nytis
knowing lee jihoon, everyone knew that it was going to be real difficult keeping him at home and resting. and yes, it really was difficult keeping jihoon home. soonyoung and chan's original idea of keeping the boy in bed for the entire week was quickly thrown out the window after they spotted jihoon walking around a few hours later when they thought he was supposedly sleeping.
so then plans changed to, "jihoon, since we can't keep you in bed, we'll allow you to walk around but," soonyoung said, emphasizing the "but". "wherever you go, two of us; your brothers or me, will have to accompany you. also, still no working."
jihoon laughed off all their ridiculous ideas immediately. "chan, enough staying at home. you have school to attend. and soonyoung, get your ass back to the bakery." this left jihoon with two very unhappy boys.
although chan never got the chance to sneak out of school, soonyoung still managed to visit him at least three times a day. sometimes jeonghan even tagged along, showering jihoon with all kinds of different baked goods and seungcheol with kisses (soonyoung gawked at the two. "are you sure they're not married?" "they're not even dating." jihoon replied).
wonwoo even stopped by once, surprising the group greatly. he brought a whole bunch of herbs and teas that were supposedly good for you (jihoon tried a particular dark green one and spit it out immediately after a horrible bitter taste flooded his mouth. he never touched them again).
and jihoon being jihoon, after three days of sitting at home and resting with seungcheol, jihoon returned back to work just like before. jihoon might've said things were even better than before (minus the aching in his back and torso plus soonyoung's constant following) because he no longer felt like someone was watching him.
"hey, won't you look at that." jeonghan stared boredly at the newspaper. "more deaths, why am i not surprised anymore." jihoon walked over and pulled to paper in front of him.
"more deaths huh." just about to leave and start working, jihoon blinked and looked at the picture again. the faces of the two men were disgustingly beat up and bloodied but jihoon could recognize those people anywhere. so red cloak did end up catching the guy in the end. "oh, these people..."
"what? you know them jihoonie?" soonyoung asked, slinking over.
"yeah. yeah." he said slowly, "i know them." that's when soonyoung connected the pieces.
"those were the bastards you met the other night?" jihoon scrunched the paper into a ball and threw it in a nearby garbage can before nodding. soonyoung sighed, "it's good that they're dead." he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice (soonyoung wanted to be the one who ended those guys).
"don't you think that people are slow on finding these things? i mean those two criminals were killed like, four nights ago." jeonghan shook his head as he headed over to the sink. "at this point i could probably become a killer and get away with it. the guards aren't doing shit."
soonyoung clicked his tongue in agreement. "i don't even think the guards have made a move yet. and if they have, then they're all way too incompetent to be royal guards." problems with guards meant problems with the king.
soonyoung huffed in annoyance, he hated dongyun for becoming king. being king required countless hours of training and work. the king had to know the condition of his kingdom and the people. it wasn't just a higher up spot that gave you access to anything you wanted.
"i wouldn't be surprised if the king was lying about the whole sending out guards thing. as long as nothing bad happens to his cute little palace, he doesn't give a shit." jihoon deadpans. "now go wash your hands and get started."
"of course jihoon!" soonyoung said cheerfully, his mood flipping a complete one eighty degrees.
"soonyoung, that's salt!"
"oops!"
half way through the day of talking and serving a small number of customers, the ugly jangle of the bells rang again making all three of the bakers look up and smile at the new customer. "hey! welcome to the bakery!" soonyoung said cheerily.
the young man who walked in had a thin, lithe figure. his ears were somewhat pointy, making them resemble what elf ears may look like. golden brown hair piled on top of his head with longer stands in the back forming a mullet. his entirety was quite plain which was why the red paper bag hanging from his hands popped out so much.
the man looked at the three behind the counter and smiled.
"is there anything you're looking for today? or are you here to pick up an order." jeonghan said to the man. the person slowly looked around at the multiple desserts on display.
"i'm here to pick up an order." he stated.
"name?"
"xu minghao."
jeonghan nodded his head and chuckled, "ah, so you're the person who ordered a single strawberry strudel. we have those available regularly, if you only want one or two, there's no need to order them." jeonghan pointed to the small pile of strudels on display.
"i know."
jeonghan gave the man a confused smile before grabbing one with his gloved hands and placing it in a paper bag, handing it to minghao. the man took the bag and nodded his head in thanks. instead of leaving the store like most people, minghao took a seat at one of the tables and pulled out the treat. the man stared unblinkingly at the food before carefully breaking the pastry apart and proceeding to first eat all the jam inside, then the outer crust.
and the man did all of this in a sort of elegant way, not getting his hands or anything dirty in the slightest way.
jihoon raised a brow at the man's strange eating style, accidentally catching the man's gaze. for a brief moment, the man's eyes traveled to the poorly covered bruises on his neck then back to his eyes. "what happened to your neck?" minghao questioned from his seat.
jihoon cleared his throat, "um.."
"it was just a small accident, nothing major." soonyoung said, quickly butting in. there was something off about this person and he was sure jihoon and jeonghan both noticed that too.
the man hummed, eyes traveling from each of them still unblinking. a small smile stretched over his lips before he turned his attention back to the now empty brown bag. it was clear that soonyoung wanted this man out of the bakery but since minghao really hadn't done anything wrong all jeonghan could do was shake his head.
the three bakers got back to work. ignoring someone as quiet as minghao seemed like no problem but there was something about his presence that was bothering them all. trying to shake it off, jihoon got back to his work.
he can't stay for much longer. he's ought to be-
jihoon froze.
the piping tip he was holding dropped to the ground, the sound of metal falling to the ground filled the quiet shop. soonyoung bent down quickly and ran the tip under water before handing it to jihoon.
"here you go jihoonie," standing by the counter, jihoon didn't respond. on closer inspection soonyoung noticed that his face was a chalky white colour and his hands that were gripping the counter edge... his hands were shaking.
"jihoon?" hearing slight panic in soonyoung's voice, jeonghan turned over to see what was going on.
jihoon lifted his head, not sparing either of his friends a glance. he only looked straight forward, his eyes meeting with inky black ones from the table ahead. jihoon was going to be sick. he knew this feeling and he hated this feeling.
he darted his arm out to the side, scaring soonyoung and pulled out a gleaming knife from the knife block. holding it in front of him with shaky hands, he glared at minghao's amused face.
"who the fuck are you."
