Chapter 47 – Reunion

Every parting is a form of Death, as every reunion is a type of Heaven – Tryon Edwards

Of course Jungkook did as he was told, listening to the only guy who had had a plan for the past few hours, and I was back at the mall's basement in no time, kicking the door open. “What do you need me here for? Make it quick, I want to go-”

“Oh, if that isn't foxy”, Kwangsu growled, slamming his palms on the table as he stood up. “You didn't listen to me and you still have the guts to show up with requests?” He grabbed me by the collar and slammed me against the wall next to the door with pure strength. I remained silent when he struck me with the flat of his hand, feeling my crusty lip pop open again. Great, it only stopped bleeding half an hour ago, thanks for nothing.

I my lips and raised a brow at Kwangsu. “So, now that you've punished me, how about appreciating my work? Only two out of forty died, you have hostages that speak Korean and you're still alive. Anything else? Oh, nobody seems to have noticed how incapable you were during this whole thing, I think that should be mentioned-”

“Shut up!”, the older hollered, hauling off again but his punch missed me by a few centimeters as I freed myself and stepped away, hands buried in my pockets. There was no use in fighting my fallen hero. As long as everyone was fine I wouldn't care about him anymore.

I noticed Namjoon standing next to the other not-so-important people in the corner of the room with his arms crossed. He didn't look at me but the ground and I snorted. “Some fools y'all are. I didn't mean to harm anyone's reputation here. But if there's a better way than walking straight into a trap you should take it.” I didn't turn my back on Kwangsu on purpose and kept talking. “Next time you want to pull something like this off I want you to think about things yourself. This is no dictatorship, let's consider everyone's opinions and not follow blindly.”

“Talking big now that your plan worked, huh? You're trying to make them turn away from me, aren't you? I knew you were a fox from the start, deceiving everyone whenever there's a chance to”, Kwangsu started again but I just shook my head.

“My name's Chae Hyungwon and you'd better memorize it. Deception is my specialty, yes. But I'm also in favor of self-initiative. Anything else you want to say? No?” Again I just watched as everyone stared at their feet. “Mark my words and make it better next time. And don't you dare using Haechan again. Children aren't the same as trained forces just because they can crawl through vents.”

Then I left without looking back again. They're not worth looking back.

I found a map lying around at base A and let Yoongi explain me where our city was located, finally finding out where the hell I had lived for the past months. It wasn't all that far from the radio tower. Namjoon had said it took two days but it had only taken us about one and a few hours at a rather slow tempo before. I could make it in a single day if I wanted to, so I grabbed myself some rice and water before heading home at last.

It was around one in the morning when I left and I walked for three more hours before hiding in a dark alley to close my eyes for an hour or two. Nobody found me there, so I continued my walk without any difficulties coming about. It was a boring march but I didn't have any options. The sun rose higher and higher though sometimes hidden behind bigger clouds and I didn't let myself rest again. I was tired, yeah, but I'd rather sleep in my fluffy bed instead of on the streets again.

Plus, I needed to know what had happened to Shownu. If he was alright. I can't explain why but the news of him disappearing had been unsettling from the start, something didn't sit right with me. I kept going and going, my water bottle emptying more with every hour. It was evening by the time I came by another store to restock and another five hours passed.

I jogged several times, fighting my own sleepiness and keeping my eyes on my goal. I'd only sleep after making sure everyone was alright. It was about midnight when I entered our street and unlocked the door with a smile of relief.

Sunday, five past midnight: I came back to Monsta X' house.

I looked around, taking off my shoes before stepping into the living room to find Wonho on the sofa but nobody else. Were they asleep? The blond looked up in surprise, his jaw dropping while he shot up from his seat. He glanced at my wounded lip but didn't address it. “Yo-You're back already!”

I smirked with a nod, fingers curling around the thumb drive containing Chinese information in my pocket. “Couldn't wait to get back. I've got news, but...where's the rest? Shownu was gone when I-” I stopped when I saw Wonho's eyes cloud and stared at him for a few seconds. “Did something happen to him?”

“It's...Now don't freak out, it's all a little bit chaotic. He...He's-” Wonho fumbled with his words for a while, chewing on his lower lip. “Everyone's walked around on their own for the past days. It's...” There was nothing playful about the way he talked or behaved, it definitely was a serious problem.

I knew there was something bad about his disappearance. “Wonho, what happened to Shownu?”

The blond stuttered, his lips. “H-He tried to overdose the day before yesterday. He tried to...kill...himself. We're just lucky a nurse found him in time, he'll make it. He's already conscious again, but-” Wonho clenched his hands into fists and swallowed audibly. “But that's not everything. His uncle died three days ago. He only found out when he went to visit and the bed was empty. He...He couldn't take it and...yeah.”

“Overdose? His uncle...Wait, why-” My eyes widened as Wonho rounded the table to put a hand on my shoulder. This couldn't be real. “But the people at the hospital said-”

“-that Changjung would make it for another week, maybe two, nothing else. And it's been almost two weeks now. He was strong but not strong enough.” The blond's eyes were filled with sorrow and I didn't know how to react. I hadn't known Changjung very well, all I knew was how important he was not only to Monsta X but the whole Clan, remembered how I had carried him out of that burning house. It was a sad blow to the system, even sadder to those close to him. Shownu and Minhyuk. My heart skipped a beat, thinking of how horrible it must have been for them to hear the news, Minhyuk also having to deal with Shownu at the same time.

He wouldn't want to burden anyone, most likely keeping for himself, and I grabbed Wonho's wrist. “Bring me to the hospital.”

“It's too late to be visiting, you can go tomorrow. Everything will be fine, you don't need to stress over Shownu right now. You look really tired, I think you should-”

“I'm not only stressing over Shownu”, I clarified, my grasp tightening. “What about the others? Are Kihyun and Changkyun at the orphanage?”

“Probably.”

“Jooheon?”

“Buries himself in his house if he's not at the hospital.”

I exhaled with my eyes closed. “Minhyuk?”

Wonho let a few moments pass and I had to glare at him to make him talk. “He's been staying at the hospital most of the time, seldom coming home. Sometimes he goes to visit Shownu, sometimes to look at Changjung's dead body. It's like he's broken, not knowing what to do now.”

I didn't want to imagine how Minhyuk would just sit somewhere staring into nothingness without a smile on his face. It was depressing to just see it in my mind and I shook my head to get rid of it. It didn't matter what I wanted to see or not but what had to be done. I didn't know how much I had wanted to see Minhyuk until that moment.“Like I said. Get me to that hospital.”

“Hyungwon-”

“If he's broken I won't go to bed without seeing about Minhyuk!”, I interrupted Wonho with a hiss and he closed his eyes for a while, freeing his wrist from my fingers with a sigh. I want to see him.

“Alright then, the hospital it is.”

I felt like I was on edge again, pacing through the dark streets behind Wonho. Not the same way as back at the radio tower but still on edge. Back there I knew I was capable of turning the tides by putting myself in danger for it, but this here made me anxious because I didn't know how to cope with interpersonal things yet I had to. At that moment, I just had to get to Minhyuk and nothing else mattered. I could relate to what he must have felt. I want to see him.

Wonho didn't know what to talk about so I told him about what had happened at the other city to kill time. About Kwangsu being an idiot and everybody following him without giving it a second thought. The blond listened, not saying much until I ended my short report. “I saw Minhyuk listen to the radio whenever he was in sight. If your broadcast really got through then he'll have heard it.”

He listened? I remembered his portable radio from when we had gone to Exo and couldn't stop some kind of warm feeling from spreading in my chest. Throughout this chaos caused by Changjung's death and Shownu's overdose he had still thought about me? It showed how I had actually become a true member of Monsta X and it filled me with something like pride. “How's your little girl doing?”, I changed the topic after clearing my throat, glancing over at Wonho who had his eyes fixed on the road.

“She's fine, I went to visit her yesterday for a while but returned soon as I was worried about the others.”

“So you're restless as well”, I concluded, kicking the gravel with my nose scrunched up. “You can't help either of them so you have to stand by and watch. That's what it sounds like”, I hummed, burying my hands in my pockets and Wonho agreed with a huff.

“I tried everything but, at least for Minhyuk, there was no progress. And if I can't get through to him there's only you left.”

I raised a brow when the hospital finally came into view in the dark. “Me? You think I'll make a difference? This is about Changjung and Shownu. Two people I don't know much about.”

“He's also been waiting for you to come back and you know that”, Wonho retorted with a notion to his voice I wasn't comfortable with. It sounded as though he knew more about me than I did myself and it made me uncomfortable. For some reason his words caused me to think of Minhyuk's hug again right before I had left him that morning and I shivered. I'll miss you, you know? There was so much I needed to talk to him about yet there was always something else getting in the way. First things first, tell Minhyuk you're back so he's got one person less to worry about. If he actually did worry that is.

“I'll try to get him home for a start”, I mumbled and Wonho gave me a pat on the back with a sad smile.

“I'll be going back then. I guess it's better if it's only you.”

“What, you can't just leave me-” He didn't even listen when he turned around on the spot, leaving me in front of the dimly lit hospital entrance. “-alone with this.”

I pushed the doors to the hospital open with a snort and it took a few seconds until the smell got through to me. It reminded me of the fights I had fought,