Chapter 11 - Change

Time was being unfair that day. No matter how often I glanced at my watch, the digits just wouldn't change any faster and when it was finally seven in the evening I let out a relieved sigh as I turned the shop's sign. Throughout the day, I kept wondering why I was suddenly interested in Minhyuk's past. Not that I wasn't curious before, but it wouldn't get to the point where I'd actually ask him about it. It just has to be the flower, I repeated for the umpteenth time and finished cleaning up before leaving the store to be embraced by the dark evening.

It had started raining again and I pulled my hood over my grown-out blonde hair with a sigh. When would these days of rainy weather finally end and be replaced by something more welcomed? I liked snow a lot, because it coated everything in a white blanket, burying all the garbage I saw whenever I was wandering the streets under little fragile snowflakes. I'd be waiting for these days, but for now, I'd have to go with thick raindrops and a cold wind soaking at my clothes and tearing at them.

After a good five minutes something – or rather someone – caught my eye. I hurriedly took a step back pressing myself against the wall in order not to be seen before trying to peek around the corner. “I told you there's only this much I can do”, a familiar voice said and I didn't have to think twice to conclude that it was Minhyuk.

“I didn't come all the way here for that kind of answer. There must be more where you get it from.” The other person said with a deep voice. Whoever it was, I had never seen him before and I swear I would have remembered anyone who was taller than me by half a head. He was dressed in black and with his hood pulled up I couldn't even make out the color of his hair as his back was turned to me. It would probably have been too dark to see anything anyway and I settled with only listening.

“I will come by on Thursday, like I promised. Once a week is all you get. It's not my fault if you use it up within three days”, Minhyuk insisted with a firm voice.

His opponent hissed. “It's just a damn flower, it can't be this hard to get more of it.” My mouth dried up and my eyes widened hearing these words. This guy is another of his clients. I should have known. But then again, why wouldn't Minhyuk grab this chance to sell more Delphinium? The strange man was definitely willing to pay the price, but his efforts were in vain when the dealer spoke up again.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but it actually is hard”, he hissed. “Now get lost and tell them; I've got other stuff to do.” With these words, Minhyuk turned his back on the guy and marched towards the corner I was hiding at, causing me to pace back a few meters in a hurry before acting as if I was only now coming along.

The white-haired male tensed up at my appearance for a second, but kept walking towards me nonetheless, not even looking back to where I assumed his conversation partner to be. I slightly raised my hand with a nod. “Hi, wha- hey!” He suddenly grabbed my arm and dragged me into the direction I had just come from without a word, surrounded by some kind of angry aura and my voice lowered into an innocent whisper. “What's wrong?”

“Just follow me”, he snapped, obviously not happy about the discussion he didn't know I had coincidentally witnessed. His face showed a deep scowl and he definitely had no intention of telling me anything about the details. The person I was being dragged along by was not the Minhyuk I normally talked to – it was the cold and short-tempered person he became when it got down to business and it made me feel more than weird. This just wasn't like him.

I pulled my arm from his grasp with slightly clenched fists, but followed him after a moment of consideration. Being close to him was difficult again all of a sudden and he raised an eyebrow. “The after-effects have subsided?”

“A bit, I guess.” I swallowed with a shrug. “Say, Minhyuk-” His fiery eyes glanced back at me and from that moment I knew better than to ask him about what had happened as I could see how he was trying to calm down and maintain a cool image. I'd let him be for now. “Never mind.”

We walked in silence until we got to a smaller shop, maybe a third of my workplace's size. “What are we doing here?”

“You'll see.” Minhyuk took a deep breath right before he pushed the door open without a trace of his pissed expression from before to be found anymore. Instead, he put on a wide smile and I was wondering whether this smile was the same to him as the mask void of emotion I used to keep my facial expressions in check on a daily basis. It didn't come to my mind before, but something about that expression of his was putting me off, it just didn't seem genuine anymore. Then again, what was the real Minhyuk like?

“Welcome!”, a male voice shouted out, bringing me back to the present.

Minhyuk left my side and practically ran up to the man at the counter I assumed to be the shop owner. “Hi hyung, how are you?”

“Minhyuk? Fine of course. Don't tell me you already used the whole Delph-oh?” The man only then seemed to notice my presence and pressed his lips together in a hurry. Not having listened well, I didn't know that I was the reason for his sudden silence and just took in the store's looks. Its floor was made of dark wood as well as the racks, creating a comfortable and warm atmosphere as I inhaled the material's scent. “You brought a friend?”

“We took him in yesterday. Don't worry, he knows about everything and I promise he won't tell anyone”, Minhyuk insisted loudly, slapping my arm to get my attention and I bowed out of reflex.

“Nice to meet you”, I mumbled, wondering who this man was and why he was so friendly with my company.

But Minhyuk wasn't going to explain the matter any further and just leaned on the counter with a reproachful look at the man instead. “Used it all? Do you think we don't know our limits? That much in one day is impossible for seven guys unless you want to see us dead. Shownu wouldn't even allow that, I swear.”

The shop owner raised his hands in defense. “You never know. Then what do you need?” It was normal to see Minhyuk joking around, but the fact that they openly discussed a topic even I could easily recognize as illegal confused me. Who was that man?

“He just needs a change”, the white-haired male grabbed my sleeve to drag me to the back of the store, stopping right in front of a certain rack with a smirk. “Choose a color!”

It took me a moment to get what he was up to and I rolled my eyes, pushing the dialogue I had witnessed on the street before to the back of my head. “You can't be serious.” That's what he dragged me here for?

“You bet I am”, Minhyuk, now having returned to his carefree self, retorted with a firm nod.

“And here I thought it could be a serious issue.”

“Did you look into the mirror even once in the past three months? This is a serious issue.”

“I tried to avoid that.” A snort escaped my opponent's lips and I scanned the rack with a sigh. “Something simple would be nice. How about really dark brown? You won't notice when it grows out”, I suggested and Minhyuk nodded with narrowed eyes before picking out one of the boxes.

“Then we'll take this one. Very well, let's go.” He threw a bill on the counter and the man took it with a disbelieving smirk.

“You guys are so conceited. Jooheon, Wonho and you. Almost nobody else from this area buys dye anymore, they just don't care about what their hair looks like, you know?”

Minhyuk clicked his tongue with a playful wink at the middle-aged man. “I can't let this catastrophe”, he pointed at me, “walk around any longer, I've endured it long enough.”

“I heard that”, I stated dryly, but none of the two men cared to react.

“If you ever stop selling dye make sure to reserve the last package of bleach for me.”

“Sure I will”, the man replied with another chuckle, giving out some change before the white-haired guy left for the door, frowning with his hand on the handle.

“And to make things clear: Jooheon is easily bored with his style and Wonho wouldn't be able to hunt