Let's Play a Game // Monsta X FF

Game 007 (2)

Jooheon shuddered at Minhyuk's sinister look, and for a second thought of the possibility of the other man being bipolar. He looked away to compose himself, and while doing so he saw Shownu, standing tall and strong, only a few metres away. The thought of help being only milliseconds away helped him calm down. He looked back to the waiting Minhyuk, trying not to flinch when he saw the other's intimidating stance.

"What were you looking at?" Minhyuk asked, voice surprising soft and calm, as if he actually cared, which Jooheon knew he probably didn't.

Minhyuk continued. "But that doesn't matter. What I want to say is, why would I tell you what I want? Besides, you can just let me win and still rush through the game, since you don't mind if you lose, right?" Minhyuk didn't move a muscle, but his voice was challenging enough to let Jooheon understand that Minhyuk wasn't joking around.

Jooheon surprised himself from forming a rebuttal almost immediately. "Yes I don't mind if I lose, we all don't. But we do mind if you keep fussing about not able to win, when we deliberately gave you more points so you can win. I mean, can you just leave us alone and stop fussing like a baby?"

Minhyuk stepped forward as if he was about to growl and pounce like a wild animal. Jooheon was starting to think this was getting slightly, if not, straight up ridiculous. But he knew that he could be the hunter, someone that could control this animal and make sense of this situation.

Minhyuk also looked like he ran out of arguments, so Jooheon continued, in an attempt to solve the problem and reach the purpose of this conversation.

"And if you tell me what you want, I might be able to help you get it, without winning the game." Jooheon skipped out the fact that they couldn't possibly be granted anything after winning a game, especially when the host was a psychopath. "That way, it's a win-win situation."

Everything Jooheon said so far reminded him of the dreadful days of writing persuasive speeches at school. At least now he realized how important those days were.

Minhyuk started shifting uncomfortably, a sign that he was defeated. He brushed away his bangs to reveal a sweaty forehead, and pretended to fix his hair, probably to buy time. Jooheon waited patiently, confident that the truth was going to reveal itself sooner or later. And he was right. Minhyuk eventually sighed and let his head and arms fall limply down his sides.

"Why does it have to be you?" Minhyuk said, so quietly that Jooheon almost missed it.

This was the first question that Jooheon had no answer for. "What?" Was the only thing he could manage. He edged closer to listen better.

"I mean," Minhyuk looked up so quickly it startled Jooheon. "Why does it have to be you, out of all the people? It would be so much easier to shout and scare them away and get my way if it was someone else. Why do you have to be the person that wanted to talk to me?"

Jooheon was so confused to see the dread on Minhyuk's face. He was starting to worry how true his hypothesis was, about Minhyuk being bipolar. There was a debate between staying and looking for help, but he was quite certain that Minhyuk couldn't do anything harmful in the state he was currently in.

However, the confusion from the context of Minhyuk's question still went unsolved. Jooheon still had no idea what the other was talking about, or what he was hearing in that matter.

"Come on Minhyuk, you're not making sense." Jooheon said softly, placing a hand on Minhyuk's shoulder. "I wanted to talk to you to make things better for us, not just me, but everyone else, including you. And why would other people be easier to scare away? If anything, I should be the one that is easiest to scare. Trust me, I'm the biggest coward you've ever met in your whole life." Jooheon said, hoping to lighten the mood.