"No, but I will. Someday I will."
Chan hummed and squeezed Minho's knee in a comforting way. "I asked Felix about it but he just wouldn't open his mouth. Even Changbin swore that he couldn't get any information out about him from Felix."
Of course it wasn't going anywhere. Since the last time Minho saw him a year ago, none of his plans been going straight. All of his investigation getting to a dead end.
As much as the evidence proved him being betrayed, a part of him just never believed anything.
He remained a mystery to him.
Han Jisung.
"Thanks, Chan. I'll take things from here."
"Anytime, mate."
Minho then stood up, dusting his pants a little. "I'll head home now."
He was about to leave when a sudden thought popped in his head. "Oh also! Seungmin is sleeping in the guest room. Let him sleep for a while more."
Chan nodded, saying that it wasn't a problem.
And they bid goodbyes for the day, promising to keep in touch.
Driving past the city, Minho approached his mansion-like home. Before getting in the car, he had checked his phone once to check the mails and the text from his mother had instantly caught his attention. "Come home before 10 am, son. We'll be having guests."
Sighing, he kept on driving till he got home, an uneasy feeling settled at the back of his head. When he entered the house, the clock was displaying approximately 9:30 am. "I'm home."
Mrs Lee appeared as soon as she heard her son enter the house. "Morning, Minho! Did you enjoy?" She sweetly asked while escorting her son to the living room.
Minho followed her without hesitation, letting out a small "Yeah" in between.
"Did you eat? I actually prepared a special breakfast for everyone and wanted you to eat with us and the guests." they were now sitting beside each other on the couch, Minho's right hand being softly held by the older woman.
"I haven't," Minho replied. "Who are coming and where's dad?"
"Your dad is in his study room, probably preparing some paperworks for later today."
"Mom." Minho spoke in a stern tone to grab his mother's attention. "I asked who the guests are."
The unsettling feeling of something bad coming just wasn't leaving his guts and it was really bothering him at that point.
Mrs Lee smiled, a smile that almost confused Minho, a small smile that held both hope and grimace.
"Minjae is coming with her daughter. We'll be fixing a date for your and Nori's engagement today." It pained Minho more to realize that his eyes had actually widened at his mother's words, to realize that his heart still held onto some sort of hope of never facing this day.
"On your engagement, we'll be announcing you as one of the directors of Lee Corporations too." It pained Minho to realize he was stuck in a hellhole.
Was there really no escape?
An expensive black car, its exterior shining at the bright sun outside, could be seen entering the Lee mansion. Soon it parked in front of the front door of the house for two stunningly beautiful ladies to step out of the vehicle, entering the house right after with big glistening smiles.
Minho stood by the big window frame in his room, hands lazily resting inside the jacket pockets.
He sighed, knowing very well he'd have to go downstairs now to greet the guests that had just entered. His unwelcomed guests.
Minho made his way downstairs. He saw, with a blank face, how his mom and dad were already receiving their soon-to-be relatives with a warm heart, a warm smile falling on each person's features.
Amidst all those beautiful smiles, did Minho's singular grim expression even matter?
At least to himself, it didn't.
"Good morning, aunt Minjae." He greeted, approaching the crowd. The blank face not faltering at how enthusiastic the older woman sounded while greeting back.
"Omg, look at you! I couldn't have been happier knowing my son-in-law will be such a fine man."
"Oh c'mon, Minjae! As if our Nori is any less beautiful." Mrs Lee laughed along with her friend.
"Hello, Minho. It's nice to see you again." Nori flashed a sweet and elegant smile towards the older male.
The said guy glanced at her direction only to nod a little and excusing himself inside with everyone else. Nori stood there dumbfounded for a while before also rushing inside to catch up with the others.
Minho ate in silence as the adults around him kept on catching up on all the gossips. He was sat directly across Nori, both of them having their mothers sitting beside them.
Minho's dad occupied the head chair. The sitting position made it awkward for him to look up as it would force him to make eye contact with the girl in front of him, who was stealing glances at him every now and then.
"I think it's time we talked about the important topic." Minho's dad spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "I have already decided that for Minho and Nori's engagement, the upcoming weekend will be great. The project that Minho had been working on had a great success and to celebrate that we're also going to announce his promotion as a director."
Minho side-eyed Nori, noticing how her eyes lit up at the mention of the good news. He silently scoffed, rolling his eyes to focus on his father again.
"As we don't have much time left, it's better to start preparing quickly. I hope you'll cooperate with everything son?"
Engagement; an official conformation for two people in love to get settled for a life time. But they weren't two people in love.
He wished his possible significant other were a stranger for all the hateful feelings he was feeling towards the other. He hated feeling that way.
He looked around to see his parents' hopeful eyes staring deep into his soul. Whether the other party realized or not, those eyes were Minho's weakness, a place where he could never refuse.
"I will, dad."
It began. The beginning of his end.
Minho could hear the piercing silence of the future from miles away.
...
⚠️mention of self harm⚠️
The sun had set.
Minho was back in his room, changing out of the formal clothes he had been wearing whole day into something comfortable.
He had just come back from the office where he had to settle for work as it was his first day at this office. It could have been better, Minho could swear the day should've been better, but the shitty starting had ruined it all.
Sighing, he took the pieces of formal clothing off of his body, throwing them in the laundry in his bathroom.
He stepped into the rush of hot water, trying to get rid of all the negative emotions surrounding him at the moment.
Everything felt so tiring, Minho felt so exhausted that even his breath leaving his body felt like an extreme job. He softly held his face in his hands, caressing it as though to clean it off of dirts.
The shower head kept relentlessly pouring water onto the poor body of the fragile male as slowly, soft sobs started to escape his mouth.
The muffled sound of pain echoed throughout the bathroom. As more time passed, the sounds got louder.
Minho banged his hands on the tiled wall in front of him. Each strike felt so weak that he kept on hitting it without a sign of stopping, as if the stronger he'd hit, the less painful it'll be inside his chest.
He didn't care if it hurt. It did indeed hurt, how could it not when the once delicate hands were covered in untreated blade cuts?
His screams of agony echoed in the four walls of the small bathroom.
The comfortable shower water drenched him from head to toe, not only in his tears but also the relentless downpour of red liquid.
A relentless downfall of blood that streamed down his wounded hands to the white tiled floor.
His screams of agony never leaving the four walls of the small bathroom.
A/N
I was just reading the prologue and laughed thinking how close I was to giving this book a sad ending.
But rest assured, I'm writing the ending atm and it's definitely not a sad one ;)