Chapter 104 (1/1)

Wednesday speeds by and the kids are in the van once more for school today.  Minghao looked at the absence of Woozi.  His space was vacant next to Seokmin.  Now that Yeosang is totally moved into the house, he decided that they would go to school each morning together.  There was an option for Seokmin to tag along too, but the dove wanted to stick to the other kids. It didn't really make that much of a difference.  Woozi still got to school on time and could enjoy the morning with talking to just Yeosang in the younger's vehicle.  But for some reason, the loss of another sibling in the van made Minghao inwardly sigh.  If anyone would ask, he would answer with it being difficult at head count.  Not a whole lie.. His mind then jumped back to Dino as he saw the boy on his phone in the rearview mirror.  "You know, I just remembered something,"  Minghao said as He turned down the music, "why did Shownu try hurting you?"  He asked. "Oh,”  Dino put his phone down, "he said something about me kissing Meiqi on the roof.  But that's all he said before Renjun stepped in the way."  He said, looking at the others. Mingyu hummed and looked at Seungkwan.  "Why don't you ask around?  See what the other students know?"  He suggested to the diva. "I'm not talking to you."  Seungkwan said, looking out the window rather than at the older sibling. Jun sighed and looked at Seungkwan.  "Seungkwan, if you're dating Jongho, you already have Jeonghan's consent."  He stated in a matter-of-fact tone.  "We're over it and we're not going to bother you about it, okay?  I'm happy that you have found someone that likes you back."  He said with a smile. Seungkwan slowly looked back.  "Honest?"  He looked at the others. "Seriously, Jongho is annoying."  Seokmin started.  "But I'm not going to make fun of you.  I mean, I like Sungjae."  He chuckled. Wonwoo nodded.  "That is quite.. peculiar.."  He held his chin teasingly. "Alright.."  Seungkwan submitted.  "I'll ask around and see what's up.  Jongho's a gossiper too."  He included. Dino smiled and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.  "Thanks.. I'd like to know what happened to make my boy get all protective over me."  He chuckled. "I'm just surprised he didn't get injured."  Minghao commented, turning into the parking lot. Dino kept a fake smile and shrugged.  "Renjun's strong.."  He lied.  "Well, everyone be good.  I'm going to the gallery now."  Minghao said, turning off the engine.

They all got out of the van one-by-one.  Seungkwan casually took out his phone, texting Jongho to meet him at lunch time.  Seokmin saw Yeosang's car followed by the two walking on the sidewalk.  He caught up to them. "Hey,"  He put himself on the other side of the younger crow, "how was the drive?"  He asked. "Didn't have to hear Seungkwan complain about his dream being too unrealistic, so pretty good."  Woozi replied with a laugh. Seokmin held his bag straps on his shoulders.  "Seungkwan's gonna find out why Shownu wanted to hurt Dino."  He mentioned. "Damn, if I wouldn't get in trouble, I'd beat the shit out of that guy."  Yeosang said, putting a hand through his blonde hair. Seokmin widened his eyes.  "Did you do an overnight bleach or something?"  He asked in shock. "Yeah, Woozi said he'd like it."  He replied. Woozi looked to the side while blushing madly.  "Anyway, I'll see you two in the study room."  Yeosang said before going down a different sidewalk. He walked into the dojo to see San hugging Mingi with a cute smile.  He smiled softly and went into the student's changing room.

Meanwhile, Seungcheol looks up from his paperwork.  "Come in,"  He said at the knock at the door.  A young male comes in, but a male that was recently hired.  "You wanted to see me?"  Jeno asked, closing the door behind him. Seungcheol smiled and showed the seat in front of him.  "Have a seat,"  He requested, "I have some things I want to talk to you about."  He said. Jeno sat down and put his hands together.  "What is it, Sir?"  He asked with a concerned eye. "I've been looking at your progress sheet, as I always do with new employees for the first month."  Seungcheol started, seeing the younger purse his lips a bit. "Is there something wrong with it, Sir?"  Jeno asked. Seungcheol shook his head.  "No, you're doing relatively well.  Which employee from suite five would you say helped the most out of your training?"  He asked. "Hoshi helped a lot.."  Jeno thought back.  "The others just seemed like they wanted to get back to their desks like they were in the middle of a solitaire match."  He commented. Seungcheol hummed and crossed his leg under the table.  "And how have the employees been acting while working?"  He asked. "Eunhyuk and Changmin like to play around a lot.."  Jeno answered honestly.  "But I think they get their jobs done pretty well.  As for Hoshi, I think he might be taking his job a little too seriously."  He said, thinking of the tiger. Seungcheol nodded.  "Good observation,"  He said, "I think Hoshi's working for a promotion rather than just for the job."  He theorized. Jeno lifted his eyebrows.  "I see.. What do I need to do about it?"  He asked. "I need you to casually talk about what he does during the day."  Seungcheol requested.  "At the end of each day, just ask him for the highlights.  Say it's for learning reasons."  He smiled. Jeno nodded and stood up.  "Is that all you needed me for, Sir?"  He asked. "Yes, thank you."  He waved. The man bowed and exited Seungcheol's office.

*** At lunch time, Seungkwan sits at a table in the cafeteria.  He taps on the table quietly as he waits for the other male to get there.  He saw Dino walk up to his table with his tray.  "I hope you don't mind, there's literally nowhere else to sit."  Dino said. Seungkwan looked at the packed room.  Every table was filled.  "I wonder what's going on.."  He muttered. "Something about the art department holding an exhibit..  Minghao could only tell me briefly about it.."  Dino said, separating his chopsticks. Seungkwan hummed and held his arms.  "Damn this boy likes to be late.."  He muttered.

A few minutes pass by and Jongho makes it to the table with his tray full of food.  "Sorry, there's a long line."  Jongho sat down across from Seungkwan.  "Hey, Dino."  He waved. Dino smiled and waved back.  "So,"  Seungkwan started, "what do you know about Shownu?  Why did he suddenly come to the bakery class and threaten Dino?"  He asked. Jongho looked around and leaned in.  "Rumor has it, Meiqi and Shownu broke up."  He said. Seungkwan widened his eyes.  "No way."  He held his mouth. "And it wasn't just the typical Shownu found someone else."  Jongho included before picking up his apple.  "She said that she was tired of his crap and rather someone nicer like Dino."  He said, snapping the apple in half.  Seungkwan sat back and looked at the food.  "That must be it, he must have jumped to conclusions.."  He said. "And with your play a couple weeks ago, students are really starting to be suspicious."  Jongho included.  "They're digging into the kidnapping incident and reporters who are stationed in America were said to have flooded Sungjae with questions."  He said, handing Seungkwan one of the halves. Seungkwan bit down on the apple and looked at Dino.  "The play didn't hurt you, right?"  Seungkwan asked. "I still can't remember anything.."  Dino said.  "It doesn't hurt when I try thinking about it.. It's like when you know the title of a song, but you can't remember it exactly."  He scratched his neck. Jongho cleared his throat.  "And this morning, I heard that Shownu punched a hole through a wall when a classmate asked why he beat up a minor."  He stated, getting a raised eyebrow from Seungkwan. "Who did he beat up?"  Seungkwan asked. "He shoved Renjun to the floor,"  Jongho replied, "a friend of mine saw the whole thing.  His arm was definitely damaged, she said."  He explained.

Seungkwan looked at Dino.  The younger sighed.  "I didn't want to include that part at the table the other day.. He already felt bad that he couldn't stand up against Shownu."  He said, looking down at the table. "I see..  So Shownu is mad that all of the crap is coming back to him, huh?"  Seungkwan smirked.  "His fingerprints were in the tunnel, for whatever recreational thing he wanted to do.  But Sungjae said that he also found DNA from Sunghyun at the Seoul station."  He stated. Jongho widened his eyes.  "So you think.." "We might have to reopen this case."  Seungkwan said.  "Yeosang said that Haechan was dead in the maintenance tram.  He was already going through the stages, no way he could have been just passed out with a small heart rate."  He said confidently. Dino put down his chopsticks.  "Maybe I should have picked a different table to eat at.."  He muttered. Jongho folded his arms and looked at his food.  "Dahyun wasn't just sick, either.  She told me she had pneumonia and was underweight."  He said. "There's definitely something fishy going on.."  Seungkwan put the apple core down on his tray.  "Thanks for the info."  He smiled. Jongho nodded and smiled back.  "Anything for my sunbae."  His expression was soft and cute. Seungkwan smirked and shook his head.  "Woozi is still working on the songs, but the actors are almost finished with the script.  The drama should be able to be done by.. maybe the seventeenth.."  He estimated. "Wonwoo-hyung's birthday."  Dino smiled.  "I'm sure he'd like to watch some drama that day."  He laughed. "Especially since he can imagine it being Jae getting worked."  He slapped his thigh.

*** Minghao looked at all the traffic in the art building.  He nervously tapped his foot and bit his lip.  He felt a hand on his shoulder and he fought jumping.  He turned around and saw his teacher. "I have to leave for the hospital, my son is having a hard time breathing."  He said.  "I trust you and Tzuyu will take care of the exhibit while I'm gone?"  He asked with desperate eyes. Minghao sighed.  "If I can find her.  I haven't seen her since this morning."  He said.  "We'll do our best, Sir."  He bowed. The teacher patted his back before hurrying away.  Minghao looked around again, finally spotting the girl talking to some visitors.  He sighed and watched the people walk away before he walked up to her. "Where have you been?"  He asked with an upset tone. The girl shyly put her hands behind her back.  "I was walking some elderly upstairs and then I got caught in conversations.."  She said with a self-disappointed expression. Minghao nodded and looked at the guests.  "Well I'm glad you were busy with work rather than just ditching this place."  He said.  "Our teacher left for some emergency things and he put us two in charge."  He mentioned. "Oh, really?"  She looked up at him.  "So I'm like.. your assistant?"  She said with a blushy smile. Minghao saw the girl's smile.  He saw past the friendly smile and saw the obvious flirting in her eyes.  "Sure, assistant.."  Minghao wasn't interested though.  The other siblings have made him disinterested in having a significant other.  "Please round the other students up to help give information about the paintings.  I'm going to the front to hand out flyers." She bowed and watched him walk away.  Minghao stepped outside and looked at the people coming in.  This is a community college, nothing like those fancy universities in the big cities.  However, Minghao and his teacher have made quite a reputation in Seoul. Fancy people coming from the bigger cities were coming here to look at his class's art.  They see how the students improved from when they first came to the class versus how they are now.  It's like an evaluation.  Minghao sees Shownu approaching.  "Hey,"  The taller walked up to him, "what's going on in there?"  He asked, pointing to the art building. The Chinese male narrowed his eyes.  "Your father is the admin of this school, shouldn't you be briefed on all of the events that go down each day?"  He asked, watching students walking around. "Just because he's super into everything, doesn't mean I am too."  Shownu said with attitude.  "Got a problem with me asking?"  He asked, obviously showing his muscles through his tight, gray shirt. Minghao rolled his eyes.  "Yes, I do.  There are actual people here that want to know information about the gallery and you're halting me doing so."  He said, folding his arms. "So I'm not an actual person then?"  Shownu raised an eyebrow. "No, you're some idiot who thinks it's cute to kidnap my siblings and beat up a kid."  Minghao returned.  "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get to work."  He said, walking around the boulder. Shownu grabbed the thin boy's arm tightly.  "I didn't kidnap your fucking siblings."  He said. "No?  Sure seems like a lot of kids are thinking so."  Minghao said, looking at Shownu right in the eyes.  "And with your little outburst with Renjun, I'd say even more kids will turn against you and reopen the case you and your father tucked under the bed." Shownu's grip tightened, his nails digging deep into Minghao's skin. "That's enough,"  A security man came by, "I watched what happened.  Please let go of Minghao."  Minghao recognized the man to be Jongsuk, the man who went through the van a little while ago. The taller looked at the sunglasses the man had on plus the taser and gun he had on.  He took his hand back and stomped off.  "Are you okay?"  Jongsuk asked, taking his sunglasses off. Minghao nodded.  "I'm fine.. Please keep an eye on Shownu, he's been acting up lately."  He requested. Jongsuk hummed as he put his sunglasses back down.  "Rumor has it,"  He looked around, "Shownu is acting this way because he's guilty."  He whispered. "Guilty?"  Minghao raised an eyebrow. "It's just a theory, but many suspect that Haechan never moved,"  Jongsuk said, "some students think that Shownu used his bare hands to take him out."  He said with a raised eyebrow.

Minghao's legs wobble a little.  "I.. I think I need to sit down for a little while.."  He said, walking back inside and spotting Tzuyu. "Hey,"  She looked up at him, "what's up?"  She asked when he handed the flyers to her. "I need to take a break."  Minghao said. She looked at him with worried eyes.  "Do.. you need a hug?"  She asked.

At this point, Minghao could care less if she had a crush on him and that a hug could lead to dating.  He just knew that he needed one.  "Yeah.."  He muttered, letting her put his arms around him. She didn't quite know what was going on, but she did feel his shoulders shaking.  "Are you crying?"  She asked, pulling back to look at him in shock. "No.."  He lied, "I'll be back soon.  Take care of things while I'm gone please."  He said before leaving her with the flyers.  

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