High Maintenance 👑 h.zt

22

~Min-hee~

Last night was terrible. Last night was hell. Last night, she'd never cried so much in her life. They'd drove around for hours, going to every place Baekhyun thought Tao could possibly be, and then everywhere that Kris said Tao had vaguely mentioned. Everywhere they looked--no Tao, not any sort of sign of him anywhere.

It was midnight when Kris suggested Min-hee get some sleep, asking for her number so he could call if they found him.

After that, Min-hee didn't want to be alone, and Baekhyun didn't want her to be alone either, probably because of that thing when she was jumped. Min-hee had to admit she was still scared, so she asked them to drop her off at her Grandma's.

Her Grandma wasn't awake when they got there, of course she wasn't, it had to be almost one In the morning when she got there. But a sleepy Grandma still answered the door, instantly becoming worried and asking what was wrong. Because as soon as Grandma opened the door, Min-hee started crying.

Grandma tucked her in her old bed, the one Min-hee used to sleep in every night and dream about why both of her parents were gone, the one she hadn't touched in years, but Grandma still kept. Grandma wiped Min-hee's tears, saying she could tell her all about it in the morning.

It was morning, at least technically, 5AM. Min-hee hadn't slept a wink, every time she tried, she'd wake up to check if Kris had called. He hadn't.

She hadn't gotten any calls, any texts, nothing.

Where was Tao? Where could he have possibly gone that he'd be gone this long? That he wouldn't at least tell someone where he was? Min-hee wiped tears as they came down her face. Please don't just disappear like mom did, please don't be dead like dad is. Min-hee silently prayed and hoped and wished that Tao was alright, that everything would be fine.

But her brain thought otherwise first, her brain said that Tao was probably hurt.

Min-hee sniffled, sitting on the edge of the bed for a minute before hopping off and going to the kitchen. Food might make her feel a little better, she hadn't eaten since Baekhyun cooked breakfast yesterday, and he'd burnt half of everything, saying most of the time, he had someone else cook for him.

The house felt cold and empty. Not because it actually was, it was still the warm welcoming place she remembered, crocheted little sweaters for the toaster and the teapot, and at least a billion multicolored handmade blankets. It was just her, inside, she felt so cold and empty. What if that gang Tao had gotten himself into had hurt him?

Min-hee opened the fridge, just staring at the contents. She wasn't hungry anymore. She took off her glasses to wipe a few tears that were escaping her eyes. Tao you stupid BOY, you've gotten yourself in all this trouble for money!

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Min-hee turned around, seeing Grandma standing there, casting her a worried look over her glasses, still in her nightgown.

Min-hee sniffled, looking off to the side. She didn't feel terribly comfortable talking with Grandma about boys in general, but then she wondered what she should even tell her, Tao had said not to tell anyone about all of that stuff he was doing. Maybe...I could just tell her a little of it...not everything.

"Is it a boy?" Grandma asked, as if reading her mind.

Min-hee nodded, closing the fridge.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Grandma slowly came around and cupped Min-hee's face in her hands. "It's okay, you can tell me, honey, I'll understand."

"Well..." Min-hee started, and Grandma smiled, leading her to the living room and sitting her down in a big comfy chair with a blue crocheted covering over it. Min-hee remembered this chair, she'd always called it the 'feel better' chair.Grandma always sat her down in it when they were going to have a talk about anything that bothered her.

Grandma turned on the lamp, sitting in the rocking chair to Min-hee's left. "Go ahead, I'm ready." Grandma said with a smile.

Min-hee looked down at her hands. This might be a long story to tell for the whole of four days or so it took to happen. "Well...There's this guy...and, I mean, I didn't like him at first, because he came off as mean, probably because I spilled ice cream all over a really expensive shirt of his..." Min-hee bit her lip.

"Go on, sweetie, I'm listening." Grandma said, smiling lightly.

"Well...But as I got to know him, he was very sweet, and he was nice to me and, I don't know, I think maybe I guess I...I mean it feels like I..." Min-hee couldn't find the words. What would she call it? And even then, she doubted she had the courage to say it out loud, even if it wasn't to him, even if she was just talking with Grandma, the words felt so...meaningful, definite, scary...she didn't know how else to put it, but she...

"You like him?" Grandma asked, finishing her thought. "Is that it? That you like him?" Grandma smiled. "There's nothing wrong with that, Min-hee."

Min-hee shrugged. "I guess. I mean but...He has a girlfriend, she's such a jerk to him, but I don't think that he wants to break it off with her."

Grandma patted Min-hee's arm gently. "Is that why you're upset?"

Min-hee shook her head. It would be, it should be, she wished that was it even though that made her heart hurt to think that he was going to continue to go out with her even if the only thing Min-hee had ever seen them do was argue. But she supposed that his girlfriend was what would be considered 'hot'. Min-hee wasn't 'hot', and that was all boys cared about anyway. "It's..." Min-hee started. "He gets into fights a lot, and yesterday...something kind of bad happened and he...I guess he got upset, and he went to go teach them a lesson or something, I don't know, he didn't tell me, but--."

"Is this boy some kind of criminal?" Grandma asked, frowning.

Min-hee shook her head quickly. "No! He just..." Min-hee couldn't find a way to explain it without just telling her everything, she couldn't involve Grandma, she already knew what happened to her for being involved, Grandma wouldn't be able to handle that. "He just...tries to be something he's not..."

Grandma still frowned, patting Min-hee's arm, not saying anything.

Min-hee took a deep breath. "He left, and he said he'd be back by noon yesterday, he hasn't answered any of his friends calls, he hasn't been to his house, I...I'm scared he's dead, I'm scared he's not coming back, I--." Min-hee couldn't continue, she cried. Grandma got up and hugged her, rubbing her back softly. Saying it out loud had just absolutely opened the flood gates, and Min-hee cried, hard, unashamed, probably making a billion and one ugly noises.

Grandma gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It's alright, if he's missing much longer, we can call the police and--."

"No! He said not to do that!" She hadn't meant to yell, but with the crying, it came out like that.

Grandma was silent for a second, still hugging her. Probably thinking over what Min-hee had said. It made him sound like he was running from the law or something. "Someone will find him." She said eventually. "He'll be okay."

She didn't know what Grandma must think of him now, but at least she tried to cheer her up, even if the way she said it sounded like she didn't want Min-hee around him when someone found him.

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A/N: AH~! Look how short this is! I'm ashamed >O< Shame my face :3

In case you didn't catch that, Chanyeol lied. Why? I DON'T KNOW! o_o Just kidding, I know why, I'm just a meanie, and not going to tell you ;P

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