The Mess We've Made | Minsung

chapter forty-two

"I fucked him over my desk."

"You did what?"

I nodded my head, "I did, I did."

Jeongin dapped me up, "Congratulations, my man!"

Hyunjin began to jump up and down as he looked at himself in the mirror, "I don't want to cut or dye my hair to have a big boy job! Why didn't I just become an account or something?"

"Did you really think that you were just going to be able to keep your hair?" Felix asked with a laugh.

"You get to keep your hair!" Hyunjin exclaimed frustratedly.

"I work in a lab, it doesn't matter what I look like," Felix chuckled. "You have to get acquainted with patients, I get acquainted with microscopes. One of those isn't looking back at us."

"Don't tell me you were smart enough to get into a doctorate program but not smart enough to realize that you weren't going to be able to do what you want with your hair," Jeongin burst into laughter, "This just confirms that I'm still not going to be able to take you seriously even after you graduate."

"Can't I just wear a wig or something?" Hyunjin huffed as he ran his hands through his hair.

"That means you have to maintain a routine with it all of the time," Felix sighed, "You'd hate it."

"What about potentially seeing your patients in public?" I asked him. "Don't you think they'd be a bit confused when they see you at the store and Dr. Hwang is sporting Rapunzel locks instead of his cheap Party City wig? We both know you're too cheap to invest in a real one even if you and your man are raking in that dough, if you know what I mean."

"Han, you are such a fucking douchebag," Jeongin laughed. "That was the most condescending and sarcastic shit I've ever heard of in my life."

I laughed, "No because like I realized recently that I don't have any original personality traits. Everything about me comes from my family members, especially my fucked up sense of humor. I'm not unique at all."

"You are totally unique," Felix reassured me.

"I mean, they're kind of dead," Hyunjin mumbled.

"Hyunjin!" Felix exclaimed, scolding him.

"He's not wrong," Jeongin shrugged. "If they're not alive he's not ripping anyone off."

"That's awful!" Felix exclaimed.

I thought about it for a moment, "No, they're kind of right."

"Not you too," Felix scoffed. "How am I the only person in the room not okay with that?"

"They're dead. There's no sense in pretending like they aren't," I sighed. "I've come to a point in my life where I've realized that not only do I need to speak of them to keep their memory alive but I need to talk about them like they're dead or I'm never going to be able to move on with my life."

"You know that saying about how everyone's dealt one set of cards when they're born or whatever the fuck it is? I think you got a card that said 'genius' and a card that said 'dead family' and you just took that shit and went fucking crazy," Jeongin chuckled.

"I suppose that's one way to put it," I shrugged. "Why can't we ever keep one cohesive conversation?"

"Cohesive conversation is for suckers," Felix said. "Jeongin, how are things with your girlfriend?"

"I introduced her to my parents and they hated her."

"How come?" Hyunjin asked, sitting back down on the couch.

"Aimee is a bit uptight," Jeongin frowned. "She doesn't know how to relax or have fun. She's really mean too."

"Jeongin.." I mumbled. "You've got to be kidding me. Why are you with her then?"

"The sex is crazy amazing and she's hot. I want to get to know her but she's so cold and distant. She's warmed up to me a bit but I don't even know anything about her parents or if she has any siblings or what. She's like a brick wall."

"What the fuck is the point then?" Hyunjin laughed. "I remember this one time in high school I had this girlfriend and she was exactly like you described. She was one of those popular girls that everyone was scared of and she made us hide our relationship. When everyone found out, she dumped me. This sounds a lot like that."

"She doesn't keep me a secret. I've met her friends and we're public on social media. She just doesn't tell me anything," Jeongin sighed. "She only ever comes to my place or we go out. I don't know where she lives. I don't know. What do you guys think I should do?"

"How much does she know about you?" I asked him.

"I've told her some things but I don't know if she was listening," Jeongin chuckled. "We haven't gotten that personal. I just had her meet my parents because I wanted to show them I had a girlfriend. It backfired,
though, obviously."

"What do you have in common with her?" I asked.

"She works in the same industry as us, I know that much. She doesn't really share personal information. She looks and acts expensive, though. I'll say that much."

"Find some middle ground with her and make it a romantic thing. Show her something personal to you that might connect with her somehow and try to level with her a bit. Share some personal information about yourself, ask her a question, share something else about yourself, so on and so forth," I said. "If that doesn't work, just keep trying until you don't think there's a point anymore. I know from personal experience that telling you to leave this girl isn't going to work so I may as well be helpful."

"Yeah. I'll try that," Jeongin said.

"That moment when Han is helpful instead of being a prick," Hyunjin joked.

"I don't understand why you guys are so mean to Han. He's really nice," Felix frowned.

"We bully him to remind him that just because he's a celebrity now and on his way to getting a doctorate doesn't mean he's any better than us," Hyunjin said with a smile.

"You bullied him before that," Felix scoffed at him. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I don't think I'm any better than you guys," I rolled my eyes. "I still don't feel like a celebrity. I wake up. I go to work. I come home. It's very normal."

"Yes, except you're rich and famous," Jeongin smirked at me.

"Don't be so critical. At least he doesn't act like it," Felix scoffed at him. "I think you guys don't give him enough credit."

"No," Hyunjin laughed. "We give him plenty of credit. He pulled Seungmin out of a deep depressive episode by hiring him and basically saved our relationship because there was no passion left whatsoever. He's nice, funny, smarter than all of us combined, and I have a hell of a lot of respect for him. I just think it's funny to take the piss out of him because I know he doesn't like everyone blowing smoke up his ass all of the time."

"It's really not that big of a deal," I chuckled. "Jinnie's right, I like it when my friends insult me. It brings me back down to earth. Makes me feel seen."

"I guess that makes sense," Felix shrugged.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, checking to see if Veronica or Avalon had been active at all, "Fuck me. Fuck."

"What's up?" Jeongin asked.

"Felix and I have this friend named Veronica. She works with me and she hasn't been in or talked to me all week. Her girlfriend works with me too and she's been weird too. I don't know what's going on with them," I sighed, "I know it's none of my business but I'm really worried."

"Veronica's texted me but it's only been small phrases or one-word responses," Felix said to me. "Do some sleuthing. You know who to hit up on how to do that."

"Oh, good god," I mumbled.