SLUTLINE

Chapter 8

Sunghwa lay on his bed,staring at the ceiling,lost in his thoughts.He was trying to process everything that had happened when he suddenly heard voices coming from elsewhere in the house.With a heavy sigh, he got up and walked silently toward the door. Opening it quietly, he stepped into the hallway, listening closely to determine the source of the noise.He followed the sounds until he found himself standing in front of a closed door. Leaning in, he pressed his ear against it to eavesdrop on the conversation inside.

Inside the room, Jaehyun was sitting at his study, holding a glass of whiskey, while Minsoo stood nearby, clearly agitated.

"Why did you even hire him? Don't you remember what happened last time?" Minsoo asked, his voice full of frustration.

Jaehyun looked up at him with a cold expression. "So?Minsoo,I've told you multiple times not to step into my shoes. Now,nicely,leave me alone."

Minsoo,refusing to back down, retorted, "No, you'll listen to me. You're doing your job wrong."

Jaehyun placed his glass down on the desk and stood up, his face darkening. He approached Minsoo and grabbed him by the collar, pushing him against the wall. "I'm doing my job wrong now, huh? Unfortunate..." he paused, sighing deeply sarcastically. "You must be a better leader, right? That's why when Jinho killed half of the members, you were nowhere to be seen." His grip on Minsoo's collar tightened.

Minsoo struggled against Jaehyun's hold,protesting, "It's not the same as back then...I was still in high school."
Jaehyun scoffed. "And I was in college, but guess what? I had to give up my studies because of our father's shitty work."

Pushing Jaehyun away, Minsoo raised his voice,"Don't bring our father into this. You are actually the reason our parents died!"Jaehyun's eyes widened in shock. "What did you say?"he asked,staring into Minsoo's eyes.Minsoo hesitated,then repeated,"I said exactly what I said."

In a sudden burst of rage, Jaehyun grabbed Minsoo's hair and slammed his face against the wall. A sickening crack filled the room as Minsoo's nose started bleeding. Jaehyun let go of Minsoo and sat back down at his desk. "I saved your ass that night,You should thank me." he said coldly. "Now please, bleed outside. I don't want anything getting dirty from your blood."Minsoo clutched his nose, seeing the blood on his hands, and stumbled out of the room.

Meanwhile, Sunghwa quickly retreated to his own room, his mind racing. He sat down on his bed, trying to make sense of the argument he had just overheard. Why were Jaehyun and Minsoo fighting?

A few moments later, there was a hesitant knock on Sunghwa's door. He barely had time to react before Minsoo opened the door and stepped inside, looking down at the floor. "Could you please... help me?" he asked quietly.

Sunghwa nodded and patted the seat on the bed next to him. Minsoo slowly walked over and sat down. Sunghwa picked up some cotton and began gently cleaning the blood from Minsoo's face.

"Does it hurt?" Sunghwa asked softly, continuing to clean Minsoo's nose."A little," Minsoo replied, glancing at the blood on his hands. "Um... thanks." He forced a small smile.

Sunghwa returned the smile. "I don't think you've broken your nose. And you're welcome. You're ready to go."
Minsoo nodded and stood up. "Thank you," he said again before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Sunghwa got up and went to the bathroom to dispose of the bloodied cotton. He took a deep breath, still trying to process everything that had happened. It was clear that life in Jaehyun's house was far more complicated than he had anticipated.

-The Next Day-

Sunghwa was in the living room, comfortably settled on the couch while sipping his coffee. The TV was on, playing a show that he wasn’t really paying much attention to. He was lost in thought when his phone buzzed on the coffee table. He picked it up and saw a message from Chanyeol: "Good Morning!~ Do you want to go out this afternoon?"