Chapter 17: Vallazal

YACHT made his way towards the guest room, his eyelids already dropping with exhaustion. A yawn escaped his mouth, which made him raise his hand to cover his mouth before turning his attention to the door of the room, unlocking it with a soft, careful grip.

His eyes squinted through the dim light and met the sight of a figure laying in bed, whose face was covered with the cozy blanket that surrounded every corner of the bed. He softly sent the figure a smile, his heart relaxing at the image of him sleeping soundly in his bed.

"Get well soon, Junwon." He fondly whispered. "Get well soon."

He turned his body to face the door once again, ready to leave.

But, despite how dim the light was, something lying on the nightstand caught his eye.

He took a few steps towards the nightstand, his hand stretched to grab the object with one swift move. His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was wet with curiosity.

The familiar bottle of medicine was noticeable in his grip, and he could see the title written on the front.

Vallazal.

It was a popular anti-poisoning medicine used to treat any type of food poisoning. He was familiar with it, as he used it once to treat food poisoning that broke out in one of the sets he's been to in Thailand. And since Santa was with him during that painfully hard time, he knew that both of them took it and were familiar with it.

Except that... His and Santa's case of food poisoning was treated in less than a week.

So the only thought that ran through his mind at that moment was why the hell was it taking that long with poor Junwon?

He was aware of Junwon's weak immune system, as Mal had mentioned it a few times before. But he couldn't buy the amount of time it took Junwon's body to get better, and he couldn't ignore the fact that he wasn't getting better in the first place. It had been more than two weeks after all, and with Mal's intensive care, Junwon was supposed to get better in ten days max.

He grabbed the bottle of medicine before quietly hurrying out of the room, making sure to shut the door behind him so as to not disturb Junwon.

. . .

Yacht grabbed his laptop and set it on his thighs gently, the bottle of medicine still attached to his fingers. He took a glance at the figure beside him, making sure that he was still asleep before continuing his little mission. Santa's hair was all over his warm, flushed face while he lied on his stomach, covered with the warm blanket. Yacht made sure that the rest of Santa's body was well-covered before turning his attention to the laptop, which had already started booting up.

The familiar Apple screen was all he could see for only a few minutes until he was welcomed by his desktop image, which was a simple waterfall he admired from his hometown. He inhaled, then pressed his trackpad to reach the Google icon.

Vallazal, he typed, then sank back in his place to wait for the results.

Vallazal: The food poisoning miracle.

Vallazal: Everything you need to know. Side effects, uses, and more...

Vallazal 500mg 24 tablets - order now!

He clicked on the second article, and as soon as it loaded, he squinted his eyes to read the side effects.

Drowsiness. Fatigue. Nausea and vomiting.

He was aware that Junwon had all of these symptoms from Mal's conversations earlier. Nonetheless, he could see them now that he was with Junwon face to face.

But when his eyes scanned the next line, he froze.

Side effects are supposed to last for only a few days. If they continue for more than a week, please see your doctor immediately.

What. The. Hell?

Yacht's mouth gaped open in shock as he stared at the screen, then back into his hand, where the medicine was.

The medicine wasn't supposed to cause side effects for that long.

He gulped, already baffled.

And he just couldn't understand...

What was going on?

Was something else causing Junwon's illness?

If yes, then what was it?

He shut the laptop's lid and hugged the device close to his stomach, despite the heat that erupted from it. He threw his head back against the pillow behind him with a small plop, his mind already racing with thoughts.

Was there something else?

Or was Junwon just severely allergic to Vallazal?

Was he?

No, he couldn't possibly be. If he was, and Mal's family doctor aware of it, he wouldn't have prescribed it to him in the first place.

Would he?

His mind raced with thoughts till he became dizzy. His hands stretched itself out and he held up the medicine so he could look at it more clearly, despite the dark room before him.

He could sense the late-night delusions running back to him, almost as if he was drunk. Or worse.

High, probably.

The only thing was, he wasn't any of those two options.

Why did the bottle look different though..?

It seemed different than he last remembered it.

The one he remembered was completely white, with a white lid, white background for the writing in the middle. Only the writing was different—black, as he remembered. It was nothing like that new bottle, with the same background colour and the same font colour—black and white. The entire bottle was brown though, and its lid was blue. The bills weren't white either... Baby pink was their color. If he hadn't known any better, he would've guessed the basic-looking bottle was cough syrup for children.

He ran his fingers against the writing on the bottle. Thicker than he remembered.

Why?

The tape on its sides was popping up, almost as if it was taped new, with cheap glue that couldn't hold on for dear life.

His fingernails reached for the tape on the side, and he unconsciously began to tear it apart—gently. His mind was blank by that moment, and his brain hurt. His eyelids were closing in on each other now. He needed sleep.

But he couldn't sleep without finding out what the hell was going on.

Pieces of the tape came out, some of it were now stuck under his nails. He didn't mind, despite how itchy and uncomfortable the sensation was.

And it wasn't too long before the white sticker with the black font came out of its place, and just when he thought he would find an empty, blank bottle, he proved himself wrong again.

He sat up in his place, his eyes wide open with realization mixed with terror.

And suddenly, it all made sense.

Mal's fear and worry made sense.

Junwon's abnormal, unexplainable illness made sense.

It all made sense, except one thing.

Which one of them did it?

Was it the doctor?

It couldn't be...

Was it... Mal?

Definitely not... God, no.

Or was it Junwon himself?

Or was it an entirely different person..?

A person who wanted Junwon dead?

The only question was...

Who would want Junwon dead?

Questions raced through his mind, each one hitting him like a locomotive more than the last. His arm immediately stretched itself in Santa's direction, frantically yet gently shaking him awake.

All while his eyes were stuck on the medicine bottle like a maniac.

Comtroban 2000.

Rat poison.