tears form in his eyes, “Oh my god! What the hell was that?! You guys are so mean! I swear, this is so unnecessary!”
Soobin blatantly ignores his cries and turns to them, “Taehyun, what’s going on?”
Taehyun stares straight at the tied-up man and answers Soobin, “He’s not a doppelgänger. And he’s not a demon nor a ghost who possessed Beomgyu. They swapped bodies instead.”
Reasonably, his friends are astonished by his deduction while the tied-man is equally speechless.
He continues to explain but now addresses the man, “All this time, you’ve been in contact with him. I noticed you’re somehow in the know with whatever conversation we have, yet there’s still a disconnect between your actions and his words.”
Not-Beomgyu stays silent, but Taehyun notices the surprise in his eyes despite its subtlety. It’s basically a confirmation.
“I know you know I’m right,” Taehyun continues, “I noticed your phone is different, and you type a bit slowly. Beomgyu-hyung types way faster than you. I’ve been texting him this entire afternoon and he replies quickly, so it won’t make sense that you’d be the one doing the typing.”
The tied-up man has a hardened expression as if he’s trying his best to keep his mouth shut, afraid of slipping up.
“Just say it. You’re not him; you can just admit it,” Taehyun says desperately and bargains, “And I know what you want now. You want to score a date with our professor, right?” He notices a twitch in the man’s left eye. When Beomgyu lies or gets caught off guard, his right eye twitches instead, “I can set you up when you return to your body.”
Not-Beomgyu hangs his head down; his bangs hide his face. Out of embarrassment or fear? Who knows.
Taehyun kneels in front of him and looks at his face as he refuses to let the man hide himself further, “Please. Whoever you are. Just…” He has been keeping it together, but his tears are betraying him at the moment but he never lets them fall, not yet.
This face that’s so close to him, despite how he sees it every day, doesn't hit his heart the same way.
“Just tell him to get here, so I know he’s alright, no matter what he looks like right now,” he doesn’t care how he seems to be begging at this point as his topmost priority is making sure that Beomgyu is safe, “I want him to know he can trust us, and that we’ll figure this out together. There’s no point in hiding this anymore.”
He sees the man’s lips thinning, his eyes cast away. He’s seen his Beomgyu guilty before, but not this way. Every moment with this person makes him miss his Beomgyu even more. He’s beyond worried sick, wondering how he is; he doesn't know what to do with himself anymore.
Taehyun faces Not-Beomgyu with tear-stained eyes, his voice shaking in determination, “Don’t you want to return to your old self? Both of you would want that, right?”
The man softly exhales. He can hear the gears in his head turning, weighing the options.
“Just please bring him back to me,” he whispers as quietly as he can, like a prayer that’s meant to be for himself.
With that, they watch the man’s resolve crumbling in his seat. His eyes are shaking and he closes them in defeat. He heaves a deep sigh and breathes, “Give me my phone, go call him.”
All of them collectively gasp, while Taehyun’s tears fall in relief. “Thank you, whoever you are.”