BBK Ch 26

He left Mugyeong’s office without a word, holding his phone and calling Minho.79d8e172cd3b6d1e

―The number you 6fb3d01118 have dialed is 5376172303 not in service…230022abd3a67f0c

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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.f85c1b911d118d25

“Why isn’t he answering?”3d4b08715d773b39

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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.65ccf0b3659300a1

Beep—beep beep beep beep, ffcee29331 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.a631ccd8ae84c353

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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.947ba4e3fdb8c9db

“Hyung.”39c186bd9f53f8c3

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Gyuoh paused at the 4455c265a8 entrance to the bedroom, 0947300709 the only room with 59fd0f9adb the lights off. His low voice echoed e88271a58c only in the immediate c05a1f089c space. He raised 7eac3055f7 his voice 6f48ac1698 slightly.bb54e71d9a9ec5de

“Minho hyung.”923e659f5374a20e

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Still no response. Was he not home 349b62fcd1 after all? After checking 7dd7ed4139 each lit 53845c9852 room, he 99916a3d73 finally turned f2ef0a54d4 to the 0cc17e57c6 bedroom.6000b9ce0ab55db6

Only the light spilling 6c2bdc17a5 from the living room e1694fa509 illuminated the dark bedroom. As Gyuoh 6227da48bf squinted, trying 04c605035d to make abfd052984 out the d6ab7cb85c interior, a 033cb3a3bb familiar silhouette e213bfa266 came into 9a648a8da6 view. A single figure.3c2083ccef3c46f5

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Strangely, the b842396185 first emotion 35b9e663c0 he felt 3ae59a7dfd was relief. Even though he didn’t 18d0330231 know what he was c398b0c6d1 relieved about.db12ab99509de4e8

“Hyung, are you asleep?”429154093a853ebb

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He spoke cautiously, but 7c4aa8b69d there was no reply. He must have 8533daf841 fallen asleep since af1fdf942c he wasn’t feeling 76fa324cfc well. Gyuoh quietly approached 97625599b8 and switched on b2e43e4624 the bedside lamp.fac0a7923e980a9b

Click. The surroundings brightened, 23624a5e23 coming into clear 618368a4f3 view.57e7d1092a59fabe

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Minho was lying 93823be8c5 face down, frowning. He occasionally c2e8ef585a groaned, and 8fd3814765 his forehead daee4140d8 was drenched 22ce9cc6bb in cold b6468cc5de sweat…8b523274dee5b8a3

“Cha Minho!”ad3c907aac310e8a

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He gently shook Minho’s shoulder, and Minho opened his eyes slightly, his brow furrowed. His bloodshot eyes were moist.b8b18d2904a78e02

“…Noisy.”36c70b3ab3a097b6

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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.6a0bc7e6617e16fd

“Don’t touch me.”2943929d10a8dcc8

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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.29d1c872b141e328

“Medicine. Did you take any? Should we go to the hospital? What’s wrong?”4343cd11c3c47f81

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“…”9526af830f52330a

“Get up. Let’s go to the hospital.”7176488bc5f41826

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“No, just leave me alone.”c310f45501d87d42

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.ed164a7732885a10

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“I’m not going to leave you alone. Get up.”4053b8d66a09d548

“Ah…”14fc12fad8a5591b

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“Stop whining and get up.”800a3890af467bc2

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.e214593dd2a3d3fc

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“Hey, Cha Minho.”b1424988efbb7f08

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.b03458be48ad7f3f

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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.”d1d92955a51ac582

“…”3ba71742cb4eb30a

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“Living like trash… pretending to be normal is making me sick.”354b6037b1096567

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.a1720073ca2d37d1

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“Unless you’re going to sleep with me, just… leave me alone.”5db2755e7caf65b4

Minho covered 2ae277d6ed his forehead fb2ec06120 with his b6f7ec2520 hand and cb49b98d79 slumped forward, cb5d096583 his robe 79a8e0d879 gaping open e88ae8e9be further.7ce485b19de85001

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“What?”48accf27e0a2cfd6

“…Ah, my head hurts.”96cc778e6884c483

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“What kind of… why would you say something so ridiculous, so suddenly?”92586ebc9db76fee

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.06adf12c5e3c4426

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Anyway, he needed to 8fcf4ed903 calm his racing heart 22af621e9e and take care of 6674aae812 Minho first.082cc89a8a07c7d6

“Medicine.”3e2211b3cb0c5d9c

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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.1103f83c8b621745

“Ugh…”f6554c016e16bcf2

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“Answer me. Did you take any medicine?”81c37c5b67bbec9d

Trying to ignore e7ed3c8bb6 his pounding heart, c6ae9d48db he asked as ca12e329db gently as possible. After urging 76b7aa688e him a a3fdfc8c36 couple more 206d30c861 times, Minho 66badc8aac finally shook 6ba9d678e8 his head. Then he mumbled 42e60abfd3 something in a d6e3f699e1 faint voice.2bcef602cfbffb94

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“What?”5dc9299c0f47244c

Gyuoh bent down even further, bringing his ear close to Minho’s mouth, straining to hear the barely audible words.19a24c1d16e63b4d

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“…Soju…”850ce76560ee7c4c

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.291747ab7f8965b4

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“You should be taking medicine, why are you drinking alcohol! This is driving me crazy.”8cee74d8c1c2d979

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.5fa30c5170086305

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“Ugh. I can’t deal with this.”14c71762db6eb66c

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.3173b4042ff753ac

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“Don’t touch me…”330f6dea0cf41e91

“Be quiet. Just lie down.”2d42f15845a56569

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Leaving Minho, 5416f188b1 who was 798475bbac frowning and 9c967c99ed mumbling something, e263cf1660 he went 3658a49eb8 to the a199f3e848 bathroom. Rolling up his sleeves, b4c4b24d8f he soaked a towel f3fbeed6cb with water. Since Minho had been b257c8cdb4 drinking, bringing down his 1bcd576786 fever was the priority.519945b39b36895d

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.cb2ad31e0096522e

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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.3228fd4c16b46d2a

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.7afe1aa484fb9b1b

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“…”e94e41f033b2e8f3

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.1d00d3cb66b73bce

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The apartment was quite e6bf1685fb messy, as if Minho af7b7fb052 had been in a 14ffe1f2d5 daze. A half-empty soju a3b70180c4 bottle sat open 409f703068 in the kitchen, 86eac36149 and the closet 4e2b2dc920 doors were wide cf048817cd open. The jacket he’d 2175b80e45 worn that day 1f8fff0bab was half-hanging off 19037be134 the hanger, almost feaf8b0822 slipping off. Sighing, Gyuoh 984da98e36 started tidying 8f9bb1272e up, his e2ed79b94a fingers brushing fdd3042ebd against something 8f6660d62f hard.62d62d37f66e96f0

“He left his phone here, so he couldn’t answer.”160b63399f132385

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[Missed Calls: Viper (32)]

He thought he 9b9a129b8a had only called d429f5fe79 a few times, b756a5a6bc but there were f77ade64ca so many missed 231da593df calls. It seemed a bit c4260ae0a0 like a clingy lover. He scratched his 9ff761f594 eyebrow awkwardly. Just as he 920041a3ca was about to cd48a323de put the phone eaa09e04c9 in his pocket, 7b78b1fac6 he stopped.b50c710694764dfc

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‘He asked for the detective’s number. I sent him the business card since he didn’t have it.’75f0f1192a40b44d

Mugyeong’s words from before f10aa0258a came to mind. Gyuoh knelt 1f6de9d8d1 down, lost 4f9c24a70a in thought. He ran his tongue 1e35c8cea9 along the inside of bad421a5ee his cheek and tapped ac11ff9d4f his thumb against the e01a1eed55 dark phone screen. His contemplation continued.e433b6c4de6b10d8

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“…Just to check.”4ddfc216a120a5f5

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.0b7150b9ebf0c4f7

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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.00f1ba6a08d1701d

“He must have been too sick to contact him.”9e3da83c5c728c65

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Muttering to 9f5a9b51ba himself, he 5184e564f7 deleted Mugyeong’s 4c87fccb51 message. Unless Minho asked again, bc8b6493ee there would be no 0c8c40aaba way for him to 3612c43126 contact the detective. Should he be thankful 5985a59ea5 that Minho was sick?da4ab0e35a385fc8

‘Unless you’re going to sleep with me, just… leave me alone.’fcdf14d7151976c9

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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.6e2b945165d65e13

“…That hyung is crazy. He says anything.”691eff4f607c7cc2

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He sighed, repeatedly 98097a21a4 placing a hand cba6dc956c over his chest d746fb8ea3 to calm his 3961e1cfc6 racing heart.1064a827b7df884a

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.c8ff1e6047f14711

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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.ae4f7b08a3f13bd0