CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Wonshik stares at his reflection and grimaces at the apron-wearing male staring back at him, hair going out of its place. He desperately tries to fix his hair but ends up worsening it and finally gives up. He looks at Hongbin who was busy fixing his shoes. “Why are we doing this? Why can’t we just simply go there and catch them ourselves? Why do we have to spend all this time and effort?”

Hongbin looks up at Wonshik and smiles. “Because, as the administration said, we are no match for this Hakyeon guy so we have to get him when he’s at his weakest. To do that, we have to keep a close eye on him – whether we like it or not. Think of it as some sort of vacation too. I mean, it’s true that we’re keeping an eye on him but technically, we’re away from that hellhole so it’s still some kind of vacation, isn’t it?” Hongbin says, tightening his shoes.

Taekwoon walks out of his room and stares at the two boys. “Why do we have to start working tonight and Taekwoon-hyung tomorrow?” Wonshik complains, staring at the older boy who was leisurely leaning against the doorframe. “And that’s not all. Why does the grocery have to be open until dawn? What kind of store does that?”

Hongbin sighs. “Stop complaining. If you ask me, I’d rather stay up late rather than to wake up early. If you think about it, Taekwoon-hyung has it harder,” Hongbin explains, chuckling to himself. He takes a look at his shoes. Satisfied with how it fits, Hongbin stands up and begins lightly jumping in place. “Well, we should go, Wonshik,”

Wonshik groans but stands up and grabs his bag on his way out of the apartment. Taekwoon walks towards the entrance to see the younger boys off. “We’ll be back, well, tomorrow hyung. Since I’m sure you’ll be asleep by the time we return, just wake one of us up by the time you leave for work,” Hongbin says.

Not getting any response from the older male, Hongbin just flashes a dimpled smile before following Wonshik out of the door and closing it behind him. Just as the two boys round the corner, Hongbin’s smile disappears and his body tenses. He suddenly drops to ground in a coughing fit. “Hey, Hongbin! Hey! Are you okay?” Wonshik asks, panic in his voice, not knowing what to do.

Hongbin takes a few moments to catch his breath before standing back up and gives Wonshik a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. It was nothing. Probably just because of the change in weather,” he jokes, attempting to lighten the atmosphere. Wonshik frowns at his lame attempt of a joke. “Well, sorry. Not everyone of us can have a sense of humor like-,”

Hongbin pauses. Wonshik waits for him to finish his sentence but never does. Hongbin hears Wonshik ask something but doesn’t answer. Who? Who had the sense of humor? Who was it? Whose name was I about to say? What is this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach? Hongbin shakes his head in an attempt to clear out his thoughts. “I must be going crazy,” he mutters to himself.

Wonshik looks at Hongbin but decided not to comment. He waits for the male to calm down. “Fine now?” When Hongbin gives him a smile and nods, he starts walking again towards the grocery deciding to forget about the incident earlier and push it to the back of his mind since it didn’t really matter. Did it?

It takes the two boys a few more blocks before finally reaching the grocery, just in time for them to log-in for work. By the entrance was the manager, waiting to welcome his two new employees. When he catches sight of the two boys, he gives a wide, toothy grin. “You must be the new employees. Come, come, let me introduce you to the others,” he says and ushers them in where they run into a tanned male who tenses at their appearance though does a good job of hiding it.

“Hakyeon, meet our new employees,”