#blood sweat and tears and the mv dropped the morning i was at uni at like 7.30am and i watched it on my laptop in the hallway screaming

[sandumilfshou]

me: yeah im not really into bts anymore i've moved on any song from hyyh, wings, or love yourself era: plays me: going hard or crying from nostalgia

[subjisoo]

Check In chapter 10

Words: 2.3k

Genre: ??? idk drama? angst? not sure yet lol

Synopsis: Seungcheol and his best friend Wonwoo have been running a small drug dealing business for the past two years, along with Wonwoo’s boyfriend Mingyu on the books and new recruit Hansol to manage the second hand shop they use as a cover story.

This Chapter: everyone hates Mikyung and Mingyu gets in touch with his cousin

Warnings: abelism, drugs

Author’s Note: based on the MV for Check In which I edited into a kind of trailer for this fic and u can watch it here.

Check In: chapter one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / read on ao3

Mingyu held his breath as soon as he woke up. He knew in his brain that Wonwoo wouldn’t be there, but that didn’t stop his heart from dropping when he found the bed cold. He turned over onto his back, duvet draped low on his hips and looked up at the ceiling.

“I just got him,” he said to the peeling paint.

After letting out a long sigh, he picked up on voices that were coming from the kitchen. He made to get out of bed and immediately grimaced at the sheen of sweat on his body and how it made the sheets stick to him. His night terrors were back.

He cursed Mikyung under his breath as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. There was an outline of his body in sweat on the bed and he grimaced again, standing and stripping the bed. Grabbing his dressing gown from a hook on the back of the door, he wrapped it around himself and stepped out into the hallway and over to the linen cupboard. He pulled out a new towel and slipped into the bathroom before Mikyung could catch sight of him.

Once the water was scalding hot, he got in and scrubbed his skin almost raw. When his skin was too sensitive to bear the water, he stepped out of the shower and patted himself dry, wincing around the areas he had focused on more. Back in his room, he threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt, trying to soothe his skin where patches of it were still red.

When he went out to the kitchen, Wonwoo and Mikyung were standing side by side in front of the stove.

“Morning,” he said as he walked to the fridge and stifled a yawn.

“Afternoon,” Wonwoo corrected him and Mikyung tutted.

“What’s the time?” Mingyu took the bottle of orange juice from the shelf.

“Half past one.”

Mingyu’s eyebrows shot up his forehead and he had to think around the curse word he wanted to blurt out. “Oops.” He grimaced. “Did I miss anything?”

Mikyung put some chopped up onions in the frying pan in front of Wonwoo, who poured some oil over them and started stirring them around.

“Not really. Do you remember waking up last night?” Wonwoo didn’t look up from the pan.

Mingyu shut his eyes and walked to sit at a stool, taking a glass of orange juice with him. He opened his eyes again when he was seated. “Nope.”

“You woke up last night.”

“No kidding.”

“You were crying too.”

Mingyu took a sip of his orange juice in place of a reply.

Mikyung spared Mingyu a look over her shoulder, her face surprisingly soft. “Are you hungry?”

“Uh, yeah. What are you making do you need any help?”

She smiled at him - a smile that was entirely Wonwoo’s - and shook her head. “We are making curry. You are sitting right there and leaving us to it.”

Mingyu narrowed his eyes at her back as she turned back to help Wonwoo with the rest of the curry. By the time they had finished, Mingyu’s stomach was rumbling.

“Should we sit on the deck?” Mikyung said, looking out at the balcony.

“Okay. Could you please get the plates, Eomma?”

Mikyung opened a few cupboards and Mingyu pointed to the one with the plates. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He stood and looked down at his empty glass. “Do you want anything to drink.”

Wonwoo, holding the frying pan full of curry in one hand and a bowl full of rice in the other, started to say “orange juice”, but Mikyung spoke over him.

“Water for us thank you.”

She went out to the balcony with the plates and cutlery. Mingyu gave Wonwoo a look that said “do you want orange juice” and Wonwoo returned it with one that said “she said water so I’m having water”. Mingyu got three glasses and filled a jug from the tap.

They started their meal more or less in silence, Mikyung at one point wiping the corner of Wonwoo’s mouth with her thumb. Wonwoo was the first to finish his food, leaning back in his chair and absent mindedly turning his fork over and over on his plate.

Mingyu had long grown used to the sound of Wonwoo’s fork against the plate; so much so that it barely registered. What took him by surprise was Mikyung’s hand shooting out and slamming the fork flat on the plate, Wonwoo’s hand pinned down. The action made such a sound that Mingyu leapt out of his seat.

Mikyung paid Mingyu no mind as she wrenched the fork from under Wonwoo’s hand and placed it by her own plate.

“Don’t be annoying.”

Mingyu, still standing, clenched his jaw. Wonwoo looked up at him and nodded towards his chair. After a second’s hesitation, Mingyu sat down again. He could feel his blood boiling in his veins.

Not wanting to be rude and further anger the beast, Mingyu quickly and politely finished his food, leaving Mikyung as the only one still eating.

“So how did the two of you meet?”

Mingyu was brought out of a stupor. “Sorry?”

“How did you meet Wonwoo?”

Mingyu looked to Wonwoo for help, but he was staring at his fork by his mother’s plate. Mingyu decided to tell the truth.

“We had mutual friends,” truth “and we all ended up going to a movie together” it was a blind date “Wonwoo and I got along well” they had sex in Mingyu’s dorm room “so we started hanging out” they had sex in Mingyu’s dorm room “and here we are.”

Mikyung nodded, swallowing and clearing her throat delicately. “What about Seungcheol?”

“Ah, I met him through Wonwoo.” He walked in on them having sex in Wonwoo’s dorm room.

Mingyu made eye contact with Wonwoo, whose mouth twitched in a trace of a smile. Their stories matched up.

As Mikyung made plans with Wonwoo to go to a museum together that afternoon, Mingyu cleared the table for them. He washed the dishes and put the leftover curry in a plastic container in the fridge, thinking it would be good for someone’s dinner.

As he dried his hands on a tea towel he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out to see he had a few texts piled up. He checked the texts from Hansol first.

[Received: Hansol, 9:51am] ya bois gonna be late to the shop today

[Received: Hansol, 9:52am] The Shop*

[Received: Hansol, 9:52am] Cheol says hi btw

He pulled up the keyboard to reply as Wonwoo and Mikyung walked through the living room into the hall way.

“We’re off to explore,” Mikyung explained.

Mingyu bit his tongue before he accidentally outed himself. “Okay, have fun.”

He stood watching the door for a few minutes after it closed, then turned back to his phone.

[Received: Sejoon, 2:43pm] Free now.

Mingyu didn’t like being alone so he got his wallet out of his room and descended the stairs to The Shop.

Hansol and Seungcheol were giggling and whispering behind the counter, Seungcheol practically sitting in Hansol’s lap. Seungcheol put his feet on the ground and stood up straight when he saw Mingyu.

“You look like hell, what happened?”

Hansol kept his hands on Seungcheol’s hips as he turned around to look at Mingyu over his shoulder. “Jesus, are you alright?”

Mingyu frowned at them. “Fuck you guys, I have night terrors.”

He tried not to notice the softening of their faces as he stamped around the counter to the door to the back room. With a hand on the handle, he turned to look at them. Both of them seemed concerned. His shoulders slumped.

“I’m fine, thanks for your concern. I gotta make a call.”

He tried not to slam the door behind him and fell into the chair closest to him. He reluctantly pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed the call option on Sejoon’s contact.

“Mingyu! How are you?”

Mingyu couldn’t help smiling at how happy his cousin sounded to be talking to him. “I’m doing alright, thanks. What about you?”

“Never been better. It’s been too long, what’s new?”

Mingyu let out a long sigh. “I don’t wanna take up too much of your time.”

“You could never. Plus I’ve got Kyungmin handling shit for the rest of the day so you don’t have to worry.”

He found himself unloading everything on Sejoon. He didn’t realise how much he was holding back until he let it all out; everything with Wonwoo and with Mikyung, the fact that his night terrors were back. Towards the end he felt himself tearing up and willed it away.

“Shit it feels good to get all of this off my chest. I mean I’ve got the others, but they’re too involved, you know?”

He could almost hear Sejoon’s understanding nod. “I get you. Any time you need me I’ll be there, you know that right?”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks.”

“No problem. Now what were you actually calling for?”

Mingyu had almost forgotten that he was calling him about the business and not just for a catch up. “Do you know of any drug dealers in my city?”

“You’re not getting into drugs, are you? Because you know it fucks you up.”

Mingyu laughed. “You run one of the biggest cartels in the country, how can you tell me not to do drugs?” “Never do your own shit, you heard that before?” Mingyu hummed the positive. “I go above and beyond; don’t do anyone’s shit.”

“Fair enough. I’m not doing drugs.”

“Good. Why do you need to know?”

“I may or may not be helping my boyfriend deal drugs.”

There was a pause. “I can’t tell if that’s better or worse.”

“I just run the books and shit, you know, because of what I learned from you.”

Sejoon sighed. “I knew it was a bad idea letting you in the meeting room. What kind of scale are you operating on?”

“Really small, we have like a hundred people on our list and all of them are uni kids. Plus it’s only weed.”

“You have a list for a hundred people?”

Mingyu’s face heated up. “We didn’t want it to get out of control.”

“Okay yeah, smart move. Wait, what was the question?”

“Are there any other drug dealers in my city?”

“Ah, right. Maybe a couple smaller ones but as far as I know most of the deals are overseen by some couple. The Lees, I think.”

Mingyu stood from his chair and moved back to the door. “One second I just gotta check that.” He held the phone speaker to his shoulder and opened the door, groaning when he caught Hansol and Seungcheol making out on the counter stool. “Guys, keep it professional for god’s sake.”

Hansol looked away, his neck going red as Seungcheol stood beside him and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Everything okay?” Seungcheol wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Would be better if you weren’t in each other’s pants during work hours. Holly?”

Hansol spun in his chair so fast he almost fell off it, grabbing onto Seungcheol to keep his balance. “Yeah?” his voice was choked.

“What was the name of the lady that came in here?”

“Lee Minji.”

“Cool thanks. You better not be fucking next time I come out here.” He shut the door behind him and sat back down again, putting the phone back to his ear. “Is one of the Lees called Minji?”

He heard Sejoon hit a table. “Yeah! Lee Minji, I forget her husband’s name.”

“Well I know for a fact that Minji turned up to our Shop and was looking around.”

“Shop?”

“We sell it out of the back room of a second hand store.”

Sejoon let out a low whistle. “Smart. What was she doing there?”

“I wasn’t there so I don’t know exact details.”

“Get me the kid who was there.” He thought for a second. “I assume it was a kid?”

“Two years younger.”

“Shit. Get him on.”

Mingyu opened the door without looking outside. “Put up the sign, I need you guys in here.”

He left the door open for them and sat back down, putting his phone on speaker in the middle of the table.

“Sejoon, this is Seungcheol and Hansol. Guys, this is my cousin Sejoon.”

Seungcheol plopped himself haphazardly in a chair. “Drug dealer cousin?”

“The very same,” Mingyu sighed.

“So who met Minji?” Sejoon asked.

“I did,” Hansol said, watching Mingyu anxiously.

“What did she say to you?”

“She just asked to buy some,” he paused for a second, “marijuana and then I said she wasn’t on the list and she kinda laughed at me and then left.”

“Was she alone?”

“No uh, there was a guy with a goatee with her.”

“That’s the husband.” Sejoon let out a long, deep sigh. “I’ll ask some questions but I don’t think you really have anything to worry about. It’s not like you’re out there trying to start a cartel with like fifty guys. How many are you?”

“Four,” Mingyu answered before Seungcheol could. “Wonwoo’s not in at the moment.”

“I really wouldn’t worry if I were you, Gyu. But for your peace of mind I’ll look into it.”

Mingyu saw Seungcheol and Hansol let out relieved sighs.

“Thanks, Sejoon.”

“No problem. Remember, any time you need me.”

Mingyu reached forwards and picked up his phone. “You too man. Talk to you soon.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

Mingyu hung up and put the phone back in his pocket, looking at the potted weed plants in the corner of the room.

“Guess now we wait.”