ENG - Fractured Fates ʰʸᵘⁿˡᶦˣ

3

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Hyunjin POV

With a glance to my left, the clock told me that it was only 02:43. A deep sigh escaped my lips as I turned my head to the other side. There she lay - a stark naked creature who had literally clung to me. Her blonde curls fell over her face. Her breathing, even and calm, accompanied by a snore, told me that she was fast asleep.
The blonde woman was just another one-night stand for me, just someone else who willingly opened her legs for me.
Disgusted by her snoring and the drool she was leaking, I pushed her away from me and sat up. One last look over my shoulder to make sure she was really asleep, because I had absolutely no desire to argue, so I didn't stay.

So I got up from the bed and gathered up my scattered clothes, which I put on again. The blonde woman's handbag was hanging on the coat rack in the hallway. Without giving it much thought, I opened it and searched the bag for cash, which I pocketed. It was the woman's own fault if she took a stranger into her apartment and was robbed. She should be glad it was only cash.
With an indifferent shoulder movement, I dropped the bag on the floor and left the apartment. Outside, I was surrounded by the cold night wind, which made me shiver slightly. I pulled the hood of my hoodie over my head and set off.

After an agonizingly long hour, I finally reached my apartment, which I shared with my best friend. There was no fucking bus at this hour and the one-night stand lived in the absolute ass end of the world.
I lived in the ghetto of this city, and it often felt like the city had already given up on this neighborhood. You could literally feel the city patiently waiting for the people here to get rid of each other, just to finally raze our neighborhood to the ground.
The streetlights on the streets didn't work and the streets themselves were torn up and uneven. No effort was even being made to repair anything here. Cables and natural outgrowths were poking out of the ground everywhere. Some of the buildings looked so dilapidated that they could collapse at any time.
In the background, I could hear the distant sound of sirens, accompanied by muffled gunshots in the distance. These sounds added an ominous note to the gloomy atmosphere and reinforced the threat that was omnipresent in this neighborhood. However, if you were on good terms with the residents of this neighborhood, they were your greatest allies.

When I entered the apartment building, I was greeted by a mishmash of odors produced by the various residents and rodents. The musty smell of damp plaster and garbage hung in the air. Tired, I climbed the dilapidated steps of this run-down building. On our floor, the light in the hallway was so dim that it was difficult to get the key into the door lock because you couldn't see anything.
I opened the door with a creaking sound and let it fall back into the lock behind me. There was a strange mixture of chaos and coziness in our apartment. The furniture was jumbled together and looked as if it had come from different decades. The walls were losing their plaster and the wallpaper was peeling, but it still felt homely. We had covered the walls with posters that reflected the personalities of my best friend and me.

I slipped off my shoes, carelessly dropped my jacket on the floor and went straight to the kitchen. I let my eyes wander through the sparsely lit kitchen as I opened the fridge, hoping to find something edible.
I opened the fridge door and stared into the empty interior. There was absolutely nothing there, apart from a few lonely food packages that had been empty for weeks. An amused smile spread across my face as I let my eyes wander over the empty shelves. It was so typical of us that the fridge and shelves were empty.
I closed the fridge door again and shook my head. It was hard to believe how often we found ourselves in this situation and yet we could laugh about it. My best friend and I had laughed about it so many times that it had become a running joke.

Back in the hallway, I noticed the faint light coming from the living room. Was Minho still awake? As I entered the room, my eyes fell on my best friend sitting on the sofa. A boy, no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, was kneeling in front of him, giving him a blowjob. Minho's arms were spread wide on the back of the sofa and his head was relaxed on his neck.
The strange boy seemed to notice immediately that I had entered the room and paused in his work. This also made my best friend look up. "Did I say you could stop?" he asked the boy, pressing his head back down on his cock as he looked towards me. There was a teasing twinkle in his eyes. "Do you want to?" he asked me, pointing at the boy at his feet, who was now back to his task.
With a roll of my eyes, I shook my head and waved him off. "Nah, I'm satisfied," I replied with a mischievous grin, which made him grin too. "We really need to get something to eat, we don't have anything left to putty," I added and stretched slightly.
Minho groaned briefly as the sensations were obviously quite intense and then looked at me again. "Yes, you're right. Let's do this tomorrow," he replied to me.

With a sigh in my voice, I said tiredly, "Don't make him scream, I want to sleep." With that, I left the living room again, leaving the two of them alone while I retreated to my room. The situation that had just unfolded was by no means unusual for us. On the contrary, it had become the norm and was not uncommon.
Minho was also the first man I had ever slept with. We were young, full of curiosity and a desire to explore. Before we embarked on the awkwardness and potential embarrassment of the first time with strangers, we had decided to go through the experience together. Since then, it was also normal for us to pick up a man.
A smile flitted across my lips as I remembered how awkward and inexperienced we were back then. Our awkward attempts to get close were often rather comical, and the shy moments we shared often made us laugh.
Although we still occasionally slept together, it was purely physical and had no effect on our friendship. We were able to distinguish perfectly between friendship and sex. After all, we both slept with others too and felt no jealousy or possessiveness.
Since then, Minho and I had been almost inseparable. Our shared past had connected us in a strange way, because his past was at least as shitty as my own. That was probably the reason why we got on so well and were able to interact so freely.

After stripping down to my underwear, I fell into bed exhausted. Fatigue quickly overcame me and I fell asleep.
When I woke up from my dreamless sleep, I felt exhausted and as heavy as lead. With a sighing yawn, I stretched extensively and put my hand over my growling stomach. "Fuck," I mumbled, feeling an unpleasant nausea. Not eating for several days but drinking alcohol was probably not such a good combination. But I didn't care. The numbing effect of the alcohol was more rewarding than my body's need for food.
With a grumbling stomach, I finally got up and made my way to the bathroom. The lukewarm water was the best this rundown apartment had to offer and I let it flow over my body.
After the shower, I dried off and picked fresh clothes out of a messy pile on the floor to put on. The clothes were wrinkled, but that didn't bother me.
On my way into the living room, I spotted my black-haired roommate lounging comfortably on the couch with the boy from yesterday, who was undoubtedly his bed bunny. Kicking the couch, I tried to wake her up. "Get up, Minho, let's go shopping. I'm starving," I grumbled quietly as I rubbed the back of my neck tiredly.
Minho grumbled and flapped his hand in the air sleepily. "Go away, Hyunjin, let me crash. Take the money and get out," he said tiredly and slightly annoyed as he pulled the covers over his head. "You're so annoying," I mumbled, kicking the couch once more and pulling the blanket off his body.
"Moah Hyunjin, fuck off or I'll smack you," he now shouted and grabbed the blanket again, causing the boy next to him to roll off the couch without him or me caring much.

With a satisfied grin on my lips, I went on my way. I grabbed the money from Minho's bag and left our apartment. I had absolutely no desire to wait for him.
As there wasn't a decent store in our neighborhood, I had to walk for half an eternity. But before I reached the store, I felt someone grab my arm and push me violently against the wall. "What the fuck?" I hissed at the stranger in front of me. But instead of answering, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my stomach. When I looked down, I saw the knife in my stomach area and then another stab and another. "That's for fucking my girlfriend," the attacker shouted.
A searing pain shot through my body and my vision slowly blurred. The metallic taste of blood hit my nose and I desperately fought against losing consciousness. Before I could fully realize what was happening, my eyes went black.

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