24. One More Favor
Bonita woke up the next morning with her head half sandwiched between the fluffy pillows on the bed, the sun peeking through the curtains. The sun wasn't what woke Bonita though. Instead, it was the incessant ringing of her cell phone from the bedside dresser. Cracking open an eye, she grappled for it to see that it was a Facetime call from Minho. Rolling onto her back, she answered it, watching as his face filled her screen.
"Are you still in bed?!" he asked, taking in the way her hair messily haloed about her head as she laid there, chuckling at him.
"Yes," said Bonita. "You woke me up."
"I woke you up! It's noon! Heck, it's almost 1PM!"
"I was up late last night," said Bonita, "and besides, I've never been in a bed this comfortable before. It's like sleeping on a cloud."
Minho grumbled under his breath as Bonita took in the scenery behind him. It was obvious that he was walking somewhere, the bright sun shining off the buildings and cars he was walking by.
"Where are you off to?"
"I'm on my way to the shop to check on your DVD player," said Minho, "Thought I'd call you on the way to check in."
"I'm fine," said Bonita, "but thanks for the concern. Did you manage to snoop through any of the show's files yet?"
"I did and I think I might have found something."
"Something? Are you really going to leave me in suspense?"
Sitting up in the bed so that her hair crazily settled behind her head, she cocked a brow at Minho's silence, listening to him chuckle.
"Just tell me if you did or not," she snapped.
"Where would the fun in that be?"
"Oh...if I was there right now I'd slap you."
That caused Minho to laugh out loud as he let out a "fine" before coming to a stop.
"I found an odd note shoved within the folders that looked like it was supposed to be thrown away. All it had on it that was still readable was the name of a mental institution. I called Changbin and asked him about it last night. He told me that it burnt down several years ago. I'm going to go there later tonight and see if I can find anything that might help us."
"By yourself?"
"Well, yeah," said Minho. "It's not like any of you are-"
His words were cut off by Bonita as she nearly screamed, "You better not go alone! That's how everyone ends up getting themselves killed in horror movies!"
"Geezum Bonita..."
"Don't 'geezum' me! I'm serious! Don't you dare go there alone! Need I remind you we're investigating a potential murder."
"Bonita..."
"No. Don't try to tell me I'm foolish! You'd be acting the same way if it was the other way around. You may like cats, but unlike them, you do not have nine lives!"
"Are you done?" asked Minho with a chuckle. "I'm sure you've woken up the entire house by now with your concern."
"Just..." Bonita paused, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as she continued, "...just promise me that you will find someone to take with you."
"Fine. I promise," said Minho with a sigh. "I really think you're being overprotective for nothing, but I will do that to make you happy."
"Thank you," said Bonita, looking towards the door as someone knocked on it. "Who is it?"
"Bang Chan," came the voice.
"Coming in a second!" called back Bonita as she looked back at the Facetime call, pointing an accusing finger at Minho. "Don't break your promise. I'll be checking in on you later. Oh! And please don't forget to check on Felix's MP3 player while you're there checking on my DVD player."
"Yes madame," said Minho, barely getting the words out before she hung up on him.
Sighing, Minho pocketed his phone and continued making his way down the street. He couldn't stop himself from the feeling that had slowly been festering inside him ever since Bang Chan had appeared in her life. At first it had been a miniscule thing that he had ignored, but the longer they were around each other, the more it grew. Minho was still trying to come to terms with how he was feeling, wondering when he had crossed the line from best friend to wanting something more as the repair shop that Bonita told him about came into view.
The bell rang above the door as he entered the shop, looking towards the front counter where Seungmin stood working on what looked like some sort of dismantled VCR.
'People still use those?' thought Minho as he came to a stop a few feet from the counter, clearing his throat to capture Seungmin's attention.
"Can I help you, sir?" asked Seungmin as he looked up from his work.
"I came to check on Bonita's DVD player and Felix's MP3 player," said Minho as Seungmin looked him up and down.
"I know what you're thinking," added Minho, "I know I'm not Bonita."
Minho's absurd comment snapped Seungmin out of his staring as he became startled, trying to distract himself with some papers on the desk.
"Oh, I know...I was just thinking...are you Bonita's boyfriend?"
"Am I Bonita's boyfriend?" asked Minho with a raised brow.
"Forgive this idiot," spoke up Hyunjin from further behind the counter. "Seungmin did this sort of thing the other day when she came in with Felix. I think my friend here has a crush on her."
"Hyunjin! Knock it off!"
"I would if I didn't have to translate your stupid all the time," said Hyunjin as Minho smirked.
'I like this guy,' thought Minho as he walked right up to the counter as Seungmin chucked a pencil towards the chuckling Hyunjin.
"We're almost done with the DVD player," said Seungmin, trying to put the conversation back on the right track as he looked at Minho. "We need a few more days. It got really fried. The MP3 player on the other hand is done."
Disappearing behind the counter for a minute, Minho had a better look at Hyunjin who had tuned out the conversation once more in order to tinker with what he was working on. Minho wasn't entirely sure what it was exactly, just seeing what appeared to be a pile of scrap metal.
"So what's your name?" asked Minho as Hyunjin paused his work again to turn and look at him.
"Hyunjin," he said with a small wave, "and yours?"
"Lee Know," he responded as Hyunjin nodded.
"Are you hiding from someone?" Hyunjin asked so suddenly that Minho was shocked.
"What do you mean?"
"That can't actually be your real name," said Hyunjin, "So I was just wondering if you were going by that name to hide from someone. It's either that or you're just eccentric."
Before Minho could figure out how to even answer Hyunjin, Seungmin popped back up from his place behind the counter with a small box in his hands. He set it on the counter, opening it and digging out a MP3 player.
"Here it is. Should be in working order and hopefully the files still play."
"Thanks," said Minho as he reached out to take it, tucking it into his pocket. "How much?"
"It was on the house," said Seungmin.
Minho nodded as he thought back on the conversation he had just had with Bonita on the phone, looking at Seungmin and Hyunjin.
"Can you two possibly do one more favor on the house?" asked Minho.
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