THE8 | Junhao

TWENTY - EIGHT

| CHAPTER TWENTY - EIGHT |

Mingyu walks down the hallway, hands in his pockets, "So," Jun raises his head at the sudden voice, leaning up off the wall, "Where is he?"

Jun cocks his head, "Bathroom."

Mingyu nods, leaning himself against the wall this time, "He alright?"

"I think so." Jun sighs, following Mingyu's movement, own back pressed against the drywall, "He just woke up not even thirty minutes ago, so he's still a bit out of it, but I'd say he's fine." He shrugs, "Doing better at least."

Mingyu nods, looking away.

"How's Dino?"

Mingyu laughs at that, "He's Dino." He smiles, "He's been up for a while. I meant to let you know but I saw how focused you were on waiting for him," Mingyu nods his head towards the bathroom, "I didn't want to disturb you."

Jun looks at him, "I wasn't focused. I was just... waiting." He purses his lips, crossing his arms, "He's been out for a while, I just wanted to make sure he'd actually-"

"Why are you getting so mad?" Mingyu grins, sniffing the air, "Do I smell a little crush—"

"In no way will I ever like him." Jun shakes his head, "He's... annoying."

Mingyu hums, shrugging his shoulders, "Just wanted to make sure." He tells him, letting out a sigh, "You seemed pretty worried back—"

"Is this really the time to talk about this?" Jun leans off the wall, hard eyes on Mingyu.

Mingyu chuckles, moving as well. He raises his hands in surrender, "Jeez, jeez— Okay, fine." He scoffs, "Attacking me for no reason."

On the other side of the bathroom door, Minghao's face was illuminated by his phone, eyes boring holes into the contact. He didn't bother to make a move, just watched his finger continue to hover over the call button, not daring to press.

"Come on." He groans to himself, slapping his forehead in frustration.

He allows himself to take a breath, in hopes it will calm his racing heart. He soon exhales, ignoring the tremble... and then he's pressing the call button all before he can even second guess the situation.

He raises it slowly, pressing it against his ear.

The ringing invaded his ears, it laughed at him. It mocked him. With each ring, Minghao could just imagine that particular person on the other side of the phone stare at his contact, not bothering to answer his call.

But standing him corrected, the person picks up.

"Hello?" Jeonghan sounds monotoned, but Minghao can hear the pain in his voice. The hurt, the betrayal.

"Hyung." Minghao doesn't really know why he called Jeonghan. He doesn't even really know what to say. Was it because he felt guilty? Because he wanted to apologize? He couldn't tell you himself.

There's a short silence on the other line, and Minghao feels his heart beat quicker.

"Why are you calling?" Jeonghan asks, sighing, "Seungcheol is pissed, The8. and it's making it worse that you haven't even contacted him to explain yourself."

"I almost died." He tells him, "I was left behind and drugged while I was trying to help my team member... I've been out cold, of course I haven't called."

"Drugged?" Jeonghan asks, "By who? With what?"

"That doesn't matter now." Minghao shakes his head.

"Of course it matters," Jeonghan scoffs through the receiver, "You talk as if your life means absolutely nothing to the world, The8, when in reality... it's one of the best things to ever exist."

Minghao looks down, feeling his eyes blur.

He sniffles, breath shuddering, "I'm sorry," It comes out quick, much like a sob. He was finally breaking down, "I'm so sorry, hyung."

"The8–"

"I'm sorry for being such an idiot, I'm sorry for thinking I was capable of finding a murderer, I'm sorry I led the station to that building, I'm sorry I almost fucking shot you—"

"The8!" Jeonghan shouts through the phone, and Minghao sniffles, taking shallow breaths, "Please calm down, okay? None of this is your fault, alright?"

"But it is," Minghao shakes his head, looking down at his trembling hand, "Every single bad thing that has happened in my life was because of me," He cries, "It's always... always because of me."

"Don't do that to yourself, The8." Minghao can practically see Jeonghan shaking his head, "You've worked too hard to give up. Don't stop what you're doing just because of a failed mission, okay?" Jeonghan sighs, "Just use this mistake as a way to find out how to do things next time."

Minghao sniffles, wiping under his eyes with the back of his sleeve, "I'm not making any promises." He breathes, sighing deeply, "I just wanna make my father proud, hyung. That's all I wanna do."

"Then do it, The8. Don't give up." Jeonghan tells him, humming, "Even if every person in the world doesn't believe in what you can do..." Jeonghan sighs, "You'll always have me, alright? Even if you hold a billion guns to my face, I'll always take your side."

Minghao's lip quivers, and he drops his head between his shoulder blades, crying softly.

"You're my best friend."