Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A convenience store at 1 AM was always a liminal space, whether you were there on a pit stop for a road trip, an impulsive trip with your friends or if you needed gas coming home from a game. No matter why you’re there, strange things feel like they could creep up on you from any angle. But there was also something beautiful about working at a StarShine’s 24/7 convenience store on the corner 105th and Angel St. at 1 AM. Or at least there was beauty in it to Mingi. The hum of the refrigerators, just barely there. The lights of the slushie machines glowing like they were magical. The lack of people, which meant a lack of mistakes that he could make. It was just great. Mingis personal favorite out of the two jobs he had currently. 

It wasn’t like he didn’t like his other job at the quaint little record store only a 2 and half blocks away from his tiny apartment building. Really if anything it probably should be Mingis favorite since the convenience store was a good 40 minute walk back to said apartment. And that was on a good day when Mingi had the energy to walk faster than he usually did. It was a good job, the record store. He liked his boss, an older business man who had inherited the shop from his father once he passed who didn’t really mind if they didn’t make sales. He let Mingi pretty much do anything he wanted, he was allowed to keep extra clothes in the back and even lock up early if he really wanted to. Mingi was the only one who really worked his shifts. There were a few other people on the bosses payroll, but they always worked together during the day. Mingi got the graveyard shifts, the closing ones. The record store itself wasn’t in the best area, with a few clubs down the street rumored to be run by gangs and the mafia- Which Mingi knew was bullshit. He knew for a fact that both rival clubs were just sleazy clubs that at max, some higher ups in the underground would do their business in. That was about it. Yet everyone was terrified of the area for some reason. Not terrified enough to stop going to the club, their deals on shots could make any man sway, but terrified of being there if you weren't drunk. 

A particularly loud sports car sped by the convenience store, making Mingi wince at the skidding noises he heard as the car made the turn onto Angel St. That was another thing the record store job didn’t have, loud ass sport cars at 1 am. The bell ringing from one of the side doors of the store brought Mingi back to the present, pausing the drama he had been offhandedly watching to make the time go by faster. He stretched his long arms out with a yawn before making his way to the counter to stare at the customer making their way through the store just the way he was trained to.

He still thought that was stupid. 

He remembered the self centered manager he had when he used to work day hours lecturing him about it during his first week a few years ago. “ Keep your eyes on the customer at all times. ” She had said. Why. Literally what could be so important about staring down a customer making a decision on what brand of 3 dollar chips to get. “ They could steal! ” Oh no! the 3 dollar chips that we have 400 boxes of in the back! Whatever would we do! 

Mingi rolled his eyes thinking of his old manager before finally hitting the counter, resting his head on his elbows as he waited for the customer to turn the corner so he could scan their items and make them leave faster. He had no desire to finish the drama he was watching but he did have to pause it in the middle of the climatic moment between the main character and her love interest which annoyed him a little bit. 

The customer was taking their sweet ass time from what Mingi could hear. All he could see was a hooded head over the chip aisle but he could hear the customer picking up and setting back down at least 8 different bags, the crinkling filling the entire store. They had finally seemed to make a decision as the hooded head made its way towards where Mingi was. Mingi would be lying if he said he didn’t want this customer to be one of those ones who's too tired to make small talk with him. Those were his least favorite people. It is 1 am. What is there even to talk about?  The weather? It was too dark to see literally anything. 

The hooded figure finally turned the corner and Mingi suddenly regretted everything he had just said about wanting this interaction to go fast. He knew that figure. Kind of. The brown hair that poked out of his gray hoodie that still looked soft even when wet from showering at the gym had become a familiar sight in the last few passing weeks. This time though Mingi could see the pale off white color bandages wrapped around his hand peeking out from under his hoodie sleeves. 

“Oh Mingi!” Mingi couldn’t help but smile at Yunho when the two finally made eye contact, the other mans face splitting into a large grin when he noticed the cashier. “Didn’t know you were working tonight!” 

Mingi shrugged as he took the bag of chips and gummies from Yunho's hands to scan, hoping he looked nonchalant enough for Yunho to not notice him turning red at just getting close to touching Yunho's hand. He decided to deflect from the heat rising in his cheeks to ask him about the new edition of the bandages. “I work most nights, what’s up with your hand?” 

“Damn really? I should start coming in more then.” Yunho said with a wink. Mingi felt his soul leave his body a little before Yunho continued, “Also nothing, just forgot to take the wrap off after boxing.” 

“Please don’t. I think your bank would start thinking you’re committing fraud.” Mingi rolled his eyes at the flirtatious remark, trying to ignore the beating in his chest, "That’s cool, I didn’t know you did boxing.” 

Yunho shrugged, “One of my roommates needed a sparring partner and I was the only one who was up for the challenge. Sometimes I regret it though, his hits hurt like a motherfucker.” 

Mingi just smiled at him, waiting for the shitty register to load so Yunho could pay. This was their routine as of a few weeks ago; Yunho flirting with Mingi as a joke, Mingi pretending it doesn’t kill him and turning him down by making fun of him. And on rare occasions, they would have some small talk. It was a nice routine, bringing some brightness to Mingis shifts. It started when Yunho had come in on a Friday night at the same time as a group of 5 drunk college girls coming back from a night out. The two hadn’t really talked to each other besides the usual “ Do you want a bag? ” Mingi would ask if Yunho got more than 4 items or the “ Thank you” Yunho would say before leaving the store. But something about the way those drunk college girls so shamelessly tried to flirt with Mingi in the funniest way possible changed something. Their one sober friend had gone to the bathroom leaving the rest of them to buy their own items. One girl had told Mingi that she would trade her left leg to kiss him and then it turned into an argument between the 4 of them over who would give more to go on a date with Mingi. Then it turned into an argument over whose body parts would sell better on the black market. It was extremely awkward because Mingi didn’t know if he should bring up that he doesn’t like girls or not. Or the fact that fingers were not actually sold at such a high price as they were insinuating. 

At some point their sober friend finally came back and once she realized what they were doing, she apologized profusely. Even berated one of the girls because apparently, she was a lesbain and her girlfriend was right there. (Her girlfriend was also a part of the argument, which still made Mingi laugh a little bit to this day.) Yunho was right after them and Mingi apologized for him having to wait too long. Yunho just smiled one of his smiles that made Mingi feel like he was drunk himself and said “I wouldn’t give you my left eye like that girl over there would but I understand why they would.” Mingi had gotten flustered and responded with some bullshit like “I wouldn’t want your eyes anyway.” Yunho had gasped in mock offense and their dynamic was set. Yunho would flirt with Mingi, Mingi would refuse him and then Yunho would pay for his items and leave.

Tonight was no different. As soon as Yunho had finished paying for his items he gathered his things and started to leave. Mingi felt himself deflate a little bit as soon as his back was to him. He genuinely enjoyed his interactions with Yunho and wished they talked more than just making fun of each other. Just before he hit the door Yunho turned around and looked at Mingi. Studied him even. Mingi just looked back at him, confused about what was going on.

“I have to go on a business trip for the next week so I can’t come in.” Yunho said, weirdly serious. “Be safe while I’m gone.” 

And with that he opened the door and left. The bell echoing throughout the now empty store as Mingi tried to understand what he actual fuck he meant. The way he said it made it sound like Yunho was warning him. But from what? Genuinely what. Mingi had a voice murmur in the back of his mind that he could be talking about his parents, but Mingi waved that voice away. His parents and their businesses had not been part of his life since that night in the alleyway. They wanted nothing to do with him anyways, they had made that clear. 

How would Yunho even know about that first of all. Mingi wasn’t even publicly a part of his parents life before it all had gone down the drain almost 10 years ago. No one in his parents' circles even knew his name. Mingi shook his head, deciding it was just another joke from Yunho. Just said in a tone that comes off as actually concerned. Yunho wasn’t concerned for Mingi. Yunho didn’t even know Mingi. And Mingi didn’t know Yunho. The most Mingi knew about Yunho is that he goes to the gym across the street from the store and that his job makes him work weird hours which is why he’s always at the store at 1 or 2 am and that he lives in the rich neighborhood that the store was only a few blocks away from. Which explained the fact that Yunho went to the expensive ass gym down the street. Besides that all Mingi knew was what Yunho looked like. And that information was even limited. Yunho almost always wore baggy clothes and a hoodie after the gym. Which again, made sense it was 1 am when he usually came in after all. 

Mingi sighed, deciding to just ignore Yunho's cryptic warning. If he didn’t think about it, the conversation (if you could even call it that.) didn’t happen. Plus if Mingi really needed to know what the fuck he meant, he would just ask him the next time he came in. If Mingi remembered to. 

Mingi decided to grab a slushie before heading back to the staff room behind the counter where his computer sat, waiting for him to come back. He filled the cup with the red ice of cherry flavor (That in all honesty, did not taste like cherry. It tasted like red.) and began typing in his employee discount code. Glancing up at the cameras that were very much still broken from water damage from when the pipes had leaked a few weeks ago, Mingi decided the corporation chain could stand to lose a few dollars before just deleting the entire order. Sipping his now free slushie, he returned to the uncomfortable plastic chair that sat next to the random desk in the back. His drama was exactly where he left him, a still of the love interest and the main character yelling at each other in the rain (a scene most 7th episodes have Mingi had come to learn) staring back at him. Mingi didn’t even remember what they were arguing about, probably something about the love interest's secret job being an assassin for the mafia boss of that city. Glancing up at the name of the drama, Mingi couldn’t help but huff out a quiet laugh. That was literally the name of the drama. “My fake boyfriend turned out to be the assassin for the mafia boss!” Just a simple name that rolls off your tongue. 

Unpausing the drama, Mingi rolled his eyes as the main character cried about how the love interest had killed for her. 

‘She was honestly ungrateful .’ Mingi thought. ‘He took time out of his busy schedule to kill that creep a few episodes ago. I would personally not be this annoying about it.’

Mingi continued watching as the love interest tried to explain but the main character was having none of it, leaving the man in the rain with the umbrella that he had given her in the beginning of the show. Mingi couldn’t help but be a little annoyed, ‘D id she not know that he literally helped her get her promotion? Killing that intern was an act of kindness. He sucked anyway.’ 

“Personally I would be flattered if someone murdered someone for me.” He muttered to nobody but the muffed hum of the refrigerators in the main part of the store.

Mingi leaned back in his chair as he thought about what he had just said, would he genuinely be flattered if someone had killed somebody else for him? Maybe not if they were an innocent but if they were annoying him maybe. Honestly if Mingi didn’t know they were an innocent he probably would care. Was that concerning? Probably. But Mingis mother had raised him that way. It was an honor to have someone kill for you. The true sign of love. 

That was how Mingis mother had fallen for Mingis father at least. 

The bell at the front of the store rang throughout the store just as Mingis phone alarm suddenly went off, signaling that his shift was over and that his coworker was here to take over till the morning shift. Mingi quickly packed up his things, shutting his laptop with a quick snap before shoving it into his bag. Once he checked his pockets, patting them down for his phone, wallet and keys, he went out to the counter to let his co-worker know what needed to be done before the morning rush. 

He didn’t know the kid very well, just his name and the fact he was an online college student. But if Mingi had to pick someone to work shifts like these with, he would pick Myeong. Myeong was quiet most of the time, wasn’t overly cheerful and just kind of a guy who just so happened to work with Mingi. But their boss trusted him enough to take the early morning shifts once Mingi took up his second job and needed more sleep so Mingi couldn’t really say anything against him.

“Easy shift?” The boy asked, yawning as he threw his bag underneath the counter. Mingi nodded. 

“Yeah but according to the evening shift, the ice cream machine got clogged again so maintenance is coming later today but that’s really about it.” 

“We really do just need to get a new one.” Myeong rolled his eyes as he moved aside from where he was clocking in to let Mingi clock out. 

Mingi shrugged, “Boss doesn’t want it so we don’t get it I guess.” 

“Boss is stupid. Are the cameras still broken?” 

It was Mingis turn to roll his eyes, turning back to the boy who was already typing away on his phone. “Why? Does your friend want to come steal again?” 

Myeong just smiled, “Hey he didn’t take any alcohol, he just took chips and a lemonade.” 

“He took like 5 bags of chips.” 

“Yeah and? Haru wanted them.” 

Mingi sighed, “Just don’t get caught or else Kaylie is going to be put on your shift again.” They both shuddered at the mention of the annoying manager who took herself too seriously. 

Myeong shook his head, the dyed gray hair covering his eyes, reminding Mingi he himself needed to get a haircut soon. “Don’t scare me like that man.”

“Whatever, I gotta get going.” Mingi readjusted his bag on his shoulder and started walking out the door. Fighting a battle with his headphones as he stepped out into the brisk air of 4 am. Just as he finished untangling the mess of wires he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Small reddish brown stains on the concrete by the corner of the building, leading to where the sketchy ass alley leading to the dumpster was. 

Mingi didn’t have to get too close to it to know what it was, it was blood. As much as Mingi should want it to be red slushie and his hunch to be wrong, he knew the type of area the store was in. Sure it was a rich area but rich people in this side of the city usually were rich for one reason and one reason only. Mingi just sighed before putting his headphones in and starting his walking home playlist.

It was such a waste for such a pretty liquid. 

Chapter Text

The week Yunho was gone was a very boring week. Mingi didn’t realize how much he had looked forward to seeing the man every night until he was no longer there. Mingis days had always droned on but the nights, oh the nights suddenly were the worst. What used to be a soft, enjoyable, quiet time for Mingi to relax from his earlier job was turned into a harsh, stinging, silence that made Mingi want to rip his hair out. What didn’t help was the weird lack of customers on top of Yunho not coming in.

Mingi could count the amount of customers they had had that week on one hand. Even on the nights that were usually somewhat busy due to giant groups of people finally leaving the club, there was just no one. It was literally 3 Am on a Saturday. Where is everyone? He knew the clubs were active, he saw people lining up when he was working at the record store. He even saw a few girls that were basically regulars on weekends lining up in a big group that night!

Mingi groaned, dragging his hands across his face. The silence was becoming deafening. The once comforting hum of the refrigerators just annoyed Mingi now. Like a fly that buzzed around your head non stop. He needed Yunho back, now. Mingi couldn’t stop replaying their last conversation in his head. Seriously what the actually fuck had Yunho meant by that.

“I feel like a middle schooler.” Mingi said to no one in particular before sighing at his own actions. Mingi had been doing a lot of talking to nobody for the past few days and today was apparently no exception. God, he really needed some friends. They were just so hard to make nowadays! He worked most nights so it wasn’t like he could go out! Plus he actually liked staying inside during the day because he was usually so exhausted from work so really there was no point. Mingi knew he wasn’t really living the way most people in their early twenties would try to live, but it was better than the alternative.

Maybe he should finally call his parents. Would it be the best idea? No. He hadn’t talked to them since was 13 and he wasn’t even sure if they wanted to talk to him. Would he have to face the fact he broke most of the rules that were set in place for him? Probably and the consequences would probably be extremely annoying. Mingi always did bruise easily.

Just as he was pondering giving his estranged parents a call, the ring of the door opening somewhere in the store caught his attention. Mingi shook away all his thoughts, in a little bit of disbelief that all it took was not seeing a pretty boy for a week and some boredom for him to almost break his almost 10 year streak of not contacting his parents.

‘Thank god for a customer.’ Mingi caught himself thinking for the first time ever.

The customer who was wearing some fancy ass shoes from the way the pattern sounded. Usually you could tell the type of customer they were just by the sound of their feet. (Or Mingi could anyways.) High heels that sound quick and almost like they're stumbling probably belong to drunk girls. A deep echoing sound, almost a crunch, usually comes from work boots with the gravel of the sites they usually are coming back from still stuck in the ridges of the boots. Working in nothing but silence helped pick up on small things like that.

The customer turned the corner and Mingi felt his soul leave his body. In some sick sense of deja vu, it was Yunho who was walking towards him. He was holding some random items but Mingi wasn’t registering them at all. Mingi wasn’t focused on that. Mingi was focused on trying to make his heart beat at a normal speed before he had a heart attack. The Yunho in front of him was not the Yunho Mingi had come to know and enjoy talking to in the early hours of the day. This Yunho would be the death of Song Mingi.

This Yunho was not wearing the oversized hoodie and sweatpants combo Mingi had come to expect from Yunho. This Yunho was wearing a pinstripe suit vest with matching pants. But that wasn’t all no, no this Yunho wanted Mingi dead on the spot. Yunho wasn’t just wearing a boring suit, no he was wearing two necklaces that hung in the middle of his chest on top of the tie. This Yunho had rolled the sleeves of his white undershirt up to his elbow, revealing arms that Mingi had to tear his eyes away before he started thinking thoughts that would render him useless for the next 2-5 business days. Unfortunately Mingi thought looking at the products that Yunho was buying would be a good distraction from the Greek god in front of him. It wasn’t.

On two of Yunho's fingers that were wrapped around a slushie cup (A red cherry slush, Mingi distantly registered.) were two silver gauntlet rings that bent at the joints of his fingers and ended in two sharp points. And if that wasn’t enough he had more rings sprinkled across both hands.

Yunho set his items on the counter, forcing Mingi to look up at his face. He was wearing makeup. Makeup. He had dark brown eyeshadow at the edges of his eyes, making it look like he was always angry no matter what face he made. Yet there was something underneath it. He seemed tired. He was carrying himself like he was suddenly a lot heavier than he was the last few times Mingi had seen him. He was even leaning against the counter and Yunho never did that.
“Hey,” Mingi winced at how shaky his voice sounded. Yunho looked up at him and Mingi could see the exhaustion in his eyes. “You ok?”

Yunho sighed, “Yeah, just a long day at work.”

“Looks like it, you wanna talk about it?” Yunho shook his head, closing his eyes for a bit before responding.

“Nah you wouldn’t wanna hear about it.”

Mingi huffed, “Oh yeah why's that?” He glanced down at how tired Yunho was, now leaning his head against his hands trying not to fall asleep, “Are you just some secret spy that’s deflecting from telling me your true job?”

Yunhos lips quirked up at that, eyes opening to look at Mingi in disbelief. Bingo. Hook line and sinker. Mingi didn’t know much about Yunho but he did know that he could never resist some idiotic banter.

“You caught me,” Yunho smiled, “I can’t tell you anything about today because I would have to kill you if I did.”

“Personally,” Mingi leaned on the counter, coming down to Yunho's level. The two held eye contact as Mingi spewed out whatever bullshit he could think of, “I think you’re cheating on your wife and that’s why you're always out so late.”

Yunho actually laughed at that, the sound like music to Mingis ears. “Are you this nosey with everyone?”

He shook his head as he laughed a little more before sobering up and looking at Mingi with weirdly soft eyes, “For the record, I don’t have a wife and I wouldn’t want one if it mattered.”

Mingi averted his eyes from Yunho's face, covering his mouth with his hand to at least try to stop Yunho from seeing the bright red that was absolutely covering his cheeks right now. Mingi didn’t understand why Yunho had such an effect on him. Sure he had had crushes before but at least he somewhat knew them when he did. He genuinely knew close to nothing about Yunho.

He glanced down at his own oversized t-shirt with the store's logo on the back and sweatpants before looking back up at Yunho in his suit.
“If I had known Prince Charming was coming today I would have tried harder.” He muttered under his breath to no one but himself really.

Yet Yunho must have heard him somehow–which was just another thing on his long list of good qualities that Mingi wished he wouldn’t have–because he just laughed before standing up and stretching his arms above his head. (Mingi was not staring at him mesmerized while he was doing that thank you very much. Butt out of his business.)

“If I’m Prince Charming does that make you my princess?”

Mingi gaped at him. Mouth wide open. He probably looked like a dumbass fish. Yet Yunho just kept going, “What princess would you actually be? I want to say Cinderella because she’s my favorite but, I don’t know. Maybe you’d be Snow White since you have black hair?”

Yunho shrugged, apparently not aware of Mingis crisis happening right in front of him, “Actually I think you’re too unique for any of them, you’re just a princess. Princess Mingi.”

He sounded so sure of himself Mingi almost believed him that he was worthy enough to be a princess. He shook his head a bit, trying to get rid of thoughts like that. His mothers voice echoed somewhere in his head, ‘Remember your place. Do not gain an ego from a few compliments. They are most likely lying anyway.’

Yunho was just being nice. That was the type of person he was, Mingi complimented him and it was just basic human decency to compliment him back. That was it. Just being nice.

Yunho was still looking at him with something that Mingi couldn’t recognize in his eyes, Mingi couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed the slushie that had been melting on the table for the past 10 minutes. He scanned it and then scanned the other snacks that Yunho had grabbed.

“That’ll be…” Mingi couldn’t bring himself to look at Yunho anymore, “10 dollars and 32 cents.”

The silence was torturous as Yunho pulled out his card, a black one Mingi had never seen before, and paid for his items. Mingi didn’t even ask if he wanted a bag, just piling the snacks in there and grabbing a straw from behind the counter. He shoved the bag in his arms and just waited for him to leave. Yunho just looked at him, suddenly looking dead on his feet. Mingi felt his resolve crumble under the stare Yunho was giving.

Their eye contact lasted for only a few seconds but to Mingi it felt like hours. The deep brown of Yunho's eyes looked like they were searching for something but all Mingi could see was how tired he was. There were dark circles hidden behind the eyeshadow he was wearing. He was breathing just a little too hard to be comfortable.

“Go home and sleep Yunho.” Mingi almost couldn’t recognize his own voice the way he whispered across the gap between the two of them.

Yuhno just smiled at him, he needed to stop doing that. He nodded before grabbing his drink and putting the straw up to his lips. Mingi had to look away before he started to think about how the other man had pretty lips.

As soon as Yunho's back was turned Mingi let out a sigh, he really needed to get over himself. He busied himself rearranging the lighters they had sitting right next to the counter while he wanted for the bell to ring signaling that Yunho was gone and Mingi could go sulk in the back until his shift was over. But the bell never came. Mingi looked up to see Yunho just standing at the front door, looking at him.

“I think you’d be Cinderella.”

“What?”

“If you were a princess. You’d be Cinderella.”

Mingi just blinked at him, “Why?”

“The whole only seeing you at night thing,” Yunho shrugged, “Plus she’s my favorite princess.”

Mingi blinked again, his words locked up somewhere he could no longer reach. Yunho just smirked at his dumbstruck face. “Actually I guess she’s second place now.”

Then he left. Leaving Mingi to just stare at the glass door leading to the empty parking lot with his mouth open.

Chapter Text

Yunho didn’t show up the next night. Or the night after that. Yet he never left Mingis mind. He lingered there, just hanging out and taking up space rent free. It was becoming a problem. Mingi already had sleeping problems and now they were so much worse because all he could think about was Yunho calling him pretty. There was even a time where Mingi was trying to watch a drama to go to sleep so he would have something to focus on besides the other man and he started imagining the main love interest was Yunho. It was actually becoming a problem. 

Waking up? Probably dreamt about Yunho. 

Getting breakfast? He wondered how Yunho liked his eggs in the morning. 

Getting ready for work? What did Yunho do for work? 

Walking to work? Did Yunho walk or drive to work? 

And that was where he was now, working his first afternoon shift in a month at the Estelles Records, thinking about Yunho. 

‘What kind of music does Yunho listen to?’ He found himself thinking as he swept through the many aisles of boxes of records, humming the tune of some random song he had put on. One of the girls that worked at Estelles was a huge fan of Girl Groups and almost always found a way to get the boss to approve her song choices on the main playlist. 

It had been a quiet day, but it was only 1 PM on a Monday, so Mingi didn’t mind much. There had been a few regulars earlier in his shift, an old lady who had a granddaughter obsessed with collecting vinyls, a college aged kid with his girlfriend who worked at the bar a few stores down on their weekly date and two teenagers skipping school to name a few. He had been cordial to all of them, even if the two college kids made him extremely jealous. (There he goes thinking about Yunho again. Mingi internally rolled his eyes at his own patheticness.) Mingis shift wasn’t very long today, only around 7 hours today. He was already over halfway through and he didn’t have to close, which was nice. Closing at the record store was a hassle for him.

The door swung open, alerting Mingi to a new customer as they walked through the door. 

“Hello! Welcome to Estelles Records, let me know if I can help you with anything!” He called from where he was still sweeping, looking up at the customer who was entering the shop. Mingi couldn’t help but stare at the man for a little bit. He felt like he knew the man from somewhere but couldn’t place it. He tried to dig through his brain to see where he could possibly recognize the man but he ended up just studying the man up and down as he wandered into the store. 

The man had mid length black hair that was pulled back into a small half up half down ponytail. Mingi couldn’t help but envy him a little bit. He was never able to grow his hair out that long before it annoyed him and he shaved it all off in a spur of the moment move (that was usually influenced by alcohol) and then regretted it the next day because now he had to grow it out again. The man pulled the hairstyle off in a way Mingi almost thought the hairstyle had been designed for the man. The customer was wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans but the way he was carrying himself made him look like he was wearing designer clothes on the runway. Mingi couldn’t help but sigh, first the hair, now the confidence. Did this man just have everything Mingi wanted? If this man told Mingi he was dating Yunho…Mingi would just crawl into a hole and rot there for the rest of time. 

“Actually, could you help me find a record? Or vinyl?”  And his voice was nice. It was soft yet commanding, almost like that one teacher you couldn’t help but listen to. Yeah that’s it, this man had to die. He couldn't keep getting away with being everything Mingi wanted to be without consequences. 

Mingi pushed his jealousy down, maybe this man had terrible music taste or something. That would settle the scores between the two. “Yeah of course! Give me one second to put this away and I’ll be right with you!” 

The man smiled at Mingi, “No worries take your time!” 

Mingi quickly shoved the broom and pan behind the counter, not its actual place but Mingi couldn’t really care less about dealing with the messy backroom to find its resident hook. No one put it back where it belonged anyways and if his boss wanted it to be in the correct spot, he could come in for more than 30 minutes a month and do it himself. 

Rushing back to the front of the store Mingi wiped his hands on his baggy jeans to get the extra dust off. He stopped in front of the (probably fake) man, who was even prettier up close. The man smiled at him for about half a second before Mingi decided to make due on his plan to figure out if this “perfect guy” did have a flaw in his music taste. “So what can I help you with today?” 

The man clapped his hands together, his smile growing wider, “Oh my partner is finishing a very big project at work soon and I wanted to surprise him with a vinyl as a congratulations!” 

Mingi groaned internally, of course this guy was also the sweetest partner known to man. When was it his turn? “Oh really? What type of music does he like?” 

“Micheal Jackson, David Bowie, Lincoln Park, Prince, and there's totally a few more I just don’t remember their names right now.” The man listed off, counting on his fingers as he talked. 

‘One of those is not like the others.’ Mingi thought. 

“I think we just recently got in a new shipment of David Bowie if you want to look at that?” Mingi knew for a fact they had gotten a new shipment of David Bowie vinyls; he had dropped the box on his foot earlier that day. 

The man nodded, “He would love that! Thank you…” His words trailed off as his eyes started looking for something on Mingi.

Mingi looked down to his chest, his plain black t-shirt with the store's logo in the corner staring back at him. They were supposed to wear name tags but Mingi had accidentally broken his a few weeks ago and just never filled out a new one. He sighed, “Sorry, forgot about that. It’s Mingi.” 

“Nice to meet you Mingi, thank you for helping me. I’m Seonghwa.” The man-Seonghwa- smiled at him and clasped his hands together. Honestly reminding Mingi like a satisfied kindergarten teacher when they got their students to write their name for the first time. 

The two walked over to the section where the David Bowie records were held, Seonghwa humming whatever song was playing on the staff playlist. Seonghwa immediately started digging into the records, flipping through to find one to both his and his partners liking. The silence wasn’t suffocating like it had been the convenience store the past few days without Yunho (There he goes again thinking of Yunho. He was literally with a customer right now. Why couldn’t the man just leave him alone!) but it was a little awkward. He didn’t want to just watch the man flip through records like a weirdo for however long it took him to decide on what his partner wanted. So against his own better judgment, Mingi decided he would attempt to strike up a conversation.

 “Sooooo,” He rocked back and forth from his toes to his heels, trying to think of something to say, “What kind of project is your partner finishing? Must be something pretty big if it warrants such a gift.” 

Seonghwa laughed, still looking through the records, switching over to Queen. “Oh you have no idea, this took him almost 2 years.” 

“2 years?! God damn. I would have given up.” 

“I would have too, that’s what makes him so special.” The way Seonghwas voice softened when talking made Mingi involuntarily soften as well. 

“He sounds cool, I can’t imagine working on a project for that long.” 

Seonghwa stopped looking through the records, a distant look on his face, “He is really cool. He’s really talented too even if he doesn’t think so. He respects me a lot even when I make honestly, really terrible decisions. Yet he’s always there to support me.” 

Mingi spoke without thinking, his mouth moving on its own, “I wish someone was like that for me.” 

Mingi snapped his mouth shut as quickly as he could but Seonghwa had turned to look at Mingi, eyes full of concern. Mingi regretted ever speaking out loud. He felt like taking back his words but that would make him seem like a liar. Mingi didn’t really like to lie. Plus it wasn’t like he actually did have someone to support his stupid decisions (Why do you think his hair dye is always so spotty? He can’t see the back of his head very well.) 

He literally hadn’t had friends since he was like, what? 15? 14? He honestly couldn’t remember. And he sure as hell hasn’t had a partner besides that one weirdo when he was 20 for a few weeks. Mingi just shrugged at Seonghwa, “I meant in a way that the two of you support each other, it’s nice. He must mean a lot to you if you're here digging through dusty vinyls on wednesday afternoon when you could very much be doing something else.”

Luckily for Mingi, Seonghwa seemed to accept that, nodding before turning back to the vinyls. “You’ll find someone. I didn’t think I’d ever find anyone but then Joong showed up and well,” He gestured to where he was with his hand. “You know how that turned out.” 

“I mean I probably won’t but thanks for the vote of confidence,” Mingi laughed, “I’m too weird for most people I think, plus my sleep schedule is insane.” 

Seonghwa made a decision, pulling up one of the many David Bowie vinyls the store had, before looking back at Mingi, “Joong sleeps at 3 am at the earliest.” 

“I don’t get off work until 5 am.” Mingi shot back, smirking. “Made a decision?” 

Seonghwa nodded, “I think he’d like this one, it has my favorite song on it as well so either way I’ll enjoy it.” 

“Work smarter not harder.” Mingi smiled and led Seonghwa to the counter at the back of the store. (He almost tripped over the broom that he left there but he caught himself before Seonghwa noticed.) He then checked the vinyl out, putting it into a flimsy plastic bag for the man, the record's edges sticking out of the top.  

“Cash or card?” 

“Card please!” Seonghwa chirped, digging through his pockets as Mingi turned the card reader around. 

Seonghwa pulled out a shiny black card and Mingi honestly thought it was a gift card before it fully clicked in his head as Seonghwa put the card to the reader and the little ping of a completed transaction hit Mingis ears. 

‘Holy shit. Seonghwa was rich rich.’ 

Mingi hadn’t seen a real black card in years. He’d seen plenty of fake ones at the convenience store from sleazy guys trying to impress girls they're bringing home from the club by buying the girl a slushie or some shit. (Like that would work. One time he saw the same girl with a new guy like that everyday one weekend. But the guys were weird and Mingi wasn’t a snitch, so no harm done to her really.) But a real one? That's new. Especially for this store. 

Trying to ignore the amazement Mingi felt just looking at Seonghwa now. The two year deal suddenly made a little bit more sense, Seonghwas partner must be pretty high up in whatever career ladder he was climbing. Maybe even at the top. Maybe Seonghwa was also at the top. Mingi had to fight back every urge to ask him about it. 

“Have a great day!” Was all Mingi could force himself to say without making it known that he was very much staring at Seonghwas wallet right now. He gave Seonghwa the bag and watched as the man left the store. 

‘Holy shit why was he here if he was that rich.’ Was all Mingi could think. Not that Mingi didn’t think that the little record shop didn’t deserve the business, but there had to be fancier places to use your black card to buy your partner records at least somewhere in this city. 

The rest of Mingis shift was normal. With no more secret rich people coming in, the rest of his shift went by quickly. With two more coworkers coming in to take over for the closing shift a few minutes before Mingis own shift was over. Mingi didn’t work at the convenience store tonight so he was honestly excited to just get home and get a few extra hours of sleep in. He waved a quick goodbye not waiting very long before he left, only making sure his laptop and his water bottle were in his bag before running out the door. (And if he walked a little faster once he hit the door because he heard one of them trip over the broom he left behind? That was just for him to know.) 

Mingi took his time walking home, enjoying the fact he could actually see where he was going this time. The streets were busy, with people pushing past him and hundreds of sounds all clashing together, but Mingi didn’t mind. It was like watching a symphony created with garbage. He had to take a different route than what he usually takes due to some construction in one of the roads that he takes, leading to him having to take one of the busier streets. It was just around dinner time so passing by anywhere that held food was going to be chaos. 

Just as he was about to turn the corner of the homestretch to his apartment, someone came barreling around the corner, knocking Mingi onto the ground. There was a loud crunch underneath him as he fell onto his bag and Mingi felt his heart sink. The man didn’t even stop, just kept running, leaving Mingi on the floor too afraid to open his bag. 

Mingi felt something in the back of his eyes start to burn as he thought about what could have happened but he shoved it back down, refusing to think about it until he was in the comfort of his apartment. He picked himself up, choosing to avoid the acknowledging eyes he felt on him. He readjusted his shoulder bag and started speed walking to his apartment. 

The walk was a lot quicker when Mingi could feel his heart in his feet and when he couldn’t figure out if he was actually breathing or not. Before he noticed he was in front of his apartment door fumbling with his keys trying to figure out which one unlocked the door. As soon as the lock clicked Mingi shoved his shoulder into the door, not even caring about the bruise that he would probably end up with from putting his entire weight on his door. His door usually got stuck and he really didn’t have the patience to deal with it at the moment. 

Mingi kicked the door closed with his food as he ran into his apartment and dumped his bag onto the small table he had in between his kitchen. His laptop looked somewhat fine on the outside, only a few small cracks on the back of it and a bigger one that ran through the middle. But the inside. When Mingi opened his computer his eyes began to burn again. It was completely shattered. He always knew his computer was cheap and fragile but he had had it since he dropped out of college and it had basically become his child. He and this laptop had gone through everything together, even Mingi spilling alcohol on it that one time didn’t compare to the horrible feeling in his gut.

Immediately Mingi pulled out his phone and started researching screen replacements, cringing as he slowly realized his next paycheck was going to only have to go to rent and his computer, with only a little set aside for food. He had lived with less before so the food wasn’t that big of an issue but Mingi was trying to save for at least a few days of vacation. He wanted to go to a hotel and just lay in the giant beds and not have to worry about cleaning up after himself. He wanted to swim for hours and not care about how much water he was using to shower the chlorine off. 

Mingi shook his head, a voice suspiciously sounding like his father reminding him to not be gluttonous when it came to his lifestyle. Mingi sighed and took his now dead computer into his room, setting it on his dresser. He couldn't help but stare at it a little longer before finally deciding he probably shouldn't glare at it like it ruined his entire year when the computer has not been at fault. His computer hadn't done anything wrong, in fact it was Mingis fault for bringing his computer into work when he didn’t really use it.  

Mingi sighed, decided to just sleep off the anger. He changed into a ratty t-shirt and some sweats before flopping himself into his bed. His phone had no notifications, which was to be expected, but he did have an email. He couldn't help but get excited before realizing it was just junk mail that had somehow escaped the spam filter. He pulled his blankets up to his face, plugged his phone in and decided to just try to get comfortable and sleep. 

It took a lot longer than it usually would with Yunho haunting his mind, but eventually Mingi was able to settle down. His rage towards his computer and the random guy who had run into him turned from a raging fire to a simmer than warmed Mingis body. He smiled a tired smile as he realized he could dream of beating the guy who had broken his computer up with no repercussions. For the first time in a very long time, Mingi was glad he had weirdly violent dreams. 

Chapter Text

Mingis life seemed to move slower without his computer. He didn’t realize how much he used it until he couldn’t look at it too long without getting mad. He hadn’t had the time to go to the store to even check how much the repairs would cost. His slow nights became even slower, almost like the last week when Yunho was missing. This time at least he had more customers. He even got a few new regulars in the form of drunk college girls who had finally all turned 21 so they were going out every night.

There was also Seonghwa.

Once he realized that Mingi worked later shifts he had started coming in whenever Mingi was working. Walking in the store and immediately just ranting to Mingi about whatever had been going on in his house. Mingi learned that Seonghwa lived with his partner and they had 5 other roommates. That one took Mingi a little bit to wrap his head around. Black Card Seonghwa had 5 roommates? That was insane to Mingi. Then Seonghwa said that a few of them were brothers and had worked with his partner since they were young and it made a lot more sense. Also according to Seonghwa each of them got their own rooms, including him. So it had to be absolutely huge. 

But according to Seonghwa the gift had been a success, with Seonghwas partner being so excited about it that he played the record on the loudest setting for almost 12 hours straight. So now their roommates are all scrambling to get their own records to play before all they hear for the rest of their lives is David Bowie throughout the house every hour of every day. But since all of them had day jobs that forced them to work long hours, ironically similar to Yunho and his work, it made Seonghwa the main one to come in the last few days and try and find the records that they wanted.

Seonghwas roommates were lucky that artists more recently had gone back into making vinyls for their albums. Seonghwa once came in saying that one of his roommates asked for an idol record and had gone off onto a spiel where he told them that the record shop was a “vintage establishment” and how a “shop such as theirs would not have idol records”. Mingi couldn’t help but laugh and let him continue his rant about how his roommates never thought with a clear head and thought about the world around them. Eventually Mingi pulled out the box of newly shipped in idol records from behind the counter and set it in front of Seonghwa. That had shut him up for a little bit. 

It was another day like the day Seonghwa had come into the store. Mingi was once again working through the lunch shift, the couple had come in for their second date of the week and Mingi was mourning the loss of his computer every moment he got. The door swung open and in walked Seonghwa and someone he had never seen before. The man had a shaggy haircut, similar to Seonghwas just shorter. Him and Seonghwa next to each other made Mingi laugh a little bit. The man with Seonghwa was wearing a baggy bright red sweatshirt and a matching pair of baggy jeans. Seonghwa on the other hand looked as put together as the last few times Mingi had seen him, wearing a simple all black outfit with a bomber jacket that Mingi honestly wanted for his own closet. The two seemed to be arguing over something as they walked in the door, or the new guy was talking aggressively with his hands while Seonghwa just nodded at him like a mother would nod to their toddler. 

The man seemed to notice something as he was walking down the aisles of the store, stopping in his tracks and making Seonghwa run into him. Seonghwa stumbled back and looked at the other guy with an annoyed look. 

“Wooyoung what-” Seonghwa started to say before the man–Wooyoung–slapped his hand over his mouth, shushing him. 

“Shut up, I need to think.” Wooyoung closed his eyes to the delight of Mingi, this was extremely funny to him. It was like he had his computer back and was watching an extremely stupid drama. 

Mingi had to hold back his laughter with everything he had in him as Wooyoung began to move, dancing even. After a few seconds Mingi recognized the movements and realized that Wooyoung was dancing to the song coming from the speakers, one of his coworkers–probably Sabrina knowing her– had been able to sneak Maniac by VIVIZ on the shift playlist. Mingi was honestly in a little bit of awe as he watched Wooyoung move his hips exactly on beat. Mingi himself knew a little bit of the dance but he could never get the last chorus yet, yet here Wooyung was. 

Seonghwa rolled his eyes at his friend's behavior and looked away from him, noticing Mingi behind the counter. “Oh hey Mingi! Do you work every day this week?”  

Mingi shrugged, “No one else likes working closing and someone called out today.” 

“Oh are you the Mingi?” Wooyung stopped dancing and followed Seonghwa to the counter, “Hwa has been talking about you for the past like week!” 

Seonghwa shook his head, “It’s really only been a few days.” 

“Ehh same thing!” Wooyoung shrugged before leaning on the counter looking up at Mingi. “Heard you know this store inside and out big boy.” He said, exaggeratingly winking at Mingi. 

Mingi couldn’t help but laugh at Wooyungs antics, “I mean I kind of have to. I work here.” 

“Wooyung please do not call him big boy that is just-” Seonghwa shuddered, “weird.” 

Wooyoung just waved his hand dismissively at his friend, “Oh shut up he’s going to help me find a new record because none of you guys apparently have taste.”

“Do not insult Hongjoongs gift like that.”  

“If I have to hear “This is ground control to Major Tom” one more time at 1 AM I am going to lose it Seonghwa.” Was all Wooyoung had to say before Seonghwa just shrugged and gestured to the boxes of records behind the three of them. 

“Go ahead then, do you even know what you want?” 

“Nope!” Wooyoung popped the p with a smile on his face before pointing at Mingi, “That’s what he’s here for!” 

“That is in fact what I’m here for.” Mingi just smiled at Seonghwa, who looked annoyed that his friend was getting what he wanted. 

Wooyoung stuck his tongue out at Seonghwa as he waited for Mingi to come out from behind the counter to help him find whatever vinyl he wanted. The two of them seemed to be really close and Wooyoung was apparently one of Seonghwas many roommates. Mingi couldn’t help but wonder if he was also rich. Probably not right? That would just be insane. 

“So what are you looking for?”

“Honestly just idol vinyls, I need some joy and whimsy in this house before I go insane.” Wooyung pointedly stared at Seonghwa as he told Mingi what he wanted, as if Seonghwa was at fault for the “off vibes” in their house. 

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow at Wooyoung. Mingi shuddered, he looked weirdly threatening. “I’m sorry our jobs are demanding so we're all tired. I can ask Hongjoong to give you more work if you want?” 

“Wait- No- I already do way too much don’t tell him shit-” Wooyung spluttered. 

“What do you guys do anyway?” Mingi couldn’t help but ask, cursing at himself as soon as the two of them exchanged looks. This is why he didn’t have any friends. He could never keep his big mouth shut. 

Surprisingly Wooyoung responded, “I’m a caterer for pretty rich people events. Seonghwa is a model.” 

Mingis head whipped to stare at Seonghwa, that was where he had recognized him from. He thought he was just crazy. Suddenly Mingi recognized his face from billboards downtown and the way he carried himself suddenly made so much more sense. (That also explained why they didn’t want to tell him what they did for work, they weren’t involved with that world like he was scared they were. They seemed too nice for that anyways.) 

 “That actually makes so much sense.” Mingi breathed out, honestly out of relief. He hadn’t crossed a line, he was ok. No rules were broken. 

“That’s also why so many of us live together,” Seonghwa continued, “Most of us have pretty crazy schedules and can’t be home all the time. Sometimes we’re out of the house for weeks so it really helps to have a bunch of people whose schedules don't line up all the time so there's always someone in the house.”

“Ohhhhh.” Was all Mingi was able to say. Well that answered that question. 

“Um. Well, anyways,” Mingi tried to change the topic by pulling a random idol vinyl out of the box next to him, it was some group he had never heard of named ‘Xikers’. “Is this what you were looking for?”

“Oh my god! Hwa look they have Xikers!” Wooyung took the vinyl out of Mingis hand, “I didn’t even know they made these.” 

“Oh you know them?” Mingi asked, looking back in the box to see if they had any more. 

Wooyoung nodded so hard Mingi thought his head was going to fall off, “We actually know them! They’re really good! Sweet kids too.”

 “Wait- oh!” Wooyung exclaimed, pointing at Mingi. “Do you perchance-”

“Who the fuck says perchance-” 

“I do! Shut the fuck up Seonghwa!” Wooyoung went to bite (? Who does that- Mingi hoped he was seeing that wrong.) Seonghwa but Seonghwa moved out of the way at just the last moment. 

“Anyways, ignoring his dumb ass.” Wooyoung sent a glare to Seonghwa who just smiled at him. Ming liked the two of them. They were fun. He hoped Seonghwa would come in with Wooyoung more often now. “Do you have any Itzy?” 

Mingi couldn’t help but smile as he nodded, he enjoyed Itzy. It was one of the many groups that Sabrina would put on the shift playlists. She always seemed to work before Mingi and Mingi was just too lazy to switch the playlist so he listened to a lot of them. He definitely liked the way they did the raps in their songs, one of his favorites out of the groups on Sabrina's playlists. “We do actually! You know which album you’re looking for?” 

“Whatever the one that has Wannabe on it.” Seonghwa groaned as Wooyoung spoke. 

“Please don’t blast that through the house again.” 

“If Hongjoong gets to do it, so do I! Stop being biased!” 

Mingi spent the next 30 minutes with Seonghwa and Wooyoung, going back and forth between arguing and getting along with the two of them. Mingi liked talking to them, they brought a lot of energy to the usually calm and quiet store. It took Mingi a lot of time to warm up to people usually, especially customers because he was always worried he was going to slip up and make them mad at him but Wooyoung and Seonghwa never made him worried in all the time they had spent together. (Well all the time Seonghwa and him had spent together and the hour he and Wooyoung had spent together.) 

Eventually Wooyoung had picked out three records he wanted, a Twice record, an Itzy record and the Xikers record Mingi had found at the beginning of their hunt. By the time the two of them were gearing up to go it was getting close to when Mingis lunch break would be happening, if he had the money for lunch that is. Saving up for his computer meant giving away a few things and that just so happened to be lunch on the days he worked the lunch shifts at the record store. He didn’t have a lot of food he could bring to work since they didn’t have a refrigerator in the back and he couldn’t afford to eat out for at least a week so he was just stuck in hungry purgatory for at least till he was off his shift. Sadly his stomach hadn’t gotten the memo yet and wouldn’t stop growling as Mingi rang Wooyoung and Seonghwa up. 

After an embarrassingly loud growl from his stomach, Wooyoung finally commented on it to Mingis dismay. “Are you going to lunch soon? Do you want to come out to eat with us?” 

Mingi shook his head, internally cursing his stomach, “No I’m good! I do go on lunch soon but I think I’m just going to work through it since I can’t afford it right now.”

That just made things worse as Seonghwa suddenly looked super concerned. ‘Stupid Mingi couldn’t keep his mouth shut once again. This is why no one stays Mingi. This is why you have your rules.’

“What do you mean you can’t afford it?”

“It’s nothing bad!” Mingi tried to defuse the situation, “I just broke my computer and I have to save up to fix it!”

“So you’re not eating to fix your computer?” Wooyoung sounded concerned now too. Fuck. 

‘They were going to think something was wrong with him. He didn’t like the fact he couldn’t eat. He liked the effects sometimes–sure–but he didn’t want to not eat. He just genuinely couldn’t if he wanted his computer fixed and his rent paid.’ 

“I’m still eating dinner! I just can’t eat out over here because it’s so expensive.” Mingi tried to laugh away the awkwardness that was now absolutely radiating off of him. 

Wooyoung and Seonghwa exchanged glances again, giving Mingi a sinking feeling in his already angry at him stomach. 

“There's snacks in the back!” He quickly said. “Those will hold me over till I get home, promise. I don’t even work that late today. I just work till 4 and then I’ll go straight home and eat!” 

That was a lie, there were no snacks back in the break room. Just a fly trap that smelled like rotting fruit. And he probably wasn’t going to go straight home and eat. He was probably going to go take a nap before his shift at the convenience store tonight and just eat then. But the two of them didn’t need to know that. It seemed to work too because they looked a little less concerned. Mingi ironically really needed them out now. He shoved the bag full of records into Wooyoung's hands and said “The cafe down the street is really good! I recommend it!” 

The two men looked at each other one more time before they smiled at Mingi. “See you later!” Wooyoung said as the two headed out of the shop. Mingi watched as they turned the direction of the cafe, a little pleased they had taken his suggestion. 

The rest of Mingis shift was boring but ironically a little stressful. He had a little bit of a rush with a bunch of people coming in around 2 and then a few more people coming in after that. There must have been something happening near the store because during the rush, most of them were wearing the same weird shirt that Mingi couldn’t read the next on. 

‘They should really hire a new graphic designer’ Was all he thought as he checked out his third person in a purple shirt with pink text on it. 

Eventually it slowed back down and Mingi was just about to start his closing shift activities, excited to finally go home after his first exhausting shift after a while. Just as he started sweeping, the last of the things he needed to do. That was when Wooyoung and Seonghwa showed back up, with four tupperware boxes in hand. Mingis heart sank. They didn’t go out and buy him food right? That would make Mingi feel bad. They didn’t need to do that. Not eating was normal for him whenever he needed something like this, it literally wasn’t a problem anymore. 

“Oh hey Mingles!” Wooyoung chirped when he saw Mingi standing in the middle of the store with a broom. 

“Uh hey guys,” Mingi hoped his voice didn’t show how shaken and tired he was, “Mingles is a new one.”

“Well yeah,” Wooyoung just smiled, not acknowledging the boxes under his arm. Which, upon closer inspection, were filled with fried rice. “We’re friends now. You get a nickname.” 

Mingi tilted his head at the man, “We’re friends now?” 

Seonghwa shrugged at Mingi, “You talked to him for longer than 5 minutes without telling him to shut up. That’s friends in his book.” 

“Ok so, obviously you’ve seen the boxes so you can stop death glaring at me now.” Mingi didn’t even realize he was glaring at Wooyoung. Maybe something in his subconscious thought if he stared at it long enough, it would burst into flame. 

‘Yeah like that would work. He tried that with his computer literally yesterday.’ Mingi rolled his eyes internally at himself. He needed to learn how to control his facial expressions. 

“Anyways, we did not make these for you ok.” Wooyoung stated, honestly staring at Mingi the same way Mingi had apparently been staring at him a few seconds before. Wooyoung could apparently be scary if he wanted to be.

Mingi just nodded with Wooyoung taking that as a “go ahead” to continue, “We had someone at work randomly remember that they had a life threatening allergy and that we could no longer serve them this food. We were going to throw it all away before I remembered you said you didn’t have anything to make for lunch for work and I grabbed a few boxes of it.” 

Mingi glanced at Seonghwa, for what? He didn’t know. Maybe help? But Seonghwa just backed up Wooyoung, “Honestly Wooyoung didn’t even think about it, I did. You’ve been a great help to us Mingi and we wanted to give back at least a little bit.” 

If Mingi hadn’t been so tired, he wouldn’t have taken it. But he wanted to go home and take a nap before his other shift and he couldn’t do that unless he was able to clock out and lock up. (And if the fact they hadn’t made it for him and they were going to throw away the food had helped sway his decision? He didn’t need to let them know that.) So he sighed and held out his hands.

“Just give me them.” Was all he could say. Wooyoung looked relieved when said he would take them, handing them over with a smile so wide Mingi was worried his face would hurt afterwards. Seonghwa was smiling too, not as big as Wooyoung but it was still a pretty obvious smile. Mingis stomach rumbled when he smelled the rice. Maybe he was a lot hungrier than he thought. 

“Now shoo, I need to close up.” The two listened to him, almost running out the door when Mingi told them to leave. They were so weird. 

‘I wonder what Yunho would have told them…’ As soon as he thought about Yunho, Mingi decided he needed to get home right now. He had somehow found a way to not think about the other man until right then and he needed to keep it that way.

He quickly went to the back and shoved the broom back next to where his bag used to sit, now full of fried rice. He was glad he brought it even if he wasn’t carrying around his computer anymore.

Mingi walked quickly home, glad it wasn’t the weekend because he really didn’t feel like having to maneuver through long lines that wrapped around the street from the clubs around that time. His apartment was quiet, with only the faint noise of his neighbors tv coming through the wall. Mingi sighed as he saw his computer still sitting on his table, the cracked screens staring at him like they were judging him. 

“Oh shut up.” He said, “You would take it too.” 

He didn’t even dwell on the fact he was talking to a broken computer like a crazy person, instead deciding on reheating some of the rice Wooyoung and Seonghwa had given him and speed eating before he took a nap. It was only 5 so all around him were the sounds of people getting home from work, slamming their doors depending on the day they seemed to have. His neighbor (Not the one watching Tv, he didn't think that neighbor even worked.) apparently had a terrible one if the way Mingis walls shook with the way he slammed his door. 

As he shoveled the rice into his mouth, Mingi scrolled on his phone, going through his few social medias before he ran into an ad with a familiar face. The ad was Seonghwa modeling for a fashion brand, Halateez. He looked great all done up, but also like a completely different person. The person staring at him in an all black suit with a big hat that looked like it took up most of Mingis screen was not the same person who had given him 4 tupperware boxes of fried rice today. 

‘..Wait…’ Mingi suddenly realized he didn’t know if Seonghwa or Wooyoung would be back next week. He didn’t have their numbers either. He couldn’t just keep their tupperware! That was literally against almost everything he was taught as a child. That was making someone else have something to hold over your head. He knew Seonghwa and Wooyoung weren’t a part of the life that made that rule life or death and they wouldn’t do that, but it still made him feel bad. He basically stole something from them.  

“Fuck.” He really needed to stop talking to people who randomly disappeared. First Yunho, now these guys. At least Yunho just gave him sleepless nights, he didn’t have to return anything to Yunho. He had something physical he needed to give back to Wooyoung and Seonghwa. This was going to drive him insane until he could give it back. 

Chapter Text

In some sick sense of deja vu Wooyoung and Seonghwa didn’t come back to the store in the following few days. Even when Mingi had eaten enough of the rice to put the remainder in his own tupperware, they still hadn’t come back through the record shop doors, ready to take their boxes back. Mingi had begun carrying them back and forth between his job at the record store and his house. (It wasn’t like his computer was taking up space in his bag anymore so it wasn’t a problem.) He had stayed up the past few nights, searching their names on social media but coming up with nothing. Sure Seonghwa had social media, he was a model after all. Mingi would be lying if he said one of his nights wasn’t filled with Mingi scrolling through all of the photo shoots and fashion weeks Seonghwa had done. He had even found some pictures of Wooyoung with him at fancy events. But Wooyoung wasn’t tagged and Seonghwas account was verified and didn’t allow DMs from outside sources. So he was kind of at a loss on how to get the tupperware back to them. 

Mingi was still stressing about another day of no sign of Seonghwa or Wooyoung at 2 Am, with no computer to distract him from his now empty shift. There had been around 15 people in that night, which made sense since it was a Friday, but it made Mingi just so tired. He had worked extra hours at the record store because Maddie kept calling out last minute. Throwing out some bullshit excuse that she was sick that his boss ate right up. It didn’t help that he had been stressing over everything at every living moment and it didn’t help that his neighbor next door seemed to have gotten fired from his job if him staying up late blasting whatever stupid show he was watching through the walls at all hours of the day said anything. If Mingi didn’t have to buy a new computer screen he would have asked for less hours this week and refused to work Maddies shifts, but it was ok. He didn’t work at the record shop over the weekends. He would get his paycheck tomorrow and go to the store later in the day to fix his computer and his life would be better. 

Or that’s what he kept repeating to himself at least. 

Mingi dramatically sighed, leaning down and laying his head down on the counter and closing his eyes just as the bell rang throughout the store. 

‘ Not another one .’ He thought. He shoved his face into his arms and just prayed to some random god that they weren't so drunk they’d run into the displays and make more work for Mingi. 

“Hello and welcome to Starshines, grab whatever you want and bring it up here.” His voice was muffled by his sweatshirt but he couldn’t bring it in himself to care. It was late. He was here for the next 4 hours, he was tired. 

“Damn, you look like shit. You ok?” Mingis head snapped up at the sound of the voice, standing in front of him was Yunho. Finally. As an apology to Mingis heart, he was back in his usual uniform of a sweatshirt and sweatpants. This time though his knuckles weren’t wrapped up and Mingi could see the bright red skin that looked like they were one more tap away from splitting open. 

Mingi couldn’t stop his hands from going out and grabbing Yunho's hands, looking them over with as much concern that he could pretend was platonic. (Ignoring the way his heart was trying to pound right out of his chest.) “Are you ?” 

Yunho just shrugged, “Forgot to bring wraps to the gym. Didn’t wanna go home. So I now have fucked up hands.” 

“Dude, seriously these look like they’re about to split open.”

“Didn’t know my princess cared that much.” Mingi rolled his eyes, ok so he hasn’t let the princess thing go. Mingi was more concerned about his hands than the way his heart was beating faster. They didn’t look like he had just been hitting a punching bag, the cuts on his knuckles were proof of that. They were too jagged and deep for it to be from dry skin splitting open on leather. They almost looked like Yunho had fought a wall or was sparring with someone who didn’t take off their rings. 

He rotated Yunho's hand, looking at the palm and holding back a disappointed sigh when he saw basically claw marks from Yunho holding his hands in fists with his nails digging into the skin. “You haven’t let that go yet huh? Why did I even want you to come back-” 

“Aw princess missed me.”

Mingi glared at Yunho, wanting to wipe that stupid smirk off his face, “Princess did not miss you actually. He wants you gone now.” 

Yunho sighed dramatically, draping the hand Mingi wasn’t holding on his forehead, “He hates me. He doesn’t even care about the fact I went on a quest for his honor. He doesn’t care about me, he wants me dead.” 

Mingi looked around, expecting to see someone waiting behind Yunho in line but there was no one. “Literally who are you speaking to. You are the only one in the store right now.” 

“Aw you wanna keep me to yourself?” Mingi felt like if he tried to roll his eyes any more they’d roll right out of his head. 

“Go get your food.” Mingi waved the man away, expecting him to quip back at Mingi.

Instead, to Mingis dismay, his words seemed to work because Yunho picked himself up off where he had been leaning on the counter and quickly headed over to where the energy drinks and chips were. Mingi kind of hoped he didn’t drink both of those in one night, he knew what they could do to you. Mingi couldn’t help but be a little disappointed when he saw how fast Yunho had got his items and was now walking back towards Mingi. Did he go too far with his rejection? He thought they were still joking. He did genuinely miss Yunho and honestly didn’t want their conversation to end yet. 

Yunho dropped two energy drinks and a bag of chips in front of Mingi, a soft smile on his face as he watched Mingi reach for the items like they would kill him if he touched them too fast. Mingi scanned the drinks and with each beep from the register Mingi felt his heart sink a little bit. It felt like he was dooming his own fate. 

He tried not to sound disappointed when he read out the price to Yunho, who as usual, just paid without even a second glance. Mingi bagged up Yunho's things and almost didn’t hand him the bag. Yunho finally seemed to notice how much Mingi didn’t want to go because he huffed out a small laugh and turned and headed towards the door without taking the bag. 

‘Damn. Ok. So Yunho hated him. Cool. This wouldn’t affect him for the rest of his life.’ Mingi closed his eyes, dreading the cheerful bell of the store signaling that Yunho had left. Left and probably to be never seen again. Mingi sighed, and this is why he refused to talk to anyone. 

Mingis ears suddenly registered the screeching of a chair against the floor followed by a quiet, “Damn, did you miss me that much princess?”

Mingi knew his face was red but he couldn’t bring himself to care as he opened his eyes to meet Yunhos, who was now sitting backwards on a chair that they were getting rid of. It had been sitting by the front door after randomly the owner decided that was what needed to be redone. The staff breakroom chairs. Not the cameras (that were still broken.)  or the ice cream machine.

Yunho didn’t pay any mind to Mingi and his confusion that was probably radiating off of him as he dug through the bag of snacks he had gotten and pulled out one of the energy drinks he had gotten, opening it with a crisp crack that echoed through the empty space. 

Yunho finally looked back up at Mingi, whose mouth probably was hung open like a fish, “You were pouting at me. I wasn’t gonna leave.” 

Mingi snapped his mouth shut at that, wincing a bit when he bit a little chunk of his cheek. “I was not fucking pouting at you.” 

“You totally were. You looked like a duck,” Yunho took a sip of drink, not even concerned that Mingi was debating killing him. “It was cute.” 

“Why are you still here?” Mingi spat out. Yunho just chuckled at him, letting Mingi change the topic. 

“Unlike you-”

 Mingi crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes. “If you’re just going to make fun of me you can leave. You know where-” 

Yunho sighed, interrupting Mingi “Are you going to let me finish?”

Somehow that worked. Mingi stopped talking but didn’t un-cross his arms. He glared at Yunho and waited for him to keep talking.

“Unlike you, I can admit I missed you. So I’m staying.” 

“You never stay this late.” 

“That's what the energy drinks are for.” Yunho shook the can in front of Mingis face, as if to remind him that he was holding them. 

Mingi sighed, looking at the cuts on Yunho's knuckles again. They looked like they hurt, and they did if the way Yunho's hand was tensed up holding the drink said anything. Mingi was stupid but he knew his way around minor injuries. He knew they had some bandage rolls in the back, they sat abandoned in the first aid kit and had never been restocked since people usually needed bandaids more than full wraps. 

“I’ll let you stay,” Yunho perked up at that, reminding Mingi a bit of a puppy when you call them good, “If you let me wrap up your hands. They look like they’re going to split open any minute.” 

Yunho nodded, still reminding Mingi of a dog. “Yeah sure, do whatever.” 

“Damn you missed me a lot huh?” Mingi couldn’t help but smirk as he threw Yunho's words back at him. 

Yunho, to Mingis surprise, nodded and shrugged, “I thought I already told you that.” 

Mingi didn’t know what to say to that so he gestured to the door of the break room behind him and waited for Yunho to stand up and follow him to the back. It didn’t take long for Yunho to get what Mingi was telling him and he hopped off the chair and almost ran in the corner of the counter with how fast he ran around to the back of the counter. When he grabbed the corner to propel himself behind it, he had reopened one of the small scabs that was just starting to form. The blood wasn't much, but it was enough for Mingi to notice and roll his eyes at. 

“Don’t hurt yourself even more, Jesus christ.” 

“I won’t hurt myself. I’m not even hurt.” Yunho tried to disagree but Mingi wasn’t having it. 

“Hopping over the counter literally opened your knuckles do not lie to me I can see it bleeding down your hand.” 

“I did not hop over the counter.” Yunho grumbled as he followed Mingi into the back room. 

Mingi headed straight for the back shelf where the first aid kit was shoved behind random boxes. It wasn’t used much due to the fact they had a box of band aids behind the counter for quick cuts and no one really needed anything more than that. Until Yunho. 

Blowing off the dust (More like blowing it into his face. He could feel his eyes start to water.) he pulled out the bright red plastic box.

“Are you sure that’s safe to use?” He rolled his eyes before realizing his back was still to Yunho, who was now sitting on the desk where Mingis computer used to sit. 

“It’s fine, don't worry. It’s dust from moving the boxes around back here, I check it a few times a week.” (He didn’t. That was a morning shift job. But Yunho didn’t need to know that.)

Opening the box Mingi was celebrated internally when he saw the two untouched wraps of bandage just sitting there. He would have looked real stupid if they weren’t actually there. He grabbed the two wraps, not really knowing how much he would need for Yunho's hands, and the bit of tape that was hidden underneath the rolls. He turned and almost laughed at the way Yunho was swinging his feet white sitting on the desk, just looking around the back room like he had never been there before. Somehow he looked like a kid in a candy store sitting on a flimsy desk in an empty room with an outdated calendar and a pile of sweatshirts in the corner that no one had ever come back to pick up for almost 7 months now. 

Mingi knew Yunho was tall, Mingi himself was tall and Yunho was the first person he had met in a long time that was similar in height to him and didn’t hurt his neck from looking down all the time. But standing in front of Yunho who was now a lot taller than him because he was sitting on a desk was a weird world view for Mingi. He felt kinda small. He had half the mind to kick the weak leg in the desk so that the table crumbled and Yunho was shorter than Mingi because he was now on the floor. He didn’t, because he was nice. But when Yunho straightened up and waved his hand above Mingis head, it took a lot of his self control not to. 

Mingi grabbed Yunho's wrist out of the air and dragged it down to his level, “Just give me your goddamn hands.” 

There was only one cut that was still sluggishly leaking blood, the one Yunho had reopened in his haste to follow Mingi,  but the rest had seemed to close up pretty quickly. Or at least they had stopped bleeding. Looking up close, Mingi could have honestly given Yunho a few bandaids and he would have been good to go. But Mingi was known for being dramatic and he was going to continue to be dramatic till his dying day. 

Yunho continued kicking his feet as Mingi unraveled a bit of the bandage, Mingi didn’t miss the way that he was actively making a point to kick around Mingi. Mingi grabbed the hand that was still bleeding and started wrapping that one first. Due to the nature of the injuries, he had to make sure he could still move his fingers, so Mingi couldn’t wrap Yunho's entire hand the way he wanted to, but he could wrap up most of his hand so he proved the point that Yunho should have been more careful. Mingi bit his tongue as he carefully ripped and taped the bandages, bending Yunho's fingers every time to make sure they weren’t being restricted. Once he got to his knuckles his life got a little more complicated but he eventually figured it out. 

“I don’t think I've seen you this interested in something since I caught you watching that drama a few weeks ago.” 

Mingi looked up at Yunho, who was looking down at him with a smile on his face. “How did that drama end by the way? I know you were looking forward to it.” 

Mingi shrugged, “I never finished it before my computer broke.” 

“Your computer broke?” Yunho sounded bewildered, like he didn’t know computers could break.

“God yeah. It’s the most annoying thing that’s ever happened to me.” Mingi groaned, upset but mostly excited to complain to a real person for once. 

“How did it happen?” 

“Some fuck face ran into me on my way home one night!” 

Yunho gasped, scandalized, “No.” 

“Yes!” Mingi threw his hands up in the air, “Dude didn’t even apologize! He just ran away!”

“Oh so he was a coward.” Yunho actually sounded a little angry, which Mingi appreciated. 

“Yeah and now it’s going to be super expensive to fix it since he shattered the entire screen.” 

At that, Yunho moved to grab something out of his pocket but Mingi slapped his hands. “No. I’m still working.” 

“Do you need help paying for it?” Yunho said it so innocently Mingi almost agreed before it finally clicked what he had just offered. Mingi just stared at Yunho. He had known this man what- a few months? And he was offering to cover the cost of Mingis broken laptop? As much as Mingi wanted to say yes, it would make it so he was at least sure he could cover rent for the next month, he just couldn’t. Whispers to the tune of his mothers voice returned to his mind but this time Mingi agreed with them. He couldn’t accept that from Yunho. Not even just because then he’d be in debt to Yunho, he just didn’t want the man to spend money on him. 

Mingi shook his head, “I’ll be fine. Once I get paid I'll be able to pay it pretty easily.” 

Yunho didn’t look convinced but Mingi just continued, trying to change the subject away from him and his computer. “The entire week has been weird since then I swear to god this guy put a curse on me.”

“The entire week?” 

“The entire week!” Mingi just went off, finally unloading everything he had built up from the past few days without Yunho. It felt like all the words just started spilling out of his mouth without Mingi noticing. He was telling Yunho things he didn’t even realize he cared so much about. The fact that the construction down by the record store had created a crack in the sidewalk that he tripped on every day going to and from work. The bakery behind the store burned bread and threw it in their shared dumpster so all Mingi could smell was charcoal for an entire shift. How he stubbed his toe on the way into work that day. How his neighbor was blasting tv from all hours of the day. How his coworker at the record shop keeps calling out on him, making him work super long hours that end up making him so tired he keeps falling asleep on his night shifts. (That was the one he was the most annoyed about. Just because he worked long hours didn’t mean he liked to.)

Once he started, he just couldn’t stop. “There is no way she’s that sick! She’s probably on vacation again. She did that 3 times last year. 3 times!” 

“And yeah sure that’s how I met the guys who gave me food but now I just have to pick up that shift everyday until I can give them their tupperware back!”  Mingi had finished wrapping Yunhos around halfway through his word vomit and was now just pacing around the room. Yunho hadn’t moved from his spot on the desk, just watching Mingi walk in circles, occasionally flexing his hand to make sure he still had circulation. 

“Someone gave you food? Why?” 

Mingi finally looked up from where he was staring down at the floor like it offended him as he paced and made eye contact with Yunho. Yunho looked a little concerned and Mingis mind immediately went back on guard. On one hand, Seonghwa and Wooyoung had been super nice and he would love to tell Yunho about them. On the other hand, there was the fact that he would be admitting that he couldn’t really eat this week due to his computer and Yunho had already tried to pay for Mingis computer. He didn’t know what he would do if Mingi told him that he was basically just surviving on fried rice at the moment. 

“Mingi?”

Yunho's voice was soft. 

Too soft for Mingis liking. 

Yunho's voice unlocked something deep in Mingis heart. Something that should have been beaten out of him by the time he was 7. Apparently it wasn’t with the way his stomach was doing flips. He had always been too emotional for his parents' liking. He wanted to tell Yunho. He didn’t want to just tell him about trivial things that bothered him. He wanted to tell him everything. Tell him about the fact he can’t eat and make rent and pay for his computer to be fixed. About the fact he was lonely. About how he could barely sleep now because he didn’t have his usual distractions. About how he did actually miss him a lot in the week he’s been gone because he’s the closest thing Mingi has to a friend. 

He wanted Yunho to know and maybe deep down he wanted Yunho to at least pretend he cared. Yunho had some kind of control over him that no one had had since his parents. He barely knew Yunho and he wanted to spill his guts to this man. Everything he had ever learned, every slap his mother had given him when he cried to his friends at school about his dad being gone for weeks on end, every eye roll his dad gave him when he showed him Mingis new attempt to get his approval, everything was being thrown out the window. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Was all he was able to say. 

Yunho huffed and rolled his eyes, “Well now I’m going to worry about it.”

When Mingi didn’t say anything in response, Yunho seemed to back down a little bit. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation that both of them seemed to be suffering from. 

Eventually Yunho offered Mingi an olive branch, “What’d they make you?” 

Mingi smiled a little bit, glad that Yunho wasn’t going to push him. “Fried rice! Wooyoung said that one of their clients forgot to tell them about allergies so they were going to throw it out so he gave it to me!” 

“Wooyoung?” Yunho tilted his head, once again reminding Mingi of a dog. 

“Yeah! Seonghwa brought him in a few days ago. He’s a caterer for some pretty fancy rich people apparently which is why they had so much food.” 

Mingi didn’t notice Yunho going quiet as he talked about how he had met Seonghwa in the record shop when he was getting a present for his partner (Obviously not telling him that originally Mingi didn’t like him because he was too pretty and Mingi was jealous that Yunho, who didn’t even know the guy, would like Seonghwa over Mingi.) and how the two had picked out a record that had apparently been a big hit in their home so Wooyoung came along with Seonghwa to pick out his own. 

Mingi was halfway through explaining how Wooyoung had shushed Seonghwa just so he could dance when he noticed Yunho silently laughing, his shoulders shaking in a way that Mingi was a little worried they’d hurt. 

“You good?” 

Yunho nodded, chuckling to himself still. “Yeah I am, don't worry,” Mingi raised his eyebrow, that was his main thing. Worrying. 

“It’s just,” Yunho smiled wide, showing off almost all of his teeth. Mingi swore they were sharp but that could also just be him being insane. Lack of sleep did not help his tendencies to be weird about everything ever. 

“It's just?” Mingi moved his hand, coaxing Yunho to continue. 

Yunho looked up at the ceiling and sighed, “Seonghwa is my boss's partner.”

What. 

“Or I guess he’s also my boss since Joong lets him boss us around.”  

“Woah woah woah,” Mingi interrupted Yunho, “You know Seonghwa?” 

‘So me being weirdly jealous of Seonghwa was kind of for good reason.’ Was all Mingi could think, remembering how annoyed he was when he first met Seonghwa because the man seemed to somehow have everything Mingi wanted. Including Yunho apparently. 

“I know Wooyoung too.” Yunho nodded, seemingly enjoying blowing Mingis mind. 

“Wait, how do you know Wooyoung?” Mingi knew that Seonghwa was dating (married to? Who knows.) Yunho's boss, but Wooyoung was just their roommate. “He doesn’t work for your boss I don’t think. Plus…that’d be pretty weird to live with your boss.” 

Yunho shrugged, “I’m not just some random employee Min, I’m Hongjoongs right hand man.” 

“And we’ve been best friends since we could walk. So I don’t think it’s that weird.” 

Mingi tried not to blush at the new nickname, choosing to focus on the new information he had. Yunho lived with Wooyoung and Seonghwa. This meant Yunho lived in a giant mansion with 7 other people. Which, when he thought about it some more, did make more sense with the fact that he was going to the expensive gym close to the store. He always knew Yunho was rich just from that, but he didn’t expect him to be black card rich. 

He wondered if Yunho was a part of the roommates who complained about having to listen to the David Bowie record that Seonghwa had bought on loop. Would he have eventually come to the store with Seonghwa? Maybe he should offer him his employee discount if he did. He didn’t use it anyway. 

“Wait!” Yunho suddenly lit up again, pointing at Mingi, “You!” 

“Me?” 

“Oh my god that is so funny!” Yunho started shaking his head and laughing again, “You’re pretty record store boy!” 

Well that was a new one. He had been called many things in his time with Yunho but this was the most confusing. “What?” 

Yunho just laughed some more, “I gotta tell Sannie, he’s gonna be so annoyed.” 

Just as Mingi was about to ask Yunho what the fuck he was talking about again the bell above the doors reached his ears. There was another customer in the store. 

“Ah shit!” Mingi ran out of the back room and back to the front counter. Yunho's slushie was where they had left it. It had been sitting in wait and melting for however long the two had been talking. Yunho's energy drinks were still on the counter too. Mingi quickly grabbed them and hid them behind the counter. Wiping his hand on his pants after moving the slushie after the condensation made it feel like he had just stuck his hand under a running tap. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed but Mingi was internally beating himself up for being back there so long. Glancing up at the cameras he just prayed to whatever the first god he thought of that they were still broken and hadn’t gotten fixed yet. His boss didn’t really care what Mingi did, but bringing back another person into the break room like that for so long was definitely a bad look. 

The person who had set off the door was walking up to him, holding a bag of gummies, a pink sugary drink that Mingi honestly was too scared to try, and an energy drink. (Somewhere in the back of his mind he noticed it was one of the flavors Yunho had originally bought earlier.) The food the man had didn’t match him at all, the man was all sharp angles and had shoulders that looked as wide as Mingis wingspan. He was wearing a white tank top and black loose sweatpants, probably just left the gym if the slight dampness in his hair was an indicator. 

Mingi knew he had RBF, he had almost gotten himself into a few too many drunken bar fights because of it when he used to go out, but this guy was definitely glaring at Mingi as he got closer to the counter. He looked almost angry at Mingi, his mouth in a slight frown as Mingi tried to smile at him warmly. 

“Will this be all today?” Mingi asked, scanning the man's few items. 

He didn’t get a vocal response, just a curt nod before continuing to stare at Mingi. Mingi couldn’t help but feel a shiver down his spine as he continued checking the man out.  The man paid using his phone while Mingi put his items into a bag, not even bothering to ask the man if he wanted one or not.

Just as he was about to hand the bag off and wish him a good night, the man's eyes locked onto someone behind Mingi and his frown got deeper. Mingi didn’t even have to turn around to see what the man was staring at when he felt a hand go on his lower back, freezing him in place. It was Yunho. Mingi held back another shiver when Yunho kept his hand there, it wasn’t a fleeting touch or a “excuse me, passing through.” touch. There was something almost possessive about it. Which made Mingi want to blush even more. (Though Mingi thought he was just probably overthinking it.)

From a quick glance the two seemed to be standing off about something Mingi didn’t understand. Maybe Yunho had beat the man in a boxing fight or took his spot at the gym and he held a grudge or something, he didn’t know. Yunho didn’t look to be worried, he didn’t even show any reaction at all, besides his smile at the man. Which is what made Mingi come to the conclusion that Yunho had won whatever their fight was. He almost wanted to watch this standoff, wanted to see how long it would last. The new guy looked like he could probably take Yunho pretty well in a fight, just from pure muscle mass alone. But Yunho had height, which was a good advantage. If you’re tall enough to hit their head you can K.O them pretty quick he’d learn from the few scraps he had gotten into over the past few years. 

Mingi felt the tension get a little thicker and that’s when he decided he’d had enough. He was too tired for this shit. As much as he wanted to watch a fight like the old days, he was not in the mood to clean up the mess that would come with it and definitely fall onto him if he was on the clock. Maybe they could come back and fight when Mingi wasn’t working but for now he was done with whatever the fuck was going on. 

“Have a good night sir.” Was all the warning he gave the other man before shoving his bag into his hands, breaking him out of whatever staring contest he and Yunho were in. He blinked at Mingi, suddenly glitching from the tough guy to honestly someone cute. The way he switched up honestly reminded Mingi a little bit of those memes where they threw a piece of cheese at a cat right before they're about to pounce. 

‘Maybe that’s what this was,’ he glanced between Yunho and the other guy. ‘Just a rivalry between a cat and a dog.’ 

Yunho just smiled at the other guy, nodding at him to leave. The guy rolled his eyes at Yunho before turning his attention back to Mingi. 

“Thank you. Have a nice night.” He said before turning around and leaving the store. The bell signaling when he made it to the door. 

“He was weird.” Was all Mingi said, still not turning to look at Yunho who still had yet to take his hand off of Mingis back.  

Yunho huffed behind him, sounding amused, “Yeah he sure was.”

Mingi moved to sit on the counter, setting his hands behind him to make sure he didn’t tip over the other way. He tried to pretend he didn’t mourn the warmth of Yunho's hand on his back as he settled himself onto the surface. He pulled out his phone, finally checking it after the last few hours of pure radio silence. Still no notifications from anybody but he had gotten a notification that his updated building in one of the mobile games he played was finished. 

Yunho had also moved away, grabbing his now completely melted slushie from the shelf Mingi had shoved it and was now swirling it around in the cup. “When do you get off work?” 

“Hm?” Mingi hummed, not looking up from his phone as he collected coins and items from his cats.  

Yunho threw his cup away and opened one of the energy drinks he had gotten. The crack the can made when he opened it was crisp and loud in the quiet store. Leaning on the counter as he casually sipped the drink. “When do you get off work?” He repeated. 

“Oh uhhhh,” Mingi trailed off, checking the time. It was currently around 4:30, 4:31 to be exact but who really cared. (Mingi did. He cared.) He got off around 5, but it was really up to whoever was showing up next to show up on time. 

“Usually around 5,” He said, “But it depends on if the morning shift shows up on time.” 

He didn’t know who it was going to be, Myeong had called out “sick” earlier that day in the employee group chat. (He texted Mingi separately that he had a performance they didn’t give him time off for.) So it was a coin flip on whether or not he would actually get to leave or not. 

“Why?” 

Yunho shrugged, “Since you have our tupperware I’ll just grab it from you so you don’t have to worry about it.” 

Oh. Yeah that would make Mingis life a little easier huh.

“That would be nice, yeah.” Mingi hopped off the counter and turned to Yunho, who was scrolling on his own phone now, “You sure you want to stay that long though? Don’t you have work or something?” 

He watched as Yunho yawned, tilting his head back a little before going back to his phone, “Or I don’t know, sleep?” 

Yunho shook his head, “Nah because then I’d have to leave and I don’t want to.” 

“Dude you’re like falling asleep as we speak just go to bed.” 

“Nooooooo,” Yunho whined, shaking his head so aggressively his hair fell into his eyes. 

“Princess, don't make me leave.” Yunho pouted at Mingi, his eyes shining behind from where his hair was now covering it. 

Mingi scoffed, turning away from him so he wouldn’t see the red that was now painting his cheeks, “Whatever..” 

The two went back to them doing their own thing, Mingi doing what he needed to before the first person on the morning shift got there. Just as he had finished restocking some of the chips, he heard the bell ring and a voice call out into the store. 

“Hey Mingi! You’re good to start clocking out now.”

Mingi didn’t even register which one of his coworkers it was, just called a quick “thanks!” before he ran to the back room to grab his stuff. He breezed past Yunho who seemed to get the message that they were leaving soon as he started moving to grab his drinks and get out from behind the counter. Once he was in the break room he realized he hadn’t put the first aid kit away. He quickly grabbed the leftover wrap and returned it to its original spot then threw it back on the shelf where he had found it earlier. He took his jacket off the chair and shoved it into his bag before patting his pockets and looking around the room to make sure he had everything. He almost panicked when he realized he couldn’t find his computer charger in his bag before remembering that he didn’t need to bring it anymore. He just grabbed his phone charger out the wall with a sigh before stuffing it into his bag and heading back to where he had abandoned Yunho. 

Yunho was waiting at the front of the counter, talking with whoever was taking over. Once Mingi got closer he internally groaned when he realized that it was Kayile. Kayile was weirdly acting nice. Usually her first action when she took over the morning shift was to find the smallest of things that Mingi didn’t do to her liking and get mad at him for it. It was like some fucked up version of spot the difference she played with herself. This time though she was just leaning on the counter and talking to Yunho. 

It wasn’t Yunho's presence either, in Mingis training days she had yelled at him in front of customers all the time. Mingi just rolled his eyes and came up behind her, getting ready to clock out. 

Unfortunately Kayile was standing right next to the register which meant he had to stand in her presence for longer than he would prefer. 

“Oh my god Mingi!” She squealed like they were friends. “You never introduced me to your friend!” 

“Friend? I don’t have any-” Ohhhhh she meant Yunho. 

“He stayed for your shift? That’s so sweet!” 

“Mhm he did. He is.” Mingi just wanted to get out of there but the system was taking forever to load. 

“You have got to bring him in again some time!” 

God Mingi hated her voice. Why was she acting all buddy buddy with him- She literally hated him every other time the two had to interact. 

Finally the machine loaded and Mingi was officially clocked out. He hiked his bag up his shoulder and nodded to Yunho that the two could leave now. He walked outside the store directly after, not caring if Yunho followed him or not. He just wanted out of Kaylies presence. He was getting really tired as he usually did and knew he was going to have to walk fast if Yunho was coming over, maybe even run if he wanted to be there before Yunho got there. 

The air outside was cold, the sun not breaching the clouds just yet. Mingi suppressed a shiver as he zipped his oversized jacket up fully. If he squinted he could see slivers of sunlight coming through at the very edge of the horizon. It was quiet, as the world usually was at 5 in the morning, with the birds not even woken up yet and the highways quieter than usual. 

The door swung open, the faint bell inside the store reaching the outside.“Damn you abandoned me that quick huh? Did the past few hours mean nothing to you?” 

Mingi chuckled a little bit, “No I just don’t like that girl. She’s kinda annoying.” 

Mingi knew he should start walking if he wanted to get home in a timely manner, but something about the way Yunho leaned against the wall made him want to stay. “She was trying to flirt with me I think.”  

“What?” 

“When you went back to the room where you fixed my hand she started twirling her hair and giggling and shit. It was weird.” Yunho shrugged. 

“Huh. I don’t think she's ever been that nice to me, so it makes sense.” Mingi mumbled, mostly to himself before he patted his thighs. 

“Ok if I want to get home before you get to my house I gotta start walking.” He said, smiling at Yunho who just looked like a confused puppy again. 

“You walk home?” 

It was Mingis turn to shrug, “Yeah I don’t live that far and cars are expensive so.” 

“Somehow I don’t believe you.” Yunho rolled his eyes without any real annoyance behind them, “How far do you live? I can just drive you.” 

Mingi shook his head, “No it’s ok! It’s only a 40 minute walk! I’ll be good!” 

Yunho looked at him bewildered, like he had said something absolutely insane. He seriously didn’t mind the walk. He even liked it sometimes. The quiet was nice to just blast music into his brain and think about nothing. 

“Mingi.” He said, digging through his pockets for something before pulling out his car keys. “I’m driving you.” 

“What- No!” Mingi tried to protest but Yunho put his hand up, cutting him off. 

“Mingi it’s cold, I want to go home. It’s easier for me if I drive you to your house so I can go home faster.” 

Well when he put it like that it does make more sense for Yunho to drive. It was Yunho's tupperware he had. Plus he really wanted Yunho to get some sleep because he was looking more and more tired as the minutes passed. He debated for a little longer before eventually caving and agreeing. 

“Yeah sure whatever.” 

Yunho looked pleased with Mingis answer and ran off to wherever he had parked his car. Mingi followed, holding on to his bag in case it slipped. 

Yunho's car was nice. Mingi didn’t know shit about cars, but even he could tell that it was a nice one. The outside was black and sleek, with no scrapes or dents anywhere along the sides. The inside had dark gray leather and was extremely clean when Yunho unlocked the door and let Mingi into the passenger seat (opening the door for him with some comment about him being a passenger princess of course. Because Yunho never missed an opportunity to call him by some nickname.) it somehow smelled brand new even though there were signs of people with a small necklace with a charm hanging from the rear view mirror. 

Mingi reached out to flick it, watching it as it swung back and forth as Yunho ran around to the other side and got into the driver's seat. The charm looked like it was actually a small ring, with infinity signs carved into the metal and stones set in between them. The stones sparkled in the faint light of the parking lot as it swung on its chain. 

“Yeah HongJoong bought those for our cars after Seonghwa complained they looked too much like everyone else's.” Yunho said as he offhandedly started the car and began backing out of the parking lot. 

Once they were out of the parking lot and onto the main road, Yunho fiddled with the radio for a little bit before eventually finding a channel he liked. Yunho drove with one hand, which drove Mingi a little insane. Mostly because it was unsafe but also because he looked way too good doing it. Mingi also learned that Yunho drove fast and a little reckless, which made the one handed driving more annoying. If he confirmed there was nobody coming down the road, he skipped small red lights or went 20 over the speed limit. 

The worst part of the entire drive though, was Yunho's singing. 

Not because he was a bad singer! That would have honestly been preferred instead of Yunho being an amazing singer. He was able to fit his voice to almost every song that came onto the radio, whether it was a slow ballad or some upbeat pop song that got Mingi tapping his fingers on his thighs. It was honestly a little magical to watch as he hummed along, singing whatever words he knew while he drove through the night. 

Mingi was a little sad when the ride was over in just under 20 minutes, wishing he could hear more of Yunho singing but also happy because he missed his bed. He pointed Yunho to where his resident's parking spot was in the parking lot in front of the building, glad he remembered it even though he never used it. 

Yunho parked with ease, another thing that pissed Mingi off. Parking was always his worst enemy when he took drivers ed all those years ago. He just could never get it to the way he wanted. 

Hiking his bag on his shoulder once again, Mingi led Yunho to his apartment. Mingi silently thanked his past self for putting his keys in his pocket instead of his bag because it would have been extremely embarrassing to make Yunho stand there as he dug in his bag to find the small key that opened his door. 

He also thanked whatever god was listening to his prayers on the drive over that his neighbors were quiet for once, not wanting to alarm Yunho who was already looking a little weary. His apartment wasn’t in the best part of town, and it wasn't luxury by any means, but Mingi liked it. He was living by himself so the small space wasn’t an issue and he got free wifi. The laundry room broke down but it was always fixed in a day or two and his neighbors were not extremely annoying. It was just the one next to Mingi and he had only started to be annoying recently. Overall Mingi liked his little apartment and was happy to call it home for as long as he could. 

Mingi quickly found where he left the tupperware after he had washed them out earlier that day. Just being in his apartment made him tired and as much as he enjoyed being around Yunho, he really wanted to go the fuck to bed. 

Speaking of Yunho, he could see him out of the corner of his eye and he was still standing in the doorway like he was too scared to come inside. It almost made Mingi laugh when he saw him standing there like a lost puppy. He almost wanted to keep admiring how cute he looked before he caught himself. Yunho was just as tired as he was. (Also Yunho wasn’t his. He needed to stop thinking like he was.) 

Yunho smiled when Mingi came back into his view, making Mingis heart speed up a little. “Hey, you didn’t have to clean them.” 

Mingi scoffed, “Yes I did. I borrowed them, I was going to clean them.” 

“Seonghwa wouldn’t have cared.” 

“I would have.” 

“Whatever.” Yunho rolled his eyes with a smile as he took the boxes out of Mingis hands. “Are you good on food for the week? I can ask Wooyoung to make you some more food?” 

Mingi shook his head, “I’m good Yunho, you guys were already too nice to me.” 

Yunho mumbled something that Mingi couldn’t quite make out but it sounded like something along the lines of “they weren’t nice enough to Mingi” which was just stupid. They were already basically going above and beyond for someone they barely knew. 

“Just go home Yunho, I can see you holding back yawns now.” Yunho looked surprised that Mingi called him out. 

“I’ll see you soon?” 

“You know where I work.” Mingi shrugged. 

“I might come into the record store next time, switch it up for once.” Yunho wriggled his shoulders and dramatically winked at Mingi.

Mingi laughed and pushed him out of his doorway and into the hallway, “You’re such a loser.” 

“Goodnight Princess.” 

God Yunho needed to stop randomly saying things in a tone so sincere it made Mingis heart threaten to drag itself out of his chest and into Yunho's hands. 

“Night Yunho.” 

Mingi felt a little upset closing his door on the man, running to the window in his kitchen as soon as the lock clicked just so he could get a glance of him one more time. As he watched him get into his car and pull out of the parking lot, it suddenly hit Mingi. He was acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. He groaned and dragged his hand down his face, annoyed at himself for being this stupid about a man. 

He was just dwelling on his hatred for his own heart when he yawned so aggressively his jaw popped. That’s when he checked the time and realized it was almost 6 am. If he wanted to get to bed before the sun made its way into his house he needed to go to bed now. 

He walked to his bedroom, kicking his shoes off in the hallway. It was a problem for future Mingi. He was so tired that he almost didn’t even take his jacket off before flopping down into his bed, just barely throwing it onto the floor before he woke up overheating with a zipper imprint on his face. 

Mingi once again internally thanked his upstairs neighbor who had given him blackout curtains when she found out he worked night shifts when he heard the quiet sounds of birds coming through his window. He would have gone insane without her. She was a nurse and the two of them had run into each other going into the building at one too many weird hours of the night to not become acquaintances. Mingi would occasionally sit with her after a long shit and just watch the sunrise on the curb before eventually going inside to their separate apartments. The two mostly talked about their struggles with sleeping and with overthinking. She would talk to him about how she felt terrible for patients at her job and how no one would talk to her about them because it was too sad and Mingi would offer an ear and occasional stories about really weird drunk people that had come into the store on weekends. Out of the two of them Mingi always thought she was the better one. Even if she would say otherwise. 

She had gotten him the curtains as a christmas gift a few years ago, saying something along the lines of “how he always helped her fall asleep faster when he talked to her” and that she “wanted to return the favor” which Mingi thought was stupid. He was just showing her basic decency. Plus she was fun to talk to sometimes. 

The last the two had talked she had gotten promoted to a more normal shift time. Now it had been a few weeks and Mingi hadn’t seen her in a bit. He hoped she was doing ok. He knew she hadn’t moved about because her car was always parked in the same spot. They had just switched worlds. 

Whatever, it didn't really matter. If Mingi really wanted to, he could always go knock on her door or something. Mingi settled into his bed, pulling the covers over his head as he tried to get comfortable, pushing every thought out of his mind. His eyes felt like they were getting heavier by the second and he was just about to fall completely asleep when he realized something. 

‘Had he told Yunho his address?’

Chapter Text

Mingi woke up to his alarm screaming his ear off at 11 and his neighbors tv coming through his walls. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, almost falling right back down with how tired he felt. He didn’t know what was wrong but he could already tell today was going to be a bad day. He dragged himself out of bed and stumbled over his jacket that he had thrown onto the floor last night on his way over to where his phone was screaming on his dresser. 

“Of fucking course.” Mingi groaned. In all his chaos last night he had forgotten to charge his phone, just leaving it next to the charger instead of plugging it in. 

He turned his alarm off and plugged his phone in, internally cursing last night Mingi for being so stupid. 

Stretching he left his room to get something to eat while his phone charged at least a little bit. He tripped over his shoes that were in the hallway and almost just decided to call in and sleep for the rest of the day. He ran his hand through his hair, letting it fall back into his eyes as he sighed and kept heading to his kitchen. 

‘For my computer. ’ He chanted in his head like a morning prayer as he stared at the empty cabinet in front of him. He had run out of cereal the day before and was going to take one of the tiny box sets they sold at the convenience store but Yunho had distracted him. 

He sat at his tiny table and rested his head on it, sighing into the wood. Last night had been so good, of course karma had to remind that his life did in fact kind of suck in return. He missed Yunho, he missed the way he made him laugh and the way he pretended to care about Mingi. 

“I should have gotten his number.” Mingi muttered into the wood to no one but himself. 

He eventually realized was falling asleep on the table and decided to surrender himself to going to work today. He pushed himself off the table and made his way back to his room. He was working till close again so he made sure to grab his jacket off the floor and shoved it into his bag. It was too warm to wear it right now but it would probably cool down later in the day when the sun went down. 

He stared at the mess of clothes he had in the corner of his room before glancing down at his clothes that he had fallen asleep in. If his luck was similar to the past few times Mingi had run into Yunho and his friends (Roommates? Coworkers?) he should maybe try a little harder to try to look like he didn’t just crawl out of a dumpster. He knew he had a pair of clean cargo pants somewhere around his room, he should be able to wear those without any problems. There wasn’t really a dress code for either of his jobs, just a name pin that Mingi rarely wore anyways. It wasn’t like “professionalism” mattered at 3 am and most of Estelles customers were regulars who already knew him, so there was no point in wearing the name tag in Mingis eyes. 

He found the pants pretty quickly after a little digging and a plain black shirt that was clean. He stretched one more time, rubbing the last of the sleep from his eyes before changing. He didn’t know how much time he had left before he needed to head out the door so he changed as quickly as he could. Shoving the shirt over his head while simultaneously trying to unplug his phone and throw it in his bag. 

After a bit of a struggle to find another sock (He swears the apartment laundry machine is taking them somehow. He swore he had an even number of socks the last time he did laundry.) he put his shoes on his feet and just as he finished tying the last knot, his alarm went off, signaling that he needed to leave now or else he would be late. 

Grabbing his bag, Mingi rushed out the door. He internally groaned a bit when he saw how gloomy it looked outside through the windows in the stairwell. The clouds took over the entire sky without a single hint of the sun finding a way to peek through the mess. If it rained that was actually to be his last straw and he was just going to find a hole to bury himself in behind some random store and lay there until he died. Yunho might be confused when he comes into the store next but he would understand right? 

Mingi was halfway down the street out of his complex when he realized he forgot to check if he had his headphones or not. 

“If I don’t have them I’m going to actually scream.” He cursed at himself as he dug through his bag to see if his hands would connect with the little wires that controlled his entire mood. He was probably too dependent on them but it was a boring ass walk otherwise.

Luckily for Mingi, past Mingi had never taken his headphones out of his bag and they remained at the bottom where they had been shoved when Yunho decided to drive Mingi home last night. 

‘Stop fucking thinking of Yunho.’ Mingi shook his head before shoving his headphones into his ears and trying to drown out his thoughts. 

Yet, as if the universe hated Mingi and just used his suffering as entertainment, there was a folded up piece of paper at the bottom of his bag that he definitely hadn’t put there. Mingi never wrote physical notes because he would always forget what they were about and just throw them away. Pulling the paper out, he recognized the texture. It was a receipt. Unfolding it, Mingi realized that the paper was the receipt for what Yunho had bought last night. The 4 items he had gotten back then were now staring back at Mingi in print form 8 hours later. Even when Yunho wasn’t anywhere near him he still haunted his mind. 

Mingi couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at the fact that Yunho had put the receipt in his bag, probably by accident. He must have done it when they were back in the staff room wrapping Yunho's hand. Mingis bag must have been right by the tiny trash can they kept in the break room if his receipt was in his bag. 

Just as he was about to shove the paper back into his pocket, he noticed writing on the other side, the pen showing through when the sunlight hit at just the right angle. He flipped the paper and couldn’t help the smile that hit his face as he read what was written there. 

‘ I was going to make some Cinderella joke about how this was my hunt for the glass slipper but it really didn’t make sense so here's my number if you have a better one? (That was so bad, please don’t block me.) -Yunho’

Scrawled underneath the little note was Yunho's number (Mingi let out a little chuckle when he saw it written twice because the pen bled on two of the numbers, he must have used the crappy pens they had at the front at the convenience store.) and a little drawing of what Mingi assumed was supposed to be him with a crown. The face was really only 4 lines but Mingi thought it looked oddly similar when he caught eyes with his reflection as he passed a building. 

Pulling his phone out immediately, Mingi typed in the number, creating a new contact with Yunho's name with a little dog emoji next to it. Just as he was about to message him, some random voice in his head started whispering to him. This time sounding suspiciously like Kaylie. What if he didn’t mean to give this to Mingi. It was in his bag and was a reference to a joke the two had, but still! What if Mingi messaged him and Yunho thought the way he typed was weird and blocked him.  Or what if Yunho forgot he gave Mingi his number and thought Mingi was really creepy for having it. Yunho somehow knew his address but that was nowhere as weird as having someone's number! (Also he had written that off as he told him the night before and just didn’t remember.)

 He stared at the send message button like it was a life or death situation, typing out at least 20 different “hi hello, how are you?” messages with varying levels of cringe. He was so focused in on his mission to come off as insane to Yunho he was barely looking where he was walking,  even tripping over a crack in the pavement when he wasn’t looking. It took an embarrassingly long time to stabilize himself afterwards and it didn’t help that he heard snickering behind him. Mingi whipped his head around to find a group of what looked like 14 year olds outside the basketball court inside the large park that separated the first half of Mingis walk to work with the second half. Some of them had the decency to cover their mouths but 2 of them were even pointing at him. 

Mingi rolled his eyes at them. Kids like that always seemed to be around at the worst times. He just kept walking, shoving his phone in his pocket. He needed to stop getting distracted by Yunho, it was becoming an actual problem and a health hazard. 

And because the universe was already laughing at Mingi, he heard a loud crack from the sky and that was all the warning Mingi got before the rain started to pour down on him. Mingi froze. He was actually going to fucking scream. The rain poured down relentlessly and all Mingi could do was take his headphones out of his ears and shove them along with his phone deep in his bag underneath his jacket so they didn’t get wet. (He did take a little pleasure in the yelp followed by noises of shoes scrambling to get out of the rain that he heard from the teenagers though, call him crazy but it did please him.)

Mingi just kept on trekking through the streets, the rain soaked through his shirt making it cling to his skin in a way that made Mingi want to rip his skin off. As he kept going his hair started to hang in front of his eyes the wetter it got, making it harder to see where he was going. He had to fight back the shivers as he felt the cold water sinking into his bones. The fog that was starting to form around him because of the rain didn’t help much either. All Mingi could do was continue his commute to the record store. The record store had a heater in the back, he could just sit in front of that for the next 7 hours. He repeated in his head like a battle mantra. Plus, he was pretty sure they still had some company shirts in the back room from the one year Mr. Lee had tried to enforce an actual uniform for the employees. So that solved most of his problems he was having at the moment. 

As he continued to make his way through the now torrential downpour that he was going to have to deal with for the next 20 minutes, Mingi couldn’t help but notice that the air around him got colder and foggier. It was going to be hell to close up if this rain kept going and Mingi couldn’t even take his phone out to check. 

Fuck. His phone. 

Mingi prayed to every god he could think of that his phone didn’t die over his shift. He had completely forgotten his phone wasn’t completely charged due to him being an idiot last night and walking back to his apartment in the dark without any music was the most anxiety inducing thing that Mingi could think of. The last time he had been forced to do it, when he downloaded some stupid game that drained his battery life to pass the time, he almost passed out from the panic attack he gave himself when a stray cat ran across the street. He just hoped one of the other employees left a charger or something in the back. A few of them had been known to do that occasionally. 

Just as he expected, the street that was basically a glorified strip mall that housed the record store was completely empty, save for the people he could see inside the actual shops. The cute little bakery a few stores down from the record shop was almost full, as it always was during weather like this. The store employees were known from comping random guests items if they came in showing signs of the weather affecting them. 

The record store was empty when Mingi got to the front door. No one was parked in front besides some random car, presumably the ride of whoevers shift he was taking over. The driver was on their phone so Mingi just pushed open the door, glad he didn’t have to get a look of pity from the person who had a dry car to sit out the storm. 

The warm air of the store hit Mingi full force as he stepped inside, the bell ringing throughout the aisles. He made a beeline for the back of the store, only calling out a “hey you can leave now” to whoever was manning the cash register. He never really checked the schedule besides looking for his own name so that meant he never knew when anyone was working. 

He dropped his bag in the doorway of the tiny room they used for employee storage along with a break room sometimes, not caring about it since he knew everything was pretty cushioned by his jacket. He started digging for the box containing all the old t-shirts he knew they still had. He could feel the fabric of his shirt sticking to his stomach and he felt like his skin was on fire. If he could even just find the tiny heater that Mr. Lee let them put up behind the counter during the winter months his life would be so much better. 

It did not help that there were at least 3 boxes of records that had been donated that hadn’t been gone through yet to see if they could sell them that were full to the brim with dust. Making him sneeze every time he tried to move anything around. His shoes didn’t help but either, they made a disgusting squishing sound every time he so much as shifted his weight slightly. It was getting extremely overwhelming and if Mingi wasn’t so tired he honestly might have started crying by now. 

As a last ditch effort he decided to text his boss, if anyone knew where the shirts were they would be him. Or at least he could tell him about maybe where the heater was because he couldn’t find that either. 

Mingi quickly ran over to his bag and grabbed his phone, wincing at the squish his shoes made as he did so. He was honestly heavily debating if he should just take his shoes off and leave them on top of the vent or something to get them to dry faster because this was driving him insane. Once he got to his phone, he unlocked it and sent a quick message to Mr. Lee, not even bothering to check who he was sending it because Mr. Lee was the last person he had texted since he agreed to take over Felix's lunch shift schedule while he was out of town for the next week and a half. 

He locked his phone and left it on the table they had in the break room and went out to try and maybe find a phone charger one of the other staff had left behind the counter. When he reached the counter, the rain was still pounding on the roof, but it was more rythmaic than the chaos that Mingi had walked through. Mingi silently thanked his job for being up to code and not having holes in the roof or loud pipes like one of his old jobs. 

As Mingi hunted through the shelves behind the counter, humming some random tune he had just made up in his head, he felt a nagging feeling that someone was looking at him. He hadn’t heard the bell ring but he also wasn’t really focused on that so maybe he had missed it? He got up from where he was digging in the shelves on his knees, stretching and glanced around the store. There was no one there. 

The feeling remained though. It even got worse when he stood up. Suddenly Mingi was very aware that the other employee had turned off the music that played quietly in the background throughout the store. Mingi felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up shortly before a jolt hit his spine, causing him to shiver. Though, he couldn’t tell if he was shivering because he was cold or something was wrong.

Then he spotted it. 

You couldn’t see very much through the rain. It had created some type of thick fog that laid throughout the streets like someone had turned up the blur on the world. Mingi had to squint to see outside of the store, but even through all of that, Mingi noticed someone across the street. Standing ominously outside the store. Someone was staring straight at him through the windows. 

The man looked tall, maybe around the same height as Mingi. He was wearing a big coat like one usually would in the rain, but something about him just felt off. It might have been the way he wasn’t moving. It could have been the way Mingi could feel his eyes on him even though he was across the stress and Mingi couldn’t even see his eyes. There was just something wrong. Something was off. 

Mingi shook his head, his hair hitting him in the face since it still wasn’t completely dry. He really needed to stop stressing out. The man was probably trying to figure out what he was going to do about the rain. It didn’t help that there was no music in the shop currently either so it was just Mingi and his thoughts. Mingi was just overthinking all of this because he was tired and cold.

Speaking of being cold, Mingi decided it was time to give up on his attempt to find a charger and head back into the back room to see if Mr. Lee had given him any updates on the shirts or the heater. If he didn’t know about the shirts he was just going to hang it up to dry over a vent and keep his jacket on until his shift ended. Before he went, he pulled out the half dead, 9 year old IPad the store used to run its music and scrolled until he found a playlist he liked. He knew no one was coming into the store today until the rain stopped, so he had complete control over the music until then. 

Humming the song he had just put on, Mingi headed back into the back room to grab his phone. As he stepped into the room, his shoes squished a little too loud for Mingis liking, causing him to check the front one more time for no customers before slipping them off and setting them upside down on the vent on the floor of the back room. His socks were wet too but he could deal with those more than he could deal with the shoes. He fucking hated the squish of wet shoes. He couldn’t tell if it was just something his mom instilled in him with her obsession with keeping the house clean and he just associated them with dirty floors (which in his moms eyes, were the devil themselves.) or what. All Mingi knew was that he hated them. 

Mingi sighed, grabbing his phone and unlocking it. He winced when he saw how the battery life was already at 50%. 

“I guess no mind numbing games today.” He mumbled to himself as he opened his messages, checking to see if his boss had texted him back. Instead the message he had received made Mingi groan out loud at his own mistake. 

“God fucking damnit!” Mingi couldn’t believe his stupidity. “Are you kidding me?” 

Mingi

Hey Mr. Lee! I don’t know if the rain has reached you yet but it’s pretty bad by the store.

I was wondering if you knew where the heater we usually use for winter was? Or the box of extra T-Shirts from a while ago were? 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

im gonna to assume you probably didnt mean to send this to me lol

wait

mingi did you walk to work in the rain

mingi wtf youre gonna catch a cold 

Mingi

omg im so so so sorry 

lmao yeah i did walk to work tho 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

mingi youre going to actually die 

Mingi

yunho i don’t have a car-

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

carpool?????

Mingi

bold of you to assume i know my coworkers 

also i work most of my shifts alone 

i see you typing dont start

i prefer it this way 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

i wasnt going to say anything 

Mingi

youre pouting at your phone like a toddler right now

i can feel it

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

fuck you

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

you should probbaly actually text your boss btw 

Mingi

*probably 

but yeah i should 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

is it bully yunho day wtf is going on 

Mingi couldn’t help but chuckle at Yunho's pouting as he copied and pasted his message to his actual boss, making sure that he was sending it to the right person this time. His boss responded in record time, telling him he had moved the heater and the boxes into the storage closet in his office for safe keeping a while ago since they weren’t being used. 

He basically ran to his bosses office and ripped open the storage closet door, wincing when it creaked a little too loud. There they were. His saviors. In two boxes, neatly marked with sharpie, were the shirts and the heater. One at the top of the shelves and the other on the floor. Mingi quickly wrote out a heartfelt thank you message to his boss (Making sure it was actually him.) before he started to pull both boxes out of the closet. He internally thanked his parents genetics for making him so tall as he didn’t even have to try to get the heater down from where it sat on the top shelf. If he had had to get a chair or something it might have been his last straw. 

The box of shirts was almost overflowing. It was taped shut but Mingi was able to claw it open easily enough. The black shirts with mini star designs on their fronts began spilling out over the sides and forming puddles on the floor around Mingi as he dug through them trying to find at least one that would fit him. Eventually he found what he had been looking for, the long sleeve oversized shirt of his dreams at the moment. The fabric wasn’t the nicest thing on his skin, but Mingi could care less as he basically tore his soaked shirt off his body and put on the new one. Mingi couldn’t help but sigh as he started to get some feeling in his bones back. 

Once he got his bearings back, he got up and stretched. He felt his back pop, the weird cracking noise filling the empty room. Mingi cursed the terrible mattress he had. He really needed to get a new one but that was just too much work for him. He grabbed the box that contained the heater and headed back to where the rest of his stuff was waiting for him in the break room. 

Mingi didn’t have to move around much to get a sudo drying situation going. He laid his soaked shirt over the back of the chair they had and put the chair and his shoes in front of the heater. He plugged the heater in the corner, where he could still see his stuff from the front counter if he needed to help a customer, but not where a customer could see it. Mingi settled in  next to the heater, leeching off the remaining heat that wasn’t going straight to his clothes. His hair had finally dried, falling into his face without sticking to it like before. He’d never been so grateful for dry hair before. It almost made him laugh a little. He brought his bag over and was digging through it to see if he had maybe left a granola bar or something in there when he discovered another saving grace. Maybe his luck was looking up for once. 

At the very bottom of his bag, hidden in a small pocket that Mingi rarely went through, was a phone charger. It was old. The thing probably wouldn’t charge for very long, with its wires exposed through the casing in at least 4 different spots, including the place where you would plug your phone in. It was holding on by a thread and probably needed to be thrown away but Mingi knew he could make it work. 

He plugged in the dying charger away from the heater, not taking any chances with the charger taking out the entire outlet in a heat of the moment burst. It took a bit of moving the cable around, holding it in a specific way that made it resemble a fucked up snake, before his phone buzzed. Signaling that it was charging. 

“Yes!” Mingi cheered to himself. Maybe now he wouldn’t have to just be stuck with his own thoughts walking home and he got to play a stupid game or scroll on social media during his shift. He didn’t have to choose. He could even watch a stupid drama on his phone without worrying about it dying! 

Mingi was still celebrating himself and his ability to manipulate and bend the charger into working with Yunho texted him again. The little emoticon Mingi had put next to his name smiling at Mingi at the top of his screen. 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

you find what you were looking for? 

Mingi

yeah 

my boss responded pretty quick

I think he was waiting for it 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

waiting for you to ask him about the shirt and heater? 

Mingi

lmao yeah

he knows i walk to work 

And he doesn’t live too far so i assume wherever he is got hit with the rainstorm too

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

speaking of rain

has it let up yet?

Mingi looked up from his phone and listened. He didn’t realize that he couldn’t hear the rain anymore. Maybe it was still raining lightly but it wasn’t loud enough to pound on the roof like it had been doing before. The back room was quiet, save for Mingis own breathing and the low hum of the heater. If you listened super close you could hear the faint music playing quietly in the main part of the store. It was weirdly calming. 

Mingi

i dont know if its fully stopped but its not really loud anymore

i really hope it doesnt start to rain again 

Mingi

if i have to walk home in the rain again i think i will simply just get pulled into the sewers by the current 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

dude

you need a car

Mingi

trust me i know that lmao

but those are expensive 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

do you not know anyone with a car?

that could make pick you up? 

i don't like you walking in the rain super late at night

Mingi

Do you count lmaooo

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

actually

i could come pick you up 

and take you home 

Mingi

wait no 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

i dont have much to do for work today

so i get off at like 5:30 today 

Just as Mingi was going to text Yunho back and attempt to get him to not try to pick him up from work, the ringing of the bell on the front door reached Mingis ears. Someone was in the store. 

Mingi rushed to pick himself off the floor and to get to the front desk, praying that they didn’t need him to come help them look for something because he still didn’t have his shoes on. He basically slid to his spot behind the register, almost eating shit when he realized that his rushing did not, in fact, help him keep his balance in his socks. 

The guy was already wandering through the aisles when Mingi collected himself at the counter. He was wearing a thick black coat that reached to his knees as he stared at the boxes of records. He carried himself strangely, like he didn’t know what he was doing in the store. He never touched the records, just looked at them. 

“Hello!” Mingis voice cracked as he called out to the man, but he didn’t even seem to notice Mingi calling out to him. Clearing his throat in an attempt to cover up his stumble, he tried again.

“Hello! Welcome to Estelles record shop! How are you doing?” He decided to not open the window to help him find what he’s looking for, if he asked Mingi would have to embarrassingly retreat to the back room to get his shoes. 

“Fine.” The man grumbled. He still didn’t look at Mingi, just stared at the boxes almost like they had offended him in some way.

It was extremely awkward. Unlike the calming silence of the convenience store when there was only one customer, Mingi felt like you could cut the tension with a dull knife. Even with the faint music playing over the speakers it felt suffocating. He didn’t know if he should offer to help the man or just try and make small talk. He had never had a customer like this at the record shop before. Most people who came into the store knew what they wanted, a record, this man was still shuffling between the aisles like he wasn’t even sure what a record was. 

Mingi really wished he had his phone right now, just texting Yunho would make him at least look busy enough that it softened the tension a little. Right now all Mingi could do was follow the man with his eyes as he wandered. To distract himself he started thinking about why the man was there. Maybe he was getting a gift? And he was just too stubborn to ask Mingi for any help? He’d had a few customers like that before, mostly boyfriends trying to get a gift for their girlfriends but too high and mighty to ask Mingi for any help. One time some guy accused him of trying to sleep with his girlfriend because Mingi knew what record she wanted. He didn’t. He had a list she sent him open on his phone. He had shown Mingi the list. 

Mingi sighed when the man started thumbing through the same box of records for the 5th time. “I’ll be in the back, please holler if you need anything!” 

The man just grunted in response, still thumbing through the records. Mingi didn’t actually go all the way into the back. He stood in the doorway where he could still see the guy but the guy couldn’t see him. He watched him as he continued flipping through the records, no expression on his face. 

‘Was this man just extremely boring? Was that it?’ Mingi thought. Mingi wasn’t all that interesting either, but this was pushing it. Looking away for a bit, he grabbed his phone off the charger and resumed texting Yunho. 

Mingi

there's a guy here

whos 

just

idk how to describe him

he’s just

Weird

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

i was wondering where you went

Weird how?

Mingi 

he’s gone through the same box at least 100 times at this point

and he wont talk to me

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

some people don't like small talk

Mingi * you * don’t like small talk

Mingi

yeah but i dont fucking grunt like a caveman when people ask me if i need help

this man just communicates in grunts istg

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

i will admit that is weird yes 

he probably got caught in the rain or something

like seeking warmth

Mingi

seeking warmth is so weird i hope you know that

also it stopped raining 

we talked about this

are you sure you’re not going insane

probably shouldnt drive if you are

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

i'm still picking you up Mingi. 

Mingi

fuck.

well I tried. 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

not very hard

and for your information

i'm in a meeting right now

so my brain is flooded with information

sorry i didn't remember it was raining

Mingi

YUNHO

A MEETING????

SERIOUSLY???

GET OFF YOUR PHONE

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

why

i'm not needed

whatever they're talking about doesn't apply to me 

i'm just here to make sure they don’t start shit

Mingi

YOU CAN’T HEAR THEM START SHIT IF YOU'RE ON YOUR PHONE

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN

you’re so getting fired

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

my boss can’t fire me actually :3

Mingi

if i had seonghwas number just know i’d tell him to tattle on you to his partner

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

and this is why you don’t have seonghwas number 

his partner knows anyway

if i wanted to i could kick his chair right now 

Mingi

Yunho.

Don’t.

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

i won't!
i won't!

no seriously i’m not going to!

he would kill me anyway. 

or make me work overtime-

and then i couldn’t pick you up 

so

Mingi

kick his chair

do it

it would be soooooooo funny

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

you really don’t want me picking you up huh-

Mingi

no i do not

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

but shouldn’t a princess enjoy being driven everywhere?

what-

you not a passenger princess?

prefer to drive? 

i can let you drive if you want 

Mingi

i am not a “princess” in the first place 

also even i wanted to drive idk how so

i couldn’t 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

passenger princess by default 

i'm not complaining ;)

Mingi

yeah well i am 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

whatever 

go check up on your weird guy

Mingi

maybe i will!

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

lmao have fun princess

Mingi

not a princess 

Mingi rolled his eyes at Yunho. He really wouldn’t let this princess thing go huh. Which, out of the two of them in Mingis opinion, Yunho would be the princess. He’s got the looks for it. And the money. He knew how expensive that gym was. He saw the suit he was wearing that one night. (Mingi actually had that outfit ingrained into his memory with how much he thought about it. It was carved into the back of his skull at this point. He could probably draw it from memory if Mingi had any ounce of artistic talent like that.) 

He looked up from his phone to see another empty shop. The guy had left without triggering the bell somehow. Mingi walked out from the back room (This time not slipping on the wood floor.) to find a 20 dollar bill with some change left on the table. There was also a note next to it, similar to the one Yunho had left for him earlier. 

“Sorry darling, you seemed busy and no one else was working. Did the math myself.” Mingi read the note out loud, muttering his way through the terrible handwriting. 

“Gross.” Mingi crumpled the note in his hand before starting to put the money in the register, “Why does everyone think they can just call me weird nicknames.” 

At least the guy didn’t steal anything. It was a little creepy that he had gotten the exact amount of change he needed, including tax, but Mingi didn’t really care. It was already a weird day and this might as well just happen. First the rain, now this guy. Mingi wasn’t superstitious but he assumed it was the universe getting back at him for letting Yunho drive him home the night before. 

Speaking of Yunho driving him home, Mingi checked the clock they had on the register. It read 4:19 PM. Yunho got off work in around an hour. He should probably lock up soon. Or at least start getting the store ready to be locked up. It wasn’t like anyone was coming in anyways. The store didn’t need to be open till 7 Pm. He would just text Mr. Lee and let him know, Mr. Lee didn’t care that much. Plus this meant Mingi would get to sleep a lot earlier than he usually would. He quickly shoved his shoes back on his feet (There was no way in hell he was cleaning without wearing any shoes.), pleasantly surprised when he found they weren’t just dry, they were warm. It didn’t even take him forever to find the broom, it only being shoved in some random crevice in the storage closet this time instead of hidden somewhere! 

There wasn’t much for Mingi to do in the front of the store, just a few rounds of sweeping and rearranging the boxes. He liked to sort them sometimes since the records got mixed together when people would find a different one and just trade it out. It didn’t bother him much but it did get on his nerves just a little. Especially when they were doing a sale and people mixed them together. He will never forgive that girl. 

Mingi took his time cleaning the front room. He almost mopped but decided he wasn’t paid enough for that and left it for the opening shift. He was done with anything that had to do with water for the time being. He switched the playlist coming over the speakers and put on a random playlist he created to dance around to as he cleaned, mumbling the lyrics with enough passion to be on stage himself if he actually knew the words. He decided he watched too many music videos in his spare time because he knew way too many of the actual dance moves to random songs than he liked to admit.  

Outside the store the sun slowly went down, making the faint fog that still lingered look almost movie like when the street lamps turned on. When Mingi began wiping down the front windows, he could see the line of people starting to line up outside the clubs and restaurants. People shimmered in the dull light as they stood in the cold. If he didn’t have music playing he could have faintly heard the bass of the music inside the club if he strained his ears. He would probably hear it when he went out to throw out the trash in the dumpster behind the store. Mingi hadn’t been to those clubs in a while, but he knew their music never really changed. If he walked in right then he would be able to pick up the beat in less than a few seconds. 

As Mingi cleaned, he had to fight the urge to pick up his phone and text Yunho to ask when he would be coming to the store. He would be lying if he didn’t secretly enjoy the fact that Yunho was going to pick him up again. He knew it was mostly Yunho being a good person, just being sweet, but Mingi barely talked to another person outside of his coworkers and occasionally his neighbors. Yunho was new and shiny. He was also just fun. Like a puzzle Mingi needed to solve.

Once Mingi was content with the state of the front room he headed to the back to clean up the mess he had made throughout his shift. He unplugged the heater (Only after checking and making sure his shirt was completely dry and shoving that into his bag.) and found its box where he left it in Mr. Lee's office on the floor. He quickly packed it back into its box and shoved it back where he had found it, on the top shelf of the closet. He also made sure he packed up the t-shirts that he had left strewn around the room, not bothering to fold them much before just throwing them into the overflowing cardboard box that they had labeled their home. 

There wasn’t much trash to collect to throw into the dumpster. There had probably been only a few customers throughout the day before Mingis disaster of a shift so both of the trash cans they kept in the front and back of the store were only half full. He was even able to maneuver the bags into just one bag. Making it so much easier for him to carry the bags out to the back door that led to the alley where the dumpster sat. 

Before he went outside, Mingi grabbed his phone and sent a quick response to Yunho, who had texted him around 30-ish minutes ago during his cleaning. 

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

hey im off work

what time do you get off

i'm around 40 minutes away 

Mingi

i get off whenever you get here

i'm finished locking up pretty much

just about to go throw the trash out

Yunho ૮･ﻌ･ა

kk don’t die ;)

Mingi

don’t text and drive and we’ll see

Mingi couldn’t help but sigh at Yunho's antics as he turned his phone off and put it in his pocket. This man put such a dopey smile on his face if this continued Mingi was going to have to kill him before his face started hurting. He hadn’t smiled this much over basically nothing since…..

Mingi shook his head, clearing his brain. ‘No. No need to think about that.’ He thought, hiking the trash bag up over his shoulder as he headed out into the alleyway where the dumpster waited for him. 

It was colder than Mingi expected it to be but it wasn’t terrible. It was still extremely cloudy, like the sky was threatening Mingi with rain again. He couldn’t suppress a shudder when the wind blew and hit his face, throwing his hair into his mouth. God he really needed a haircut. The weather just reminded Mingi of how annoying it would have been to walk home. He would have eventually given up and let the wind win against him and just walk him with no visibility because he couldn’t bother to push the hair out of his eyes over and over again. Maybe he should throw away his values and let people drive him home more often. 

The dumpster wasn’t anything special, it was shared between three of the stores in the area and filled up pretty quickly so the lid was never closed properly. Which in turn made it super easy to throw things in whenever Mingi was closing. The alleyway itself was the most annoying part of the entire task. Since it was close enough to the clubs and connected to one of the bars, people would sometimes sit out there pregaming whatever shit they had brought from their apartments and houses before going into the bar and probably drinking more. Most of the time though, it was people smoking in the alleyway. It used to be a lot worse, with people even staying there throughout the night to be found in the morning and even one instance of someone damaging one of the neighboring stores there were so drunk. But the bar owners next to the record store had put up cameras a while ago so things like that didn't happen much anymore. Just one or two times a month, usually fridays. Or big holidays. (The cameras didn’t even work. They were just a scare tactic. And they worked.) 

Mingi chucked the bag into the dumpster, wiping his hands on his pants once he heard it crash into another bag, the clinking of bottles filling the air for a bit before settling back down. It was still pretty early so no one was really out yet, only one person hanging in the shadows, smoking. He could see the smoke curling around their head from where he stood. Mingi wrinkled his nose. How could anyone deal with that smell for that long. 

Just as Mingi was about to head back into the store to grab his stuff and wait in the front of the store, the person in the corner spoke up. 

“So you’re the one who has Halazias guard dog wrapped around your finger?” The voice was gravelly, sounding like it hadn’t been used in a while.

Mingi spoke before he could stop himself, “What?”  

The voice just chuckled, Mingi frowned. It sounded wrong, like whoever the voice belonged to wasn’t supposed to do things like that. The way the person was talking reminded Mingi of when he was younger, and that wasn’t a good thing. Anyone that reminded Mingi of his past was a bad omen. Or gross. Gross was the more common one. 

“Don’t act like you don’t understand darling.” The voice finally stepped out of the shadows, Mingi felt his frown tug deeper on his face. It was the weird customer from earlier. The one who may or may not have stolen from the store. 

“Oh. You again.” Mingi rolled his eyes, “Did you really have to leave without telling me, I was just in the back it would have taken like 4 seconds.” 

"Also don't call me darling." 

“Snarky, fun.” Was all the response he got back. Which just made Mingi more annoyed. He hated when people talked to him like this. It pissed him off. It felt like they were trying to play a game with Mingi but he wasn’t biting. Call it only child syndrome but he hated when he didn’t control the game and this weirdo was no different.

“Whatever. The stores closed now anyways.” Mingi didn’t feel like this conversation was going anywhere and was now actually getting kind of cold. He needed to get back to the store and finish cleaning before Yunho showed up. He started walking back to the store when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist and pull him back. 

“What the fuck!” Mingi yelped before another hand covered his mouth. As soon as he felt the man's hand wrap around his face, some switch went off in his brain and his body went rigid. His bones were frozen, filled with ice. Mingi could feel his knees lock up, internally screaming at himself for doing so. (Mingi cursed his body for still doing this. He thought he grew out of this childish reaction years ago.)

Yet Mingis brain was burning, moving a million miles an hour. Now that the guy was up close Mingi could see he was, first of all, ugly. He had a weird scar on the side of his face that Mingi hadn’t noticed when he was stalking the aisles of the record store earlier. It was jagged and raised, like someone had very much done it on purpose. It ran from his cheek down to the side of his neck. The man also smelled disgusting. Not just rank with the stench of cigarette smoke (which Mingi noticed at least 3 on the ground, all freshly burned. Which made the voice make more sense.) But the man also smelled moldy, like he was a biohazard. 

The man was staring at Mingi, almost studying him. It was scrutinizing. He felt himself slipping back into how he used to be when he was younger under his gaze. Just letting them stare until they figured out what was wrong with him and they would snap him back into place. Like he was nothing but a doll that had been put together wrong.

“You’re not even that special darling,” He stretched the word darling out, like he taunting Mingi. All Mingi could think about was how man's mouth smelled disgusting, smoke still on his breath as he muttered to himself. His eyes darting around Mingis being like they were scanning for something. 

"Just got a cute face." 

 “And yet…” The hand holding his wrists detached and drifted up to Mingis hair, he twirled a piece in between his fingers with a horrid smile stretching across his face, ignoring Mingi glaring at him. Mingi felt sick. He wanted to do something. Anything. Anything to get the man's hands off him. He could still feel the burn of his hands on his wrist.“That mutt lets you tell it what to do.” 

As the creep's hands trailed down to Mingis face, he took the one covering his mouth away. It trailed down Mingis body until it gripped his waist. Mingi could feel him digging his nails into his side through the shirt he was wearing. The grip sent a shock down Mingis spine forcing Mingi into a moment of clarity. He spit in the man's face and jerked his head away from the man's hands and bolted. The creepy customer was not expecting him to try anything after he froze if the look of pure shock on his face implied. Using that split second of shock, Mingi ran as fast as he could to the back door of the store. 

Just as his hands reached the handle, Mingi felt his body get yanked backwards by the back of his shirt, the neckline choking him as he felt his back slam into something hard and felt his shoulder blade burst into a firework of pain. He could barely comprehend what was going on through the pain that was now burning his back and even reaching the base of his head. All he knew was that his head hurt and his shoulder blades felt like they were trying to escape the confines of his skin. 

He felt himself being thrown again, back into the wall. He felt the brick rip through the fabric of his cheap shirt and try to scrape at his skin. He heard sounds that were probably words but he couldn’t make them out anymore. He could see the man's mouth moving, but nothing intelligible was coming out of it. 

It must have been a question that Mingi failed to answer because his face was suddenly no longer facing the man. His head was suddenly turned towards the street. He had been slapped. Maybe punched. There was something metallic in his mouth but he couldn’t tell if it was from his nose or his lip. He smirked at the man and made a show about winding up to spit at him again. Now this was a game. 

He felt another hand clamped over his face and he thought he heard more words being spoken but he couldn’t really make them out. He just knew they were mad. He could feel the rage being spit from the man's lips. Just like his dad. Mingi felt himself smile against the hand on his mouth. He felt like a kid again. Playing dumb pranks and getting caught. Things like this didn't bother him anymore. The burning was beginning to become soothing. 

He felt his body being thrown backwards back into the wall behind him, the rough texture of the brick wall scratching through the first few layers of his skin as he was dragged across it. Distantly, somewhere in his mind, he was glad he had grabbed the long sleeved shirt instead of the t-shirts that were in the box. This whole situation was honestly funny to him, he was already checked out of the whole thing. The man's face in front of him. It twisted and contorted into weird shapes as Mingi refused to give him any acknowledgement, it was funny. He looked like a cartoon villain, red all over the face.  

There was a distant sound of a car door slamming and someone yelling, but the words didn’t make it to Mingis ears. He somewhat noticed that the man stopped pushing him into the wall, he felt the ground hit his knees. He tried to catch himself with his hands but he didn’t open them in time landing on his knuckles. He didn’t really care though. He just wondered what he was going to have for dinner if he got home after this whole thing. He thought about the mess he was going to make if he made it back to his apartment. Blood wasn’t really fun to get out his clothes and he could feel it running down his face onto his shirt. He kind of felt bad for whoever was going to have to take his shifts if he died. They weren’t at the best of times and you couldn’t really have a life outside of them. Or maybe you could. Mingi had never really tried. 

He wondered if the convenience store was ever going to fix the ice cream machine.

He thought about the last place he had hidden the broom.

Oh fuck. He hadn’t locked the door yet. That had to be a liability right? Whoops. 

He heard a loud crack (Maybe two? One of them sounded off though, like it was coming from besides Mingi instead of above him. He thought he heard something hit the ground but he was probably imagining it again.) and once again, almost as if the universe was pointing and laughing at him, the sky opened up and rain started crashing down on Mingis face. The cold was nice, it soothed the burning that had now reached most of his body, but all Mingi could really think about was his shoes being all squishy again. He really hated when they were squishy. 

Suddenly Yunho's face was in front of his, red dripping off the side of face and wet hair plastered to his forehead. Damn. He really was hallucinating now huh. His mind did a really good job at drawing up a Yunho on command. Mingi sneezed and winced as he felt his brain rattle around in his skull. He expected Yunho to disappear when he opened his eyes, but no. Yunho was still there, his eyebrows scrunched in worry as his eyes darted all around Mingi. He really looked like a dog when he was worried. Like when you pulled a dumb prank on them and they got confused. That's how Yunho looked. 

Mingi lifted his hand to pat Hallucination Yunho's head, a smile stretching across his lips. Hallucination Yunho looked at him with pity, which was cute. He wanted to tell him such but his mouth seemed to move a lot slower than he wanted it to. It was ok, he would just tell Real Yunho when he woke up tomorrow. 

“I’m so sorry about this princess…” 

Mingi smiled at Hallucination Yunho again and gave him a thumbs up before he felt himself fall forwards into Hallucination Yunho. 

Man.

Hallucination Yunho sounded like Real Yunho too. 

Insanity these days was so advanced. 

Chapter Text

Mingi didn’t know where he was. He could barely keep both his eyes open for longer than 30 seconds at a time. One of his eyes wouldn’t open. He felt something over his chest, making it so he couldn’t move. He didn’t feel connected to his body. He felt like he was watching through his eyes, but he wasn’t in control. Like playing a video game. Like if he turned the world would be a collection of pixels. There was a faint melody being played somewhere behind him. Or was it in front of him? It felt like he was underwater and trying to figure out where he was. The music was nice, he couldn’t recognize it but he could feel it dancing around his head. 

His head hurt. 

God his head hurt. 

Why did his head hurt?

He was cold too. 

Why was he cold? 

His mouth tasted gross. 

Like metal. 

Mingi felt himself sneeze. 

It burned.

It rattled his brain. 

He felt it bounce, in time to the lullaby playing around him. He closed his eyes. He couldn’t make out the shapes around him anyways, there was no point in keeping them open. He was tired. He let his eyes flutter shut, letting his mind return to the dance he was dreaming of before. He drifted off listening to the rattle of someone else's breathing in his chest. 

The next time he suddenly became aware of where he was, it was because he heard voices. They were hushed and Mingi could barely make out the fact there was more than one of them. They were speaking so quietly Mingi didn’t feel the need to open his eyes. His mouth still tasted gross but he was no longer cold. He was comfortable where he was. He could tell it was dark outside. He almost felt like a kid again, asleep in the car after one of the fancy galas he had always got dragged to because his parents needed to keep up appearances. If he listened closely he could probably hear his parents arguing over who was going to get someone to come take him to his room. Neither of them ever wanted to deal with him. 

But, the voices didn’t sound like his parents. They sounded lighter, not as dragged down and annoyed as his parents usually spoke around him. They didn’t sound like they were forcing a pleasant tone. They sounded concerned over something. The voices hushed but fast, like they were trying to understand something. They sounded worried. 

Mingi couldn’t figure out why they were worried. Maybe they were new. His parents had a habit of firing their staff when they were mad at each other. Which was a lot. Maybe they didn’t know where his room was. It was in a weird corner of the house after all. It was pretty obvious which door was his though, he used to draw on it when he was a kid. It still had paint chips missing in the wood from when Mingis mom made him scrape it off himself. He hadn’t done a very good job since he had had a broken hand at the time but they never bothered to replace it. Maybe his dad had taken his door again. That's why they didn’t know where his room was. 

Mingi yawned, trying to stretch but almost letting out a cry at the pain that shot through his body. His eyes shot open, tears welling in the bottom of them while he tried to figure out where the pain was coming from. He felt like he had been slammed back into a wall. He was suddenly aware of every slightly painful point on his body. Every breath he took became a struggle as he was suddenly aware of everything and nothing at the same time. He still couldn’t make out what was going on around him. Everything suddenly didn’t make sense. He was locked out of his own body. He couldn’t move. He wasn’t in control. 

He felt himself being lifted, taken somewhere. He couldn’t breathe. His knees hit something soft. It was wet. The cold soaked his knees as he fell back onto his feet. The water climbed into his skin, making it cold again. He felt the icy feeling worm its way into his bones. He couldn’t see anything. His vision was too blurred by his panic. There was a light close to him but it did nothing for Mingi. He could make out himself, his shape. That was it.  

The voices that had been whispering to each other were suddenly louder, but Mingi couldn’t make out a single thing they were saying. He was underwater. He was freezing. He was boiling. His skin felt like it was trying to rip itself off of him. He was suffocating. He felt like Frankenstein's monster, multiple body parts messily combined into one. And they were rejecting him. Every nerve he ever had was on fire as he tried to figure out what was going on with his body. He tried to force himself to look at his hands, eyes darting around trying to find where his body parts were, but what stared back at him just made him feel sick. 

Those weren’t his hands. 

They were red and raw, covered in scrapes and drying blood. He saw one of his knuckles was still bleeding, a drop falling down his finger like a taunt. He watched it flow. It moved slowly down to each joint on his finger, dirtying them even more. The dark red mocked him, reminding him what he was. It reached his fingernail, where it pooled into his cuticles. Staining them even more. 

Something hit the blood, splashing it out across his hand before it continued dripping down his hand. 

It was water. 

Where was the water coming from? 

Mingi couldn’t look away from his hands. He felt his eyes going blurry again. He didn’t know where he was. He could barely remember what happened. All he could feel were the hands. But the hands haunted his nightmares all the time. He didn’t know whose hands they were. It was dark where he was. He was tired.

 Where was he? 

There were voices again but Mingi still couldn’t make out what they were saying. A hand touched him but he jerked away. He could feel his body rock sideways, almost tipping over. He couldn’t see who the hand belonged to. He didn’t even know whose hands were connected to his. 

The voices got quieter. Like they were giving up. Everyone always gave up on Mingi. That made sense for him. Mingi even gave up on Mingi. 

“ Mingi..? ” 

Who was calling him. 

Mingi looked around, landing on a figure in the distance. It was waving. Slowly. Like it was trying to dust something away from its face. Oh he was so dead. He probably drowned with how cold he was. His mom must have made good on her promise to drown him one day. His mother was never one for breaking a promise. That was kind of her. 

“Mingi, can you see me?” The voice was louder now. The figure closer. The voice was warm, careful, testing the waters. The figure's hand was now stretched out in front of Mingi, not too close, offering itself up like Mingi was a hurt animal. 

Mingi blinked, he felt a tear escape his eye but his vision got clearer. One side of his vision was still blurry. Mingi blinked again. And again. It hurt but he wanted to see. Wanted to see where he had ended up. 

“No Mingi stop!” The hand reached out again, pausing just before it grabbed Mingis shoulders. The hand hung there in the air as Mingi just stared at it. It didn’t look like it was connected to anything. “Your eye is swollen. Stop blinking.” 

Oh. 

That explained why blinking wasn't working. Mingi blinked again, stifling a smile at the groan the figure let out.

 “You’re making this a lot harder than it needs to be man.” Another voice called out from behind him. Mingi actually smiled at that, ignoring the way his lip screamed at him with pain as he did so. He loved making problems for his parents, making problems for death seemed just as fun. 

“Mingi, do you know where you are?” Another voice said, this time closer to him than the last. 

Mingi just smiled wider, feeling blood fall onto his lip and down his face. He shrugged. “Dead.” He slurred out. There was blood in his mouth already. He must have bit the inside of his lip. 

“Mingi you’re not dead.” The closest figure scolded, “But you will be if you don’t let us take you inside.” 

Oh so he was outside. He ran his hands around the ground where his knees were. Wet grass stabbed back, soothing and irritating the scabs he had on his palms. That made sense. He wasn’t drowning then. He was still soaked though. He suddenly became aware of the way his shirt was stuck to his skin. The way his hair was falling into his face. 

“Cold.” Was all he managed to get out. 

“Yeah I bet you’re cold, will you let us take you inside now?” Mingi nodded, suddenly getting tired again. He wanted to sleep.

The voices started up again as the figure pulled away from Mingi completely. Leaving him staring at the grass around him. He curled his hands into a fist, watching as the movement squeezed blood out onto the grass. You couldn’t see much but Mingi smiled as he watched it slide off the blades and into the dirt. 

“Hi, um-” A new voice and figure had appeared in front of Mingi. It was deeper than the last one, it sounded more awkward too. The other one sounded like it was an annoyed mother. This one sounded like every word was confusing to him. “Mingi I’m going to carry you ok?” 

Mingi just nodded, ignoring his want to scoff. No one could carry him. He was too tall. One of his many faults his mother loved to point out. Maybe if they dropped him they would just leave him alone. 

Mingi felt a pair of hands push him around a bit, maneuvering his limbs in order to be picked up. The hands were careful, immediately removing themselves like they had been burned if Mingi so much as winced at where they landed. Eventually Mingi was deemed acceptable to attempt to pick up and he felt arms wrap his chest and legs then he was against someone's chest. 

He wasn’t expecting to actually be picked up, scrambling to grab onto the figure's shirt before he lost his balance. Mingi couldn’t tell if he had closed his eyes or not when they moved out of the light. He could hear footsteps and more voices but they blended together so much Mingi couldn’t tell how many people were actually there. Distantly he heard the original voice that had talked to him speaking to someone else. 

Mingi realized he should probably be more concerned that these random figures (Who Mingi was slowly coming to realize were real people and not a figment of his imagination.) Were taking him somewhere that Mingi didn’t know. 

‘Never go to the secondary location…’ A voice sounding more annoyed by the minute muttered in Mingis head. 

‘Whatever’ He thought to himself. ‘If I die, I die. I already thought I was dead and it seemed pretty great. Might as well do it for real.’ 

Whoever (or whatever) was carrying him was stable. Stable enough Mingi didn’t feel worried when the beings hands tightened around him when they reached a set of stairs, illuminated by multiple lamp posts around them. The light hurt Mingis eyes. He didn’t like seeing at the moment. It made his head throb with pain Mingi hadn’t felt since he was a kid. Mingi decided that whatever happened to him was up to the beings that were still surrounding him. They looked more human now, faces full of concern and pity. Mingi almost chuckled to himself when he saw the pity in their eyes. Especially the shorter one with eyes that darted around to each of the other creatures before going back to Mingi, like he was making sure all of them were ok, not just Mingi.

Mingi tried to smile at him when the two of them made eye contact again but the stretch of his lip reopened the split that was still extremely sensitive. He felt the blood fall into his mouth, the metallic flavor overwhelming. Mingi still tried to smile but when the being winced at him with disgust he decided to just cut his losses and hide his face in the shoulder of the being carrying him out of shame. How the hell had he made the embodiment of death grossed out, Mingi had no idea. He was just special, he guessed. 

He kept his face hidden out of shame for a while but eventually the lights got too overpowering and it was just easier to keep his face shoved into the beings shoulder as they walked through somewhere. There was soft chatter coming from around him but Mingi didn’t really care what they had to say. He was probably dead, it didn’t affect him. The being (Person? Creature? Death? Mingi didn’t know what to call them.) at some point started responding to the chatter around him. Mingi was surprised that the voice was as deep as it was, though that could have just been because he was so close to them, with the voice reverberating around their chest as they talked. 

It was calming, the way they talked. Mingi almost didn’t notice he was falling asleep until he was being lowered into something soft. It felt like a cloud, almost swallowing him up when he was finally let go. Moving hurt his body, sending some stings up through his nerves and making him wince. There was a soft apology whispered at him as the cloud was brought over his body, almost like a blanket. Eventually (once he stopped moving) his body stopped hurting, going back to the dull pain in the background that Mingi could deal with. 

Just as Mingi was letting himself sink back into the comforting darkness that was being asleep (or being dead, he still couldn’t tell.) he felt something nudge his shoulder, 

“Hey Mingi… don’t fall asleep yet…” The voice floated through the air. It was a new voice, one he hadn’t heard yet that day, but weirdly familiar.  

‘When will they let me die man,’ Mingi thought, furrowing his brows as he fought to keep his eyes closed and to ignore the voice trying to get him to sit up. 

Mingi almost screamed as a hand pressed onto his back to lift him up, pushing down on an injury. He failed but that just made everything worse. The cloud suddenly became heavy and difficult to escape. He was trapped once again. 

“Shit-” Someone swore, hissing as they tried to get Mingi to stop moving. “Mingi, wait- stop- you're going to hurt yourself again.” 

Mingi threw his hand up to try and get the perpetrator away from him, but missed, hitting something hard behind him instead. The sound echoed around the room as a cry was ripped from Mingis throat. He had hit his wrist exactly on the bone. He felt tears threatening to spill over as the pain shot through his arm. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, he didn’t feel like being seen crying. Again. 

“Mingi.” The familiar voice sounded frustrated, almost like it was scolding Mingi. “Stop moving.” 

Something in the way the command was spoken made Mingi freeze. He didn’t want to disappoint them. They already sounded disappointed. 

“ Just drink this and then you can go to bed, deal? And if you take it and don’t complain we’ll even make some of your pain go away.” 

“You want that, don't you Mingi? You want your pain to go away?” The voice was closer now, its frustration turned sickly sweet. Like they were forcing themselves to smile at Mingi even though he was making problems. 

Mingi nodded, keeping his eyes closed as a small cup was lifted to his lips. The drink smelled like a mixture of berries and syrup. It smelled like it would taste bad but Mingi wasn’t taking any chances to disappoint the voice and risk feeling like his skin was burning with pain forever. 

The voice tipped the cup and the mixture spilled into Mingis mouth, Mingi did his best to ignore the taste and force himself to swallow the disgusting mixture he was being given. He gagged a few times but slapped a hand over his mouth to stop it. 

“Good job Mingi.” There was a hand in his hair, offhandedly running through the strands as Mingi struggled with keeping the drink down.

As soon as Mingis breathing went back to normal and less forced, the hand disappeared from the top of his head. Mingi almost fell off wherever he was sitting attempting to follow it. 

“Oh?” The voice giggled. “I’m sorry, did you like that?” 

Mingi grumbled, turning away in hopes they wouldn’t see the red that was heating his face. Wiggling as he tried to lay down again. He winced at the sharp pain that was coming from his wrist whenever he moved it too fast but eventually was able to settle down into a comfortable position where the pain was manageable. 

The hand made its way back into Mingis hair, smoothing down the chaos that was probably happening from all of Mingis flailing. Mingi felt himself sinking farther and farther into darkness as the hand found a way to shut off all of Mingis thoughts. Mingi sighed, a noise that sounded extremely scratchy with how messed up his throat was now with how he was crying earlier. It almost sounded like a noise a wounded animal would make. 

Mingi continued falling into sleep. The pain in his body was beginning to feel farther away, like he was leaving it behind. 

“Once he’s asleep we need to have a family meeting.”

Chapter Text

There was light on his face.

 There was light on his face and it was annoying. 

He must have forgotten to close the blinds when he went to bed last night. He could hear the birds chirping outside already, a sign that he probably needed to get up and get ready for work. He was burning slightly as well. (Knowing him he probably fell asleep in his jacket again.The AC in his apartment was so finicky it was probably blasting last night and now was going to be off for the next month.) Maybe he should just call out and tell his boss he’s sick or something. His breathing sounded sick, he could make it believable. The usual quiet inhale sounded like Mingi’s chest was filled with water while his exhale sounded like something was rumbling deep in his bones. He sounded terrible, he could so get away with calling in sick. 

Mingi suddenly remembered his broken computer and groaned. He couldn’t call in sick. He needed to go to work to be able to pay for that plus all of his bills. Maybe he could convince his boss to let him leave early or something. 

He slowly began sitting up, wincing at the pain that was coming from his elbows as he picked himself up. He must have hit them on something last night. Mingi really didn’t want to open his eyes. It was too bright. Brighter than it usually is outside of his apartment. He had black out curtains for a reason. 

When he finally forced himself to open his eyes Mingi just became more confused. His vision swam as he tried to focus, eventually having to close his eyes to collect himself before trying again. One of his eyes wouldn’t open all the way without some effort but once he was able to focus he noticed three things. 

1. He was wearing the same clothes he remembered putting on yesterday. 

2. It hurt to move. Everything just hurt.

3. He wasn’t in his apartment. 

He didn’t think he was even in the apartment building at all. The room almost looked like a hotel. With a big bed with a white comforter that Mingi was currently wrapped in, along with a good collection of pillows on the wooden headboard. The room didn’t have any of its lights on but there were two big windows on either side of the bed where the light that had woken Mingi up was streaming through and spilling into the room. 

He didn’t remember how he got there, his mind being muddy from sleep and the ringing pain in the back of his head. If he tried he could remember some flashes of last night but none of them were clear. He mostly remembered hands, a lot of hands. He remembered being cold a lot and he remembered the smell of cigarettes. He just knew he wasn’t in the right place, though he would have felt like that even if he was in full health. 

The room was extremely clean, almost sterile, but not in a “no one has ever been in here before” way. Not even in a hotel room way, even if the overall feeling of the room when Mingi first looked around reminded him of one. There were personal decorations sprinkled throughout the room, decorations that Mingi didn’t think any hotels would have. The knobs on the dresser across from him were in the shape of teeth. There was a vase of flowers on the nightstand, but the vase was very clearly handmade, with dents in the side and top. If Mingi squinted he could see one of the pictures on the wall looked like a hand-drawn (or maybe it was commissioned if the pot was anything to go by-) picture of 7 different animals, each wearing a weird all black outfit. They were all matching but with some variation between the 7. It was very deliberate. Someone had been here before, this room was designed by someone.

Mingi was immediately put on edge, the room was expensive. He could tell just from the way the curtains moved. Everything in this room felt like it was easily tainted just by Mingi being in the same room. Like him just being in the presence of the items brought their worth down considerably. He almost felt ashamed to be in the white bed, even if he was seemingly clean. There was a type of dirt on Mingi that could never be scrubbed off, no matter how much he tried. He could rub his skin red and raw and he still wouldn’t feel worth being in the room. Let alone being in the room with his thrift store jeans and work shirt still stiff from being caught in the rain yesterday. 

“Oh! You’re awake!” Mingi felt his neck crack as he whipped around to find the voice that just scared the shit out of him.

Seonghwa was standing there in the door frame, holding a stack of towels. He looked…different. Different in a way Mingi couldn’t place but something was different. His smile was still the same, his hair was the same, his outfit was similar to the last one Mingi had seen him in. (A plain t-shirt and jeans.) Yet….there was something….

“....Where am I?” Mingi cringed at the growl of his voice, it sounded like Mingi had just screamed for hours and was now trying to speak again. 

“You’re at my house!” Seonghwa chirped, “Here, let me call Wooyoung to explain. I have things to finish.” 

‘Seonghwa’s house?’ Mingi just stared at the now empty door frame where Seonghwa had just been standing, his mind swirling with questions. How did he get into Seonghwa’s house? Why was he at Seonghwa’s house? Why couldn’t he remember the day before very well? Why did they have such a big room for guests? Why did his body hurt? Why was his voice so hoarse? What was different about Seonghwa? 

“Mingi!” Mingi was dragged out of his spiral by Wooyoung bounding into the room, holding a bag of something. 

“Hi Woo.” Mingi was able to force out as Wooyoung came up to the bedside, simile as bright and wide as the last time he saw him. Mingi felt himself begin to smile at the man but pain shot through his lip and he shut his mouth so fast he heard his teeth click. 

He coughed, trying to cover up the noise, “How are you?” 

“I’m good! A lot better now that you’re more awake!” Wooyoung said as he began fussing with the area around Mingi, fluffing up the pillows and moving things around on the nightstand to set down whatever bag he was carrying. 

“And not screaming anymore..” Mingi almost didn’t catch what Wooyoung said, the man saying it mostly to himself under his breath. 

Mingi couldn’t stop himself from asking about it, the words out of his mouth before he even realized what was happening. “Screaming?”

Wooyoung froze. Glancing over at Mingi with a look in his eyes that Mingi didn’t know how to decipher. It was a mix of pity, sadness and something else. Mingi felt his heart sink into his stomach. 

What had he done that deserved that look. 

“Let’s not talk about that right now.” Wooyoung turned back to the bag he had brought, digging into it, “I’m in charge of taking care of you until Yunho gets back from work and I am not going to be caught not doing my job.”

“Yunho?” 

“Yes. We all live together, remember?” Was all Wooyoung gave him before he pulled out bottles of pills that Mingi had never even seen before. They were blank, like someone had forgotten the labels, with only a few notes of instructions on the back. Yet, Wooyoung seemingly knew what was inside each one of them. “Now which one of these did Seonghwa say you needed to take….”

“What are those?” 

“Painkillers. I’m going to assume that you don’t usually make a face every time you breathe or talk.”  

Oh, so he wasn’t as good at hiding that as he thought.

“From that look on your face you didn’t realize you were doing it.” Wooyoung laughed, “You’re good don't worry, we got strong painkillers for this exact reason.”

“You can take pills, right?” Wooyoung waited for Mingi to nod before opening up 4 different bottles and pouring around 8 different pills into his hands. Each bottle contained a different color and size of pills, forming a weird colorful pharmacy on Wooyoung's palm. 

Mingi raised his eyebrow at them as Wooyoung fussed over the instructions on the back of the bottle, cross referencing them with a piece of paper he had laid out on the table. “Are you sure I won’t overdose on those?” 

Wooyoung looked at him with surprise, then he looked back down to his hand where the pile of pills was sitting. Then he giggled, a welcome sound in the suffocating room,  “Some of these aren’t painkillers but vitamins,”

When Mingi raised his eyebrow again, Wooyoung shrugged, “Hwa and Joong said you have to take them.” 

“Hwa and Joong?” 

“Seonghwa and Hongjoong, they’re the….” Wooyoung trailed off, studying Mingi’s face for a bit, “They’re the heads of the house. We kind of have to listen to what they say.” 

“Have to? Or are you just supposed to?” Mingi couldn’t help but tease Wooyoung, remembering all the times he annoyed Seonghwa just because he could at the record shop. 

“Hey!” Wooyoung huffed, “Take your stupid pills.” 

Wooyoung shoved the pile of pills into Mingi’s open hand before turning his back on Mingi to supposedly grab something else for the bedridden man. Mingi just laughed quietly, as much as he could without it feeling like his ribs were trying to escape his body or that made it sound like there was a broken engine rattling in his chest. Before he could ask for some water to take with the pills, his body was suddenly wracked with an intense cough. 

It felt like he was trying to hack up a lung, the noise almost sounding as painful as it felt. They could barely be described as coughs, the noise that echoed through the room sounded like his organs were trying to eject themselves out of his mouth. He could feel the bile building up in the back of his throat, the acid burning and bringing tears to his eyes. He tried blinking them away but that just made things worse. It made him dizzy which in turn made his head hurt more than it had before. His head was pounding as he kept trying to catch his breath in between the coughing, his breathing becoming short and sharp as if his lungs couldn’t take in any air besides the short gasps that he was able to do in between coughs. He could almost feel his brain hitting his skull as he tried not to throw up anything. He was rocking back and forth as he was trying to stop the coughs. 

He could hear Wooyoung calling for someone but he was too focused on trying not to pass out to pay attention to him anymore. Mingi kept coughing, breathing itself was beginning to feel like someone was trying to scratch through his throat into the world. He felt like he could almost cough up blood. Maybe he was, the acid in his mouth was beginning to taste like metal anyhow. God hated Mingi enough to do it so he wouldn’t put it past him. 

Suddenly there were hands on his chest and back, sitting him back up from where he was hunched over coughing his lungs out. Mingi froze, the movement shocking him into pausing his fit. He even stopped breathing until the hands patted his back as if Mingi was just a TV you needed to hit a few times for it to start working again. Mingi's eyes were still blurry from tears that refused to drop so he couldn’t see much but he felt a cup being lifted to his lips. Mingi opened his mouth without even thinking, letting someone drop liquid down his throat. 

It was cold. 

That was the first thing Mingi noticed about it. Then it soothed his throat. The itchy, fiery feeling was calming down, settling into something that Mingi could handle. His mouth still tasted like metal but the drink was slowly getting rid of that with a fake grape flavor. His breathing was still ragged, like it was going to stop any minute, but the coughing had stopped. His head was still pounding, like he had slammed his head into the wall too many times, but that too was slowly going away. He wiped his eyes with the back of his palm to get all of the tears out as he tried to regulate his breathing again. 

“You good?” The person holding the cup sounded more annoyed at Mingi than concerned. Looking up Mingi saw that his eyebrows were furrowed in concern but he was looking at Wooyoung, not Mingi. Mingi followed the man's eyes to Wooyoung who was standing next to the two of them with so much worry and fear in his eyes that Mingi felt his heart sink a bit. 

“I’m good Woo.” Mingi knew that his voice sounded like shit. It was scratchy and at least 2 octaves lower than his usual speaking voice due to just, well really everything, but it at least seemed to calm Wooyoung down a bit. His shoulders relaxed and he sent a small wary smile Mingi’s way. 

Mingi felt a chilling sensation go up his spine and turned to see the man who had helped Mingi glaring at him. His eyes narrowed as they raked over Mingi, as if judging him for the words he dared to say. As he did that, Mingi got his first good look at him. The man was shorter than Wooyoung, but not by much. Only by maybe an inch or so. He had short black hair that was currently in a weird state of curl and mess. He looked almost like the PhD students that would stay up till 4 am studying that Mingi saw at the convenience store occasionally, wearing a plain black t-shirt and sweatpants like he had just rolled out of bed. Everything about him should have  made him less intimidating to Mingi but his eyes- his eyes were the part that gave away what was actually hiding underneath them to Mingi. He was different. It was the same type of different that Seonghwa was. 

His eyes were sharp, almost like a hawks. There was something about them that gave Mingi chills. Those were eyes he had seen a million times before, eyes he was familiar with growing up. Those were the eyes of someone who was in control and knew it. Those were the eyes of someone who could snap at any moment and the carnage could be covered up in 30 seconds. 

Hungry. 

His eyes looked hungry. 

“Hongjoong.” Wooyoung’s voice cut through the tension that Mingi hadn’t even noticed was building. “Stop it.” 

“He called you Woo.” 

Wooyoung sighed, “A lot of people call me Woo. It’s a shortened version of my name.” 

Mingi tried to croak out an apology but couldn’t get much out besides the first letter before Wooyoung shut him up, holding a hand up to get him to stop. 

“Mingi, you didn’t do anything wrong, Joong is just a jealous freak.” 

‘Joong? Hongjoong? Like Yunho's boss Joong? Like Seonghwa’s partner Joong? David Bowie Joong?’ 

Joong (Hongjoong) flipped around to glare at Wooyoung, “I am not a jealous freak!” 

“Are too!” 

“Are not!” 

“Are too!” Hongjoong huffed as Wooyoung stuck his tongue out at him, the two were arguing like children. Watching the back and forth felt like being in elementary school again. Hongjoong looked less intimidating when his eyes weren’t locked in onto Mingi. The coldness Mingi had felt was melting as he played with Wooyoung. Wooyoung taunted him, dancing around the room calling Hongjoong as many synonyms for jealousy that he could think of. (Or he thought that’s what they were at least. Mingi didn’t have a thesaurus in his brain like Wooyoung seemed to so he couldn’t really check.)

Mingi held back any sign of amusement, daring not to even breathe too hard in case he interrupted the moment and Hongjoong went back to being a ticking time bomb around Mingi. He felt his lips curl up as he watched the two, almost acting like they were brothers. Mingi assumed this was what it was like to have brothers. Mingi was an only child and on top of that he was homeschooled. He had a single friend growing up but that didn’t end well, so Mingi didn’t have much to go off of for brotherly affection. He watched as Hongjoong got his hands on Wooyoungs hair, rubbing his knuckles into his head as Wooyoung tried to throw him off. 

 “You two stop it.” Seonghwa was back in the doorway, standing with his arms crossed as he watched the scene Wooyoung and Hongjoong were now putting on. “Not in front of guests.” 

Mingi couldn’t help but let out a tiny laugh under his breath when Wooyoung and Hongjoong jumped at the sound of Seonghwas voice. 

“Pearl-” Hongjoong started, but he was immediately cut off by the eyebrow raise that Seonghwa sent his way. 

Mingi was shocked when Seonghwa turned to him, effectively shutting up both Wooyoung and Hongjoong. (One of whom was now actively trying to escape the room before Seonghwa turned his attention to him.) “How are you feeling Mingi?”

Now that Seonghwa was closer, Mingi could sense the difference again. It was the same strain that Hongjoong had, yet it felt more subdued. Hongjoongs difference was his hunger and you could see it. Seonghwa was better at pretending nothing was there, if the fact Mingi hadn’t noticed the many times he had seen him before today was enough to go by. 

Mingi couldn’t help but flinch away from Seonghwa when he reached his hand out to touch his forehead, hissing at the pain the movement sent through his face. Seonghwa clicked his tongue at him, sounding both like a warning and a mother disappointed in their child. 

Seonghwa’s hand was cold, a welcome feeling on Mingi’s burning skin. “You’re less hot than you were last night, that’s good.” 

“Last night?” 

Seonghwa smiled, sickly sweet, before turning and fussing with the loose pills that Wooyoung had left on the nightstand when Mingi had started his coughing fit.

Mingi repeated himself, his voice sounded less scratchy as he used it more, “Last night?”

“You’ve been here for almost a full day.” Hoongjoong said from the corner, where he was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were once again not looking at Mingi, instead they were locked in on Seonghwa. 

Mingi sat up as fast as he could, ignoring the pain in his back that shot up his spine as he tried to wrap his head around what Hongjoong had just said. “What time is it?!”

Panic filled his veins as he thought about how much work he had missed. He felt like his blood just turned into ice. He couldn’t no call no-show, at both jobs that was one of the only requirements. He couldn’t find a new job and afford his apartment. There was no way in hell that he could find a new job if he got kicked out of his apartment, and rent was due in a week. He would have to find a way to print out new paperwork. He still didn’t have his computer so he would have to attempt to use the library but Mingi knew those computers were being watched every moment of the day. Everything government related he had was either fake or expired. There was no way he would even be able to afford that if he wanted to. 

Mingi started spiraling, his throat closing in. His breathing shortened, getting sharp as his mind flooded with images and thoughts about what would happen to him. He hated getting uprooted. He had built a life at that apartment and at those jobs. It wasn’t a great life, sure, but it was his life. He controlled that life. 

He couldn’t go back. 

He just couldn’t go back. 

Mingi felt like he was a kid again, drowning as his mom gossiped with her friends near the pond. 

“Sit back down.” Hongjoong’s stern voice cut through Mingi’s panic, pulling him out of the water. 

Mingi was standing. Why was he standing? He was standing next to the bed. He couldn’t feel his feet on the carpet. He couldn’t feel anything. His breathing was still quick, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. 

Suddenly Mingi’s knees gave out and he fell back onto the bed. There was a shadow that came over him, blocking out the bright light that still streamed through the curtains. What was once beautiful almost felt mocking now, laughing at Mingi while his life fell through his hands like sand. 

“Hey.” Mingi looked up from where he was staring at his hands to find Hongjoong standing over him. Hongjoong was back to the way he was when he had first met him earlier. The hunger in his eyes was back and his body looked ready to pounce and murder Mingi any second. He looked every bit as terrifying as Mingi thought he was. Mingi felt small looking up at him, even if somewhere in his mind he knew he was absolutely taller than him.

 “Stop fucking dying. You’re making Hwa worried.” 

  Seonghwa ….

Mingi had forgotten about Seonghwa. 

If he strained his ears he could hear Seonghwa muttering to himself, he could hear his finger tapping on a phone. Mingi couldn’t look around Hongjoong, trying to see if he could look at the man, but Hongjoong moved to block his way every time he tried. “Don’t look at him, look at me.” 

“I don’t like you very much.” 

Mingi looked down at his lap. ‘Damn. At least he was honest.’

There was a finger under his chin, lifting his face to look back into Hongjoongs eyes, “Literally what did I just say.” 

There was a beat of silence before Mingi realized that was a question he was supposed to answer. “Uh, look at you.” 

That seemed to be the correct answer because Hongjoong nodded sharply before continuing, “I don’t like you very much but only because you have caused upset to 3 members of my family.”

“My family is very important to me. I am very protective of my family, they are all I have. I’m sure you understand.” Mingi felt his heart tug a little. (He didn’t understand. He wanted to understand. It was his greatest wish as a child, to understand the love that Hongjoong clearly had for his family.)

Hongjoong continued on, unaware of the turmoil Mingi’s heart was now going through at his words. “You somehow have become important to a few members of my family. I do not know how you found a way to worm your way into their hearts but you have.”

“I wanted to keep you for maybe 6 hours maximum, make sure you weren’t going to die in your sleep before we sent you back to the world where you are from.” Hongjoong sighed, “That was apparently not what anyone else wanted. They want to keep you where they can see you. Which was apparently in our spare bedroom tucked under the covers like a little princess as Yunho so lovingly won't stop calling you.” 

Mingi felt the urge to hide under the covers like a child when Hoongjoong called him a princess. (He didn’t but he did finally put his legs back under the comforter, no longer sitting on the side of the bed. It almost felt like a barrier from Hongjoongs judging eyes.) He knew that Yunho and Hongjoong knew each other, that much was obvious the last time Yunho and Mingi had talked, but he didn’t realize that Yunho talked about him. 

“Why am I here?” 

“You are here because Yunho would lose his mind if he couldn’t check up on you every 5 minutes and I need him to be focused.” 

There was a pause before Hongjoong shrugged, dropping the intimidating mask for a bit, “Also because Seonghwa and Wooyoung like you and I don’t need them causing problems for me.” 

“Anything else?” He paused, impatiently waiting for Mingi to respond. 

Mingi quickly nodded, he could see the mask starting to build back up and he did not want to lose his only access to information at the moment, “How long have I been here?”

Hongjoong sighed again, the persona he had been putting on melting away as he stepped away from Mingi and grabbed him the cup that had been left on the nightstand. He returned the man that Mingi saw play with Wooyoung, the man that Seonghwa had gushed to him about over the past few weeks. Mingi almost envied the way he had a mask to put on whenever he felt the need to. How easy it was for him to take it off and put it back on. How he contained himself. Mingi himself showed every emotion he had ever felt on his face. He was always chastised as a child because he wore his heart on his sleeve. (It had also gotten him into a few fights in college when he couldn’t hide his disgust.) 

Ming accepted the drink and took small sips as Hongjoong talked. The drink itself tasted like someone had watered down lemonade but it wasn’t terrible.  “You’ve been here for around a day. You showed up at like 8 PM with Yunho last night completely out of it. You’ve slept through most of it due to the fact you have a concussion and a fever. Which seems to have yet to break if you being so….” 

Hongjoong looked back down at Mingi. Mingi felt small with the way his eyes seemed to look right through him. “...like this. God you’re probably hallucinating as we speak.”

Mingi opened his mouth to ask about work, wanting to ignore that little comment, but Hongjoong held a hand up, “Just drink that. You can ask questions once that’s finished.” 

“Yunho called into work for you, your boss at the record store sends his regards and says take as much time as you need to heal. I think he was just glad you didn’t want to sue since you got attacked on his property.” 

Hongjoong chuckled at the memory, “Had to talk Yunho down from doing that. He was pissed.” 

“And my other job?” 

“What did I just say?” Hongjoong glared at Mingi, but it wasn’t full of hatred like it was earlier. Hongjoong waited for Mingi to take another sip from the cup before he answered. “Your other boss is annoying as fuck first of all, wanted a doctors note or some bullshit like that. Like our word wasn’t enough!”

Mingi felt his eyes widened in worry when Hongjoong didn’t mention anything about if the store let him take time off or not. He knew that the person who would probably have gotten the final say in whether or not he took time off was Kayile and she was probably still pissed at him for the incident with Yunho a few nights ago. He wanted to ask but he held his tongue. This must have pleased Hongjoong because he smiled in an attempt to be reassuring, “Yeo got one forged so now you have a month off, don’t worry about it.” 

Mingi preened at the little bit of pride he felt in the fact that he had seemingly figured out the way to get on Hongjoongs good side. (If you ignore the fact he was basically told how to- He just didn’t listen to the first few times.) 

“You will be staying with us for about…” Hongjoong trailed off.

“Until he’s better.” Mingi’s heart jumped into his throat when he heard the deep voice. He recognized that voice. Yunho stood in the doorframe, looking almost menacing. His long frame took up most of the doorframe, blocking the room. If Mingi didn’t know any better he would be terrified. The room seemed to even get colder with his presence, like he was haunting the room. Mingi felt something in his stomach crawl when he looked at him. His eyes were sharp, glaring at Hongjoong. The scene oddly reminiscent of how Hongjoong had done the same thing earlier when Mingi had called Wooyoung ‘Woo.’ Mingi wondered how close the two of them were. He knew that Hongjoong and Yunho were friends outside of work, they had to be, they lived together. But there was something in the way the two mirrored each other. Yunho looked just as hungry as Hongjoong did. 

But when Mingi looked closer (Even if he probably looked like an insane person squinting at Yunho), he looked like he was exhausted. He held himself like he wasn’t, but Mingi could see the dark bruise blooming across his cheek, The heaviness in his shoulders, the effort it was taking to breathe. 

He was wearing another suit, except this one had a lot less pieces than the one that had ruined Mingi’s thoughts a few days ago. (Was that really only a few days ago? Was it a week? It didn’t feel like it was that long but it also felt like Mingi hadn’t seen Yunho in 20 years.) He wasn’t wearing a suit jacket and his vest was hanging on by one button. His hair looked like it had been styled but was now falling back to its original state. 

“Yeah sure.” Hongjoong shrugged, stepping away from Mingi’s bed as if to open the path for Yunho, “Until he’s better.” 

(Mingi had to hold back himself from rolling his eyes, there was no way in hell they wanted Mingi that long. He wouldn’t even want himself that long. They would probably only keep him a few more days until they got sick of him like everyone always did. Hongjoong would probably make sure of it.)

Hongjoog strode over to Yunho, pulling his head down to whisper something in his ear. Mingi couldn’t catch any of it, really only focusing on how Yunho was so much taller than Hongjoong but Yunho seemed to mold to whatever Hongjoong wanted, not even putting up a fight when Hongjoong grabbed his head. (A voice filled with smoke muttered something about Yunho being a loyal guard dog in his head.) 

With that, Hongjoong sent another look towards Mingi before leaving the room, patting Yunho on the shoulder and calling out a quick, “Dinner’s at 5, make sure to wash up.” Before he was completely out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

The two didn’t say anything for a while. Just looked at each other. Studying. Mingi watched as Yunho's eyes darted around his face, like he was trying to memorize it. (Or trying to figure out what was wrong with it.) The silence was deafening but wasn’t suffocating. It was like they were in their own bubble back in the convenience store. Like they were back to making dumb jokes and fleeting touches in the back of a shitty convenience store at 3 AM while Mingi wrapped Yunho's hand up from his stupid choices. Mingi felt normal. Like all the pain and panic he had been through today was gone. Just looking at Yunho made him feel safe. He should probably look into that. He wondered if Yunho was made out of black mold or something, that would be the best explanation for this phenomenon. Could a person be made out black mold? Can you do that? 

“Can you stand?” Yunho's voice cut through the silence, dragging Mingi out of his thoughts about black mold and their ability to become human. 

Mingi shrugged, “I tried to, but got in trouble.” 

He raised an eyebrow at him as if saying ‘how did you get in trouble from standing?’

 “Shut up.” 

Yunho raised his hands in defeat, “Sorry princess.” 

Mingi knew he was supposed to fall back into the banter as they always did, follow the script they had written, but he couldn’t. Hongjoongs words rang in his head as he stared at Yunho's hands. He had assumed that washing up just meant changing out of his work clothes before dinner, but there was something else. Yunho's hands were red. They were stained a dark red, if Mingi was any other person he would have hoped that the color was the effect of a wine spill or accidentally exploding some cherries. But Mingi knew exactly what was covering Yunho's hands. 

The blood had dried in a way that made trails down his forearms, dipping underneath the white of his dress shirt. It was dried, not still dripping. Mingi could tell that much. But it wasn’t old. The blood was still a dark red, not the usual brownish color that it dried into when it was left alone. So only maybe an hour or so out. 

Yunho’s eyes followed to where Mingi was looking, wincing a bit when he realized he had been caught red-handed, literally. He dropped his hands back down to his sides. He no longer looked like he was trying to be intimidating, he looked more like a kid that was caught coloring on the wall with a sharpie. He sighed, “I can explain. Just let me explain.” 

“I understand if you want to leave now but-” Yunho rambled on, talking about how he needed Mingi to stay for at least another day in case his fever came back or something like that. He also was apologizing a lot. Mingi stopped listening after the first sentence. He couldn’t help but sway in his spot on the bed as he watched Yunho pace around the room, being vividly reminded of when Mingi himself had been doing the same thing to Yunho only a few weeks ago. He didn’t really care about the blood. That was the least of his worries. In Mingi’s opinion, as long as he didn’t get it on the carpet, blood was fine. Mingi lifted his hand to his mouth to hide the dumb smile he could feel blooming. He didn’t even care about the cut that was definitely on his lip being split open again. It was sweet he cared so much about Mingi he felt the need to explain. 

Suddenly Yunho paused, stopping in the middle of whatever sentence he had just started and stared at Mingi. “Why aren’t you screaming?” 

Mingi blinked at him, “Huh?” 

“My hands are bloody,” Yunho held them out, as if he needed to remind Mingi, “Why aren’t you scared?” 

“Why would I be scared?” 

Yunho looked at him in disbelief, “Because there's blood on my hands.” 

“Yes, you said that already,” Mingi nodded, holding back a laugh. 

“I thought you would be running away…” Yunho looked dumbfounded, “I prepared a whole speech! I was working on it all day!” 

He fumbled around for his phone, pulling it out and unlocking it to show Mingi a note he had created with multiple paragraphs explaining why he was bloody. Or that’s what he assumed was on there- Yunho pulled the phone away from his face after a few seconds with a “Wait- Shit-. No screens.” 

Mingi just looked at him. “Yunho, I don’t care.” 

It was Yunho's turn to just blink at Mingi, staring blankly at him as Mingi watched his brain trying to figure out what Mingi had meant. He could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. 

“You…” 

“Don’t care. Do you need your ears checked?” 

“Don’t be mean to me,” Yunho huffed, “This is an extremely stressful situation. You probably don’t even know what you’re saying, Seonghwa told me people with fevers hallucinate a lot.” 

Mingi rolled his eyes, “Whatever, you big baby.” 

“I am not!” Mingi held a hand up to silence Yunho. He threw the blankets off his body and dragged his legs to the side of the bed, preparing to stand. 

When his feet hit the floor and he put all his weight on his legs he felt a burn of pain running through them. It was a soreness Mingi only felt after extremely long walks home after a 12 hour shift. His knees shook a bit and threatened to give out but before Mingi could fall Yunho was there to pick him up, running so fast that Mingi almost didn’t register where he was. He felt Yunho's hands around his waist as he lifted his arm around his shoulders. He could feel the dried blood on his hands, he knew they were flaking off onto the white bed but Mingi couldn’t care less when his legs started threatening to give out again. (Mingi tried to fight the heat that he could feel rising in his cheeks, but when Yunho decided to hold him tighter he just hoped Yunho wouldn’t look at his face and wonder when he turned into a tomato.) 

“Can you walk? I don’t want you walking, I don’t know if you should. Seonghwa didn’t tell me if you could walk or not.” Mingi could tell Yunho was gearing up for another ramble that would take forever to shut down. 

“Yunho.” 

“Do you think I could pick you up?” 

That was all the warning Mingi got before he was suddenly lifted off the ground. Mingi let out a yelp and grabbed onto whatever he could to make himself more stable. He felt his world spinning as he was moved so he shoved his face into Yunho's chest, the fabric of his dress shirt scratching against his face in a way that would have made him hiss in pain if he wasn’t so focused on not throwing up at the moment. He gripped onto Yunho’s neck so tightly he distantly wondered if he was going to give him bruises. 

“What the fuck!” Mingi cried, not really noticing how loud he was being as Yunho carried him across the room into the adjourning bathroom. 

Yunho didn’t speak until he set Mingi down on the counter. The bathroom itself was just as fancy as the room Mingi was staying in. The marble countertop that Mingi had been set on was cold, Mingi could feel the chill through his sweatpants, with designs spreading throughout the rock in a way that quietly showed off. There was the cool feeling of a mirror on his back, but something deep in his stomach told him that he shouldn’t look at it– That he wouldn’t be able to handle it. Mingi busied himself with looking around the room, trying to ignore the growing pit in his stomach.  The dark wood cabinets and doors were made to match the dark wood of the room Mingi had been staying in earlier. Just like earlier, Mingi felt almost like he wasn’t worthy to be in this room- As much as he knew that it was a stupid way to think, it was just how he felt. Mingi couldn’t help the feeling of jealousy that made its way up his spine as he watched Yunho move around the room, not weighed down by whether or not he was enough of a person to be digging through the cabinets like the way he was. If he wanted to, he could look in the mirror and probably see his own face. This type of living was his normal. Mingi watched him go through cabinets and open and close drawers, muttering to himself and unaware of the feeling of resentment growing in Mingi behind him.The feeling he was ashamed of. Especially since it was Yunho. 

Yunho, who cared so much about Mingi that he had written a whole essay to explain why Mingi couldn’t leave when Yunho had blood on his hands. Yunho, who had driven Mingi home and had made him laugh during his shifts. The Yunho that had carried him in such a way that none of his injuries were jostled. The Yunho that had just smiled at Mingi after a long shift. 

Yunho let out a little “aha!” before turning back around with a soft smile on his face. Yunho caught Mingi’s eyes and Mingi felt the resentment fall away at the caring expression Yunho had on his face; it was replaced with anger at himself for even beginning to feel resentment towards Yunho. Mingi’s eyes glared down at his own hands–. raw and red, with shallow injuries covering his palms. 

He flipped them over and glared at the dried blood that made a mess of his knuckles. He flexed his hands, watching as the injuries stretched and split open. A few beads of blood slipped out, but Mingi couldn’t even appreciate the ruby red that was now slowly leaking out onto his hands. It was all just a reflection of the dirt that he was. Yunho had blood on his hands, but it wasn’t his own. 

Mingi was just a broken creature that he had found and now he had the audacity to even think about resenting him?

How could he resent someone who just made better decisions than him? 

How could he resent someone who was comfortable in their own home? 

Someone who wasn’t stained the way Mingi was. 

How could he resent Yunho?

“You ok?” 

Mingi looked up from his hands to find Yunho setting down an amalgamation of things. Mingi saw some that were meant for cleaning the blood off of Yunho's hands. He could see a few small bottles of hydrogen peroxide and disinfectant along with a few wash rags, but there were some things that seemed out of place to Mingi. There were rolls of bandage and gauze and an entire box of bandaids that made a loud sound when Yunho threw them down onto the counter, startling the both of them. 

“What’s all that for?” Mingi asked, picking up the roll of bandages to mess with while he watched Yunho do whatever he needed to. 

Yunho raised an eyebrow at him, not pleased with Mingi’s lack of response to his question but deciding to ignore it for now, “For you? Who else would they be for?”

“Why for me?” 

“Mingi, you’re injured.” Oh. Right. 

Yunho looked at him with concern, “Do you even remember what happened?” 

Mingi knew he was injured, he could feel the pain everytime he breathed too hard or even attempted to try to stand on his own. Hell he could feel the blood dripping down his fingers from his knuckles if he paid attention. But he hadn’t given much thought to how it happened. How the bruises and scabs had shown up. Every time he slightly thought about it someone new was there to distract him. 

Mingi wasn’t a stranger to pain. He and pain were best friends, lovers even. Pain was just a constant. Sure it hurt, Mingi wouldn’t deny that, but there was never a time in his life where the dull ache of an injury wasn’t in the background. Mingi compared it to being in a room with a subtle buzzing in the background. If you’re in the room for long enough, it just becomes normal. It starts to fade into the background and you no longer notice it. Pain was like that to Mingi. Just a buzzing somewhere in the back of his mind that he’d dealt with so long he didn’t even realize it was there anymore. It was like his object permanence became worse than an infant whenever he was injured. 

A few years ago, Mingi had accidentally sliced the back of his shoulder blade open on an exposed piece of wire when he was throwing out the trash at the convenience store. He had forgotten about it by the time he walked back into the building and only took care of it when the next shift came in and asked him what the fuck had happened. 

Mingi looked at Yunho, who was waiting for his answer. His eyes narrowed like he was trying to see into Mingi’s brain, to see if he could understand just what made him tick.

“I remember a cigarette smell and a weirdo in the alleyway.” That wasn’t a lie. Mingi remembered the stench the man had left in his wake. He remembers trying not to gag when he got close to Mingi. He remembered his hands on Mingi at some point. But besides that it was all blurry, like Mingi wasn’t even actually there when it happened. 

“In all honesty, I mostly remember being cold. At some point.” Mingi shrugged. “Besides that, not much.” 

Yunho sighed, dragging his hands across his face as he looked at Mingi, something in his eyes that he couldn't decipher. Mingi watched as some of the dried blood flaked off, sticking to his cheeks in some morbid type of blush. (Something in Mingi wondered if Yunho blushed a pretty pink or a dark red like Mingi himself. He wondered if the blush was contained to just the apple of his cheeks or if it ran wild across his face like painting with watercolors. Did it reach his ears?)  

“You worry me, you know that, right?” 

Mingi couldn’t help but scoff and roll his eyes, “Like how?” 

Yunho picked up a washcloth that Mingi hadn’t even noticed and turned the sink on. He ran the cloth under some water, occasionally checking to see if the temperature was just right before shutting the sink off and turning towards Mingi. 

“Hand.” Is all Yunho said, leaving an outstretched red palm in between the two of them like an olive branch. 

Mingi didn’t even hesitate when Yunho asked for his hand, he just gave it to him without thinking. He let out a quiet gasp when as soon as his hand touched Yunho’s, it  wrapped around Mingi’s wrist like a trap, holding him in place. Mingi tried not to think about how his hands felt. They were rough, just like they were when their places were switched and Mingi was the one standing over Yunho, scolding him over a small gym mistake.

Mingi watched as Yunho frowned at the blood that was still slowly trickling through the injuries on his knuckles. The two didn’t say anything for a while. Too focused on each other. Yunho was gentle in cleaning his wounds. The rag wasn’t cold and he didn’t push too hard. At some point Yunho set the rag down and began bandaging Mingi’s knuckles, wrapping them similarly to how Mingi had wrapped his what felt like 30 years ago. He was better at it than Mingi was. Mingi was entranced with how quick and calm Yunho was. He could tell he was stressed out, Mingi saw the way his eye twitched when Mingi would accidentally move his hand in his grip. He wondered if Yunho was making fun of him in his head that night when Mingi was wrapping his hand in the staff room; he had not done it as fast and probably had also done it wrong.  

“I’m sorry for last night.” Yunho's voice was quiet, like he was whispering. 

Mingi tilted his head to look at Yunho, who was now avoiding his eyes. “Huh?” 

“I didn’t-” Yunho cut himself off, shaking his head, “I just fucked up. And I’m sorry about that.”

“You literally didn’t do anything, Yunho.” Mingi sighed, “He was probably on meth or something.” 

Yunho snorted, “I wouldn't put it past him.”

“You knew him?” 

“A little, yeah.” Yunho rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt and started the process of getting the blood off his hands. (Mingi was a little sad to watch the pretty red go, but it was for the best. He had dinner soon anyways.) 

“Work?” 

Yunho glanced up, chewing on his lip in thought before shrugging. “Yeah, I dealt with him and his kind a few times before." 

Mingi knew from the look in Yunho's eyes that he was getting into a bit of dangerous territory but Mingi was nothing if not an ignorer of red flags. “What do you mean, his kind ?” 

Yunho turned the water off and the two of them watched the last of the red disappear down the pipes. “They’re just….bad, I don’t know.” 

“Yeah, but why are they bad?” Mingi leaned forward, knowing he was pushing buttons but he did genuinely want to know. 

“Are those all the injuries that hurt or do you want me to wrap the rest of them?” Yunho said suddenly, eyes flicking towards the door like he was worried someone was going to walk in. Mingi knew what he was doing. He didn’t want to let it go. 

Then his eyes caught the way Yunho was anxiously messing with his fingers and he decided he would let it go. “My knees and back hurt a bit.” 

Yunho perked up at that, straightening his back and grabbing the medical supplies he had left on the table. Mingi seriously wondered if he was part golden retriever or something. The sound of the tap running filled the room for a few seconds before Yunho was back in front of Mingi.

“Can you stick your leg out for me?” Mingi complied, even rolling up his pant legs so Yunho didn’t have to do it. (He had to bite the inside of lip to not make a pained noise when the cut got stuck on his pant leg and needed an extra pull.) Yunho let out a hiss when he did so and Mingi couldn’t even fault him for it. His legs looked bad. Both of his knees were still bright red and there were splotches of dried blood running down from the scrapes that Mingi knew were definitely stained onto the inside of his pants now.  

“Shit…” Yunho muttered under his breath, hands ghosting over Mingi’s knee, “We should have checked more.” 

“Checked what?” Mingi felt insanely out of the loop and it was starting to get annoying. First Wooyoung mentioning something about him screaming and then refusing to explain. Then it was just his entire interaction with Hongjoong, and now it was Yunho. 

“You were really out of it when I brought you home yesterday,” Yunho started, using the same rag he had cleaned Mingi's hands with to wipe the blood off his shins, “So we were mostly focused on making sure you wouldn’t die in your sleep instead of the other injuries you had.” 

Oh yeah. Mingi remembered something about getting his head slammed into a wall. That would cause the concussion Hongjoong talked about wouldn’t it.

“We only really cleaned your face and I guess I didn’t ask the others to check. That’s my fault.” 

Mingi rolled his eyes. There Yunho goes again with his “it’s my fault” bullshit. “Not your fault.”

“Stop saying that.” 

“It’s literally not your fault, I don’t know what to tell you. “ Mingi clicked his tongue, “For someone who goes to the gym all the time, you’re really sensitive. I thought spies were supposed to not feel anything.” 

Yunho glared up at Mingi from where he was dressing his wound. Mingi thought he had pretty lashes. “I’m not a spy.” 

“Yeah I know, you told me. But you never told me what your actual job was so- spy it is.” 

Yunho didn’t say anything, just finished tightening the bandage before switching over to the next leg.

“That’s another thing, none of you will tell me anything!” Mingi was getting heated now. He heard his voice echo around the bathroom. He knew he should calm down but it had been building all day. He was just so incredibly confused and every time he asked anything he was either looked down upon or met with pity. 

“I’m the one injured! Every time I move I’m finding new ones! I should know about my own injuries!” Mingi threw his hands up in the air, ignoring the stain it put on his elbows, “Or maybe, I don’t know! How I got them?” 

He sighed. “I’m not fragile, Yunho.”

“Says the one actively falling apart right now,” Yunho muttered, yanking the bandage around his leg with probably too much force. (Mingi didn’t even give him a reaction to that- even if his eyes watered at the pain.) He stood up, wiping his hands on his dress pants and avoiding Mingi’s eyes.

“Yunho.” Mingi hopped off the counter and stood in front of Yunho. It was the first time the two had been face to face in a while. Yunho was still avoiding his eyes, this time even turning his head to not look at him. Mingi didn’t like watching his own tactics being thrown back at him. He grabbed Yunho's chin, turning it to make him look at him. 

He knew it was out of pocket, Yunho's eyes were wide and Mingi watched as he stiffened for a second before settling back down- Mingi’s hand still holding his face. Mingi could see the bruise on Yunho's cheek better now, the yellow dotted around like a painting. Mingi felt the urge to push on it, to make Yunho see he wasn’t some fragile doll that he had to protect- 

But he didn’t. He just sighed before taking his hand off Yunho's chin. 

“Yunho, today has been extremely weird for me. You know this.” 

Yunho opened his mouth but Mingi held his hand up, “I don’t need you to talk right now, just listen for a second. You don’t have to prove yourself to me.” 

“I woke up in a new room, unaware of anything besides the pain in my body. I still can’t remember everything that happened last night because my brain has decided that I don’t get to know that information. I just know I am now in a lot of pain and that I have a cold. There have been people playing with my emotions all day leaving me more and more confused. And you are not helping.” 

Yunho's shoulders sagged as Mingi kept talking. “So I need you to tell it to me straight. What injuries do I have and what happened last night. No bullshiting or I walk out that door and find my own way back home.” 

 “Also, if I am to stay,” Mingi looked down at his ratty jeans, “I want new clothes.” 

It was silent again and Mingi worried if he had gone too far grabbing Yunho's face like that, internally screaming over his own stupid decisions but not regretting them. He did really need to know what was going on. He was sick and tired of being left out of the loop. 

“Fine.” Yunho spat.

“Fine I should get ready to leave, or fine you’ll finally tell me what’s going on.”

“Fine, I'll tell you what's going on.”

Chapter Text

“But only if you stay.” 

“Huh?” Mingi couldn’t help the confusion that was probably radiating off him. Yunho still wasn’t looking at him. 

“I will tell you everything, only if you stay.” 

“I mean yeah, I was going to anyway.” 

Yunho suddenly grabbed Mingi's wrist.  “No, I mean you have to stay until I decide you can leave.” 

“Yunho- what?” The two locked eyes. Mingi suppressed a shudder. Yunho had the same eyes as when he had walked into Mingi’s room. The same dark, narrow, unseeing anything but their target eyes. The same fiery eyes that had drawn Mingi to him in the first place. The same eyes of a rabid guard dog that only knew how to bite. 

Yet the longer Mingi stared at him, the longer he didn’t look away, the more he saw something else. Underneath the anger, there was almost longing. Like Yunho was begging Mingi to stay.

“Promise me you’ll stay.”

Yunho's words went straight into Mingi's heart, making it so heavy Mingi felt it begin to sink into his stomach. The eyes plus the sincerity of the words broke any resolve Mingi might have had about staying. 

Mingi sighed, turning his head to break eye contact. “I’ll stay.” 

Mingi watched as Yunho deflated out of relief, returning to the person that Mingi had known before this whole situation. (Mingi remembered Yunho talking about how he and Hongjoong had known each other for years. He was starting to see it. They both gave Mingi whiplash with the many masks they would wear.) Yunho sent Mingi a quick smile before he let go of his wrist and went back to cleaning up the first aid the two had used. 

Mingi’s hand drifted back into his lap, the bright white bandages on his arms glaring at him almost mockingly. As if to make fun of him for agreeing to stay when he still had injuries he didn’t even know the story behind. 

A sharp ping suddenly broke the silence, and Mingi watched as Yunho fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket. He began to read something, probably a message, before beginning to type something in response. Mingi noted the phone's screen didn’t have any cracks and the case didn’t look too scuffed either–the complete opposite of Mingi’s own phone, which had both a crack across his back camera and a crack lining the edge of the screen, and that wasn’t including the falling-apart phone case he had gotten on sale a few years ago. 

It was another reminder of how Mingi wasn’t supposed to be here. Another reminder of how different he and Yunho were. Mingi was cracked beyond repair and should have probably been thrown out at least a few years ago and Yunho was…..Yunho. Shiny, perfect Yunho. 

As if Yunho sensed Mingi beginning to spiral yet again (he had been doing a lot of that recently), he shut his phone off and sent Mingi a quick smile. “HongJoong says that he’ll send one of the others to give us food so I can explain everything that happened without worrying about joining them or not.” 

Oh right. That was a part of their agreement huh-

Mingi internally slammed his head against the wall. In his journey getting lost in Yunho's eyes and promising to stay, he had completely forgotten that him staying was an agreement. 

“Actually, before we get started,” Yunho's eyes darted between Mingi and the bedroom outside the bathroom doors. “Do you wanna change out of those clothes now? I think we have some that should fit you in the dresser.” 

He looked down at what he was wearing; It was the first time since he had woken up that he really took in what was on his body currently. The same ratty pair of jeans he had put on yesterday morning and the shirt he had stolen from the back. Both blood stained and stiff from air drying after being caught in the rain so many times. Both suddenly felt as if they were bugs crawling on his skin. 

Mingi hopped off the counter, confidently ignoring the way his knees threatened to buckle. (He did everything in his power not to wince too obviously. He didn’t think he could handle being carried by Yunho again.) “If you’re offering, I won't refuse.” 

Yunho smiled again, his teeth showing this time. He looked dopey, looking at Mingi with that face. (Mingi wished he would stop looking at him like he was something to look at. It made him feel sick to his stomach.)  Mingi really couldn’t connect how this was the same person who had someone else's blood on him less than 30 minutes earlier. 

“Great!” Yunho bounded out the bathroom door, immediately digging around in the drawers of the dresser while Mingi limped his way back to the bed to sit on the edge of it and just watch. 

“Usually this room holds clothes for all of us, I just have to find where Seonghwa put my section the last time he deep cleaned.” 

“All of you? Why?” 

“It’s the room closest to the front of the house,” Yunho shrugged, “All of our rooms are on the second floor but sometimes you just wanna collapse here after work instead of lugging yourself up the stairs.” 

He pulled open another drawer and let out a quiet cheer before returning to digging. “So we started just leaving clothes in here so we can change out of whatever we were in and just go straight to sleep.” 

“I’ve used it the most recently, since I've been coming home so late.” It was just an offhand comment, but it made Mingi feel a little bad, suddenly becoming very aware that the reason he was coming home so late was because he was entertaining Mingi at his job into the early morning hours.

Yunho stood up with a bundle of clothes in his arms. Mingi could pick out a few shirts and pants but he couldn’t figure out where one started compared to where another ended, the dark fabrics all blending together in a blob. Mingi could barely see Yunho's face peeking out over the collection he had gathered.

“I’m pretty sure your waist is smaller than mine but we’re around the same height, so I tried to grab the pants with longer drawstrings than the others. I also grabbed a few of my shirts but also Wooyoung keeps a bunch of his old baggy ass t-shirts in here too so I grabbed one or two of those in case you like those better-” 

“Yunho.” Mingi stopped him before he could get started on the difference in the fabrics. “Ranting again.” 

Yunho flushed, “Sorry, just wanted to make sure you didn’t just have to wear my clothes in case it was awkward or anything.” 

Mingi raised an eyebrow, “Why would it be awkward?” 

Yunho didn’t say anything, just flushed pink some more and shoved the pile of clothes into Mingi's hands before running to the door that led to the rest of the house. It looked like he was about to just make a break for it and Mingi was never going to see him again, but he turned around just when Mingi was debating if he should say goodbye or not. 

“I’ll be back in 10 minutes, if you find any more injuries that need to be bandaged let me know.” 

He shut the door with a faint click behind him, leaving Mingi alone with his thoughts once again. Mingi stared at the closed door for a while, listening to his heart attempt to beat out of his chest while debating if he should get up and change or just lie back down. He wondered if Yunho was going to tell Hongjoong that he was right and that Mingi was going to be leaving tomorrow. Or maybe he was washing Mingi's gross blood off his hands, regretting ever coming near him at all. (He wondered if Yunho's heart got faster every time he came near him like Mingi's did.)

The clothes Yunho had given him looked comfortable, they were nice to the touch and actually looked like they would fit him. Now that they were up close, Mingi could see the sweatpants with the long strings Yunho had been talking about, along with the shirts that were definitely Wooyoung’s. 

After digging around for a bit, Mingi decided on a pair of black sweatpants along with an oversized t-shirt that had a faded design on the back. Mingi couldn’t make out the words very well with the chicken scratch they seemed written in, but he liked the shape it made at least. 

He headed back to the bathroom to change, lack of time awareness making him worried he took too long and Yunho was about to walk in on him. As he turned the door handle, he was faced with a challenge he had forgotten about. Yunho had set him away from the mirror before and he hadn’t cared enough to turn around and look at himself, too busy trying to calm his panicked heart beat. But now he was staring straight into somebody else’s face. He recognized some of it, and if you took it apart and told him to point out which parts were his face, he could. The bridge of his nose and the shape of his eyes were familiar, the pout of his lips was still the same. Put together was a different story. 

His left cheek was splattered with purple and yellow, looping around his eye and trailing out until it was hidden behind his hair. His lip was split in two different places, bright red and sore to the touch. His hair was sticking up in different directions. He raised a bandaged hand to his head and tried to smooth it down to no avail. 

He looked sick, he decided. Diseased and gross. Almost like he was dead. He looked like he was supposed to be dead. Which in a sense, he was. 

Mingi tore his eyes away from the mirror and focused on getting changed. He basically ripped the jeans off his body, kicking them off to the side. Not even caring where they landed. He changed so fast he didn’t even comprehend the bruises and bandages littered across his legs. The sweatpants were comfortable, the soft fabric soothing the uncomfortable feeling he had gotten from wearing his jeans.

Switching his shirt was different. As he was tugging the shirt up over his back, the fabric dragged itself over the injuries that had otherwise gone unnoticed in Yunho's thorough checkup. Mingi hadn’t thought to bring them up since they weren’t really bothering him at the time. They had faded into background noise by the time Mingi would have even told him. But now they were making themselves known in full force. They burned and stung as Mingi took his shirt the rest of the way off his back, letting it hang in front of his chest while he tried to get a good look at the mosaic of yellows, purples and reds that stood out against his skin. 

There were mostly bruises, the yellowish edges starting outside the blades of his shoulders and getting darker and redder until they reached the center of his back where the blade of his spine poked out if he wanted it to. It made his stomach turn, looking at them too long, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away. It felt like he was seeing himself rotting from the inside out. There were a few scrapes dotted throughout the bruises, the cause of most of the burning. None were bleeding-thankfully-but the thin scabs screamed at Mingi, threatening to split open as he stretched his skin and twisted around to see them all. 

It almost looked like a gross tattoo with the way the bruises spread across his shoulders like some sick type of wings. He flexed his shoulders and watched as the colors rippled, too entranced to care about the pain. If it wasn’t on Mingi's body and maybe on a painting, Mingi would even say it looked kind of cool. Some type of poetic art piece symbolising a need for escape or something. But it wasn’t an art piece. It was just Mingi. 

There was a knock on the door, forcing Mingi to look away from his back. “Hello?” 

“Hi, sorry!” Yunho's muffled voice came through the door, “Are you decent? Did you find any more injuries you need me to look at?” 

Mingi quickly pulled the t-shirt he was given over his head, he didn’t need to waste any more of Yunho's time on him. It was mostly bruises anyways, there was nothing you could do for bruises besides waiting them out. 

“You can come in!” He called back, purposely closing the bathroom door behind him so he couldn’t catch a glimpse of his corpse-like image in the mirror. 

Yunho opened the door slowly, back to the nervous puppy dog energy. Mingi swore he was going to get whiplash from him with the way he switched at the drop of a hat. Not that he could say anything, he had been doing the exact same to everyone all day. One moment fine, the next having a panic attack over nothing. The two stood at odds yet something pulled Mingi back to him. It was a game of tug of war that Mingi didn’t know if Yunho even knew they were playing. 

Yunho set two bowls down on the dresser and turned back to where Mingi was still standing by the door to the bathroom. He took in the clothes Mingi had chosen to wear, eyes scanning him, a smile breaking out on his face when he reached the shirt. “You look nice! I’m glad you picked my shirt!” 

“Oh yeah,” Mingi looked back down at his shirt. “I liked the design on the back I guess. Is it a band?” 

“I’ve honestly had that shirt for a while,” Yunho shrugged, “I couldn’t tell you.” 

There were a few beats of silence, neither of them really knowing what to say. There was some unspoken line drawn between them that they both knew they were about to cross. It was daunting. It hung in the room, a weight over the two of them. They both knew they had to talk about it. It was staring each of them in the face. Yet neither wanted to start. It was a standoff, and nobody wanted to win. 

Yunho broke the silence with a sigh, looking away from Mingi and staring at the few paintings on the wall. “I’m sorry for grabbing you like that earlier.” 

“Huh?” That wasn’t what Mingi was expecting. He didn’t know what he expected but it wasn’t an apology. Especially not an apology for that. 

“When I was trying to get you to stay,” Yunho said. “I grabbed your wrist even though I knew you were injured. I’m sorry about that.” 

“You’re….forgiven? It didn’t even hurt Yunho- I don’t care.”

“Yeah but it was my fault you have those injuries in the first place and I made them worse.” 

Mingi could feel them starting to go in circles. “Yunho. Stop.” 

“Just….” He trailed off. Mingi massaged his temples, trying to figure out how to start this. “Pretend today didn’t happen, just tell me what happened yesterday. And then we can talk about today.” 

Yunho looked nervous, biting his lip and not making eye contact again. “You’ll hate me.” 

Mingi groaned, “Yunho we are going in circles. I promised you I would stay, hold up your end of the bargain.” 

There was another beat of silence and the room filled with Mingi's rattling breathing. 

“What do you remember?” Mingi had to strain his ears to hear the question, Yunho speaking so softly Mingi would have missed it if it wasn’t so quiet. 

Mingi rolled his eyes, “Cigarette smell, weirdo in the alley and being cold. You know this. I told you this 30 minutes ago. You told me you knew him.” 

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing else.” 

“I didn’t actually know him very well. I knew his boss mostly. His boss is….” Yunho stared up at the ceiling, "for lack of a better term- a cunt. A cunt who started shit with Hongjoong all the time.” 

“Seonghwa told you he was a model right?” 

Mingi nodded before realizing Yunho was still looking away from him. “Yeah- He’s the main ambassador for Pirate King right?” 

“Do you know who owns Pirate King?” 

“Yunho, what the fuck does this have to do with the fact I have a concussion.” There were alarm bells going off in Mingi's head, the same ones that would go off whenever he would watch his parents talk to their sponsors as a kid.

“It’s relevant I promise,” Yunho reassured. 

Mingi crossed his arms, “Get on with it then.” 

“Hongjoong owns Pirate King,” 

Mingi raised an eyebrow, wondering if this was going to go where he thought it would.

“Hongjoong holds his designs to very high standards and even higher standards for people who wear them. Did you notice that there's only ever two people in ads?”

“Yunho...” 

Yunho continued on, ignoring Mingi's warning but speaking a little faster. “He has a new collection coming out and Hongjoong refused a business deal with the other guy. I guess they knew they couldn’t go after him or any of his models because Hongjoong would have blown his head clean off himself.” 

“So I guess he must have sent his lackey to follow me or something and realized I was hanging out with you a lot, so he decided you would be a sufficient payback. He must have gone into the store, realized it was you and decided to do something drastic without checking with his boss.” 

“Is that why I have to stay?” Mingi tested, “Because they would be after me otherwise?” 

Yunho nodded, “Yeah, they’re not really known for their morals when it comes to things like this. Hongjoong calls them something along the lines of rabid racoons you just have to deal with.” 

“Ok.” Mingi said. 

“Ok?” 

“I’ll believe you.” Yunho looked like a weight had just been lifted over his shoulders when Mingi approved his story. It made Mingi feel a little bit bad about the fact that he was lying. 

Mingi walked over to the window and looked out over the land. He watched the last of the sun disappear behind the trees that surrounded the land, getting lost in his own thoughts. He could hear Yunho eating whatever food that he had brought but Mingi wasn’t hungry at the moment.  

He knew there were a lot of things missing in the story Yunho was telling. There was probably some truth to it but Mingi had lived a life built off of lies like these since he was born. If it was anyone else, maybe Mingi would have believed it. But it was Mingi, who was starting to put his own story together that made a lot more sense than Yunhos.  A fashion dispute wouldn’t escalate this much. Or extend out to people who would classify as “completely unrelated to whatever the fuck the argument was.” Yunho wouldn’t come home with blood on his hands up to his elbows because of “fashion.” 

The biggest sign to Mingi was the way Yunho was lying in the first place. The way Yunho circled around the topic and brought up details that don’t actually matter, like he was trying to overwhelm Mingi's brain with so much information that he wouldn’t notice the discrepancy in the story. Like he was trying to lead him on a wild goose chase to distract him from what was really going on. 

There were loose threads in his story and Mingi wanted to pull on them and watch it unravel so bad. It was basically a game begging to be played. If Mingi was right, this was his natural habitat. These types of lies and secrets that led to bloody hands were the ones he was raised on. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was insane with the way he felt comforted with the knowledge that Yunho was probably just as wrapped up in the world that Mingi had spent his entire life getting away from. Maybe that was what was calling him to Yunho, the understanding that they were cut from the same cloth. His father always said he was raised to be a bloodhound, even if he was too “soft” to do the job. 

 Mingi groaned at his own thoughts. He didn’t need to think about this right now. This was something he needed to think about with a clearer head than the one he had on his shoulders right now. He was supposed to be a normal person now, not the weird one he was built to be. He didn’t need to play dumb mind games with people that were nice to him, liars or not.

He’ll blame it on his concussion for now. 

Or the fever. 

One or the other. 

Mingi sighed and turned away from the window to find Yunho staring at him. The two made eye contact and Yunho smiled, eyes crinkling the way that drove Mingi’s heart insane.

Mingi couldn’t help but snort at the man when he noticed the food sticking out his teeth in the giant smile, a cough racking his body afterwards. It wasn’t as bad as before, with Wooyoung, but his eyes were still watering when he finished and got his breathing back to a normal speed. (And somewhat normal sound. He still sounded like a broken engine a bit but it was slightly better than the last time he had tried to cough his organs out.) 

Yunho was there, when he opened his eyes, with a full water bottle in his hands. Mingi raised an eyebrow at the bottle. Yunho hadn’t brought any drinks with him when he brought the two of them food and he hadn’t heard Yunho leave the room.  Even if he did, Mingi wasn’t coughing for that long so there was no way he would have been able to fill up an entire water bottle and be back in time. 

Yunho seemed to understand what he was questioning, “Wooyoung brought it. It was on the bedside table.” 

“Ah.” Was all Mingi was able to get out before his breath got caught in his throat again. Mingi grabbed the water bottle and chugged it until the sensation went away. 

“Thank you.” 

Yunho smiled again. Except it was softer this time as if he was worried Mingi was going to start coughing again if he smiled too wide. “You’re welcome princess.” 

Mingi glared at him, “Do not fucking start this shit again.” 

Chapter Text

After the two of them talked, they fell back into a pattern that Mingi found familiar and comforting. Yet there was something different this time. Mingi knew Yunho was lying to him, whether to protect him or to just lie to him for no reason because he hated Mingi secretly and wished Mingi would cough himself into an early grave in the night- he didn’t know. But he did know Yunho was lying to him. 

Yunho seemed to think he had gotten away with everything, smiling at Mingis half hearted jokes and letting his eyes linger a little too long on his lips when the two said goodnight. Mingi stayed awake long after he had gone, moving out of the bed he still felt too dirty for and just standing by the window. He swore he tried to sleep and if Yunho asked him he would say he went to bed as soon as he left the room. He laid down in that too comfortable to be comfortable bed and shut his eyes. Twisting and turning for a few hours until he gave up. He knew that he should be asleep right now, his body needed to heal and sleeping was the best way to do that. But Mingi was a night shift worker and had been for almost 5 years, his sleep schedule was fucked no matter how much he tried to sleep. 

As he stood at the window he watched the night. He saw the birds (or bats, he couldn’t tell.) fly across the sky and block out some of the moon occasionally. He counted the stars that he could see from where he was, not remembering any of the actual constellations and instead making up some of his own. He assigned stories to them, telling some dramatic story about a princess falling in love with the villain before they both died and turned into stars with them. His imagined love interest villain had a smile that hid secrets, but was too pretty for you to care.

He could hear people walking around inside the house, their footsteps echoing down the hallway where Mingi was. The house was big but too empty to hide the echos. Mingi knew the sounds of empty houses like this well. The silence that said more than if the house was noisy. He wondered if he would ever see anyone else besides the 4 he’d already met. He knew that Seonghwa had 5 other roommates besides his partner- who he now knew was Hongjoong- and he knew Wooyoung and Yunho were part of that 5. But he had never heard anything of the other 3. Not even their names or hints at their personalities like how Seonghwa would mention Hongjoong and his habits when the two first met. They were nothing but a mystery to Mingi. 

He stayed at the window for a little longer, watching the lights that were still on inside the house eventually shut off. He was trying to distract himself from overthinking again. When Mingi was in one of these moods at home, he would go out and walk the streets of his apartment complex until he got so cold he needed to go home. He couldn’t do that here. He scanned the outdoors for something to look at but the stars had been hidden behind some clouds and the darkness swallowed the rest of the property whole. There was one light, up in the corner of the house, that never turned off. Mingi could see someone passing by the window occasionally. He clung onto that window, that activity happening where he could see it. Mingi watched that window like a hawk until he got too restless to sit still anymore. He knew that Yunho would probably disapprove but he needed to do something. He was already trapped inside this room all day and he just couldn’t take it anymore. 

Mingi pushed off from where he was leaning against the windowsill, hissing through his teeth when he stretched his arm a bit too much and the bandages pulled at his skin. He tried to look around the room for his shoes but couldn’t find them. He couldn’t find any socks either though, so it might have been for the best. He was capable of making his bare footsteps quiet as well, it was just easier with shoes on. 

He reached the door to the room, the one that Yunho had stood in the frame earlier that day, the one where he had seen Seonghwa and Wooyoung, the one where Hongjoong had closed the door after confusing Mingi more than helping him. Mingi knew if he opened this door he was creating one of two paths for himself. He would either get caught and kicked out for snooping around their house, left on the street to heal by himself. Or he would find out new things about the people that had been a dim light in his dark world for so long and ruin the dynamic they so carefully had created with him. He didn’t know which one he wanted to happen. 

The door was quiet when he opened it, like it was helping Mingi in its own way. The hallway he found himself in was empty. The air felt stale. Two doors on either side of him that were shut and looked like they hadn’t been touched in a long time. There was nothing across from him besides two windows with curtains that billowed down onto the floor. Everything about it singled to Mingi that this was a part of the house no one really went or stayed. It still looked like the rest of the house Mingi knew about (the room he was staying in and the bathroom) . The floor was the same dark wood that carried into his room. It was just…more…empty. Like it was the last on the list to decorate when they moved in and then just never got to it. 

Mingi didn’t feel like exploring the two doors on his right and left, instead turning to face the closed door at the end of the hall. It was bigger than the rest of the doors in the hallway, screaming importance just by looking at it. It reminded Mingi a bit of the doors at the end of dorm hallways when he used to visit his friends' dorm rooms before he dropped out. 

He headed down the hallway, hoping that the door wasn’t locked. He felt better already, just getting up and walking around. His body was still screaming at him to stop but the excitement of being able to move and explore outweighed the pain. He almost felt like a kid again, exploring the wings of his parents' houses like they were abandoned castles full of dragons. Except this time at least he wouldn’t get thrown into a wall if he ran into someone. (He hoped.) 

The door wasn’t heavy but it had old hinges. Mingi opened the door slowly, so as to not alert anyone to his presence. The squeaking was quiet but Mingi didn’t want to take any chances. He didn’t open the door all the way, only enough for him to squeeze his body through. He quietly closed the door behind him, triple checking to not lock it when he stepped away. 

Mingi found himself in an extravagant living room. Even in the dark Mingi could tell it was expensive. There were multiple couches, all centered around one large coffee table. The fabric looked expensive, pulled taunt over the chairs. (Mingi just knew those couches were the most uncomfortable things in the world and sitting on them gave you more anxiety instead of relaxing you.) There was a grand piano in the corner next to the windows, which were covered in dark red velvet curtains. The lights, not turned on but still visible, had crystals drooping down from them like rain. Book shelves lined the walls, filled floor to ceiling. There was an empty fireplace right next to the door, a large portrait hung above it. Everything about it screamed money and power. Even the way the carpet felt on his feet was expensive. Mingi could feel that dirty feeling crawling up his back again, a familiar cold threatened to seep itself into his bones again. Mingi pushed it back down. The darkness protected him, the way it always did. 

He wandered around the room, hands reaching out to touch the couch or the figures that dotted the shelves but never making contact. He was afraid of moving something but was too entranced by the room to look away and leave. The bookshelves were filled with books in multiple different languages, all of them with gold detailing on their spines. One book drew him in. Simply labeled “Youth” in big bold letters. Just as his fingers grazed the spine, a voice cut through the air. 

“Mingi?” 

Mingi jumped backwards, dropping his hand so fast he hit it on the bookshelf. His breath was caught in his throat when he saw who was speaking his name. Yunho. Bathed in light from the room behind him as he stood in the doorway. He wasn’t wearing his suit anymore but that somehow made Mingis heart beat faster. He looked like the Yunho he had known. The one that would come and buy an ungodly amount of energy drinks for the time. He wasn’t the one with blood on his sleeves. It was just…Yunho. His hair was messy, sticking up in directions that made it look like a halo with the light behind him. He was just wearing an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants, the same as Mingi. And yet he looked….

“What are you doing up? Are you ok?” Yunho was in front of him now, grabbing his arm and turning it slowly to check for injuries (Or at least, new ones compared to the ones he had last seen like 5 hours ago.) 

“Um…” He was too close again, Mingi didn’t know what to do. “Yeah I’m fine, sorry.” 

“Sorry?” Yunho didn’t let go of his arm. Instead he held on, holding close to Mingis wrist. 

“Yeah,” Mingi shrugged, keeping his eyes away from Yunho's face. 

Yunho raised an eyebrow. “Sorry for what?” 

Even in the darkness Mingi could feel Yunho's concerned look, “I dunno…” He muttered 

“For like, leaving my room I guess.” 

“Oh I don’t care about that!” Yunho let go of Mingis wrist to run his hand through his hair, smoothing out the ends. 

“Better me than Seonghwa though,” He chuckled, “You would have gotten a whole earful about how you need sleep.” 

Seonghwa….

He hadn’t seen Seonghwa since that morning, when he waved at him. He wondered how he was doing. Why hadn’t he seen him? Did he hate sharing his house that much? That would make sense and Mingi wouldn’t hold that against him. He was kind of an infiltrator in their house right now. Maybe he had ruined their routine and Seonghwa was mad at him for that. 

“I can hear you thinking. Stop it.” Yunho sighed. “Seonghwa isn’t mad at you for being here. He was just busy today.” 

Oh. 

Yeah that would make sense. 

“I wasn’t thinking about that.” He sheepishly said, looking away from Yunho.

“Now look who's a liar.”  Mingi could feel Yunho roll his eyes. 

“Speaking of liars-” Mingi blurted out without thinking. 

Yunho froze. 

Mingi did too. The words sat on his tongue like a pill that was melting, threatening to burn a hole in his mouth. He either needed to swallow it and hopefully forget about the aftertaste, or spit it out. He didn’t know what to say. How do you start a conversation like this? There's a loose thread in front of him, one that he’s wanted to pull forever, but he’s worried it will ruin everything. 

Mingi closed his eyes and sighed, “You killed that guy who attacked me.” 

He didn’t mean to make it sound like a statement, even though he knew that it was. He wanted to leave some room, phrase it like a question so Yunho could fill in the gaps for him. 

Yunho tried to laugh, tried to deflect, but the noise got caught in his throat. It came out wrong, warped. Which was more proof if Mingi needed any. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?” 

Mingi rolled his eyes, “You killed the guy who attacked me. It’s pretty simple.” 

“Nuh uh….” Yunho muttered sheepishly, voice lost to the silence.

“Yuh huh.” Mingi crossed his arms, “You killed that guy and lied to me about what's going on here. I’m dumb but I’m not stupid Yunho.” 

“I can’t tell you-” Yunho cut himself off, pausing to collect himself for a moment. He turned away from Mingi and walked towards the fireplace with the portrait hanging above it. Mingi couldn’t make out exactly what it was from where he was standing but Yunho gazed up at it, hands crossed behind his back.

“I can’t tell you everything.” His voice was no longer quiet. It filled the room. Mingi suppressed a shudder. He sounded like he did when he made Mingi promise to stay. 

“I’m not asking for everything.” Mingi said softly, “Just the truth.” 

“The truth isn’t good.” 

“I don’t care about good Yunho.” Mingi took a few steps towards Yunho, “I just don’t want to pretend like I don’t know you lied to me.” 

“I can’t tell you everything.” Yunho repeated. By now Mingi was standing right behind him, eyes able to adjust and focus on the painting Yunho was staring at. It was of two young boys. Both in expensive looking suits, polished to perfection. One sat in a chair similar to one you might find at an actual castle. His legs were kicked over the arm of the chair, a mischievous smirk on his face. The other child stood behind the chair, hands behind his back the same way Yunho had his hands now. His face was smooth with no expression, no quirk to his lips like the other kid in the portrait. 

The two stood in silence again, something they seemed to do a lot. Mingi just scanning the portrait, taking in all the tiny details. Each boy wore a pin of a ship's wheel, glinting in the light. The boy with his feet kicked up had an untied shoelace on right foot. The boy standing in the back didn’t actually have his eyes on the painter, his eyes were staring right at the boy in front of him. Watching him. They both looked no older than 10, maybe 11. Mingi knew exactly what type of painting this was, he had been forced to sit still for one of his own when he was around the same age.

Just as Mingi was about to say something, Yunho spoke up. 

“I hated sitting for this,” Yunho sighed. “But Hongjoongs grandparents insisted on continuing the tradition.” 

“Are you the one in the back?”

Yunho nodded, “Yeah, I was 9. Hongjoong was 10. It was for his birthday actually.” 

“Hongjoong looks like a menace of a kid.” Mingi couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the image of a tiny Hongjoong being told what to do. He was such an uncontrollable powerhouse as an adult he couldn’t imagine trying to herd him as a baby. 

“Yeah he was,” Yunho's voice sounded like he was smiling, “He’s my best friend you know.” 

There was a beat before Yunho's shoulders squared up again, “I would do anything he asked me to.” 

“And I mean anything.” 

Yunho turned to look at Mingi. His eyes were cold and sharp, just like Hongjoongs were when they had just met. But this time Mingi wasn’t afraid of the eyes that studied him with almost predator’s unwavering attention, he just looked back at them. 

“Anything as in you’d kill for him if he asked?” 

Yunho nodded solemnly, “With no remorse.” 

“So you killed the guy that attacked me.” 

“He was a risk to my family's safety.” Yunho shrugged. “He had to pay the price.” 

“Was it fast?” Mingis question seemed to catch Yunho off guard. He blinked at him, mouth open.

“Huh?” 

“Ya know,” Mingi scratched the back of his head awkwardly, “Was it fast or did you like, prolong it?” 

“Um…we prolonged it.” 

“Ok,” Mingi smiled, “I’m cool with that.”

(He wanted to ask if they had cut off his hands the way his parents used to do to their traitors. If those hands that haunted his skin were shriveled and rotten somewhere, not even attracting flies with the terrible stench his body gave off. He wondered how his screams sounded and if he thought of Mingi when he died. He almost wished he had been there to see it. The light dying behind his eyes. It sounded nice.)

Mingi blinked, clearing those thoughts from his mind. They were getting somewhere. Mingi just had to keep pushing. “Did he have any dirt on you guys?” 

“I can’t tell you that.” 

Mingi sighed, taking another step towards Yunho and putting his hand on his shoulder. Yunho’s body jolted slightly but he didn’t tell Mingi to get away from him, Mingi took that as a cue to continue. “I’m not asking what the dirt was Yunho, just if he had it or not.” 

“You’re so weird.” Yunho said. “You know that right?” 

Mingi shrugged, “I seem to recall someone telling me that a lot today actually.” 

“Why didn’t you let me lie to you?” Yunho's eyes studied Mingis face again, like he was trying to discover the answer for himself. Mingi let him, pushing down the way the heat in his face rose whenever Yunho's eyes softened looking at his injuries. His fever must be spiking again. 

“It would have been so much easier for you to pretend I’m a good person.” Yunho turned back to the painting, “Instead of the monster I actually am.” 

“Yunho, I laughed at the blood on your hands.” Mingi deadpanned. “If anyones a monster it’s me. You’re just doing your job.”

“If you knew my job you wouldn’t be saying that.” 

Mingi suppressed an eyeroll at that. Yunho was not getting the hint that Mingi didn’t care what he did, just didn’t like the lying. He decided to try a new tactic before they started going around in circles like they had a habit of doing. 

“Yunho you saved my life, you will always be good in my eyes no matter what you do.” 

 “I really don't mind what you do Yunho. You’re still the Yunho that makes stupid jokes at me when I’m working a graveyard shift for the 3rd day in a row.”

 He paused, wondering if he should let down his own walls for more information before ultimately deciding against it. “Plus, I think it’s sweet you love your family enough to do that for them. At least you kill for a reason.” 

Mingi let his words linger a bit, turning and staring at the painting of Yunho and Hongjoong again. Now that his eyes were a bit more adjusted from being in the darkness for so long he was able to notice small details. Ones he wouldn’t have seen earlier. There was a drop of blood on the boy in the backs shirt collar, the red standing out against the white but so small you could only see it if you squinted. The boy in the chair also had blood on his shoes, only visible if you were looking for it. The ship wheel pin caught Mingis' attention again.

“So what's the wheel for?” He knew the answer. He just wanted to see if Yunho would tell him. 

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Mingi countered. 

Yunho didn’t respond. Mingi decided he would take the hint, this conversation was over. He could maybe bring it back another day but his window for information had closed. At least Yunho wasn’t really lying to him anymore, just omitting the truth. 

“Soooooo,” Mingi rocked on his heels, looking for another conversation topic, “What are you doing over here so late?” 

Yunho's body visibly relaxed at the subject change, the air no longer full of tension. His muscles were still pulled tight but his shoulders began to lower. No longer on guard.  “It was actually to check up on you.” 

Mingi wasn’t expecting that answer but Yunho just continued on, “Our bedrooms are upstairs but we didn’t want to leave you alone in case anything happened so I was actually going to sleep out here in case you needed something and tried to come find us.” 

“That couch looks so uncomfortable,” Mingi blurted out. “Why would you willingly do that?” 

Yunho shrugged his shoulders, “It’s not bad if you wear long sleeves and pants so you don’t touch the fabric of it, I used to sleep outside Joongs room all the time when he was sick as kids.” 

Mingi must have made a face at the idea of sleeping on the couch because Yunho snorted.  

“Speaking of being sick,” Yunho lifted his hand to Mingis head, resting the back of his hand on his forehead to check his temperature. “Seonghwa said that if you were awake I should give you more meds.” 

Mingi batted Yunho's hand away, “I’m fine.” 

“You were actively hacking up your lungs a few hours ago.” 

“That was a few hours ago. I'm a different person now, Yunho.” Mingi crossed his arms, playing up the situation for Yunho's sake at this point. He had put the poor man through the wringer and now he wasn’t even sleeping in his own bed in his own house because of Mingi and his idiocy. Mingi had messed with his mind for the past 20 minutes trying to get information out of him after making him bandage up Mingis injuries earlier. The man deserved a few more minutes of dumb banter. 

“Mingi..” Yunho sighed, something he did a lot around Mingi, “You need to go to sleep. You’re still really sick.” 

“I feel fine.”

“You are literally burning up.” 

“No the fuck I’m not.” 

Yunho groaned, “Why the fuck are you being so difficult.” 

Mingi smirked, “If I’m fine you don’t have to sleep on the couch.” 

“That is not how it works,” Yunho interrupted himself with a yawn, “I have orders to stay near you.” 

Orders?

“Now will you go back to your room so I start my hellish night of sleeping on this couch?” 

“Just sleep in my room.”

Once again Mingis mouth worked faster than his brain and he blurted out things without even thinking. They both froze, Yunho with his hands in the air from when he was stretching. Mingis eyes darted around the room, looking at everything besides Yunho. Mingi could physically feel all the confidence he had gotten from getting some truth out of Yunho drain out of his body. He didn’t even know why he said that, he sure as hell wasn’t thinking about it. And if he was thinking about it–it was just a logical solution to their problem of Yunho needing to watch Mingi but not wanting to sleep on the couch. 

“I mean- Like- I guess-” Mingi stuttered, face heating up. Yunho's face was unreadable, he looked almost amused as he watched Mingi try and backtrack on his words. 

“I guess that would work.” Mingi avoided his eyes but Yunho's tone of voice sounded like he was actually considering it. 

“If your orders are to watch me so I don’t get sick-” Mingi picked at his fingernails, eyes on the floor, “That bed is huge so it’s not like it’s uncomfortable.” 

“Yeah sure why not.” Mingi could feel Yunho's grin, “Saves my back a lot of trouble anyways.” 

“Plus…” Yunho's hand came up to Mingis chin and tilted it up to make eye contact with him as his voice trailed off. The two were basically the same height, maybe only one of two inches of difference between the two of them. Mingi wasn’t used to it. Yunho didn’t blink. His eyes just danced across the purple and yellow splotches that disfigured Mingis face. (Mingi let his own eyes roam Yunho's face, avoiding contact as much as he could. His eyes settled on a red mark with small purple dots in the middle of it that bloomed on Yunho's cheek, like someone had punched him. It was new. But who had punched him?)

Yunho's voice softened as his thumb rubbed against Mingis split lip, “I can make sure you’re actually taking care of your injuries.”  

Mingi blamed the fact that he was tired and sickly on the fact that he didn’t have a good response. He could have rolled his eyes and said some witty quip but his mouth was suddenly dry as a dessert. He croaked out a quiet, “Yeah.” before letting the room fall into silence once more. 

“Dude seriously you’re burning up–” Yunho’s hand left Mingis face, making his face feel almost weird without it. “Ok yeah let’s go back to your room, you need some sleep.” 

Yunho grabbed Mingis hand and dragged him back over to the door that separated the hallway where Mingi was stationed and the rest of the house. “Wooyoung expects your fever to break tomorrow and if you don’t and he finds out I was up this late with you I think he’s going to cook me alive.”

Mingi wasn’t even listening anymore as Yunho walked him back down to his room, suddenly overwhelmed with tiredness that creeped into his bones. He just let Yunho lead him into bed, not even trying that hard to keep his eyes open anymore. It was like something had broken inside of him and suddenly he was exhausted and felt like a truck ran over his body. He let Yunho tuck the blankets of the bed around him, turning him into a cocoon. He swallowed the terrible tasted medicine he gave him without a second thought, not even bothering to try and pay attention to the nonsense the man was muttering. 

Mingi let sleep take him fast, slipping into the darkness before he even set down the cup Yunho had given him. He tried to say goodnight but it was like his mouth suddenly wasn’t working anymore. He hoped Yunho didn’t hold it against him as he fell into the pool of dark water where all his recent dreams had been taking place. Or nightmares. Either or. 

Chapter Text

Mingi woke up to the sound of a door closing and footsteps walking away. The door shouldn’t have woken him up, whoever was closing it had closed it slowly and quietly, but Mingi was trained to be a light sleeper and his senses were heightened with the anxiety of being somewhere he didn’t fully know. There was still sleep clawing at the edges of his mind but his vision felt clearer, less muddied. It was like someone had power washed his eyes. He didn’t remember much from the night before, just that he saw Yunho at one point. There was a lingering warmth that he subconsciously reached out to and felt a twinge of disappointment when all he hit was just another side of the bed. 

Sitting up in the bed Mingi lifted a head to his forehead to check his temperature. As he was sitting up he realized his breathing was more stable compared to the broken motor it was yesterday, coming out of lungs with almost no noise. His body still was in pain, but it was manageable. Mingi couldn’t tell if he was getting used to it or if he was actually healing. His joints still hurt every time he stretched them too far and his back still felt like someone had taken a cheese grater to his skin, but it was somehow…lesser? The pain wasn’t the only thing on his mind at least. He had at least some clarity now. 

Mingi looked around the room with fresh eyes. It was still the same as he somewhat remembered it, same layout, same cleanliness that made his skin crawl. Something out of place caught his eye as he surveyed the room. There was a bright orange bottle with a light yellow sticky note taped to the side of it staring at him from their place on the dresser. Next to them laid what looked like a pile of clothes. Mingi couldn’t read the sticky note from where he was sitting but he could recognize a pill bottle anywhere. Maybe whatever was inside the bottle would help his head. 

He pushed himself off the bed, legs swinging until his feet hit the carpet. He was wearing a t-shirt that he didn’t remember owning. The faded design was unreadable but it felt too nice to be one of Mingis own shirts. The pants too, when Mingi looked down he realized he didn’t recognize the brand of sweatpants he was wearing.

  Whose clothes was he wearing? 

  How long had he been so out of it? 

He had some semblance of an idea of what happened but it was mostly just feelings and emotions he had felt. Things like getting hurt, being put in this room, trying to leave, feeling a bit like rapunzel, someone scaring him, a pretty boy with blood on his hands, Yunho being there-

“Oh my god…” He breathed out. Yunho .  

The memories of the last day and a half came flooding back to him. He was at Yunho's house. Yunho who was roommates with Seonghwa and Wooyoung. He had met Hongjoong. Seonghwas Joong. The one who liked David Bowie. He had promised Yunho he would stay and then yelled at him. He was wearing Yunho's clothes. Yunho killed a man for him. Yunho lied to him and Mingi tried to make him tell the truth. He made Yunho stay the night with him. 

He made Yunho stay the night with him. 

Mingi swore at himself. He knew he was a little crazy when he was sick but he didn’t realize he was a fucking moron when he had a fucking cold. How the fuck was he supposed to talk to Yunho again? He either needed to die or he needed to bury himself into a hole and become a mole person. He couldn't believe he told Yunho to stay in the room they had given him. Why would he do that? Was he insane? He must be at this point. 

Mingi was so busy trying to remember every single detail of his conversations with Yunho (He almost jumped out the window when he remembered Yunho looking at him with such pity.) that he didn’t notice that he was pacing until he hit his toe on the side of the dresser. 

“Ow- Shit!” He hopped backwards, getting distracted from the new pain that was shooting its way up his body by the pill bottle falling off the dresser with a loud clatter. It was like someone had pushed over a maraca. 

The sticky note had fallen with it and was now laying face down on the floor. Mingi picked up the note first, putting the bottle in his pocket until he could find some water. (He didn't really feel like trying to get a drink out of the sink. Not that he didn’t trust Seonghwas water supply, more just the fact he always felt like a giraffe and it hurt his neck.) The note was simple, it looked like it had been scribbled last minute with a pen that was almost out of ink. Some of the words trailed off but it was readable enough. 

‘Dear Mingi,’ 

“Ok 19th century.” Mingi rolled his eyes as he muttered to himself. 

‘ I’m sorry I probably won’t be there when you wake up- I had to go to work lol! Anyways Wooyoung will hang out with you today and make sure you’re good. He’s off work today so don’t worry about it. He’ll probably be in the kitchen when you wake up (just to the left of the room we were in last night) Instructions for meds will be on the back! I’ll see you when I get home!’ 

Mingi felt his face flush as he read the last few lines. Yunho had signed it with a doodle of a winking dog next to his name. Except the dog had heart eyes. (eye? Mingi didn’t know.) 

“Idiot” He scoffed as he flipped the note over to read the instructions for pills. It was a different handwriting. It was shorter than Yunhos, no hellos or exclamation points. There was a little doodle of some type of creature with a flower on its head with a doctor's coat on but besides that it was strictly business. 

‘ 7 pills, 2 cold medicine, 2 pain medicine, 3 antibiotics. Do not wrap injuries alone. If need more: ask Woo. He knows. Take more in 2 hours.’ 

Mingi pulled the bottle out of his pocket to look at the pills. It was unlabeled, something he hadn’t noticed when it fell to the floor. Inside was just as the note described, 7 pills. 3 different sizes and colors. Some were teal, others were some type of beige. They all looked like they would go down terrible without water. There were some new ones compared to the ones Wooyoung had given him yesterday. (Was that only yesterday?) 

He turned his attention to the clothes, tucking both the note and the bottle next to each other in his pocket. ( Yunho's pocket. Because they’re Yunho's pants. He is so normal about this fact.) The clothes matched what he was wearing now, just a t-shirt and black sweatpants. This t-shirt was less faded and the logo could be seen on both sides. There was a type of blue bird design on the back, with the bird flying away and leaving a bunch of blue feathers in its wake. Mingi couldn’t help but notice it was 7 feathers, just like his pills. There was another feather on the front of the shirt, over where your heart would be. 

Mingi shook his head, he was over analyzing a fucking shirt. He pulled the shirt he was wearing over he head and replaced it with the blue bird one. He involuntarily winced when it tugged on some of his injuries but just pulled the shirt on harder. He wasn’t going to be seen weaker than he already made himself seem. He could put on a fucking shirt without being hurt. He wasn’t a baby. 

The same thing happened with the sweatpants. They caught on some of the bandages that were left over from when Yunho had fixed him up and Mingi almost fell over from his knee giving out from the pain. He almost just ripped all of them off but decided against it. They would hurt more coming off and they stopped him from getting any of his injuries dirty, which would be helpful when he went back to his apartment today. 

Which he was doing. 

He was perfectly fine now. Fully coherent and actually thinking critically for the first time in like two days. He was A-ok to head home. Yunho wasn’t there anymore, he was at work (wherever he worked) and he hadn’t gotten home until almost dinner time the day before. The sun wasn’t even fully up at the moment. Yunho wasn’t going to be home for hours. And he was friends with Wooyoung, he could convince him to just give him the meds and let him leave. He would just take his clothes with him and as much as he felt bad washing Yunho's fancy stuff in the janky old washing machines in his apartment basement, he felt worse staying in Yunho's fancy ass house for longer than he already was. 

He just had to talk to Wooyoung first and then everything would be good to go. Maybe if he begged a little he could even get a ride back to his apartment. If not, they weren’t too far right? He could probably walk. He’d walked home from some fancy ass gala on the other side of town once when he was like 8–he could walk home from Yunho's house. He would just text Yunho an apology or something and they would be just dandy. 

Mingi patted his pockets subconsciously, freezing when he heard only the sound of the pills hitting the bottle. He didn’t have his phone. 

Where the fuck was his phone?

Mingi scanned the room, expecting it to maybe be plugged in somewhere but he found nothing. The room was basically empty besides the clothes that Mingi had just thrown on the floor. It looked like it had been sterilized. The only proof that Mingi had even slept in the bed was the fact the covers were all messed up and pushed to one side of the bed. There wasn’t even the glass Yunho had given him for water. It was like someone had come in and done basically a hotel clean up while he was asleep.  

“House full of freaky little liars.” Mingi thought out loud to himself, ignoring the little voice in his brain telling him he was a hypocrite and that they would kill him if they found out what he knew. (Why did the voice have to be back when he wasn’t sick. Wasn’t the whole thing that hearing voices meant you were sick? Why was the only time Mingi had full control of his own brain was when he wasn’t sick?) 

Mingi couldn’t stand being in the weird room for any longer and pushed open the door to go find Wooyoung. Maybe he could find some food as well. Wooyoung had given him that rice before so maybe they had leftovers that Mingi could take a piece of. If not that was fine, he’d find food when he got home.  

The hallway was just as freakishly clean as the room he was staying in. It felt like they were trying to sell this section of the house with how empty and clean it was. It felt like one of those overly expensive houses you find on those house hunting websites that let you digitally walk through them. One of those websites where to boost your own ego you make fun of the tiniest details of the houses because even if you could afford it (which you can’t) the bathroom tile is just so ugly you would never even think about it! 

Even the windows curtains were drawn, hiding the actual outside world from Mingi. He didn’t care though. He would get enough of the outside world on his walk home. 

The old door at the end of the hallway sounded louder than the last time Mingi had used it. Maybe it was because he was impatient and shoved the door open faster than his half awake, delusional, and stupid alter ego that was last night's Mingi. He didn’t care if it locked behind him, he just started to feel stir crazy and had to move somewhere. 

The living room that Mingi found himself in was more insane than he remembered it being. It might have been the sunlight streaming through the sheer curtains on the windows (the actual heavy ones had been pushed back) and the way the beams hit every shiny or sparkly thing in the room and brightened it tenfold. Mingis eyes actually began to hurt a little looking at the room. Almost all the books had gold detailing on them, shining at him and calling him poor a million times. The grand piano looked like it hadn’t been played in a while but Mingi knew that it was tuned to perfection if anyone wanted to try. 

Everything about it was a blatant display of wealth and it was gaudy as hell. Mingi knew exactly what this room was, if he was right about Yunho and his family at least. (Or maybe it was just Yunho and Hongjoong. Seonghwa seemed too nice for the line of work his husband probably did and Wooyoung was just a cook. Neither of them had given off the dangerous vibes that usually came with that line of work. But then again– Neither had Yunho.) This room was the room where potential business partners you didn’t trust came to visit. Mingi had been forced to sit in these types of rooms for years on end. Listening to his parents' and their “business partners” talk about shady dealings for hours. The painting confirmed it. 

He remembered talking to Yunho about the painting last night. The one of him and Hongjoong as kids. The one you only get made if you’re the heir to something. The hidden details (that weren’t actually so hidden in the daytime) made that clear. There was a crazed look in the little Hongjoongs eye, that was obvious, but there was also one in the little Yunho's eye. It was harder to see since Yunho wasn’t looking at the painter directly but it was there. 

The blood speckles were still on their clothes, hidden in plain sight. A little red on the collar of a shirt. A little drip off the bottom of a shoe. The message of the painting was clear to Mingi and crystal to whoever was actually in meetings with those two. “We’ve been trained since we were kids that your blood belongs on our shoes and is not even important enough to clean.” All in all it was a painting meant to strike fear into people. Mingi just found it cute. 

Little Yunho with his chest puffed up like a proud bird, his face chubby and round the way all children's faces are. Hongjoong looked tiny in his suit, his face was all scrunched with his smile. Yunho's ship wheel pin was crooked. Hongjoong had a slightly untied shoe. They were just two cute kids in a fancy painting. 

Mingi took one more look at the painting, trying to memorize baby Yunho's features to make fun of him later with, before pushing open the fancy door that kept this section away from the rest of the house. This door was much more smooth compared to the one that led to where Mingi had been staying, opening completely silently. 

The door led to the entryway of the house. It was huge. Mingi almost turned around. He could just leave through his window right? He didn’t have to eat. 

The floor was the dark wood stain that the rest of the house had been, but this time it seemed even less inviting than the living room Mingi had just left. There were giant stairs off to the side of him that split down the middle and curled up the wall, leaving an entryway to another part of the ginormous house. Across the room there was another closed door, presumably another living room that led to more bedrooms, an equal opposite to the section Mingi had been in. The staircase had dark metal railings with designs inside of them, all highlighted by the giant circular chandelier that hung in the middle of the room. The room was just as intimidating as it needed to be. It was another show of power and wealth. Too big and too empty to hide anywhere. The wood just the right color to hide any lasting blood stains. 

“Oh Mingi!” Mingi didn’t jump (No he didn’t!) when he heard Wooyoungs voice echo off the walls. He looked around frantically but couldn’t find him, the man was nowhere to be found. 

Wooyoung giggled from wherever he was, “Up here dude!” 

Mingi looked up as Wooyoung descended one of the staircases, the one close to Mingi. He was just wearing a simple outfit, one that you would see out on the street and not even blink an eye at, but he carried himself with such grandeur that Mingi would believe you if you told him everything about the outfit he was wearing cost more than his life. (Which actually probably wasn’t a lot if he thought about it.) He was just wearing washed jeans with a black jacket and a white shirt but when he got closer Mingi noticed the many rings are earrings he was wearing. The chain necklace that sat perfectly around his neck looked heavy and like one of those spiked dog collars in the most fashionable way. 

Mingi was taller but Wooyoung was just more . He held the power in the conversation and Mingi wondered if Wooyoung knew that. “You feeling better? I was wondering when you’d come out of your cave.” 

Mingi blinked. “Oh um yeah. I think my fever broke earlier so I can think actual thoughts now.” 

“Hah called it!” Wooyoung pumped his fist. “San owes me 20 bucks.” 

“Who?” 

The question seemed to catch them both by surprise. Wooyoung kind of paused, like he didn’t know how to explain who he was talking about. 

Shit. Had Mingi met someone and completely forgotten them? Was he a really important person that Mingi should have known? Shit. Shit. Shit. 

Wooyung tilted his head like a cat, still silent. Still thinking. He was observing Mingi. Wooyoung's eyes made him suppress a shudder. What was this group of people and their weird eyes? 

“You only know four of us huh?” That answer confused Mingi more. 

“Yes..?” He didn’t know what Wooyoung was getting at. 

Wooyoung waved his hand, dismissing Mingis questions, “I’ll tell you more after I feed you. Follow me.” 

And with that Wooyoung broke off, walking over to the door across the entryway that Mingi had been avoiding the whole time. He pulled it open before turning back to Mingi with his eyebrow raised, “You coming?” 

The pointed look must have shocked something in Mingis system back to life because before he knew it, he had crossed the room himself and was now standing in a dining room. The door shut behind him with a light click and Wooyoung slipped past him and disappeared through an arch in one of the walls. 

The room was oddly simple. Personal even. It didn’t fit the rest of the house. It was still fancy, there was a painting on the wall that probably cost his entire apartment building, but it was….

It was just odd. It made something in Mingis' stomach turn. 

‘Hey it fits the weird vibe of the people that live here.’ He snorted at his own joke. 

Just like the room he had been staying in, the handles on the cabinet behind the table were metal teeth. The cabinet looked like it held plates and cups on one shelf, the other held a bunch of colorful boxes that Mingi wasn’t close enough to see what they were. The table had 8 seats, 3 on the side and 2 at either end. That wasn’t the weird part about the table. The weird part was all the chairs were pushed close together–all towards one end–leaving the other chair a significant distance away from the rest of them. There were still plates at the table, even a cup, but there was nothing on the other end. 

“Yeah it’s annoying to have everyone so spaced out if we don’t need it.” Wooyoung reappeared, leaning on the arch with a bowl of something in his hand. “So we just kind of pushed all our chairs together at one end.” 

“Come eat in here though, you can pick between more options.” Wooyoung used the bowl he was holding to usher Mingi into the other room, which ended up being the kitchen.

Just like the rest of the house, it was huge and fancy. The large windows carried through to this room, illuminating the area without the need for lights. But just like the dining room, the feelings were different than they were in the living room or the entryway. The large island had a bowl of fruit in the middle and a stack of notebooks sat in front of one of the stools that was slightly pulled out from underneath the carving where the others sat in a straight line. It was like he suddenly walked into another house. The more he looked around the more it felt less like a listing and more like a real house. 

There was a sweatshirt hanging off the back of one of the chairs at the small table in the corner. Dishes in the sink. A dying plant pushed close to the wall. A piece of paper stuck to the fridge with a pink bunny magnet. More colorful animal magnets stuck around them. It wasn’t even silent, you could hear things besides your own breathing. There was a birdfeeder right outside the window over the sink and you could hear the birds chirping as they dug through it. There was the soft hum of a dishwasher surrounding Mingi. 

Wooyoung was digging through cabinets, his now empty bowl sitting in the sink. He was muttering to himself as he opened door after door. Too focused on finding whatever he was looking for to notice Mingi hanging back in the doorway. His chest felt weird now along with the weird twist he felt in his stomach. He was probably just hungry. It was a kitchen after all. 

“Ah!” Wooyung exclaimed, pulling a clear box from an upper cabinet.

 “Found em!” He held the box above his head in triumph before setting it down on the island. 

Mingi didn’t want to move. He felt like he didn’t belong in this room. He felt like the chair in the dining room. Not wanted but everyone was too nice to send him away. His feet were stuck to the ground as Wooyoung dug through the box, air soon filled with the sound of pill bottles rattling around. 

Pill bottles.

Oh shit-   

“Oh yeah,” Mingi coughed to hide the shakiness that came out when he tried to talk, “Do you can I borrow some water? I still have to take the pills you guys gave me.” 

Wooyoung stopped digging through the box, “You haven’t taken them yet?” 

“No,“I don’t like dry swallowing pills, it's annoying.” Mingi shrugged, "So I was just waiting.”

“Dude you should have said something earlier, you were supposed to take those as soon as you got them!” 

Mingi just shrugged again, “Sorry.” 

Wooyoung quickly filled up a glass of water from the fridge (Their water dispenser was inside their fridge because of course it was.) and set it on the corner of the island, in front of one of the chairs. Mingi had to step inside if he wanted to take the pills he was given. And not taking the pills would probably make them more offended than Mingi poisoning their kitchen. Mingi sighed, pulled out the orange bottle from his pocket and headed over to the seat Wooyoung had claimed for him. 

Wooyoung gave Mingi a quick smile when Mingi sat down before turning and going nose first back into the clear box, ruffling around in it like a raccoon would trash. His hair had gotten longer, Mingi noted. It was now mullet length, the ends fanning out behind his neck. He looked comfortable, which was kind of an insane thing to say to think about someone in their own home. 

Mingi tore his eyes away from Wooyoung and looked back at the bottle he was given. He popped the cap and poured all of them into his mouth at once, making sure not to close his teeth down on any of them. He let them sit in his mouth a bit until the familiar burning of a pill dissolving in his mouth hit his tongue. He chugged the water in front of him, feeling each of the pills go down his throat. He was honestly surprised he could still do that without choking. He finished the rest of the water to push the feeling of pills lingingering in his throat down. 

Mingi began to bite his lip unconsciously, letting out a hiss when he rolled a cut on his mouth through his teeth. At the sound Wooyoung looked up at him, a collection of colorful band aids in hand. 

Wooyung just blinked at him before turning and heading back over to the fridge, grabbing a paper towel on his way over. He opened the freezer and grabbed a few ice cubes with the paper tower. He began wrapping the paper towel around the ice and walked back over to Mingi. 

“Have I told you you look like shit?” Wooyoung deadpanned as he held the towel to Mingis lip. The cold was nice. It soothed the stinging in his mouth even if just for a little bit. 

“Thanks,” Mingi rolled his eyes. His words were muffled by the towel over his mouth but he was just as deadpan as Wooyoung. “It's kind of like I got beat up or something.” 

Wooyung took his hand back, letting Mingi hold onto the towel.  “Oh. Right.”  

Wooyoung grabbed a banana from the bowl of fruit in the middle of the table before jumping up on the counter, sitting right next to Mingi. It reminded Mingi of when Yunho was sitting on the desk in the breakroom. Wooyoung peeled the banana and split it in half, handing the bigger half to Mingi. 

Just as Mingi took a bite of the banana Wooyoung spoke again, “Do you not have any friends besides me and Seonghwa?” 

Mingi almost choked. “What?” He managed to get out. 

Wooyoung was swinging his feet and staring down at his rings. “Your bosses seemed really surprised when I said you were staying with friends.” 

“So do you just not have any friends or what?” Wooyoung made direct eye contact. 

Mingi didn’t know how to respond. 

He had friends! Kind of. There was the nurse who lived on the floor above him. He would call her a friend. Even if they hadn’t talked in almost 3 months. Would he call any of his coworkers his friends? Myeong was the person he was closest with to his coworkers at StarShine. But even then they had more of a transactional relationship. Mingi let Myeong off the hook for letting his friends steal from the back and Myeong gave Mingi more shifts when he wanted them. And that was it. That was everyone he talked to besides his neighbors. 

Well there was Yunho. 

Yunho's his friend! Yunho was probably the most friend like out of all the people he knew! He even had Yunho's number!   

“I mean, Yunho is my friend.” 

Wooyoung rolled his eyes, “Ok do you have any friends who don’t live in this house?” 

Mingi couldn’t answer that and Wooyoung was met with silence. For his credit Wooyoung looked genuinely surprised that Mingi didn’t have anyone outside of this house. “Wait like seriously?” 

“I was like- Joking and all that but you actually don’t have any friends outside of us?” 

Mingi shrugged. “I work late shifts. I’m on a different clock to everyone else. Hard to be friends with someone who has the same schedule as a raccoon.” 

“You work two jobs though,” Wooyoung pressed, “You gotta be friends with at least one of your coworkers!”

“I mean…I’m somewhat friends with some of my coworkers but I work odd hours and usually no one works with me.” Mingi trailed off, staring into the empty cup in front of him. Wooyoung didn’t say anything. 

Oh shit does he think Mingis begging for pity? 

“I didn’t mind being alone though!” He quickly backtracked, “that’s all that really matters right?”

“I mean- I guess…” Wooyoung leaned back on his hands, staring up at the high ceilings that the entire house seemed to have. 

Suddenly something clicked in Mingis mind, “Wait, you talked to my boss?” 

Wooyoung let out a snort. “Duh? How do you think we got you two weeks off?” 

“Two weeks?!” Mingi exclaimed, “How the fuck did you manage that?! What the fuck did you even tell them?!” 

Wooyoung just shrugged again, turning behind him to grab a green apple from the bowl behind him. Wooyoung tossed the apple at Mingi and waited until he had taken at least one bite to continue talking. 

“We told them the truth. That you got jumped locking up on Saturday.” He leaned back on his elbows. He still wasn’t looking at Mingi. 

“We did tell them though that you were just released from the hospital though and were going to be staying here. Yeo whipped up a few documents super quick and they believed them.” Wooyoung finally turned to Mingi, an apologetic grimace on his face. “Sorry about that by the way but Yunho genuinely couldn’t take you to a real hospital.” 

Mingi understood that part more than they knew. He remembered as a kid whenever he got injured, whether it was at home or at school, he was never allowed to go to the hospital. It wasn’t even that his parents didn’t want him to go. They didn’t trust most doctors but his parents also just never cared if Mingi was hurt. They always told him to suck it up because “getting hurt isn't a very good look for their family” and “feeling pain makes you weak.” It was actually because most of his caretakers as a kid were on the “bad” list his nanny once told him when he broke his foot as a kid and had to wait for their personal doctor to drive all the way to their house before he got looked at. As he got older he realized it was because of the thorns that crawled around their bodies. Just like the ship's wheel on the painting. His parents didn’t have them of course, they didn’t need them. 

Mingi just nodded, “I know. I get it.” 

Wooyoung looked surprised. Mingi didn’t really know what to say besides, “This isn’t my first run in with people like them.” 

He didn’t want to let them know that he knew but he also didn’t want them to beat themselves up over stupid things like not taking Mingi to the hospital. They didn’t need to know how much he did understand them, how he kind of craved being let back into the world they lived close to. He still didn’t really believe that Wooyoung or Seonghwa were in as deep as Yunho and Hongjoong or really if they were even in on it at all. (Or maybe he just didn’t want them to be.) But they would have to be stupid if they didn’t know what was going on and Mingi didn’t think either of them were stupid. 

“Are you talking about the break ins that happened last week by Estelles?” 

That was bait. A diversion. Mingi knew it. But one look at Wooyoung's face and he decided it was better if Wooyoung didn’t worry about his friends because of him. He took the bait. 

“Yeah those. Knew a few people who worked in those stores.” 

It didn’t make sense. Mingi knew it. Wooyoung knew it. It was just a very thin veil over each of their eyes. Not actually hiding anything but they could pretend it did. They could close their eyes and look the other way. 

The silence returned, wrapping itself around Mingi the way it did when he was talking to Yunho. He had ruined it again hadn’t he. They knew he knew too much but he couldn’t force the words out of his mouth to tell them how much he knew. He knew how this would go. They would all pretend he didn’t know, that he was just some poor soul who got mixed up into their mess and then eventually Hongjoong would realize he was a threat to his family's safety and shoot him on the spot. Like one of those abandoned dogs at a shelter for too long. It was only a matter of time before it happened and Mingi was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even more of a reason to leave today and get out of their lives forever. 

Mingi stood up, the chair scratching the ground as he did so. “Where's your bathroom?” 

Wooyoung just pointed to another arch at the end of the room, leading into a hallway. Mingi could see multiple doors with shiny door knobs down the hallway. “It’s the last door on the right.” 

“Thanks.” He muttered and he started walking. Trying his best to fight back all the lies bubbling in his throat. “I don’t actually know what's going on, please go back to pretending you're all normal” and “I believe everything you guys have told me point blank. I am not questioning everything.” 

“Wait.” Mingi froze. He slowly turned back to Wooyoung, who was still sitting on the counter. 

“You want an omelette?” Wooyoung's face broke into a wide smile, the same one he would give Seonghwa when he wasn’t looking at the record shop. It gave Mingi whiplash. He just moved on from their whole conversation completely. Was he just ignoring it or would he bring it up later? Everyone in this fucking house confused him. 

“Uh.” He stumbled over his words, trying to figure out what the right answer to this question was. “Yes?” 

Wooyoung hopped off the counter and landed lightly, “Great! I’ll start it then!” 

Wooyoung quickly busied himself with digging through the fridge and cabinets, pulling things out as loud as he could. It was like Mingi wasn’t even standing in the doorway anymore. Mingi didn’t really know what to do about the energy switch. He just slunk down the hallway, occasionally turning and making sure Wooyoung wasn’t pointing a gun at him or something. 

When he reached the bathroom he was once again face to face with himself. 

His eye was still a dark purple color but the swelling had gone down. He was still pink from sickness but it looked less like they had dropped him in red paint and tried to wash it off and more like he was just really flustered. His lip was still split, that hadn’t changed at all. It looked even worse than the last time he saw it since he had been chewing on it like an idiot. His nose still had scrapes on it, scabbed over but still there. He lifted a hand to push his hair out of his face and his eyes landed on the new bruises around his wrist. The ones Yunho must have left when he was making Mingi promise to stay.

They didn’t hurt. They weren’t purple or even yellow. They looked more like he was a bruised banana than someone who was actually hurt. It kind of looked like he had slept with some bad oversized charm bracelet on and it had left marks on his arm. Unlike the ones on his face and the rest of his body, Mingi couldn’t bring himself to mind these ones. In fact he pushed down on them, trying to make them stay longer. It was some twisted hypocritical bullshit and if anyone asked him he would say they were from the same place as the rest of his bruises. 

The ghosts in his head started whispering again, “You should be thankful for these ones.” they said “They’re proof someone knows you enough to know when you're being an idiot. It’s an act of love.”

Mingi knew that wasn’t right deep down. But he liked the idea that Yunho cared enough about him to leave bruises. They’re proof that he is alive and there and that Yunho sees him. 

Maybe that says something about him. Maybe that makes him just as crazy and the guy with the cigarette that gave him the rest of the bruises. 

He didn’t know. He didn’t know if he cared. 

He was leaving today, the bruises didn’t matter in the long scheme of things anyway.

Chapter Text

As always, Mingi had made the water too hot. He didn’t know why he did it, he just always did. When it finally became too much and started burning his fingers he hissed and pulled away from the sink. His hands now more red than purple from the colorful splotches of bruising he had around his knuckles. He flexed his fingers, feeling the skin become raw and scratchy just from the cold air. He turned on the cold water and waited a bit before he stuck his hands back under the stream. The water was still warm but not as boiling as it was before. 

Mingi ran the tap for a bit longer than he needed to, long after the last of the soap had left his hands. Just watching the water flow into the drain. He didn’t really know how to feel about what was going on. He didn’t even know if thinking about it would even help him at all. There was something in his gut that was tugging at him. Twisting and turning. He hadn’t had much to eat and it was still ruining his stomach. He had to suppress a gag when he heard the faint sounds of Wooyoung opening and closing cabinets in the kitchen. Wooyoung was cooking. For Mingi. 

At the thought of eating whatever Wooyoung was making him, his stomach lurched. Mingi slapped a hand over his mouth, pushing down another gag. He could feel his throat filling with acid. God he really needed to get out of here. 

Wooyoung must have poisoned him or something. Just like Yunho being made out of black mold. After talking to Wooyoung, anytime he thought of leaving–going back to life before the house, before the bruises from people his heart missed–he felt like throwing up. It was something in the air of this house. Their AC system must be rusting. Or full of lead. Or radiation. Something was just wrong in the house and that's why Mingi was getting sick whenever he thought of leaving now. That was the reason. 

Wooyoung told him to tell him when Mingi felt sick. He had more meds. Mingi could go get those meds and maybe ask to stock up on them for when he leaves. 

He heaved. 

Nothing came out. 

Just the taste of acid filled his mouth.

Mingi sighed and dropped to the floor. His eyes burning, threatening to cry. Something was stuck in his throat. The water was still running. The constant noise being the only thing Mingi could focus on. He was sick again. That was it. It wasn’t him. It was his body. He was just sick. He had the flu or something. Just… 

‘Sick in the head.’ His mom muttered in his ear. ‘You’ve always had such a weak mind. That’s why we had to keep you so close.’

“Fuck off.” Mingi pulled his knees to his chest and tucked his head into arms. He felt her hands on his head, running through his hair like they always did when he was little. A subtle reminder that he was just a prize dog to her disguised as a mothers loving touch. 

‘Is that any way to talk to your Mother? The one who raised you?’

“You didn’t raise shit.” Mingi snorted, jerking his head away from her hand. “We both know that was entirely your brother.”

‘Don’t speak to your Mother like that.” 

Mingi groaned. He must be going crazy finally. Fully crazy. What's next? His fucking uncle? “Not you too. Why can’t you guys leave me alone? It’s been like 12 years.” 

‘You know why we can’t leave Mingi,’ The voice of Mingi's dad tsked at him. Mingi rolled his eyes at the tone. ‘The blood on your hands keeps us tethered to you, just the way we raised you.’

“Thanks Dad I almost forgot.” He muttered into his arm, suddenly very tired. His mothers hand returned to his hair. He didn’t try to push her off this time. 

‘Why did you leave us son?’ His mom had put on the voice she used whenever she wasn’t getting her way. The pathetic one that sounded like she could start crying any second. They both knew it was fake. Just like all of their feelings. They were performers first, humans second. 

‘We wanted to give you everything…’ His dads voice was soft, like he was trying to coax a stray dog into coming with him. 

But wasn’t that what Mingi was? A stray dog that didn’t have anything going for it? Something that needed to be saved from hurting itself more? 

‘Why don’t you come back to us?’ Mingi's mother crooned in his ear, ‘Leave that rabid mutt and come back home.’

Mutt? 

Who were they talking about? 

Mingi scanned his brain, trying to figure out who they were talking about until it finally clicked. 

“That mutt lets you tell it what to do.” 

Yunho. 

They were talking about Yunho. 

“You don’t get to talk about him.” 

‘Darling don’t be like that-’ His mother started but Mingi swatted the air around him. 

“I said you don’t get to talk about him like that.” 

Before his parents could even try to respond Mingi pulled himself up off the floor and shut off the tap, drenching the room in silence. He gritted his teeth as he gripped the counter, avoiding his own eyes in the mirror's reflection. 

He was fucking 24. Not 9. Why was he letting the disembodied voices of his parents talk to him like he was a child? Letting them speak about his friends like that. Letting them worm their way back into his brain. Why was he being so emotionally weak? His uncle didn't have a closed casket for him to go running back to them like a lost puppy. 

“God this is such bullshit.” He spat, mostly to himself. 

Just as he reached for the doorknob–deciding he preferred to deal with Wooyoung and his cooking than his own mind–something made him stop. 

There were voices coming from the other side of the door. 

Mingi pressed his ear to it, trying to make out who they were. Something in his gut told him he shouldn’t open the door just yet. 

“I like him. I don’t want to bring him into this. He doesn’t deserve that.” Came through the wood. Muffled, but understandable. It almost sounded like Seonghwa, but more serious. Mingi couldn’t imagine the Seonghwa he knew speaking with the tone he was hearing right now. 

There was a sigh before another voice came through. Whoever it was sounded frustrated, their voice sharper than the other person. Mingi knew that tone of voice. Hongjoong. “I know you don’t. And as much I would love to just send him home like nothing happened. I don’t think we have a choice.” 

“But-” A third voice. More timid than the other two. 

“No Yunho.” Yunho was there? Didn’t his note say he was going to be at work?

The first voice spoke again. Softer than the first time they spoke like they were trying to even out the sharpness of the other person. That was the voice that belonged to Seonghwa that Mingi knew. “Joong is right Yun…as much as I hate to admit it, they won’t stop until they get him.” 

The timid voice (Yunho? He really didn’t think it was Yunho. They sounded too fragile.) spoke again. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”  

“I know you didn’t. But you let it happen anyway and now we have a new mess to clean up.” 

“I didn’t let -” 

“You went to that store consistently for almost 6 months. You took a dumb risk and are now facing the consequences. That's how this works. That's how it's always worked.” 

The third voice muttered something Mingi couldn’t make out through the door but it was apparently something for the first voice to tut at. 

“No you cannot just keep him. He isn’t a pet.” 

Another mutter. 

“I did not do that with Wooyoung!” The muffled voice of Hongjoong protested. 

There was a sigh that Mingi couldn’t make out who it came from before the sound of a door opening reached Mingi's ears, “We can talk about this later, right now we need to figure out what we're going to say at the meeting later.” 

Mingi waited until he heard the door close behind the three voices before he even let himself put his hand back on the doorknob. Something about the seriousness in their conversation told him he wasn’t supposed to hear any of that. His stomach had stopped turning as well, so Mingi finally reopened the bathroom door and stepped back into the hallway. He could hear Wooyoung loudly chatting with a voice he didn’t recognize. (Well, he mostly heard Wooyoung's side of the conversation. The man was loudly defending himself about something but the pauses in his words indicated there was another person there.) 

Mingi started his walk down back towards the kitchen, letting himself look around the hallway for a bit instead of just walking with his head down like he had done earlier. It seemed like it was a mirrored version of the hallway Mingi had stayed in. Except he didn’t think that the doors that decorated the hallway led to bedrooms. They looked too fancy for that, like they were trying to prove a point. It reminded Mingi of the entryway of the house or the fancy living room that cut his area off from the rest of the house. The same thick wood blocking off the rooms from Mingi. 

Mingi was peeking out at the garden through one of the giant windows when he heard a door slam from the kitchen. Wooyoung's voice going with it. He let the heavy curtain fall back over the window as he turned towards the noise. 

“Oh fuck!” He jumped back, hitting his shoulder on the window. It echoed through the hallway with a dull thud. 

There was a man standing in the door frame in between the hallway and kitchen. Mingi couldn’t make out much about him with the way he blocked out the light from the kitchen but he looked inhuman from just the shape of his body that Mingi could see. The man looked like he had hopped out of an anime with the widest shoulders he had ever seen with a waist barbies would cry over. This wasn’t real. He absolutely wasn’t. He was absolutely hallucinating again. 

“Um.” Mingi stuttered. What the fuck do you even say to people like this? “Hi? Sorry if I’m not supposed to be here I was just looking at-” 

Mingi was cut off by the guy beckoning him back into the kitchen. Or that's what Mingi hoped it was, it was just a head jerk aimed towards the archway and before Mingi could even think about what was happening the man turned on his heel and disappeared into the kitchen. He didn’t even look behind him, just expecting Mingi to follow him. 

Mingi did follow him of course, he wasn’t taking any chances with these people. As much as he put on a brave face in front of Yunho about the murder he was still a little nervous that he would piss off one of his roommates and he’d find himself dead in a ditch somewhere. (Not Wooyoung or Seonghwa though, he didn’t think those two could even kill someone if they tried. Hongjoong and this guy on the other hand…) 

The man with the shoulders was sitting at the kitchen island when Mingi walked in, sitting in front of two dishes. One of them was half eaten while the other was untouched besides the smiley face made out of fruit on the side of the plate. As he slid into his seat Mingi noticed that the man was wearing pajama pants. Not just any pajama pants, cute ones. They had the face of a light purple cat with bows on its ears decorating the fabric. Mingi had to hold back a snort at the ominous vibes that this man just gave off compared to the cuteness of his outfit. 

Now that the two of them were closer, Mingi realized he recognized his face. He was the man that had the staring contest with Yunho at the gas station that one night. The one where Mingi had to break them up because Yunho looked like he wanted to jump over the counter and punch this guy that was now just sitting at the kitchen counter picking at his food. The one that looked like a cat. He wondered if this was the roommate Wooyoung talked about when he spoke of a "pretty boy with the face of a cat and the body of a anime character" that "pawed outside his door until he let him in to cuddle." He couldn't imagine this man biceps as large as Mingis face cuddling with Wooyoung. (Speaking of biceps, Mingi could see a large tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve of his t-shirt. He could see a ships wheel with a moon hanging on it but the rest disappeared under the shirt. Mingi recognized it from somewhere but couldn't place it...)

The silence was awkward but Mingi wasn’t going to be the first one to talk. He stopped trying to analyze the man and picked up the fork that was laid down next to the plate, trying not to ogle the intricate design on the fork. (Who needs that fancy of a fork- It was literally just a fork.) He picked at his food for a bit before deciding he would rather deal with his stomach being mad at him than just the silence with nothing to do. Just as he lifted a bite to his mouth the other man decided to start talking. 

“So you’re the one Yunho kept ditching me at the gym for. Interesting.” 

Mingi swallowed the piece of egg without chewing as much as he should have, feeling the food force itself down his throat as he tried to school his reaction. He tried not to gag as he felt the acid return to his throat. He turned as normal as he could and looked back at the man, scanning his face to see if he was actually mad or if it was some type of joke. 

He tried to laugh but it sounded forced. “Yeah sorry about that. I didn’t realize that you guys were roommates. If I had known I would have kicked him out earlier.”

That was apparently not the right thing to say. The man's eyes narrowed and Mingi suddenly found his eggs extremely interesting. Wow eggs were so yellow he didn't realize that. 

After a few seconds Mingi tried again, really not wanting one of his friends (They were friends right? That’s what Wooyoung and Seonghwa had said.) roommates to be mad at him. Even if he was leaving and probably would never see their roommates again. “I literally always told him he didn’t have to stay.” 

The man sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Nah it’s fine, I get it. I would do the exact same for-” 

“Captains calling Sannie.”

Mingi swore under his breath as he tried not to jump out of his skin. His fork clattered against the glass plate with a loud sound. Yunho had suddenly appeared behind them and put a hand on the other man's shoulder. 

How the fuck had he gotten there without either of the noticing?! How fucking quiet could this man be?!

“Don’t call me that in front of guests.” The man (Sannie?) grumbled as he peeled Yunho's hand off his shoulder. Yunho let him, his hand just dropping back to his side after Sannie threw it off. 

Mingi watched as a smirk emerged on Yunho's face, the same one that meant he was going to start speaking in the most dramatic voice you’d ever heard. Mingi held back a laugh as Yunho grabbed his friend's hand and bowed dramatically, bringing his hand up to his lips. 

 “My dearest apologies to Sir San of House Joong.” Yunho's accent had turned into a stereotypical British one, yet was somehow mixed with a twang Mingi had never heard before. 

San rolled his eyes before hopping out his chair, still holding Yunho's hand. “House Joong doesn’t even make sense, Captains last name is Kim you idiot.” 

“Are you implying I don’t know my Captain's last name?” Yunho sounded genuinely worried at the implication San was throwing his way. “You do realize that-”

“That you outrank me by like 7 years?” San interrupted, “Yes I do know that Yunho you bring that up every time it’s your turn to do the dishes.” 

“I do the dishes!” Yunho spluttered, “It’s not my fault you're never here to see me doing them!”

“Yeah yeah whatever you want to believe," San waved his hands in front of Yunho's face, oddly reminding Mingi of Wooyoung. "Where does Joong want us?” 

“He said it’s a family meeting so it’s probably in the living room.” Yunho muttered, crossing his arms like a petulant child. 

San turned to Mingi one more time, suddenly looking much less scary after Mingi had just watched him argue with Yunho over normal roommate things. “Just make sure you put your dishes in the sink once you’re done. Seonghwa kind of throws a fit if we leave anything too messy.” 

As soon as Mingi nodded, San turned on his heels and left the kitchen. His purple cat pants disappeared from view as he shut the door to the dining room with a little extra force than what was needed if the slam that echoed through the kitchen was something to go by. (That and Yunho mumbling under his breath that “He was just doing that piss him off” and that “Hongjoong would not appreciate the two of them fighting again.”) 

Once again Mingi and Yunho found themselves in an empty room. Yunho slid into the seat San was just occupying and turned until he was facing Mingi. Yunhos eyes seemed to soften as he took in the fading bruises on Mingi's face (That still looked terrible by the way, so Mingi didn’t know where this sweet look was coming from. He was still extremely beat up.) His eyes lingered on the cut on Mingi's lip a beat longer than the rest of the injuries. The way Yunho was looking at his injuries made Mingi inhale involuntarily.

Mingi coughed. The inhale fucking with his throat more than it should. Mingi grabbed the cup of water Wooyoung had refiled before he left and chugged it before his cough got any worse. He still got light headed if he let his cough go on for too long. He shut his eyes as the headache he had forgotten about came back full force. 

Yunho's hand found itself resting on Mingi's back as Mingi hid his face in his hands. The heat was comforting. Much better than the cold of his parents hands on him earlier. 

“Sorry.” Yunho whispered. Mingi waved the words away with his hand. 

“You’re not the one who got me sick, don't apologize.” 

“But I am the reason you have a concussion.” 

Mingi opened his eyes at that, feeling the need to glare at Yunho. He ignored the heat in his face as he realized Yunho was a lot closer than he thought he was. Only a few inches away from Mingi's face. “You are not the one who decided to beat me up for no reason Yunho. Shut the fuck up.” 

Looking at Yunho, Mingi realized there was a cut on the side of his face. It was small and close to his ear, something Mingi wouldn’t have seen if Yunho wasn’t this close to him. It wasn’t bleeding much. Just had a few beads of blood along the scratch that were threatening to spill down. Before Mingi even thought about it- he licked his thumb and went to wipe the blood away. 

Yunho hissed at the contact and Mingi pulled his hand back. “Shit sorry I didn’t realize-” 

Yunho grabbed Mingi's wrist before it got too far, hand wrapping around it like it had done the night before. (When Yunho made Mingi promise to stay. Mingi wondered if he would still want to see if after Mingi broke their promise.) “It’s fine princess, just didn’t expect it.” 

“Still not a princess you weirdo.” Mingi rolled his eyes at Yunho but didn’t take his hand away from his face. He wiped the blood away without any other noises of pain from Yunho. He let his hand linger on the other man's face, not wanting to pull away. He hadn’t seen Yunho up close in the daylight before and he was trying to commit the image to memory. 

The sun streaming through the kitchen windows made Yunho look like an angel. The way his hair fell perfectly around his face. The way his nose curved. His lips. Everything made him beautiful. Yunho leaned into Mingi's hand, letting his own fall back down to his side. His eyes fluttered shut as Mingi's thumb started tracing circles on his face automatically. 

“Sorry for leaving so early this morning. I had a meeting.” Yunho whispered, like if he spoke too loud he would spook Mingi off. 

“It’s ok,” Mingi breathed out, not even registering the words that were leaving his mouth, “You have a life and a job.” 

Yunho let out a soft chuckle, “You said that like you don’t also have a life and a job. You have more of a life than I do.” 

Mingi didn’t reply to that. He didn’t know how. He didn’t really have a life outside of work. If you could even call his work a life. He just mostly stood around and actually talked to 7 people a week max. Yunho's job was dangerous and took up most of his life, sure. But from what Wooyoung and Seonghwa had told him about their own lives, it was a much better life than the leftover scraps god had given Mingi. 

He must have been silent too long because Yunho opened his eyes, eyes still soft like he had just woken up from a good dream, “What are you thinking about?”

“Where’d you get the cut.” Mingi replied. He didn’t want Yunho to realize how pathetic he actually was until later. 

Yunho straightened up at that. Taking a step away from Mingi with an awkward cough. “Um, nobody.” 

“Nobody?” Mingi raised an eyebrow, “That means somebody hit you.” 

“No. Nobody hit me,” Yunho shook his head. He was avoiding Mingi's eyes now. Looking anyway but at him. “It’s fine, don't worry about it.” 

Mingi suddenly remembered the conversation in the hallway he had overheard. How weak the 3rd voice sounded. How he didn’t want to believe it to be Yunho because he had never heard Yunho like that. He remembered the way Hongjoong had pulled Yunho's head down to his level to talk to him and the way Yunho let him be pulled.  

“Was it Hongjoong?” 

Yunho looked scared when Mingi asked. He tensed up, like he was expecting something. To be hit again? 

“Yunho…” Mingi breathed out. 

“I asked him to.” 

“What?”

Yunho straightened up, Mingi watched as the mask he had on when he had come home from “work” rebuilt itself. “I asked him to. I said don't worry about it Mingi.” 

“Hongjoong wanted you to be at the meeting too. You’re meeting the rest of the members today.” Yunho headed for the door, refusing to look at Mingi.

“And you called me fucking weird.” Mingi groaned as he hopped off the chair he was sitting on. “Bipolar ass bitch.” 

“What was that?” 

“Nothing! Don’t worry about it.” Mingi felt a little bit like a bitch parroting Yunho's own words back at him to be a little shit but he was getting tired of the weird mind games everyone else in the house seemed to know the rules of but Mingi. 

He was either going to leave this house on good terms with 3/7 of the roommates or none of them. At this point he was ready to go back to his tiny little apartment where his biggest worry was his neighbor blasting some dumb reality show too loud and not whether or not asking if someone has been hit in the face by their boss who is also their friend since childhood is a normal thing or not. He could hear his parents giggle at his misfortune faintly in the back of his head. 

‘Oh great.’ He thought . ‘Just what I fucking needed.’

Fuck. He forgot to put his dish away. 

Chapter Text

Mingi tried to keep his face neutral as he followed Yunho but he knew that if anyone looked at him they would be able to read his thoughts just from a glance. He tried to keep the anger (frustration? He didn’t know exactly what it was but anger was the closest emotion he could name.) at Yunho pushed down but it escaped every time Yunho slightly moved. His skin felt like it was on fire with every slight twitch of Yunho's hands, every sigh he breathed out when he glanced at Mingi out of the corner of his eye. 

He knew Yunho didn’t deserve his bitching and moaning. He was trying to keep Mingi “safe.” He didn’t need to save Mingi. He could have just left him in that alleyway. But Yunho didn’t. Yunho took him home and nursed him back to health like some rabid animal you find in the trash. And Mingi was repaying him and his family's kindness by beating them up in his head and trying to burn holes into the backs of their skulls when they weren't looking. 

The room Yunho led him into was just as showy as the rest of the house had been. The same velvety red curtains that hung heavily on the windows. The same large bookshelves filled to the brim with books with golden trims and in languages Mingi couldn’t even name. 

Mingi stopped in the doorway but Yunho kept going, like he was on autopilot. He ended up standing next to a chair in the middle of the room, one surrounded by couches that were full of people. Yunho stared straight ahead, almost like he was challenging Mingi. His body screamed “don’t come near”, but his eyes held nothing. Mingi tore his gaze away from Yunho, eyes searching the room for maybe a spot where he could sit out of Yunho's direct line of sight. Mingi spotted Wooyoung laid out across two people, playfully messing with them. One of them was San, his eyes no longer sharp and analytical. He was looking at Wooyoung with a softness in his eyes that tugged on Mingi's heart. 

The other person, the one Wooyoung was almost completely on top of to get to San, tugged on Mingi's heart for a completely different reason. Their face was beautiful, androgynous, the type of beauty that Mingi as a child used to pray for. They had sharp features that faded into curves perfectly. Mingi could see that they were muscular just in the way they moved. Their eyes as they stared at Wooyoung held a type of love that Mingi knew was real. 

On the other side of the intricate coffee table sat Seonghwa and another person Mingi didn’t know, quietly chatting to one another. The other person was strong, Mingi could tell just from the way he carried himself. His face was round in a way that made Mingi want to pinch their cheeks. Their hair was cut short, different from the almost mullet-like haircuts Seonghwa and Wooyoung had, and Mingi could see the glint of an earring shining off the overhead lights. 

Just as Mingi was about to move to sit next to Seonghwa he was pushed out of the way by Hongjoong shoulder checking him from behind. He wasn’t expecting it so he was thrown off balance for a bit, only stopping himself from falling by grabbing onto the archway and praying his knees wouldn't give out. A hiss escaped his lips when he reached back to touch the injury that Hongjoong had hit. His shoulder blade stung and he could feel the bandage Y̶u̶n̶h̶o̶  that had been wrapped carefully around his back last night start to fall off. He had hit a sensitive spot. 

“Hongjoong!” Seonghwa cursed and ran up to Mingi. 

“Are you ok?” Seonghwa whispered, hands hovering over Mingi's body like he was too disgusted to touch him.  

Mingi nodded, biting his lip as he straightened up and felt the bandages tug on his skin again. “I’m fine. It just took me off guard.” 

Seonghwa didn’t look like he believed him, scanning over his face with his eyes. When Mingi didn’t give him anything to indicate something was wrong he sighed. “I won’t push.” 

There was a cough somewhere in the room and Seonghwa turned back around, arms crossed and glaring at Hongjoong. “Apologize. Now.”

Hongjoong was sitting in the seat Yunho had been guarding. The intense look he was giving Mingi unsettled him but Mingi couldn’t tell if it was because Seonghwa was telling him to do something or if it was because Seonghwa was so close to Mingi. And then he blinked and Hongjong's face fell into the same look of poorly hidden emotions that he had worn when Mingi had met him for the first time. He had the same sharp eyes as before but this time they weren’t turned on Mingi. They were turned on Seonghwa. 

The tension in the room grew the longer the two didn’t speak to each other. Everyone was holding their breath. Mingi remembered what Wooyoung had told him about the two yesterday morning. “They’re the heads of the house. We kind of have to listen to what they say.” Hongjoong was the boss, the leader, but Seonghwa had the same amount of power over him that Hongjoong did. It was a level playing field. It was just a game of who had a weaker will. Who would bow to the other first.   

Hongjoong sighed and turned his head away from Seonghwa's gaze. “You win.” 

Seonghwa smiled, it was small but Mingi was still close enough to see the slight curve in his lips. “Say it.” 

Hongjoong sighed again, louder this time. He still wasn’t looking at Mingi. “I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sorry what?” 

“I’m sorry for running into your shoulder, that was wrong of me and I hope I didn’t hurt you too much.” 

Seonghwa let his smile breach his face now, showing his teeth and clasping his hands in front of him. Once again reminding Mingi of a school teacher. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it dear!” 

Seonghwa gave one last look-over to Mingi before heading back to his spot next to the strong one, plopping down on the couch with a dramatic flourish that made Wooyoung roll his eyes. He made a show of settling into the couch, crossing his legs over the other and leaning forward to look Hongjoong in the eyes. There was a flame dancing in Seonghwa's eyes as he smiled at his partner. Mingi recognized exactly what it was. Spite.  

Hongjoong shook his head at Seonghwa, muttering something under his breath that Mingi couldn’t hear. Seonghwa’s smile just widened. “Now let’s start this family meeting shall we?” 

As soon as Seonghwa stopped speaking, 7 pairs of eyes turned to Mingi. Wooyoung and Seonghwa were looking at him expectantly, like he was supposed to know exactly what to say. Mingi swallowed and wrapped his hands around his arms, he couldn’t look away. That would be a sign of weakness. But the way the others were looking at him…as if he was on trial for a crime and the slightest twitch could be used against him. Mingi could feel his heartbeat quicken. He felt like a scared animal that had finally been caught. 

He tried to look to Yunho for help, but Yunho wasn’t there. His body was there, he could see the hand that had once rested softly on Mingi's face tighten around the back of the chair Hongjoong was now sitting in. But Yunho himself wasn’t there. His eyes were hollow. They looked straight through him. Yunho couldn’t help him here. 

Hongjoong broke through the silence by slapping his thigh, bringing the attention off Mingi and onto him. Mingi felt his shoulders shudder as he took in his first deep breath. “Since you fuckers messed up, you will take the responsibly and will do your introductions.” 

There was a beat. Mingi felt something in his ribs begin to burn as Hongjoong looked him over once more.

“Full names.” Hongjoong finally said, leaning back in his chair and gesturing for someone else to start. Mingi heard a jaw snap shut somewhere in the room. ‘Was this the first time they had ever had to introduce themselves with their names?’

Before the suffocating silence came back Wooyoung groaned loudly and sat up from where he had been still laying across Sans lap. “You guys are the worst. You’re making him nervous.” 

“Mingi you already know me but I will be the responsible one” He shot a look to San, “And actually introduce myself.” 

“I’m Jung Wooyoung, I am a cater and I am the person you will go to if you’re hungry!” Wooyoung smiled, showing off all his teeth. They somehow didn’t make Mingi feel as comfortable as they were supposed to. Chills ran up Mingi's back. It was a harsh reminder of where he was. As much as he wanted to ignore it, he was still in someone powerfuls home. Wooyoung could bite. Whether or not he liked Mingi didn't matter. 

“Would that make me next?” The deep voice that came out of the beautiful man next to Wooyoung shocked Mingi. It rivaled his, yet smoother. (Better.) The man glanced around for approval, getting a nod from both Hongjoong and Wooyoung. 

“What do I say again?” 

Wooyoung sighed, “Just your name and your job babe.” 

“Oh right.” The man turned to Mingi, their eyes were soft. The edges of their lips quirked up in a small smile that made Mingi's cheeks heat up. “My name's Yeosang and I’m a model, kind of. I was the one that carried you into the house actually!” 

Yeosang turned to Hongjoong. Hongjoong gave him a nod of approval and Yeosang sank back into the couch. Mingi watched as one of Yeosang's arms wrapped around Wooyoung's waist and he tugged him off of San’s lap and onto his own. Hooking his head over Wooyoung's shoulder to watch the ongoings of the rest of the room. Something in his guts twisted watching them. He felt sick. (Was he becoming homophobic? That’s a new one.)

“Yunho already told you my name but I’m San.” San shrugged, leaning back as well to put his head on Wooyoung's thighs. “Can’t tell you my job but I work with Hongjoong and Mingi.” 

Mingi could do nothing but nod at them and close his eyes. His throat was closing up. He was going to throw up. The twisting in his stomach felt like his organs were trying to climb out of his body. Wooyoung definitely poisoned him. 

The man next to Seonghwa spoke up next, a thankful distraction from the 3 on the other couch. 

“I’m Jongho, I work at a bar in town some nights-” He jerked his head towards Hongjoong. “but I mostly work for the captain over there.”

“I’m Seonghwa,” The voice Seonghwa spoke with was dripping in sweetener as he gazed at Mingi. “You already know that I’m a model, don’t you dear?” 

Mingi quickly nodded, not sure why Seonghwa was suddenly questioning him but his instincts kicked in before he could even fully process the question. 

“Stop doing that.” Hongjoong said flatly, looking at Mingi but it was evident that he was talking to Seonghwa. “I’m Hongjoong. I’m the head of this here house. You have problems, you answer to me.” 

Mingi nodded again. He looked at Yunho expectantly. Yunho was looking back. His face was still neutral but there was something in his eyes. Mingi couldn’t make out what it was from across the room but his demeanor had changed. 

“Jeong Yunho. Hongjoong tells me what to do and I listen.” His voice was flat. He was repeating a script he had performed many times. 

Hongjoong snorted at that. “Yeah right. You stopped listening to me the minute we turned 15.” 

Yunho closed his eyes, “I follow every order.” 

“No you don’t. If you did, he wouldn't be here right now.” 

Even if Hongjoong had meant it as a joke, Yunho's face darkened as soon as he understood who he was talking about. That was not the right thing to say. The room's tension became thick. Swarming them like a fog that they could never get out of. “Neither would Wooyoung.” He spat at Hongjoong. 

“Wooyoung wasn’t a liability just because someone got a little too attached to a pret-” 

Yunho cut in before Hongjoong could finish his sentence. “Wooyoung was the worst risk you’ve ever taken! You’re just lucky it actually paid off instead of him betra-”

“Shut up!” Seonghwa jumped out of his seat, cutting the two of them off before they could say anything more. “If you don’t shut up, god help me.” 

“Yunho isn’t the only one who wants Mingi here, if you haven’t forgotten.” Seonghwa pointed out, “Both me and Wooyoung wanted him here.” 

“And I’m not a fucking liability.” Wooyoung hissed from his spot on the couch. Mingi could see his hands twitch but the weights of San and Yeosang held him back from jumping Yunho. 

“I can…” Mingi tried to speak but his voice got caught in his throat as soon the groups turned their eyes on him. He gripped his wrist tighter and stared at the painting on the wall behind Hongjoong and Yunho, knowing if he made eye contact with anyone he might break. He cleared his throat and started again. “I was planning on leaving today. It’s ok.” 

Mingi couldn’t stop the words from falling out of his mouth. “I promise I’m not a liability. I don’t trust the cops and it’s not like I have anyone to tell about really anything. At max I can talk to my neighbor but she doesn’t talk to me anymore and she’s really busy so I don’t want to bother her. So really there's absolutely no one I would tell any of this to, I don’t even really have coworkers. I mostly work alone. No one else wants to work the graveyard shifts so literally I’m kind of a ghost in the world. You don’t have to worry about me at all. I don’t have anyone. Promise!”

He knew he was rambling but it was the only way he knew how to defuse the situation. Keep talking until they were annoyed by his voice, forgetting what they were even mad about in the first place. They were all fighting about him. He caused this mess. If he takes himself out of the equation, the mess should be fixed. He didn’t want to break up another family because he just wasn’t good enough. He couldn’t handle that again. 

The silence that followed Mingi's ranting was haunting. They were still looking at him, he could see them out of the corner of his eyes, but he kept his vision focused on the painting behind them. He couldn’t look at them. If he saw pity in their eyes he might actually throw up. He could already feel the bile rising in his throat just thinking about it. 

“Look what you guys fucking did.” Jongho scolded. He stood up from his seat, stretching out and very obviously flexing the amount of muscle he had as a warning. “I don’t need to be here anymore if you guys are just gonna fight over some dumb shit like this.” 

“Jongho..” There was a warning in Sans's voice. 

“Nah, just shut up.” Jongho crossed his arms over his chest, “Family meetings are neutral territory, that’s the whole point of them. This isn’t neutral so I’m out.” 

With that he walked out of the room, not even glancing at Mingi when he passed him. His footsteps echoed off the walls of the empty house until they eventually faded. 

Seonghwa groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He muttered something to himself before spinning on his heels and pointing at Hongjoong. “You and Yunho will be having a meeting with me.” 

“You don’t get to-”

“In my office Kim Hongjoong.” Seonghwa's voice sent a shiver down Mingi's spine. “You may be the leader, but I am still the oldest.” 

“Unless you want to refuse?” Seonghwa cocked an eyebrow at the duo, daring them to refuse to his demand. 

“No sir.” Yunho mumbled as Hongjoong nodded silently. 

“Get going then.” Seonghwa waved the two men out of the room. 

Hongjoong avoided Mingi, giving him a wide berth when he passed by him to get out of the room. Yunho, on the other hand, stopped right in front of him. He was leaning into Mingi's space. He could hear his breathing. Could see the way his eyes unfocused and re-focused on Mingi. There was a skip in Mingi's heartbeat that made Mingi feel nostalgic for the last time they were in this position. (Something that, realistically, was at most 20 minutes ago but it felt like years to Mingi.) 

“You have me.” 

“What?” Mingi had to strain his ears to even hear what Yunho had said. The other man breathed the words out so quietly like they were never supposed to leave his mind at all. 

Seonghwa's voice called out a low warning. “Yunho…” 

Yunho straightened up and away from Mingi, sparing him one more glance before following Hongjoong out of the room. 

Seonghwa sighed again once the two had officially left the room and dropped down into the seat that Hongjoong had just been sitting in, covering his face with his hands. “Those fucking two…” 

“Wooyoung, San- The two of you dismissed. Go do whatever.” Seonghwa waved his hand at the two still on the couch, “Take Woo to go smash some shit- just don’t let him around anyone else.” 

“I can be trusted around people!” 

“Wooyoung.” The warning was back in Seonghwa's tone. ‘They’re the heads of the house. We kind of have to listen to what they say.’

Wooyoung grumbled something under his breath but got up and walked out of the room without any more protests. 

Seonghwa set his eyes on Mingi, who hadn’t moved from his spot in the doorway the entire time. 

“I’m sorry they’re acting so uncivilized, usually they’re at least a bit more human.” 

Yeosang made a sound between a giggle and a scoff. “Yeah right.” 

Seonghwa sent a pointed look to Yeosang, his patience running thin the longer this went on. Mingi could see the vein in his neck move as he tried to keep his composure. 

“Anyways,” Seonghwa's eyes returned to Mingi, "Despite what just happened, you will not in fact be leaving today like you tried to imply.” 

“What?” Mingi tried to protest, “But I!”

Seonghwa held up a hand, “Unfortunately for you none of us feel comfortable leaving you alone until you are fully healed so you will be staying in our guest room for the next few weeks until you are cleared by us.” 

“Today was supposed to be a day where we as a group talked about the rules of the house but alas,” He sighed, “My family is nothing but rabid animals.” 

“Yeosang will be your buddy until dinner, you two can do whatever you want just not leave the property.” Seonghwa smiled at Yeosang, “Same rules as last year.” 

Yeosang saluted, Mingi couldn’t tell if that was the genuine response or if Yeosang was being funny. Seonghwa just nodded at the action, which didn’t help his confusion either. 

Before Mingi could get into his head about the implications of the way Seonghwa ran his household, the man himself was in front of him. Hands hovering once again. (He must be really disgusting if Seonghwa refused to touch him twice.) There was a look in Seonghwa's eyes that he couldn’t figure out. It was a mix of pity, recognition and something else. Something that made Mingi's skin crawl. 

“Yeosang.” The man responded with a hum. “Get him rebandaged before you do anything. He’s bled through his shirt again.” 

Mingi grabbed the black t-shirt Yunho had given him that morning, trying to find where the blood was. He couldn’t see anything through the fabric but tugging at it made him realize that it had in fact been stuck to his skin. 

“How did you?” Mingi sputtered, but Seonghwa was gone. His footsteps not even echoing through the house. It was just Mingi and Yeosang, who was still sitting on the couch. 

Yeosang shrugged, “He just does that. San told me they used to call it “mom sense” as teens but Seonghwa threatened them so they stopped.” 

“They’ve known each other since they were teenagers?” 

“Oh yeah” Yeosang grinned, “Sannie has old photos from when Yunho and them were all going through their rebellious phases, it’s great.”

“Yunho had a rebellious phase?” The Yunho who followed Hongjoong's orders to a T? The one who if you joked about having him drive you home, would be there an hour early to make sure you were ok? The same Yunho? 

“I can show you the pictures if you want!” Yeosang put his hands in his pockets as he stood up, “Just after we get you re-re-fixed up.”

Chapter Text

Yeosang led Mingi back into the kitchen where San and Wooyoung sat at the small table in the corner, quietly watching something on a laptop. Neither of them looked at them when the two entered, eyes glued to the screen. Mingi realized that the sweatshirt that was draped around Wooyoung's shoulders like a blanket was the same sweatshirt that had been hanging off the chair earlier. 

Yeosang left Mingi standing in the middle of the room as he ran off towards the same cabinet Wooyoung had grabbed the clear tub that was still sitting in the middle of the island. The sounds of dishes clinking together as they were pushed around filled the air as Yeosang went from cabinet to cabinet, cursing louder when he couldn’t find what he was looking for. 

Wooyoung looked up from where he was nestled into San's side when Yeosang closed a cabinet door a little too aggressively, the sound echoing in the room. 

“Sangie.” 

Yeosang turned with a hum, face breaking into a smile when he saw Wooyoung looking at him. “Yes?” 

“What are you looking for?” 

“The medicine bucket!”

San shoved his face into Wooyoung's shoulder to hide his laughter as Wooyoung just stared blankly at Yeosang. Yeosang smiled wider at the two of them. (The innocent lost boy look reminded Mingi of someone. They had similar eyes. Mingi felt his throat close up.)

“Yeosang,” Wooyoung sighed, “Are you looking for the bucket that is currently located in the middle of the counter and has been since you got here?” 

Mingi watched Yeosang's eyes drift over to the kitchen island and realize what he was looking for was in front of him all along. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and muttered a quiet thank you before he began to shift through the tub. The sounds of pill bottles shuffling around once again entered the air just like it had earlier. 

The constant deja vu made Mingi feel crazy. It was oddly better when he was sick and didn’t realize what was going on. Now that he was somewhat conscious he realized he was stuck in a loop. Yet–somehow–he was just far enough from it that he couldn’t get comfortable in it. He couldn't tell if he needed to be guarded or if they truly cared about him. He couldn’t tell if Hongjoong tolerated him or if he wanted to throw him out by the next hour. He couldn’t tell if Seonghwa was using him to get back at Hongjoong or if he was taking care of a new “friend.” Mingi couldn’t make sense of the weird family dynamic they had going on. He couldn’t see himself as anything but a temporary nuisance, an inconvenience on a time limit that was steadily ticking down. He had worked so hard throughout his life to know exactly what people thought about him and now these people were throwing him for a loop. He didn’t know how to handle it. 

Yeosang made a triumphant noise, drawing Mingi's attention back to him. He lifted a roll of bandages and a few bottles. “Found them!” 

“What are those for?” 

Yeosang frowned at San, “Hongjoong fucked up his arm again, remember?” 

“Fucked up his arm?” San looked between the two of them, scanning Mingi's body before looking back at Yeosang. 

Mingi rubbed the back of his neck, “It’s not that bad. I didn’t even notice.” 

Wooyoung rolled his eyes, “Yeah that’s because you’re on at least 4 different painkillers.” 

“What?” 

Wooyoung leaned back into San, not answering Mingi. The volume of the drama was suddenly raised up and it was clear that Wooyoung no longer wanted to talk. San looked a bit sympathetic but didn’t answer Mingi's question either. He just shrugged and pulled Wooyoung closer to his chest as they focused back on the drama. 

“Ignore him.” Yeosang sighed. “He’s in a mood right now.” 

“I’m going to assume you don’t want to take your shirt off in the middle of our kitchen so follow me.” 

Before Mingi could respond Yeosang had grabbed his hand and was now leading him down the same hallway where he had heard the 3 voices talking about him earlier. It was silent now. No voices could be heard behind the thick doors. No whispers from his parents in the pipes. 

Yeosang pulled him into the bathroom, thankfully leaving the door open. The bathroom was smaller than the one connected to the room Mingi had been staying in and Mingi didn’t know if it would be comfortable for either of them to be in the small bathroom with the two of them. Mingi wasn’t small but Yeosang wasn’t either. He may have been shorter than Mingi but Mingi could see the amount of muscles that rested under the surface. 

“Here, you face away from the mirror and take your shirt off.” Yeosang said, “That way I can have all the counter space and you don’t have to worry about knocking anything over.” 

“This should be pretty quick since Yunho said he cleaned all your wounds last night. This is just a matter of rebandaging them to make sure they heal as quickly as we want them to.”

Mingi just nodded and turned away from Yeosang. His fingers messed with the hem of the shirt he was given. Did he tell Yeosang that he never actually told Yunho about the injuries on his back? That he had let them go unnoticed because he was already so uncomfortable with the gentle hands that soothed instead of stung? Did he tell Yeosang about the gross splattering of bruising that went across his shoulder blades or the bright red mess of scrapes that sat in the middle of his back? 

He began to pull the shirt up, biting his lip to muffle the pained hiss when the movement pulled at the bruises. He squeezed his eyes shut when the fabric refused to disconnect from the spot that must have been bleeding, it stung but he tried to tug it off his skin as fast as he could. 

It was just like ripping off a bandaid. He repeated like a mantra in his head. 

“Ok! This should be over in a-” Yeosang's sentence got cut off with a pained gasp. Guilt ravaged Mingi's stomach. He should have just ran when he had the chance. (Did he ever even have a chance?) 

“Mingi…” The sympathy in Yeosang's voice made it worse.

Mingi's voice came out barely above a whisper. “Don’t.” 

But Yeosang didn’t stop, instead taking a step towards the broken doll that was Mingi. Mingi felt the warmth of Yeosang's hands as they hovered over the bloody scratches, never making contact.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

The question hung in the air like a guillotine. Mingi didn’t have an answer for that one. He just stood in silence waiting for the ground to swallow him whole. For something to take him away from this place. He couldn’t even open his eyes, he didn’t dare to. He had disappointed not only Yunho but everybody in this house. His very presence was a curse on them. He could feel the hot pressure of tears welling up behind his eyes. He couldn’t cry. He didn’t deserve to. Not after all that he had done.

“I still have to wrap these up…” Yeosang's voice was muffled like he was underwater. “This may hurt.” 

Mingi couldn’t talk the entire time Yeosang tried to bandage his back. He couldn’t feel the gentle hands Yeosang was using. He couldn’t hear the whispered apologies when he pushed too hard when he was wiping the blood off his back. Mingi wasn’t there anymore. He was drowning. There was something wrong with him. It had to be him; he couldn't pretend it was the flu or some sickness anymore. Every time something went wrong it always led back to him, to his faults. 

“I’m sorry.” He finally choked out. His voice sounded weak. He felt weak. 

“For what?” Yeosang's voice was steady, he didn’t pause in his motions. 

Mingi didn’t respond, voice gone once again. Yeosang spoke for him. “For not telling us about this? We don’t care Mingi, promise.” 

Yeosang's hands retreated from Mingi's back and the sound of the tap reached Mingi's ears. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had to do something like this. None of us are mad at you Mingi.” 

“I- I just-” 

“Mingi.” Yeosang sighed. “You’re not gross.” 

The words shocked Mingi to his core. He hadn’t even told Yunho that he felt as if his injuries were too gross to look at. He hadn’t told anyone about the disgusting itch he felt looking at himself in the mirror. Yet Yeosang had known. Had hit the nail on the head without even trying. He turned to look at Yeosang and caught his eyes in the mirror. He saw himself standing behind Yeosang. Looking weaker by the second, like one breath could knock him down for good. 

“That’s why you didn’t tell Yunho about it, right? Because you felt as if you were dirty?” Yeosang's voice had an edge to it. 

“You didn’t have to-” 

Yeosang cut him off. “I didn’t. I didn’t have to help you. But I wanted to.” 

“Why?” Mingi's voice trembled like a small child's. Yeosang turned to Mingi. They were close in proximity because of the small bathroom but Mingi felt as if they were worlds apart. 

Yeosang shrugged, “Why not? People are allowed to care about you Mingi. It’s not something that needs an explanation.” 

Mingi didn’t even have time to process what Yeosang said before his vision was blocked by Yeosang throwing the shirt that had borrowed from Yunho in his face. (When had he dropped it? He hadn’t even noticed.) Mingi scrambled to put the shirt on. He couldn’t stand Yeosang's eyes on him and his failures anymore. He tugged the shirt down, glad that Yunho had given him an oversized shirt. The fabric served as a protection for Mingi. Flimsy protection and it would never actually help him in a dangerous situation but it was the thought of it that counted. 

“You’re friends with Wooyoung right?” Yeosang asked as he packed up the small collection of things he had brought with them into the bathroom. 

Mingi nodded before realizing that Yeosang's back was facing him, “He said we were once.” 

Yeosang hummed at Mingi's answer. “Are you ok with me leaving you with him for a bit?” 

He turned and smiled at Mingi, eyes crinkling in the corners. “I need to go talk to Seonghwa and the captain.” 

‘Oh great. Yeosang was going to tell Seonghwa and Hongjoong how much of a pathetic person Mingi was. They’re going to look down on him for the rest of the time he’s here.’ Mingi thought to himself as he followed Yeosang out the bathroom door and back down the hallway. 

He couldn’t make eye contact with San and Wooyoung when they entered the kitchen, deciding to stare pointedly down at the floor. Yeosang walked over to the two of them and whispered something in their ears. Something Mingi couldn’t make out but assumed was about him and his pathetic being. 

“Mingi…” Wooyoung's voice was tentative, the same tone you’d use to speak to a stray animal you were afraid would run away. Mingi dug his nails into his palm. They all knew what was wrong with him now. 

“Mingi, do you want to watch the rest of this episode with us?” Wooyoung was in front of him now. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” 

Mingi finally looked up and made eye contact with Wooyoung. The other man's eyes were filled with pity but Mingi was more focused on the inflamed redness under them. He had been crying. 

“Are you ok?” 

Wooyoung looked taken aback at his question. He let out a strange noise when he tried to speak, covering it with a cough but Mingi caught it. “I’m fine…just….”

Mingi felt deja vu for the first time they met. When Mingi was the one trying to pretend he was perfectly fine while Wooyoung looked right through his terrible disguise. 

Mingi decided to offer the olive branch. The ‘I won’t ask if you won’t.’ kind.  “What are you guys watching?” 

Wooyoung looked grateful for the distraction, letting out a deep breath. Mingi watched as his walls built back up and his mask returned to his face. (‘This group and their masks.’ Mingi thought. ‘Are they all this scared of letting people in?’ ‘Hypocrite.’ His mind hissed at him.) There was a small smile on Wooyoung's face as he rattled off about the show he and San had been watching. 

San. 

Mingi hadn’t looked at him for longer than a few seconds since he had been dragged to the kitchen by Yeosang. San wasn’t looking at him when Mingi snuck a glance over to the table where he still sat. He was instead staring at Wooyoung with a mix of emotions on his face. Mingi could tell he was itching to say something but also knew it wouldn’t do anything for Wooyoung as long as Mingi was in the room. 

“Woo,” He said carefully, testing out the waters.

Wooyoung turned, smiling when he realized who was speaking. San took that as his okay to continue, “If you want to finish watching this before I have to go, we should probably get back to it.” 

“Yeah you’re right.” Wooyoung nodded, “Mingi are you ok starting at the last episode?” 

Mingi shrugged, trying not to make a face when the movement pulled at the new bandages. “I don’t care.” 

San stood up to pull a chair around the table so they each had a spot while Wooyoung and Mingi took the original two they had been sitting on earlier. Wooyoung sat in the middle with Mingi and San on either side of him. Mingi knew they had given him the seat closest to the door to make him feel like he had an exit but Mingi quietly mourned the loss of being able to lean his entire body against the wall without worrying about being too heavy for it to hold. 

Wooyoung pressed play back on the show and Mingi tugged his knees up to rest his chin on them, carefully mapping out where the bruises were so he didn’t press too hard. The three of them sat in silence. There was still tension that hung thick in the air but they all were pointedly ignoring it. Mingi let the noise of the show fade into the background as he thought about all the events in his life that led him to this exact moment. Sick, beaten and bloody in some random peoples house watching some drama filled show for nothing but the noises to drown out the ones in his head. Being given whiplash with every new person he met and never being able to grasp the dynamics of the people around him. He felt like he was thrown into the rapids and told to swim against the stream. He was hitting rocks and getting turned around while being pushed closer and closer to the waterfall that he was supposed to be avoiding. 

All of this because someone had made a joke to him at work. 

Mingi snorted. That really was what started it all huh. Yunho making some dumb joke about drunk girls trying to get with him. That’s all it took for him to end up half alive in someone's kitchen. That and taking fried rice from someone who he’d helped at his other work. He was pretty sure that if Wooyoung and Seonghwa hadn’t been a part of his life Yunho may have been told to leave him for dead after a day. 

“What’s so funny?” Mingi couldn’t tell if it was San or Wooyoung who had asked the question, too busy cracking up at the state of his life at the moment. 

“How did nothing but fried rice and a joke get me here?” 

“What do you mean?” 

Mingi tried to talk through his laughter, “All of this started- Started because Yunho made a dumb joke to me one night.” 

He pointed a finger at Wooyoung, who looked just as worried and confused at Mingi's new humor, “And I’m pretty sure that if you hadn’t given me rice I would have been kicked out by now.” 

“Sorry about the tubs by the way, I tried to clean them but I don’t know if my poor water pressure really did anything.” Mingi couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying anymore but his mouth would stop running even when he was choking to get more air. 

“I never got the tubs back…” Wooyoung whispered. 

“Ah shit really?” Mingi felt himself getting light headed, “I gave them to Yunho like- I don’t know Tuesday? What day is it?” 

“Ah fuck I have a headache.” Mingi pushed the ends of his palms into his eyes, ignoring the pain that shot through his skull at the pressure. The darkness was welcomed as Mingi tried to figure out what was wrong with him now. Was it the affection? Was it being treated like both a human and a stray animal? Was it the brain injury? Was it the injuries in general? Was it the blood in his veins? Was it the genetics he was cursed with as soon as he was born? 

Mingi chuckled to himself again, “Man I need to get back into the gym.” 

He didn’t know where that thought came from. He just suddenly felt like he needed to say it. Maybe he’d finally come to terms with his own physical weakness. He could feel exhaustion creeping into his bones the longer he held his hands over his eyes. Or maybe it was there all along and he was just ignoring it.  He was just tired at this point. 

“When you get better…” Mingi knew that was San, the voice was too shaky to be Wooyoung. Wooyoung would never let himself sound so unsure. “We can go to the gym together if you want?” 

Mingi bit his lip to stop himself from giggling again and smiled, “Yeah. I’d like that.”  

The show must have been paused at some point during Mingi's odd breakdown because suddenly voices of characters chatting about something Mingi didn’t know about flooded his senses. Mingi tried to focus on the voices but could feel himself being pulled farther and farther into the darkness. He could nap just for a little bit. Just until the show was over and then it'll be fine. No one would know he was asleep at all. It was just a power nap. He could give himself this.