My Client's Former Best Friend | MEANIE/MINWON

Chapter Fourteen.

There was a rushing sound like someone had turned on all the faucets at once. Everything got quiet, and from a long way away he heard Mingyu’s voice ask Junhui if he knew the man, then ask Wonwoo if he was all right. He asked what was going on. Junhui groaned again and told Mingyu he’d had enough of this shit for one morning and he was going to lie by the pool. The elevator dinged. The man moved toward him. He unfroze.

  “Stay away from me,” he said, backing down the hall.

  “Wonu,” the man, the specter, said.

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Wonu,” it said again. He said again. Ghosts weren’t real. He was real.

  He ran into something and heard a grunt. Dammit, Mingyu! He was standing behind Wonwoo, blocking Wonwoo's escape. “Move,” Wonwoo told him.

  “Not until you tell me what’s going on,” Mingyu, the asshole, said.

  “Stop being a dick and get out of the way.” It didn’t work.

  “Oh right, because we weren’t in the middle of anything.”

  The man in the hall, the one who looked like Seungcheol but couldn’t be him, said, “I think, officer, you should listen to my nephew and stay the fuck out.”

  It was a very Seungcheol thing to say. The exact thing he would say in this situation. But Seungcheol was away, somewhere far away in exile, never to return to the States again. Only they weren’t in the States. They were on an island, a resort island for the rich and famous. An island so private the only people who knew about it were the guests. It was exactly the place Seungcheol would be. “Seungcheol?” he croaked, his throat constricting.

  “Of course, Wonu. Who the fuck else did you think it was?” he said.

  “This man is your uncle?” Mingyu asked. He was still standing right behind Wonwoo. Not touching, but close enough that Wonwoo could feel his presence. It was comforting. Supportive.

  Seungcheol glared over his shoulder at Mingyu. “You know, for a detective, you’re not very astute.”

  “I’m not a detective.”

  “No? Then what or who are you and why the hell are you here with Wen Junhui and my nephew?” Seungcheol’s expression hardened. He’d never liked to involve additional people in any of his cases. Wonwoo could see his gaze flick between them, probably wondering if he’d sunk so low as to bring along a fuck buddy. As if he hadn’t learned from that mistake.

  “This is Kim Mingyu. Jun’s best friend. I didn’t have a choice about bringing him, and neither did he. He’s just a failed screenwriter Jun insisted we drag along.”

  “Hey.”

  Wonwoo shot him a look over his shoulder. He shrugged back, agreeing that it was true.

  “Kim Mingyu. I saw your film, Night Before the Apocalypse. Hated it. It was decidedly awful.”

  “That’s the general reaction,” Mingyu said with a sigh.

  “But um...” Seungcheol glanced between them. “This is awkward.”

  Wonwoo realized what was going on but didn’t want to believe it. Why did all the men in his life insist on being such psychopaths? “You blew up Mingyu’s room, didn’t you?”

  He looked sheepish. “I thought you’d brought along another detective, Wonu. What was I supposed to do?”

  Mingyu started toward Seungcheol. “You could have killed me!”