The Car Crash Club • Monsta X

ix.

Hyungwon stared at the door for a second before turning around, planning on returning to his pile of blankets on the couch, when the knocking resumed, louder than before. Hyungwon lasted all of two seconds before he threw open the door.

"I thought I asked you to-"

"Nice house," Jooheon said, immediately slipping past Hyungwon and into the interior, and Hyungwon just stared at him for a long second before shutting the door and following him. "Although it's really fucking dark, can you turn on a light or something?"

"If you can't see, you can always leave," Hyungwon retorted shortly, and Jooheon just laughed before running his hand over the wall.

"You don't have to be so crabby about it just because I-" He paused as his hand hit a switch and he grinned, flicking the lights on.

Hyungwon stumbled back, the sudden burst of light searing his eyes, and he threw a hand in front of his face. "Can you turn that off-"

"Hey, you look horrible," Jooheon said, his voice sounding concerned as he drew closer, but all Hyungwon could feel was the burning of the scars against his skin.

"Get the fuck out," he snapped, turning away from Jooheon so he wouldn't be seen.

"No, I don't mean- Hyungwon, I didn't mean like that," Jooheon amended, his palms up defensively as he took a step back. "You're just really pale and thin. You don't look healthy. Have you slept lately?"

"I slept for a week. That should be plenty."

"That can't be good either. Have you been eating?"

Hyungwon's stomach clenched both in pain at mention of food and in anger. Who was this kid to trespass into his house and smother him with questions? "I don't know, can you just leave-"

"You don't know?" Jooheon trailed off, and Hyungwon got the feeling like Jooheon wanted to put a hand on his shoulder, so he purposefully took several steps away. "Hyungwon...are you...are you okay?"

"Fucking fantastic. Now, the door is that way-" Hyungwon said, pointing. "Or should I draw you a map?" He risked a glare over at Jooheon, his stomach lurching as he saw Jooheon's eyes fall upon his marred face.

Jooheon just stood there for a long moment before turning, not toward the door, but toward the kitchen. He started opening cabinets seemingly at random and rummaging through the contents.

"Hey, what are you-" Hyungwon said, the anger immediately dissipating into confusion as he moved to the very edge of the kitchen, hovering in the door frame. "-doing?"

"Cooking you something," Jooheon muttered. "You look like a skeleton right now."

Hyungwon frowned, wrapping his arms around himself as he suddenly felt very insecure and hollow. "You don't have to do that."

"Obviously I don't have to. And truth be told, I'm not that great of a cook so don't get unrealistically high expectations about this," Jooheon told Hyungwon, a hand resting on his hip before he turned back to the cupboards. "Now, if I were a pot, where would I be?" he said to himself.

Hyungwon hesitated for several long moments before pointing to the right cabinet.

Jooheon just gave him a nod and a small smile before getting to work. The kitchen had a counter running along the wall and a parallel one serving as a bar, and Hyungwon went to his room to grab a sweatshirt, throwing the hood up over his head before taking a seat at the bar and watching Jooheon cook. Twenty minutes later, Jooheon slid across a bowl across the counter to Hyungwon, giving him a stern look to persuade him to eat.

Hyungwon began chewing slowly, not really tasting much because he hadn't eaten in a while. Or because it was incredibly bland.

"I don't know all of what's going on," Jooheon began, leaning on his side of the counter. "Or how bad it's been for you, or all the hurt you've been through. We've all had different experiences so I won't pretend that I know exactly what you're going through. But I've experienced something similar, and...Hyungwon...please believe me when I say that it only gets worse when you isolate yourself. You need to get out there and be with people in order to recover. That's why I really think that it would be good for you to give Tri Chi another chance. I promise you that it'll help you, Hyungwon."

Hyungwon stirred the soupy mixture slowly, watching as the curve of his spoon split the broth in half. "You're right," he said, still staring down at the bowl.

Jooheon's eyebrows darted up in surprise. "I am, really? So you'll come to Tri Chi?"

"No, I'm not coming to your club. You were right when you said you're not a very good cook," Hyungwon finished, looking up and meeting Jooheon's eyes.

Jooheon deflated slightly before releasing a breathy laugh. "Well, you got me there."

"But thank you," Hyungwon said softly, looking down once more. "For the meal. And..." For stopping by to check on me. But Hyungwon couldn't say the words, so he just gave a small nod.

Jooheon seemed to understand and returned his nod with a smile. "Any time. For real, I mean it." He paused, running his hand along the edge of the counter and picking up a lone pen, twirling it between his fingers. "Do you want my number? In case you need to contact me for anything?"

Hyungwon felt like accepting his offer would come along with an expectation that Hyungwon would actually use it, and he wasn't planning to. He also wasn't particularly fond of the insinuation that Hyungwon needed help from some random classmate. "No, I don't need it."

"Great, here it is," Jooheon said, ignoring his rejection and sliding over a small piece of paper with his number scribbled on it, dropping the pen back on the counter. Hyungwon stared at the piece of paper, not picking it up, and through the paper he could see the faint outline of a coupon on the other side. "I respond to texts faster than calls because I let everything go to voicemail unless I recognize the number. And on the weekends, don't call before 12 because I definitely won't be up. But other than that I'm pretty free. And you can call me for anything, okay? School stuff, advice, if you just want to cry, whatever, it's all good."

Hyungwon stared at the digits before looking up at Jooheon. "Okay but I'm not going to call you, so don't expect anything."

"Right," Jooheon said with a wink that made Hyungwon feel like they were part of some shared secret joke. "I'll be looking forward to that not happening."

"I'm really not going to call."

"Got it," Jooheon said with another wink.

"I won't. For real."

"Sure thing," Jooheon said as he grabbed his stuff and gave Hyungwon a wave and a smirk before heading for the door. There was a soft snick as it shut behind him, and Hyungwon just sat in the reborn silence of his house for a moment before getting up and locking the door. His hand hovered over the light switch, wanting to make everything dark again, but as his fingers brushed against the plastic covering, he decided to leave the lights on. He cast a longing glance towards the couch, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep, but he needed to clean all the dishes Jooheon had created (and conveniently ignored).

Hyungwon's eyes caught on the piece of paper abandoned on the counter, and despite himself, he might have smiled.

another spontaneous update! i've neglected this story for too long. sorry friends but hope you're all doing well and staying healthy :)