Mi Appartieni

Chapter Thirty-Eight

       Joshua is laying in bed, his eyes wide open as he stares out the window with a blank expression. 

He slept less than two hours last night. Once again. He was absolutely exhausted but there was nothing he could do to change it. He knew his only solace, his only saving grace would be to have Seokmin by his side again.

Joshua's alarm goes off at five am sharp. He sighs and reaches over to shut it off. He sits up and continues to stare blankly at his bedroom wall. 

He needed to open the cafe in an hour. He's glad he had something to distract him from missing Seokmin. He just couldn't wait until two-thirty.

It was getting colder out as December rolled in. Joshua knew it would be cold but even if it was scorching hot outside, he would still feel frozen in a bitter coldness. The warmth that he felt with Seokmin was gone now and Joshua wasn't sure when it would return.

Joshua pulls the covers back and stands up. When he does though he feels a head rush make his vision go dark. He puts his hand on his bedside table to stop himself from falling. He blinks serval times as he shakes his head slightly, trying to get his vision to come back.

Slowly the dark blotches leave his line of vision. Joshua slowly stands up straight, still blinking his eyes but now in confusion. 

He has no idea what that was. He realizes now that he had a massive headache. Maybe that was the cause for his vision to go dark.

He sighs and drags himself into the bathroom. He takes a few aspirin before beginning to get ready. However; the whole time he's getting ready the dizziness never fully leaves him. The more he exerts himself the more he finds it hard to breathe. A dry cough eventually finds him as well.

Great. Joshua thinks. Now he was getting a cold on top of everything going on. Joshua makes a point to stop by the pharmacy for cold medicine on his way home today. He would have to make it quick though because he didn't want to miss he and Seokmin's two-thirty call.

Joshua leaves his apartment, nodding politely to the bodyguards that Seungcheol still had stationed outside his apartment door. He couldn't help but be annoyed by them though.

He knew they were there to make sure Joshua didn't try to do something stupid. Like jet off to Italy to be with Seokmin. 

Jeonghan assures him they're for protection. But Joshua felt like a prisoner since there was nothing to protect him from. Even if there was, he had Seokmin to protect him. But he was the very thing Jeonghan thinks Joshua needs protection from.

**

Joshua is walking toward the cafe, fighting off the bitter coldness that nipped at him. "Boss!" Joshua hears just then. He turns to see Chan running toward him, his bright smile peeking out over his scarf. "Good morning, Chan." Joshua says stoically.

Chan's smile falters. He doesn't know what happened recently with Joshua but something in him was different. He wasn't as bright and lively as he usually is. He was sadder, quieter and more reserved. 

Chan wants to ask what was going on with him but he felt like it wasn't his place to pry into his boss's personal life. All he could do was try to be cheerful and happy while around Joshua to cheer him up.

Chan catches up to Joshua and they continue to walk to the cafe together that was just up the street. Chan looks at Joshua in concern over what he was wearing. He had on jeans and a sweater and that was it. No jacket, no winter boots.

"Boss, it's minus twelve out. Aren't you freezing in that?" Joshua shakes his head, "I'm always cold. Even if I wore more I would still be cold." The only time Joshua felt warmth was when Seokmin was here.