Chapter 14 – Not yet

The next day, Minhyuk came back in the evening and he looked just the same as always, bouncing around the house and getting on everybody's nerves while on the other hand everybody knew how much more boring the days would be without him doing so. After having eaten, I decided to go out for a while, suddenly feeling the urge to just walk around and move; something I hadn't done often ever since I arrived at this city. Had it already been four weeks? “I'll be back in an hour”, I stated while putting on my shoes and Minhyuk stopped arguing with Wonho about who was the prettiest actress to look at me.

“You're going out?” I nodded with a stoic expression and he got up to look for his shoes. “I'll tag along, wait a second!” But before he even had a chance to tie his shoelaces I was already past the door and inhaled the cool night air that had managed to calm me down ever since. “Yah, Hyungrude! Wait for the old and sick!” Minhyuk panted after slamming the door shut and catching up.

“Old and sick, my ”, I groaned with a roll of my eyes and he grinned at me. There was no particular direction I wanted to go in and I just followed the roads, turning left and right every once in a while with Minhyuk only a step behind me. “You know, if we were in Seoul”, I started after a while, “we would have already been shot by soldiers. They have their eyes everywhere there.”

My opponent hummed and sped up to walk next to me. “I wouldn't know what to do if I really couldn't go out. I mean, there's a curfew here too, but there are rarely any officers to come by. Last week was an exception.”

I blinked and looked at him in shock before quickly concealing my emotions. “They were here last week?”

“You were high, you probably don't remember.” I let out a sound of understanding and scratched the back of my neck with a sigh. It really not remembering what you did just because you wanted to feel good and happy once in a while. But that wouldn't stop me. So what if something happened, what doesn't kill you keeps you going.

I decided to change the topic after a few more minutes of rounding corners in silence. “How are the new guys? Exo, right?”

Minhyuk's pace became unsteady, just long enough for me to notice, before he fell into step with me again. “They're greedy and want more. They still have to accept the fact that they can't decide how much they buy. That's my decision.”

“They didn't hurt you to get more or anything, did they?” He stared at me with big eyes and his mouth fell open when he heard that, but I was quick to clear my throat. “Shownu looked rather worried, so I thought I should ask-”

“Just say you were worried, it's not a bad thing. I'm fine, stupid”, he teased and reached out to pinch my cheek, but I grabbed his arm with a huff, causing him to hiss as if in pain.

I stopped walking and raised an eyebrow, but he had lowered his gaze to the ground in a matter of seconds. I pushed the sleeve of his hoodie up to reveal a set of bruises. “That doesn't really look fine”, I stated.

“I ran into a few things, you know, I'm a clumsy person- ah!”

He winced when I knocked against his stomach and I felt something twist in my stomach. “I said it doesn't look fine, so it isn't.”

“It's nothing I can't handle”, he snapped after ripping his wrist out of my grasp, causing me to shake my head in disbelief. “I can't let the others worry about something like bruises, so I'm fine.” Minhyuk distanced himself from me and I sighed as I tagged along. His behavior was just the same as mine, so I couldn't blame him for anything. He was right, he could handle this – he had done so in the past as well – and I left it at that until he spoke up on his own. “How about you? Were you alright while I was gone? You didn't get into a fight, did you?”

“Who are you? My mother?”, I shot back with a snort and buried my hands in the pockets of my jacket with a shrug. “I'm okay. But say: do Jooheon's effects belong to Wrath? He said he hates me and is avoiding everything concerning me.”

Minhyuk hesitated. “Hate you? How come? I can't believe he said that.” The tone of his voice told me otherwise, but I didn't point it out. “And no, he's not Wrath. Jooheon is Envy.” It was my turn to be confused and he found his smile again when we took a right. “He can't accept things that might put him on a lower level and curses at them instead. Everything that might be better off than him is bad. He is a severe case of only child syndrome.”

“So that's how it is”, I mumbled absentmindedly, thinking back at Jooheon's clouded expression when he talked about how his house was always empty. That wasn't envy, it was loneliness and pain, he only didn't show it openly. Like Minhyuk. Like myself. Man, we were some really messed up bunch, weren't we? A pensive and comfortable silence spread and we finished our short walk without much more conversation. I don't even know why I wanted to get out that day and much less do I know why Minhyuk came along, but after we had joined the others in the living room again, I felt better than before; somewhat at ease.

Every time Wonho got clingy and was all over Minhyuk, I hoped that he wouldn't put pressure on the bruises, but there was no need to worry because time passed without anyone noticing the way the white-haired male bit his lip as a distraction every once in a while. Nobody but me.

________________

The days passed and with each of them my bruises became less visible. I have to admit they hurt a lot at first and I still felt bad that Hyungwon had taken notice of them, because his eyes wouldn't leave me even once for the whole evening that day, but on another note it was really interesting to see him worry about me. He was getting better, at least as far as his trust issues were concerned, and I was determined to help him with his other problems as well. Maybe I could fix him and he would be able to become the rebel he wanted to be, who knows? One step at a time.

Monday.

My next chance to get him to talk. I had observed Hyungwon for the past three days and found him to be more tired than the week before, suggesting that his side-effect was a Sloth one as well. I'll have to prevent him from taking too much at once or it will get worse, I figured as we settled around our little fire pit in the garden's tent.

“What happens if you eat the flowers without cooking them?”, Hyungwon asked quietly while staring into the flames and Shownu poked the wood with an iron stick.

“They are twice as effective then, but also twice as disgusting. We add sugar.”

“Sugar? Really?” Hyungwon huffed as if he couldn't believe his own ears.

“You know how the saying goes, right?”, I asked with a chuckle. “That a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine-”

“Did you just make a Mary Poppins reference? I can't believe it”, Jooheon groaned with a roll of his eyes. “You're impossible.”

My smile widened and I winked at him. “You know you love it.”

“Maybe. Whatever.”

I exchanged glances with Hyungwon and swallowed, looking around for a moment before returning my whole attention to him. “You'll take it again?”

He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes for a moment. “You're still going to convince me not to? In case you didn't notice: I felt good last time.”

“But you might regret things.”

“I won't.” I was already taking a deep breath to retort something, but Hyungwon interrupted me. “Minhyuk, I swore to myself that whatever happens on Delphinium isn't really me. It's like you're drinking, but far better. I can handle this, trust me.” His breath got stuck in his throat when he heard himself say that and bit his lip. “Y-you...you promised, didn't you?”

“Yes, but can you really? I wish I could be sure of that”, I replied just when Jooheon raised the basin to his own lips and took a sip.

It made its round and I watched anxiously as Hyungwon's pupils dilated before he gave the liquid to me, but instead of drinking it, I placed it in front of me like the week b