Chapter 12 – Twenty questions

I threw a last glance at myself in the mirror before making my way downstairs. I had stood in front of the mirror for a good five minutes after drying my new hair without doing anything but stare at my reflection. The guy looking back at me was someone I hadn't seen for over two years. When I still thought everything would be okay somehow, I added bitterly. My hair was of dark brown color now and even though it was a little bit too long it felt good to look a little more neat.

Before I reached the door to the living room I heard Minhyuk talking to whoever had come home before and it seemed to be Wonho. That guy has basically done everything you can think of with everybody you can think of, the former's words echoed in my head, but I figured that Wonho's background wouldn't change the way I behaved, shaking my head. He has done nothing to harm me, judging him would be unjust. Unable to stay outside the room any longer I quickly took the last few steps because I was curious as to how the two of them would react to my new hair.

They didn't disappoint. Minhyuk stopped in mid-sentence to gape at me with big eyes and Wonho gave me his usual flirty smirk plus wink which I deliberately ignored. “I feel better”, I stated after a few moments of silence, pulling Minhyuk out of his trance and Wonho rose to his feet to walk up to me.

“You should have told us how good you look with dark hair, I was definitely not prepared for this”, he said while reaching out to my hair with an astonished expression. “If we get Kihyun to cut your bangs you'll be rivaling me in looks.”

“And all of this without having to dye it blonde.” I shot Minhyuk who smirked at my dry comment a look and Wonho's voice turned a little more tempting.

“Oh, getting cocky all of a sudden?”

His fingers lingered at my nape for a little too long, causing me to roll my shoulders back to signalize that I was uncomfortable. “Why Kihyun?”

Minhyuk came to my rescue and threw an arm around Wonho's shoulders, subtly drawing him a step back. “Kihyun cuts our hair all the time, he's a master. Topic change: Shownu will be home any moment, I'll go and prepare dinner. Wonho, care to help me?”

The addressed shot Minhyuk a disbelieving look and squirmed himself out of his grasp. “You can't be serious. Don't you remember the last time I cooked?”

I watched as Minhyuk's face twisted at the memory. “Sadly, that's one of the things I won't ever forget. Very well then”, he grabbed my arm, “Hyungwon, you help me while our cook from hell takes a shower.”

“Was it really that bad?”, I asked curiously once we stopped in the small kitchen but Minhyuk just let out some sound of distress.

“Ever heard of tomato-mustard-pancakes?” I shook my head and he raised an eyebrow. “There's a reason why nobody does, let me tell you that.” Deciding not to question this any further I simply did as I was told by Minhyuk, not saying more than necessary while cutting up another set of vegetables like the evening before.

The door opened and Shownu came in freezing for a moment. “Why is there always someone new in this house whenever I come home? Minhyuk, we should seriously talk ab- wait-”, he stopped in mid-sentence when I turned around and he recognized me with wide eyes. “Hyungwon?”

“Welcome back, hyung?”, I asked carefully and he blinked twice to make sure he wasn't imagining things before giving me a thumbs-up.

“Looks good!”

I raised the corner of my mouth. “Thanks. Minhyuk's idea.”

“Who would have thought that he can actually have good ideas?” Shownu left for the living room again, leaving me with Minhyuk who was quietly complaining about how he always had good ideas but nobody cared and I nudged him with my elbow.

“I really have to admit this was a good idea”, I assured him and his scowl turned into a raised eyebrow.

“Of course it was. I can see the outcome myself, you know?”

I couldn't hold back my huff and averted my gaze again. “I was just trying to be nice.”

“Be honest instead. Everybody can be nice.”

“I was both.”

The sound of knives cutting through fresh vegetables was the only thing to be heard for a moment before he spoke up again. “Make sure it stays that way.” I my lips, gaze locked on my task and pretended I hadn't heard it in order to stop the conversation right there.

It wasn't until we were already eating when Jooheon came back, followed by Kihyun and Changkyun another twenty minutes later. The former didn't really care a lot about my appearance, sitting down without another word directed towards me whereas Kihyun almost fell over because he tried to get to me as fast as possible.

“Let me cut this mess. Now”, he insisted while Changkyun watched in amusement and I didn't answer right away. If I did this, he would be awfully close to me and I didn't like that. What if I have some kind of panic attack? “Hyungwon, if you don't let me cut your fringe right now I will hit you unconscious and then cut it.”

On the other hand, what can possibly go wrong? I took my last spoonful of soup with a defeated sigh. “Don't make me go bald.”

Kihyun grinned with sparkling eyes, letting go of one of his crutches to proudly run his hand through Wonho's hair. “Don't worry, I turned Wonho into a masterpiece as well.”

Said male's forehead wrinkled. “I was already one before you cut my hair.”

“Sure you were”, Kihyun retorted without much conviction and a roll of his eyes before leaving to get whatever he needed to 'cut this mess' while Changkyun relaxed on the chair next to mine with a sigh of his own.

Wonho shot him a look. “He rarely is this hyper and you don't come home on Tuesdays. What happened?”, he asked.

“Nothing big.”

“Changkyun”, his voice changed and the look he shot the youngest was no joke. It felt as if Wonho was his older brother if not father figure and a strange tension filled the air.

Eventually, Changkyun hissed with a defeated roll of his eyes. “We almost ran into a bunch of our lovely soldiers.” Everybody stopped eating and turned their heads towards the youngest who just shrugged. “The number of orphans increases with every day. They came to take some with them. I could barely hold Kihyun back, so I brought him here instead.”

“That's unacceptable. Who do these bastards think they are?”, Jooheon snarled with narrowed eyes and Minhyuk lowered his spoon.

“Jooheon, no need to get mad. It was already the same six years ago. It's normal to them.”

But the other only grew more furious. “It's inhumane!”, he snapped, gripping his spoon so hard his fist was shaking.

“They are currently looking for volunteers for their army”, I interfered with a soothing look towards Jooheon, putting the word volunteers in quotation marks. “I read about it in our shop's newspapers today. It's probable that their forces suffered great losses during the revolt from last week.”

Minhyuk and Jooheon exchanged glances before the former gave me an appreciative nod and the latter tried to calm down. “Sounds legit. But they must be desperate to fill the holes in their rows. I mean, why children?”

“On the contrary. Children can be manipulated and turned into war-machines”, I retorted as a matter of fact. “They are easily deceived and nobody ever suspects them. China doesn't only look for soldiers. Spies are what they actually need to take down possible rebels. It was the same with North Korea when our country was divided.”

There was a sudden mood drop at the table and I bit my lip with lowered eyes until Kihyun hobbled back into the room and to the sofa. “Come here or I'll punch you.”

I glanced at Changkyun who just showed me a self-pleased smirk. “Is he always like that?”

“Much to our dismay, he is.”

“I heard tha