Behind The King: Eternal Monarch (MinEun)

IX Escaping Loneliness

The third time his phone rang, Min Ho finally gathered enough consciousness to answer it. He slept so deeply, that not even his obnoxious ringtone could wake him up.

"Mmm?" he answered, his voice too groggy to mutter anything else.

"Pyeha! Oh did I wake you up? Did you have a night shoot?" Woo Do Hwan panicked on the other side.

"No, no, It's okay, I'm awake." he reassured him in a low voice, holding his phone to his ear and rubbing his face with his other hand, trying to sober up.

"Did you have a night shoot, I tho-"

"It wasn't a night shoot, I stayed up" he smiled, glancing to his side.

"Oh... okay pyeha..."

Min Ho ran a hand through his messy hair that he definitely needed to wash, "What is it, why are you calling so early?"  

"It's not early Hyung, it's noon." he told him with a dose of judgement present in his voice.

"Ah is that so?" he answered stupidly, looking around the unfamiliar room, realizing that it was filled with darkness due to the blinds still being closed, only a small fragment of reality peaking through. 

"Anyways, I wanted to ask everyone, but the group chat has died for some reason," Do Hwan started and Min Ho chuckled, thinking about the reason for the sudden death of the group chat.

"What is it?" he asked, turning on his side and breathing in the sweet scent of dried up sweat hidden in the sheets, in his hair, on his skin, on his lips, underneath his fingernails. 

"Is it true that we're going to Jeju?" 

Her hair fell over the pillow and spread across the bed, dark and ashy, creating a scene that reminded him of an aftermath of a volcano. Her hair, like a river of cooled down lava, which traveled wildly while it was still hot, while the volcano was active, now peacefully rested, creating a river trough in their sheets. 

"Mmm..." he mumbled, taking the thick strands between his fingers, wondering if they would, like volcanic ash, fall apart under his touch. But they stayed, real and tangible. They were like igneous rocks, building mountains and history. The skin of his face stretched into a smile, as he moved her hair to the side, exposing her bare shoulder and neck.

"We are? Really? Are we all going together?"

Curiously, Min Ho pulled the white, starchy sheets  from her shoulders, across her waist, letting them rest on her hip. With the same bewilderment he observed her supple spine, the same bewilderment that crashed upon him when he felt the elegance of her figure under his fingers in the darkness of this room. 

"Do Hwan-a?" he murmured absentmindedly. 

"Yes, Pyeha?" Do Hwan spoke in confusion.

"I'll call you later." 

"Ah, oka-" Min Ho didn't live to hear the rest of it, because his phone was already thrown to the other side of the bed while he raised up on his elbow, getting closer to her turned body.

He enjoyed the reminiscent scent and the blinding blackness, but the heaviness of it meddled with his reason, making him finally stand up and move to the window. With the blinds raised and the air arriving, the realness of her sleeping frame hit him differently and he lay down next to her again.  

Not able to hold back, he placed his palm in the narrow space between her shoulder plates, his fingers encompassing them both. With the fresh, cool air, his vision became clear and under the sunlight he realized the innocence of her pale skin. Her pale, thin skin glistened under the spring sunrays. Min Ho dragged his open palm across her back, grasping the gracefulness of her body. Under his touch and the gentle breeze, her thin skin broke into tiny goosebumps which rose under his palm, passing the same feeling back.