~<*>~ Pain in me ~<*>~

Chapter 12

Wonwoo lays down in bed while he stares at the ceiling of his room. He looks at some dirty dots, trying to fantasize how they got there, or trying to see something in it like a dragon or a bunny. He has been laying here for about half an hour and he already has found two bunnies, one circle and a thing that looks like a witch if you have a lot of imagination. Wonwoo turns on his side bored, Mingyu put him on forced rest because apparently, Wonwoo is 'overworking' himself. As if Mingyu isn't working too hard lately. Wonwoo has to admit he does feel tired, but that's all. He should have enough with some sleep at night, not some extra sleep at noon. Wonwoo is right about to take off his glasses as the door opens slowly.
"No, I'm not sleeping", Wonwoo tells his friend irritated, which is follow by a defeated sound of air escaping Mingyu's lips.
"When are you going to look after yourself?" he asks devestated and Wonwoo finally turns around to his other side so he can look his roommate in the eye.
"When you stop treating me like a baby", he states dryly and Mingyu looks up in disbelief.
"I have to because you keep overestimating yourself!" Mingyu objects and Wonwoo burries his face in the pillow sideways.
"I should be the one looking after you", he mumbles, his voice muffled by the cushion.
"Because you're older than me?" Mingyu asks chuckling.
"Yeah!" Wonwoo admits and Mingyu's eyes soften as he walks over to the bed.
"You're only one year older than me and you're way too tired to look after me right now", Mingyu reminds his friend softly and Wonwoo looks down.
"And you're not? We're both tired", Wonwoo resists. Mingyu tries his best to convince his friend, but Wonwoo is too stubborn.
"When are you going to accept that things are different now? We can't act like we used to, we simply can't! And how much I want this to be normal again, how much you want it, it doesn't matter. Fate has decided to give us this situation and fate has no mercy. So the best we can do is to live with it." Wonwoo gets tears in his eyes as Mingyu's words start to reach him. Mingyu notices and pulls Wonwoo up a little so he can hug his friend.
"It's okay, it's okay", Mingyu whispers soothing as they're hugging.
"I just want this to end," Wonwoo states sobbing, "I can't do it."
"I know, I know", Mingyu says gently while the two roommates stay in this position for a while. It feels nice to be in Mingyu's arms, to feel his warmth, to hear his breath. For everyone else it would just feel normal, but to Wonwoo it feels safe. This is his defenition of safe. When they break the hug, Wonwoo takes a deep, shaky breath. He is now sitting up straight and Mingyu has seated himself on the bed too.
"How can I convince you to actually listen to me and sleep more often, even if it's day?" Mingyu asks helpless, which causes Wonwoo to chuckle as he wipes his tears.
"Could you go to bed as well?" Wonwoo suggests and Mingyu smiles.
"You don't want me to treat you like a child, but you sure are acting like one", Mingyu says jokingly, but gets a playful punch from Wonwoo in return.
"But I'm in, if that helps you sleep", he adds and Wonwoo smiles softly.
"I'll get some sleep now, all right?" Wonwoo asks and Mingyu's eyes widen impressed.
"That sounds really good, I'll get to my bed too then", the taller says happy while he leaves the room. Exhaling deeply, Wonwoo lets himself fall down again and he closes his eyes for about ten minutes. It is relaxing at first, but after a while it gets really boring. Ignoring Mingyu's voice in his head telling him to rest some more, Wonwoo gets out of bed and walks towards the living room. He must be really tired, he is already breathing heavily. The roommate with glasses walks past Mingyu's room and hears a soft snore, his friend is sleeping, luckily. Joshua seems to be off to somewhere again, since he became leader he is barely home, but that gave Mingyu and Wonwoo the opportunity to hide their secret for a while before Joshua found out and it gives them the opportunity now to have a calm house. But on the other hand, Wonwoo misses the team and the social contacts he had. Through Joshua he could still know everything about the team, but now that Joshua is barely home, Wonwoo is alone way too many times. Of course he has Mingyu and he is more than grateful to have him by his side, but sometimes he just wants more than that. As if fate could read his mind, a knock echoes through the room. Surprised, Wonwoo walks over to the door and opens it. Wonwoo smiles as he sees Dino standing in front of him. The happiness to see his friend soon turns into worry when he notices a bruise on his cheek and the pain in his eyes.
"What happened to you?" Wonwoo asks worried as he lets Dino inside, but a cough cuts the male with glasses off.
"You're not catching a cold, are you?" Dino asks in return.
"I hope I'm not", Wonwoo answers quickly.
"But I still want you to answer my question", Wonwoo adds firmly while Dino sits down on the couch. Wonwoo seats himself right next to his friend and shows he's ready to listen.
"I got in a fight with Joshua", Dino mumbles and Wonwoo widens his eyes shocked.
"Joshua did this to you?" Wonwoo exclaims, but presses his lips in a thin line right after, remembering his roommate is still sleeping.
"You believe me?" Dino asks suprised.
"Why wouldn't I?" Wonwoo asks in return.
"Joshua tricked Scoups into believing him, so he doesn't believe a word I say", Dino answers defeated.
"Why would Joshua do such a thing?" Wonwoo asks in disbelief. He never could have guessed his leader and roommate would do something like that.
"I don't know", Dino answers.
"So you really believe me?" the brunette asks again.
"Yeah!" Wonwoo assures his friend, "You wouldn't lie about something like that." Dino smiles thankful and nods his head shortly.
"Thanks", he mumbles.
"Always", Wonwoo answers and a warm silence fills the room.
"Where is Mingyu?"Dino asks after a while. Wonwoo chuckles amused before he answers.
"He's sleeping", Wonwoo answers and Dino widens his eyes surprised.
"Right now? But it's the middle of the day!" the younger exclaims confused and Wonwoo signs Dino to quiet down before answering.
"He needs some rest, he's tired", Wonwoo informs Dino. The younger frowns puzzled and stares at his friend for a few minutes as if he's examining him. Wonwoo starts to get quite uncomfortable and clears his troath to act calm.
"What is happening here that I don't know of?" Dino asks slowly and Wownoo blinks startled.
"What? It's not about us, it's about you and your attack!" Wonwoo tries to wave it off, but Dino doesn't have it.
"Don't ignore me, Wonwoo. What aren't you telling me?" Dino asks firmly and Wonwoo exhales defeated.
"The fact Mingyu and I quit the team has a reason, you're right", Wonwoo admits and Dino smiles proud.
"I knew it! What is it?" he asks curiously and Wonwoo takes some time to prepare himself. Is he really going to tell Dino? If he tells him, the secret will be gone, everyone will know. Dino notices his friend has trouble and his eyes soften immediatly.
"Is it that bad?" Dino asks concerned and Wonwoo nods softly.
"It's okay, you can tell me", Dino answers gently while he keeps staring at his friend. Wonwoo takes a deep breath before speaking.
"It's Mingyu", Wonwoo blurs out and Dino's eyes seem to cut in Wonwoo.
"He got strangled by that one Stray kids member, remember?" Wonwoo continues and Dino nods his head agressively.
"I rememeber that moment as if it was yesterday", Dino mutters as he starts to zone out. Wonwoo knows his friend is thinking about the things that happened that day, Dino, Mingyu and Wonwoo himself have almost died that day, but Scoups also got caught. It was a really bad day full of emotions. Luckily, Dino saved them and Mingyu got help in time.
"Mingyu was brought to hospital and the doctors told us he would be fine," Wonwoo goes on, "but after a few weeks, things still weren't better. Mingyu was still tired and he was in pain, so we went to hospital again. There, they told us Mingyu was doing worse than they thought." Wonwoo sighs deeply after finally sharing his story with Dino. The younger looks at his friend in shock and he rubs Wonwoo's hand gently with his.
"I'm so sorry. I guess Mingyu still didn't get better?" Dino asks with empathy.
"He was able to keep being in the team for about a year. Then, it became too tiring and we decided to quit. Mingyu to rest and I to look after him", Wonwoo explains and Dino smiles softly.
"That's so kind of you, you truly are the best friend. Mingyu is lucky to have you", he compliments Wonwoo and the male with glasses smiles shy.
"Just like you are to Scoups", Wonwoo says, but Dino's smile drops as fast as light.
"Am I really?" he asks uncertain and it hurts Wonwoo to see his friend like this.
"Why wouldn't you be? Look at everything you did for him!" Wonwoo tries to convice Dino.
"But wouldn't Scoups have believed me over Joshua if I was a good friend?" Dino mumbles sad and Wonwoo takes Dino's hand to make sure his friend understands what he's about to say.
"That is Scoups. You are innocent, Joshua is at fault. And it's Scoups' fault not to trust you. He of all people should know best you wouldn't lie about such things." Dino smiles thankful and looks up at Wonwoo. 
"You're such a wise friend", Dino says in disbelief.
"I know", Wonwoo answers proud and they both chuckle.
"By the way, does the group know?" Dino suddenly asks.
"Know what?" Wonwoo asks confused.
"About your situation here", Dino refers to the last topic. Wonwoo lifts his head understanding, but shakes it right after.
"Only Joshua knows", Wonwoo says and Dino looks at his friend surprised.
"Why Joshua?" he asks bluntly.
"Because he still is our roommate, remember?" Wonwoo reasons and Dino turns red realizing he forgot about that.
"He's not home right now, is he?" the younger asks nervously, causing Wonwoo to chuckle amused.
"He's not, you can relax", Wonwoo laughs and Dino exhales relieved.
"Maybe I should head back home, before Scoups gets too worried again", Dino mumbles.
"Good luck", Wonwoo says as Dino leaves the apartment. Wonwoo doesn't get how that brunette always manages to get into trouble.

~<*>~

As he hears Dino leaving the apartment, Mingyu silently rests his head against the wall. When he woke up, he heard some voices in the living room and curious as he is, Mingyu decided to eavesdrop. He still doesn't understand how Wonwoo could ever believe Dino's story like that. How could Joshua ever have done something like that? Mingyu knows his roommate would never. When Mingyu thinks about it, he doesn't know if he likes the younger that much anymore. He notices that Dino has been spreading a lot of information lately, like that ninth member of Stray kids and now this. Why should they just blindly believe everything he says? Mingyu starts to get the feeling Dino is making things up to get attention or just to prove his hate towards Joshua. The taller also hates it when Dino talks to Wonwoo, he only makes his friend's head crazy and they really don't need that right now. After a few minutes of overthinking, Mingyu decides to go to the living room. When he arrives, he sees Wonwoo casually scrolling on his phone in the couch. He looks up unbothered when he sees Mingyu walking in, but he obviously didn't notice Mingyu eavesdropping. 
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Mingyu asks softly and Wonwoo sighs.
"I have to be, I guess? It's a big day", he mumbles.
"It's the last day, we have to stay positive. It's going to be okay", Mingyu comforts his friend.
"If you say so", Wonwoo answers and Mingyu has to admit it hurts that his best friend, his other half, doesn't believe in this fucked up situation anymore.