Chapter Eighty-six (1/2)

Mingi opened the door to the restaurant.  He orders the food while Seokmin finds a small table in the back of the restaurant.  He sighed and took his phone out.  He was expecting to see Woozi's texts, blasting him in the face and telling him to come home. He was expecting Jeonghan to somehow already know and march right through the glass door to snatch his wrist.  However, he only received a text from Yeosang.  A small message saying, Be careful.  He puts his phone in his pocket as Mingi comes up to the table with a couple trays. Chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits filled his sense of smell.  He saw that they both had water as their drink.  "I'm a messy eater,"  Mingi said, putting the thick stack of napkins on the table.

"Man, this smells really good."  Seokmin took a whiff of the delicious, crispy chicken.

"It's even better when it's accompanied by mashed potatoes."  Mingi agreed as he picked apart his chicken rather than using a fork and knife.

Seokmin sighed.  "I just don't think it's fair..  All my life, something has always gotten in the way of Sungjae and me."  He started as he picked the chicken up with his hands too.  Not afraid to copy the other in the primitive art of eating chicken. "What got in the way the most?"  Mingi asked. "Mostly my fear that Sungjae wouldn't like me back.."  Seokmin admitted.

The boy nodded and took a sip of his water.  "I get it, I had a girl I liked when I was younger.  I was afraid to be rejected, but she liked me too."  He said. "Why don't you still like her?  Did she move away?"  Seokmin asked. Mingi shrugged.  "No.. On our last date, there were some thieves..  She was the type that was loud and tried to fight back when her purse was being held."  He set the stage.  "And so while I was trying to get the guys off of me, the other guy pulled a knife on her..

"Let's just say I couldn't protect her."  Mingi said before chomping on another chicken nugget.  "That's why I started learning martial arts."  He said.

Seokmin looked down.  "Oh.."  He put his empty basket to the side and picked up the bowl of potatoes.  "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be talking about another person.."  He said, wiping his hands from the messy chicken.

Mingi picked up another napkin before picking up a spoon.  "It's alright.  This isn't really a date, so talk about whoever you want."  He said, pouring gravy into the pit of his potatoes. "It's not really fair to you though.."  Seokmin muttered as he took a bite of the side dish.

"Well.. I knew you were going to tell me no for a date, you already have a boyfriend."  Mingi said.  "I just wanted to have someone to eat with tonight."  He admitted.

Seokmin raised an eyebrow.  "Don't you have martial arts buddies to eat with?" He asked.

"They all have families or significant others to go home to.  Including Yeosang."  Mingi answered as he broke his biscuit, eating it with the potatoes. "Hey,"  Seokmin chuckled, "I said buddies, not enemies."  He joked.

Mingi smirked a bit.  "Yeosang's not an enemy.  We just get super competitive in the dojo."  He said.

"You threw him through the wall.. and a window."  Seokmin said before sipping on some water.

The boy clenched his teeth.  "Don't remind me.. I feel the worst about the wall incident.  He almost hit the pipe."  He said.  "I shouldn't have brought knives to the fight without telling him, but I already apologized for that."  He said.

Seokmin hummed.  "So why does he complain about you?"  He asked.

"You probably complain about Woozi sometimes, right?  It's what friends do."  Mingi shrugged.

"And why would he tell me not to go with you?"  Seokmin asked.

Mingi finished his biscuit and watched Seomin put the empty bowl on the tray.  "He's just very protective of you,"  He said, "he punched me this morning for flirting with you."  He continued. "Did it hurt?"  Seokmin asked. The boy shrugged.  "Not too much.. But Jun saw it and put me in time out for ten minutes."  He stated.

Seokmin nodded and looked down.  "I'll pay for my portion."  He said. "No.. I invited you, I'll pay."  Mingi put his hand up.  "If there's a next time, you'll pay."  He said. "Did.. you enjoy your time with me?"  Seokmin asked.

Mingi sat back and looked at the table for a moment.  "I can't complain,"  He made eye contact, "I'd be open for another meal with you.  Even if it's just for you to get some steam out."  He said honestly.

Seokmin nodded and stood up.  "Thank you.. I should be heading home now."  He bowed. "Do you want me to walk you?"  Mingi stood up.

"No.. I think that if I came home with you, Jeonghan would probably kill you."  Seokmin laughed nervously.

Mingi nodded.  "True.. Sometimes it's like parents are stronger than black belts."  He laughed.  "Have a good night, Seokmin."  He bowed.

"You too, Mingi.."

Seokmin walked through the door.  Jeonghan looked up from a catalogue and looked at Seokmin.  He looked at the clock.  "What's my Dokyeom doing home before Woozi?"  He asked. "Woozi's not home?"  Seokmin took his shoes off.

Jeonghan stood up.  "When was the last time my Dokyeommie looked at the clock?  It's an hour before dinner, you guys usually come home thirty minutes from now."  He said, folding his arms. "Oh.. Yeah.."

Jeonghan sniffed around the boy.  He hummed in delight.  "You smell wonderful.. like chicken."  He closed his eyes.  "Tell me!  Are you from the future?  Mingyu said he's making chicken tonight."  He opened his eyes to look at the child. Seokmin raised an eyebrow.  "That's a lie, he said he's making pizza."  He corrected.

"So what's Seokmin doing smelling like chicken?"  Jeonghan asked.  "Oh,"  He snapped his finger, "Yeosang must have brought chicken to the study room and you came home early to tell Mingyu."  He said. "No.." Jeonghan breathed in and out, his forced smile went down.  "Okay, I did what Seungcheol asked me to do.  I asked positive questions."  He put his hands up.  "Now it's my turn, why do you smell like chicken?" "I went out with someone, just a friend."  Seokmin put his hand up.  "He treated me to KFC in a public place.  No aloneness."  He assured.

Jeonghan nodded.  "Alright.  I hope you had a good meal."  He said, sitting down on the couch once more.

"I did.. Where's Vernon?"  Seokmin asked.

The parent smiled a bit.  "Poor boy fell into some mud when he was working on the west gate.. An animal must be digging at the wires.  He's in the shower right now."  He answered.

Seokmin grimaced.  "I'm going upstairs now."  He said.

"I won't tell Sungjae about Mingi."  Jeonghan said, looking at the coffee table.

Seokmin stopped and looked back at the older.  "How did.. you..?"  He had a hard time speaking.

"Yeosang called me a little while ago."  Jeonghan said.  "He felt guilty that he didn't tell me sooner.  He made an excuse to use the bathroom to call me to tell me what was up."  He said.

Seokmin furrowed his eyebrows.  "So.. why were you playing dumb?"  He asked. Jeonghan shrugged.  "It is your choice to tell me if you're dating someone.. I just wanted to pry a little."  He shrugged.  "But like you said, he is just a friend.  I won't mention it to Sungjae if he ever comes by."  He said.

Seokmin nodded and turned the stairs once more.  Jeonghan sighed and looked at his phone, seeing that tomorrow is Saturday.

***

"Vernon,"  Jeonghan poked the boy, "Vernon~"  He shrugged the boy's shoulders. He pouted as the child wouldn't wake up.  He clicked his tongue and shook his head.  Closing the bedroom door behind him he sighs.  "I told him that we had work today,"  He went downstairs, "but no~  Looks like he's sleeping in."  He leaned against the wall as he watched Joshua get ready for work.

"You know.. there is a boy coming from Seoul today."  Jeonghan remembered.  "I'll just recruit him."  He snapped his finger.

Joshua raised an eyebrow.  "Jae comes here to relax, not do manual labor."  He said. "He comes here for free, I think he can work outside a little."  Jeonghan said nonchalantly. Joshua huffed.  "Why don't you just do it?"  He said.  "He's not doing any work."  "All he has to do is hold a ladder so I don't fall off."  Jeonghan shrugged.  "It's not like I'm tasking him to go underground and fix the sewer system."  He said.

Joshua was about to complain once more.  "I can do this task."  Joshua held his heart as he watched Jaemin put his phone on the kitchen table.

"Seriously, you need to start knocking."  Joshua folded his arms.  "You keep scaring me."  He continued with furrowed eyebrows.