Chapter 19

394, USA

Guilt. 

Guilt was plaguing Minhyuk every awake hour. 

He had felt guilt by just breathing, knowing he had left Hyungwon behind, knowing he hadn’t written to or called the younger. He didn’t know why he couldn’t let it go. Why he couldn’t let the other go, since Hyungwon was probably happy on his own.

Was he really?

Guilt was what Minhyuk was feeling when he were a mess underneath a drunk one night stand, clutching the sheets and arching his hips into burning touches.  

But it was not Hyungwon.

It was a guy that he’d met at his second job, a night club. His name was Mikey and Minhyuk took liking to him directly. 

He was tall and well built, not too muscular but neither lanky. Brown hair, big eyes… It took Minhyuk only seconds to understand why he had approached the other. Mikey reminded him of Hyungwon. A less Asian, more masculine version of Hyungwon and even though he hated to admit it, he found comfort in it. 

Earlier that night, Minhyuk had finished his shift, sitting down talking to one of the dancers in the club, also one of his closest friends since he moved there. They had simply started talking since both of them were from Asia, and Jun had been through the same as him only a year or so before.  

”That guy over there” Jun whispered ”Has been staring at you for a while now” 

Minhyuk turned in the direction Jun was looking, meeting with a pair of blue eyes and a smirk. He gave the man a look before turning back to Jun. 

”He’s okay I guess…” Minhyuk said confidently, his slight accent getting less and less hearable for every week that passed. He was a quick learner. 

”Minhyuk, you need to forget about him…” Jun said with a soft voice, trying to make Minhyuk understand that he had to move on to be happy.

”Yeah yeah I know…” Minhyuk muttered, finishing his beer. 

”What’s the worst that could happen?”

”Well” Minhyuk started ”He could kill me? me? Rob m-”

Jun hit him on the arm ”You know what I mean!” 

Minhyuk gave his friend a quick nod, grabbed another beer and made his way over to the mysterious guy.

”I don’t think we’ve been introduced” Minhyuk said, giving the stranger his hand ”Minhyuk” 

”What an interesting name” The stranger said ”I’m Mikey”

”Moved here from Korea recently” Minhyuk explained, sitting down on the char next to Mikey. 

”Really? I can’t hear any traces of it in your accent” Mikey turned towards him, eyeing him from head to toe and Minhyuk suddenly felt self conscious, looking at the other male. 

”You’re really pretty…” Mikey murmured after a while and Minhyuk felt a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks. 

”Thank you…”

They had danced, things had escalated and now Minhyuk felt the other side of the bed giving under for an unfamiliar weight.
He was panting harshly, trying to catch his breath, the pain in his lower parts making him realize sitting up won’t be easy. 

”That was…” Minhyuk started and Mikey finished ”Amazing…”

Maybe it was time to let Hyungwon go huh?

Just when he was about to answer, the door to Mikeys apartment unlocked, opening the door was a young girl. 

opened in a big O when she saw Minhyuk and Mikey, and she instantly grabbed the closest thing to her, a vase and threw it in their direction, screaming ”Mikey you , get out of my apartment!” Minhyuk guessed it was Mikeys girlfriend, and he just grabbed his clothes as fast as he could, getting out of there, face flushed and tears running down his cheeks. 

421

His second working place had been at American apparel, his socializing skills had helped him get that job. Minhyuk was a social person in most occasions, and he had noticed that being a good thing here in the States. 

The store was located 15 minutes from his apartment, a nice and awakening morning walk. Yeah, about that. Minhyuk had gotten his own apartment, not even living in the same city as his mom. 

He sure felt guilt about that too, but he couldn't stand her anymore and he needed to have his own life. 

His apartment was pretty small and cheap, and he probably could afford better, but he needed to save money. Save money to afford an apartment back in Busan, but also the flight back. 

He opened the door to the store in the morning, it was Thursday which means he was opening it.

At 10am the store opened, him and his two co-workers Jessica and Amber greeting the customers. 

Amber was the biggest sunshine, almost as hyper as Minhyuk. She had short blonde hair and the worlds coolest clothes according to Minhyuk.

Jessica had long and beautiful hair, her whole being beautiful. Jessica were a more calm and collected than both Amber and Minhyuk together, and she was ”the boss” in the store. 

Minhyuk felt nice today, it was one of those days when he didn’t think of a certain male that he’d left behind 421 days ago… Yes he counted. 

He was wearing a beige sweater, light washed jeans and a small amount of champagne eyeshadow were visible underneath his eyes ( inspired by the make up Minhyuk wore during the jacket shooting for the clan )

He topped that with a pair of adidas and round glasses, and looking himself in the mirror, he looked pretty nice. 

When he went to bed that night, he followed his usual routine. 

Brushing his teeth and keeping his hygiene okay, writing down how many days it had been in his calendar, being cl