Chapter 25 – Seo Sangwon

I would always be relaxed when I woke up on Tuesdays because I would still feel the last bit of drugs run through my body and it would help me relax but that day, it was a little different. I wasn't just relaxed, I was completely at ease, my mind didn't even bother wondering what I might have done the evening before. I couldn't have cared less since I felt so light.

Until I opened my eyes that is.

A yawn escaped my lips and I stretched my limbs when suddenly, my hand grazed something soft and I frowned, forcing my eyes open. What is this? At first, I could only make out a pile of dark clothes, causing me to reach out to find out whose they were since they definitely weren't mine. It was only then that I realized that they weren't just clothes but a person buried in them as well. I flinched, hovering my left hand over the hood that was covering the person's head while noticing that my right one was holding on to the cold hand belonging to the other person.

I started to shake, suddenly wishing that I could remember what had happened the evening before. Why the am I sleeping next to some random pers- My own thoughts ripped off when I tugged at the hood to reveal a few strands of white hair.

Minhyuk, no doubt. “.” I hastily pressed myself against the wall, untangling my fingers from his while trying to process the situation. I had been sleeping next to Minhyuk, even held his hand, and nobody seemed to care to stop me.

Whatever I had done, it must have been bad for me. Bad for my relationship with the others. Well, it certainly didn't look good. Calm down, try not to panic, Hyungwon, I reminded myself with a swallow, carefully climbing out of the bed and I glanced back at Minhyuk once more who had pulled his now free hand to his chest with a pout. Wanting to leave the room, I tiptoed to the door just to make the wooden planks squeak beneath my feet and a quiet groan could be heard from Minhyuk, signalizing that he was about to wake up.

I ran into the bathroom and closed the door in a hurry to lean against the hard material. “, what the hell is going on?”, I breathed with wide eyes, grabbing a handful of my hair and trying to remember anything that might have happened, but there was nothing but a big black hole in that brain of mine.

A soft knock could be heard and I spun around with so much force I hit the nearby cupboard with my hand.

“Whoever is in there, mind getting out? I need to get ready for work.” Shownu. I took a deep breath and grabbed the doorknob with trembling fingers. Shownu looked at me in surprise. “You're up early, thought you might be Minhyuk”, he stated with his brows raised only to smile at me a moment later. “I won't take long, go make yourself coffee or something like that.” I nodded quickly, not trusting my voice as I pushed past him and practically jumped down the stairs. He wasn't behaving any different from what I was used to, then what the had happened? Hadn't he noticed that Minhyuk wasn't in his own room?

Once I walked into the kitchen hoping for Minhyuk to have fallen asleep again I almost bumped into a well built body. “Oh look, it's my foster-son”, he stated and I needed a moment to collect my thoughts as I distanced myself from Wonho.

“F-foster-son?”, I stuttered, unable to keep up an indifferent expression and the blonde just grinned while grabbing his coffee mug. “We created our personal family tree yesterday, you don't remember a thing, right?” I shook my head with a swallow. “Well, basically you're Kihyun's adopted child and that makes me your foster-father to sum things up. Guess I won't be able to flirt as much since you're my kid now.” He shrugged with one of his cheeky smiles but I couldn't follow.

“Adopted? Wait, I-” I swallowed, my lips trembling as I was looking for the right words. Welcome to the family, Hyungwon! I shook my head but the voice wouldn't go away. Sangwon will be your little- “What about Minhyuk?”, I asked, trying to ignore the memories that were flooding my brain by concentrating on my current dilemma. I had to remember what had happened.

Wonho scratched the back of his neck with a pensive gaze directed at his coffee mug. “As far as I can remember he's Monsta X' mother and my ex-wife. He got a divorce, which is completely impossible since nobody would ever want to get a divorce if they were married to me-”

“Don't start on that”, I interrupted, forcing myself to take a few controlled breaths as I leaned against the wall next to the door. Minhyuk was the mother? Twisted and weird, but okay. That couldn't be a reason for him to sleep next to me, so there had to be something else.

“Good morning Wonho!”, a well-known voice could be heard from the corridor and I tensed up, not ready to face Minhyuk yet. I still hadn't found out about a thing.

Wonho gave the white-haired a curt nod in response, scanned him from head to toe before walking towards the door, stopping right next to me and I suppressed a flinch. “There will be a flower in your bag in case something happens. Don't show it around though.”

“Huh?”

Before I could ask him why the hell I'd need a flower he was already past the door and put on his shoes while chatting with Minhyuk and I didn't know what to do anymore. I couldn't retreat into another room, I was trapped and would have to talk to Minhyuk who turned towards the kitchen at that very moment. “Oh, there you are, Hyungwon”, his soft voice sounded and I swallowed when his eyes met mine. “Did you sleep well?”

I clenched and unclenched my hand to hide the fact that it was trembling, my lips before I asked him a question instead of answering his. “Why were you in my bed?”

Minhyuk's mouth opened and closed several times until a hint of understanding sparked in his eyes and his eyes widened in shock. “Oh, you got it wrong, I guess. You didn't do a thing. Ah, and me neither. We- no, you were afraid of your nightmares, so you asked me to stay, you know? Thinking it might help keeping them away, so I thought why not.”

I blinked a few times at his frantic behavior, Minhyuk normally was a very composed guy, this was unusual. It was only then that I got what he said, staring at him with an expression of wonder. “I-I asked you to?” He nodded and wanted to take a step closer but decided otherwise and turned to grab himself a glass of water. Why would I ask him something like that? The last time something like that had happened was with-

A certain person's calming smile flashed in front of my mind's eye, causing me to freeze for a moment.“I'll stay with you and fight all the nightmares off, don't worry. I'm here for you.” I cleared my throat but the weird feeling wouldn't go away. Had I tried to revive this? “Nightmares are less likely to occur when you sleep next to someone else, it's true. Sangwon wouldn't want you to be scared.”

Oh, please, no. “Did I... mention anything interesting yesterday?”

Minhyuk stopped for a moment but was quick to wipe any sign of surprise off his face. “You were a little weird, but you always are”, he replied evasively, glancing at me. “Did it help? That I stayed tonight?”

I averted my gaze and looked around the room instead. “Why would you want to know?”

“So that I know it wasn't in vain.”

“What was?” He rolled back his shoulders and his jaw tensed, which was very unusual, and I settled with letting it go and just carefully answered his question. “I did sleep well.” He relaxed in the blink of an eye and let out a sigh.

“Good. Very good.” I had to know what I had said to him. I had to ing remember.

“But why did you do it when I asked you?”

Minhyuk cocked his head to the side and blinked at me. “Why? Because you needed me. There are some things in this world you can't do on your own and I'll be there to help you at those times. Is that such a bad thing?”

I couldn't bring myself to reply, ignoring the feeling of déjà vu building up in the pit of my stomach. I could only hope that I hadn't talked about Yi-en, I didn't know if I was ready for that. “But I do have a question: who is Sangwon?”

Okay, this is worse. I felt my heart become heavier and heavier, threatening to fall to the ground and shatter into a million pieces. Oh wait, that had already happened not too long ago. I clenched my teeth. “Where'd you get that name from?”

“You said you didn't want to talk about him, that's all.” He eyed me with curiosity as I pressed my lips together and spun around, grabbing my shoes to put them on. “Wait, Hyungwon, where are you going?”

“Work.” It was two hours too early to leave for work, but I would even work overtime if it helped me get away from a discussion about Sangwon.

“You're running away.”

“So what if I am?”, I shot back with a hiss, tightening my shoelaces once more and throwing on my thick jacket as I grabbed my bag and ripped the door open. “I still don't want to talk about him.”

________________

I had woken up at the sound of something squeaking, but couldn't bring myself to stand up until five minutes later, realizing that Hyungwon wasn't sleeping next to me anymore. My mind automatically started working at full blast, worrying about what he might have thought when he found me lying next to him, so I gathered all of my energy to go downstairs, finding Hyungwon in the kitchen. I could tell he was nervous, but the fact that he had slept well had me calm down for a moment. I didn't know why, but my reactions were completely exaggerated and Hyungwon seemed to notice as well.

Then, his behavior did a complete turn at the mention of the name of Sangwon. I couldn't even react in any way before he was gone and quickly put my emptied glass aside to grab my shoes and follow him. I was panting by the time I reached him, wondering how he manag