25: Drunk-dazed.

Minho took him night-hunting again when the worst of the cold weather passed. They went out alone this time, ready to travel a bit further out there without little juniors to worry about. They had gone out for a few times like this before, but always somewhere close to practising Jisung’s sword-flying skills.

After the trip to Yangling, it seemed those were approved enough to convince Minho to take him further. Jisung wanted to ask if it was the kick-flip that made Minho trust in him now, but decided against it when he remembered the stern face the guy had worn while catching Jisung mid-air before he’d turned into a kebab.

Flying was fun now that he didn’t totally suck at it.

They took the longer route for Jisung, who whined about sight-seeing while he still could. Truthfully, while it really was beautiful here, there was also a lot of forest. Maybe Jisung just liked hanging around with Minho one-on-one. Maybe he liked that Minho didn’t call him out on these silly excuses.

The first night of the trip they stayed at an inn again, which always made Jisung feel like he was a character in some sort of fantasy adventure game. One of those western types, but with a Korean setting. Like, whenever he spoke with the innkeeper, his stats would appear above him.

Minho paid, as usual, and Jisung thought it was strange that he only got them one room again. He’d done that in the past night-hunts as well, always making sure to get two beds in one room.

“Are you cheap or do you think I need constant surveillance?” Jisung had asked the second time they’d gone out.

"Spending less is encouraged." Minho had replied, and to Jisung it just sounded like yes to both questions.

Now he had gotten used to it, and also kind of preferred it. Sleeping close to Minho was like having a safety blanket. It made falling asleep very easy.

He hadn’t repeated the drinking incident from their first night-hunt, partly as a courtesy for Minho who had not gotten angry at him over it, and partly because drinking alone wasn’t very fun in the end and sometimes he didn’t feel like making friends out of the lonely patrons of a random inn.

Once they settled to order, the waiter suggested a wine for them to try out, some local extra-strong specialty. Jisung was, to say it mildly, pretty stunned when Minho turned to him with a questioning look rather than saying no flat-out.

“I… do I get to decide?”

Minho looked at him, sort of amused, and inclined his head.

“Wow, this is my lucky day, huh? Sure! Let’s get wasted.” Jisung said, absolutely delighted.

The waiter nodded and scurried off. The staff of these kinds of places often did that around Minho – acted with haste and kind of nervous, like they knew he was a big deal and they had to make sure everything was perfect for him.

Jisung thought Minho didn’t pay much attention to that kind of stuff, but he wasn’t going to tell that to anyone. It got him his orders twice as fast.

“Minho, I hadn’t known you’d become so loose with the rules.” Jisung said to the man next to him. “Who would’ve thought your moral backbone was this easy to corrupt with my bad influence?”

“Jisung is not a bad influence,” Minho replied with his very authoritative tone. Then, after a little pause, “In Yangling, you often looked very happy drinking.”

Jisung thought about the evenings getting absolutely smashed and then clinging onto Minho to get to sleep the night next to him in his bed. Of course he’d been happy! He had gotten very physical around Minho with the excuse of alcohol.

“Right, yes, yes,” Jisung said, and not soon after there was food placed in front of him, very red in its colour, and wine. “Alcohol’s no good in excess, though, so just this once.”

“Mn.”

They’d gotten two cups for it, of course, because Minho hadn’t specified, and so Jisung thought to push his luck even further. He set another one of the cups in front of Minho with a hopeful smile.

“Drink with me?” He batted his lashes for the effect.

Minho stared at the cup for a long time, probably making some sort of cost-benefit analysis in his perfect head, and then, finally, nodded.

Jisung was so shocked he could only blink at him for a while before he hastily took the wine and poured the two of them their fill with a grin that was going to split his entire face. No way! No way had Minho just promised to drink with him!

This was the best day of his life.

“Minho, what I said about the corrupting influence is clearly true.” Jisung laughed, raising his cup at the other man. “Look at us now.”

Minho only shook his head at him and then they were downing the drinks. Jisung immediately flushed at the burn in his throat. Oh, it was strong, and it did not taste like anything other than alcohol.

Next to him, Minho's face was completely blank and colorless as always, head gracefully held high.

“What, Minho, how is it possible that you don’t even make a face at that? It was so--” he wasn't able to complete as Minho's forehead hit the table as he slumped forward, unconscious.

Oh… Oh fuck!

Jisung raised a hand over his mouth, eyes wide. No way, this was too good. Did Minho have such a bad alcohol tolerance? Jisung poked his cheek with a finger, stifling a laugh when the other did not react.

The mighty Second Master of Lee clan, the great Lee Minho Hagwan was down after one half filled cup. Unbelievable.

“Minho?” Jisung called. “Minho, yah! You were supposed to drink with me! This seems very unfair.”

Then, like a robot getting turned on, the man pulled himself back up with a completely neutral expression like he hadn’t just been knocked out.

“Um. Minho?” Jisung inquired, and no one could have predicted that the cultivator next to him was completely hammered if not for Minho's fixed gaze into the middle distance and his refusal to blink.

Jisung waved his hand in front of Minho's face, but this only made Minho grab his wrist and then he didn’t let go. So there he sat, with Minho's long fingers gripping him mid-air, and kind of excited for all the possibilities. 

“Minho, are you drunk?” Minho nodded. Jisung let out a giddy laugh.

“No way. How many fingers am I holding up?” He raised two fingers up with the hand that was caught. Minho glanced at it.

“Two.”

Oh, so some of the cognitive skills were still on. This was good – Jisung didn’t want to have to call up a healer. Also, this was clearly an opportunity made of gold.