Chapter 20: Missing Her

YACHT made his way across the street, despite Santa's protests and pleas to stop whatever he was about to do, and stretched his hand to grab the glass door and push it slowly to open it. Santa soon followed and found himself entering the pharmacy behind his older friend.

And he had no idea why, but the pit in his stomach told him that whatever was about to happen was no good.

"Yaya..."

Yacht took a long, memorizing glance at the interior of the pharmacy, meeting the sight of shelves and endless stacks of medicine all around the area. He stood by the long glass counter that was located at a fair distance from the door, and it didn't take long for Santa to stand beside him, a concerned, terrified glance over his face.

"What are you going to do?" Santa whispered in a Thai accent, trying to keep it low-key as to not attract anyone's attention. "You can't accuse him of something we're not sure of."

He didn't have to worry about that, Yacht thought. The thing was, he didn't walk in there to make a scene. However, he needed to put his mind at ease. Seeing Soul inside the local pharmacy, which was somehow associated with Junwon's mysterious illness, just made no sense at all.

He needed to know the truth. Once and for all.

"Hi, guys! I didn't know you were in Korea." Soul began in a bubbly tone, smiling sweetly at the pair. "How can I help you today?"

Yacht sent Soul an innocent smile before speaking, "Well, you know. Our friend, Earth, ate the wrong type of food and now he's bedridden with food poisoning. Do you happen to have any Vallazal?"

At the mention of that exact sentence, Soul's sparkling smile faded away.

And both Yacht and Santa took a mental note of his expression.

"Yes!" Soul replied, slowly regaining his composure after coughing a little to straighten his voice. "Of course, we do! If you'll wait for a few seconds, I'll go get it right away."

Yacht nodded his head with a small, innocent smile. Santa did the same, all while awkwardly glancing around the room. Behind the counter, at a fair distance, was another familiar face. A face he knew very well from the same exact survival show. The same black hair, along with familiar, handsome features. Santa nudged Yacht's hand from below the counter, away from anybody's sight, and nodded slightly at the other figure.

Minseo.

And not so far away from him, stood another figure they were both familiar with. The one and only, Hanbin.

It was only then that they both knew, that Yacht wasn't wrong to mentally accuse Soul of switching the medicine he gave to Mal.

Everything was now crystal clear.

Yacht's eyes then turned to follow Soul's figure as he fumbled through some of the shelves in front of them. It didn't take long for Soul to finally grab a familiar white bottle with black font on its front.

A completely white bottle. The same bottle they had both used back in Thailand to treat their food poisoning.

Yacht scanned the black font on the white bottle with his eyes, and despite the fact that Soul's fingers were covering some of the words, he could still read the name of the medicine.

Vallazal.

"There you go!" Soul spoke in a cheerful tone, handing over the bottle in a plastic bag to the pair.

Yacht accepted the bag from the other's hand, and gestured for Santa to follow him out of the place after waving goodbye to Soul.

And as soon as they were met by the fresh air outside the building, Santa found himself turning to Yacht, a concerned, devastated look on his face.

"What are we going to do, Yaya?" He whispered, his hand unconsciously reaching for his older friend's, grabbing it in order to seek reassurance. "We can't let them get away with it..."

And for the first time ever, Yacht had no idea what to say. Mixed feelings of guilt, despair, and heartbreak were fighting their way inside him, and he knew that Santa felt the same too. After all, Mal's constant stories and complaints about Soul and some of the other members' hatred for Junwon didn't leave with ease. They had experienced it too, at some point on the survival show. The looks, the jealousy, the unexplained hatred everywhere they went.

It was all too much for them both.

And Yacht had no idea how Junwon managed to hold on for that long.

But for all they knew, Junwon didn't have to tolerate anybody's bullshit from that moment and on.

Not anymore.

"We'll hire a lawyer."

. . .

Santa followed Yacht inside the mansion, taking in the smell of the delicious food that came from the kitchen. Their mouths watered, both of them already realizing how hungry they were. Yacht made sure to lock the front door before hurrying to the kitchen, where Earth was standing with a tray of food, and gloves in both hands, and both of them assumed that he had just let it out of the oven.

"What is that amazing smell?" Santa asked, inhaling the scent once again. He and Yacht managed to take their seats by the small table that was located at a fair distance from the kitchen island, where Earth set the food.

"It's this recipe Yacht told me about! And I made other things too." Earth replied with a cheerful tone while hurrying to the kitchen island to grab another pot of something they couldn't see. Meanwhile, Santa stared at the potatoes before him, his mouth watering once again at how delicious it looked.

"Look at the food when it's not burned," Santa joked, glancing in Yacht's direction. "Doesn't it look delicious?"

Yacht could only roll his eyes and lightly punch Santa's arm, mentally agreeing with the sentence. It was the first home-cooked meal they'd had in a while, and after the late events they were just going through, he couldn't wait to finally relax.

"I have to bring some of this to Junwon's room, right?" Earth began, pointing at one of the trays that had dumplings, and another pot that had a large amount of soup.

"Don't worry," Santa spoke up, "I can take it to him."

"Oh, you're a saint! Here, let me just—" Earth hurried to grab a bowl from one of the stands, then a plate. "Please, give him that."

"And please tell him to eat." Yacht begged, to which Santa nodded with a sympathetic side smile. "He hasn't eaten in a while, and he doesn't eat much. I feel really bad."

Santa's side smile curved downwards into a frown while he nodded again. "I will, Yaya. Don't worry."

As soon as Santa made his way out of the room with the tray of food attached in his hand, he took careful steps up the stairs. Not taking his eyes off the tray in fear of spilling its contents, he hurried towards Junwon's shared room, which had its door slightly ajar.

He kicked the door with his foot as gently as possible and peeked inside the room.

The familiar, grey interior was the same as he remembered it. The same wardrobe, armchairs, nightstands, and the same king-sized bed in the center of the room. On top of the bed laid the unconscious body of Junwon, with one hand on the empty bed beside him and the other on his stomach, along with red, puffy eyes as a sign that he had been crying. His messy hair and his relaxed features were some things he noticed, and, in Santa's humble opinion, it was something Mal would've admired a lot if she hadn't been bedridden in the hospital. After all, Mal loved every inch of Junwon and thought he was cute in every way possible.

The thought of Mal caused him to frown once again.

The last thing he wanted to remember at that moment was how he failed to protect his best friend.

And he wasn't in the mood to acknowledge his mistakes.

"Junwon?" He called, his voice soft and steady in order to wake up his younger friend. "It's time for lunch. You need to eat something, okay?"

He waited for a few more seconds, his breath hitched in anticipation as he set the tray on the nightstand beside the bed.

And to his relief, Junwon's eyes fluttered open. It took him a few moments of blinking and glancing around the room to adjust his vision, and it wasn't long before he spotted Santa's figure standing a few feet away from the bed.

"H-Hyung..."

"Hey, Junwon." Santa's greeting came out warm and gentle. "How are you feeling right now?"

Junwon shook his head, heartbroken tears already collecting in his eyes. "N-Not very good, hyung."

"Why is that? Do you feel pain?" Santa asked, to which Junwon nodded his head.

Physical and mental, Junwon thought.

"Junwon, were you crying?"

The question caught Junwon by surprise. Was it that obvious?

He nodded once again, ignoring the thoughts racing through his mind. As much as he wanted to explain and talk to his friend, he couldn't. Not that he hated sharing his feelings or anything, but it was only the fact that he had already felt like a burden—to his lover, to his friends, even to his group members.

For the first time in a while, he thought as if he didn't deserve anything he had. Or anyone.

It was already enough that the love of his life was attacked because she got out of the house, which happened because of him.

And as much as he loved Santa and Yacht, he still wanted his lover by his side.

Because he was nothing without her in the first place.

"You can talk to me about it, Junwon." Santa began, taking his seat in the empty area beside his friend. "You know I'll listen to you."

Junwon nodded, his fingernails clutching the bedsheet tighter at the painful memory. The memory that had his lover disappointed and crestfallen as ever because of his group members. Because of him.

"I w-want noona..."

Santa glanced at his friend in bewilderment, and a quick flash of hurt, causing Junwon to shake his head as if it would take back any painful thought.

"N-Not because—I appreciate you and Yaya Hyung taking care of me. I really, really do. But j-just..." He paused, his lower lip quivering. "I-I miss noona a lot... It's been a week since s-she was admitted to a hospital. And I'm really scared, that's all..."

Santa nodded his head, a sad smile forming on his lips.

"I know, Jun..." He replied, turning to Junwon in order to look into his eyes, hoping it would be enough reassurance. "But she'll be fine. I promise."

Junwon wished, from the bottom of his heart, that his friend was correct.

He needed nothing more in his life than his lover's presence.

"She loves you so much." Santa continued, his eyes sparkling with hope. "I just know that she can't wait to see you again too."

But why was that pit in his stomach telling him otherwise?