It's Hee's Lift Now | An ENHA + TXT Fic

33: House of Cards

"With the help of a lot of hyungs," Heeseung grinned.

Sunghoon suddenly spun around, falling to his knees beside the toilet. He relentlessly vomited as Heeseung laid towels at the foot of the bathroom door, trying to block out the smell of tteokbokki.

"I hate this," Sunghoon whimpered. "I can't smell food without getting nauseous."

"It's okay." Heeseung stroked the younger boy's forehead, keeping his bangs out of his eyes. "You did your best today. I'm so proud of you."

***

"Uh, Heeseung hyung...?" Ni-ki stared at the older boy. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Heeseung leaned against the kitchen counter, studying his shriveled-up orchid.

"You can't water a plant that's already dead."

"It's... It's salvageable." Heeseung misted his dead flower, hoping to bring back the exuberant yellow it radiated back when Namjoon first gifted it to him.

"Soobin hyung! Heeseung hyung's being weird again!" Ni-ki flashed him a cheeky grin before disappearing into a bedroom.

Soobin entered the kitchen, exasperated. "Heeseung, we talked about this. You act weird when you're stressed."

He steered the boy away from the counter. "Leave the flower alone."

"I was just checking the taser," Heeseung insisted. "Making sure it's still there. We're lucky I wrapped the vase with construction paper, so the police captain and his soldiers missed it two days ago."

Soobin sighed, dropping his head. "I forgot Beomgyu stole a taser."

He cracked his knuckles threateningly. "Where is he anyway?"

Beomgyu fell off the couch in the living room. "Uh... Yeonjun hyung? Yeonjun hyung, I need protection!"

He ran into a bedroom, sprinting out seconds later. "I forgot Yeonjun hyung's at his radio interview. Jay! Jay, help!"

Heeseung grinned, watching Beomgyu chase Jay around the dorm. The front door suddenly opened, and Kai strode in without saying a word. Everyone stilled, picking up on the strange mood of their happiest member.

"Kai." Jake hovered around the older boy, trying to gain his attention. "Kai, please, look at me. I said I'm sorry."

Kai rolled his eyes, ignoring Jake's presence. Daniel and Yeonjun entered the dorm behind the two boys, their faces that of awkward bystanders.

"You're being really unfair right now." Jake crossed his arms. "It's my life. You don't get to judge what I do."

"Then don't keep me around." Kai spun on his heel, heading back towards the door. "I didn't ask you to be my friend."

Jake followed him. "Where are you going?"

"I dunno. Somewhere you're not." Kai left the dorm without another word.

Jake buried his face in his hands. He slowly crouched down as quiet sobs filled the room.

"That was the calmest fight I've ever seen," Ni-ki remarked. He resumed playing video games on Heeseung's Nintendo Switch.

Sunghoon shot the boy a chastising glance before kneeling beside Jake. "What happened?" He asked softly.

"The stupid radio interview. I shouldn't have asked Kai to come."

"Why?"

"The MC made me play the violin."

Sunghoon winced. "Oh. I'm so sorry."