Poster by StarCross!

It was about half past eight when they got back into the apartment.  Xiumin had been pretty quiet ever since the main course had turned up, and Semi noticed he seemed a bit out of it as he let them back in.  She was too timid to ask him what was on his mind, though – and she suspected it would have something to do with Luhan, in any case.

Hanging her coat in the cupboard down the hall, Semi took her phone and wandered through the living room to the balcony to ring Sehun.  He was still on an obscene amount of painkillers and rather drowsy, but at least seemed less confused than before.

“That Luhan guy’s a d*ck,” he mumbled when Semi told him about the deal for Luhan to leave her brother out of things in the future.  “Didn’t feed me once while I was there.  I’m really hungry.  Keep throwing up food because of painkillers.”

“It’ll pass,” she assured him.  “Have you asked for anti-nausea tablets?”

“You genius, you,” he murmured sleepily.

“Ask the nurse for anti-nausea tablets.  And sleep well.  I’ll visit you tomorrow.  Love you!”  She hung up and turned to go back inside, almost shrieking when she all but ran into Minseok.

“Your brother?” he asked, steadying her with one hand and pointing to the phone with the other.  Semi nodded.  “You should invite him over for dinner when he’s out of hospital.”

The prospect of her brother and her husband sitting down at the same table together – or even being within fifty feet of each other – made Semi cringe.  Sehun liked Xiumin about as much as he liked Luhan, and he’d made that pretty clear on numerous occasions.  “I don’t think the two of you are going to get on.”

“He’s important to you.  I don’t think I should stand in the way of that.”  Minseok let go of her.

Semi narrowed her eyes.  “You’re not suggesting this in the hopes of plotting something, are you?”

“Hey, I honour my deals.  You gave us valuable information and we’re going to leave your brother out of it.  Simple as.  He’s free and safe to come and go here as he pleases.”

Semi opened to bite back a scathing retort, but then realised there wasn’t really anything in what he’d said that she could pick to pieces and instead ended up demanding why he’d come out to the balcony.  A part of her wondered if he’d followed her there.

Minseok sighed and dropped his gaze.  “I was going to ring Lay and signal’s best out here on the balcony.”

“Lay?” she repeated, unable to believe her ears.  Minseok bit his lip, nodding.

“Suho had you microchipped, and I thought it might be a good idea if Sehun was checked for one as well.”

Semi gaped at him.

“He’s the start of the domino chain in the weakest links,” Minseok continued in a mumble before looking up.  “What?” he demanded defensively on seeing Semi’s expression.  “I take my personal safety very seriously.”

Feeling foolish that she’d thought for a moment he actually cared, Semi snapped shut.  “I’m going to bed,” she muttered, turning on her heel.  She was almost back into the living room when Minseok called out to her.

“Hey, Semi?”

She stopped and turned.  His eyes raked over her for a moment and he gave her a small smile, but said nothing.  Semi waited, but nothing came.

“What?” she demanded, irritable.

His gaze snapped to her eyes.  “I like your dress,” he said simply.  “It’s very pretty.”

For a moment, Semi’s mind went numb, and her face flushed scarlet.  It might have been directed at her clothing, but the way he had looked at her made her feel as though it was more than that.  Besides, he complimented her sincerely so rarely that she was going to take whatever she could get, whether it was an implication her dress sense was good or that she looked good in the dress or what.

“Th-thanks,” she stuttered out, and fled before her heartbeat could get too erratic.

Half an hour later, when Semi was curled up in bed reading through a long text message from Wendy about how this was the final straw and she was going to go to somebody about her abusive husband if Semi didn’t, Minseok let himself into the bedroom with the medical kit.

“How do I reply to this?” she asked, shoving the phone at him when he set the medical kit down on the duvet and sat near her legs.  Minseok scanned the message.

“Don’t.  She’s scary and she’ll chew your head off.”

“She’s going to do that anyway.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be possible to change her mind.”  He popped a couple of painkillers out of their packet.  “Here, take these.  We need to change the dressing on your arm, too.”

Putting her phone down, Semi reached for the glass of water she’d brought with her from the kitchen and knocked the pills back.  She sat up properly as Minseok shifted closer to her and reached for a bandage and a pair of scissors.

Both of them were silent as they saw the cuts for the first time.  Semi stared blankly at them, almost unable to believe she really had eight million won etched into her arm in large, untidy handwriting.  She took a shaky breath, eyes filling with tears.

“That’s going to scar really badly, isn’t it?” she managed in little more than a whimper.

It was a moment or two before Minseok just nodded.

“Why would he even do that to somebody?” she asked brokenly.

“Because he’s a sick-minded psychopath.”  Minseok’s face had gone remarkably pale, but he still managed stoically to disinfect the cuts and bandage her arm back up.  Packing the spare bandage material back into the medical kit, he stood up.

“Why does everybody want to kill me?” Semi sniffed, wiping away tears.  Minseok tactfully remained silent.  “I’m only trying to do the right thing.”

Minseok sighed.  “I’m really not the best person to comfort you over this particular issue, but do you want me to stay with you tonight?”

Sniffing again, Semi nodded.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”  He picked up the medical kit and left.  Semi curled into a ball, wrapping her arms as tightly as she could around herself.  Life was unfair.  It was making a really sour bunch of lemons out of lemonade, and she wanted to do nothing more than crawl into her mother’s lap for a hug like she had done right up to the age of sixteen.

The mattress creaked and a pair of warm arms crept around her, pulling her tight against a muscular chest.  Semi cried silently against Minseok’s bare skin as he arranged the duvet around them.  He rubbed her back soothingly, but made sure to avoid the area from which he’d dug out the microchip.

“It’s good to let it all out,” he encouraged.  Semi sniffled loudly.

“I want my mum.”

He gave her a light squeeze and petted the back of her head.  His chest rumbled as he let out a quiet cough.

“How long ago was it?” he asked in an almost tentative tone.  Semi understood without him needing to elaborate.

“She died around three years ago.”

His grip tightened again, not painfully but rather – Semi thought, at least – protectively.  Neither spoke as he waited patiently for her to stop crying.  It took a while for her to become completely calm.

Eventually, Minseok was the one who spoke up, just as Semi was beginning to drift off to sleep.

“Semi… about what you asked me about at the restaurant….”  He sounded nervous.

“Hmm?”

There was a pause so long Semi wondered if he’d dropped off.

He hadn’t, and the words came out all in one go.  It sounded like he might be grimacing.  “I’m trusting you not to tell anybody else.”

Semi still ended up telling Chanyeol when she went over to the condo to help him pack things up the next day.  He and the police had decided it was much safer for him and Sehun to move house, and Chen had somehow managed to wrangle getting the pair of them a similar-sized condo in the same street that Semi and Xiumin lived on.  Chanyeol might or might not have mentioned that it would be a good idea for Semi to see more of her