What's Broken Can't Be Fixed

14

     While lying in bed, Minho hears gagging coming from the bathroom. So he gets up and grabs the doorknob, but the door is locked. "Sung? Open the door please." He knocks a couple of times, and then he hears the door unlock. Jisung was hovering over the sink which had blood splattered on it.

     "No matter how many times this happens... I just can't get used to it." As soon as Jisung wipes his mouth, Minho pulls him into a hug. It's been three years, so why was it so hard for him to just deal with it?

     It didn't matter anyway. He couldn't pretend, even if he tried it still felt like he was 17, Minho was 18, and they were back in the gym. Jisung's arms hang low by his sides, he just felt... empty. "It'll be okay." Minho wants the boy to feel safe, but he really didn't know if he could do that. "You'll be okay... I promise."

     Minho leads him to the bed, making sure he lays down before going back into the bathroom and cleaning the blood out of the sink. Sometimes, it is easier to lie and say that you're fine rather than admitting that you're not.

     Chris gets up in the middle of the night and walks downstairs. He was thirsty. So, he rummages through some of the cabinets and finds something. Whiskey. He was 22, so technically he is of legal drinking age. But he had never had alcohol before.

     He pours some into a glass and takes a small sip out of it. It tasted a little bitter. Probably because it had been sitting there for a while. But it also tasted warm, with hints of vanilla and caramel. He pours some more in the glass, and last thing he knew he had drunk half of the bottle.

     Chris felt weird. He couldn't think straight, but he couldn't help but want more of the drink. Right as he goes to pour more, someone grabs his hands. He looks up to see Jeongin staring at him with a worried expression. "Hyung, why are you drinking right now?" He asks, but Chris doesn't answer.

     Jeongin drags the boy back up to his room and through the door. "Seungmin!" He calls for the sleeping boy, and Seungmin opens his eyes. "I think Chris is drunk."

     "...How?"

     "I'm pretty sure he drank some alcohol he found somewhere." Jeongin sets the boy down on the bed and leaves.

     Seungmin goes over to him. He wasn't drinking for too long that he smelled like alcohol, so he didn't have to take another shower. He was just... out of it. "Christopher."

     "MinMin... do you... remember when I called... you that?" His words come out slow but understandable.

     "Yeah... I do."

     "Should I... start doing that again?"

     "I wouldn't mind." Chris walks over to the boy and drops all of his weight on him. Seungmin swings his arms around Chris' neck, trying to get as comfortable as possible because he knew that he wasn't going to be able to get the boy off of him.

     When Chris wakes up, his head is resting on Seungmin's stomach, and Seungmin has his arms on his back. As soon as Chris gets up, he runs to the bathroom and throws up in the toilet. He felt like shit. But to be honest he would drink whiskey again if he wanted to. When he flushes the toilet and wipes his mouth. But when he turns around, he sees Seungmin leaning on the doorframe, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "You okay?" He asks, Chris nods while grabbing his toothbrush.

     Seungmin walks in with his hands in his pockets and grabs his toothbrush as well. The two brush their teeth together, then they take turns in the bathroom to shower. Hyunjin gets up and heads out first to watch over the house.

     While everyone is eating, Chris goes to grab the phone and look through it. Soon, some of the boys come up behind him. "What are you looking at?" Changbin questions, and Chris shrugs.

     "Just... how do we know what our next step will be? We've started but... we really don't know how to end it do we?" The more they thought about it, Chris was right. They have the phone, found some pictures, but what else is there to help them along the way.

     Then, Felix comes from the kitchen and takes the phone from Chris. Everyone stares at him as he closes out of the pictures and clicks on contacts. "If Kim Cheolsu was the one wielding this phone, then it's a no brainer that he's a bad person. So, with being a bad person, comes with being with other bad people."

     "Makes sense... So what?"

     "The person he's contacted most recently is most likely to have a play in everything that's going on." Scrolling through his contacts, Cheolsu had a missed call from 20 minutes ago. They probably didn't hear the phone going off since they were all asleep.

     Chris couldn't tell the others if he heard it or not because even though he was downstairs he couldn't remember. They call Yeonjun again, and moments later he shows up. "What?"

     "We need you to trace this call." Felix shows him the contact information, and he agrees. So, he plugs the phone up to his computer, and they call the number. The name Vernon flashes across the screen. It rings a couple of times before someone picks it up.

     "Hello?" A man speaks on the other end of the line. "Hello? Boss?"

     "How much longer?" Jeongin whispers so the man can't hear him.

     "Just a couple seconds..." Yeonjun responds. Then, a pin pops up on the boy's screen, and Felix hangs up the phone. "Okay. He lives in a trailer out in the middle of nowhere."

     Everyone sighs. It surely wasn't in Busan or Seoul, so it would take a while to get to wherever "Vernon" lives.

     "Great." Chris sighs. "I guess we're going hunting."