Minho wasn’t bothered.

Wasn’t bothered.

Was not bothered.

Not one bit at all.

Go on, keep staring, you old .

Not bothered whatsoever.

Kapsoo kept his arms crossed, leaned back in his chair as he watched Minho staring back at him. He was no where near close to being intimidating, and if that’s what he was trying to do, Minho was highly disappointed.

Minho had no idea what he was doing here, either. He just came in to only be stared at for a good half hour, and all he could think about was how he really needed to use the bathroom.

  “Okay,” Minho finally gave in, rubbing his eyes, “Can we just get this over with already?”

Kapsoo kept quiet, only raising an eyebrow.

  “Man,” Minho sighed, “You’re not scaring anyone. What do you want?”

The elder looked at the watch on his wrist and finally sat up, still unamused as before, “Why did you keep it all from the boy? Just tell me that, Daegrent.”

Minho furrowed his brows, “Why do you think? I lived among humans and I was taught to be human, not a Daegrent. Being a Daegrent would cause fear and chaos, and I’m not a fan of both, as you should be able to tell, seeing you’re some kind of psychiatrist.”

  “Would you have shown Taemin who you were?”

Minho rubbed his eyes again, “Never. I’ve never turned into a Daegrent since I was a teenager, and that was out of human territory. I was settled on keeping that part of myself away.”

  “And why didn’t you?”

  “Taemin’s still alive, right?” Minho almost sarcastically answered, “If I didn’t change the time you guys showed up, he would’ve been killed because of it. If you were me, what would you have done? Let him die?”

Kapsoo kept quiet for a slight moment, “Don’t put the subject on me.”

  “Because you very well know you would’ve done the same ing thing,” Minho shook his head, not even allowing the man to silently lie.

  “You’ve caused a traumatic experience.”

  “And I never wanted to, don’t you think?” he started providing an attitude, “Yes, I get it, Kapsoo. Taemin is surviving a scarring epidemic, I get it. And you’ve put him in a place with things worse than I am and have done worse than I have. You thought it was going to get him better here? I thought you were at least smarter than that.”

  “Have you killed before?”

  “Do you count playing a game as a murderer in criminal justice class? Because that’s all I got for you,” he huffed.

Kapsoo quieted again and stared. Minho, still not intimidated, groaned and hit his head on the table in front of him, frustrated that he really had to use the bathroom.

  “You took something from Taemin,” Kapsoo didn’t question.

  “I very well know what you’re talking about,” Minho growled, “And let me tell you, SangJung enjoyed trying to beat the hell out of me for it. Why is it just him that something was taken away? It was me too, you know. It wasn’t a goddamn one sided thing—it wasn’t —because he knew exactly what he was doing when he asked me.”

You said you wouldn’t refuse me. . .

  “And I didn’t refuse. I want to give him everything, believe it or not.”

Kapsoo’s lips twitched, “And if he wants to forget it all?”

Minho looked back up at him, “Then so be it. But I know that’s not what he wants—we both know that, Kapsoo. You may keep your secrets from me, but this I know to the least. So don’t try testing me on something when the answers to the questions are written on my arm.”

Kapsoo leaned forward, but not an inch of hostility crossed the table as he folded his hands on top of it, “You know less than you think, Daegrent.”

Minho raised his brows and inclined his body, cocking his head sideways, “Enlighten me.”

  “You’ll just have to find out, won’t you?”

Minho rolled his eyes lazily, no longer wanting to start giving the energy to take part in this little conversation, “Are we done?”

Kapsoo was already getting up out of his seat.

Minho noticed the elder giving a slow struggle to getting out of it, almost breaking a sweat over it. He was trying to look swift and careless, but Minho could clearly see past that.

  “Hey, man, are you alright?” Minho asked. Kapsoo was an enemy, but the man was old, so Minho had to give him a break, there.

  “Get him out of here,” Kapsoo rasped, sounding slightly winded, “We’re done for today.”

The doors opened for Kapsoo and someone was there specifically for him, the symbol on his jacket the same as Luna’s, certifying where he was from. He grabbed at Kapsoo’s arm and supported him with an arm behind his back, asking simple questions of his health.

  “Go get me a cigar,” Kapsoo gruffly demanded, “Let’s go to the cigars.”

When a man stepped in Minho’s path of sight to the conversation, he pulled his eyes from them.

He didn’t know why, but he could feel a little pity for Kapsoo.

  “Well, he’s not going to be here forever,” Luna shrugged, “He’s older than SangJung by kind of a large margin. He’s past his mid-sixties and has lived all his life like this. He’s getting weaker quicker than an average man.”

Minho shook his head, “But this doesn’t just suddenly happen, does it?”

Luna curls her finger around a lock of her hair, “No. Truth be told, Kapsoo once had a creature ‘bless’ him to do more things, to give him more strength, to perform unlike others his age. It’s wearing off pretty quick and he can’t get that again because the creature was killed just a month ago.”

Minho wasn’t going to let this whole thing bother him at all; Kapsoo didn’t deserve Minho’s feelings after the crud he’s put him through. Yet Minho had that soft spot like anyone else: underestimating the elderly.

(Even though underestimating Kapsoo never happened in the first place.)

  “Taemin’s doing well,” Luna brought up, a soft smile on her lips, “I finally left him with the little recording from last week, today. He requested no check-ups or visits but allows me in, so we’re safe from getting in trouble with the camera. I’ll be going back a little later to see how he handled it.”

Minho furrowed his brows, leaning off the wall, “What recording?”

  “Oh, nothing,” she waved it off, “It’s a good thing, though, so don’t worry.”

Minho persisted, “No, what are you talking about?”

  “Sleepy Minho is cute,” she stuck her tongue out teasingly, standing up and stretching, “I wonder when the boys will get here.”

  “Well put your wonders at ease, M’Lady,” Jonghyun’s boisterous voice bounced into the room as the door almost slammed open, “The saviors of your boredom with this creature will be no more!”

Onew hit Jonghyun on the head, closing the door as fast as he could, “, you could’ve gained attention!”

  “Luna, it’s been a while!” Jonghyun ignored him, and the chains around him, gleefully hugging the woman, “I missed you!”

  “O-Okay, Jonghyun, I know it’s been a long week away, but stop strangling me, please,” Luna patted his back slightly, her face clearly in pain of the struggle to breathe.

Onew pulled back on the chains and Jonghyun yelped. He looked pretty unpleased with the Taerant’s lack of thought, “Watch it, Hyung.”

Jonghyun scoffed as Onew undid the chains, “Sure thing, Hyung.

  “Sup, Minho,” Jonghyun smiled as they gave one another a short hug with the strength that was too much for a human.

  “How’s it going, Hyung?” Minho chuckled, watching as Onew settled down with Luna; back in the position where she was settled between his legs, leaning on him.

  “Could be better,” Jonghyun shrugged and sat down next to him, “How’s Taemin?”

They all looked at Luna and she let her head lean on to Onew’s cheek, “Like I said, he’s doing absolutely well. I think a few more tries and we’ll have him fully.”

Jonghyun nodded enthusiastically, “Well, isn’t that a good thing?” He looked specifically at Onew and they gave one another a silent conversation that Minho didn’t want to ask about—at least not yet.

The group refocused on the ideals of getting out. They were planning the escape route if they were successful in being able to blow the place. Minho didn’t think it was going to be that complicated, thinking to just run in a straight line through outside to get out the front gate. But making way to the furnace was more complicated than he thought.

  “What about that front gate, though? Surely they aren’t just going to open it up,” Minho leaned his chin on his hand.

  “We need to time this just right,” Onew nodded, playing with Luna’s hands, looking up at them, “There’s a certain time where the gates open to leave or to enter. We still scavenge, Minho. It’s not like you were the last creature we went out to find. If we do it by the time they’re getting ready to head out, then we can start our course of action, and by the time they figure the place is about to blow, controlling the gates aren’t prioritized anymore.”

Minho rubbed his eyes, pushing his long bangs out of his way. He desperately needed a hair cut; the length was past his shoulders and he looked like he belonged to a historical drama. Never had his hair been this long, and neither did he ever want it to be that way again.

  “You want me to fix you up, sometime?” Luna asked, “You keep fiddling with it.”

Minho slightly nodded, inspecting the length with his fingers, “Please.”

  “Here,” Luna pulled a black hair tie from her wrist, “I don’t need this, go ahead and pull that back.”

Minho leaned forward to take the tie from her hands, “Much appreciated,” and he tied his hair back.

  “You look like you fit into Kibum’s time,” Jonghyun teased.

Beginning to pull his hair back reminded him of the day he graduated. His hair was the length of his shoulders and Taemin thought he should pull it back for pictures when he stepped up to the podium for his diploma.

  “Minho, please?” Taemin asked, offering the hair tie, “Mom wants good pictures of you, seeing that your Dad can’t make it. She wants to give some to him.”

Minho scrunched up his mouth as he fixed his gown, “It’ll look weird.”

Taemin forcefully took Minho’s hand and placed the item on it, giving a stern point at him, “Don’t be a , Minho, you’ll look drop-dead gorgeous. All those girls would be like ‘Why is Choi Minho gay of all things?!’ We can make girls cry at the ceremony and everyone would think it’s because they’re just emotional. Wouldn’t that be funny?”

  “Damn, Tae,” Minho chuckled, pulling his lengthy hair from his shoulders, “You know how to be an , don’t you?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Taemin shrugged, looking into the mirror and fixing his auburn hair.

Minho scoffed teasingly and started pulling the tie around his hair, tugging at the finished product before placing his arms around Taemin, nuzzling his face on to his neck.

  “Hey, hey!” Taemin protested, “Don’t do that, now!”

  “Why not?”

Taemin elbowed at his sides, “I like it too much, and if you continue, we won’t make it to the ceremony and my parents would kill us.”

Minho pressed his lips over his neck continuously and Taemin groaned in annoyance. Minho was never one to listen too well.

  “At least the little ponytail is cute,” Taemin laughed. Minho could feel a finger pressing down on the ponytail repeatedly.

  “Hey, you said drop-dead gorgeous, not cute!”

  “Helloooo?” Jonghyun waved his hand in front of Minho.

  “Woah—what?” Minho jolted.

Onew chuckled, “Daydreaming, were we?”

Minho stumbled over a few syllables before surrendering and nodding, his face in his hands as he could feel the uncomfortable heat on his cheeks.

  “Okay, lover boy, can we get back to what I was saying?” Jonghyun nudged shoulders with Minho, “Good. As I was saying, I think Onew would give great benefit if he went to see Taemin as well. I mean, you’re the guy with direct info, and you’re gentle as hell if you haven’t noticed, so Taemin will take to you easily and listen to the plan. That is, if he’s on board.”

  “But he’s not,” Onew shot at him.

Minho looked up from his hands to Jonghyun, “Then . . .?”

  “Okay, you can still visit. I mean, he must feel pretty degraded that a woman has to be the one to see him like this—and no offense, Luna, but we do feel pretty emasculated if a girl sees us break down unless we’ve lived with her since forever. So to have Onew there would still be pretty embarrassing, but Onew has this thing about him that screams ‘I could be your second brother, so just let it out to me.’ I mean, that’s what it was like for me. So Taemin could come to terms a little more comfortably. When Taemin really sees Luna’s motherly-figure and Onew’s brotherly-skills, Taemin has to get back to normal quicker.”

Minho held his hand out to Jonghyun and the elder slapped at it, happy to earn the high-five.

  “Real nice, Hyung,” Minho nodded, a crooked smile on his lips, “You know how it is.”

  “I’m not dumb, you ,” Jonghyun nudged at him again, “I may be a dog, but I don’t chase my tail all day. If anything, as a dog, I can sense emotions and friendship.”

Minho liked the idea a lot, he wasn’t going to lie. To get this to play out fast was a good thing.

  “No,” Onew objected.

  “Onew,” Luna looked back at him, “Come on, this’ll make everything easier.”

Onew shook his head, “I can’t.”

Minho, confused, shook his head, “Why not?”

  “Yeah, why not?” Jonghyun added.

  “I have to leave after I get out of here,” Onew slowly spoke, “I have to get back to the furnace; I’ve been up here for too long, they’ll be suspicious and we’ll get caught, and I don’t favor that outcome.”

  “But, Onew . . .” Luna protested.

  “You’re doing well already, Luna,” Onew smiled, kissing her cheek, “I’m sure you can do this. Positive.”

Jonghyun butted back in, “Okay. Then when you come back and the kid isn’t lightening up, then you’ll make your appearance.”

Onew sharply turned his gaze to the Taerant, “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

  “Woah, woah, calm down, Hyung,” Minho furrowed his brows, “You’re getting hostile for no reason.”

Luna removed Onew from her and got up, pulling Onew with her, “I’m going to go talk to this jerk so he can return to the furnace as soon as possible, okay? I think he’s having one of those days—Jonghyun knows what I mean,” she specifically looked at the Taerant.

  “Oh,” Jonghyun nodded.

  “No, I’m not!” Onew protested, “Stop making things up!”

Luna sighed, grabbing his hand and harshly dragging him out of the room, already starting her lecture before the door shut.

Then it was quiet.

  “What did she mean that he was having some sort of day?” Minho asked.

  “Onew can get pretty bipolar when he’s tired. I guess that’s why he was so reluctant to see Taemin; it added to his list of things. Even though it’s necessary, Onew can’t stop the emotion that wants him to drop everything. He’ll be better by tonight when he’s gone I guess.”

Minho nodded again, remembering the fact Onew was taking on more than he should’ve and shouldn’t be questioned for being tired and cranky from trying to handle every single thing. He was remembering how selfish he was being to let it happen, but he still couldn’t help it; apologies and forgiveness can happen after everything.

  “So . . .” Jonghyun trailed off, “You . . . wanna wrestle this time—”

  “Shut up,” Minho laughed and pushed Jonghyun away, “You freak.”

  “Alright, I’ve arrived,” Bom pushed through the door without a single chain on her, turning around, “Thank you, darling, for guiding me.”

   “Call me when you need me,” the friendly voice told her before shutting the door.

Her long, cascading orange hair grazed against Jonghyun’s forehead as she swiftly turned around with a pleasant smile on her face she greeted the two of them.

  “You seem uppity,” Jonghyun rubbed his itchy forehead.

  “I feel refreshed,” Bom sat down, coughing just a bit harder than usual, “Now that I’m near a Daegrent again.”

Minho rolled his eyes.

  “Gonna bite me, yet?” she asked before coughing again.

  “No!”

----Note~----

Am I really updating again?

On a Wednesday?

WAT.

Nope, it's true. I've done it again.

I'm getting impatient, so I decided, why the hell not.

(Currently writing chapter 26. Not procrastinating AT ALL)

More so, I said this was a double-update chapter because really, it's a filler. And double-update, I mean within the week; so chapter 24 is coming on Saturday!

Yesterday I wrote all  of 25. ALL OF IT. Three hours man, three hours. Worth it. Totally worth it.

Even though I procrastinate on writing, my outline is really helping me push forward because now I know WHAT to write.

I mentioned ETR is 34 chapters, right? Maybe 35 depending on different events, but surely, 34.

And don't forget BTS for extra endings, too.

I should start writing more of those too... ;;

But yup.

Anybody else pissed at Youtube? Taking down video reactions, channels subbing variety shows (right now, it's all EXO stuff), etc etc. It's really irking me; now I have to go find them in other places. It makes me sad.

Happy birthday to both Onew and Minho. Idk guys, no oneshot this year for their BDays. I'm trying to get this story doneeee. Maybe late BDay oneshots, I dunno. Maybe I'll pick up Protecting Steel Hearts and heal some things in there for them.

Anyway.

I appreciate every single view, sub, and comment, or none at all, I suppose. Not greedy. Nope. <3

~FlaMinhoe