The Aged | Gyuhao (Sequel to Youth)

- 3

| Chapter Three — Cerise or Serious? |

"Seriously, you're making this a bigger deal than it needs to be." Riki groans.

"There is blood all over you," A voice responds, "You're lucky it's just a surface wound. If the knife would've punctured just a little bit more—"

"Hyung, I know." Riki sighs.

The person stares at him like a disappointed adult stares at their child. Riki hates when they do that.

"We can't have our maknae of the team get hurt, now can we?" Someone walks in with a bright smile. It's so bright it almost makes Riki and the person before him straighten their posture due to the sudden intimidation.

"Hao," The doctor beams.

"Seokmin," Minghao chuckles, throwing a pair of gloves on his hands and walking over to Riki with a soft sigh. He plops down into the chair next to Seokmin, examining the wound, "He got ya pretty good, huh?"

"It's just a scratch." Riki scoffs.

"A scratch, my ass." Seokmin spits.

"Don't be so reckless," Minghao tells the youngest, pouring some alcohol on a small piece of cotton, dabbing Riki's wound and hearing him hiss, "You're still new at all this. Take your time— you still got to train."

"I don't want to train," Riki whines, "I want action. You've seen what I can do, hyung. I beat the shit out of that drug addict."

"Language." Seokmin smacks his arm.

Riki pouts, "I did, though."

"And good, we're proud," Minghao says, swiping away the blood with a rag and beginning to open up a bandage, "But the woman who owns the place reported the incident. Be glad she has terrible memory and bad CCTV or your face would be all over the news right now."

Riki frowns, going silent like a typical teenager.

"You're good, Riki-yah," Minghao assures him, "Just be careful next time, yeah?"

Riki sighs, "Yeah— Yeah, okay. My bad." He says, "I'll do better next time, hyung."

"Good." Minghao smiles, applying the bandage to Riki's wound, patting down the sides so it sticks, "Now rest up. You've got some training at 2 tomorrow."

Riki's face scrunches up, "Oh god, did you put me with Noona again?"

Minghao cracks a smile, standing up to toss everything in the trash, "Kazuha's good, Riki."

"Yeah— and she knows it," Riki scoffs, "She practically ate me alive last time. I still have a scar from her nunchucks!"

Seokmin sighs, "I told that girl to take the nails out of that thing during training. I'm gonna go talk to her, I'll be back."

"Yeah, it hurts like a bitch, by the way." Riki says.

"Language!" Seokmin calls out before leaving.

"Sorry if I disappointed you," Riki tells Minghao, "I know you get upset when—"

"Hey, don't," Minghao smiles down at him, scratching at his hair, "I could never get upset with our maknae. This was only your 2nd mission, it's my mistake for not sending help."

"I shouldn't need help," Riki sighs, "I wanna be able to do this on my own, hyung. That's the whole reason I left home— To be independent. You know this— You all do."

"Exactly," Minghao nods, "And you've still got a long way to go. Look at me, I'm the leader because of my long years of training."

"You were the heir." Riki reminds him, "You didn't have a choice."

"Of course, I had a choice," Minghao corrects him, "I had to choose between living or dying. If I didn't go with Seokmin all those months ago, I wouldn't be here helping you."

Riki smacks his lips, "I understand."

Minghao pushes the hair away from Riki's eyes, grinning, "Good, kiddo."

"Why'd you end up in jail, though? I know you were the heir but it still doesn't make sense." Riki asks, "This might be invasive— But this whole gang knows nothing about you. You just showed up out of nowhere and are suddenly—"

"You showed up out of nowhere, too." Minghao reminds him, "And I took you in, see?"

"I know, but—"

"Shh. No more questions." Minghao helps him stand, "That's all for today. You need rest. Head on up to your room, okay? You gotta be refreshed for tomorrow."

Riki doesn't saying anything for a moment, "Hell yeah, I'm gonna need refreshment. God, Zuha's gonna kill me."

Minghao clicks his tongue, smacking the side of Riki's head as they leave the room, "Language."