Chapter 39 – Those moments we spent

Six o'clock passed. Then half past six.

The front door opened again and I could hear Jooheon fire questions at whoever was back, concluding that it had to be Kihyun or Changkyun, maybe both. Minhyuk hadn't let go of my hand until then and I carefully untangled our fingers with my free hand, causing him to wince. “Minhyuk, the guys are back”, I mumbled, lifting his head to move my leg for the first time in what felt like eternity. I groaned when I found that it had gone to sleep, slowly rising to my feet.

Minhyuk let out a whine, rolling over to sit up. “The guys are-” He rubbed his eyes with a yawn but then stopped in confusion. “But they just left? And why are you-”

“You... You were asleep for some time. I'll head downstairs then.” I scratched the back of my neck, wanting to leave.

“You drugged me.” His voice had me turn to find him staring at me in shock. “You did, didn't you?”

I frowned. “Uh, yeah, you were-”

“I was fine, Hyungwon”, he interrupted me, getting to his feet as well, “I was overwhelmed by, uh, by...” He trailed off for a second, furrowing his brows. “Shownu's uncle, right. Everybody would be, alright?”

“It was just one petal.” His tone of voice was an angry one, catching me off guard and I felt my defenses rise. “It was the best thing to do.”

“I could have gone without drugs for a little longer-”

“You were ing unconscious. When I say it was the best for you I mean it, okay?”, I growled dangerously low, taking a step closer and glaring at him before I could stop myself. “Yes, I drugged you. It was all I could do.”

Minhyuk stared at me with wide eyes, swallowing while struggling for words. “T-the best...I...”

I inhaled, clenching my eyes shut. The more I admitted to caring about him the more I felt myself fall back into old behavior patterns and this wasn't fair. It wasn't fair, neither for me nor for him, so I dismissed it with a curt movement of my hand. “Forget it.”

I more or less fled the room before he could say anything else, finding Jooheon in the living room with Changkyun. I swallowed, trying to get Minhyuk's shocked expression out of my mind. What was so bad about it? He had gone without drugs for, like, ten days maybe? It would have been a problem to put off the evil hour any longer. I didn't want to ask him but as curiosity got the better of me I decided to do so later.

I looked at Changkyun while sitting down on the sofa. “Where's Kihyun?”

“We ran into Shownu a few minutes ago, Kihyun has gone to show him the shortcut. He'll be back in no time.”

“How is Show- uh...Changjung?”

“Kihyun got medical expressions thrown at him, I was waiting outside and didn't get a thing, but judging by his face he was not all that happy about the results.”

I chewed on my lip. That couldn't be good, no, it was definitely bad. Jooheon groaned, tossing and turning in his armchair. “I should have gone there myself, you're no help.” He directed his gaze towards me to distract himself. “How's the leech?”

I sighed. “Awake.”

________________

It wasn't that I was mad at Hyungwon for drugging me, or at least not only because of that. Even though I denied it, I knew I needed the chemicals in my system. It was legit. But I was mad at myself for various reasons.

First, I had passed out. Second, it was Hyungwon who had to deal with me, not Wonho as usual. He had probably been really uncomfortable, I could only hope that I had slept through the jag. Third, I had temporarily forgotten about what happened before I lost consciousness.

I had holes in my memory, more than usual even though they were filled again after some time, and I figured it had to be because of the way I delayed my Delphinium consumption. If I went without it for an even longer time the effect could be horrible. Only one petal, Hyungwon had said. Why did this few have such an impact on me? Did it mean I wouldn't escape the drug's claws; ever? Or did it mean I was on the best way? Both were possible.

I went into the bathroom, splashing water into my face to wake up. When I say it was the best for you I mean it. Since when did Hyungwon want what was 'best for me'? And why did he stay with me for, what, an hour and a half? Why would he? My hands grabbed the sides of the sink when I leaned on it, staring at myself in the mirror.

“You're thinking too much. Don't start reading into it, Minyhuk”, I whispered, water dripping from my bangs and nose. “Thinking won't get you far with this guy.”

I dried my face with my sleeve before going downstairs, not knowing what to say to Hyungwon and he obviously had no intention of initiating a conversation, leaving me with Jooheon and Changkyun to talk to. Thankfully Kihyun came home about five minutes later and I rose to my feet, wanting to ask him how things went but Hyungwon beat me to it.

“Smoke intoxication?”

Kihyun nodded with his lips pressed into a thin line. “They are doing their best to keep him alive. They said if he had been exposed to the fire for any longer he would be dead without doubt by now. He's attached to all kinds of machines, he'll be fine for a little longer.”

His choice of words was not very satisfying and a question lingered in the air I dared to voice as a whisper. “For a little longer?”

He put the crutches aside and sat down on the sofa opposite to me, the one Hyungwon was sitting on. “They need to operate since his lungs are too damaged and his skin is severely burnt here and there, he needs transplants. But we need to pay in advance. They're afraid we won't be able to pay since we're just a bunch of kids to them, no matter how old, so they want to make sure we do.”

“Bastards”, Jooheon hissed with his fists clenched. “How much?”

“Too much. We've got no medical insurance”, Kihyun retorted with a sigh. “A hundred and eighty grand.”

“What? Are you ing kidding me?!”, Jooheon exploded, slamming his fist down on his armchair in frustration and I buried my face in my hands when Hyungwon spoke up again.

“How much money does the Clan bring? After all I know it should be enough, isn't it?”

I shook my head, still not looking at him. “We don't bring a lot of it to the bank, they'd grow suspicious. The result is that Changjung has most of it stowed in his shop – you can figure the rest. We also keep some of the money I get from my two weekly deals but it's by far not enough.” My mind was working on possible solutions, anything would be fine, no matter how hard or complicated. But I couldn't think of a quick way to gain more money. “They are right, we can't afford it.”

“Bull”, Jooheon growled, focusing on clenching and unclenching his fist now to calm down. “We'll make it somehow, I could-”

The front door opened and I shot up from my seat again to find Shownu standing at the entrance, a mix of shock, anger and sadness visible on his face but before we could say anything his voice cut through the air. “I don't want anyone to talk about this right now.”

I my lips with a pitying expression. “Shownu, we can-”

“I said I don't want to talk about it, so shut up. Don't talk to me.” He slammed the door shut and hurried upstairs to bury himself in his room and leave us in silence. Every day, hell, every hour was important for his uncle. Every second that passed brought him one second closer to falling sick beyond hope of healing and we needed solutions.

I turned towards Kihyun again. “How long do we have?”

“They said he could do for another two weeks, we have at least ten days to collect the money they said.”

I ran a hand over my face before pushing my bangs back with a groan. “Alright, I'll try to raise the Delphinium prices for two weeks. I don't know how much money Wonho has saved on his bank acco