The Aged | Gyuhao (Sequel to Youth)

- 11

| Chapter Eleven — Chae's bestie |

Riki slams a hand to the surface of the table, knuckles white from the impact, "We need to fucking do something other than sit on our asses."

"And you need to watch your fucking tongue." Seokmin scoffs.

"This is all my fault," Kazuha leans off the wall suddenly, arms dangling by her sides. She looks at Minghao, sorrowful, pained, "I left them both alone. I wasn't thinking."

"I was there to help. It wasn't your fault." Seokmin pitches in, "And we still lost track of them either way."

"It wasn't your fault, Zuha." Minghao adds.

"We need to do something!" Riki's losing his mind, heartbeat erratic as tears of frustration begin to fog his eyesight, "Carmine has her in their hands and God knows what will happen to her if she stays in them." Riki walks over to Minghao, plopping down in the chair next to him. He takes the older's hands, meeting his eyes, "Hyung, please tell us what to do. Please."

"We have to get out of here first." Zhang Hao says because Minghao doesn't, tightening the last strand on the bandage that covers his shoulder, "It's not safe to still be in this warehouse."

"Hyung, they'll kill her." Riki looks at Zhang Hao, taking shaky breaths, "They'll kill her. Don't you guys understand what I'm saying?"

"Loud and clear." Minghao says, patting the underside of Riki's palm, "But, Eunchae's strong. She can hold out, you know she can. We need to come up with a plan before doing anything. That's the only way we can guarantee her safety."

Riki bangs his head against the table, sighing.

"They won't kill her," Minghao shakes his head, "If he's already come this far to get me back, Mingyu wouldn't do that to me. He wouldn't make this harder than it's already become."

"Uh, what do you mean?" Zhang Hao asks, "Do you 2 know each other?"

"Yeah, is there something we don't know about?" Kazuha asks, leaning off the wall.

Minghao takes his lip between his teeth, having gone silent so suddenly.

"Hold on—" Riki says, shooting up and glaring at Minghao, "Were you guys.... a thing? You know, before you came here?"

White noise.

"Oh my god." Zhang Hao steps back amidst the silence, "Hyung."

"Are you a spy?"

"Riki!" Seokmin gasps.

"No! What? No!" Minghao rises to his feet, shaking his head profusely, "I would never turn my back on Cerise! You all know me!"

"Not well enough to know you were in a romantic relationship with a Carmine member— Never mind the fucking leader."

"My parents—" Minghao closes his eyes, wanting to spill the beans, yet, wanting to keep the whole truth inside, "My parents left this earth wanting the best for this gang. They left without telling their child that he was destined to be the heir." He says, "I'm the heir. I'm right here and you all will look past my relationship with the leader of Carmine because I'm ordering you to."

Silence.

You could almost hear everyone's thoughts.

"When I found you, it was the best day of my life." Seokmin tells Minghao with a gentle smile, "After years and years of having nobody to take orders from, I finally found you." He turns to everyone, gesturing towards the boy, "Come on, guys. Minghao's here. He's our leader and like he says— We should put the past behind us. He doesn't have any type of love left for Mingyu anymore. He would never spy on his own family."

Minghao nods, "Yeah." He hates the shake in his voice. He's thankful no one catches it.

Riki lifts his head, sighing, "Right. I'm— I'm sorry," He apologizes, "But Eunchae's still in danger. We can all cry and apologize to each other later. But for now, we must come up with a plan."

Minghao nods, "So we'll come up with one." He says, "As soon as we relocate."

Riki cringes, "Hyung—"

"She'll be okay." Minghao places a hand on Riki's shoulder, nodding without breaking eye contact, "I can promise you that."

And Minghao never broke his promises.

At least now he didn't, pushing the promise he made of never leaving Mingyu to the back of his mind.

Only few promises were made to be broken.