Chapter 7 - Lock up

Again I had been running in my dream. This time, I was running through a forest, not being enclosed by brick walls but trees of all kinds. The freedom of nature was also the most treacherous one. Again I was caught. Again I had to face him.

And again I would wake up at some point.

I made my way up the gray stairs and watched the sun rise, turning the burning orange colored sky into a soft and blue one. The way it was now, I would take a dose for sure, because as far as I could remember, there hadn't been a nightmare like that the night before when I had apparently been high. Maybe it hadn't occurred and maybe I had just pushed it aside into my subconsciousness, but one thing was sure: I hadn't slept this well in a long time. If something were to happen to me Minhyuk would just keep me from taking more Delphinium, right? He was so desperate to get this idea out of my head, but I really didn't know what part of my memories I could ever miss.

My thoughts kept circulating for a while longer and before I knew it I was at the store. Since there were more people in the morning than in the afternoon I was busy standing behind the counter and time flew by without me noticing it.

After bidding my good-byes to my boss who was definitely satisfied with the way I worked I decided I should go and tell Minhyuk about Jungkook, because he might think it to be useful for his research on the flower. While on my way, a raindrop landed on my cheek and I raised my head to find dark clouds that had pushed themselves between me and the blue sky. It will rain for a long time, I figured when more and more drops began to fall and soothed my itching skin.

Minhyuk's house really was close to my workplace and I got there in no time, knocking on the door, but when it opened, there was neither Minhyuk nor that other guy called Wonho in front of me. He was shorter by maybe five centimeters and his brown hair was red at the ends, hinting at a hair color that had long grown out. The guy stared at me from narrow eyes that didn't fit his slight baby face and the scowl on his face made me uncomfortable. Was this even the right house, had I gone wrong somewhere or-

“Are you going to talk or what do you want? Forgot something yesterday?”, he snapped and I had to suppress the urge to take a step back in fright.

“U-uhm, I wanted to talk to Min...hyuk, is he home? Maybe?”, I stuttered nervously, but my opponent shook his head.

“He's not, he went out for a while. Don't know when he'll be back.”

“Oh.” I lowered my gaze and fumbled with my words for a moment. Why do I even bother, I should have waited until next Wednesday, I thought before looking up at the guy again. “Never mind, it's not that important anyway, I was just-” The look he gave me made me stop and clear my throat again. “Just tell him I was there, thanks”, I mumbled before ducking my head and turning around to leave.

I could only hear a snorted 'sure' from behind me before the door was slammed shut again and I hurried to get back to the subway before I was completely drenched, which wasn't very successful. Who was that guy? How many people did Minhyuk live with in the first place, I had never asked.

And why would you? He's a dealer, you shouldn't befriend him. That was true, but talking or even just listening to him was so easy to me. Is it weird to look for something to hold on to when you have nothing? I don't think so, my actions were legit. Somehow.

It had been raining for two days without a minute of stopping and it didn't look like it would anytime soon. I hadn't heard anything from Minhyuk either and began to wonder if the impolite guy at the door had actually told him I was there while I was closing the front doors and cleaned up the convenience store. I loved how my job kept me distracted to the point where I wouldn't even notice how the days passed by and before I knew it it was Sunday.

There was some knocking sound to be heard and I raised my head to look around, but there was nobody else left in the store, my boss had given me the keys to lock up on my own the day before. After another ten seconds the knock sounded through the room again and I frowned walking up to the front door where someone stood with his hood pulled into his face. I unlocked the door, about to tell him that we were closed when he flashed a smile. “Took you long enough!”, Minhyuk huffed as he removed the hood and shook his hair before coming in, leaving muddy footprints everywhere.

“Don't move. I literally just cleaned up”, I sighed.

He turned around seeing the mess he created and hopped on the counter to let his feet dangle a few centimeters above the ground instead. There was a short silence with him watching as I wiped the dirt away once more. “Sorry for coming this late”, he mumbled all of a sudden and I looked up in surprise, but Minhyuk shrugged. “Jooheon only told me about your visit half an hour ago. He doesn't seem to like you a lot.”

“He has never met me before, why would he hate me?”

“I wonder”, Minhyuk replied swaying his feet back and forth. “Why did you come the other day?”

I put the cleaning utensils away and turned off the light, leaving us in the gray twilight of a setting sun that remained hidden behind dark clouds. “One of the guys from BTS, Jungkook, combined alcohol with your precious Delphinium.” I saw the way his body tensed up at the word 'precious' and was about to apologize when he had already masked his feelings with an encouraging smile again. He hated it, but still needed it. It was nothing but a vicious spiral to him, wasn't it? “Have you ever tried Lúzhōu lăojiào before?“

Minhyuk's forehead wrinkled when he looked at me. “Only heard about it, why?”

“With up to fifty percent of alcohol it is bad enough to drink a bottle on your own, which he kind of did, but because of the combination, Jungkook was unconscious for about twenty hours. It was worse than any soporific I can think of.”

“Sopo-”

“Soporific”, I repeated and took the keys before stopping right in front of Minhyuk. “Sleeping pills and stuff like that. He didn't move the slightest, I was afraid he might die.”

“So you think combining Delphinium and that alcohol knocks you out? Are you sure it wasn't just the alcohol?”

I shook my head, throwing and catching the key several times with a jingling noise. “I know the effects this kind of alcohol has and apparent death isn't one of them.”

Minhyuk stared at something I couldn't see for a moment, his lips forming a concentrated pout before he snapped out of his trance and jumped off the counter. “Interesting, indeed.” His face was only centimeters away from mine and I tried to brave his gaze, but failed and took a step back after another moment. This was just too close.

“We should go”, I mumbled after swallowing. “I've got to lock up.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” The way he said that made clear that he noticed the way I got defensive when people got too close to me, but I tried not to let it show. “Say, Hyungwon”, he started again once I had closed the doors behind us and turned the key in its lock, the heavy rain drumming against the pavement. Minhyuk looked up at the sky, blinking when his eyes made contact with thick raindrops. “Why don't you come and live at our place? We have an actual roof.”

I was a bit taken aback by his offer and needed a moment to process it. “The others are friendly with me, why should I switch to you?”