XIII
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Minsu's expensive shoes clicked against the marble floor of his hallway, hands clasped behind his back and chin up. Without knocking, he opened the door to Yujin's room, which was previously a guest room. He made a motion with his hand for Yujin to turn off his video game, so the younger did and slipped his headphones off.
"Firstly, why did you let Minli drop you off? She's not supposed to know where I live."
"I was having a good time, it was cold outside, and she was nice enough to offer me a ride home in her warm car. Why would I say no?" Yujin pressed his lips together. "And you know where she lives, so it's only fair."
"Don't get smart with me." Minsu rolled his neck out and moved a strand of styled hair from his forehead. "Secondly, what did you find out?"
Yujin lifted his controller up again. "What do you mean?"
"What did you find out about Minli and her friends? I didn't let you go for you to have a good time!"
"I'm eighteen, Minsu. I'm allowed to do as I please."
Minsu noticed the sudden change in attitude from Yujin. "Did Minli badmouth me? Is that why you're being so bratty?"
"No, she didn't say anything about you, Minsu. As far as what I found out - I found out that Minli is a good sister."
"Good sister?!" Minsu sounded appalled as he grabbed the controller and threw it across the room. Luckily it landed on the large bed by the wall. "Did you get their names, or their relationships with Minli?"
"You don't know their names? I thought you called the cops on them or something?"
"I did, they set my house on fire. I didn't care enough to read the reports and get their names."
"Well, I don't remember their names." Yujin lied. "But I know Minli is dating one of them."
Yujin didn't want to throw anyone under the bus, so he was trying to be vague. He didn't know why Minsu wanted this information.
"You're such a liar." Minsu whispered. "Unbelievable."
Minsu backed up and turned on his heels. He slammed Yujin's bedroom door on the way out.
Yujin ran to the other side of the room and grabbed his console controller, then made sure to lock the door.
The sun woke you up at seven thirty the next morning, but you didn't bother getting out of bed. You enjoyed the light sounds of breathing and knowing that Ten was resting. You could also hear the birds singing and the low buzz of the heater as it made the house warm and cozy.
You still needed some sleep, and you were about to fall back into slumber when you heard Ten mumble something. It sounded like he said please, almost in a begging way. You listened for a little longer and heard it again, but followed by a sad cry.
You leaned over to see your boyfriends face. A small tear was moving towards the bridge of his nose. You gently wiped it away, and that didn't wake him up, so you just wrapped your arms around his waist and the crying stopped.
You stayed like this for a while, in and out of sleep, and when you felt him stretch and turn in your embrace, you opened your eyes and met his.
"Good morning, sleepy head." You smiled.
He smiled back. "Good morning."
You rubbed his back for a second, then asked, "Were you having a nightmare?"
"You were awake?"
"For a little bit. I was almost asleep but I heard you mumbling. I just want to make sure that you're okay."
He smiled, appreciating your worry. "Yeah, it's just the same dream as always."
"That's not a dream, Ten." Your hand made its way to his jaw. "That's a nightmare."
"It's not that bad, Minli."
"Are we talking about the one where you're stuck in the elevator for five minutes, it drops to the third floor, and when the door opens, the man is there?" Ten nodded. "And then the man chases you through the twelve story building until he finally catches you and almost kills you?"
"Yes, it's that one." He sighed. "It sounds crazy when you put it like that."
It did, but the craziest part about it was that it actually happened.
Ten had just turned thirteen and was living with his paranoid mother. He couldn't do certain things without his mother asking him questions, being in his bubble.
One day, his mother brought home a man, referred to him as a friend and said that he would be staying for a little while. Ten didn't like the idea of a man that wasn't his father staying in the house, but he told himself to mind his business.
On the fifth day that the 'friend' was staying at their house, Ten was walking towards the kitchen when he heard them whispering.
"No, I know he's hiding something." His mother whispered. "I can't trust him anymore."
"What am I supposed to do about that?" The man asked.
"Kill him."
Ten's heart dropped and he felt like he was going to be sick. Was she crazy?
He slowly backed away from the kitchen and went back to his room. He called his dad and his father wasted no time to answer the phone.
"What's up?"
"Mom is trying to kill me, can I stay at work with you, and maybe your house?"
His parents weren't officially divorced, but they didn't live with each other anymore.
His father was speechless. "She's not trying to kill you-"
"Please, Dad."
"Okay." His dad said. "I'll come get you."
"Don't let Mom see your car."
But she did see it, and so did her friend.
Ten was grateful that his father went out of his way to save him, even if his father didn't believe him.
Ten hadn't eaten dinner, so his father gave him money to order food and have it delivered to the company building. He stayed in the lobby to wait, and never noticed his mother's friend creeping around the lobby.
He ate his food after it was delivered and wanted to be with his father in his office. He got in the elevator that would ultimately sabotage him and pressed the twelfth floor button. Everything went smoothly until the elevator stopped at the eleventh floor. His stomach twisted and he didn't know what to do. He had only seen elevators stop working in movies.
He sat in the elevator for five minutes, then an awful screeching sound filled his ears, then his stomach dropped as the elevator dropped. It stopped abruptly on the third floor and when the doors slid open, a hooded man was walking by. He stopped walking and looked into the elevator.
"Would you look at that." The friend of his mother's said. "I found you."
And that was the worst part. It was completely coincidental that the elevator stopped on the third floor where the man was. The elevator dropped him to his fate.
Ten ran, and ran, and ran for what seemed like forever. The man finally caught up with him, grabbed his shirt, took him to the ground, and put a heavy knee on the young boys chest. The man took his coat off and put it over Ten's face, tight and unbearable with a strength that Ten couldn't fight.
Ten was almost out of breath, passing out when a loud "Hey!" came from the other end of the hallway. The man let go and ran off, but Ten was already out.
The next thing he knew, he was in the hospital and telling police about what his mother said, how the man followed him to his father's work and tried to suffocate him.
It took him three days to recover from a sore sternum that occurred after CPR was performed on him. He was also recovering from the shock of nearly dying.
Two years later after Ten had turned fifteen, they finally found the cause of his mother's paranoia, and the cause of Ten's near death experience. His mother had Schizophrenia, and it was severe. That didn't really explain why her friend obliged to a homicide attempt.
Ten's father was then worried about it being passed down to Ten, and even though the doctors reassured him that Ten wouldn't inherit it, his father wanted him sent to a mental institution.
Ten refused and his father became aggressive about him going, so Ten left. He was on the streets for about three months, picking up different strategies to steal so that he had money for food and clothes, then Kun brought him in. Back then, it was only them two and Winwin.
They were living in an old abandoned house that didn't have heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer, but he was happy.
He knew he could trust Kun and Winwin, they wouldn't try to kill him or send him away.
He no longer felt lonely.
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