What if...? || Markhyuck

-45-

[december 2020 - january 2021]

[donghyuck]

What a shit weather, thought as I got out of bed this morning. Gray, snow, zero Minhyung next to me under a warm duvet. Smoking a cigarette at the entrance to the back of the restaurant, I didn't change my mind. 

This day was just plain ugly.

"New Years Eve at work?" I asked Hunter when we met in the parking lot.

"As you can see," he muttered, sneezing into sleeve almost immediately. I winced as picked up the papers he held out to me. I took them reluctantly, considering that the surface was not a suitable place for such matters. Documents should be taken underground. It irritated me that he was learning so slowly. "I got them from Steven yesterday for you. He won't be here today," explained succinctly.

"Okay, thanks," I muttered, looking quickly at briefcase. "Why didn't you just leave it on desk?" I asked, not fully understanding why such important documents traveled with him all over New York.

"I wanted to get it home for you but I had to take Marco to Tony and then it was too late, so..." he started to speed up, so I cut it off very quickly.

"Don't do it, Hunter. Never again," I said in warning. "This is fucking forbidden," I added incredibly seriously, looking him straight in the eye. "If you get something down it stays down, okay? You have absolutely no right to have it with you, especially carrying it around the neighbourhood. You're not a fucking postman, got it?" I asked quietly, searching for the understanding on his face. Fortunately, I found it.

"Got it," confirmed, nodding. At least he was listening. I had the impression that he didn't have much in head, since hadn't figured out such basic things yet. We stood in silence for a while until Mark destroyed it with his today's haste and disorganization of life.

"Quick, quick," boy ran up to me with a messy tie. He was very wheezing, so I suspected that he had been looking for me here for quite a long time in a panic of heteronomy.

"When you're gonna learn to tie that shit up yourself?" I muttered dissatisfiedly, tucking the cigarette between lips and the briefcase between legs.

"As long as you do it for me, I don't have to," matter-of-factly stated when I was tugging with tie. He glanced quickly over shoulder at the car driving up to the restaurant. "Thanks," he said frantically, taking the cigarette from my mouth, then ran towards the waiting Vernon. Before entering the car he threw the cigarette butt blindly into the snow and they drove away with a screech of tires. I sighed heavily, feeling dizzy from the rush.

"Think I've finished smoking," I said without much emotion. "Are we going?" muttered, looking at Hunter, whose eyes were still fixed on the direction Minhyung had left.

"Where is he going in such a hurry?" asked slightly absent, as if it was the most important thing in the world at the moment.

"No idea," shrugged. I was sincere in these words. I guessed it was related to the thing that got Minhyung out of bed after meeting before our family holiday. Despite everything I didn't ask about anything, I didn't know what was going on either. "If Steven is also gone, then something must be happening," I said calmly, sighing softly under breath. Secrets, secrets...

"Do you think we'll find out?" But Hunter persisted. For someone who had been here for a long time, he was surprisingly unfamiliar with his place.

"Who knows," I replied evasively. "We're just pawns, Hunter. It is worth remembering. "