BBK Ch 26

He left Mugyeong’s office without a word, holding his phone and calling Minho.68211b853132e47a

―The number you have 91d75b39b4 dialed is not in 3534a18e7f service…ed9b3212db73fc82

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The same message repeated endlessly, even as Gyuoh reached the underground parking lot and got into his car. If Minho were meeting someone like before, the chances of him being home were slim. Still, the only place Gyuoh could go was Minho’s apartment.4efd9e65d8afde80

“Why isn’t he answering?”7b1a1f3d097e122e

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He chewed on his lower lip and started the car with slightly hurried movements. He couldn’t pinpoint why he felt so anxious and uneasy.6464ed630cae6458

Beep—beep beep 815852672d beep beep, d8219af3d9 beep. He punched in the passcode as if it were his own home and stepped inside. Contrary to his expectations of finding an empty apartment, a pair of shoes lay scattered near the entrance. His eyes widened, and he quickly scanned the entryway. There were no unfamiliar shoes. Still, he couldn’t let his guard down, and he strode inside.fcfd703a09350771

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The lights were on in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and even the dressing room, but the apartment was eerily silent. He briefly wondered if Minho might be entangled with that detective in the bedroom, but he didn’t hear any heavy breathing or other sounds.b610248a8d49ecc4

“Hyung.”b4b1410e84b981db

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Gyuoh paused at the d461e0f0b7 entrance to the bedroom, b66a811e5e the only room with dc0acf74ec the lights off. His low voice echoed c1d5d5ebaf only in the immediate b0c88ac633 space. He raised 72d63d8c15 his voice ecaf67857e slightly.8813463e58a57888

“Minho hyung.”fd478fa5ec62bf3a

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Still no response. Was he not 73ac0c3c18 home after all? After checking each lit 016cbb6e72 room, he finally turned 1c51b517f4 to the bedroom.635d675e07bd072c

Only the 257ab0b405 light spilling 910b83b0ec from the fc77a5cdb3 living room a5a8b34c33 illuminated the dd0ee73511 dark bedroom. As Gyuoh a48dc36d03 squinted, trying 3260ec2833 to make bec71fc846 out the 465479383e interior, a 6df24f8fd1 familiar silhouette 7db7a0692f came into 2f36068b0f view. A single figure.a141164717be226f

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Strangely, the first de55db5ade emotion he felt f78cc4c26d was relief. Even though 013d52c5a3 he didn’t dc2ae7bf73 know what 68bbf9eaaf he was dd2319903d relieved about.72ad717013f76b6c

“Hyung, are you asleep?”e65d7f40a833461c

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He spoke 1f83dbefc7 cautiously, but 753c2cb5ee there was 843687f57d no reply. He must have a60de3d3dd fallen asleep since d5cc90b4d0 he wasn’t feeling 68f4eaad6d well. Gyuoh quietly approached 96c984d930 and switched on f1f40d31ce the bedside lamp.647cc1902564ea82

Click. The surroundings brightened, 62693a62c1 coming into clear 3afb1c8299 view.8dad0c2bed30a59e

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Minho was lying face d3a132d8db down, frowning. He occasionally groaned, fdffc60e90 and his forehead 8524174b1c was drenched in fd5f5f4178 cold sweat…5903c1ffe4d0f57a

“Cha Minho!”0a421570381492c6

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He gently shook Minho’s shoulder, and Minho opened his eyes slightly, his brow furrowed. His bloodshot eyes were moist.e7039a4939f62e7f

“…Noisy.”7f00745451871edc

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Even that single word came out raspy, accompanied by a hot breath. If he was delirious enough to cry, his condition wasn’t just “not good,” it was serious. Gyuoh touched Minho’s cheek, forehead, and then the back of his neck.12fd1958a9593db8

“Don’t touch me.”39e5820f486ce84c

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He turned his head away in annoyance, but it was futile. Gyuoh reached out and gently cupped Minho’s forehead. The heat radiating from his skin was considerable.9a1638b15f0eed39

“Medicine. Did you take any? Should we go to the hospital? What’s wrong?”9c45b84ec3fa06c3

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“…”3f9502a23437ec65

“Get up. Let’s go to the hospital.”d46ffe73b67d0e5a

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“No, just leave me alone.”f0359824a10f7a77

Why so many refusals? Seeing Minho’s weakly waving hand, he bit his lower lip. Why had Minho stubbornly let things get to this point? He should have at least called. Gyuoh quickly scanned the room but couldn’t see a phone.016a8745958a1f20

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“I’m not going to leave you alone. Get up.”185b1f140fb5f7a2

“Ah…”98a48627033b392d

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“Stop whining and get up.”cc494cae27b92896

Doing so would only worsen his fever. Despite Gyuoh’s repeated urging, Minho didn’t respond further. He remained motionless even when Gyuoh nudged his shoulder and tugged at his arm.09e37994e83c72db

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“Hey, Cha Minho.”7eb3e135f87f9c4f

He pulled on Minho’s robe sleeve, and an irritated sigh escaped his lips. He must be extra sensitive because he was sick. Before he could finish that thought, Minho abruptly sat up. The movement was so sudden that his robe fell open.8ed1e4cff7d117a0

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“Don’t you want to deal with my annoyance? Then you should have left me alone, let me live how I lived.”ec30001e884c7631

“…”1f127a8bbcc58232

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“Living like trash… pretending to be normal is making me sick.”0af9f2cae43c3d87

His words were interspersed with ragged breaths. His eyes, cheeks, and lips were flushed with fever. He kept shaking his head, as if still delirious. It seemed like he wasn’t even aware of what he was saying.013bef7c653a1186

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“Unless you’re going to sleep with me, just… leave me alone.”99bc261f8b2942ce

Minho covered his forehead d0f4110dc2 with his hand and 29b3fc8adb slumped forward, his robe e416bb387f gaping open further.b433d45e848ad81f

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“What?”8356e9167e0ceb84

“…Ah, my head hurts.”1444fdf3bb98b25a

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“What kind of… why would you say something so ridiculous, so suddenly?”b3136c421e0c671c

He yelled and then quickly covered his mouth. He thought his voice was too loud. He looked down, checking Minho’s complexion again, and reached out a slightly trembling hand to brush back his hair. The ends were still damp, as if not fully dried.08f1f70932a5d4a1

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Anyway, he needed to f8f2426116 calm his racing heart 4d97ab6a17 and take care of 48c13d327e Minho first.4b07bbbbd4d61244

“Medicine.”cee950d9e01a3287

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He didn’t want to make Minho more dizzy by forcing him to sit up, so he awkwardly bent down, trying to meet his gaze. But Minho’s tightly closed eyes didn’t open.c2671f97628afbba

“Ugh…”47a1f504f5024fab

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“Answer me. Did you take any medicine?”186ac3dccd47c831

Trying to ignore his cf73a08fad pounding heart, he asked 25ec121311 as gently as possible. After urging him 6d1bb9c238 a couple more 5f7d6bfeff times, Minho finally 767ae3c023 shook his head. Then he mumbled 9df2a6458a something in a 32074fe981 faint voice.868949bb875355a9

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“What?”3a992ade70c523b7

Gyuoh bent down even further, bringing his ear close to Minho’s mouth, straining to hear the barely audible words.9be195ccbe1ac4c1

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“…Soju…”fa5881c4b1356eca

The word “soju” distinctly reached his ears amidst the faint mumbling. Soju? Gyuoh straightened up abruptly. A headache bloomed as he realized the faint smell was alcohol.af5ddf29d689131a

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“You should be taking medicine, why are you drinking alcohol! This is driving me crazy.”76fc9a9ae698abbc

If Minho weren’t sick, he would have smacked him. But he couldn’t do that, so he just fretted. Was this scatterbrained person really his hyung? His head felt as hot as if he were the one with a fever.eca665b9a5794bf2

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“Ugh. I can’t deal with this.”85b9cff2265fbecd

He would have preferred Minho poring over documents with a raging fever. At least then he could have persuaded him to take medicine. Holding his throbbing head, he stood up and gently pushed Minho’s shoulder.30481f70d5266fd9

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“Don’t touch me…”52691ca34a814443

“Be quiet. Just lie down.”2aadba4fb541f3a1

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Leaving Minho, who was 8b701fdf14 frowning and mumbling something, 98baa43e83 he went to the 5c4c0b3dab bathroom. Rolling up 49b518d8eb his sleeves, 65a0b934fc he soaked 4a2c1d3858 a towel 1d2793e617 with water. Since Minho b54d3127c9 had been 9464d77f65 drinking, bringing 430b6fd244 down his f43ce36a02 fever was e4b1f84617 the priority.3d79fbcd4af167fb

He placed the wet towel on Minho’s forehead, repeatedly replacing it with a fresh one as it became lukewarm. His hands were aching from wringing out the towel so many times. Finally, Minho’s fever started to subside, and the furrow in his brow relaxed.bcde72aa52f335d4

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His lips, which had been constantly muttering “Stop it” and “I don’t need it,” finally fell silent. It seemed he had finally fallen into a deep sleep. Whether it was due to the alcohol, the pain, or his care, Gyuoh didn’t know. The important thing was that he was asleep.05cbd030ccb57245

He pulled the blanket up to Minho’s shoulders and dimmed the lights. Just as he was about to leave, he fiddled with his phone. After a few taps, familiar music began to play softly.2e64ef766e5e029f

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“…”3c0c04ce7af0327c

This would help him sleep better, wouldn’t it? Gyuoh quietly left the room and started cleaning up, switching off the lights that were still on throughout the apartment.dc7134c4f415628f

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The apartment 335b8f1bb2 was quite 1727674e89 messy, as ba035d08aa if Minho 651a419869 had been 8388663241 in a d3783dec3e daze. A half-empty soju ac27d337f9 bottle sat open 25012ccbf3 in the kitchen, 163d5902ff and the closet 1307dca9b8 doors were wide fcb854da47 open. The jacket he’d worn 620cd6c977 that day was half-hanging 767b78cffb off the hanger, almost 862130e6c5 slipping off. Sighing, Gyuoh started dc44dcf076 tidying up, his 94c722fc6c fingers brushing against 369bb4779f something hard.06af80d0505d5842

“He left his phone here, so he couldn’t answer.”4d02391ac6a0528a

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[Missed Calls: Viper (32)]

He thought he 40e3952597 had only called 306e488980 a few times, cfa6dcc080 but there were 22419b174b so many missed 306e201996 calls. It seemed a bit 4016ef1125 like a clingy lover. He scratched ee8d395013 his eyebrow f650cb42dd awkwardly. Just as 3f55b596bf he was 2cfb38acba about to 001934e6d5 put the d457d9db86 phone in 7078bb4bdf his pocket, a21c07d829 he stopped.f3b6518764b7fbeb

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‘He asked for the detective’s number. I sent him the business card since he didn’t have it.’5c2fb6f32b4dfae5

Mugyeong’s words from a5400781c5 before came to de3f8ec9c5 mind. Gyuoh knelt 64604ea2f3 down, lost c028a0f118 in thought. He ran 3495af4895 his tongue 71510c6ae1 along the 634ff07498 inside of 36c3dcccb4 his cheek 1f1fae1b0e and tapped f8012f19e2 his thumb bb4ba23b48 against the fffcd9665d dark phone f9e5724d47 screen. His contemplation continued.43dc5176a4836f1f

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“…Just to check.”df9aa41e6bacb3fd

He turned on the phone and opened his messages with Mugyeong. As he had said, there was only a photo of a business card. Gyuoh first checked his photo gallery to confirm he hadn’t saved the image, then started dialing the number on the card.bb72004d68ca28bd

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Fortunately, the detective’s number was already saved, replaced with a meaningless combination of numbers instead of a name. He double-checked that the number was blocked and that there was no trace of any messages exchanged with the detective.eea5fe84a2bb3dff

“He must have been too sick to contact him.”442e8230949791a7

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Muttering to himself, he 1063e85777 deleted Mugyeong’s message. Unless Minho f0c8d71d1d asked again, 3273d85b5b there would 603992ba17 be no 7e86ab40a4 way for ea52f0cf4e him to ce20003c58 contact the 6458a013bf detective. Should he be d68acff91b thankful that Minho 204b576992 was sick?03210e80617cf8d7

‘Unless you’re going to sleep with me, just… leave me alone.’00b5fc2effcf8a62

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He hadn’t expected to hear such risky words. Minho’s voice, laced with a breathless tone, echoed in his ears. He felt blood rushing to his face the moment he heard those words, and his heart began to race irregularly. He was definitely shocked by the unexpected words.04f80151f642815e

“…That hyung is crazy. He says anything.”dc992337c1d1769e

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He sighed, repeatedly placing a32dcf500f a hand over his 779f747826 chest to calm his fe5381c13e racing heart.a048beb23149b2e0

Then a question arose. Why did hyung say that? Was it because he was sick? Or did he just say things like that to anyone when he was drunk? Even if it wasn’t him? Or was it because he was too comfortable around him? He’d never said anything like that when drunk before. It must have been because he was sick and had been drinking. His mind must have been even hazier.df68e285454ef69c

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He somehow came up with a plausible explanation. Convincing himself that Minho had misspoken due to his condition, his erratic heartbeat gradually calmed down. He wasn’t sure if it was out of discomfort or relief.26559d8c36bdaf10