Vendetta

Chapter 8

"Can I at least know what day it is?"

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    Once he was certain that Chan was still in his room, Jeongin quietly made his way to his older sibling's room and pushed the door open. The door made a slight creak, but it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone. Most importantly, Chan wouldn't hear it. It was nearly seven in the morning and usually everyone was awake around ten or eleven.

    When he was inside the room, he noticed that the three inhabitants were staring directly at him, confused expressions on their faces. Wordlessly, Jeongin inched his way towards Minho, his heart sinking when he saw the condition he was in. Minho's cheeks were tinged pink with fever, his healthy eye glassy. Despite the beads of sweat on his forehead, Minho had three thin sheets pulled up to his chin and was shivering like it was the middle of winter.

    "He wouldn't tell us what was wrong," Hyunjin whispered, chewing his nails anxiously. "We woke up and it looked like he was freezing so we gave him our blankets but...I don't know what else to do."

    Changbin's head whipped around at the rattling noise that escaped from Minho's lips, his face pulling into a tight grimace afterward. Minho pointed to the scarf around his throat with an impatient expression as if he had been trying to communicate to them what was wrong and they weren't getting it.

    "He...he has a sore throat," Jeongin translated, feeling an intense pang of guilt in his chest. He wished he could have told the truth about the jagged mess of flesh and stitches on Minho's throat that haunted him at every moment. However, if he told them, Chan would find out in one way or another. What would happen then?

    "I'm fine, I just need some rest," Minho signed, before slowly turning over to face the wall and going still.

Hyunjin and Changbin exchanged confused glances to which Jeongin responded with a translation. He didn't blame them for forgetting sign language, seeing as how they were heavily involved with the project around the time they would have needed to use it. Sometimes he wondered if they had even learned it at all.

    Deciding to give Minho some space despite their concern, they crowded into Jeongin's room, surprised to see everyone inside awake. Seungmin dangled his feet off the top bunk, swinging them back and forth rhythmically with an unreadable expression on his face.

    "You know Chan will question it if you guys are out of your room so early, right?" Seungmin whispered, directing his sentence at Changbin and Hyunjin.

    "Is it a crime not to be able to sleep?" Changbin asked as a response, sitting on the bottom bunk next to Jisung. "Besides, we're not just here to fool around. There's...there's something wrong with Minho."

    "What do you mean by that?" Felix cried a bit louder than he had intended, quickly lowering his voice back down to a whisper. "Are you sure he's just not sick again? You know he's always been prone to sickness."

    Hyunjin chimed in, shaking his head solomely. "I don't think it's that this time, but I really wish it was. He's tried to speak to us multiple times since we got up, but the only sound he can make is this weird rattling noise. And thankfully he got himself a bucket at some point because the poor thing has been throwing up all night. He can't even get out of bed."

    "Is he dying?" Jisung asked fearfully, squeaking out the last word as if afraid saying it would make his worst fear become a reality.

    "Of course he's not!" Jeongin replied quickly, wishing now more than ever that he could break the news about what Minho told him. "It's probably just a sore throat and a bad fever. Nothing that Channie can't fix."

    The intense gnawing sensation of guilt only grew stronger as Jeongin spoke. He knew it wasn't a sore throat, but Minho wouldn't be able to hide behind that lie much longer either. He couldn't wear that scarf forever and eventually it would be revealed that Minho's voice was forever lost to the monster they had looked up to their entire lives.

    However, Chan was far from stupid. Jeongin guessed that Chan had probably thought through that before destroying Minho's voice beyond repair. There was always a believable excuse Chan made, but he couldn't exactly remember what it was. Something along the lines of 'Minho needed to get it done for his own health. He's being dramatic now, but he'll come around soon enough.'

    "But what if Chan really can't fix it?" Seungmin asked slowly. "Then what-"

    He cut himself off as the door was thrown open, everyone inside nearly jumping out of their skin. Had they been too loud? Did Chan never go to sleep last night? Whatever it was, Chan was standing in the doorway, his features contorted into an expression of pure rage. No one had ever seen him that angry before, and they couldn't understand why he looked so furious in the first place, but they withered under his gaze all the same.

    "What the hell is wrong with you guys lately?" Chan spat, walking inside and slamming the door shut behind him. His chest visibly rose and fell with each breath, Chan's dark eyes scanning the room. Jeongin abruptly became aware of the fact that Changbin was squeezing his hand.

    "Not only did you start having private conversations behind my back not once, but twice, but you didn't say anything at dinner and refused to eat!" Chan yelled, staring at each sibling in turn with an equally accusing glare. "And on top of that, you suddenly give a shit about what Minho and I are up to! Care to explain what's going on?"

    Jeongin glanced around the room at his sibling's puzzled and terrified faces, opening his mouth to speak before Jisung chimed in instead. "Maybe we realized that we're not kids and we don't need to worship the ground you walk on anymore."

    What happened next unfolded so quickly that Jeongin barely had any time to process it. The collective gasps from the room, the twitch in Chan's left eye, the crisp slapping noise as the back of Chan's hand connected with the side of Jisung's face twice. Jisung scooted back against the wall, holding one of the stinging red hand marks, tears falling freely down his face.

    Normally, Chan would have ended the conversation at that, but not today. He practically lunged into the bottom bunk, grabbing Jisung by the front of his pajamas. Felix and Changbin had run forward to pull Chan away while Jeongin tried to put space between Chan and Jisung. Even though tears streaked Jisung's cheeks and he was trembling, he still managed to connect a solid kick to Chan's chest, causing him to recoil in pain.

    "I don't know what the hell got into all of you, but you better knock it off if you know what's good for you," Chan said through clenched teeth, backing away towards the door with a glare that could kill. "And Jisung. No food until further notice."

    Once Chan left the room, they all stared at each other in shock, trying to process what had just happened. Felix and Seungmin were the first to break out of the trance, both checking to make sure Jisung was okay and congratulating him for standing up for himself. Moments later, Jeongin bolted out of the room towards the front door before Chan left for work. He wasn't sure why he needed to catch him so desperately, but he was sure he would remember when the time presented itself.

    That's when he reached the living room and found the front door left wide open.