Poison || Hyunho

8 | The Guest

Chan and Minho were sat on the sofa opposite the one the bartender was sat on whilst Jeongin and Changbin were told to wait elsewhere. Felix was already asleep in one of Chan's spare rooms since it had become quite late.

"I'm sorry I couldn't speak to you at the bar, if my older brother, Jungyu, knew I was talking with you, he'd probably kill me," said the bartender, "The truth is that I did see you earlier at the bar. I saw your friend and the man he was with too."

"So why didn't you say anything when I spoke to you earlier?" Minho asked, still salty about being locked up. Jail really wasn't his scene.

"I really am sorry," the bartender apologised again.

"I never knew Jungyu had a younger brother," Chan stated curiously, "What's your name?"

"Choi Minwoo,"

"So you know the guy that was with Hwang?" Minho asked.

"Your friend? Yeah. Well, kind of. I've seen him pop in a couple of times a week for the past few months," Minwon answered and Chan glanced at Minho was a smile after hearing 'friend.'

"Associate. Bodyguard. Whatever," Minho rolled his eyes and continued, "Do you know his name?"

Minwoo shook his head, "But I could recognise him."

"Have you told this to the police?" Chan asked, "This could be a potential criminal."

"Which is why I'm afraid to say anything," Minwoo told Chan and Minho as he fiddled with his fingers nervously, "It's just Jungyu and me at home and he doesn't want anything to associate with his bar."

"Are you genuinely afraid of him?" Chan asked feeling sympathy for the younger.

"You would be too if you saw what kind of person he is,"

Chan sat up straight for a moment, thinking about something and said, "Okay. You go to the police about this and tell them what you saw happen to our friend. In return, I'll offer you protection and a place to stay here with me."

Minwoo looked at Chan sceptically whilst Minho looked like he was having an aneurysm trying to process what Chan just said. "ARE YOU CRAZY?" he yelled, "You can't let him stay with you. He could be the serial killer for all we know!"

Chan glanced over at Minho as if to say, 'Sit down and behave yourself or I'll deal with you later,' and then said, "Lee, he's the only one that can help us find out what happened to Hyunjin right now."

Minho calmed down for a moment and slowly sat back down and rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered.

Chan smiled and turned to look at Minwoo again. "So?" he said, "What do you say?"

The scruffy man hesitated for a moment but slowly nodded his head yes, "Okay. I'll help."

"You've got to be kidding me," Minho muttered under his breath and sighed before standing up to leave, "Well, it's late, so I'll see you all in the morning."

"Lee," Chan got up and went after Minho, "Where are you going? You aren't seriously about to go home on your own, are you?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, just make sure to take care of Yongbok for me. If that guy even touches a single hair on his head, I'm holding you personally accountable," Minho replied as he put his coat on.

"Min," Chan held his partner's arms, "I'm not comfortable with you being alone right now."

Minho looked at Chan in defeat and said, "You know I hate you, right?"

"No, you hate that you can't say no to me," Chan smiled as Minho took of his coat, "We all know you love me really, Min."

"Stop calling me that,"

"No, I think it's cute,"

"I don't,"

"Aww, is my little Min Min grumpy?"

"I swear, Bang, I will walk straight out this door,"

"No you won't. You know why? Because you love me, Min Min,"

"Ughhhhhh,"

//

It was about three in the morning when Minho heard rattling noises. At first he thought it was Chan - that guy never slept. But after more racket he knew it wasn't Chan, he was always careful about making noise when everyone else was asleep.

Minho got up and slid into some slippers and a nightgown before going to look for where the noise was coming from.

"What are you doing?" He asked when he walked into the kitchen area to find Minwoo picking up shards of broken glass.

"Ah, sorry," Minwoo apologised, "I was trying to get some water but, uh, well you can see.. I-I'm sorry, I promise to replace everything."

"How did you even.. aren't you like a bartender?" Minho looked at the mess in disbelief.

"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep,"

Minho hummed and went to grab the dustpan and brush to help clean up the mess as Minwoo watched feeling guilty.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"You really need to stop apologising," Minho responded, "It takes a lot to piss off Chan, he won't care about a couple of broken glasses."

"Not about that," said Minwoo as Minho stood up and looked at him, "About your friend."

Minho froze for a moment, thinking about what happened to Hyunjin and continued to clean up, "It's fine. It wasn't your fault. I was too harsh on you earlier. I apologise."

"He's lucky, you know," Minwoo pressed his lips into a bittersweet smile, "To have a friend that cares about him as much as you."

Minho chuckled and tipped the glass into the bin, "He may not have been the most competent bodyguard, but he was trustworthy and that's something I can't replace."

Minho's small smile soon faded as he turned to look at Minwoo with more of a solemn expression, "Did you speak with him? Do you know why he was there? He rarely drinks let alone goes to bars to drink."

"I didn't really speak much with him, but I did overhear him with that guy you saw him with," Minwoo replied as Minho grabbed him a glass of water, "He mentioned something about the guy he likes seeing someone else, his little sister being sick and not being able to spend much time with her because he's so busy working for.. uh, you."

Minho chuckled and said, "He called me a prick, didn't he?"

Minwoo nodded awkwardly.

As Minho walked past Minwoo to go back to his room, he pay his shoulder and said, "Get some rest, you have an early morning."

He went to the room he was staying in a lay on his back with his forearm resting over his head as he stared up at the dark ceiling and thought to himself, 'Was he really that unhappy working for me?'