Poison || Hyunho

10 | Brat

"Hyerin," Minho glanced up at the little girl stood by the door on her own. She must have followed them upstairs, but when did she wake up and how did no one notice she was gone?

"Mister," she slowly walked up to Chan and pat his head, "It's okay. Don't cry."

Chan chuckled as her tiny hands wiped the tears off his face. "Thank you," he said with a smile before asking Minho if he knew who she was.

"Hwang's little sister," Minho answered getting a surprised look from Chan, "Yeah, I was just as surprised."

He turned to the little girl and reached out for her hand and said, "Come on, let's go back down, it's not safe up here."

"No," Hyerin hit Minho between his legs before taking Chan's hand, "Come on, mister, let's go back down, it's not safe here."

Chan glanced at Minho on the floor, not knowing whether to be concerned or laugh at him as he was led away by Hyerin.

"Your name's Hyerin, right?" Chan asked when they got back to her room.

Minho sat sulkily in the corner with an ice pack on his lap, "She's a brat just like her brother."

Hyerin stuck her tongue out at Minho who stuck his tongue back out at her.

"Min, she's four," Chan mouthed to the younger.

"Actually, she's three," Minho replied out loud, holding up three fingers.

"That isn't any better!" Chan sighed and turned to look back at Hyerin, asking, "What were you doing up on the roof?"

"I was looking for JiJi," Hyerin replied.

"Who's JiJi?" Chan asked when the door suddenly opened.

"JiJi!" Hyerin jumped out of her bed excitedly and ran straight to the door, throwing her arms around the man at the door, "RinRin! Oh, I was so worried about you!"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realise you had visitors already," Jisung stood up and placed Hyerin on his hip, "Hello, I'm Han Jisung, it's-"

"I already know who you are," Minho rolled his eyes and stood up, "Where have you been? You know she was on the roof looking for you? She could've hurt herself or worse, she could've fallen."

"What? She-"

"Minho, back up a sec," Chan slightly wedged himself between the two brunettes, "Sorry about him, he's just had his kids KO'd."

Jisung glanced down at Minho then at Hyerin who he had put down, "Babygirl, you really need to stop doing that."

He tried to keep a straight face when scolding her, but deep down he wished he was there when it happened again.

"I'm Bang Chan, by the way," Chan introduced himself and held out his hand, "I work with Minho and Hyunjin."

"You're Bin's boss, right?" Jisung asked, "He's told me so much about you!"

"Oh, really?" Chan raised an eyebrow, "What did he say?"

Jisung shook his head and replied, "Nothing bad. He said you're a lot easier to work with than- Oh, sorry."

Chan giggled, knowing that Jisung would've said Minho's name if he wasn't stood in the room with them.

"Hey, where'd the brat go?" Minho asked.

Chan and Jisung turned their heads and looked over the room for her.

"Shit," Jisung cursed, "How did we not notice her leave? There's three of us."

"Come on," Chan walked to the door, "She couldn't have gotten far. Let's split up, it'll be faster."

"Good idea," Jisung nodded and followed Chan out.

"You not coming, Lee?" Chan asked when he glanced back into the room to find Minho sat back on his chair.

"You guys will be fine," Minho waved his hand dismissively. Not wanting to start an argument, Chan shook his head and left.

After they had gone, Minho decided he might as well check on Hyunjin again whilst he waits but when he walked into the room he found little Hyerin stood by his bed, staring up at him completely frozen.

"Hey.." Minho slowly approached her, "What are you doing? You shouldn't be here."

Minho froze when he saw the look of horror on the little girl's face. She slowly turned to look up at him and her voice immediately broke as she said, "What happened to Jinnie?"

Minho stood still, his mouth opening and closing a few times whilst trying to go hire out what to say or do as the young girl stood opposite him cried loudly.

"Hyerin, there you are," Jisung came into the room and immediately took her into his arms, giving her a comforting hug, "Don't cry, baby, your brother's just having a little nap. He's very tired."

"He is?" Hyerin wiped her eyes and looked up at Jisung who smiled and nodded his head with a hum, "He's going to wake up real soon and play with you allllll day, okay? We're going to wait for him in your room, aren't we?"

"Boss.." a voice whispered from the door causing Minho to turn around and leave.

About twenty minutes later, Minho rushed back in with flushed cheeks, "Bang, where's the bartender?"

"What?" Chan looked at him confused.

"Minwoo, where is he?" Minho asked with a panicked voice.

"Uh, back at my place, why? What's going on?" Chan asked, concerned by how erratic Minho was acting. He rarely saw him like that unless it was something serious.

"I'll explain later," Minho said pulling Jisung towards Chan, "Find the others and go back to my place, I'll catch up with you later."

"Min, are you going to be okay?" Chan looked at Minho with a worried expression. His brown eyes glossed over with concern.

Minho stopped for a moment and realised how fast paced that evening had gone. It would be overwhelming for anyone. He sighed and gave Chan a hug, taking the older by surprise, "I know you're worried, but everything is going to be alright. I promise I'll explain everything later."

"Okay," Chan nodded and pat Minho's shoulder, "Be careful, okay?"

Minho nodded with a smile.

"Come on, let's go," Chan said, taking Jisung with him.

Minho turned around to look at Hyerin who was stood by Hyunjin with her arms crossed. She furrowed her brows and shook her head as she said, "Mm-mm, I'm not going without Jinnie."

As frustrated as Minho felt, he couldn't help but chuckle at how similar the Hwang siblings were. She looked like a tiny version of Hyunjin too. Is that what Hyunjin was like as a baby? It was kind of cute.

"Hey, Hyerin," Minho smiled and crouched down to her level, "What's the matter?"

"I want Jinnie to wake up and play.." Hyerin sulked.

"Jinnie will wake up really soon," Minho stopped and cleared his throat when he realised his mistake, "Hyunjin, sorry, Hyunjin will wake up really soon and play."

Minho tried to keep a smile on his face for Hyerin, she was too young to understand what was happening. He felt his chest tighten when the small girl started to sniff and rub her eyes with the back of her arm.

"Hey," he said softly, placing a hand on her head, "Don't cry, you're so brave. I'm going to make sure you're out of here real quick, okay? Then you can come with me and wait for your brother to come home."

Hyerin looked at Minho was a pout before reaching over to give him a hug, taking Minho by surprise. He gently leant forward and wrapped his arms back around her small body, saying, "It's okay, everything's going to be alright."

He said those words so many times that day it was starting to feel like he was trying to convince himself that it's all going to work out.

—

It's my birthday 🙃