Super Junior Secret Santa!

Drumroll....

2009-12-24T04:27:37Z

The moment you've all been waiting for -- the list of who wrote for whom!

jhengchie wrote for convicted_eyes
terraforensis wrote for faithgrowsold
hoyah wrote for kwonmisun
godchild1134 wrote for tees2mai
giinnnzz wrote for ajikto
hotarumyst wrote for kpoppin
olebade wrote for hotarumyst
mad_goth_freak wrote for mayshy
baby_buggs wrote for syusuke_kun31
urei_sachi wrote for terraforensis
kwonmisun wrote for miangel_zezchic
xoxo_nat_xx wrote for aeri_iijiri
kat_elric wrote for yunsias

einji wrote for lil_aqua_chic
meiface wrote for lovelessending
hakkais_shadow wrote for mad_goth_freak
azukarr23 wrote for cinnamonz
mayshy wrote for omona_shi
happytgt wrote for hachi08
redbird_13 wrote for happytgt
merashun wrote for xrosepetalsx
misterricalx wrote for jhengchie
at_rainbows_end wrote for meiface
dragons_desire wrote for katsudono
miangel_zezchic wrote for merashun
kittypoker wrote for leunah23

convicted_eyes wrote for ricecakestar
sandboxskyline wrote for lemondalemons
quickable wrote for quixotic_notes
beanova_ wrote for olebade
yeonah wrote for xelfishx
thundersquall wrote for dragons_desire
jishu wrote for kittypoker
baaadbsk wrote for xoxo_nat_xx
hachi08 wrote for azukarr23
ajikto wrote for ha3ngbok
fantasylove4ev wrote for godchild1134
black_goose wrote for at_rainbows_end
zawie wrote for kat_elric

quixotic_notes wrote for xrosepetalsx
xelfishx wrote for xaephyr
cairistiona wrote for quickable
katsudono wrote for onewhomust
lil_aqua_chic wrote for redbird_13
geurigo wrote for hakkais_shadow
onewhomust wrote for black_goose
aeri_iijiri wrote for yeonah
syusuke_kun31 wrote for cutepear
ha3ngbok wrote for einji
domestik_fucker wrote for urei_sachi
ddangkkoma wrote for fabriclies
leunah23 wrote for giinnnzz

cutepear wrote for misterricalx
omona_shi wrote for baaadbsk
cinnamonzz wrote for beanova_
faithgrowsold wrote for hoyah
lovelessending wrote for thundersquall
xrosepetalsx wrote for geurigo
mytigerhobbes wrote for sandboxskyline
kpoppin wrote for jishu
xaephyr wrote for fantasylove4ev
yunsias wrote for zawie
ricecakestar wrote for ddangkkoma
darleenk wrote for cairistiona
thundersquall wrote for baby_buggs
mytigerhobbes wrote for domestik_fucker

This is the biggest Secret Santa exchange the Suju fandom has seen since 2006! To think this started as a silly idea I posed on kpopficwangst that somehow ended up happening! Much love to all the anons in that original thread who showed the amount of enthusiasm they did. Together, yes we can!! ;D

Thanks to the miracle mods for granting access to this comm <3 and thanks so, so much to darleenk and thundersquall for agreeing to fill in at the last minute! (And I'm extremely sorry that sandboxskyline and domestik_fucker had to receive shabbily put-together fic from myself.) You have my heart.

Hope you all had fun, and happy holidays! Make sure to read as many fics as you can--there are a whopping 66 of them.

love,

Suju Santa

domestik_fucker

2009-12-23T23:52:13Z

For: domestik_fucker
Title: Happiness is a Warm Gun
Pairing: Hankyung/Yesung
Category: 1920s gangster AU, schmoop as requested
Summary: Early morning distraction from work.

Happiness is a Warm Gun

Hankyung adjusts his necktie, throws on his favorite white hat with the narrow brim, grabs his briefcase (just for show, really—he keeps his gun pressed against his chest), and checks his image in the reflection of his pocket watch. “Good,” he says, pressing his lips together firmly. He has one foot out the door when he feels an arm tug on the hem of his blazer and pull him back in. “What is it? I’ve already fed the turtle,” he says while turning around to face a mischievous and bright-eyed Jongwoon. How he managed to creep up from behind so surreptitiously is a mystery to Hankyung, who prides himself on owning the reflexes of a mongoose.

“That’s not it, hyung.” Jongwoon spins him around so that they’re facing each other. He cups Hankyung’s face between his immaculately small hands, and Hankyung represses a smirk when he feels the soft skin against his cheek.

“You can’t possibly be thinking of that,” Hankyung murmurs, not missing the fog in Jongwoon’s heavily lidded eyes. “I’m already late for work.”

“Which neighborhood are you terrorizing today?” Jongwoon frowns. “Fine. Leave me alone. Like everyone always does.”

“The neighbor’s kid Ryeowook that you had to babysit that one time? The one who ditched you at the candy store after he’d demanded to go in in the first place? He was kidnapped. That doesn’t count, Jongwoon.” Hankyung spits onto a finger and smoothes out one end of his mustache. “Lucky for you I had a bullet left that day, or else we woulda had to call the cops.”

Jongwoon laughs, low and husky, in just the way that’s always sent piano-scale chills down Hankyung’s back. Suddenly dealing out bribery and eviction threats doesn’t seem so pressing. What’s in a job? Life is short.

He wraps one deft arm around Jongwoon and dips him, cheesy and romantic like they do in the new sound movies. “Put on some Bessie Smith, will you? God, you’ve gotten me all frisky.”

Jongwoon disappears into the guest room, and a second later smooth jazz drifts into the hallway like a lazy dream. Hankyung closes his eyes and imagines he’s sucking on a sweet caramel. Or something else.

He feels one hand groping at the bulge in his pants and another trying to undress him. “Darling,” Hankyung opens his eyes and swats away the latter hand. “I’ll take off my own coat. You get working on the champ below.”

The good thing about Jongwoon is he takes orders well, but the best part about Jongwoon is Hankyung doesn’t even need to give them. Most of the time Jongwoon understands exactly how Hankyung likes to be handled, the way he likes his balls to be fondled while Jongwoon moves his mouth up and down his cock. Jongwoon knows Hankyung likes to have the handgun close by at all times and isn’t put off when Hankyung fires into the air just as he comes deep into Jongwoon’s throat. He knows the curse that escapes Hankyung’s lips as he sinks limp into his chair doesn’t sound like Korean because it isn’t.

And Jongwoon knows well how quickly it is all over, because at the end of the day, Hankyung has a job to do, hard cash to earn. Every second lost could amount to another pinky finger being cut off by the boss—Park Jungsoo, was that his name? Oh, but he looks so mild-mannered Jongwoon sometimes forgets that Jungsoo’s the one who shot a steel rod through Kim Heechul’s leg.

Hankyung takes a plainly embroidered handkerchief from his suit pocket and wipes carelessly at the corner of Jongwoon’s mouth. He turns the stained handkerchief to its original owner and picks up his hat from the floor. “There you go. Was that good for you too?”

Jongwoon licks his lips in response. “Better than breakfast. Now go before Park Jungsoo puts you on crutches.”

--

I apologize for failing at your prompts D:

baby_buggs

2009-12-23T21:34:10Z

For: baby_buggs

Title: The Sound Of A Heartbreak

Pairing: Kyuhyun/Donghae

Category: Romance, angst

Summary: Donghae thinks about his years of friendship with Kyuhyun, and his unrequited love.

A/N: For baby_buggs ! I’m sorry this came late, but Santa contacted me yesterday to let me know that your original writer couldn’t submit hers on time, and I agreed to help Santa out and write this. I hope you like this somewhat, even though it’s probably terribly rushed, and I didn’t have much time for it. Merry Christmas! ♥

i.

Whenever Donghae closes his eyes, he can recall without any effort, this boy he met when he was 16.

He was in high school, and he'd been chasing Hyukjae around all day, because Hyukjae had stolen something from him - Donghae can't even remember what anymore, probably his food or his track shoes out of his locker - and when he'd finally caught up with Hyukjae, the both of them had burst into a music room, laughing and wrestling with each other, only to realise that they'd run in on someone, someone who was, quite clearly, practicing singing, with sheets of music scattered in front of him and a microphone stand.

"Eek," had been all Hyukjae said, before he turned and ran, leaving Donghae to bow and stammer apologies.

"That's all right," the boy had said, shaking back unruly black curls from his face to reveal deep soulful eyes, and Donghae had paused, staring for a most inappropriate amount of time. Then he'd realised that the boy was staring back at him, only now there was a frown on his face and his full lips were pressed into a thin and most unattractive line. It was astounding how unattractive a handsome boy could look, especially when he was angry.

Then it sank in, and Donghae backed out of the room as quickly as he could, stuttering garbled sorry to disturb you's and closing the door.

He didn't move from his spot, though he didn't exactly know why. He hung around, telling himself that he was waiting for Hyukjae (though, to be quite honest, Hyukjae had no reason to come back this way). Then he heard the first strains of music starting, and before long the boy's voice came floating out to him, smooth and rich and deep, wrapping around Donghae like a soothing blanket. He leaned back against the door, closing his eyes and allowing the notes to wash over him.

Donghae remembers that as the point where he decided that he needed to know more about this boy.

ii.

Donghae found out that the boy's name was Kyuhyun, that he was a math genius, that he was a talented singer (well, he'd already known that anyway), and that he was also one of the most aloof people in the school. This was one of the advantages of knowing Heechul, Donghae thought; Heechul knew everyone and everything.

He took to hanging around outside the music rooms on days when he knew Kyuhyun would be there, listening to him sing, until one day when Kyuhyun came out after a practice and saw Donghae lounging outside for the umpteenth time, and asked him, rolling his eyes, why he was always there.

"I like listening to you sing, that's all," Donghae had told him, and it had made Kyuhyun's cheeks colour.

iii.

They'd grown close, over the months that remained of the school year, despite the inauspicious start to their friendship, and Donghae remembers one time where they were sitting out in the grounds, on the football field, Donghae still sweaty and muddy from football practice, and they'd been talking and laughing, like they always had. It was different from the kind of friendship he had with Hyukjae, but it was a nice kind of different, even if Donghae couldn't really pinpoint why.

He remembers it because halfway through, Kyuhyun had put an arm around him, not minding his dirty jersey, and had sung something, a melody low and soft and sweet, and it was probably because Donghae had demanded that he sing (Donghae liked to demand that at random times). The way Kyuhyun held him was different from the way Hyukjae held him; with Hyukjae, it was comfortable and casual and Donghae would sometimes shrug his arm off in mock disgust, teasing and bantering. WIth Kyuhyun, he felt like he never wanted Kyuhyun's arm off him, and when Kyuhyun drew back, Donghae had felt just the slightest bit disappointed.

That was probably when Donghae realised the difference between Hyukjae and Kyuhyun; Hyukjae was his best friend in the world, but Kyuhyun was the person he was in love with.

iv.

Love is pathetic, Donghae decides.

It’s pathetic because when you kiss him for the first time, it takes a while before you realize that he’s not kissing back.

That was what happened to Donghae, the day before Kyuhyun was due to leave for Seoul, because they were in Kyuhyun’s house, slightly tipsy from alcohol they’d sneaked from Kyuhyun’s father’s fully-stocked wine fridge, to celebrate their high school graduation, and the fact that Kyuhyun had been accepted into a prestigious university there, majoring in math.

Donghae hadn’t gotten anywhere, but that was okay, because all he wanted to do was dance, anyway, and he could do that now because he’d gotten a job as a dance instructor, in a reputable academy. It was all good, Donghae had thought, they were both on the paths in their lives that they wanted, even if it meant he would be separated from Kyuhyun, but Kyuhyun had promised that it’d just be for a few years.

Donghae could wait, but what couldn’t wait was what he’d wanted to tell Kyuhyun, something he’d been holding back for months, until he realized Kyuhyun was leaving him. And so he had leaned over, and kissed Kyuhyun, his lips soft and full against his own, and it had taken all of five seconds before Kyuhyun had pushed him away gently.

“I’m sorry, Donghae, I like you a lot, but… not in that way,” he said, eyes shifting away, and Donghae heard the sound of his heart breaking.

Love also makes you pathetic, Donghae thinks when he remembers the aftermath of that, him crying his eyes out later when Kyuhyun was fast asleep on his bed, with Donghae lying on the spare mattress on the floor, and he had to stuff his fist into his mouth, biting down hard to muffle his sobs and not wake Kyuhyun.

The next day, when Kyuhyun had left, they'd hugged, but Kyuhyun said nothing about Donghae’s swollen, red-rimmed eyes, or the deep bite marks on his knuckles.

v.

Donghae remembers that in the beginning, they used to write to each other a lot.

There’d be a letter from Kyuhyun, at least once a week, sometimes maybe twice, and Donghae would tear it open with shaky hands, eyes greedily devouring Kyuhyun’s untidy scrawl, eating up Kyuhyun’s account of university life, classes, new friends, but Donghae was glad, because he was still writing, so he hadn’t forgotten him for these new people.

He’d always write back, telling him about his job and how wonderful it was, glossing over the nastier aspects of it – twisted ankles, bruises, students trying to get fresh with him. It didn’t really matter to him how crappy his job was, anyway. It was just something to get him through until Kyuhyun came back to him again, and then they could do something together. Donghae had visions of himself moving to Seoul, perhaps joining another dance academy there, perhaps trying out for one of the entertainment companies and becoming a star – Kyuhyun would be so proud of him.

But then the letters dwindled, to once every two weeks, then once every month, then hardly ever at all, and Donghae tried to tell himself that Kyuhyun was busy and that university life was tougher than he’d made it out to be.

He continued writing to Kyuhyun every week, long after he’d given up on a reply.

vi.

Hi Donghae,

I’m sorry I haven’t written for so long, but I have my reasons for it. I know I’ve been a terrible friend, not replying to your letters for so long, but I think you’ll understand why when I tell you.

I’m not sure how to say this, so I’ll just be direct about it. I’ve met someone here, in school, and we’ve been dating for a while. She’s a wonderful girl, I think you’ll like her when you meet her. And you have to meet her, because we’re getting married, after graduation. And Donghae, you’re my best friend, I want you to be at my wedding, as my best man…

vii.

She’s a wonderful girl, just as Kyuhyun had said. Seohyun, that’s her name, and she’s pretty and sweet and just perfect for Kyuhyun.

Donghae stands in the church, waiting at the altar with Kyuhyun as Seohyun walks slowly down the aisle towards them, and the look on Kyuhyun’s face, the sparkle in his eyes, that’s something Donghae has never ever seen throughout the years he’s been with Kyuhyun.

The pair of rings he carries for them in his breast pocket, next to his heart, seem much too heavy for a couple of small metal circlets. And when he finally takes them out and puts them shakily into Kyuhyun’s palm, watching as Kyuhyun slides one onto Seohyun’s finger and Seohyun does the same for him, he feels the tears welling up, and he wipes furiously at his eyes with the heel of his hand.

Later, after the ceremony, Kyuhyun hugs him and thanks him, laughing at him for being so sentimental, and Donghae laughs back through his sobs, holding him close and trying to ignore how Kyuhyun’s still holding on to Seohyun’s hand with the arm that’s not hugging Donghae.

“I love you, Donghae, and thank you for being here for me,” Kyuhyun whispers into his ear with that beautiful voice of his, and Donghae wonders why his words taste so bitter and sound so much like his heart shattering, before he realizes that it’s just his own tears sliding into his mouth, tinged with the taste of his heartbreak.

And he wishes he was 16 again, and had never met or known Cho Kyuhyun.

xxprincesscazxx

2009-12-22T18:09:21Z

For: cairistiona

Title: Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Pairing: Qmi, HanChul

Category: Magical crack AU.

Summary: Zhou Mi is a fairy who leaves his magical life behind for a mortal one on Earth, and meets two very special people on the way. ~6000 words.

A/N: I apologise for the fail of this fic, I really do. I didn’t actually sign up for the exchange but at 11PM on the 20th, Santa contacted me about a mix-up in which you weren’t going to get any fic, so I volunteered to write it for you. I’ve had literally two days, but I hope you find this okay. :D

Once upon a time, there was a boy called Zhou Mi.

And Zhou Mi was a fairy.

--

The day Zhou Mi met Heechul was the most important day of his life, although he wouldn’t have thought it at the time. He was fresh out of Fairy Academy, only two weeks since graduation, and he’d tucked all of his Wands safely in the top drawer of his bedside table. His main Wand was still sparking from the last time he’d used it, and oh, it would be the last time – he’d sworn it as he’d whipped it out of his sleeve and produced a pile of money out of thin air. He’d needed an apartment and paying the rent every month was just troublesome so he’d bought it up front, but it was The Last Time. Definitely.

Zhou Mi wasn’t going to be like all of those other fairies who sat around getting obese and disgusting while their magic manipulated the world around them. Heavens no. He’d always tried to rely on himself, because as his mother had always said, a busy wand breeds an idle soul, and besides, it wasn’t like the entire world was completely oblivious or anything. They were bound to notice magic, and getting hunted down and burnt on a stake wasn’t high on Zhou Mi’s list of priorities. Flipping humans and their witch trials.

It was Zhou Mi’s first day of med school when the girl with long red hair sitting next to him started snorting and stifling laughter into her hands. Zhou Mi bit his lip and looked down quickly to check his appearance, but no, he looked fine. Rather dashing really, so he concluded that she had to be laughing at someone else.

It was when she spoke that Zhou Mi realised that she was in fact a he, and he was in fact, laughing at the lecturer. “Look,” said the guy, landing an elbow to Zhou Mi’s solar plexus. Zhou Mi let out an oof and raised a questioning eyebrow, glancing around furtively to make sure nobody knew they were talking. “Look at the lecturer, she’s wearing fucking elf shoes.”

Zhou Mi frowned at the guy and puffed himself up a little. The elves were a proud and noble race, if a bit on the small side, and were not deserving of any mocking—

“Oh goodness,” Zhou Mi said, catching sight of the shoes in question. He deflated, all righteous indignation disappearing because wow, those were elf shoes, almost as if they’d been plucked from the feet from the Elf Princess herself, all buckled and shining and curly-toed. And yellow. Banana yellow.

“Fucking unfortunate, right?” The guy bent over, his shoulders shaking, and a few muffled giggles reached Zhou Mi’s ears.

“Please shush,” Zhou Mi said, but the laughter started getting to him and pretty soon he had his head in his hands, trying desperately to stop the gales of laughter forcing their way out through the gaps of his fingers, but then he’d look at the shoes or he’d look at the other guy’s face and it would start him off again.

At the end of the class (in which Zhou Mi learned approximately nothing), the guy caught Zhou Mi’s arm before he could hurry back to his apartment. “I’m Heechul,” he said, with what he probably thought was a winning smile but was actually more of a deranged grimace. “Future surgeon. Maybe.”

“Zhou Mi. Future—“ Zhou Mi stopped because he hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. “Future anything?”

“It’s been a delight,” Heechul said, his eyes flashing, and Zhou Mi beamed at him.

“The pleasure’s all mine.”

--

In retrospect, Zhou Mi still couldn’t find anything particularly remarkable about that day. Aside from the nerves and the First-Day-itis, which a nice cup of hot chocolate had cured later on, it had been ordinary. Completely ordinary. He’d made a new friend, and they’d gone to buy a few drinks and Zhou Mi had cracked and sprinkled a few extra chocolate flakes on his hot chocolate using his magic, but Heechul hadn’t seen. Neither had anyone else, and maybe Zhou Mi had overestimated these humans powers of observation because, really, he’d done it in full view of everyone.

That being said, Zhou Mi liked Heechul. He was catty and bitchy and hilarious, and he had the most gorgeous hair Zhou Mi had ever laid eyes on. He might have felt mean about how much they made fun of Professor Elf Shoes over their drinks if she hadn’t turned out to be such a nasty lady. All the joy in her heart was clearly concentrated in her shoes because she was vicious, and it wasn’t only that: she’d taken an instant dislike to Heechul and Zhou Mi. Heechul swore up and down that it was prejudice but Zhou Mi privately thought she’d seen them hooting with laughter at her. In fairness, it was hard to miss it, especially as the laughter had continued when with each passing day she’d be wearing another pair of monstrosities on her feet.

It took only two weeks for Heechul to introduce Zhou Mi to the rest of his friends. There was Siwon who carried a Bible around with him and was prone to start religious debates with Heechul all the time; there was Hankyung, and Zhou Mi had to wonder if he and Heechul had a thing going on, and there was Kangin. Kangin didn’t really talk much, but he was growing a beard, and would only say that it was a bet he was determined to win. Very mysterious, was Kangin.

Zhou Mi was always tempted to have a snip at that beard with his magic, but he was still trying to uphold the No Magic Vow and it seemed pretty trivial to trim beards with it. It wasn’t important like making really great hot chocolate or floating cats down from trees.

Heechul moved in with Zhou Mi after Zhou Mi had discovered he’d been living in a truly dire apartment with only three rooms and what Zhou Mi strongly suspected was a centipede infestation. Heechul insisted that the centipedes made great companions and he enjoyed talking to them, and also, Hankyung loved centipedes, he couldn’t possibly move out, but Zhou Mi insisted, and Heechul found himself living in a centipede-free apartment. In fact, the entire place was completely free of insects of any species, size or gender, largely thanks to the magical force field Zhou Mi had cast with the Platinum Wand when he’d first moved in.

“Thanks,” Heechul mumbled, so quiet it almost couldn’t be heard.

Zhou Mi picked up Heechul’s bags and started carrying them to his new bedroom. “You’re welcome!”

--

Heechul didn’t have to pay rent exactly. It was more what he called, paying his way because although Zhou Mi had proclaimed loudly that, “You’re a friend, Heechul! I will not accept monetary tokens from you!” Heechul was not under any circumstances being a freeloader – his words, not Zhou Mi’s – and so Zhou Mi had relented.

It was purely by stunning good luck, and maybe a pinch of Good Luck magic, that Heechul and Zhou Mi had managed to land jobs at the same hospital. Heechul had chosen not to follow the surgery path, because he’d have to deal with blood and gore and mess, which was Not Cool. Instead he’d turned to Oncology, shaking off Kangin and Siwon’s protests: “Your beside manner isn’t good enough, Heechul! You’ll scare all your patients to death!”

Hankyung had said, “You’ll be amazing, Heechul,” and that had been enough. Zhou Mi couldn’t really fathom why they weren’t together when they were practically married, but it wasn’t his place to match make. That was Cupid’s job, but maybe Zhou Mi would send him an angry, yet well structured letter about exactly how he was slacking in his duties anyway.

It was when Heechul introduced Zhou Mi to Kyuhyun that Zhou Mi considered giving every single penny back to him, plus interest, because oh my goodness, Kyuhyun was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen.

“Yo, Zhou Mi,” Heechul called, while Zhou Mi was still collecting his dessert at the end of the lunch line. “I’m at the back of the room. Come meet Kyuhyun.”

Zhou Mi attracted a fair few glares as he wandered to the back – “Could your girlfriend get any louder, Legs?” – which he ignored, shooting an irritated glance at the room at large himself.

He stopped dead as he saw the guy Heechul was talking to. Almost immediately, any greeting he was about to say hurtled up his throat and became a garbled mess in his mouth, so when Heechul said, “This is Kyuhyun,” all Zhou Mi could reply with was, “… It’s very nice to meet you, Kyuhyun, absolutely wonderful.” Which would have been great except his brain-to-mouth filter failed on him, and he said it all in Chinese.

“Umm,” said Kyuhyun, looking uncomfortable. He turned to Heechul and whispered, “You didn’t tell me he was foreign,” but Zhou Mi heard him loud and clear. Enhanced hearing was both a blessing and a curse.

Zhou Mi coughed to clear his throat of those pesky words. He waved his hand to dispel the stream of tiny pink sparkles flowing out of his mouth, not even bothering to hope that nobody would notice, because they never did.

Except how Kyuhyun was giving him a look that somehow managed to convey, what the hell was that? and you freak all at the same time.

“Hello, Kui Xian,” Zhou Mi said, clearly. Without stuttering even once.

“It’s Kyuhyun, not Kui Xian,” Kyuhyun said, looking pained.

Zhou Mi tried to keep the anguish off his face. “I—sorry?”

Heechul cut in with a loud cough before Zhou Mi could embarrass himself further, and Zhou Mi thanked the heavens that he had such a good friend. “Sit down, Zhou Mi, before you fall down.”

Zhou Mi mentally withdrew that thanks and huffed at Heechul.

“I assure you, my legs are perfectly stable, but thank you for your concern.” He sat down opposite from Kyuhyun, examining the table for graffiti and marks so he didn’t have to make eye contact.

“So…” Heechul said, glancing around the table expectantly. He was met with silence. “Well, don’t all talk at once, you chatty bitches.” He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. He seemed determined to stay as stubbornly silent as everyone else.

About a minute passed during which time Zhou Mi read about a woman called Sohee and her undying love for a man called Changmin, and he listened to Kyuhyun’s fingers tapping just a few inches outside his line of vision.

“Oh fuck it,” Heechul said finally, tearing a piece off his cake and throwing it at Zhou Mi’s head, which, even though it was impossible to miss at such close range, was diverted with just a thought on Zhou Mi’s part, and it flew past his ear. This earned Zhou Mi another puzzled frown from Kyuhyun, and even though his stomach fluttered pleasantly, he was also struck by the thought that if Heechul decided to keep this one around, Zhou Mi would have to tone down the magic. A lot.

“Zhou Mi, this is Kyuhyun, Kyuhyun this is Zhou Mi. Kyuhyun works in A&E with all the car crash victims, Zhou Mi is in paediatrics with the annoying brats. I hope you two have a beautiful conversation because—“ Heechul grabbed his beeper and shut it up, “—I have to go and administer some emergency treatment. If you’ll excuse me.” With that, he leaped up from the table and sprinted out of the cafeteria. Nobody even lifted their heads, and a few seconds later, someone else ran out after him. It was the norm for people to have to leave immediately at any given time, dropping anything and everything for their patients.

It was why Zhou Mi had wanted to be a doctor after leaving the Academy. What on earth was the use of Wands when you couldn’t even use them in public? How would private magic help anyone?

“Not much of a talker, are you?” Kyuhyun said suddenly, stabbing his food with a chopstick rather sadistically in Zhou Mi’s opinion.

Zhou Mi smiled, eyes down. “I could say the same about you.”

Kyuhyun made a little noise that sounded like snerk and they both continued eating in silence. If Zhou Mi didn’t once look in Kyuhyun’s direction, it wasn’t like they’d ever have to speak to each other again. Zhou Mi could admire him from afar in the corridors or something. Write odes to his good looks in the privacy of his apartment. It was all good.

Later, after he’d finished his shift, Zhou Mi turned on his mobile after he left the hospital. He had only one text and sadly, or maybe not so sadly, it was from Heechul and it read, WE’RE KEEPING HIM.

--

They became a threesome of a sort. When Heechul wasn’t off doing whatever he did with Hankyung, that was. Kyuhyun and Heechul’s mutual sarcasm and contempt for pretty much everything except what Heechul termed ‘their favourites’ had brought them together, and Zhou Mi was just going along for the ride. Although Kyuhyun scoffed at Heechul’s terminology, Zhou Mi was surprised to find that he had actually become one of Kyuhyun’s favourites, even with the whole starstruck thing Zhou Mi still had going on. Two years on and he was still pretty much enthralled with Kyuhyun, and no amount of Heechul ragging on him was going to change that.

“You know what, Heechul?” Zhou Mi had raged eventually. “I’m happy being the unrequited lover here, contrary to popular belief. So will you just sod off?”

Heechul’s jaw had dropped at the pseudo-cursing. Usually the worst thing to leave Zhou Mi’s lips would be, ‘oh my good gosh, Heechul,’ and Zhou Mi actually felt quite ashamed. Not ashamed enough to back down though because this had gone on long enough, and Heechul was going to find himself turned into a small animal one of these days.

“Alright, Zhou Mi. I’ll stop it,” he’d said, and Zhou Mi had predictably been able to enjoy a week and a half of peace before it started up again.

It was all Kyuhyun’s fault anyway. If he wasn’t so snarky and unapproachable, maybe Zhou Mi would have told him by now. Maybe. Or maybe he was just doomed to be ridiculously in love with Kyuhyun for the rest of his life. Zhou Mi supposed it wouldn’t be that bad, considering he’d opted for a mortal lifespan when he’d first come to Earth. Sixty years of bittersweet suffering and then death.

“Stop being such an emo shit,” Heechul said distractedly, curled up in the comfiest armchair, reading through a patient’s files. “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I’m really fucking sick of listening to your Juliette-esque whining. Kyuhyun. Is. Into. You. A blind man could see it, except you’re too busy writing freaking poetry to open your eyes.”

Zhou Mi opened his mouth to defend his poetry, and then closed it with a snap. “What?”

“You heard me,” Heechul said, looking up from his papers with a smirk. “His obsession with your sunshine smile and your forever legs often keeps me awake until the early hours of the morning. I swear to Christ, if he phones me again at 11PM to rant, I’m going to go round his house and stab him right in the neck.”

Zhou Mi promptly imagined Heechul doing just that and shuddered, before the seriousness of the situation impressed itself upon him. “Wait. I—oh goodness. Kui Xian—“

“—is just as much of an idiot as you, yes,” said Heechul. “Now for god’s sake, will you do something about it? I want to move in with Hankyung and I feel now I can without you drowning in your own angst—“

Zhou Mi cut him off by running out of the room and grabbing his coat, but before he left the house he made a flying leap at Heechul and clung to him, hard.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the best,” Heechul said, patting Zhou Mi on the back. “Who knew betraying Kyuhyun’s trust would have such good results?”

“You’re an awful human being.” Zhou Mi gave Heechul perhaps the biggest smile he’d ever produced before and sprinted into his bedroom. He grabbed the Platinum Wand from the drawer and used it to transport himself outside Kyuhyun’s house, tucking it into his coat pocket, still sparking and humming.

He rang the doorbell once, then once more, and then a final time for good luck. He stood there on Kyuhyun’s doorstep in the middle of winter and felt the warmth of their shared love heating him up from the inside. It was hard to repress embarrassing rounds of giggles, and if Kyuhyun didn’t hurry up, Zhou Mi was going to sing through the letterbox or something.

Finally, Kyuhyun opened the door with a scowl. “It’s pretty fucking late, you know—oh, hey, Zhou Mi.” His expression transformed into a lovesick grin, and Zhou Mi had to wonder how he’d never seen it before.

Unbidden, Heechul’s voice popped into his head, saying, Maybe if you’d actually look at each other at the same time you’d both have realised sooner.

“Come in,” Kyuhyun said, still wearing that same indulgent smile, and Zhou Mi realised his legs weren’t quite working properly and all he could do was gaze in wonder like one of Cupid’s arrows had just landed right in his heart.

Always quick on the uptake, realisation dawned on Kyuhyun’s face. “Oh, no,” he said, his eyebrows drawing together in an angry sulk. “That bastard Heechul told you, didn’t he? He did, didn’t he? I’m going to fucking stab him in the neck.” And he actually cracked his knuckles.

“Is it true?” Zhou Mi asked, turning imploring eyes on Kyuhyun. His voice cracked on the last word against his will, and he put his hand in his pocket, held onto the Platinum Wand for assurance or luck or something; he didn’t know.

Kyuhyun visibly softened, relaxing against the doorframe. He rubbed a hand across his face and said, “Yeah, Zhou Mi, it’s true. But you don’t have to—you know, pretend like you feel the same, because I can deal, really, and—“

“Oh my gosh, shut up, Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi said, pushing his way into the house, closing the door behind him. It was warm inside, but Kyuhyun’s body was warmer as Zhou Mi pressed close to him. “Heechul’s right, we’re both idiots.”

“Heechul’s always right,” Kyuhyun said, blinking up at him. “Does this mean—“

“Would you just shut up and fucking kiss me?” Zhou Mi hoped against hope and waited for Kyuhyun to recover from the shock of his cursing. Kyuhyun only took a moment before he slammed Zhou Mi against the opposite wall, kissing him harsh and wet and needy, and Zhou Mi had to cup his face and slow him down.

“It’s like you’ve ensorcelled me or something,” Kyuhyun said, mouthing up Zhou Mi’s neck. “I can’t think around you.” Zhou Mi ignored the painful ache in his chest and brought Kyuhyun’s mouth back up to his.

“Bedroom now,” he said, and Kyuhyun almost broke his legs trying to get them both up the stairs as one collective being.

--

Later, lying satiated in Kyuhyun’s bed, Zhou Mi sent out love-soaked telepathic messages to his mother and a few of his old friends in the Fairy Academy.

Next to him, Kyuhyun said, “Zhou Mi, your come tastes like sugar. Do you shoot rainbows out of your ass too?” Zhou Mi smothered a laugh and rolled over and kissed all the words out of Kyuhyun’s mouth before he could say anything else.

And to stop himself from confessing all to Kyuhyun just a few minutes after they’d made it to fourth base.

--

Heechul moved out only a few weeks later. It was a Saturday and the doorbell rang, and when Zhou Mi answered it Hankyung was on the doorstep wearing the most ridiculously fluffy coat Zhou Mi had ever seen and a ridiculously large smile.

There was the sound of things smashing and heavy objects hitting the walls, and then Heechul bustled past carrying approximately twenty bags and suitcases. “Out of my way, Legs,” he said self-importantly, using that silly nickname he’d picked up from the hospital, which Zhou Mi absolutely abhorred.

“Where are you going, Heechul?” Zhou Mi asked, even though it wasn’t necessary. Heechul thrived on those type of questions.

“Hankyung and I are eloping to Canada,” he announced, as though declaring that it was going to be bright with cloudy spells today, and Zhou Mi felt like his eyes were going to protrude a solid inch from his skull he’d widened them so much. “We’ll be back in two weeks, after the honeymoon in Mauritius.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zhou Mi said, feeling mildly offended and more than a little upset.

Heechul sighed and dropped his bags into Hankyung’s arms, ignoring Hankyung’s resulting stagger so he could use his now free arms to wrap Zhou Mi in a tight hug. “I’d love to have you there, Zhou Mi. You and Kyuhyun are my best friends, but we could only afford three tickets.”

Zhou Mi sniffled into Heechul’s shoulder. “Three?”

“One for me, one for Hankyung, and one for Henry.”

“Henry?”

“Little Chinese kid, he’s doing his work experience at the hospital. Did you know he’s also an ordained minister?”

Zhou Mi pulled away just so he could give Heechul a look of awe, straight on. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“I’m magic,” Heechul said, breaking away, heaving half his bags up and staggering down the stairs of their apartment building.

“Yes,” Zhou Mi said quietly as he waved Heechul goodbye, making a mental note to use a Wand to make his marriage as smooth and perfect as possible. “You’re one of the most magical people I’ve ever known.”

--

In retrospect, Zhou Mi should have known Heechul would arrange something like this for when he moved out, whether it was to get married or just to live elsewhere with the person he loved. The fact was, he wasn’t going to leave Zhou Mi alone - not ever - and that was how Zhou Mi ended up sharing a house with Kyuhyun, as though he’d been living there all his life.

“Heechul bullied me into it,” Kyuhyun said, putting his toothbrush next to Zhou Mi’s so the heads touched, but Zhou Mi knew it would take more than Heechul’s particular brand of persuasion to convince Kyuhyun to coexist with someone.

Which meant that Zhou Mi was very special to Kyuhyun indeed, and that thought alone made his heart sing. Zhou Mi told it to shush before Kyuhyun heard something.

It took only a few days for Kyuhyun’s stuff to mingle with Zhou Mi’s. And wasn’t that weird? Stuff. Random people stuff that everyone had and it all seemed useless but really wasn’t. Like how Heechul took all the floss when he left and Zhou Mi didn’t realise how much he depended on that floss before he ate a peach and got some of it stuck in his teeth. Or how Heechul had taken his exercise DVDs out of the cabinet when Zhou Mi went on a two-day get-fit kick and hadn’t wanted to use his magic to pay for gym equipment.

It was okay though, because Kyuhyun had toothpicks and he also had one of those fold-up non-electrical treadmills that Zhou Mi found fascinating. He was filling in all the gaps in Zhou Mi’s life that could only be filled by another person, including the one on the right-hand side of his bed.

Lying on the left with Kyuhyun tucked under his arm on the right, Zhou Mi thought it was fate that neither of them could manage to sleep any other way.

--

After a few days of this, it became apparent to Zhou Mi that he’d have to tell Kyuhyun about the magic soon. He was sharing a bed with the guy. They ate every meal together. After every shift, Kyuhyun would be there to pick up his phone and talk about the day no matter what time it was. They hadn’t said ‘I love you’ but it was understood.

It was just hard. Every time Zhou Mi opened his mouth, he imagined a few outcomes, and each of them were just as unfavourable as the last. Kyuhyun calling him a liar, Kyuhyun calling him a freak. Kyuhyun calling him a freakish liar.

Zhou Mi wanted to imagine that Kyuhyun would clap his hands and ask for a demonstration, but that seems to be so far out of the realms of possibility that his brain was point-black refusing to cooperate.

It just so happened that Kyuhyun did not need Zhou Mi to tell him about the whole fairy thing, that he was not actually an idiot, and that Zhou Mi really needed to start locking his drawers. Especially when he was keeping flipping Wands in there.

The first indicator was the coffee. Zhou Mi came home from work on one very unsuspecting, average day during which he sent two healthy children back home and floated one cat down from a tree, only to find Kyuhyun sitting on the sofa, head down. The TV wasn’t on. Kyuhyun was nursing a cup of coffee, even though he hated coffee; said it gave him the jitters and he was already wired enough.

“I—Kyuhyun?” Zhou Mi dumped his coat on the spare armchair; hovered in the middle of the room, worrying at his bottom lip.

“When were you going to tell me?” Kyuhyun said, so low Zhou Mi almost couldn’t hear him.

Zhou Mi swallowed as his heartbeat thundered in his ears. “Tell you what?”

“About the fucking magic, Zhou Mi.” Kyuhyun sat up, slamming his coffee mug on the table so hard that little brown drops splashed over the surface. Zhou Mi thought wildly that if he didn’t clean it up soon it would leave a ring on the wood.

“There’s no such thing—“

Kyuhyun stood up, making vague motions in the air in front of him. “I found fucking wands in your bedside table, Zhou Mi! Wands!”

Something on the sofa caught Zhou Mi’s eye, and he saw it, that silly, silly drawer filled with silly, silly Wands. There was a plummeting sensation in his chest that Zhou Mi had never felt before. “They’re fake,” he said firmly. “They’re sex toys.”

“Oh, really,” said Kyuhyun, nodding in a quick, exaggerated fashion. “Sex toys that spark when you touch them. Sex toys made out of china and wood and fucking gold. Sex toys with very official looking documents in a folder underneath them that have your name on them.” Kyuhyun paused and considered Zhou Mi. “I’m not an idiot, even though it feels like I am, or like I’m going crazy half the time around you. You’ve got some sort of—trickery or power, I don’t know, but I’ve felt it ever since we first met, and Zhou Mi… I need to know if you’ve put a spell on me.”

And Zhou Mi felt for the first time that Kyuhyun had gone too far.

“So that’s what you think of me, is it?” Zhou Mi took a step forward. Turned around and stepped back into place; an awkward little dance. “You honestly believe that I’d fucking mindrape you like that?” he said, his voice reaching dizzying volume.

“I—“ Kyuhyun let his head drop into his hands. “You lied to me, Zhou Mi.” His voice sounded brittle and Zhou Mi wished he’d had the courage to tell Kyuhyun before it all hit the fan like this. Wished he hadn’t been such a coward.

“To stop this from happening,” he croaked, fighting the urge to pull Kyuhyun’s hands from his face and envelop him in a hug. “I’m a fairy, Kyuhyun. Tell me you wouldn’t have thought I was insane, or you were, or both of us, even with me conjuring objects out of nowhere just to prove it to you.”

“I sort of think I’ve gone mad already,” Kyuhyun said with a laugh that didn’t really sound like a laugh at all. “The hot chocolate.” Kyuhyun finally lifted his head, looking at Zhou Mi with new understanding. “The hot chocolate and how even in places that don’t serve it with chocolate flakes, you always have some.”

“Chocolate flakes are important.”

Kyuhyun snorted. “And saving cats from trees?”

“And saving cats from trees.”

“Zhou Mi,” Kyuhyun said, and his eyes seemed to clear, as though they’d been concealed by clouds of magic and only now was he finally seeing Zhou Mi again. “Show me?”

Zhou Mi knew it was the wonder temporarily taking over the anger, but he wasn’t about to spoil it. “I’ll need the Platinum Wand if you want anything big,” he said, picking up the Wand from the drawer.

“Why?” Kyuhyun eyed the Wand warily. “I’ve seen you summon remote controls and shit, although it was out of the corner of my eye. I’m pretty sure there was no inconspicuous wand-waving.”

“In the Fairy Academy—“ Zhou Mi paused to allow Kyuhyun to scoff, “—with each year that passes you earn a new and better wand, with the capacity to perform greater feats than the last. There’s the Wooden Wand, and the Plastic Wand, and… I think the Aluminium Wand is next? Anyway, you get to the Platinum Wand in the end. I was eighteen when I got it, and a few days later I locked it in that very drawer and told myself it was The Last Time.”

“And was it?”

Zhou Mi sighed, and ran a finger up the side of the Platinum Wand. “I’ve had so many Last Times, Kyuhyun, but there’d always be that lacking cup of hot chocolate, you know?”

“There’s always going to be something lacking in the world. There’s a reason why we—most of us can’t just magic things perfect.” There was a strange look in Kyuhyun’s eyes and Zhou Mi couldn’t decipher it.

“I know. It’s why I keep them tucked away.” Zhou Mi considered the matter. “I probably should have tucked them away a bit more securely.”

Kyuhyun sat down on the sofa, resting his head on the cushions, his eyes closing. “I’m not sure I want to see magic anymore. Not right now.”

Zhou Mi gingerly sat down next to him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Fuck, this is just— weird. It’s very weird. I’m going to need some time.”

The plummeting feeling in Zhou Mi’s chest turned into more of a skydive. “Oh. Oh, I see. Well, I’ll help you pack your stuff—“

Kyuhyun grabbed him by the arm. “What? No! No, you idiot, no! I’m not going anywhere.” He trailed his hand up Zhou Mi’s arm until it was resting on his shoulder. “This… doesn’t have to change anything.”

Hope bloomed sudden and bright in Zhou Mi’s world. “It doesn’t?”

Kyuhyun grinned. “Well, I’m going to be expecting more extras in my beverages from now on but—“

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Zhou Mi dropped his head so Kyuhyun wouldn’t see him blinking back the tears, but then there was a hand underneath his chin, tilting Zhou Mi’s face up and Kyuhyun had never looked so magical before.

“You’re an amazing sap,” he whispered, leaning in, “but I guess I love you anyway.”

There was a blinding flash, and confetti and flower petals started falling from the ceiling, rainbow lights flickering all over the walls and Kyuhyun let out a loud cry, almost flailing out of his seat.

Zhou Mi realised he still had the Platinum Wand in his hand.

“… Sorry?”

“Oh my fucking god,” Kyuhyun said, breathing hard. He started to laugh, bending double; he laughed in high-pitched giggles and choked gasps, and then groaned as his stomach began cramping. Zhou Mi just watched him with what he imagined was probably the sappiest smile the world had ever seen, but oh gosh, who cared?

After a while, Kyuhyun’s laughter faded. He straightened up and took Zhou Mi’s hand, looking as though he was going to say something, but then frowned and tilted his head every which way.

“Zhou Mi,” he said, “do you hear anything?”

“Oh, that,” Zhou Mi said, squeezing Kyuhyun’s hand. “That’s just the sound of my heart singing.”

--

Zhou Mi woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. He rolled over to look at the alarm clock, then said, “Oh goodness,” and jammed his head under the pillow.

Kyuhyun let out an unintelligible grunt and grabbed the phone. “Who the fuck is this and why are you calling at 4AM?”

Something clicked in Zhou Mi’s brain. There was only one person who would call them at that time of the morning.

“Heechul!”

There was a sudden flurry at the other side of the bed, as Kyuhyun struggled up out of the covers, flapping his hand at Zhou Mi to shush him. “Heechul?”

Zhou Mi vibrated in place as the indistinguishable telephone voice buzzed in Kyuhyun’s ear.

“He wants to speak to you,” Kyuhyun said, pushing the phone into Zhou Mi’s hands. “Fucking favouritism.”

“Shut up, Kyuhyun,” Heechul said into Zhou Mi’s ear. He sounded happier than Zhou Mi had ever heard him.

“How’s married life?” he asked, unable to hold back the goofy grin at the thought of Heechul in an apron, all domestic bliss and loving household.

“Zhou Mi!” Zhou Mi could practically hear Heechul beaming down the phone, and wow, he knew he was one of Heechul’s favourites, but this… Suddenly, Zhou Mi missed his best friend. They hadn’t gone this long without talking since they’d met, but with all the drama with Kyuhyun he hadn’t really thought about Heechul marrying the love of his life in a tiny church in Canada.

“How was the wedding?” he said, feeling guilty. “Don’t skive on the details.”

Kyuhyun scrambled over, pressing his ear to the other side of the phone. ‘What?’ he mouthed when Zhou Mi gave him a look.

Heechul let out a long, contended sigh down the phone. “It was… perfect. Almost magical, actually. Flawless. I don’t know. I wish you both could have been there.”

Kyuhyun’s mouth dropped open slightly, then turned into a positively gleeful grin. “You didn’t,” he said, laughing slightly. “You didn’t.”

“I did,” Zhou Mi said, ignoring Heechul saying, did what? over and over.

“Oh my god,” Kyuhyun said, lunging for Zhou Mi, bestowing a long, drawn-out kiss on his lips. “You are something else.”

--

Once upon a time there was a man called Zhou Mi, and he was a fairy, and he met the two best friends he’d ever have and they were called Heechul and Kyuhyun. Heechul ran off to Canada with his One True Love Hankyung, and Kyuhyun stayed behind with Zhou Mi. Zhou Mi found someone to trust completely, with all his secrets and all his magic, and finally, everything was perfect.

And they all lived happily ever after.

ddangkkoma

2009-12-22T04:56:11Z

For: ddangkkoma
Title: The Boy and the Prince
Pairing: Ryeowook/Yehsung
Category: Fluff/Romance (could also be Friendship)
Summary: Ryeowook remembers when he met Jongwoon. Meanwhile said person decides to intrude upon his musings.

How long had it been since he had met Yehsung? Hmm, it had been warm… Oh, now he remembered the day. Not that he could forget.

He had been 12 years old at the time, so he didn’t have many tasks to do around the Western Palace, other than tailing after the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, of which his mother was part. He disliked it very much; the ladies did nothing much but talk over floral tea, and inquire about things he found unimportant (like this one’s new jade bracelet or necklace of the most lovely agate).

The only talk of theirs he found interesting was when they would whisper amongst themselves about the Emperor and the Queen’s youngest son, who was rarely brought out into plain sight. But they never talked about him much, so he was left bored most of the time. When they weren’t gossiping, they were embroidering, and even then, they seemed to find endless topics to discuss.

So one afternoon, when he had gotten tired of watching his mother and the other ladies-in-waiting sewing, he crept out of their leisure chambers and ran off to the only place in the palace he knew would not be filled with unending chatter: The garden.

Being raised in the palace had its perks; he knew the hidden paths and spaces he could use to escape somewhere without getting caught by the palace guards. It was always troublesome to run into the security, especially since they would just escort him back to the ladies’ chambers, where he would have to endure meaningless twittering.

Ryeowook felt his breath escape his lungs in a relaxed sigh. The gardens were his favourite place to be, other than the stables where the horses were kept. The stable hands often paid no mind to his visits, and didn’t rat him out so long as he didn’t interfere with their work or cause mischief.

He let himself fall on his back onto a patch of soft grass shaded overhead by a plum flower tree with widespread branches. The faint chirping of the songbirds was enough sound for him to still be able to bask in the pleasant overall quietness, his eyes slowly closing.

Well, until something landed on him suddenly. Rather, somebody landed on him.

He shot up, clutching his stomach as a rather loud “Ugh!” escaped from his mouth. His eyes opened quickly, irritation at being disturbed after he had just been able to relax after escaping flickering back and forth between his chocolate orbs.

Surprise almost instantly took place of that irritation once he saw who it was that had interrupted him.

A young boy with raven hair and a complexion that reminded him of ivory stuck into a hearth for a few short moments. He didn’t look that much older than him, and was a bit chubby in the face. The majority of his arms were lost in the billowy layers of thin coloured silk that were his sleeves, and the rest of him was clothed in equally voluminous trousers and an over-garment made of expensive looking silk brocade with patterns doled out in swirls and flowers of gold thread, all in the vibrant colours of the summer.

A thin circlet of braided gold sat on top of his disheveled jet hair, a little crooked from his fall.

Ryeowook only remembered seeing this boy once, or twice before, and only from far away, but there was no doubt.

It was the youngest prince.

Ryeowook made to bow, but the boy, recovering from his fall, grabbed his arm, dragging him behind the thick trunk of the plum flower tree. He was startled out of his courtesy and was about to protest, but even that act was stopped sorely in its tracks, as the prince clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Please, be quiet! I don’t want the guards to catch me!” he whispered urgently, almost begging. Surprised again, Ryeowook kept quiet, and sure enough, a trio of palace guards intruded into the gardens, scanning the place once. They probed the place further, and the prince clutched at his hand tightly, pulling him close to the ground and crawling behind a large bush of peony flowers. He followed suit, peering through the branches and leaves at the guards.

After several moments, the guards finally left the gardens, and Ryeowook let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, as did the boy next to him. His attention then turned back to the other, as they both crawled out of the space behind the bushes and into the open once more.

“Why is his highness hiding from the palace sentries?” he asked, as politely as he could possibly be. The other boy looked at him at the question, a deep frown suddenly coming to his face.

“Who are you to be asking me this?” he answered in a sharp snap of a tone, a complete turnaround from the boy who had begged him to be quiet just several minutes ago. Ryeowook scowled, ignoring his manners for the moment.

“His highness should be more mannerly, especially if he does not wish for me to report his presence here to the guards.” He replied, a strange pleased feeling coming to him when the young prince’s face was suddenly overcome with an expression of panic.

“Please, don’t! I don’t want to go back to my room!” he said, his voice rather desperate. Ryeowook raised an eyebrow.

“Why’s that?” he asked. The other boy chewed on his bottom lip nervously as he looked around, and from the corner of his eye, Ryeowook could see the tips of his fingers fiddling with the fabric of his sleeves.

“Mother doesn’t let me out of my room…and she won’t let me talk to anyone…so I escaped from my room.”

Ryeowook’s lips thinned as he continued to stare at the prince. He felt bad for him; at least he was able to wander around. The other boy couldn’t even leave his chambers.

“Is that why you were up in the plum tree?”Ryeowook asked suddenly, startling the other. He recovered from his surprise quickly, though embarrassment soon took its place on his face, colouring his cheeks ruby.

“..Yes…” he replied soon enough. “I apologise…for..landing on you.”

Ryeowook unconsciously rubbed his side at that. It didn’t hurt as much as before, but he was sure there would at least be a fair amount of bruising where the other’s elbow had jabbed. His eyes wandered down to the other’s robes, which looked more like an magnificent mass of silk layers than anything.

“You climbed a tree…in that?” The other didn’t seem to hear his question, and looked up at him a second later, question on his face. Ryeowook shook his head.

“Never mind. What is your name anyway? Pardon, I mean, what is his highness’s name?” he asked, correcting himself. The other didn’t seem happy at that though, and he raised an eyebrow.

“What is the matter?” The prince’s frown grew deeper.

“Don’t call me with those honorifics.” Ryeowook’s brow hitched up another notch at that. He sat back down on the grass underneath the tree.

“Then what shall I call you?”

The tentative expression from before came back to the other boy’s face, his fingers tugging on his sleeves again.

“Jongwoon. You may call me Jongwoon.” He said, after some time.

Ryeowook smiled brightly, the gesture startling the prince it seemed. He held out his hand, inviting the other boy to sit down in the grass next to him.

“And you can call me Ryeowook. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jongwoon-sshi.”

His smile grew an inch brighter when Jongwoon took his hand.

—§—

A young man was sleeping underneath an old plum flower tree. His short brown hair tickled his prominent cheekbones in the gentle sun-warmed breeze, and his nose wrinkled as a leaf landed on his face. He was garbed in an off-white shirt and loose trousers, worn under a sleeveless silk brocade garment decorated in embroidery the colours of burnished gold and sage.

Of course, it was a bit difficult to appreciate the embroidery, when the double panels in the front were messily laid out over and in between the young man’s legs, hinting that he had probably fallen down onto the grass careless of his clothes.

Another young man entered the gardens, this one dressed noticeably more outstandingly, in an outfit consisting of many layers of transparent silk in a myriad of summer citruses, and a sleeveless silk brocade garment much like the other boy in the gardens, only it was a pattern of flowers. A gold circlet sat on top of his untidy raven hair, and he walked on the garden’s petal-strewn stepping stones carefully, only the soft rustle of his trailing silk garments heard.

The sleeping male still lay unsuspecting underneath the old plum flower tree, and he clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle the snicker that threatened to arise. He took a few more steps until he was close enough, and then without warning, he pounced on the other young man, laughing freely when he made a loud noise of protest and flailed his limbs about to defend himself from his attacker.

When he finally realized who had so unceremoniously ambushed him, he made a face of irritation.

“Agh, Jongwoon-hyung! I was having a nice nap there!”

The prince snickered, not even trying to hold back his impish expression. Ryeowook tackled him, his hand ruffling and messing up Jongwoon’s already untidy hair, his other arm locking the other in a chokehold.

Jongwoon kept laughing, although his arms flailed about in vain attempts to get his friend to stop mussing his hair and strangling him. Ryeowook just grinned, already knowing he was the victor here now. He took the prince’s circlet as a trophy, mischievous smirk on his face as he let go of Jongwoon.

“Yah, give that back! How dare you rob me of my crown, you jerk!” He ran after Ryeowook in circles before he finally caught the other by the sleeve, but not before his foot caught itself in the endless layers of his robes. He ended up dragging Ryeowook down with him though, so there was some satisfaction in his eyes, even as Ryeowook landed on top of him.

His hands groped for his circlet, fingers curling around the cool hammered metal as a grin reigned triumphant on his face. As if to wipe that grin of his face, Ryeowook jabbed him in his side with his elbow as he got up with over-exaggerated movements.

“Ouch!” He shoved Ryeowook off him, the other now sporting a wide grin of his own. He made an attempt at an angry face, one that Ryeowook just grinned wider at. After some more scuffling, the two finally settled down under the shade of the plum flower tree, both of them with their hair and robes in comfortable disarray and Jongwoon’s circlet glinting on top of Ryeowook’s hair.

Jongwoon looked up from where his head was resting on Ryeowook’s legs, fingers playing with a tassel attached to Ryeowook’s clothes. The other’s fingers were running through his black hair languidly, as if distracted.

“Ne…Ryeo-ah.” He poked the younger male’s side. Ryeowook tugged lightly on his hair in retaliation, a faint smile on his lips.

“What is it, Woonie?” he asked, still playing with Jongwoon’s hair. The prince’s fingers continued to occupy themselves with the pretty tassel as a smile began to grown onto his face as well.

“What made you smile so happily before?”

The question threw Ryeowook off a little as his fingers stopped stroking the older male’s hair. He peered down slightly to see Jongwoon looking up at him expectantly, before his hands began to pick up their useless task once more.

“Well?” The prince’s tone of kidding impatience made his smile warm as he remembered just exactly what he had made him look so blissful earlier.

“The day we first met, of course.”

Jongwoon’s cheeks coloured faintly in embarrassment. “Oh… that.”

Ryeowook knew the prince was thinking about how he had fallen out of the very plum flower tree they were now relaxing underneath. He had to stifle a laugh.

“You know, I think I still have some pains in my side from that day…” He joked. Jongwoon yanked on the decorative tassel in obvious annoyance, making his stifled peals of laughter erupt upward and out of his mouth.

“Brat~” He teased further, Jongwoon jabbing his side in answer.

Ryeowook’s mischievous grin suddenly softened to a gentle smile. “But you know, that really was what I was thinking of. I am happy that we met, Jongwoon.”

It took awhile for the other to reply, his surprise at the younger male saying that so openly, and with that kind of expression, making his words temporarily die on his lips.

“…Thank you.”

The young man’s smile warmed, his brown eyes soft as he leaned down. His lips pressed softly on the prince’s forehead, Jongwoon’s dark eyes fluttering closed as they brushed tenderly on his skin.

“You’re welcome.”

zawie

2009-12-21T16:06:42Z

For: zawie
Title: You and Me are Magical
Pairing: Henry/RyeoWook
Category: Chibi version Christmas
Summary: RyeoWook goes to Canada and finds someone special there.

Kim RyeoWook has never felt so lost and small in his life before.

Standing in the middle of the humongous white hall with people moving rapidly around him and trying not to get swept in the wave of people, he felt afraid and tightened his grip on the hem of his mother’s dress. Why are they here? He just wants to go home and play with his choo-choo train. Tugging his mother’s dress, he timidly called out. “Umma…”

His mother knelt down in from of him and gave him a loving smile. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“I want to go home and play with Appa. I don’t want to stay here.”

He felt confused when a stricken look passed over his mother’s face. Did he say something wrong?

She brushed away his fringe and stroked his cheeks tenderly. “We’re not staying here. We’re just waiting for the plane.”

“Plane? Those aeroplanes that fly up in the sky and go swooshing in the clouds?” He opened up his arms and went around his mother, like those big bird-like buses that he has always wanted to ride in.

There it was again, his mother’s melodious laugher. “Yes dearie, we’re going to a faraway place in those planes. Somewhere nice and peaceful.” There was something in his mother’s eyes that he doesn’t know the name for it. He thinks it’s the same thing that he has whenever he wants a nice candy that he can’t have.

“Where are we going?!” He asked excited at the prospect of a new adventure.

“Canada, sweetheart where your halmoni is. Don’t you miss her? Ohhh…our plane is here, come on let’s go.”

As he held tightly to her hand, he wanted to remind his mother that he has never seen halmoni before and asks why appa isn’t here with them. That was before he walked into the plane and bounced onto his seat, everything about his father forgotten as he looked out of the plane in anticipation of this faraway and strange land call Canada.

RyeoWook spent most of the 14-hour flight, drifting in and out of sleep, dreaming about big scary bears coming after him and his father chasing them away and then holding him in his safe, warm arms. When his mother kissed his forehead goodnight in the warm and comfortable bed at his halmoni’s house, he closed his eyes and dreamt of flying a giant red kite in the green field with his appa.

The weak sunlight streaming through the window, RyeoWook opened his tiny eyes and sat up on the bed. Looking around his room, he pouts at the bare wooden furniture that was nothing like his colourful room, filled with his drawings and soft toy. His stomach growled but he was afraid to get out of bed and explore this unfamiliar house alone.

“Hungry?”

He jumped at the sudden voice and turned towards the door where an old lady stood. She was tall and robust and white wisps of hair framed her heart-shaped face. Though he has never seen her before, he saw that she has a set of twinkling eyes that shines amidst the wrinkles around it and round full cheeks very much like his own. She sat down gently next to him and patted his head fondly with a smile that reminds him of his mother’s one. “There are blueberry pancakes downstairs for breakfast, but only after you have brushed your teeth and washed your face.”

His favourite blueberry pancakes! He nodded his head excitedly and scrambled out of the bed. Remembering his manners, he stood right in front of the lady and bowed. “Thank you…halmoni.”

The next thing he knew, he was pulled into her embrace, her hands softly stroking his back and hair. After a moment or two, she let go of him and patted his head again before walking out of the room and he wondered why there were tears in her eyes.

Snow.

There are layers and layers and layers of snow in Canada, RyeoWook thinks. So much more than in Korea where there are men with those heavy shovels, moving the snow to a special place, his appa tells him, where huge snowmen are built, and then at night those huge snowmen will come alive and leave presents for the kids that have been good.

Maybe this was the special place where the special snowmen were built, he thought as he stood in front of the snowmen and stared at it. He didn’t know what he was waiting for but he had this strange feeling that something magical is going to happen.

SPLAT!

A snowball hit him squarely in his face, the sudden force sent him spiralling onto the ground. He started to cry and whimper at the icy stinginess of the snow on his face and wished that his umma was here to comfort him.

“Are you okay?”

He felt a pair of small hands brushing away the snow and he opened his eyes to stare up at a hamster face. Or at least a boy that looks a lot like a hamster, with small slits as eyes and bulging rosy cheeks.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to throw it at you. Are you hurt or anything?” The hamster boy started to poke his arms and legs in an attempt to find any injury.

“I’m…okay.” RyeoWook blushed and shied away from the poking fingers.

Hamster boy frowned. “My mama said that if you’re hurting somewhere, you should nurse it before it becomes bad and it drops off.”

“My face is hurting! I don’t want my face to drop off!” He started to cry at the thought of being faceless for the rest of his life. What if his umma and appa and halmoni and friends don’t recognize him and forget about him?

Through his tears, he felt the small pair of hands in mittens over his face. They were warm and nice against the cold of his face. “Better?” hamster boy asked and scrunched up his face in concern.

He could only nod his head because hamster boy’s hands were currently covering his mouth.

“My name is Henry. What’s yours?” Hamst- Henry took his hands off RyeoWook’s mouth and stretched one hand towards him.

“…RyeoWook.” He shyly answered and shook Henry’s hand hesitatingly.

“Nice to meet you, RyeoWook…. Want to make snow angels together?”

They spent the rest of the afternoon together, making snow angels, snowmen, snowdogs and a snow castle that was only inches taller than them. RyeoWook came back to the house when night was falling to his mother’s cooing of how nice, he has made friends here already and his halmoni’s approval of that nice little boy next door.

As he drifted off to sleep that night, he wondered where do Henry’s eyes go to when the boy smiles and those slits disappear.

“Come on RyeoWook…”

“No!” RyeoWook stood on the bank of the frozen lake and refused to step unto the glossy slippery surface.

“You mean you have never ice-skated before?” Henry was incredulous that there was someone who actually hasn’t ice-skate before in this world.

RyeoWook frowned and explained softly. “My appa promised to teach me but he didn’t have the time.”

“Oh well, I guess I just have to be your appa for a day and teach you one of the most important things you have to learn in your life.” With that and without waiting for a reply from the small mousey boy, Henry came forward and dragged RyeoWook off the bank, unto the natural skating rink and stopped at the very heart of the area. For a small boy, he was very strong to be able to withstand RyeoWook’s screams and flailing of the arms.

“See that wasn’t so bad right? Now all you have to do is to move your feet in a V shape, like this…” Henry then began to demonstrate and beamed encouragingly at RyeoWook to try.

RyeoWook looked from Henry’s smile to his own feet and then back at the smile. He took a big breath and move a foot forward. When he didn’t fall and cracked his butt open, he became more confident and took several steps.

Henry started clapping and shouting at the sight of his new friend skating. That was until the new friend slipped and fell onto his butt, whining and whimpering at the pain.

“Hey, get up and try again!”

“We are going camping tomorrow.”

Camping is something that RyeoWook has never done before because he was too shy and sleeping with people other than his parents scares him.

But Henry is different.

“Are we going to build a huge tent and have a campfire with lot’s of marshmallows?”

Henry nodded excitedly. “Uh-huh, and we’ll going to tell ghost stories…That’s what people do at camps.”

RyeoWook gasped. “But I don’t want to! It’s scary…”

Henry thought for a moment. “Okay…we shall scrape ghost-story-telling and…tell star stories! Don’t ask what it is, it’s a surprise. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

“So where are we going?”

Henry looked around and then pointed to the top of the mountain. “There.”

“There” turns out to be Henry’s backyard.

“My mama said that it was dangerous and it was much better here.” Henry said cheerfully, getting into the tent that his father set up for them. RyeoWook followed after him and squealed when he saw the many many packets of marshmallows.

“What do you want to do first?”

“Tell star-stories?”

Henry grinned and got up. “Tell star-stories it is.”

The “star-stories” included a telescope, constellations that were so hard to pronounced, princesses that needed rescuing from the big bad space raccoon, talking horses that looked like spaceships, farmers and street-sweepers who saved the princesses and turned into heroes.

After all the “adventures”, Henry and RyeoWook returned back to the tent (“Our fortress!”) with mugs of hot chocolates.

“My umma used to make me and appa hot chocolates that were so nice.” RyeoWook remembered the times when he was naughty and didn’t want to sleep and had to be bribed with hot chocolates and bedtimes stories told by his appa.

“Are you ever going back to Korea?”

RyeoWook thought for a while and answered, almost sadly. “I don’t know. But I miss appa and my room and my soft toys…”

Henry moved next to RyeoWook and threw an arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay, you have me and your umma and halmoni here. And Frederick…” pointing at the imaginary friend that was in the shape of a rabbit soft-toy.

RyeoWook nodded and hugged Frederick. “But I’m scared to return to Korea…”

Henry was puzzled. Why would anyone be scared to return to their home? “Why?”

“…because umma and appa always fight and I don’t like it. Umma and appa is supposed to love each other, right? I don’t think my umma and appa love each other anymore.”

Henry snorted. “Don’t you know? It’s because they love each other, that’s why they fight!”

RyeoWook wasn’t sure he understood the logic of Henry’s statement.

“Don’t give me that look. I can’t explain it. It’s just the way it is. Like me and my sister? I love her a lot but we always fight. If I don’t love her, I wouldn’t even talk to her.”

“But that’s sad, fighting with someone you love.” RyeoWook hugged Frederick tighter.

“It is but then there is the kissing and hugging after that; that makes it happy.” Henry gulped down his hot chocolate, leaving a chocolate-moustache on his face.

RyeoWook giggled at the sight of it and nodded his agreement with what Henry said. “I like it when umma and appa hugged. It’s like they will never be apart.”

“So don’t worry. Soon you will be back in Korea and you’ll be able to see your appa again.” Henry lay down and bundled up in his sleeping bag.

RyeoWook lay down on his sleeping bag and Henry switched off the torchlight that was used to light up the tent. A few minutes of silence passed.

“Henry?”

“Hmm?” came the sleepy reply.

“What happened to Cinderella and the pumpkin prince?”

“They lived happily ever after in their candy house.”

“…Will my appa and umma be like them?”

“They will, if you sincerely believe with all your heart, mind, soul and body.”

RyeoWook kept quiet and after a few minutes, he knew that Henry had drifted off to sleep. Closing his eyes, he said softly “I sincerely believe with all my heart, mind, soul and body that my umma and appa will live happily ever after.”

On Christmas day, RyeoWook’s grandmother invited Henry’s family over for dinner. It was on this festive atmosphere that RyeoWook’s mother suddenly announced that they were going back to Korea, back to RyeoWook’s father, the next day and she thanked her mother and Henry’s family for the hospitality and also for taking care of RyeoWook.

After dinner, the two boys sat in silence in front of the family of snow-people they have built a few days ago.

“Henry…thank you.”

“For?”

“For teaching me how to ice-skate and telling me the star stories…for being my friend here.”

Henry kept quiet and kept his face downwards, hidden by his fringe from RyeoWook.

“Merry Christmas, Henry.” RyeoWook shyly pushed a piece of drawing towards Henry.

Still with his head down, Henry took a look at the drawing. RyeoWook had drawn the both of them with their country of snow-people and snow-pets, and not forgetting Cinderella and the pumpkin prince in their candy house.

A single teardrop dropped onto the drawing. “Henry? Why are you crying?... Did I do something wrong?” RyeoWook asked quietly, frowning and panicking that he has somehow made his friend cry.

Henry sniffed and said in a small voice “I just think that I will miss you a lot when you go back.”

RyeoWook drew closer to Henry and put an arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders and the boy instantly buried his face in his shoulders. “I will miss you too. But we’ll write to each other right? And I’ll be back next year! Umma said that we’ll come visit halmoni and you next year with Appa and then you can get to meet him.”

“You will do all of that, really?” came the muffled reply against his winter jacket.

“I will. Do you think you can come and visit me in Korea? We’ll go up to the mountain-tops and continue our camping there. It’s much nearer to the stars than here. “

The other boy nodded and passed a box to RyeoWook. “Merry Christmas.”

“Can I open it now?”

Henry shyly nodded his head and when RyeoWook opened the box and took out a snowglobe, he blushed, making his rosy cheeks even more lovely. “I hope you will like it. I made it myself.”

Shaking the snowglobe and seeing the snow falling on the figurines, RyeoWook nodded and tried to keep his tears from falling. He was happy that he was going back but he didn’t want to leave the bestest friend he had in his life.

Henry gently wiped away the tears that were spilling out of RyeoWook’s eyes. “We will meet again. You promised me and you don’t look like someone who breaks promises. Papa says that people who break promises have long noses and obviously you don’t have a long nose, or I would have broken it when I first threw the snowball at you.”

RyeoWook nodded, until he caught Henry’s words. “You threw the snowball at me on purpose that day?”

Henry froze and looked down guiltily at his shoes, very much like his expression whenever his mama caught him stealing cookies. “I…just wanted to be your friend but I didn’t know what to say to you.”

When RyeoWook didn’t say anything, his guilt increased and he kept his head down. Maybe RyeoWook didn’t want to be his friend anymore, he thought sadly.

SPLAT! SPLAT!

Henry jumped and gasped when he felt coldness on his back and turned around to see RyeoWook grinning cheekily with another snowball in his hand.

“I declare a snowball war with you.”

“…You’re on.”

It was a pity that the two boys were too busy chasing and throwing snowballs at each other around the yard because if they paid attention, they would have seen the eyes of the lone snowman following them and his smile widening before disappearing into thin air.

fantasylove4ev

2009-12-21T08:38:05Z

For: fantasylove4ev

Title: Advantageous (In Every Way)

Pairing: Hanchul, Kyumin, ninja!Kangteuk and ninja!Hyukhae if you squint really hard.

Category: Coffee shop AU. + others

Summary: Heechul is a big-shot lawyer. Hankyung owns a coffee shop. Trouble is abound.

There's a place on the corner of York and Terrace that Sungmin has been dragging Heechul along to for weeks, more out of his interest for a certain waiter than for the relaxing break from work which he uses as a lousy cover-up excuse. Heechul supposes that he doesn't mind it all that much, since they do make the most mind-blowing (and most expensive) coffee on this side of town.

But what really gets on his nerves sometimes is Sungmin's preening and fucking fluttery lashes once he gets to the counter.

"Hey," Sungmin drawls, as Kyuhyun turns to him with a knowing look on his face.

Heechul watches from their table next to the window, and wonders what the fuck he's doing here. Apart from the fact that Sungmin's already got his eyes on the only decent-looking guy in the place, he's among all the other corporate high-class bitches. Heechul's willing to bet that someone in here will be the next one facing him down in the courtroom.

Not that they'll ever win, so he supposes that's okay.

It takes a whole ten minutes for Sungmin to get back to the table. Heechul is drumming a continuous rhythm out on the table-top and both of them know he's been getting impatient, but he only picks up his coffee and takes a sip.

"So," he says, and Sungmin finally stops looking at Kyuhyun at the counter, "How's the boy toy coming along?"

"Two more meetings away from getting fucked."

Heechul rolls his eyes. He hasn't been best friends with Sungmin for six years not to know that he has a strict timeline of who does what goes where (entirely open to interpretation, of course), but that doesn't mean he can't still scoff at it.

"You might even get him in one," he remarks. "He looks loud. The loud ones are the most useless in bed."

Heechul laughs as loudly and obnoxiously as one person can when Sungmin shoots him a filthy look, and pretends not to notice when Kyuhyun looks over.

--

Things go even better at work (if better meant that your boss was being the impudent bastard he was and was totally seeing things the wrong way). It takes Heechul three hours to get through the man's thick skull that he doesn't care whether he's talking to some bigshot CEO who can't get his head out of his ass. He plays the case whatever way he wants, because he always wins: this going on his last thirty-odd cases with a hundred per cent success rate.

"You aren't getting any more information on the case if you don't sit down and listen to me," says his boss, "Who do you think is paying and hiring you?"

"Who do you think is saving your ass from a lawsuit?" snaps Heechul and leaves the office. It's not like he even has a very nice ass; Heechul isn't exactly doing the world a favour by keeping it out of prison.

Sungmin casually catches up to him on his way out.

"Where are you off to?" He questions, and Heechul can't be bothered looking at him because he knows he'll get annoyed by that innocent thing Sungmin's got going on.

"Lunch," says Heechul tersely.

"It's barely 10AM."

"Fuck you."

He doesn't question it when Sungmin decides he's 'hungry' too, and they end up in the club a few streets down, trying to see who can get more shots down faster.

"He'd fuck me. He'd fuck me not. He'd fuck me--" Sungmin is still kind of tipsy, and picking petals off a flower, and Heechul reaches into his cubicle and hits him across the back of the head.

"Will you cut it out, do you want Siwon to come in and bleat about God?"

Sungmin looks down at his flower, and the shredded petals on the tabletop. "Hey, that was the last one! He'd fuck me, score."

By four in the afternoon Heechul has been through so many files that he's had to relocate to an actual office to sort through everything. There are legal documents practically flying around his head in little halos and he is fucking sick of this case. It's not even close to the first lawsuit he's had to handle for his company and he can already tell that this one might be harder than the others.

Stupid corporate giants, he thinks, with no tact whatsoever, ripping off their consumers and leaving all the shit afterwards for people like him to handle. Even if it does give him quite a nice allowance per week, which he supposes he should be grateful for.

Sungmin comes to look for him at exactly half-past, much too eager to get out of the building.

"Let's go! Kyuhyun is waiting for me," he urges, looking smug in Heechul's doorway.

Heechul’s still flipping through the last few account papers, chewing away at the lid of a pen wedged between his teeth. He ignores Sungmin. Sungmin kicks him. Heechul throws down the document and decides that no shoe, no matter how Prada, should be allowed to touch his Gucci designer shirt.

"Kyuhyun-ah!" Sungmin, the traitor, leaves the door to practically whack Heechul in the face as he heads into the familiar cinnamon smell of Cafe Rosario.

"... Sungmin-sshi."

Heechul catches flimsy bits of their conversation as he walks past, and knows that he will probably be leaving the cafe by himself. Sungmin isn't even bothering to order today, draping himself over the edge of the counter, leaning in close to murmur small talk to Kyuhyun.

Well, it's not like he can't make use of this time to jump on the laptop, investigate a few figures. (Heechul wonders when he became such a work-driven ass, since he'd already sworn ages ago that he wouldn't be one.) He pointedly ignores Sungmin, a few meters to his left, and waits to be served by the other man he can see at the coffee machine.

Said man turns around. Heechul finds his interest perked quite substantially.

"What can I do for you?" The voice is lilted with an accent well-worn by years of living in a foreign country. Heechul grins; there is fun to be had.

"Just a flat white, skim, two sugars."

Heechul sweeps a finger over a counter which is obviously recently wiped, watching the man get to work.

"You okay with working this shift by yourself?" he asks casually, gaze sliding over to Sungmin before wandering to a particular nametag, "Hankyung-sshi?"

Hankyung pauses, nods, and continues working at the coffee machine for a while. "I'll just cut his pay in half, probably."

Heechul snorts, and thinks that he maybe likes this soft sense of humour. He waits as Hankyung places his coffee in front of him, and he picks it up without any intention of moving. "So you're his manager?"

"Yes, I own this establishment."

"Pretty respectable."

"Thank you."

Heechul smirks and thinks that Hankyung has no idea just how great a compliment it is coming from him. Then again, it may just be due to the fact that Heechul really likes his face. He makes a note to himself to call again often, especially when this one is on shift. And if the way Kyuhyun is making eyes at Sungmin is anything to go by, he'll definitely have a way of knowing.

As he watches, Kyuhyun straightens up from his close proximity with Sungmin and calls in their direction.

"Ge! Is it okay if I leave early tonight? It's pretty quiet anyway."

Heechul trades glances with Hankyung, who only has to consider a moment before nodding. "Come in early tomorrow though. Enjoy your night."

Kyuhyun and Sungmin can't seem to be able to get out of the cafe fast enough. Heechul looks after them and shrugs to himself. That's his cue to leave.

--

Sungmin walks into work the day after looking like the cat who's got the cream, and Heechul doesn't even want to know how true that statement is. Not that he has a choice in the matter, because he is shoved into his workroom first thing and sat down at the table.

"He is so good," Sungmin gushes, and Heechul mimes puking noises.

"I totally don't need to know this," he says.

"No, but really? Just as good as he was bragging--"

"He was bragging to you?"

"And afterwards --"

"Let me guess, he wanted you to have his babies."

"Heechul you're supposed to listen to me, not interrupt. God, what kind of a best friend are you?" Sungmin throws up his hands and ploughs on before Heechul can even hope to formulate a comeback. "Anyway, he asked me out. Properly."

"Sex first, boring stuff later?" Heechul muses. "Yah, he's actually starting to sound pretty smart, this Cho Kyuhyun."

Seeing the look on Sungmin's face, Heechul promptly tells him to get the fuck out before he decides to mess up his hair in revenge.

Over the next few weeks Heechul is not able to shut Sungmin up about Kyuhyun any more than he can stop them having sex. Which is pretty unstoppable, if you ask him, and is only a vague indication of all the moaning and groaning he has to listen to.

Visits to the cafe become daily. He starts spending half his afternoons there with Sungmin cooing at Kyuhyun on one side of him, and a cup of coffee and his laptop on the other. He begins to remember the closing hours for every day of the week except Sunday, and that's only because they're closed. On a couple of occasions he even starts showing up in the mornings just because he doesn't feel like he can get his caffeine fix anywhere else at four, after an all-nighter on a case.

Hankyung is there often; Heechul does suppose that it's maybe because he owns the place. Heechul learns that Hankyung makes the best coffee when Kyuhyun's is only good. (Not to mention that because of Kyuhyun's new relationship status, he is now allowed to snark at the boy however much he wants.) He also discovers that he actually really quite likes the way Hankyung has trouble pronouncing some words because he is still distinctly Chinese. But most of all, he is remarkably pleased to notice that every time they hold a conversation, it lasts longer and longer.

And he's not a sap, he's really not.

One afternoon it turns out to be Heechul who is walking into Cafe Rosario by himself and being greeted by a puzzled-looking Hankyung.

"I don't suppose you've seen Kyuhyun?"

Heechul has anticipated this. "Well him and Sungmin, you see, are currently --"

He does not think that he has ever been so glad when Hankyung tells him that it's entirely alright if he does not feel comfortable enough to provide an explanation. Probably because there isn't one, and Sungmin has just decided to hold Kyuhyun up in the bathroom. And as much as Heechul loves being blunt, he doesn't know if Hankyung's other customers would appreciate that "Kyuhyun is busy fucking my best friend in many kinky ways in a public bathroom, sorry he can't be here to serve you today!"

Hankyung sighs when Heechul shrugs at him and checks his watch.

"It'll be a while before I can get a replacement to come in."

"I can help," Heechul says off-handedly, before thinking that it is the worst three words to have ever come out of his mouth.

But Hankyung is brightening and saying "really, will you?", so Heechul looks at him and decides that serving at a cafe for a few hours really cannot be that hard. And anyway, it's not his fault that Hankyung is so convincing while he's biting his lip like that.

Later on, he decides that he hates manual labour, even if it only involves operating a coffee machine. And wiping down tables. And God, his nails, they were going to become disgusting like Kyuhyun's soon.

But he doesn't even remember how much torture he's been putting himself through when Hankyung finally flips the 'open' sign on the front door, and shuts off the light outside. They share a drink at the counter, just like the day they first met, but now leaning in closer with the intimacy of closer friendships.

"Thanks a lot," Hankyung tells him, sounding grateful, "You are having many drinks on the house in the near future."

Heechul cheers inwardly for having secured a caffeine supply.

To Hankyung, he says instead, "No problems. It was easy."

"Really?" he can catch the hint of amusement. "I wouldn't have pegged you as such a person, Heechul-sshi. Your nails were very well manicured before today."

"Let it be known that I'm not someone who is afraid to take on a little hard work. Especially for free caffeine."

A laugh. "At least your motives are honest."

"Yah, don't you worry. I'm a liar through and through in many other matters, if that's what turns you on."

"... Heechul-sshi, are you trying to hit on me?"

"You, drop the formal shit. And so what if I am? You can't stop me."

Heechul turns to look and barely catches Hankyung's sliver of a smile, the one that just makes him want to know more. He catches more of the shrug that comes afterwards, non-committal, casual.

"Should I be trying to stop you?" Hankyung asks.

Heechul realises how close he is standing at that moment, with his body turned secretly smiling towards Hankyung and Hankyung's head tilted at the perfect angle towards his. He smirks to himself (this is where I want you), and prepares to lean in. But suddenly there is a flurry of movement, a faint murmur of goodbye in his ear, and then Heechul is being pushed towards the exit with gentle fingers gripping his shoulder.

"You can answer me later," Hankyung smiles, and then Heechul's out on the street corner, singing symphonies in his mind.

--

It doesn't take a genius to realise that Heechul's boss is getting pissed off. It takes even less of one to realise that Heechul is also getting pissed off, and that really, they're just about to detonate in each other's faces at the next available opportunity. Heechul has spent the better part of the week running around and making sure that he is completely organised for the court proceedings coming up in the next week. Letters of evidence, accounting transactions, stock figures, quotas; whatever he'll need to help him win.

So it is hardly surprisingly that in such moods he has no desire whatsoever to listen to his boss whine about not disclosing this or that statement, and making sure that the public never gets to hear about some shit or other that is completely irrelevant. The whole office knows that things have reached boiling point, and that neither are willing to back down. Because Heechul always gets his way. And so does the boss.

"You know, I don't think worker relationships like these are normal. Or healthy," says Siwon, advisably, sitting in on one of Heechul's sessions where he just chucks papers everywhere in the hopes of finding the right one. "I mean, hyung, you're about to stab him with a pen and he's about to fire you."

"Fire me, really?" Heechul questions, only looking remotely interested. "How exciting. I'm excited. Fucker can bring it, 'cause he'll end up with his ass served to him on a platter in prison."

Siwon looks uneasy at Heechul's language, even though he's relatively used to it by now. Still, he pushes on.

"Hyung, the case is next week... nobody here really wants to see the company go down. Maybe you should go talk to him. Sort something out. There are more people relying on you than you think," he says solemnly.

Heechul waves a hand dismissively and Siwon gives him a one-shouldered hug before he leaves.

"Fire me my ass," Heechul mutters, around the stub of a pencil, "Just let him try."

"Kim Heechul, I'm not going to let this happen anymore."

"Wow, I didn't think Siwonnie was actually serious when he said you were going to fire me," Heechul drawls lazily and sweeps the tip of a pencil across some very important banking statements.

"You are driving a wedge into my company," his boss mutters from between clenched teeth.

Heechul shrugs; "There'd be no fucking 'wedge' if you'd just listened to me, it would have stayed up your arse. Can I say again, who is the legal expert here, exactly?"

"Well it won't be you anymore, because I'm replacing you."

"Oh, I'm scared." Heechul kicks back in the office chair and rests his feet on the edge of the desk in front of him, not-quite-accidentally knocking aside the CEO plaque. "Hey, well since you're firing me, does that mean that I do get to stab you with a pen?"

Heechul's question is ignored at the door swings open.

"Your successors. Kim Youngwoon. Park Jungsu. Welcome."

It takes all of three seconds for Heechul to burst out laughing.

"He replaced you." Sungmin says.

"Yes, I know."

"He replaced you."

Heechul pauses to throw a stray sock at Sungmin's head, wondering what it is doing lying around such a normally immaculate apartment. ("Oh," Sungmin confirms later, a little sheepish, "Kyuhyun's started sleeping over. He's a lot messier than me.")

"With Kangin. And Leeteuk."

"I know that bit too. Why the fuck are you regurgitating everything I just said to you?"

"Well, it's just!" Sungmin makes flaily hand motions, trying to get a seemingly non-existent point across. "Does he want to die?"

"Obviously he won't, if he has those two," Heechul retorts, remembering the pair all too well from law school days. Just thinking about it makes him feel old.

"But the case is next week, they can't possibly get all the groundwork done that you have, or learn everything, or construct their case, and --"

"You, shut up. Let's go get coffee."

Kyuhyun is all too happy to see Sungmin, and Heechul is all too happy to see Hankyung, even if he doesn't really know whether they like each other or if he's just being a dumb idiot. Heechul feels oddly free now that he's jobless, and as lunch time passes the numbers of people in the cafe dwindle until it's almost just the four of them at a table. Kyuhyun and Sungmin are most likely playing footsies under the table; Heechul doesn't even want to know. He is carrying a deep and intelligent conversation with Hankyung which apparently involves garden plants.

"I can't take care of plants for shit," he complains. "Who can be bothered, anyway? I'm a lawyer, not a fucking horny-cult-person."

"Horticulturalist?" Hankyung suggests.

"Horny cults work too, don't you think?"

"I suppose. You sound like you'd go well with our cactus."

Hankyung gestures over to the cactus on the counter which only appeared there about a week ago. Heechul doesn't know where it's from, and Hankyung certainly hasn't told him who bought it, but he supposes that it's not like they're best friends or anything.

"It's red," he deadpans.

"Yeah, they do come in that colour."

"It's fat and prickly."

"That too."

"When you say I'd go well with it, are you calling me red, fat and prickly?"

"No," says Hankyung, and it's so earnest that he wonders who the hell he is and what he has done with Kim Heechul. "Although your hair kind of matches."

"Why thank you, I colour co-ordinate with your cactus, my life is complete."

By the time Sungmin has to leave for work, Heechul is glad they chose this place to spend the day. There's nothing about talking to Hankyung that he doesn't like, and Kyuhyun is too fun to tease, although Heechul has a bit of hope for how much of an asshole he'll be in the future. But inwardly he can still sense that Sungmin is worried about something, and it doesn't take too many guesses to figure out what.

"My case files are in the cupboard on the left, bottom right-hand drawer," he murmurs, just before Sungmin flees out the door -- he's late already. "Accounting records in the one on its left. The next one over is the relevant evidence I've been collecting. I left it all there, thought it was too much paper to burn. Make use of it."

When Sungmin throws him a grateful smile Heechul thinks he could get used to being nice. But then he turns back to Kyuhyun, who has resumed his post at the counter, and figures that it's just not as fun.

The next day, his accounts are frozen. Every single one, amassing to a total value of just under a million. Heechul sits at home and glares at the letter of notification informing him of what has happened, as if it would all reverse if he just burned it. He knows it wouldn't -- he's not as childish as that. But really, this is fucking ridiculous, and fucking stupid, and Heechul has never felt so many years of work go down the drain before but he knows what it feels like now. And he thinks he knows exactly who to blame.

"Calm down," Sungmin tells him, trying to be some semblance of reassurance, "Maybe it's just temporary. I'm sure if you called up the bank and talked it out with them you could find out some more."

Heechul shakes his head. "No, if this is what I think it is, I don't think I'll be seeing of that anytime soon."

"... What do you think it is?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," Heechul shrugs wryly, "Ex-bosses and soon to be ex-CEOs who have chucked their corrupt investments into my accounts as safe holding places, which will now leak away into some place untraceable. Nothing too big to worry about, I'm sure it happens everyday."

In all honesty, he does feel shit about it -- his life savings are exactly that, after all -- but he's not going to act like a girl and have a big cry. What he really needs is a guy. And a guy, he will get.

Or a girl who looks like a guy. Or a guy who looks like a girl. He can't be picky in times like these.

--

Heechul swears it's not his fault that his vision is fuzzy and everything is spinning. He deduces that it must be the world, the world trying to play tricks on him, trying to trip him over. He manages out a very hoarse, 'fuck you', just to let it know that it's not working. Definitely not working.

"Don't you think that's very ungrateful?" says a familiar soft voice, and Heechul manages to crack an eye open long enough to know that he is on Sungmin's couch, and that somehow Hankyung is here too.

"Oh, not you," he returns blithely. "Oh wait. No, yes, I would like to fuck you."

He can hear Hankyung laugh, and feels cool fingers smooth fringe away from his eyes.

"I think you're still drunk. How much did you have last night, I wonder?"

"A lot," Heechul says proudly. "I can hold it well."

"Of course," says Hankyung, "That is why I pretty much found you in the gutter this morning in front of the cafe. Making such a bad impression on our customers, hmm?"

Heechul groans and reaches out for something soft to bury his face in. Obviously he is still not thinking properly, because it happens to be Hankyung's shirt, but he doesn't seem to mind, and he smells like cinnamon. Just like the Rosario. Heechul misses it now and he doesn't even know why.

"I'd love to stay and be your pillow, but I do have to go back. Hyukjae can't hold fort himself very long so early in the morning. Especially with Donghae running around."

Screw that, Heechul wants to say, I'm more important.

But he's not more important, so he just lets Hankyung go and listen to his footsteps muffle as he pulls on his shoes. Hears the click of the door as it opens and shuts, and then there is silence for only a few moments because then Sungmin is pelting at him full force.

"Kim Heechul where the fuck did you go you could have fucking died in an alleyway and you didn't even tell me! I thought you were going to visit your grandma."

"My grandma died like ten years ago, you fucker," Heechul mumbles, nestling into his arm for warmth, "Both of them, actually."

Sungmin pauses for a second and lets out a sound of frustration. "Well there goes one source of financial aid. And you just happen to be estranged from your parents. And you have no friends to speak of because you're such a bastard all the time. See, this is what happens when you don't act cute and pretty!"

"Ugh, because then I'd be you. Now let me sleep."

Heechul swipes away Sungmin's experimental pokes to try and get him off the couch, and curls up closer to the blanket slung over his waist to get warmer. Sungmin eventually gives up.

"By the way," Heechul makes a gruff noise to appease Sungmin and whatever his parting words are, "I thought you might like to know. Um, before he found you in the street last night? You probably don't remember. But uh, Hankyung saw you with a couple of girls. He didn't seem too happy. Especially when he was talking about how you ended up screaming your lust for him with two girls hanging off your waist in front of the cafe. It's a busy street, you know. But good job, at least you know that females are still attracted to you now. It's pretty amazing actually considering what you look like these days --"

"Shut up," Heechul says darkly, and Sungmin looks at him pityingly before going off to find Kyuhyun again.

It takes a few moments to sink in. By the time it does, Heechul is scrabbling for his phone, dialling Hankyung's number, and reaching his voice mail over and over again.

--

The next time Heechul sees Hankyung is three weeks down the track. By that time, he's moved into Sungmin's apartment, and found himself a shitty job at the only fast-food restaurant which will take the ex-defence lawyer to the CEO who recently (and infamously) lost everything. He's even been to the Rosario a couple of times only to be told that Hankyung is 'not in at the moment' or 'not feeling well today'. He buys none of this bullshit. But since it's obvious that Hankyung doesn't want to see him, he figures he'd do well to take a hint.

Heechul wonders a lot if what he did was really that bad. And then he tries to imagine it from Hankyung's point of view, with his delicate little morals and soft-edged humour, and realises that it is. Normally he'd just pick himself and move on -- who cares about one person when there are other hot guys out there? -- but too late he knows that the Rosario has become like a little bubble of safety. Familiar, with friends and coffee. Nothing much else he would ask for except some booze, and even Hankyung used to sometimes slip some into his drinks on a hard day.

"You miss it. You miss him," Sungmin tells him sternly one day.

"Maybe. But probably not."

"Yeah, and you love spooning out greasy fries into containers all day."

"It warms your pores," Heechul says, "It's good if you exfoliate right afterwards."

"Bull. Shit."

And Heechul reckons that Sungmin just likes calling him out on it because usually he really does have the answer to everything. Just not this time. He has no money, he has a fucking terrible job, and he has a strained relationship with the guy he has slowly grown too accustomed to in the last month.

"Well, I think you should see him," Sungmin shrugs.

Heechul is afraid that if he laughs, it will come out maniacally. Or longingly. Or something stupid like that.

"You think I haven't tried?" he says instead, "I'm not a pussy."

"Practically have one," Sungmin mutters under his breath, and Heechul has the good grace to pretend he didn't hear it -- this time. "Anyway. I just think you should try again."

"Why are you so sure?"

Sungmin shrugs, a smile on his face. "Just am."

And that's enough for Heechul, because Sungmin knows something and he wouldn't try and trick him over something like this. Heechul digs through his clothes and pulls on something messy (messily immaculate), grabs his keys and phone. He tells himself that he's not in a rush, because he really isn't, but then again, he really is.

"Bye," Sungmin calls after him as he powerwalks through the doorway. Heechul shrugs and makes his way down the stairs.

He hopes to Siwon's fucking God that Sungmin isn't being particularly deluded or misled today, because it would be really bad time for that to happen. He's looking forward to this too much, being too curious about it. Normally he would've just shrugged and kept going, but this is something he wants to resolve. Hankyung. The foreigner from China who runs one of the best coffee shops in town. Who doesn't really talk that much, all the time, but who doesn't need to because Heechul could just sit and fucking watch him all day.

He is most definitely turning into a sap.

He leaves the apartment block, heading for his -- Sungmin's -- car. Heechul jangles his keys in his pocket and plays with lint on the inside of his jeans.

And walks into Hankyung.

"... Oh, it's you." Heechul says.

"Yeah, it's me." Hankyung agrees, and they exchange glances.

"Kyuhyun sent you?"

"Yeah. Sungmin?"

Heechul nods as he watches Hankyung incline his head, and he thinks that he can wait until later to decide whether to punch Sungmin or take him clubbing. For now, he continues to watch and be watched, the both of the waiting for the other to speak again first.

"So, I'm sorry about the other night--"

"No it's okay, I understand."

"That was kind of stupid I guess, but I was--"

"Oh don't worry, I heard about what happened with you, yeah."

"So do you--"

"I was just wondering--"

"Goddamn, stop interrupting me!" Heechul says exasperatedly. He is not used to it and he does not like it, and it only makes Hankyung smile, which is a bit disturbing.

"You go first."

"Thank you," says Hankyung. "I was wondering, since... all that happened to you. Don't work at MacDonald's, it'll kill you. I have a position open at the cafe. What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Heechul laughs. "Big-shot lawyer with a ruined reputation to a fry server, I think working at a cafe is fucking perfection."

"Well, you could have always entered the public defence system."

Heechul snorts. "I'm classier than that."

"So I see. So now that we have that settled, what were you going to ask me?"

"Forgot," he deadpans.

Hankyung laughs. Heechul likes the sound of it. And he knows that he is going to go home to Sungmin and insist that he isn't totally whipped, and then they will have an argument about who is and who isn't.

"Oh wait," he says after a moment. "I remember now."

Heechul steps up to Hankyung and grabs the back of his neck so that he can kiss him. It's bordering chaste and there's no tongue and Heechul doesn't usually kiss like this, but he figures he's broken all his other rules for Hankyung already, and this is just adding to the notches. Still, it somehow leaves him breathless and even though it wasn't very special, he can see Hankyung grinning.

"Anyway, will you go out with me?" he asks.

Hankyung raises an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're the type to kiss before the first date?"

"What can I say, I'm jumping the gun a little," Heechul shrugs. "Think of it as advantageous."

Hankyung laughs and presses his palms to Heechul's hips. Advantageous; they can live like that.

A/N: My dear Santee, I know this isn't the greatest of fics to ever grace the earth, but I tried for you, I really did! So I hope you enjoy all 5,000+ words and have a wonderful Christmas. ♥

jishu

2009-12-21T07:30:15Z

For: jishu
Title: You're My Superman
Pairing: Kyuhyun/Sungmin
Category: Workforce!AU, WithSuperheros!AU, Fluff, Romance, Angst
Summary: Kyuhyun had been hopelessly in love with his co-worker for years, but Sungmin only has eyes for Super Siwon, who fights evil and saves everyone, and how can he compete with that?

‘Just look at the way he flies through the sky,’ Sungmin sighed dreamily.

‘Just look at the way he poses for the press photos,’ Ryeowook moaned, fanning himself.

‘Just look at the way he smiles,’ Yesung whispered.

Siwon the Superhero flew powerfully, waving majestically at the crowds below him. Sungmin grumbled, ‘I have to go guys, my lunch break’s over.’

He trudged back to the silver office building he worked at, where Kyuhyun greeted him enthusiastically. ‘Hey, Kyu,’ he sighed, sitting down at his desk and staring out the window where Super Siwon talked to fans.

Kyuhyun watched him intently, wondering what he saw in Super Siwon. What did he have that Kyuhyun didn’t? Sure, he had muscles, and Kyuhyun only had the faintest trace. And he could fight evil. But if Kyuhyun really wanted to, he could go beat up computer hackers. Or something.

‘Sungmin?’ he asked slowly. ‘Why do like him so much?’

‘He’s amazing,’ the elder boy gushed. ‘He’s so good and pure and perfect.’

‘Do you love him?’ Kyuhyun whispered.

Sungmin didn’t hear him, but he gazed out the window again and sighed longingly.

Because I love you, Kyuhyun thought desperately, watching Sungmin’s wide eyes staring out of the thick, office glass.

* * *

‘And today Ryeowook and Yesung and I saw him up reeeeeally close and he was wearing his cape and everything and he smiled and it was amazing and then I had to go back to work,’ Sungmin recounted, all in one breath.

Leeteuk smiled and tapped his pencil on the clipboard. ‘And what did you do when you got back to work?’ he asked.

Sungmin thought for a moment. ‘Kyuhyun talked to me for about twenty seconds,’ he said.

‘Co-worker?’

‘Yeah,’ Sungmin said, blushing slightly, ‘he works with the tech department. He normally helps me when my computer crashes, or if I don’t know how to work a new program.’

Nodding, Leeteuk noted this down. ‘What did you talk about?’

‘He asked me why I liked Super Siwon so much.’

‘Why do you?’

Sungmin grinned sheepishy. ‘He’s perfect.’

Leeteuk nodded again. ‘Why do you think Kyuhyun wanted to know why you like him?’

‘I dunno,’ Sungmin answered, ‘since he normally doesn’t talk to me about him. But, I don’t know. He seemed a bit. Sad? Tense?’

‘Did you ask him why he seemed that way?’

Sungmin clapped a hand to his mouth. ‘Oh no, I didn’t,’ he gasped, ‘I should have, I’m such a horrible friend!’

Leeteuk pursed his lips and asked, ‘You consider yourself his friend?’

‘Well,’ Sungmin admitted, ‘we don’t really talk all that much. Just regular conversation, plus the “argh-I-have-no-idea-how-to-work-Excel-formulas” talk, and maybe a little bit extra?’

‘How long have you known him?’

‘Um.’ Sungmin scratched his head and replied, ‘maybe four years?’

Leeteuk suggested, ‘Maybe you should get to know him a little more. So that you can be sure your relationship is a friendly one, and not just a co-worker one.’

Sungmin nodded, then asked, ‘Why are we talking about Kyuhyun, anyway? I thought we were talking about Super Siwon.’

‘We were,’ Leeteuk answered. ‘Do you actually want to date Super Siwon?’

Sungmin blushed. ‘Oh my, that would be so perfect,’ he squealed.

Leeteuk nodded. ‘Uh huh. Would you date anyone else?’

His client frowned and thought. ‘Well,’ he said slowly, ‘I would. But he’d have to put up with fanboy-ing. So it’d be easier if he was into Super Siwon too. And then it wouldn’t work out.’

‘Does Kyuhyun like Super Siwon?’

‘No,’ Sungmin said sadly, ‘I don’t think he does.’

* * *

‘Why doesn’t he like me?’ Kyuhyun complained loudly to Zhoumi at the bar. ‘Why doesn’t he realise that I love him, that I’ve loved him for years?’

Zhoumi stared. ‘Kyu, you seriously think I can help you here? I’ve never had to deal with this before.’

Kyuhyun burst into tears, and Zhoumi immediately pryed the drink out of his hand. ‘I just... why doesn’t he love me? Why can’t he understand?’

‘Maybe he’s too in love with Super Siwon?’ Zhoumi suggested, and Kyuhyun sniffed.

‘Of course he’s in love with Super Siwon. Even you’re in love with Super Siwon! Why can’t I compete with him?’

‘You can’t fly,’ Zhoumi said helpfully, and Kyuhyun glared at him with red eyes. ‘But you can write HTML faster than Heechul can change moods. Which has to be some sort of talent.’

‘He doesn’t like nerds,’ Kyuhyun sniffed, ‘and I’m the biggest nerd ever, with my computer games and my coding and everything. I work in the tech department! He’d want someone who is big and strong, not skinny and too-tall. He’d want someone with strength, not someone who can barely snap a twig in two. He’d want someone-‘

‘-like Super Siwon?’ Zhoumi guessed, and Kyuhyun broke out into fresh tears.

‘Kyu?’ Sighing, Zhoumi walked over to a nearby table, grabbed Donghae by the shoulders, and sat him down next to Kyuhyun. ‘I’m not the best person to say this, so Donghae will.’ Donghae was only too aware of the problem.

‘Kyuhyun, if he can’t see how much you love him, it’s his loss,’ Donghae said quietly, ‘because you’re an amazing guy and an amazing friend, and anyone who doesn’t realise that doesn’t know you at all. You don’t need to compete with Super Siwon. Just be yourself.’

Kyuhyun sobbed on Donghae’s shoulder, and Zhoumi stared. ‘Did you get that out of a Disney movie?’ he accused.

‘More like every Disney movie,’ he replied. ‘It should help though.’

* * *

‘Morning, Kyuhyun. How are you?’

‘Hangover,’ he replied darkly, and Sungmin nodded sympathetically. ‘It’s okay, Kyuhyun,’ he said, ‘I bet even Super Siwon gets hungover once in a while.’

Kyuhyun sniffed. ‘Right. Okay. I’m going to work now.’ And he stalked off.

Sungmin watched him go, and asked, ‘What did I do?’

Eunhyuk rolled his eyes. ‘You brought up Super Siwon. Why would you do that?’

‘I thought it would help!’

‘Min,’ Eunhyuk sighed, ‘Kyuhyun’s been in love with you for the last four years. I don’t think it’s easy for him to compete with Super Siwon.’

‘Kyuhyun’s not in love with me,’ Sungmin said, turning red. ‘He’s not. And he doesn’t need to compete with Super Siwon. Nobody can, so why try?’

‘Min!’ Eunhyuk groaned, frustrated. ‘You don’t love Super Siwon, okay? You don’t love him. You just have a very strange obsession with him.’

Sungmin huffed. ‘It’s not strange! Everyone loves him!’

‘Kyuhyun doesn’t,’ Eunhyuk reminded him, ‘because he loves you.’

‘No, he doesn’t!’ Sungmin growled, turning on his computer. ‘He doesn’t.’

* * *

‘What happened to you?’ asked Henry the second he saw Kyuhyun’s face.

‘Hangover,’ he replied. Henry shook his head.

‘It’s not just that,’ he said knowingly. ‘Come on. Tell me.’

‘Aish,’ Kyuhyun sighed. ‘Okay. I’ve been in love with Sungmin since I came here to work, but he’s still so crazy over Super Siwon that he won’t even notice me.’

‘Oh,’ Henry said. ‘I knew that.’

‘What?’

Henry sighed. ‘Come on, Kyu. Everyone in the building knows. Except Sungmin. He’s so oblivious to everything.’

‘Argh,’ Kyuhyun complained, ‘it’s so difficult, being in love. I wish he would just reject me already, so I can move on.’

‘He won’t reject you,’ Henry said confidently, ‘he just hasn’t realised that there are other guys out there. Guys like you.’

A loud beep startled them, and Sungmin’s voice rang through the intercom. ‘Kyuhyun, could you come here please? My computer crashed again.’

Henry replied into the machine, ‘He’ll be right there.’

Kyuhyun stared at him, but Henry just shrugged. ‘It’s your job. You’re getting paid. And maybe you should ask him out while you’re over there. Just a suggestion.’

* * *

‘Sorry, Kyuhyun,’ Sungmin apologized. ‘It just went black. Can you fix it?’

Kyuhyun nodded and crawled under the desk to check the wires.

‘Thanks,’ Sungmin breathed a sigh of relief.

There was silence for a few minutes, then Sungmin asked, ‘We never really do anything together outside of the office, do we?’

‘We never have,’ Kyuhyun mumbled, but Sungmin caught it. ‘Well tonight I’m going to the pub with some friends. If you want to come...’

Kyuhyun smiled slightly. ‘Yeah, sure. That’d be nice.’ But inside, he was dancing eccentrically. Sure, it wasn’t a date. But they’d get there eventually. He hoped.

‘All fixed,’ Kyuhyun said, turning the computer on. ‘I’ll meet you guys...?’

‘Just here,’ Sungmin replied, entering his password. ‘After work. Thanks.’

Kyuhyun smiled and walked back to the Tech department. ‘How’d it go?’ Henry asked.

‘Going out with him and some friends tonight,’ Kyuhyun told him excitedly. Henry laughed. ‘Way to go, tiger.’ Kyuhyun frowned. ‘Don’t call me that.’

* * *

‘You ready to go?’ Sungmin asked Kyuhyun at seven thirty when he arrived at his desk.

Kyuhyun nodded, and looked around. Eunhyuk, Yesung, Ryeowook and Donghae were there too. ‘Let’s go,’ Eunhyuk proclaimed.

They walked down the street, turned the corner, and there it was. They walked inside, where Zhoumi greeted them. ‘Donghae told me,’ he said. ‘Where is he?’

Kyuhyun pointed out Sungmin and Zhoumi whistled. ‘Oh, he’s cute.’

They sat down at Sungmin’s table, ordered drinks, and Ryeowook started the conversation. ‘He’s going to be on the news tonight,’ he said eagerly. ‘For a super exclusive interview.’

Yesung cried, ‘Oh, yeah, they’re going to show it here!’

Kyuhyun looked at Eunhyuk, who filled him in. ‘They’re interviewing Super Siwon about his latest win against that giant polka-dotted tentacle monster.’ Kyuhyun sighed.

‘Don’t worry about Sungmin,’ Eunhyuk whispered, ‘it’ll be fine.’

Kyuhyun sighed and watched the screen, as Super Siwon entered the newsroom and went on to talk about defeating the monster, using his powerful eyebrow lasers, and that ‘we are only truly strong when we believe in each other.’ It made Kyuhyun want to gag, but everybody else was staring at him and sighing dreamily.

* * *

‘I invited Kyuhyun to join us for drink yesterday,’ Sungmin said.

Leeteuk nodded. ‘And, did he have fun?’

Sungmin sighed. ‘Not really. He didn’t really talk, but he looked at me a lot.’

‘And how did that make you feel?’

‘I dunno. Special, a bit. I guess. And it was nice.’

Leeteuk asked, ‘When’s the last time you felt strongly about someone? Besides Super Siwon.’

Sungmin thought back. ‘I don’t know exactly.’

‘For someone you only have a co-worker relationship with, you seem to feel like he’s important.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You said that he was your friend,’ Leeteuk said, reading off his papers, ‘and you panicked when you thought you didn’t consider his feelings. I’d say he’s very important to you.’

‘Eunhyuk said,’ Sungmin admitted, ‘that Kyuhyun was in love with me.’

‘Are you in love with him?’

‘No!’ Sungmin replied immediately, turning bright red. ‘I’m not. I’m not.’

* * *

‘So, did you have with Kyuhyun there last night?’ Henry asked, on his way to the photocopier.

Sungmin nodded. ‘Yeah, it was good he came.’

Henry sighed. ‘You know he loves you, right?’

‘He doesn’t,’ Sungmin retorted.

‘He does,’ Eunhyuk said as he walked by, grabbing the papers out of Henry’s hand. ‘He’s hopelessly smitten with you, and you need to do something about it, because Donghae and I have had to put up with it for four years. Tell him you love him too, then he can waltz off in your arms and stop bugging us.’

‘He’s not going to waltz off in my arms,’ Sungmin scoffed.

‘But you love him too?’ Henry asked immediately.

‘No. Of course not.’

Kyuhyun breathed in and walked silently back to the tech department. He’d heard enough.

* * *

‘Kyuhyun?’ The intercom buzzed into life. ‘I don’t have enough cash to get back home. Can I share a taxi with you?’

Sighing, Kyuhyun replied, ‘Sure.’ But he didn’t think he could take sharing a taxi with Sungmin, not after that.

* * *

Kyuhyun met Sungmin down at his desk, and the older male grinned. ‘To the taxi stand!’ he proclaimed, leading the way. Kyuhyun couldn’t help but smile as Sungmin waved down a cab.

They got in and Kyuhyun said, ‘First we’ll go to my place, then you can take my friend to his house.’ Quickly, Kyuhyun gave the man directions and they set off.

‘The driver’s kind of cute,’ Sungmin whispered to Kyuhyun, who agreed grudgingly. They sat in silence for the next twenty minutes.

‘My house isn’t far from here,’ Kyuhyun said suddenly. ‘You live ages away though, right?’

Sungmin nodded. ‘Do you... want to come in? For a drink, or something?’ Sungmin smiled, ‘That would be nice.’

They thanked the cab driver and Sungmin stepped inside Kyuhyun’s apartment, who blushed and admitted, ‘It’s not much, but it’s home.’ Sungmin grinned, ‘It’s great.’

Sungmin explored the apartment and Kyuhyun watched him examining his books and magazines. ‘Oh, this guy is so fit,’ he giggled, holding up a magazine featuring a male model in his underwear.

Kyuhyun snapped. ‘Min, it’s been four years,’ he breathed. ‘Four years, and I’ve stayed quiet, but I can’t do this anymore, I can’t! I love you, I’ve always loved you, and you’re always looking at someone else! But I can’t even compare to them, I can’t even...’ His voice broke and his burst into tears.

‘I don’t have superpowers like Super Siwon. I don’t look cute like the taxi driver. And I don’t have muscles like that model. I don’t have anything, I don’t know what I can do to make you love someone like me, I don’t know...’

‘Kyuhyun,’ Sungmin whispered, ‘Kyu.’ And Kyuhyun calmed down a little just by hearing his familiar nickname.

‘You don’t have to compare yourself to them,’ Sungmin said, ‘because you aren’t them, and they can’t compare themselves to you. You’re amazing, and smart, and talented, and...’ Sungmin grinned sheepishly. ‘You are kind of a superhero, always swooping in to save me from the wrath of my boss when the evil computer shuts down on me.’

Swallowing, Kyuhyun croaked, ‘Sure. I get it. I’m a good friend. But I love you. Damnit, Min, I love you so much...’

Sungmin breathed in and realised that he’d never really loved Super Siwon. He loved someone who was always there for him with a smile, someone who was always happy to see him, someone who always did so much more than he got credit for...

‘Kyu,’ he whispered. ‘I love you.’

And Kyuhyun lunged forwards and tugged him into a harsh kiss, hands cupped around his hyung’s face, and Sungmin reached up to fling his arms around his neck.

‘Kyuhyun,’ he breathed heavily, ‘you’re my superman.’

He reached up and kissed him again, tossing the magazine aside.

geurigo

2009-12-21T07:17:59Z

For: geurigo
Title: Say Goodbye [1541 words]
Pairing: Kangyeon
Category: Romance/Angst [Post DUI]
Rating: Pg 13
Summary: Kangin knows he messed up, and he wants to make it better, especially with Taeyeon but he doesn’t know how, or if he can.

AN: First time writing Kangyeon [Taeyeon in general], Henhae, and Eunteuk, so forgive me if they aren’t as good as you may have wished. Also sorry in advance for the angst of the first two. I wanted to write something for almost all of your prompts, and two of them fell in the angst category.

Kangin knows he’s messed up, of course he does. How could he not? But he doesn’t know how to fix it. Everyone he loves, everyone he’s closest too…usually so forgiving…but he knows they can’t be this time.

It’s not the first time, of course, that’s he drinken, and not the first time, of course, that’s he gotten drunk. They’ve tried, so many times, to get him to stop, but he can’t. He’ll be the first to admit, maybe he is an alcoholic, but being an idol is stressful. That’s always his weak excuse, and in the beginning, they’d understood, told him to drink less and it would be okay.

But now, and even before now, that excuse has been seen as nothing but something to hide behind, because the amount he drinks, it can kill him. They all know it, no matter how well he says he can hold his liquor. They all worry for him, and he wonders, did they see this coming?

He’d been so stupid. He was always stupid when he drank. He’d wanted to see Taeyeon, he’d even called her, told her he was coming over. He faintly remembers her telling him to stay where he was, not to come, that she would come to him if he wanted to see her so badly. He faintly remembers…her pleading? But he’d assured her it would be fine, thought it would be fine.

But it hadn’t.

He faintly remembers that night. There’d been so much alcohol in his system, it blurred the edges. He’d gotten in the car, joyful and lonely, wanting to see Taeyeon, to tell her how much he loved her, and he fumbled with the keys. Had such a hard time, seemingly unable to get the keys into the ignition.

That should have stopped him, but of course, it hadn’t. He’d preceded, he’d driven, he’d hit someone. And then all he knew was fear. Fear at what he’d just done in a ridiculous moment of drunk driving. He couldn’t even believe himself, and the fear seemed to crawl through out all of him, until he ran. He knew not to run, hadn’t meant to run, but he’d been so afraid.

He remembers going back to the dorm, suddenly clear headed despite the alcohol in his system, and then he remembers Leeteuk running him out. He remembers Leeteuk calling his Taeyeon, explaining the situation when he pled with Leeteuk not to make him go, not to make him turn himself in.

And he remembers Taeyeon’s tearful voice urging him to go! He’d cried. And then he’d shut down, and he’d gone. Back to the scene of the crime, to the police station, turned himself in, explained what’d happen, that he’d been drinking. And he knew right then and there that he wasn’t going to be able to see Taeyeon for some time now. That he might be kicked out of Super Junior. That he might lose everything he’d worked so hard to get. That he might have to say goodbye to all those he loved dearly.

All for a little bit of alcohol that would make him forget everything that was so hard for him to deal with. All the stress, all the fears, all the heartache of being an idol.

Leeteuk was livid with him. Usually the forgiving, and loving leader. Now, staring at him with hurt and angry eyes. “Idiot.” They accused, and he sometimes said when he walked by him, smacking his upper arm roughly in anger and hurt. Because they all knew Leeteuk loved him, just like he loved all the other members, and couldn’t stand to see what might happen to him. Didn’t want to see him lose everything.

Heechul wasn’t so quiet about his anger, throwing things at him when he was most frustrated, and Hankyung and Siwon usually at his side, not even bothering to stop him with heated anger and hurt in their eyes. “How could you do this to us?” All of their eyes seemed to accuse. They were right, he was supposed to be like their father. The role model for the group…and he had failed them.

It broke his own heart, tugged it right out from inside his chest.

Donghae and Ryeowook could only look at him with tears in their eyes, tending to avoid eye contact and walking with a subtle slump to their shoulders that anyone who cared to notice, noticed. They hid from him, when they could, and he knew they cried at night. They were angry with him, he was certain, but they were more hurt by the fact that they might lose him. They could forgive him, if only he could stay.

Sungmin was geared towards severe anger, along with Kyuhyun, both coping in the only ways they knew how. Snapping at everyone around them for no other reason then because they could. Kyuhyun tended to lock himself in his room and kill kill kill, pounding away at the keyboard and clicking his mouse about, playing his beloved Star Craft. Sungmin took to fighting with Hankyung, whipping out his martial arts because he could, because he needed to, and neither had to explain to their noona’s why they came to them bruised up lately.

Eunhyuk spent his time locked away in his room, ignoring the others whenever he could, and less then his usual happy self. It broke Kangin’s heart to know that he was the cause of that. It broke his heart to be unable to understand Eunhyuk’s feelings (whether he was angry or sad…) or to know that Eunhyuk wouldn’t look to his hyung’s for help, to let out his feelings. It made him feel like he’d disrupted the trust the other male put in his elders, and he was starting to fear if it would last long past this incident.

Shindong, to his utter horror, was eating more, and he wondered, sometimes, when Shindong took a break from feeding himself to look up at him, it he wasn’t doing it just to spite him. To get back at him for being an idiot by gaining back the pounds Kangin had helped him take off. They both knew this would anger management, that they’d make him take it back off again, plus some, but neither cared about that aspect of it. Kangin could only be horrified that it was his fault, and Shindong could only be proud of himself for getting back at the elder in some way. And it wasn’t as if the food weren’t a comfort for the pain he felt too.

Yesung’s face stayed carefully blank every time he saw Kangin, eyes looking so brooding. And even though that brooding stare was Yesung’s neutral face, Kangin couldn’t help feeling like there was more behind it know then usually. Yesung never touched him anymore, never made surprised visits when he was lonely or put out. Kangin felt like a perfect stranger to all of them.

And it was only made worse when Kibum and Taeyeon called him to yell at him. On the same day. Within minutes of each other. As if they’d planned it. Of course, he knew they hadn’t.

Kibum’s voice had made him sound like he was crying, even as he yelled at him and called him and idiot and cussed at him in two different languages. He hadn’t gotten a word in edge wise, other then ‘I’m sorry’ countlessly ignored and interrupted, before the other was hanging up and calling the members he was closest to, to cajole.

But Taeyeon, by far, was the worst. Her threats to break up with him if he didn’t get his act together making her sound heartless even while he understood it was his fault, and he got the feeling she was trying to hold back tears. She didn’t want to see him again until all of this was over, until he’d fixed things with the others, until he was done with alcohol forever.

--

“Taeyeon…” He whispered into the mouth piece, tears slipping down his face.

“Kangin.” She answered, curt, as she had been the last time they’d talked, when he’d told her he was on his way there, nearly alcohol free. She’d told him 6 months. If he could do 6 months without one drink, she would let him come back to her.

It’d only been two months since then, and he knew this had to be the end, that he had to say goodbye. He’d gotten drunk, under the ever watchful eyes of his band members at the very least. The first time since the DUI. But she’d told him…warned him. And it was breaking his heart.

He’d begged, told them just this once please even as he knew it would ruin so much for him, and they’d only agreed when they’d seen how badly he’d needed it. There were so many people giving him crap, even as he tried so hard to stop drinking. They understood. But only with them around, only this once.

“I’m sorry…” He whispered, and hung up, knowing she’d heard the drunken lilt in his voice. He dropped the phone and turned to sob in Leeteuk’s arms.>

Title: Hidden Loves, Hidden Lives [1326 Words]
Pairing: Henhae
Category: Romance/Angst [Couple Hardships]
Rating: Pg 13
Summary: Being an idol…it breaks their heart’s, keeps them apart…and they all learn to be self sacrificing, because they know that’s how it has to be.

Sometimes, you wonder why you chose this, when it would have been that much easier to remain who you once were. Maybe, instead of being a pop singer and dancer in China, you could have moved to the states, become famous with your violin. Maybe that would have been safer.

But no. You know that’s not true. Even if you had chosen to continue on, solely, with your violin. Even if you had chosen to become famous in a whole other industry, with the classical, possibly in an orchestra, you know things would be the same.

You still would have had to work, and work hard, to get where you are now. It wouldn’t have been any easier there, then here, to get the recognition you so badly wanted. You and Zhou Mi. You’d both worked so hard, and finally, they were warming to you.

Only 13 chants were dying out. More and more people were welcoming you and Zhou Mi, and that made you happy. But it doesn’t change those thoughts, those wonders, that you sometimes have.

And yet somehow, you know you wouldn’t have been happy playing in an orchestra, or being famous with just your violin. You’d never been content to be normal, never played the violin in just the usual way. Somehow, you know, you were meant to play it the way you did, in a K-pop band, as part of the subgroup geared to the Chinese. Super Junior M.

Where you’d met Donghae, the unbelievably sunshiny male who was somehow older then you when he acted more like a 5 year old boy.

He’d been the first to accept you. To accept you and Zhou Mi. But he’d always been closer to you. You knew from the beginning, whenever he turned that bright grin over to you and chattered at you in the way that only Donghae did, that he would be a friend for life. He would be the person you were closest to.

And it turned out more true then you’d ever expected.

Which always brought you right back to that original thought pattern. Why did you choose this? Things would have been so much easier if you’d never come here, never become part of a 13 man group with another man called Zhou Mi, never met Lee Donghae, never fallen in love with someone you could never truly have.

Because you couldn’t have him. Not in Korea, or China, at least. Only in secret, just as Donghae’d taught you. Just like all the others, who lived secret lives of love, hidden in the dorms, never to be shown as true as it really is, only in the fan service that kept the fans guessing, kept the fans happy.

And you hated it. How could you not? All of the boys hated it, and some were blatant about it, like Heechul who insisted on shoving it in managements face, always hiding under the fan service cover and always able to get away with it. Because, really? What was management going to do when it made the fans happy?

They didn’t care if it was true. Just so long as it was never spoken aloud. Just so long as no one came into the open, were it could no longer be written off as fan service.

Does that make them cruel? To you it does, because you know they know. You know they know much of it is real, and they don’t care if it break’s your hearts that you can never be open about it. You can never be happy together, out in the open. None of you can.

But you love Donghae, and you treasure every little moment between the two of you. You don’t care when Donghae flirt’s with the other members, or does fan service with the others, because you know at the end of the day he’ll come back to you, and the others will go back to their own.

Because that’s how it’s always been, since the very beginning, when the first relationship’s started popping up. That’s how it’ll always be, and there’s no way to change it.

For now, you’re content to live like this. Content to cherish the moment’s you have, because really? What more could you ask for then the love he gives you?

It’s hard being an idol, all of you agree, but this is the price you pay to do something you love. To hide your real hearts from your sleeves and give the fan’s what they want, because that’s part of your life. Even when what the fans want isn’t what you want.

Because if you had it your way, you’d never be apart form Donghae’s side, though you still had those moments sometimes when you would blush that girlish blush when Donghae said something charming.

You loved when he touched you, he loved when you touched him. Even tiny little caresses of the arm, or when one of you would wipe excess food from the others face, or when he played with your chubby ‘chipmunk’ cheeks, all the while cooing at you in his loving way, or when he complained when management made you lose weight, and you lost some of those cheeks he loved so much.

And you knew it was like that for all of them, all those hidden couples who had to deal with ever changing hairstyles and ever changing demeanor that came from the stress of hiding, of practicing, of getting two hours of sleep, of performing…It was hard on all of you, losing what you were used to so your lover could become something else.

Though the changes never made you love then any less, couldn’t you miss them? Couldn’t you miss those things that had first attracted you, or your favorite hairstyles? Couldn’t you miss the days when your lovers weren’t pulling their hair out from stress, or losing weight because they no longer ever felt like eating? Or getting sick, because they never got a break? Never got a chance to prevent it from starting in the first place?

So maybe you don’t actually ever wonder why you chose this, but why things turned out like this. You hadn’t expected to fall in love, never. And even if you had, not with another male…another band mate. Someone you could never have, no matter how much he loved you.

Because though he promised over and over again that when this was all over, when Super Junior broke apart for whatever reason it might break apart, he would leave Korea to be with you…you knew you couldn’t do that to him.

His life was here. In Korea. And if he left with you back to Canada, to be with you were you didn’t have to hide your love for one another…he would never be allowed to come back. And he had more family here then you did, though you considered all 13 of the others your family…it wasn’t the same.

You could live with never being able to come back to Korea, but you couldn’t live with yourself if Donghae couldn’t come back either. He was born and raised here. He had family with so many of the other groups, not just your own, and whatever remained of the family he’d left when he’d joined Super Junior like the rest of them.

You couldn’t take Donghae with you, and that was the price of coming here. Of not choosing to play your violin like everyone else, of not choosing to become part of an orchestra or whatever…and yet, you thought maybe…just maybe it was all worth it. To have him to yourself for at least this short a time.

Because, hell, at least you had him now. And at least you would always know, somewhere deep down, he still loved you and you stilled loved him. Because that would never stop, no matter how many miles were put between you.>

AN: My apologies if the last group of pairings aren’t your preferred, but I had nothing to go off of.

Title: Last Summer [3271 Words]

Pairing: Eunteuk

Side Pairings: Henhae, Kangyeon, Shinessica, Kyumi, Yewook, Hanmin, Sichul

Category: Romance [AU Vacation]

Rating: Pg 15 for mentions of adult themes.

Summary: Senior Year. The last year before they would head off to different colleges, forced to say goodbye to so many precious friends. So they took a vacation, to say goodbye.

It hadn’t been a particularly hard year, this year, but it had been a particularly stressful one. Senior year. The last year before they would head off to different colleges, forced to say goodbye to so many precious friends.

Graduation had been hard, and tear filled, though their own little group [of 15] had plans for one last vacation together before they took off in different directions, promising one another to keep in touch. And they knew they would, around busy schedules. They’d email, if they had to.

Because they were all pretty close.

Some of them would stay together, small clumps, mostly of couples, headed off to the same college. Some of them were going farther then others, some staying nearby. Some of them weren’t even leaving home.

But, for the most part, they would be separated. And for who knew how long. They couldn’t know if they were going to meet up again, if their career choices would drive them down similar paths, or if they’d have to struggle to be together again. And they didn’t know who would forget who. They hoped none would, but it was inevitable.

Some would be forgotten by others, only remembered when reminiscing, but they couldn’t blame whoever that was. It was only part of growing older. But they could hope, that maybe…just maybe they wouldn’t grow too far apart.

They put those thoughts aside, however, when three weeks into the summer they were all moving down to Siwon’s family’s summer house for a couple weeks. To spend one last partial summer together before they headed off to college. It would likely be their last summer all together.

--

For the most part, they were all paired up, except for Hyukjae and Leeteuk, and there were enough rooms [and no adults] for all the couples to get a room to themselves in Siwon’s summer home. Common courtesy asked for no sex, but if they did, the rest of them hoped they would keep it quiet.

16 people ended up coming, rather then the originally planned 15, but it all worked out in the end, because Kibum ended up being unable to come [some of them feared that meant he would be the first they would lose track of] and Hyukjae and Leeteuk didn’t mind sharing a room. Kangin and Shindong brought their girlfriends, the only two dating outside of their group, and, coincidently, the only two with girlfriends. None of the other boys minded.

It was a mad dash, when they first arrived, to get the best rooms, though Siwon and Heechul automatically got the main suite [lucky it was Siwon’s house or Heechul may have kicked up a fuss]. The rest of the room’s were relatively similar in size, though location was pretty important to many of them. Siwon informed them there were beautiful views from every window, it just depended on what view you wanted.

Which is what’d caused the mad dash.

Kyuhyun dragged Zhou Mi to a room closest to a bathroom [Zhou Mi’d confided with the others that Kyuhyun had a bathroom kink] and Zhou Mi felt lucky enough that particular room near that particular bathroom had a nice view of the ocean, and a balcony to stand out on. He had no complaints. [And it came to no one’s surprise when the two announced they were going to ‘test out’ the showers not long after they’d unpacked.]

Kangin and Taeyeon grabbed another room with a nice view of the ocean and claimed it as their own somewhere on the bottom floor. Their window also had a sliding glass door that opened to a direct route out to the ocean.

Shindong offered to let Jessica choose a room, but she didn’t care where they stayed. [Most of the boys blamed that on the way she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes off of Shindong.] They ended up taking one of the side rooms on the top floor because Shindong took up to much time being persistent that Jessica choose.

Ryeowook and Yesung took the room closest to the kitchen, and though they all knew Ryeowook just loved to cook, they wondered if Yesung’s ‘Ryeowook in the kitchen kink’ had anything to do with that choice. Hankyung and Sungmin took the next closest room, also close to the woods in the front of the house were Sungmin was planning on forcing Hankyung to practice Martial Arts with him.

Henry and Donghae chose a corner room on the top floor, and many of the group wondered if they would ever once leave the room. They knew the two would be going to different colleges, though not too far away from each other. It would be at least an hour drive in either direction, and both wondered how much time around studies they’d have to be together.

Hyukjae and Leeteuk, who’d waited patiently for the others to choose room’s, got the last corner room with a sliding glass door that opened up to the woods out front. In Hyukjae’s opinion, he couldn’t have gotten luckier.

Because though all the others were happy in relationships, Hyukjae was not. And he wasn’t sure if he was lucky or unlucky that he’d ended up with the only other single male in the group. The one he happened to be crushing on but who only seemed to see him as a little brother.

And if he could escape the room at night, out into the woods where he could easily lose sight of the person he most desperately wanted and felt he couldn’t have, then he was happy.

--

The boys remained happy the first week at the summer house, keen on forgetting the fact that they wouldn’t be with each other, altogether, for very much longer. They spent most of their time out on the beach, toes dug into the sand, playing beach volleyball, or pushing each other out into the waves.

Donghae and Henry made the most of their time together, cuddling or sneaking kisses in whenever they got the chance, and, as the others assumed, having sex by night. Sometimes, the others would notice that sad, despairing look cross their faces and would immediately saunter over to wipe it off again.

There would be no brooding on this trip.

Kangin spent his time organizing all the volleyball games, and making sure Taeyeon was always on his team. He joked with her a lot, and made little comments about how bad she was at volleyball until she tackled him into the sand to smack at his chest with a childish, happy grin on her face that rivaled his own.

Jessica forced Shindong into the water, splashing water at his face as she wadded farther in, forcing him after her to retaliate. A few times she managed to make him believe she was drowning in order to get him to come in after her. She enjoyed the water, and took pleasure in forcing Shindong to enjoy it with her.

Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi spent the majority of their time in the water too, but most of the boys doubted it had anything to do with the enjoyment of swimming. If the sated looks they had on their faces whenever they came out of the water and Zhou Mi’s smiling winks were anything to go off of, they were pretty sure their activities were a little more strenuous.

Ryeowook cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner each and every day with the help of Hankyung, refusing to allow Siwon to order anything. After the first time Siwon’d told him he didn’t need to cook and was rewarded with a scowl, tear filled eyes, and an angry “BUT THIS IS THE LAST TIME I’LL GET TO COOK FOR ALL OF YOU!”, Siwon hadn’t attempted to make him stop again.

Yesung took to sitting in the kitchen, watching Ryeowook cook, with glassy, loving eyes. After the first time Hankyung’d come back from checking up on everyone to find Yesung initiating what would soon be sex on the kitchen table [a kitchen table that wasn’t even there own], he’d gotten Sungmin to take Yesung off their hands when it looked like temptation was settling in.

Siwon and Heechul were seen for each and every meal, and a few times in between, but Heechul’d taken to interrupting Siwon whenever he’d settle in to play a game of volleyball, or a random board game in the living room at night, to force him back up into their room. By the mesmerized way Siwon stared at Heechul’s ass whenever he did so, it didn’t seem he minded much.

Hyukjae, on the other hand, spent his time flitting about Leeteuk, trying not to make it obvious he was in love with him, but unable to leave his side when all he wanted was to be as close to possible to him. They’d always been close friends, and Hyukjae wanted it to stay that way.

He was glad they would be going to the same college, even if that would make it harder to get over his crush on the older male.

And Leeteuk, as always, ran around making sure he spent time with each and every person, and babied them as much as possible. Because he knew he wouldn’t be seeing many of them again for some time, and he loved them all dearly. Like family.

--

It was the second week when things started to get a little bumpy. At least for Hyukjae.

For most of them, it was still smooth sailing. They had two more weeks before they would be leaving, little groups at a time, until it was only Siwon and Heechul who were left, the two who would be attending a college near the summer house.

For some of them, tears were already being shed. You could often find Henry or Donghae with tears in their eyes, smiling at the friends that surrounded them. They tried to hide it, but Donghae tended to dissolve into sobs, which would in turn make Henry’s tears fall, and would have the rest of the boys comforting them.

Ryeowook was also one who would often be found crying, though he attempted to hide it much harder then Henry or Donghae. Every once in a while, when one would walk by the kitchen while Ryeowook was cooking, they might see a tear slip into the food he was slaving over.

Ryeowook refused to admit it, even when he would cry openly after Donghae started up.

But it was Leeteuk who cried the most, and it was Leeteuk who made things hard on Hyukjae.

Leeteuk, who considered each and every one of them his babies. Leeteuk, who would probably miss them all the most. Leeteuk, who probably knew the most about all of them. Leeteuk, who’d taken care of them for who knew how long.

He cried at least once a day, sometimes three or four times.

But he could also be found whispering, pleading with Kangin, and immediately stop when he noticed Hyukjae around.

And it confused Hyukjae to no end.

For the longest time, Hyukjae’d had the sneaking suspicion Leeteuk was in love with Kangin, and thinking about it always depressed him. In this case, seeing him what that strained look on his face, pleading with the other male, made him wonder. It would be Leeteuk’s last chance to tell Kangin the truth, would he take it?

And would he push for what he wanted…? Hyukjae knew Leeteuk wouldn’t force anyone to do anything…but maybe…maybe he was pleading with Kangin to kiss him, just once. Pretend that he loved him back. Because chances were, by the time they saw each other again, Leeteuk was expecting to have gotten over him.

Maybe that was it.

But Hyukjae didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to let his mind run wild.

It was kind of hard not to when he saw it happen every day, and the speculation just kept coming, each one wilder then the last, until Hyukjae was just about ready to make an excuse to leave early, just so he wouldn’t have to see it anymore.

--

“Hyukjae, you always spend so much time with Leeteuk! It’s not like your not going to see him again soon like most of us!” Kangin complained one day, to Hyukjae’s utter confusion and dismay.

“I mean, you hardly talk to me unless Leeteuk’s around. And every where he goes, I see you. Why aren’t you spending time with the rest of us?” Hyukjae couldn’t tell if the words were meant to be teasing, or scolding. He hoped Kangin was just teasing, but he knew Kangin was right.

Hyukjae just couldn’t find it in himself to hang out with anyone but Leeteuk, the one he wanted to be closest too.

It seemed, with Kangin’s prodding, everyone else was complaining about the same thing, and soon enough, Hyukjae found himself giving into their complaints and staring longingly at Leeteuk whenever he passed by.

But it wasn’t as if he didn’t enjoy spending time with the others. It was just that they all had someone to go to bed with at night, knowing they were loved and cherished, and he…he only had the dream of that.

--

As the second week ended, slowly, one small group at a time, the group started to dissipate, some of them headed home to pack for the dorms they would be leaving for soon, in order to get acquainted with the campus, or the language barrier they would have to jump.

Some of them were headed home only to pack up and leave for a second vacation with their families before they left for University.

Leeteuk and Hyukjae would be some of the last to leave, and as their numbers slowly dwindled, Hyukjae found himself cajoling a crying Leeteuk some nights, and watching Leeteuk bury himself into Kangin’s side after another person or two left during the days.

He found himself desperate to spend time with those who were leaving, and he wasn’t completely sure if it was in an attempt to keep away from being in between Leeteuk and Kangin [who would leave before Leeteuk and himself with Taeyeon in a few days] as they spent their short time together, or if he was finally despairing over losing the others soon.

Not that he didn’t love the others.

He was just rather selfish when it came to his crush on Leeteuk.

So he supposed it was partly both, in the end.

--

It was the night before Kangin and Taeyeon [the only two others left besides Leeteuk and himself and Siwon and Heechul] were to leave that Hyukjae found himself excusing himself to turn in early. He’d kissed Taeyeon softly on the cheek and gave her a hug before turning to hug Kangin, who’d grabbed him in one of his famous bear hugs and refused to let go for 3 minutes of Hyukjae crying about not being able to breathe and wiggling around in his hold.

When Hyukjae’d finally been released, he’d turned with a silly grin on his face to see Leeteuk hiding a sad, wistful look with a smile.

It almost immediately made Hyukjae’s smile slip off his face, and when he’d gotten to their room, he hadn’t even bothered to throw on a jacket before he was slipping out into the woods and looking for a nice, secluded spot not to far away for him to be able to find his way back.

As was normal of a beach setting, it was freezing at night, but Hyukjae barley noticed. He felt a little cold inside, his spirits a little dampened. He’d planned to turn in early in order to allow for Leeteuk to spend some semi-alone time with Kangin before he left tomorrow morning, possibly before they woke, but he hadn’t expected to see the wistful look on his face.

It made him want to cry, to think of it now. Because it made him nearly certain that Leeteuk was in love with Kangin. And Hyukjae was so in love with Leeteuk.

Maybe…maybe Hyukjae could be the person who would help Leeteuk get over Kangin. Maybe he could be the fall back, the best friend turned lover. He might not even mind so much if Leeteuk could promise nothing more then to try when and if Hyukjae told him the truth about his own feelings.

If Hyukjae could do anything to help his friend, he would do it. Even if it meant breaking his own heart to do it.

“Hyukjae? Are you out here?” A voice called, not too long after Hyukjae’d left the building. He knew that voice. There was no way he could ever not recognize it. Even so, he didn’t answer, whether it was because he was afraid to, or because he didn’t want to see him, he wasn’t sure.

A rustling nearby alerted him to the others approaching presence. He briefly considered getting up quietly and sneaking further into the woods, but before he could so much as stand, Leeteuk was emerging in front of him.

The other sent him a slightly pained smile. Hyukjae forced a smile back.

It was silent between them, Hyukjae unsure what to say, and Leeteuk appearing as if he wanted to say something but unsure how to. Hyukjae looked down. Leeteuk started to shuffle his feet slightly. A sigh broke the silence, and Hyukjae looked up again, just as Leeteuk was taking the few steps forward to meet him.

Sliding off his own jacket, Leeteuk handed it to Hyukjae, and Hyukjae suddenly realized he was shivering.

“Look, you’re freezing! Why didn’t you bring a jacket out with you?” The older chided, and this time, Hyukjae’s smile was real. He stood up and took the jacket from the older and slipped it on gratefully.

“That’s better now, isn’t it?” He asked with a tentative smile, and it was so unlike Leeteuk to be unsure of himself. It made Hyukjae curious and confused.

It was silent between them again, and Hyukjae looked for something to interrupt it, even as Leeteuk stared to the side.

“Now you won’t have a jacket…” Hyukjae mumbled, staring at the ground when he realized the other was only wearing the thin shirt he’d been wearing earlier. He looked up again when Leeteuk laughed that special laugh he loved so much. He smiled uncertainly back.

“I love that smile…” Leeteuk murmured as his laugher died out, and he took a step closer to the younger of the two. Hyukjae wasn’t sure what to do. Laugh? Say thank you? But Leeteuk was getting closer, and it was making his heart beat faster, his vision go a little blurry, his blood pound with adrenaline. He couldn’t think straight.

And then Leeteuk was cupping his cheek, movements tentative, eyes nervous as they flickered between Hyukjae’s lips and his eyes. It seemed they were at a standstill for the longest time, Hyukjae’s whole body thrumming with the want for the kiss that seemed to be coming, but it was only a matter of seconds before Leeteuk was closing the distance and kissing him with that hesitant unsureness he’d seen on his face earlier.

And it only took a moment for the shock of the actual kiss to pass and allow for Hyukjae to kiss back, all thoughts of Leeteuk loving Kangin completely blown from his mind.

--

“You…you thought I was in love with Kangin!?”

“Well, what was I supposed to think! You were always with him and-”

“Of course I was always with him! He’s my best friend!”

--

AN: Excuse the mistake in the last fic. Though I know the boys are between 1 and 6 years older then each other, I’ve put them in the same grade in order to accomplish a vacation fic with all 15 of the boys, even if it was mostly centered on Hyukjae and Leeteuk’s relationship.>

sandboxskyline

2009-12-21T07:10:23Z

For: sandboxskyline
Title: Origami
Pairing: Heechul/Hankyung
Category: Darkfic, AU
Summary: There is something wrong with Heechul.
A/N: I had to write this literally at the last-minute, so I'm sorry if it reads awkwardly! orz

Origami

Hankyung is yelling again. Heechul shakes his head, because that isn’t right, Hankyung never yells. But he’s yelling, and when his hand touches Heechul’s face, it’s not touching, but something else.

Heechul peers into the mirror at the skin purpling just below his right eye, like little violets.

--

Christmas is everyone’s favorite holiday, because they have an excuse to be together and eat their faces off. Hyukjae orders Japanese sashimi for everyone with money he doesn’t have. “Siwon’s treat,” he explains to the curve of Ryeowook’s eyebrow, and punches numbers he copied from the internet into his cell phone.

Siwon comes late, with Hankyung dangling off his arm. They both glance at Heechul, but Heechul’s busy whispering into Yunho’s ear, and Siwon feels Hankyung’s grip on his arm tighten.

“Hyung,” he says.

“Hm?”

“Let’s sit.”

Five hours later, Siwon is bleary-eyed and finds Hyukjae taking ten-thousand won notes from his wallet. “Hey, that’s mine.”

Hyukjae shrugs. “If you want to make some easy cash, why don’t you take a photo of Heechul-hyung over there.”

Siwon turns and follows the tip of Hyukjae’s index finger. It’s Heechul, and he’s not alone. It’s Yunho, fingers in Heechul’s hair, mouth trailing down the tilt of his neck. Siwon makes a funny sound in his throat.

--

“Hey.” Leeteuk is nudging Donghae. “Have you seen Heechul?”

Donghae mumbles and rolls over. Leeteuk pushes him gently.

“Heechul. I haven’t seen him in a week. Does he live here anymore?”

Donghae rolls to the other side, squeezes his head between the sides of the pillow.

Leeteuk tries not to curse, curses anyway, and starts to think If only Kangin were—but that’s as far as he’ll allow that train of thought to go.

“Okay,” he says to no one in particular and leaves the room.

When he reaches the kitchen, Heechul is standing there drinking milk from the carton with one hand perched on his hip. As always. He reminds Leeteuk of a bird suddenly, and he wants to hug him so badly.

“Where’ve you been?” Leeteuk asks casually, maneuvering past him to get started on the pile of dishes in the sink.

Behind him he hears Heechul’s indignance. “What do you mean? I’ve been here this whole time.”

--

Kibum calls Heechul out on his day off. His fingers are hurting from too much guitar playing. He needs to work on those calluses, get tough. Tough like Heechul-hyung, although in a different sense.

“Where do you want to eat?” He asks, instinctively reaching over to brush a piece of hair away from Heechul’s eyes. His hand dangles in mid-air, muscle memory. Remembering how it had been cast aside and reproached long ago. He isn’t allowed to be so affectionate, not when they both have people they love.

But Heechul doesn’t scold him this time. He smiles at the act of kindness. “Thanks Kibum. Where we always go?”

Kibum drives for two minutes before realizing he turned on the wrong street. His fingers are icy on the steering wheel.

--

When Heechul dreams, he goes back to that time they were filming Exploration of the Human Body, the episode on tears. They hired this pretty little thing, fresh out of university, with pale freckles on her cheeks and an upturned mouth. She was their acting partner for the day. Kangin, Heechul remembers, had been beside himself with delight. Winking at her, his fingers digging into the couch, Leeteuk’s side. And then when it was Donghae’s turn, she recited that famous line about erasers: they say they found an eraser in my head. Her words settled over the room like a black shroud, smothering out the laughter that had previously filled the air so vibrantly. Hyukjae stopped playing with the bicycle wheel and sat down. Even the look on Donghae’s face was perfect melodrama.

It’s that moment Heechul remembers, not the seconds of manic hilarity that ensued after Donghae’s infamous follow-up.

--

Hankyung corners Heechul in the bathroom when he returns from a night out. “Have you been avoiding me?” He asks furiously. His teeth are shaking, but it’s out of fear more than anything else.

Heechul’s eyes widen. Hankyung recognizes the look. It’s genuine hurt.

“Why would I be avoiding you? I love you,” Heechul murmurs. Hankyung loosens his hold on Heechul’s shirt and feels himself slide along the tiles to the floor. His eyes are wet and he hears himself saying Sorry, sorry again and again, and Heechul hushing him, it’s okay.

--

It’s not the same, and Hankyung can’t pinpoint why.

He still gets jealous. His hands still get that itching feeling, like they can’t quite clean themselves. And then Heechul is still pretty and his skin still blooms flowers the next day. The difference is he doesn’t go and make out with Yunho, or fuck Jay in the backseat of his convertible, or spend the night at Kibum’s apartment.

He sits at the edge of the mattress happy and warm waiting for Hankyung to wake up, for Hankyung’s hands to circle the bruise on his lip.

It’s strange being so easily forgiven.

--

Leeteuk sends Hyukjae, of all people, to talk to Heechul. “He won’t listen to me, because I’m his friend.”

Hyukjae gapes at him. “And I’m not?” But it’s true.

“No. That’s why you’re the only one who can talk some sense into him. This isn’t healthy—as much as I love Hankyung.” But Leeteuk says the last bit through closed teeth.

Hyukjae nods, even if he doesn’t mean it. “Okay.”

He finds Heechul in his room, combing his hair with a thin comb. “Do you think I look better with a center part or—oh, it’s you.”

Hyukjae shivers. Heechul’s look falls plainly on his face. “I came to talk to you about Hankyung,” he starts, straight to the point.

“What about him?” Heechul brightens at the mention of the name.

Hyukjae swallows. His throat forms a small knot. He has never done this before. “It’s not healthy. What he’s doing isn’t right.” He keeps his eyes on Heechul’s and watches Heechul’s lips curve angrily into a scowl.

“What is he doing? Why do you have to be so judgmental? It’s my life—it’s my—h—“ He wheezes the last word and clutches at his chest, and Hyukjae panics, because what if this is a heart attack? Should he call for help?

But Heechul recovers within moments. “I think I hear Ryeowook calling for you,” he says calmly.

It turns out Ryeowook is.

--

He doesn’t understand. No one told him anything. Leeteuk’s lips pressed into a tight line; Hankyung’s head between his hands, Siwon’s rocking back and forth, slow rhythm like the ocean tide, Shindong’s silence. He had to glean from their actions to figure it out.

One day he woke up and there were only four of them in the apartment.

“He’ll get better, Donghae-hyung.” Kyuhyun holds him until it hurts. The thing is, he’s heard that before.

--

How to Construct a Paper Heart

1. Fold a piece of paper in half.
2. Draw a half heart with the point at the bottom and the point in the center of the curved top touching the fold.
3. Cut along the pencil line.
4. Unfold the paper to see the heart.
5. Smooth out the crease.

“See how easy it is,” Heechul says. The little girl, Misun, the one who can’t speak properly, gurgles in delight. He holds the paper up against the sunlight and it casts a shadow over his face in the shape of love.

thundersquall

2009-12-21T05:24:37Z

For: thundersquall

Title: If I Told You, I’d Have To Kill You

Pairings: YehWook, SiHanChul

Category: secretagent!au, action

Summary: This assignment is going wonderfully. That is, if you count Jongwoon tripping over the threshold, setting off the alarm, and finding out after the fact that they hadn’t even needed to set anything up (it was already done for them), wonderful, then yes, it was spectacular.

A/N: omg, sheena, i’m. this. god, it took me FOREVER. it's ridic. i hope you like it .___.’’

Jongwoon isn’t looking forward to the mission. It’s his first one, and rather than getting a trained supervisor, someone that can have his back in case he royally screws something up, he gets paired with a boy that’s just as wet behind the ears as he is.

He immediately stomps over to the manager’s room but Jongwoon should have known that anything he said wouldn’t be taken seriously when he sees the boss with his feet up on the table. Sure enough, the man laughs at him when he complains, “You think we’ll give you someone when it’s a simple reconnaissance mission? You think we have the people to spare?” He waves his foot in dismissal, “Stop your complaining and get along with the man.”

Trudging out the door, Jongwoon resists the urge to slam it behind him, and is surprised when he sees a mousy haired boy standing in front of him. “Uh, hello.”

“Hi!” The boy smiles at him and sticks out a hand. Again, the temptation calls, but Jongwoon figures he must be polite, and shakes his hand. After the obligatory etiquette was complete, Jongwoon moves to turn away, but the boy speaks up, “Are you Jongwoon?”

He lets out a sigh, “I’m supposing you’re Ryeowook, then?”

Ryeowook claps his hands together lightly, and grins up at him, “Wonderful. How long have you been here? I’ve been doing paper pushing for ages before I got a proper assignment.”

“Same here, actually. To be honest, I was hoping that we’d get someone a little more experienced,” Jongwoon sighs, he hadn’t meant his words to have as much spite in them, “but since I’ve heard it’s a simple reconnaissance, I’m sure we can do just fine.”

Ryeowook’s smile becomes strained, and his eyes lose their warmth, “That we will. And if you’ll excuse me.”

Really, Jongwoon should know by now. He can’t blame it all on being socially inept. Now he watches Ryeowook’s back as he walks away, and lets his head hit the wall, this assignment is going to be just wonderful.

This assignment is going wonderfully. That is, if you count Jongwoon tripping over the threshold, setting off the alarm, and finding out after the fact that they hadn’t even needed to set anything up (it was already done for them), wonderful, then yes, it was spectacular.

Jongwoon mopes when they get back to the hotel.

It’s a nice hotel, though. Equipped with a pool, a small hot tub, a loaded breakfast bar, and a work out area, it’s pretty much everything they could’ve imagined. The room where Ryeowook and Jongwoon are stationed is huge, has two queen size beds, a bathroom with two sinks, a shower that can comfortably fit five people – not that they’d ever need to – and a large television.

Ryeowook looks over every now and then at Jongwoon’s figure, splayed across the bed in a despondent manner, but mostly watches over the recorded video on the feed.

Jongwoon’s depression only lasts ten minutes, if that, and soon enough he’s sitting next to Ryeowook, making small notes and plans of ‘if this happens, we do this.’

In reality, Jongwoon had envisioned a life of glamour when he was promoted up. He thought it’d be about the running in with blazing guns, fraudulent politicians, scantily clad girls, and he would be the man that others would look up to at work. Instead, he’s sitting watching a blank screen, and he swears that Ryeowook will forever judge him.

Jongwoon runs his hand along his arm, and sighs aloud; only a week of this before they can go back to paper pushing. He never thought he’d look forward to the day.

It’s a surprisingly boring job. Once the week is over, and all the information has been logged, their ‘assignment’ is complete. They make a disgustingly thick report, and hand it into the boss. Youngwoon attempts to look pleased, but even he knows this was just to get them some first experience, “Well done, boys. You’re on your way to becoming part of counter intelligence. Jungsu will have you speak to Sungmin to start up a training regime to keep you in tip-top shape, and then Kyuhyun will teach you the art of phone-tapping and computer hacking. These days will be hard, they will be long, and you will wish you had never signed up for this.”

Jongwoon peeks over to see Ryeowook’s reaction, but is almost blinded by the smile. Ryeowook wants this, and it almost bowls Jongwoon over. Yeah, it’s interesting, it’s a wonderful party trick, but mostly, it’s a paycheck every other week. He works because he has to, and he’s part of the large percentage of Americans who would rather not work in the job they have. If he could, he would’ve been a psychologist, using his degree for what it was meant for, rather than going gallivanting about as a ‘counter intelligence officer.’

He has this innate sense of people, sometimes, and he hates it. He can look at someone’s face, watch how they express themselves, how they hold themselves, how they walk, talk, and know their entire life’s history. He can look at their clothes, their hair, their makeup, and pick out the little things. Jongwoon’s able to pick people apart until they’re bare, and now it’s going to be used against them.

He can already tell that Youngwoon pretends to be flamboyant because he’s afraid that people won’t take him seriously if he isn’t, that he talks loud because if he makes a mistake he can laugh it off, and pretend it was on purpose. He already knows that Ryeowook is quiet, and people brush him off, that he’s actually extremely smart, and picks up on a lot of things that he never says. He can see that Ryeowook’s self-conscious, that he folds into himself sometimes, or a wall comes down like he’s afraid for people to see his true exterior. Jongwoon sees all of this, and wishes he didn’t.

Sungmin is a pleasant enough guy at first. He seems well-built, somewhat small, and he has a firm voice. The first thing he does is pat Jongwoon down, feels up his muscles, asks him to flex, and laughs when nothing much happens. “It’s alright; we’ll get you up to snuff in no time.”

Jongwoon regrets that Sungmin meant every word.

The days start to blur together, and Jongwoon remembers things by incidents, now. Day one, he was brought to his knees when Sungmin threw a sucker punch to his groin, muttering, “There are no cheap shots when it’s life or death.” Day seven, Kyuhyun and Jongwoon quietly listened to a phone tap with a couple who end up shamelessly pouring out their sex fantasies. They had both shifted in their seats after the call, and Kyuhyun had leered at him, “You hear anything you wanted to try out?” Day twenty-one, Jongwoon landed a lucky punch on Sungmin’s shoulder. The next moment, he’s on his back. Day thirty-five, Jongwoon successfully completes a simple computer hack.

Jongwoon finishes two more reconnaissance missions, except he sets up the bugs himself, and has learned how to be movie-worthy. He’s paired with two more partners in other missions, Hyukjae who was much more trouble than he was worth – even Jongwoon wasn’t that bad, and that’s saying something – and a more experienced partner, Donghee, who is so quiet, he once did an entire scan of the house without Jongwoon realising he left his side.

Instead of data entry and ‘stamp, ink, repeat,’ he’s out doing things, breathing fresh air, letting the adrenaline pump through his veins, and living. So what if he’s not a psychologist? He’s learned to see data and choose whether or not to process it. Sometimes, it does lurk in the back of his brain, the ‘why does he do that?’ sort, and then he shakes his head, and pretends the thought is lost into oblivion.

Jongwoon has been working as a counter intelligence officer for three years now, has gone on multiple missions, and has been moving up the ranks. He has scars and calluses instead of a baby face and paper cuts. His arms have strengthened, and his body hardened, he’s able to confidently look in the mirror, flex his muscles and go, “Yeah, look at these babies.”

Youngwoon calls him into his office as soon as he clocks in, and lo and behold, standing in front of the desk is Ryeowook. Now, the building isn’t large enough that a single employee could be invisible for the entire time Jongwoon had been there, but he had honestly not seen the other man since they had their first mission together.

Motioning between the two of them, Youngwoon smiles, “You two have met before.”

“Hello, Ryeowook.”

“Jongwoon,” Ryeowook inclines his head slightly, and then they both turn back towards Youngwoon.

“That was wonderfully heartfelt,” Youngwoon pauses for a moment before clapping his hands together. “So, I’m assuming you’ve both heard of Kim Heechul,” without waiting for either of them to nod, he continues on, “his father, the head of Kkangpae has died, and now Heechul is its leader. Things haven’t been going over so well between the neighbouring Chinese Triad. Again, you may know about the spat Heechul and Geng had had between the newest meat, Choi Siwon.

“There have been a few disputes, but nothing too rowdy, I doubt they want to expend their pawns for something so trivial, but Geng has been upping the ante. I want the two of you to successfully get into them, find out what makes them tick. I need to bring them both down, and I don’t care what you do to get it.”

Ryeowook joins the gang first, and he contacts Jongwoon shortly after, cold, almost apathetic, and it chills Jongwoon to the bone. He only has a few words to say, “I’m in, they decided to beat me until I was coughing up blood. I’m pretty scratched up still, but I’m in.”

“Are you alright?”

“I just told you that they were beating me ‘til I coughed up blood, you think I’m fucking alright?”

Jongwoon can hear the pain in Ryeowook’s voice and remains silent for a few moments, “I’ll be in there soon, you take care of yourself, you hear?”

Silence reaches his ears, and Jongwoon thinks Ryeowook’s hung up, but a small, soft voice finally replies, “Yeah, yeah. See you soon.”

Jongwoon wants to wash the memories out of his head permanently. He keeps replaying everything over and over again.

When he came up to some of the Kkangpae members, they had sneered at him, came up and felt his muscles, “This one thinks he’s a big boy. Look how strong he is.”

They laughed, taking turns feeling him up, and Jongwoon doesn’t know what to say, what to do, so he stands there stiff – that only makes them laugh harder. “Look at him, look how scared he is, and he wants to join? I think we should toughen him up.”

Jongwoon’s eyes go wide and he’s already imagining him sitting all bloody next to Ryeowook and being comrades in pain.

“You know what I think we should do?”

“What do you think we should do?”

‘We need someone to teach that weirdo Lee kid a lesson.”

The other man grunts in agreement, and they turn towards Jonwoon with a gleam in their eyes, “You up to it?”

Jongwoon squares his shoulders, and stiffens his expression, “I’m up to anything.”

Donghae, his name is. Jongwoon wants to puke out everything that just happened. Donghae was this boy, teenager, wrapped up in his own little world. As soon as Jongwoon sees him, he knows that Donghae’s being punished because he’s different, because he rambles and has that ‘not completely there’ look in his eyes.

Jongwoon beats him up in an alley, hating himself even more when he realises Donghae doesn’t make a sound, doesn’t protest, and the sight breaks his heart. It’s like he’s so used to the treatment he doesn’t bother anymore. Jongwoon acts like he’s a professional, pulls his punches and keeps the two other gangsters in his peripheral vision. He hits where he knows will heal, where damage won’t be permanent, he hits so that Donghae’s skin will easily bruise, but won’t pain him too terribly. He tries to think of himself as giving Donghae a break, but when he lays up and sees Donghae lying unconscious, he can’t think of himself as anything other than cruel. A paycheck is never worth this.

Soon, Jongwoon and Ryeowook’s days are filled with petty crime and one too many violent acts for either of them to stomach. They return to a hotel like their first mission, and when Jongwoon wakes to hear Ryeowook muffling his sobs in a pillow, he’s quick to scramble across the sheets to stand beside the other bed.

He’s awkward, swaying slightly, and trying to decide whether or not it’d be acceptable to get into the other man’s bed to comfort him.

Ryeowook ends up deciding for him: “Either come here and give me a shoulder to cry on, or go back to bed. You’re acting like a freak.”

Carefully easing himself onto the covers, Jongwoon opens his arms, and almost falls off the bed when Ryeowook rushes headlong into them. The sobs are more broken now, and they make Jongwoon want to cry too.

“I keep thinking of the people’s faces; keep seeing them over and over again. How can people do this for real? How can… how can they face themselves?” Ryeowook fists Jongwoon’s t-shirt, and visibly tries to pull himself together.

Jongwoon isn’t sure what to do, he’s never been one to willingly comfort a girl when they’ve cried, and he doesn’t know what came over him now, either. Slowly, he starts threading his fingers through Ryeowook’s hair and rocking back and forth.

It seems to work, because Ryeowook calms, and releases Jongwoon’s shirt. His arms fall limp and after a few minutes (or maybe ten, Jongwoon wasn’t counting) Ryeowook begins to snore. Jongwoon looks down at the two of them, and has no idea how to extricate himself from Ryeowook’s arms, so he carefully lays down and lets Ryeowook situate himself sleepily.

The first time Jongwoon meets Heechul, he’s stunned speechless. He had been lounging around with a few of the other Kkangpae members, Kibum in the midst of a story involving a heist at a local grocery market, when Heechul flitted in.

To be completely honest, Jongwoon had been expecting some burly hairy straight-out-of-prison looking guy, and instead a slim man shimmies towards Kibum, “Bummie,” he trails his finger along Kibum’s arm, almost as if he were attempting seduction, “Is this our newest member?”

Kibum rolls his eyes, but otherwise doesn’t move his arm out of Heechul’s grasp, “Yes, Heechul, this is Jongwoon.”

Jongwoon inclined his head towards Heechul’s presence, because really, what was he supposed to do in the face of the leader?

Heechul’s eyes turn calculating, and it almost feels as if he’ll read Jongwoon’s entire existence, know that he’s here because they’re to undermine the entire gang, and he should leave now, right this instant. They lock glares for longer than was clearly necessary, and Jongwoon blinks, unsure of what was to happen, his fight-or-flight instinct kicking in.

“Ha! I won,” Heechul grins, and walks off to bother someone else.

Ryeowook and Jongwoon get used to it. They shouldn’t, they shouldn’t have to get used to it. They shouldn’t have to walk down the streets in slung back jeans, know that they have knives in their pockets, and be ready for a fight at any moment. They shouldn’t worry about having to get shot in a random drive-by from the neighbouring gang, or even if their friends might get shot. Because, yes, they’ve made friends. They’ve befriended people who think of crime as just a way to get by, just like working a real white-collared job. They make friends who believe that this gang, this gang is a family, and if someone tries to get out, like Junsu last week, they should be killed.

Sometimes it terrifies them, but other times, it scares them more that these thoughts and ideals are starting to make sense. Youngwoon receives report after report, and as days turn into months, months turns into a year, they know they’ve gained trust, with Youngwoon, and within the gang.

Jongwoon saved Yunho from getting hit by a beer bottle someone threw out of their car window. It had shattered on Jongwoon’s shoulder; Yunho’s head had been there before.

Ryeowook ends up shanking a boy from the Chinese triad when he tried to attack Jaejoong, and Jaejoong ends up keeping Ryeowook close for the new couple weeks, “This is my boy, my boy!”

They’re putting evidence together, pictures, proof, anything really, and Ryeowook stops, one day, lays the small bag of cocaine on some of the other evidence, and stares at the pictures. “We’ve become emotionally attached, Jongwoon.”

Jongwoon’s quiet for a few seconds, and slowly fingers Kibum’s picture. “First truly serious mission and we might botch it up.”

Ryeowook sighs on his other side, “The Triad’s been quiet lately. Ever since I got one of their members, they’ve drastically slowed their numbers. We haven’t had as many disputes, or anything. I’m worried that we’re going to get some full-on attack.”

“Don’t say that. Knock on wood this instant.”

“Jong-“

“Right now.”

Zhoumi is in the hospital, watching over Henry carefully. A few weeks ago, one of the Kkangpae members stabbed him in the stomach, and after several close calls, his heart rate had leveled, and the doctor’s were able to stop the internal bleeding. He was still extremely weak, and sometimes went into deliriums (the doctor’s blamed the medicine he was on.)

Han Geng stood on one side of the bed, staring at the prone boy, and his voice comes out in an angry whisper, “This has gone on too long. Heechul needs to be put down like the bitch he is.”

Jongwoon and Ryeowook are running around playing a game of basketball with Changmin, Kibum, and Yoochun when Siwon comes onto the court. His normally smiling eyes are harsh, and his words are just as clipped, “The Triad is coming.”

Immediately, Changmin, Kibum, and Yoochun drop the game and rush through the wire fencing. Jongwoon and Ryeowook exchange looks, “You should’ve knocked the goddamn wood.”

They quickly run after the other three, and ignore Siwon’s pointed glare, Ryeowook touches Jongwoon’s arms softly, his voice soft, “We need to tell Youngwoon.”

“And how are you planning on going about that?” Jongwoon sneers, rushing into the building the others came to, a secret armory near the gang’s hideout. He takes two knives and stuffs them in his boots, grabs a muted gun, and shoves it into Ryeowook’s arms. “Right now, we have to focus on keeping ourselves alive.”

Ryeowook’s stomach feels like it’s boiling in anger, and he doesn’t know whether or not to push Jongwoon up against a wall and smack the sense into him, or to shoot him with the newly acquired gun. “Fuck you, Jongwoon. We have a mission, and we’re not going to be losing sight of it because suddenly you decided that the gang is more important than the government. This is all a fantasy, we finish this up, and we go back to our cushy desk jobs before we’re sent out again. Get your head out of the clouds and think of here, think of now,” Ryeowook hisses out his words, well aware that any part of the conversation heard could pass as their death warrant.

Jongwoon immediately takes offense, and feels his body turning stiff; he angrily pushes past Ryeowook, knocking their shoulders hard together.

Han Geng loads up his gun and smiles as Zhoumi sits beside him, reloading the cartridges in his own gun.

“You really ready for this?” Zhoumi asks, his voice sad.

Geng looked at Zhoumi for a moment, almost as if he were deciding whether or not to answer, and then walks out the door.

He looks out amongst the Triad, sees how small they really are, how young some of them look, and at the way they desperately hold their weapons close to their bodies. He’s not ready for this; he should never be ready for this.

Youngwoon scrambles after he gets Ryeowook’s hurried phone call. He immediately yells for Eeteuk, “Kkangpae and the Triad, get police officers immediately, this is going to be the bust to get them taken in. We have the evidence, all the proof we need, get them now.”

The two gangs are at a deadlock. Heechul, Siwon, and Geng are standing in the middle of the street, facing each other. They aren’t talking, only staring, and Heechul and Geng have each other at gunpoint.

Kkangpae and the Triad are shifting anxiously, weapons at ease, yet everyone is tense. At any moment, Heechul, and it most likely will be him, could lash out and their momentary peace would shatter.

Suddenly, Siwon surges forward, and jerks both of the guns down. They stare at him in shock, both too surprised to have pulled a trigger, and Siwon bellows, “Why the fuck can you two not share?”

Heechul immediately retorts, “You were mine first, he can’t have you!”

“If you weren’t such a little selfish brat, we wouldn’t have this problem in the first place, and you’re such a drama queen! You’re willing to place your family at risk just because you want Siwon to yourself.”

And then Heechul looks around himself, at the people he has situated around him. His face softens slightly, before a veneer quickly comes back up. “And you’re one to talk? You’ve got your little Triad buddies with you.”

“Heechul,” Geng sighs, touching Heechul’s fingertips lightly, “Please.”

It almost looks as if things were going to stop, as if the fight wasn’t going to go down after all, and then police sirens burst through the air.

Instantly, everyone scatters.

Kibum grabs Jongwoon’s arm, and drags him through the alleyway, behind them, Jaejoong pushes past them, running as fast as he can. Sungmin comes out of nowhere, and with a hidden smile, he stiff arms Jaejoong in the chest, and he falls to the ground. Youngwoon is behind him, and he slaps wrist cuffs on Jaejoong’s arms, and holds him against the wall.

“Come on, boys, want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

Jongwoon and Ryeowook are gathered up with the other gang members, and treated no different. Youngwoon doesn’t give the police any information, but Jongwoon and Ryeowook are released quickly, having no evidence so as to keep them in the system. Several of the other members were kept over night, Jaejoong with counts of resisting arrest, and Kibum had had a few bags of cocaine in his pockets. “Never know when you can find a sale,” he had grinned at Jongwoon when he was dragged back into the cell.

Heechul, Siwon, and Geng all had possession of illegal weaponry, and were later charged with drug trafficking, money counterfeiting, car theft, extortion, and gambling, along with several other more minor demeanours. The good news? They were put in a cell together, and made up for lost time.

Youngwoon lets Jongwoon and Ryeowook have a two week vacation, “well-earned,” he says.

Jongwoon and Ryeowook walk out of the office, a large bonus in both of their pockets. They walk for a few moments, and then Jongwoon nudges Ryeowook’s shoulder, “So what would you say if I wanted to show you my gun?”

“I’d have to say that my gun’s bigger than yours.”

“Want to compare?”

hoyah

2009-12-21T05:11:06Z

For: hoyah
Title: cross my heart
Pairings: Heechul/Yunho
Category: gen, angst
Summary: Sometimes it takes best friends and a few beers to remind you to keep the faith.
a/n: sorry it is neither terribly holiday-ish, nor terribly romantic. ): but happy holidays! ♥

Kim Heechul has a lot of acquaintances. His band mates have estimated he’s got about three quarters of South Korea’s big names and celebrities in his phonebook, and at least a quarter of Japan’s and China’s too. Heechul’s got a lot of friends among them- people to go party with, and people to go get coffee with and people to just hang out with. He’s got a lot of good friends, people he loves and trusts: Hongki and Mithra and Super Junior. Kim Heechul’s got a lot of people in his life.

But he’s only got one best friend, one person he will trust with absolutely anything, who’s been there since the beginning, and that would be Jung Yunho.

That is why, when Heechul feels off-kilter; restless; like his life is out of his control, Yunho is the one he calls.

Normally he doesn’t get this bad. Normally someone is around to distract him, Hankyung and his poor Korean and his fried rice usually. But Hankyung isn't around now, off being a super star in China. He doesn't need Heechul to translate for him, to understand him when he's over there. Donghae and Siwon are gone too- too far away for Heechul to watch over, to protect. Kibum is so rarely in contact these days that it’s almost like he never existed, only Heebum, a few old pictures and an empty space to remind Heechul that he breathed and lived and loved and laughed here once. There is no one to pester, to distract him from the way he still silently worries for Zhou Mi and Henry, trying to win over hearts that closed long before the world had ever known their names. Kyuhyun isn't around to game with, play against, and none of the members left can play well enough to be a real challenge to Heechul.

Ryeowook is gone too, so the rest of the members make do with takeout or someone's mediocre cooking. In the end, even if he's not on a diet anymore, he barely eats and he loses enough weight to make him feel sick, insomnia creeping in so that he stares at the dark ceiling in silence for hours (because no one has the time to check and make sure he's alright, he's sleeping). Leeteuk is still tense and unhappy behind closed doors, away from the camera, worried over Kangin who still keeps withdrawing, looking at them all with his guilty eyes. There’s an emptiness in these rooms, a lack and a sadness that quiets everyone, Eunhyuk and Sungmin and Shindong's games and laughter and smiles, and Yesung’s weird pranks. It drives Heechul mad, until finally he can't take it anymore and he's dialing Yunho's number, knowing they’ve both put this off for far too long.

It takes one, two, three rings before Yunho picks up, and Heechul looks at his clock, nearly apologizes for calling Yunho past one in the morning when he probably gets too little sleep already.

“Hello?” Yunho mumbles, sounding tired, weary, worn, but Heechul doesn’t apologize, because they both need this.

“Get up, we are going out right now,” he demands instead, pulling himself out of his own bed and riffling through his closet for something warm.

“Heechul hyung? Yunho asks, sounding just a little more awake, but even more confused. Heechul barks out a laugh on the other end of the phone.

“Get dressed. I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he commands, waits through Yunho’s hesitation, resigned sigh, and finally until his soft mumble of alright. Heechul hangs up then, concentrating on getting his wallet into his back pocket, a scarf around his neck and his keys in his hand.

Nine minutes later and Heechul’s tapping his thumbs impatiently against the steering wheel as Yunho stumbles out of his building, rubbing bleary eyes.

“Are we getting coffee?” is the first thing out of his mouth but Heechul forgives him for the lack of pleasantries, shooting Yunho a grin as he starts driving again.

“No. Beer.” It takes a moment but Yunho nods and goes along with it without too much deliberation. Heechul commends himself on job well done and focuses on getting them through the snow and to the nearest bar.

The ride is short, no more than ten minutes long, but that’s enough time for Yunho to fall half asleep, head against the window as Heechul hums along to some song on the radio. He wakes up a little though, as Heechul pulls into the small parking lot of an obscure bar close to home, a bar they’ve both frequented in the past, together, or with their bands.

It’s been a while since just the two of them have come though.

“Why’d you have to choose tonight?” Yunho asks as he staggers his way out of the passenger’s seat, pulling his scarf farther up, to cover his face. “It’s snowing.”

Heechul snorts.

“That doesn’t matter. It is not my fault today decided to be one of like twenty-eight days to snow. I wanted to hang out. Respect your elders and subject yourself to my whims.” He waves around a hand carelessly as he speaks and nearly slips from the force of the exaggerated motion. He holds his head high though, and gives Yunho a cool glare when he starts snickering next to him.

His snickering hasn’t stopped by the time they reach the door, and he holds it open for Heechul, who drops into a mock curtsy with a scowl that leaves Yunho biting his lip to keep from laughing outright. He gets the booth while Heechul gets the beer and by the time they’ve both got one in hand, scarves unwound and resting on the seats beside them, Yunho’s a few blinks closer to being awake.

“Donghae says hi.” It’s not the best conversation opener, but it’s the safest and Heechul sits back and takes a sip, settling in for a long night. Yunho mirrors his actions, resigned.

“How’s he doing? I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to him in a while,” Yunho says after he swallows, unbuttoning his coat.

“He’s good-off in China breaking hearts,” Heechul says with a laugh. “How are the band mates?”

The question is enough to make Yunho pause, blinking, unsure, down at the beer in his hand. Heechul hides his sigh, closing his eyes for a second to breathe.

“Don’t worry; everything you say tonight will be completely confidential. Cross my heart.” He makes a little x with his fingers over his heart for emphasis. Yunho stares at him for half a second.

“Do we have to pinky promise too?” Yunho finally asks, laughing, and they shake on it for kicks, clinking glasses as the final seal to their pact. They are quiet for a long minute before Heechul feels the need to break the silence.

“So let’s finish the pleasantries then. How are the band mates?” This time Yunho doesn’t hesitate to answer, content with the simplicity in the question. It’s too early in this conversation and neither have enough alcohol in their system to go any deeper than pleasantries.

“They’re all good- healthy; breathing; functioning. Alive.” Heechul snorts.

“I can’t say the same about Super Junior. Half of the dorm caught the plague last week or something.” Yunho winces in sympathy. “It was miserable.”

“I’d bet. I’d hate to have to deal with twelve sick members. I’m good with just four, thanks,” Yunho says in-between sips. Somewhere in the background someone is talking too loud for nearly two in the morning, and Heechul smothers a yawn. “So, besides being half-dead and miserable, how is Super Junior?”

Heechul is painfully aware that Yunho doesn’t ask how he is. He is quietly grateful for it.

“We’re alright, busy. Super Show and such. Nothing really big,” he says with a shrug, doesn’t go into the tiny, painful little details of Kangin’s tired eyes or Leeteuk’s worn face or Donghae’s subdued voice over the phone. Yunho, he figures, has more than enough burdens to bear, without having to bear Super Junior’s, Heechul’s, as well.

“You won the Daesang though,” Yunho points out and Heechul let’s himself be smug, be proud of his band, for a half a moment.

“We did,” he says, taking another long sip. “They were all really happy. Did you guys watch?”

“I did,” Yunho says and Heechul doesn’t ask about the lack of plurals just yet, doesn’t comment on Yunho’s bloodshot eyes.

“The girls did well too. They cried buckets later, at dinner.” He smiles slightly, fond, at that memory. They had deserved that award.

“I bet Leeteuk and Eunhyuk cried too, yeah?”

“Oh, all of them did, the bunch of girls,” Heechul says, sneering, and knowing that Yunho knows him well enough to pick out the pride in that statement. Yunho knows him well enough to know how proud Heechul can be of a band he once hadn’t wanted at all.

Yunho laughs in appreciation, and tips his bottle in congratulations and Heechul remembers a year ago and a teary phone call from five ridiculously proud boys and can’t help but smile at the memory.

“Why’d you call me out tonight, hyung?” Yunho asks a few heartbeats later, turning serious. Heechul holds back a sigh. For half a minute he seriously considers telling Yunho the truth-telling him about the insomnia, and the silence, and the sadness. For a moment he wants to, but then a pretty, long-legged girl with sad eyes standing by the door catches his attention. She gives him a small, watery smile and a nod of acknowledgement that leaves Heechul wondering if she recognized him in the dim lighting, or if she just recognized misery. When he turns back to Yunho, he knows he can’t.

“I was bored and my band is full of losers,” is the excuse he chooses in the end, a shrug and a laugh to keep Yunho from pressing. “Besides, I figured you could use the company right now.”

Yunho hums like he agrees, but Heechul knows he doesn’t. He lets it slide though, and for that, Heechul is doubly grateful.

“How are you though? How is TVXQ?” Yunho sighs, with tired, sad eyes, hesitating this time because this isn’t just about how healthy his band mates are. This is deeper than that. Heechul orders another round of beers for them.

“Confidentiality,” Heechul cheerfully reminds him, and Yunho grimaces in acknowledgement. It takes another few moments for Yunho to say anything though. He takes a deep breath instead, steeling himself for what he wants to say. Heechul waits.

“Hyung, I hate my band,” is the first thing he says though, dropping his chin onto the table, lower lip sticking out pathetically. Heechul can’t help his laughter at the whine in Yunho’s voice. “It’s- we’re a mess.”

Heechul hums and takes another sip, waiting for the details that are sure to come.

“Jaejoong won’t stop apologizing, you know. He won’t stop apologizing but he won’t back down and Yoochun just, I don’t even know. He mopes? He’s too quiet and only really talks to Jaejoong and Junsu anymore. He won’t stop looking at us like he’s betrayed us. And Junsu just kind of clings to them both and laughs too loud in the silence and it’s a mess.” He pauses for a breath, closing his eyes for a moment and Heechul’s heart hurts a little for them, for this image that should never exist. “And Changmin’s doing that magnae thing, you know? Where he tries to act all mature and unfazed and won’t let anyone see that he’s upset except it’s just, just really fucking obvious, you know?”

Heechul nods because he remembers Kyuhyun in a hospital bed, unwilling to show them how much any of it hurt, or how scared he was of them moving too fast for him to catch up. Heechul remembers Henry crouched to the floor after a performance, wiping his eyes before anyone had a chance to see he was crying, and denying it if anyone asked. Heechul understands that.

“They ‘re all just so sad and I can’t fix us.” There’s a long pause, stretching, as Yunho stares at his bottle, utterly miserable, and Heechul tries too hard not to remember exactly the way things used to be. He knows Yunho, knows how hard this must be for him. Yunho’s always had a strong sense of justice. He’s always seen things in black and white. But now, now things can’t be black and white. He’s torn between what he believes in and his band mates and there is no right answer there, only shades of gray.

“I’ve always taken care of them, but now I can’t- I don’t know how too. It’s them against us when it shouldn’t be, and we are trying to hold on but we aren’t good enough and nothing’s working and I don’t know what to do,” Yunho says in one great rush, breath catching on the very last word and Heechul tries to keep his heart from clenching too hard.

He thinks back to a time when Yunho was magnae, when he just had to be cute. He’s suited for this, leadership, responsibility, Heechul knows that. Yunho makes a brilliant leader. He’s suited for this and he loves his band and he wouldn’t have it any differently. But still, Heechul looks at the man Yunho’s become and can’t help but see all the bits of him he’s lost over the years- the innocence and easy smiles that are a little harder to find these days. This transition, from silly boy to a man to be proud of, it’s been beautiful and heartbreaking and Heechul can’t quite watch without feeling his heart crack.

“I just don’t know what to do anymore,” Yunho says, and for a moment Heechul is nearly afraid he’s going to start crying. He doesn’t, just sags in his chair instead, peaking up from under his hair all miserable and sad, a puppy that’s been kicked down one too many times.

Luckily, Heechul is there to pick him back up. He lets Yunho mope for a minute, stew in his misery, before he clicks his tongue in annoyance, swatting at Yunho. He tucks away his own fears, tucks away the images of rising gods falling from the sky at the height of their power, tumbling down and out of control until they lie sprawled, broken, across the jagged land on earth. He tucks them away for when he’s alone, to keep him company with insomnia and tries for confidence instead.

“You’ll be fine. You’re TVXQ. You’re unbreakable,” he says instead, chin tilted, challenging Yunho to disagree, to not believe. Yunho doesn’t open his mouth to argue so Heechul takes another swig. “Keep the faith and all that shit,” he adds in terrible English and for the first time since this conversation started Yunho smiles, small and trembling but there. Real. Heechul commends himself on mission accomplished, and orders them another round of beer.

“Keep the faith,” Yunho repeats, almost like he believes, and he sits up a bit straighter, pulling strength from somewhere deep inside. Heechul watches and knows this is why he’s a leader. It makes him breathe a bit easier.

“Besides, Jaejoong is probably just PMSing again,” Heechul adds, an off-handed comment that sends Yunho choking on his beer in laughter. Heechul grins back and reaches over to thump him on the back. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Yunho laughs in agreement and just like that they turn the conversation away, to earlier days, to happier times, to friendships that could last a lifetime.

Eventually, sometime after three am but before four, they manage to stumble their way out, Heechul’s keys firmly in his pocket. The decision to walk isn’t quite spoken out loud-not with the real reasons anyways.

“I could use the exercise,” Heechul decides cheerfully when Yunho quietly suggests it, and Heechul knows Yunho knows what he’s doing. Yunho knows he’s trying to break the uneasy remembrance in the air. He lets him anyway, rolling his eyes at Heechul’s antics, familiar in the way they’ve not really changed, no matter how much Heechul, himself, has.

“You aren’t fat hyung.” It’s a pointless assurance because they both know Heechul is not, but sometimes they can’t help falling into old habits.

“Fine, you could use the exercise then. I think your chipmunk cheeks are coming back.” He pokes Yunho a few times in the face to emphasize his point, nearly poking him in the eye before Yunho decides that making an unsteady swipe to capture his hand is the best course of action. Heechul growls, indignant as they stumble along, awkwardly, his arm stretched across Yunho’s chest.

In retaliation, Heechul attempts to hook his leg around Yunho’s, mid-step, and Yunho has to let go of Heechul in order for him to keep them both from tumbling to their snowy deaths. Except there is enough alcohol in his system for that to not really work and they both go down into a not so soft pile of slush on the side of the street.

Yunho lets out a soft noise of pain that sets Heechul off in a bout of snickering. Yunho looks at him, eyes narrowed, and pretends they aren’t grown men for a moment as he smushes a ball of dirty snow into Heechul’s cheek. It’s enough to get Heechul to stop laughing, now more occupied by flicking snow off in disgust, every once in a while aiming purposely for Yunho’s face.

“C’mon.” He hauls himself to his feet after a few minutes, reaching back to give Yunho a hand. Yunho takes it with a skeptic looks so Heechul yanks it as hard as he can, pulling Yunho up with one, albeit painful, tug. His smile is triumphant and Yunho laughs at him for it.

“I love you,” Yunho says, slinging an arm across Heechul’s shoulders, and Heechul can’t quite gauge how drunk either of them are at this point so he just goes with it.

“Love you too.” He slips his arm around Yunho’s waist, and they continue stumbling on home through the drifting snow, scarves wrapped warm around their mouths.

(Sometime between here and there though, Yunho stops and pulls away, whispers thank you against his cheek and holds on tight. Heechul lets him, lets him be weak for just this moment, silently promising that this can be just another secret between them.)

beanova_

2009-12-21T04:36:33Z

For: beanova_
Title:: The Great Collapse
Pairing:: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun (QMi)
Category:: Apocalypse/Suspense/Romance
Summary: :Cho Kyuhyun, an intern at the National Intelligence Service of South Korea, finds himself and an employee at a local cafe to be the only survivors when the entire world mysteriously drops dead.

The day of the Great Collapse, as it would be named in the future, started off like any other day for Cho Kyuhyun. His alarm clock went off at 5AM, he prepared himself for the day, and by the time he left his apartment 45 minutes later, the night’s dark blue sky was already starting to fade to warm shades of orange and red.

As he breathed in the cool morning air, Kyuhyun adjusted his tie and looked over the balcony at the long, bright line sitting at the horizon. The sun had barely begun to rise, and it would be at the same position when it came time for him to return from working at his internship.

Working at NIS, the National Intelligence Service of South Korea, had been a goal of Kyuhyun’s ever since he had entered university. Years of playing video games had lead Kyuhyun into yearning for a chance to play the heroic computer hacker that saves his country from terrorists. Sure, he wouldn’t be saving the world from a superior alien race, but it was close enough.

However, having to put in 60 hours a week at his internship at NIS made Kyuhyun wonder if achieving his dreams required a little too much work.

Sighing, he descended to the first floor of the complex and headed towards his usual first stop of the morning: the café down the street.

Kyuhyun had been an occasional customer at the café even before his internship had began, back when he was still an undergraduate at his university. But now that his day-to-day life started at an unreasonably early hour, going to the cafe to get his daily caffeine fix had become a necessity. He had quickly become a regular, soon finding himself making trips there every morning. Just a week and a half into his internship, Kyuhyun already had a "usual", his name and face had becoming familiar to the early morning staff working there.

The walk to the cafe was quiet. Only a few cars were out driving at this early hour, and even fewer people were on the streets walking. A couple shops were in the process of opening their doors and setting up shop as Kyuhyun passed them by.

With his messenger bag slung over his shoulder, Kyuhyun cupped his hands together, brought them to his mouth, and breathed a puff of hot air. He rubbed his hands together, eager to get some nice, hot coffee inside of him to warm himself up.

Finally, he reached the cafe. As he entered, a little bell rung, signaling his presence.

"Kyuhyun, good morning!" one of the employees greeted.

Kyuhyun returned the greeting with a smile and approached the counter to make his order. "I'll have my usual.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Kyuhyun came to realize that the young lady that usually took his order wasn't standing behind the cash register. Instead, there stood a tall, thin, gangly man smiling down at him.

The young man looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's my first time working this shift. I don’t—"

"Yeah, I figured. I'll have a croissant and a hot coffee— a splash of skim milk and two sugars, please."

The young man rang up his order, told Kyuhyun the cost, and went over to the coffee machine to prepare his order. "You must be a regular," he said, reaching over for the carton of skim milk. "I take it you have an early job to get to? It must be difficult waking up this early in the morning."

Kyuhyun found the cashier's attempt at small talk amusing. "Wouldn't you know?"

The young man laughed loudly. "I can't say that I do. This is my first time working this shift. I usually work later in the day. I'm just filling in for one of my co-workers this morning. Waking up this morning was horrible! You see, my friend took me to this karaoke bar last night..." Kyuhyun tuned out the male employee and let his mind drift to the work that lay waiting for him at NIS. Today would most likely, as usual, turn into a day of observing people doing their jobs and doing the long, tedious tasks none of the regular employees wanted to do. He had been interning for the past two months— when were they going to let him do something useful?

"Here you go."

Kyuhyun looked up and saw the employee smiling and holding out his croissant and a coffee. "Thanks... Jumyuk.” He said, slowly reading his name off the young man’s name tag.

“You’re welcome! My real name is Zhou Mi, by the way.”

So that explains the slight accent, Kyuhyun thought, accepting his order. “Well, Zhou Mi, you sure are chipper for someone who only got a few hours of sleep last night.”

Zhou Mi grinned. “I consider it my specialty.”

At that instant, several simultaneous thuds went off around then, and the sound of skidding tires hit Kyuhyun’s ears. The horrendous sound rapidly grew closer with each millisecond.

Zhou Mi screamed, the sound making Kyuhyun whip his head around. Through the cafe's large window, he caught a glimpse of a car heading at full speed for the shop next door. Zhou Mi ducked behind the counter, and Kyuhyun dropped to his knees, throwing his hands over his ears as the car penetrated the shop's window display, shattering the glass, and crashing into whatever objects were in its way.

Kyuhyun sprung into action and dashed out of the cafe, only to stop in his tracks when he spotted the employee that had greeted him, along with another female employee, on the floor, unconscious. He bent down to examine the female one. As he placed his fingers to her throat, Zhou Mi appeared by his side. He placed a hand on Kyuhyun's shoulder and forced him to look his way.

"T-the two of them... I saw them from behind the counter! They collapsed at exactly the same time! A-and then a second later, I saw that car crash into that book store. What’s going on?” Zhou Mi was absolutely white. The hand on Kyuhyun's shoulder trembled. Kyuhyun was surprised that the rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins didn’t have himself shaking as well.

As Zhou Mi's eyes desperately searched Kyuhyun's face for an answer, Kyuhyun drew his fingers away from the female employee's throat. "She's dead," he mumbled. Not bothering to rise to his feet, he crawled to the male employee and checked for a pulse. "He's dead as well."

Kyuhyun couldn't feel any grief for the two cafe employees that had greeted him each morning for the past two months. His heart wasn't tight with pain. His head didn't hurt from witnessing his first, live death.

All he could do was think. All he could do was calculate the probability of two people seemingly healthy people dying at the same time. Perhaps, they had been poisoned, or maybe they had both experienced some sort of heart attack or some neural complication that had caused them to collapse?

No, neither employee had food or a drink in their hand when he had walked in, and if they had both been suffering from some physical condition, much more would have happened beyond their graceful collapse to the floor... right? There would have been a seizure or… Kyuhyun didn't know. He didn't know much about medical conditions. Maybe they had both taken suicide pills? No, that didn't make sense either.

Suddenly, Kyuhyun remembered the car crash.

Without a word to Zhou Mi, he dashed out of the cafe, only to come to a halt once again. His hand flew to his mouth. He stood on the sidewalk, frozen. There were at least fifteen people on the sidewalk, collapsed and lifeless. A woman lay by his feet, a trail of blood seeping from her head caused by the impact of her fall. Kyuhyun already knew the answer to the begging question, but still, he bent down and pressed his fingers to her throat. Dead.

They were all dead. Every single one of them. All were lying lifeless. All their hearts were still, failing to pump blood into their slowly cooling bodies.

Kyuhyun had never been in the presence of a corpse before today. It was overwhelming—all the death surrounding him. He couldn’t think, couldn’t move his legs. He remained still as the store’s door’s bell rang behind him and Zhou Mi appeared by his side. He could imagine Zhou Mi’s reaction: the shocked look on his face would only crumble when he realized that people on the sidewalk had experienced the same quick, graceful death that his fellow café co-workers had.

Sure enough, moments later, Kyuhyun heard a choked sob and heard the man sink to his knees. He wanted to turn around, to offer some words of comfort. That’s what heroes did, after all. But Kyuhyun himself needed someone to convince himself that this wasn’t happening.

It didn’t make sense…

Had every person in Seoul died? Had every person in Korea died? Had every person in the entire—

Hands trembling, Kyuhyun reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and pressed a few buttons until he was taken to a screen with a listing of various TV channels. He selected one that would be broadcasting a morning news program. His heart pounded against his chest as he waited for the video to load.

When it finally did, Kyuhyun couldn’t move— what he saw were several reporters collapsed against their desk. His hands fumbled to go back to the channel selection screen. Tears began to fall from his eyes as he realized, channel after channel, that this was real, that whatever had caused every person on this street to collapse had also happened to the rest of Seoul. After checking several news radio stations, all of which were silent, he knew he didn’t have to drive around the city to prove it to himself.

Oh god.

Tears sprung to Kyuhyun’s eyes. His family.

There was no way… Could all of them be…?

Frustrated, Kyuhyun wiped away his tears. Now wasn’t the time. He’d break down later, after the entire situation had been explained and made sense of. There had to be some waking being that could explain what was happening. He and Zhou Mi couldn’t be the only ones. They couldn’t be.

“It’s safe to say that this has affected the entire city. I’ve checked several news broadcasts. Every reporter on screen was shown collapsed.”

“I-I don’t get… H-how is this possible...” Zhou Mi was crying, and the sound of his sobs only brought Kyuhyun closer to joining him.

Turning around, Kyuhyun bent down and grabbed Zhou Mi by the collar, glaring in the face of his red, teary eyes and trembling features. “Pull yourself together,” he growled, shaking him. “You’re the only person I know that’s alive, and I can’t have you acting like a pathetic crybaby!”

Zhou Mi looked at him. As Zhou Mi’s eyes flooded with more tears, Kyuhyun could see that they were begging him to feel some emotion for what had just happened.

Kyuhyun sighed. “Look. As far as the two of us know, we’re the only ones still alive in Seoul… maybe the only ones left in the entire world. I don’t know. I work at NIS, and I need to get over there to see if any intelligence has come in regarding the… the situation. There may be people there that are still alive, and we’ll be able to get in contact with other parts of the world to see if the same thing has happened to them. They might have answers. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m alive and that you’re alive and that we need to get our asses over to NIS. I’m not leaving you behind so…”

Kyuhyun reached into his pocket, pulled out a handkerchief, and awkwardly began dabbing at Zhou Mi’s tears. Zhou Mi became still, his sobs slowly growing quiet. “Well, that…” Kyuhyun coughed. “That seemed to calm you down.” He rose to his feet and tugged on Zhou Mi’s shirt so he could do the same.

He patted Zhou Mi on the back. “Don’t worry. You’ll have your time to—“

“I know.” Zhou Mi cleared his throat and wiped his teary, red eyes one last time. “Let’s just get to that NIS place you were talking about.”

Kyuhyun nodded.

Fortunately, Zhou Mi had a car. Taking the subway would have been horrifying. Dead, lifeless corpses would have been everywhere: collapsed on the floor, limp in their seats… and with all subway personnel dead, who knows what could have happened even with the subway system’s automated system and numerous safeguards.

They drove through the city, and Kyuhyun could tell that Zhou Mi was rapidly headed on the road back to breaking down again. What they saw was similar to what they had seen in front of the café. Corpses lined the sidewalk. Cars, driven by drivers who had lost consciousness, had crashed into stores and utility poles and into each other. Some had caught on fire after taking a hit to their engine or gas tanks. Some bodies had the misfortune of being too close to the cars at the time of combustion and had caught on fire, as well. Seoul had died in the matter of a few seconds, and its remains were burning in front of Zhou Mi’s and Kyuhyun’s eyes.

“Do you want me to drive?” Kyuhyun said, noticing Zhou Mi’s trembling hands.

Zhou Mi shook his head, sniffling and hastily wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “N-no, I’m fine.”

They soon arrived at NIS. Zhou Mi parked the car, and as they walked up to the front entrance, Kyuhyun knew his determination to stay calm would crumble as soon as they cleared the security checks and entered NIS’s main hall. He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing his co-interns and NIS’s employees, the people he had respected, admired, and yearned to work with, all dead.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to find someone with answers,” Kyuhyun mumbled, swiping his card through the machine that would verify his identification.

The sliding doors parted ways, and they entered, both coming to an immediate stop. What Kyuhyun saw was what he imagined. The people that had surrounded him for the past two months, that had scolded him and supported him and had suffered along with him—all of them were dead, gone, taken by the same quick, mysterious death that had claimed so many. Bodies were on the ground, scattered papers and manila folders surrounding several. Others had collapsed in front of their computers, which continued to buzz quietly and operate.

There were thirty plus bodies that Kyuhyun could easily identify. Half were other interns Kyuhyun had grown close to. The other half were NIS personnel that Kyuhyun had grown to admire. They all looked so lifeless. Yet, the machinery and technology surrounding them continued to operate and function as if nothing had happened.

Kyuhyun’s legs gave out beneath him, thin but strong arms suddenly coming to his support. His eyes burned with hot tears as that wretched feeling in his stomach decided to release itself, forcing Kyuhyun to choke a sob as bile flew from his mouth and landed on the floor and on his clothes.

As he was lowered to the ground, he hastily wiped the dripping remnants from his mouth with his sleeve. He brought his legs toward him and buried his head between his knees, sobbing quietly. The smell of vomit rose from his clothes, making him sick, but it made no difference in the end. They were all dead. Everyone was dead.

All he knew for certain, all he could be sure of was that the Chinese employee from the café was alive. There could be others—some that would rise from their beds in a short time ahead to find that other occupants in their house or apartment would never wake up. It could be hours or even days before those who survived showed themselves, but until then, Kyuhyun knew he wasn’t alone.

Zhou Mi nudged his head up.

Kyuhyun refused, shame making him determined to keep his head attached to his knees, but Zhou Mi was equally determined, it seemed. For the next minute, Kyuhyun felt gentle touches to his shoulder and strokes to his hair. He heard words promising that he wasn’t alone, that everything would be okay, making him almost want to laugh at how silly Zhou Mi was being.

His muscles must have relaxed at some point because Zhou Mi had managed to lift his head and look him in the eye. He was smiling back at his teary face, a handkerchief in hand. “It looks like it’s my turn to wipe your tears.”

“Y-you’re funny,” Kyuhyun managed to get out. Even then, with Kyuhyun’s stubborn resolve to avoid his eyes, Zhou Mi’s simple but bright smile, inescapable amongst all the death that surrounded them, tempted Kyuhyun to shyly watch him through his eyelashes. He gave in, allowing himself to gaze and forget for a moment where they were.

If Zhou Mi noticed, he showed no indication and continued to smile. Without complaint, he began wiping the remnants of bile off Kyuhyun’s mouth and chin. He helped Kyuhyun remove his soiled jacket, gently pushing Kyuhyun’s arms to the side when Kyuhyun raised them to do it himself. He slid the jacket off his shoulders, pulled his arms through the sleeves, and placed the jacket off to the side.

When Zhou Mi leaned in to embrace him, Kyuhyun’s heart lurched in a way that contrasted pleasantly with all the heartbreak the past hour had brought him. It was embarrassing, even more so when Zhou Mi placed his hands on Kyuhyun’s cheeks and pressed an innocent kiss to his forehead, but as if Zhou Mi had sensed it, the hug, the chaste kiss—it was what Kyuhyun needed.

“Feeling better?” Zhou Mi chuckled when Kyuhyun merely stood up in response. He stood up as well. “I’m here if you need me. Now, go do what you need to—“

“W-who’s there?” a voice roared.

Choi Siwon, a NIS department head, suddenly emerged from one of the conference rooms, pointing his loaded gun at Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi.

Kyuhyun threw up his arms. “Boss, it’s me!”

“Oh, thank god!” Siwon sighed and lowered in gun in relief. “I was beginning to think that I was the only that…” He took a glance at the room, and Kyuhyun wondered if holding back emotion was any less difficult for this boss than it was for him. Noticing Siwon’s red eyes, Kyuhyun figured not and somehow found comfort in that. “Well, you’ve figured out what’s happened by now, I’m assuming.”

“Yeah,” Kyuhyun said, making his way over to Siwon, Zhou Mi in tow behind him.

“Let’s talk in here.” Siwon motioned to the conference room he had come from. “I can’t stand being out here.”

As they filed into the room, relief came over Kyuhyun. Siwon was alive. His boss, someone who knew what to do and what decisions to make, was alive.

Kyuhyun sat down beside Zhou Mi, at ease but still tense, listening as Siwon briefed him on his progress in figuring out whatever the hell had happened.

As he informed Kyuhyun about the contact he had made with several government agencies in Hong Kong and the Singapore, Zhou Mi placed an assuring hand on Kyuhyun’s leg and smiled.

Everything was going to be fine.

***

A month had passed since the Great Collapse had taken place.

Life had yet to show any semblance to what it had been before the Great Collapse, but the world was on a slow but steady path to rebuilding itself.

Statistics revealed that the Great Collapse left 00.5 of the planets 7-billion population untouched by the strange phenomenon that had caused so many to drop dead. Only 35 million beings survived, only 50,000 in Seoul…

After the collapse, attention had been focused on consolidating the surviving population of Seoul to a single damage-free, corpse-free area. The effort had been a difficult one; there wasn’t a single house or building that hadn’t been tainted by the tragedy, but through a group effort, the survivors had been able to come together and recreate the life they had lost. They found consolation in each other and in the fact that they had gone through the same thing.

In addition, an international effort, an effort Kyuhyun was proudly a part of, had been organized to discover the cause of the Great Collapse. Many theories had been brought into existence, ranging from biological warfare to extraterrestrial intervention to divine intervention. Deep down, Kyuhyun knew their efforts would be fruitless in the end, that something beyond them had caused the collapse, but the research kept him occupied, and in a way, he was living out his dream. He wasn’t saving the world, but he was doing something that mattered.

“Kui Xian!”

Hearing the familiar voice, Kyuhyun stuck his head out of his cubicle and offered Zhou Mi a tired smile when he spotted him making his way down the row of cubicles. “Thank goodness,” he said, readily taking the coffee Zhou Mi had brought him.

Zhou Mi pulled up a chair and sat next to him. “How’s it going?”

“We haven’t made much progress, as usual, but Siwon seems to have a bit of hope in this new lead we got wind of just a few hours ago.”

Zhou Mi leaned forward and waited for Kyuhyun to continue.

“An agency in Australia has evidence that suggests that the Great Collapse was the result of an act of terrorism.”

Zhou Mi’s eyes widened. “Have you seen this evidence?”

Kyuhyun nodded. “It’s not much, but at the moment, we have tens of thousands of people around the world working together to dig up more information. Can you believe it? It must have been a pretty big project for these terrorists to release enough toxin in the air to wipe out the entire human race. And what’s kind of amazing is how these terrorists managed to make it so that the toxins were released around the world simultaneously. I mean, statistics have shown that collapses had happened no more than less than a second apart. Years must have been spent trying to engineer the perfect bioweapeon… One that would take only milliseconds to disperse itself in the atmosphere, one that left behind no physical trace on its victim…”

“You do realize that this bioweapeon or whatever it is could be the reason why—“

“I know. I know,” Kyuhyun offered Zhou Mi a small, understanding smile to show that no, he wasn’t fascinated by all of this. “It’s just we’ve been on a wild goose chase for the past month. And this lead…” Kyuhyun suddenly grinned. “This lead will at least shut up those damn priests. Divine intervention, my ass.”

“It could still be possible.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I believed it was.”

“Yes, you would,” Zhou Mi teased, receiving a whack from one of Kyuhyun’s manila folders. “Anyway, I’ll let you get back to work.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a novel.

“You’re not going back?”

Zhou Mi shook his head. “You’ve been coming back at unreasonable hours for the past two weeks. I figured it’d be in your best interest if I stayed so that I could drag you home by midnight and prevent you from pulling another all nighter here.”

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow.

“And it does get pretty lonely at the apartment, waiting for you to come home…”

Kyuhyun spun his swivel chair back around towards his computer and began clacking away at his keyboard, fighting off the blush that had taken over his cheeks. “T-that’s fine. Just don’t complain if you get bored.”

Zhou Mi chuckled. “Don’t worry. I brought a book.”

baaadbsk

2009-12-21T04:21:32Z

For: baaadbsk
Title: Peek-a-boo
Pairing: Eunhae
Category: Horror
Summary: You hide, I find. I could also give up, and leave you there. For eternity.

Peek-a-Boo

An Eunhae Horror Oneshot

He was tired, and dehydrated- but he couldn’t stop. No, not when that prickling feeling of danger constantly flicked at his back with each heavy, leaden step he took away from the group.

Where was he?!

It had only been fifteen minutes after filming and he swore that he had seen the other drinking happily from his water bottle labelled ‘Donghae’, talking to Kyuhyun about something to do with his PSP. But when Hyukjae decided to pull him away and drag him into the car, he was gone. Nobody else seemed to notice- the replies he got only consisted of things like ‘no, I thought he went to the toilet?’ or ‘he’s probably just hiding somewhere and talking on the phone’ or ‘Hae? Haven’t seen him since this morning.’ It’s chilling, and Hyukjae knew that he couldn’t have just left without any notice for a phone call- it was Donghae after all. He’d been through every single gap, space and corner where the other could possibly have hidden for a secret nap or something, but this wasn’t like him. He wouldn’t leave without notice- not even whispering ‘Hyukkie, I want to sleep- don’t tell anyone, okay?’ in his ear cheekily, quickly, before slinking away.

No. This is Donghae you’re talking about, Hyukjae slapped himself lightly on the cheek and decided to focus on the task at hand instead of inventing other possibilities just to avoid the plain truth that’s prancing about in front of his eyes.

The familiar grey pillars of concrete surrounded him, leaving only the echoes of minute crunching of the cluttered debris under his polished shoes. They were getting dirty now, the flecks of white slowly spreading up the slick sides of the light-reflective black gloss of those undoubtedly expensive part of his costume. The coordi noonas had warned all of them before not to walk on the coarse ground in those shoes, but all he could do now was to avoid being caught in the act. Pulling his hands awkwardly out of his pockets, Hyukjae leaned forwards slightly and called,

“Donghae?”

The syllables bounced right back at him in a taunting rhythm and it is then that he remembered why he had felt so chilly when they all first arrived. There was a bad feeling from the start- everyone had it, but they all just blamed it on the fact that it was 6pm at night, neither of the 14 of them had eaten anything yet and they were all just nervous for their comeback. Siwon was the one most uneasy about all this, but Hyukjae had waved him off with a flick of his hand, calling him a superstitious horse. Now, he regretted it as his gaze flickered from corner to corner, wishing that he’d just find Donghae as soon as he possibly could and get out of there.

“Hyukjae! Where are you going?” there was a call from somewhere behind and too involved in his paralyzed stupor, Hyukjae whirled around on the balls of his feet in a sudden flash of movement.

“Whoa, calm down, Hyuk,” Leeteuk laughed as he approached the younger man, “it’s just me.”

Hyukjae let out a breath he had stuck down his windpipe and breathed heavily through his nostrils.

“Hey, hyung. I was just looking around for Donghae- he disappeared off somewhere and I can’t find him anymore.”

“Oh really?” Leeteuk smiled even wider and patted Hyukjae on the shoulder blades jovially, “I’m sure he’s around somewhere- would you like me to help you look for him? It’s our break anyway, and all the directors are sleeping.”

Hyukjae smiled- perhaps it would feel better with human company, instead of the constant repeats of his own voice resounding through the empty space.

“Sure, hyung, thanks.”

“No problem.” Smoothly, Leeteuk slipped off his own jacket before hanging it over one arm and with the other, pulled uncomfortably at the collar of his dress shirt. He noticed Hyukjae eyeing him with minor suspicion and he laughed, waving his hand around, “collar’s stiff. Bites into my neck whenever I move my head.”

‘Hm’ing in acknowledgement, Hyukjae turned back to the empty area. This was in the middle of a brown-field site and that made it all the harder. Bits and pieces of scrap metal and remains of demolished buildings from years ago still stood and the way the shadows decorated the pebble covered floor, it would be a long night.

“Okay, you go that way, and I’ll go the other. We’ll meet up at the back, alright?” Leeteuk instructed professionally and the other nodded before they both split into two opposite directions.

It wasn’t what he’d have wanted, but Hyukjae did as he was told- like always, and continued his way down the lonely debris-crossed path towards the abandoned building with its top-right corner blown right off, leaving the greying contents for all to see.

Hyukjae, stop thinking like this. You’re here to find Hae, and then get back to filming. Hyukjae chanted through his head at full volume, trying to block out the occasional whispers of the wind and the way the rubble underneath his feet would crunch and it sounded sickeningly like bones snapping in half right next to his ears. Each step became more desperate and the feeling of being watched grew and grew until he was running in sheer fear of the pair of bloodshot eyes in his mind that eyed him like a predator and he was most certain they would meet him if he ever turned around. What seemed like hours later, Hyukjae arrived, panting ragged breaths and suddenly, the air just seemed too cold for him, biting into his lungs viciously with each inhalation as Hyukjae gulped down the oxygen like water. Flashing a quick, wary glance out behind him, he relaxed considerably when he saw that no, there weren’t any eyes and oh god, he was being stupid again and slipped into the shelter of the ruined building.

It was rather ironic- that they had all been in this piece of scrapped architecture a few hours before when they had to jump over the gaps and holes- but somehow, without all the sound effects, the yelling and the thundering of ‘Don’t Don’ in the background, this was just a piece of cement. Fractures causing gaping great holes in walls and Hyukjae slowed in his steps, tracing a hand across the jagged edges of where a piece of concrete had been smashed through with a machine. They said each object told their own story, and they did. This building’s story, however, was grim, and Hyukjae winced a little when he accidentally jerked his finger over a particularly sharp edge, a glistening globule of blood beginning to ooze out from the cut. Perhaps, that was why it felt so hostile.

“H-hyukjae…”

Said man’s eyes widened in horror and resumed his fast-paced stride through the building, not flinching a bit when the stray pieces of sharp metal and remains of ceilings and all cut through his clothes and soon, his costume set was torn cruelly into relatively large pieces of expensive cloth that hung by short connecting strands on Hyukjae’s delicate frame. His arms thrashed about through the remnants of furniture, clearing a rather forceful path through the wreckage.

“DONGHAE!!”

With a crack, Hyukjae was flung sideways into an old, faded snooker table and he felt the tears beginning to pool at his eyes at the pain of having a splinted section of an old chair fly through the air- ripping through the skin and some of the flesh of his cheek.

“Donghae…” with a short grunt, he heaved himself up with his bloody palms and dabbed weakly at the slash on his face with the rags of his tie. He was sure that he’d pushed everything onto the ground behind him, but one more flashback at the red-rimmed eyes, he tore through the previous path, screaming ‘DONGHAE’ at the top of his lungs.

He needed to find Donghae. Please, please, where was he?!

A flicker of movement entered Hyukjae’s peripheral vision for a moment and he stilled, his chest heaving with terror and his ruined hands clenched into hard fists.

“Hyukjae…”

“Donghae!” Hyukjae flew over the rubble and pieces of shamble and the only thing that pulsed coherently through his mind by that time was the image of Donghae, his eyes swollen from crying and his face, oh God his face, was a mess of blood, snot and splinters that had managed to pierce through his skin.

“Donghae…” he breathed out in laboured wheezes, “Donghae what the hell is going on…?!”

“I don’t know!” the boy sobbed back- he didn’t twinge anymore when the saline liquid dripped onto his wounds, leaving them stinging every in of his face, “I just went to the toilet and suddenly I was just dragged away, along the path, through the rubbish and I was tied here…” he twitched the end of his arm weakly and Hyukjae looked over to see a pair of bloodstained hands that were almost as ripped apart as his, tied around a thin metal pipe with a thick, thick piece of decaying rope that appeared as if it should have rotted away thirty years ago.

Hyukjae shred the piece of rope into pieces with a piece of scrap metal lying next to him and gathered the shaking boy into his arms, soothing him as best as he could with trembling hands that raked ungracefully through Donghae’s dark hair, slick with sweat.

“Who did this to you?”

“There was nobody. I didn’t see how I had been dragged here, but when I was tied back, there was nobody- but the gashes on me just kept on appearing- I had watched my thigh split open with nothing touching it-“ Donghae’s voice was getting higher and higher and Hyukjae knew that it was time to go, “-I was just so scared, I didn’t know-“

“Shh…” Quickly, he swung Donghae over onto his back and shifted around so that he wouldn’t press so hard on either of their wounds, “we’ve got to get out of here. This place hates us- hates humans because of what we did to it. We have to get out.”

Somewhere deep down inside, Hyukjae was proud.

Those bloodshot eyes were closed, and Hyukjae could see its disappointment very, very clearly.

- - - - -

“Where- oh my God. SOMEONE CALL THE AMBULANCE.”

“…Leeteuk-hyung?” Hyukjae staggered for a few steps whilst Kangin and Yesung tugged an unconscious Donghae from his back, “where were you?”

“What do you mean?” Siwon appeared next to the leader, confusion clearly lined on his handsome, but troubled features, “hyung’s been talking to us for the whole time.”

“But…” Hyukjae struggled to find the right words to express the returning feeling of dread through his veins, “you- you were the one who offered to search with me-“ and he stopped and stared.

Leeteuk’s costume didn’t have a jacket.

There was a sudden clapping of hands and the director stepped forwards, tapping his roll of paper habitually against his open palm.

“Okay, since there seems to have a little problem right now, we’ll resume filming either tomorrow or the day after, alright everyone?”

There was a general murmur of agreement, but there was a call through the low rumbling,

“Wait! Director-shi! Jinyoung-shi has disappeared!”

- - - - -

That evening, Super Junior sat around their dinner table in silence.

“I thought this was supposed to be a happy event where we celebrated the progress of our MV.” Remarked Heechul blandly. He didn’t like how things had turned out today, and he was more than uneasy going back there now.

“I know,” Leeteuk replied softly, his head in his hands as they all stared at the television, “but it seems like we’re going to have to have one next time.”

“Hey- look!” Shindong pointed a chubby finger at the flashing screen, “isn’t that our filming location?”

That caught everyone’s attention and all eyes were focused on the bleary headlines that would flash up at any moment.

“Camera-man reported missing at music video filming site- but was found at 6.34PM this evening-“

Everyone heaved a sigh.

“-and he was proclaimed dead one minute before the rescue team reached him.”

misterricalx

2009-12-21T03:50:38Z

For: misterricalx
Title: run in
Pairing: KyuMin
Category: Smut, NC-17
Summary: Sungmin's lost and Kyu's just Kyu.
A/N: I know it's not exactly what you wanted, but there's KyuMin and smut and...I hope you like it.

it was cold and snowing outside the bus as sungmin fell asleep on his way back home from college.

he was startled awake when someone was shaking his arm.

oi boy, we are at the final stop, get out. it was the bus driver and sungmin, still dazed, stepped out into the cold before he realized where he was. he turned around to ask the bus driver if it was possible to take him back or to give some directions, but the door closed before he could open his mouth and the bus set moving again. it was almost midnight and that was the last bus.

sungmin took a look around and nothing in this area - the tall, dark, run-down apartment buildings, little closed shops with grilles in front of their windows seemed familiar. if you asked him, sungmin would have said that he knew this city. from the places where you could eat a good, cheap bowl of ramyun to the little secluded corner in the dosan park a bit left of the statue with the independence inscription where he got his first kiss from a boy. in his mind, those were places filled with warmth, sunshine, noise and people. just then he realized that there was absolutely nobody around. sungmin took out his cellphone and sighed, it ran out of battery. he decided to walk down the streets.

he wandered around for a while, hoping to see someone who could help him or a cab that could take him home. it seemed like the places were getting shadier and more desolate the further he walked. it was really freezingly could and sungmin would have been happy to find a coffeeshop or something to sit down with a steaming hot mocha latte in front of him. the thought of a cozy place to rest and warm sweet beverages had him so distracted that he didn't notice the car driving by and nearly coming to a stop beside him. happy someone noticed he needed help, he approached the man in the car who had opened his drivers seat window.

sungmin was about to say hi when he noticed that the man had a predatory, calculating look on his face. intimidated, sungmin stood still and waited for the man to make the first move.

how much?

excuse me?

i said how much.

sungmin was confused. for what?

for your ass the man said. usually sungmin would have laughed, but something in the man's voice told him that it wasn't some bad joke. the door of the car clicked open in invitation and that was when sungmin made a dash. he ran as fast as possible, all the while hoping the man wouldn't follow him. he didn't think he could out-run a car.

sungmin wasn't looking where he was running when he rounded a corner and bumped into someone, toppling them over.

his first reflex was to get up and keep running, but the loud ouch sound of the other person he was currently lying on, a boy, caught his attention. he looked into his face and found himself momentary breathless. either from running a mile a minute of from icy stare of the boy's depthless, black eyes he didn't know. the lights of te streetlamps were low, it was hard to read his expression.

are you planning to get off of me anytime soon?

oh! i'm sorry! sungmin scrambled off and they both stood up. he continued i didn't mean to. run into you, that is. there was this creepy guy in his car and he...nevermind. sungmin gave a nervous chuckle. the boy looked unimpressed. uh, i'm sungmin.

kyu.

kyu?

yeah, just kyu. sungmin couldn't tell whether kyu was annoyed or amused by his question.

so...kyu, would you help me? i fell asleep on the bus and now i am totally lost. could i borrow your cellphone to call a cab?

kyu laughed. i don't think a cab would come to this part of town.

what do you mean?

you really have no clue, do you? why don't you come with me to my place? i think we could both need a towel a warm place.

sungmin realized that when they fell, kyu landed in the muddy snow and was soaked with icy water all over. embarassed his cheeks heated up, despite the cold.

if that's really cool with you. i mean, you hardly know me and all...

i offered.

okay.

sungmin followed kyu. while they were walking beside each other, sungmin tried not to stare too much at kyu, his jet black hair, straight nose, beautiful profile, the curve of his neck, or the curve of his...

we're here.

sungmin looked up and saw another run-down apartment building, somewhere close something smelled like piss and the front door was broken, so everybody was free to enter this building at any given time and to sungmin it seemed like in the two minutes that he was looking, people were just doing that. two men, one of them looked like he was in his teens (like kyu) entered, while an older guy left.

kyu went inside without waiting for him. sungmin rushed to follow. once in the apartment, sungmin saw that some doors were open and he caught glimpses of the rooms the building housed. it was a one-room apartment building single beds, a window and not much else. how could people live like this?

kyu stood in front of a random door, pushed it open and went inside. sungmin decided to stop questioning this place, lest his brain exploded by the sheer influx of questions and went into the room.

kyu was taking of his shoes while sungmin didn't know what to do. he watched him. the graceful fingers opening the jacket, taking off his sweater, down to his belt. what?

as if he could read his mind, kyu turned around and said i told you, i would take you to a warm place. why don't you let me make it hot?

before he could answer, kyu had him shoved against the door, his lips on his. the kiss was rough, demanding, skilled, intoxicating and too short. kyu pulled an inch away and looked him in the eye.

you were looking at me. i could feel it. your gaze was burning holes into my jeans. sungmin gulped.

i...i.

kyu had moved to his neck, biting gently, sungmin moaned.

why don't you take your clothes off as well. they are wet and cold. kyu pulled down the zipper of his jacket, taking it off.

no. no, this is...

don't worry, i won't charge you. you're cute.

before sungmin could reply, kyu had his hand down his pants and god, when did he get hard? kyu kissed him again and now there was tongue involved. hot and wet and so addictive. he was leaning against the door again when kyu had them fully undressed. sungmin ran his hands up and down kyu's side, unable to waste a moments thought on morals.

kyu whispered enjoy, i've been told, i look pretty like this, and before sungmin had the chance to process just what he had said, kyu was down on his knees, taking sungmin's weeping cock into his mouth. even though his eyes were shut tight, not for a second would sungmin have doubted his words. but it was too much, too soon. the tongue licking up and swirling around his his head, the lips wrapped around his cock, the noises of kyu working to get him off, wet and obscene. sungmin pulled kyu off before he spilled, but it was a close thing.

no, sungmin rasped, no, i want to fuck you. kyu stood up and they stumbled onto the bed, sungmin rolled his hips and pushed their cocks together, seeking delicious friction. kyu seized his hand, putting a finger in his mouth. sungmin stopped moving, stopped breathing for a moment. he thouroughly wet his finger and soon took in another one moaning around them, the vibrations sending shivers down their cocks. sungmin pulled his hand away from his mouth and pushed a finger inside kyu's tight hot hole. a second finger joined. kyu's breathing was turning erratic, pink tongue darting out to wet his lips, sungmin couldn't take it anymore. he pulled out his fingers and positioned his cock at kyu's entrance. he pushed inside, twisting his hips and thrusting to get deeper, until he was entirely inside. kyu's low moan filling the small room. sungmin's hips moved, seeking release, sharp thrusts that hit kyu's prostrate right away. they moved in unison, kyu's legs wrapped around his waist, nails digging into his shoulder, sungmin set a fast, even rhythm, driving in and out of his tight ass. kyu's hand found his cock, his strokes matching sungmin's thrusts.

sungmin was only second away from coming, when reality came crashing down on him. just what was he doing with this total stranger, who was possibly a hooker and underaged, maybe even a drug-addict or worse? he was about to pull out and dress, ready to walk away and never look back again without a word of goodbye hadn't kyu's hold on him tightened even more. his head was thrown back, hand moving in a blur, silently gasping i'm coming. his seed spilled over his hand and stomach, the walls around sungmin's cock clutching him unbearably tight, but what had sungmin come undone was kyu's face. high cheeks tinted pink, the same color of those lush lips that formed an 'o' and those bottomless eyes that seemed so black, but now were so wide open, sungmin could tell the iris was a rich deep brown shade, like chocolate. sungmin came, looking into kyu's eyes.

when morning came, sungmin was mentally awake, but afraid to open his lids. half fearing what he did was real, half fearing it could all just have been a dream. he felt a body move beside him. warm fingers sliding down his chest. hesitantly he opened an eye and was met with a smile.

morning. i'm kyuhyun.

fin

giinnnzz

2009-12-21T03:45:30Z

For: giinnnzz
Title: Tequila is not toxic
Pairing/OT3: KRY
Category: Smut…smut…smut (NC-17)
Summary: Kyuhyun can’t sleep and he convinced his hyungs that drinking tequila is safe fun. Ryeowook will realize later that he should know better next time.

For giinnnzz: Hi there! Sorry for the poor quality of this fic, forgive me cause it’s my first time writing a threesome and KRY…I hope you’d still enjoy it. Merry Christmas! When I finally reveal myself to you, I’ll write a better fic for you with a better plot…I promise J

Kyuhyun entered Yesung’s and Wookie’s shared room wearing his board shorts and white shirt, hair still hard from styling products. The other two were already sprawled on their beds, the older one was listening on his Ipod and the younger one was busy reading a book.

Ryeowook put the book on his lap as he felt a weight on the end of his bed. He lifted eyebrow at the magnae.

“Kyu…what do you want?” Ryeowook cannot hold on to the sinister look, he broke down easily to that sweet smile he gives only for Kyuhyun.

“I’m bored Hyung…” Kyuhyun answered silently…low and husky.

“You can try sleeping you know” Yesung answered.

“I’m not yet sleepy…” Kyuhyun answered lazily. Ryeowook inched forward towards Kyuhyun’s side of the bed and he hugged him from the back, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Then what do you want to do?” Ryeowook tilted his head cutely.

“YAAAAAAAAAH! GET A ROOM!” Yesung threw a pillow on the two.

“THIS IS A ROOM!” Kyuhyun yelled back.

“But I’M HERE! IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED ME?” Yesung scowled. Ryeowook was already giggling at Kyuhyun’s neck, sending shivers down the younger one’s spine.

“I like to drink…” Kyuhyun smirked, Ryeowook caught an evil glint on his eye.

“I don’t like the hangover Soju had been causing me these past few days.” Wookie complained.

“Naaah…I have something else...I’ll be back.” Kyuhyun stood up and he went out of the room.

“Hyung are you in?” Ryeowook turned to Yesung.

“No. I’m sleeping” He buried himself under the sheets, crouching the huge pillow beside him.

--------------------

“I’m baaaaaaaack!” Kyuhyun stormed in the room holding a shot glass, a salt container and a bowl of lemon wedges. He had a huge bottle of some golden liquid tucked on his arm.

“W-w-w-what’s that?” Ryeowook pointed at the bottle.

“TEQUILA…Hyung…have you been living under a rock?”

“I have heard of it…but I never tried it.” Wookie took the bottle in his hand and he eyed it suspiciously.

“It looks toxic…” Wookie worried.

“Trust me it’s not…”

-----------------

“Is he sure he’s not going to join us? This would be fun!” Kyuhyun asked Ryeowook as they sat across each other on the floor. The salt, lemon wedges and shot glass in front of him.

“What’s all those stuff for?” The eternal magnae questioned.

“Watch me…” Kyuhyun started to lick the patch of skin on the back of his hand. He sprinkled some salt on it. He filled 1/3 of the shot glass with the alcohol.

“LICK” .

Wookie saw the tip of Kyuhyun’s tongue touch his own skin. He thought it was kinda gross…but kinda hot, especially when Kyuhyun licked with his eyes, dark and fixated at him.

“SHOOT..”

Kyuhyun gulped down the shot with ease. Ryeowook bit his lip as he saw Kyuhyun’s adam’s apple move, the curves on his porcelain neck were made prominent. Wookie tried to scour inside his brain what’s the perfect word to describe it...

“Oh! Wait..yeah..inviting.” He snapped out of his microsecond daydreaming when he heard Kyuhyun said something again.

“SUCK” Kyuhyun sucked on a lemon wedge.

“Get it? Now it’s you’re turn. It’s just like eating Oreos ne?” Kyuhyun laughed a little. His cheeks immediately turned into a faint shade of pink after his first shot.

It was Wookie’s turn and he hesitantly licked his own skin, put the salt. He licked the salt, he downed the shot and he grabbed lemon wedge quickly into his mouth to suck on it. His face grimaced for a while…and then after a few seconds, Wookie smiled at Kyuhyun.

“You’re right…It’s a good drink..”

“That looks interesting…” The two were shocked to hear a voice aside from theirs. They didn’t notice Yesung was already sitting on his bed, his hands propped on his back for support. He stood and he sat beside the two cross-legged on the floor.

“Teach me how to do this…” Yesung eyed the shot gloss as he held in on his hand.

-----------------

After sloshing down almost half of the one liter bottle, KRY had sung the whole soundtrack of Hyena and Snow Flower. Their speech slightly slurred but nonetheless, it was a fact that drunk singing with KRY was still good singing.

“I love this drink!” Ryeowook a little bit more loud than usual, was giggling endlessly, striking Kyuhyun’s arm from time to time.

“I KNOW RIGHT!” Yesung was lying on his side on the carpeted floor.

Kyuhyun was laughing too but from the looks of it, he was just a little bit light-headed but absolutely more sober than the two. After their laughing fits ended, Ryeowook and Yesung stared at the suddenly quiet magnae who was sitting between them, staring into space.

“Hey Gamekyu…what’s up?” Yesung slapped Kyuhyun’s thigh.

“I was wondering…have you guys ever tried Body shots”

-------------------------

The rules have been set by no other than the evil magnae himself. Someone will spin the bottle, the first one will be the one to be licked. Second spin will be the one who will lick and the person who was not “chosen” by the randomly spinning bottle will choose the body part where the first one will be licked.

Ryeowook was quite repulsive at first but was already too drunk to complain.Yesung looked at Ryeowook, red, droopy eyes and all…and cute cherry red lips against flushed skin. He mentally slapped himself from almost drooling at his bandmate.

“We don’t have a bottle though” Kyuhyun muttered. Ryeowook crawled toward his dresser to get a bottle of shower gel.

“That’ll do…it’s a gift from a fan.” Ryeowook suddenly pinched Kyuhyun’s cheeks, his face so close to the younger boy, that Kyuhyun can count his eyelashes…and stroke his face with the sides of his fingers.

“and rake your hair and kiss your neck so hard you might not be able to wear anything but turtleneck- tops for 2 weeks. Kyuhyun swallowed hard as he tried to shake his head, to brush his thoughts away. He started to spin the bottle and Ryeowook was laughing out loud with no apparent reason. He stopped laughing when the bottle stopped spinning and was pointed right at him. The two other boys clapped their hands to mock him.

“I wonder who will end up licking you for the first time.” Yesung laughed a bit, he spun the bottle and it ended up pointing at Kyuhyun.

“Now your fates are up to me!” Yesung jeered at the two. Kyuhyun was still grinning but Ryeowook was quite tensed. He wished his hyung should choose the body part wisely but he pondered that it would be pointless because he will surely shiver wherever those perfect thin lips of Kyuhyun will land on.

“I say you should lick the salt from Ryeowook’s neck…” Yesung faced Kyuhyun.

“WHAT THE HELL?!!” Ryeowook screamed in his mind. He saw Kyuhyun leaning towards him holding the salt shaker.

“Are you ready hyung?” There was something sly and seductive in the way Kyuhyun said his words. He moved forward towards Ryeowook and he put his hand on the back of his neck to steady him. He sensed Ryeowook tensing on his touch.

“Relax Hyung… this would be fun” Kyuhyun licked the soft skin of Ryeowook’s neck using the tip of his tongue. The other boy jumped a bit. The magnae sprinkled some salt on the area. He hastily latched his mouth on Ryeowook’s neck to lick the salt. Ryeowook grabbed the sleeve of Kyuhyun’s shirt to steady himself. He almost moaned when he felt Kyuhyun was sucking his skin and he felt a jolt of pleasure ran down his spine.

Their arms were entangled and Kyuhyun’s face was still buried on Ryeowook’s neck. Yesung coughed to call their attention because the licking was taking too long than the usual.

“Hmm….I think you should start taking the shot Kyuhyun…”. Ryeowook felt Kyuhyun smile on his skin

“You liked that Hyung?” Kyuhyun whispered in his ear before pulling away. Kyu. reached out for the shot glass and he drunk the liquid, his hand still on the back of Ryeowook’s neck. Yesung was fanning himself with his fingers because the room became slightly warmer.

“ I think it’s my turn now to spin this bottle.” Ryeowook managed to mutter a sound when he recovered from his high, his face still beet red. The bottle stopped at Yesung and then Kyuhyun again for the second time. Yesung protested. He was not so sure that he wanted Kyuhyun to lick him.

“Rules are rules Hyung” Ryeowook stared at Yesung gravely as if saying that it’s “payback time”

“I say you lick Yesung-hyung’s abs Kyu.” Kyuhyun frowned because he really do not fancy licking Yesung’s stomach but Ryeowook glared at him too.

“You made the rules Kyuhyun…we’re just following the rules.” Wookie reminded him.

So Kyuhyun crawled Yesung The older man’s eyes widened when Kyuhyun pushed him back and he fell on the floor. Kyuhyun pulled up the hem of his shirt and he dipped his tongue on his hardened muscles. Yesung squirmed, it was the first time a guy’s lips touched his body. Kyuhyun sprinkled some salt and he licked it all up.

Ryeowook stared at the two. Yesung was sprawled on the floor and Kyuhyun was on top of him. Wookie can swear he saw something tenting beneath Yesung’s pants and he can’t stop his own cock from twitching at the sight in front of him.

“Ok now it’s done and it’s my turn to do this” Kyuhyun spun the bottle but it just landed on him again.

“What the fuck? Why is it me again!?” Kyu complained as he spun the bottle again. The bottle stopped at Ryeowook for the second time. The shorter boy swallowed hard and he saw an evil look on Yesung’s eyes.

“It’s time to bring back the favor Wookie!” Yesung turned to Kyuhyun in deep thought, scanning his frame, wondering where to make Ryeowook lick him.

“I think I’d like to see you lick the back of his ear.” Yesung laughed. Ryeowook looked at Kyuhyun and the younger boy blinked his eyes to make sure that he really saw Wookie lick his lower lip.

Ryeowook smiled sweetly and he inched towards Kyuhyun. He held his neck and he darted his tongue on the back of his neck. Kyuhyun felt his heart rate accelerated. Ryeowook grabbed the salt shaker and he put some salt on his own finger. He brushed his salted finger lightly and slowly on the area behind Kyuhyun’s ear. It tingled the other boy and everything suddenly turned into slow motion. He saw Wookie approach him from his side, he saw him close his eyes and with slightly opened mouth before landing his lips on the back of his ear.

Kyuhyun gripped Ryeowook’s hips as the eternal magnae, continued to finish up the salt on the back of his ear. Kyuhyun was feeling all horny and fired up, he can’t think because Wookie’s tongue was killing all his brain cells. He sure wasn’t thinking much when he tugged Ryeowook’s hair gently and he kissed his lips forcefully. Ryeowook’s eyes were wide open as well as Yesung’s mouth with the sudden kiss.

Ryeowook might have been shocked at first but he knew, no…both of them knew that this is what they wanted. Kyuhyun opened his mouth and he let his tongue find Ryeowook’s. It was sweet with a tinge of saltiness on it and it was enough to make Kyuhyun dizzy. Ryeowook repositioned himself as their kiss deepened. He straddled Kyuhyun who was still sitting cross-legged on the floor, his arms around the other’s neck pulling him closer. They broke this kiss to breathe and Kyuhyun started to trail wet kisses on Wookie’s neck. Ryeowook turned and he looked at Yesung who was on their side watching, breathing heavily and flushing madly.

“Hyung…are you just going to sit there and let us have all the fun?” Ryeowook can’t believe he just invited Yesung for a possible threesome. He thought alcohol can really make normally shy people feisty and extremely horny.

Yesung’s mind became all blurry when he heard Ryeowook say that. He was thinking for a split second but when saw Ryeowook started to grind on top of Kyuhyun, he knew he wanted to have his share too.

He crawled towards them and he kneeled on Ryeowook’s back, holding his hips with his hands. Ryeowook leaned back to his chest when he felt his presence. He searched for Yesung’s lips and he kissed him hard and needy.Yesung can taste the bitter taste of alcohol, salt and Kyuhyun inside his mouth. Kyuhyun was startled to see Yesung join them. He saw them kissing and he felt himself slightly jealous but nonetheless hornier as ever. He went down Ryeowook’s body, pulling the hem of his shirt up, exposing Ryeowook’s abdomen and sinful hipbones, so thin it almost looked like of a girl’s. Kyuhyun pulled Ryeowook’s shirt all the way up to remove it.

Ryeowook was still busy kissing Yesung and he started grinding his butt against his shaft. Yesung’s fingers was tracing the waistband of his pajamas. He purred when he felt Kyuhyun’s warm mouth on his nipple, grazing it’s tip with his teeth. The magnae continued to trail kisses all over his chest using his tongue, his hands reaching out for the bulge under Wookie’s pajamas. He continued to search for it but was shocked he ended up holding Yesung’s hand. Their hyung found it first and he was furious. He looked over Ryeowook’s shoulder to throw a death glare at Yesung.

“I believe you’re intruding with something that belongs to me” Kyuhyun threatened Yesung.

“Shut up brat” Yesung reached over Ryeowook’s shoulder, to pull Kyuhyun’s neck to kiss him. The magnae was sure shocked when Yesung kissed him but it was different, it was hard…primal and he’d be lying if he says it was not at all very…very good and wild. He gave in to the kiss and he put his fingers around Yesung’s hair, tugging on it forcefully as he enjoyed the sensations of their tongue wrestling against each other for dominance. Ryeowook, who was squished between them slipped off to lay on the floor and he watched the other two making out, groping each other in places he didn’t expect them to. He watched them and it seems that they were too intense they didn’t notice him slipping off to the floor. Ryeowook saw them remove each other’s shirt in less than 5 seconds and the clothes were thrown all over the floor.

Yesung was lapping on Kyuhyun’s flawless neck when he saw Ryeowook’s hand under his own pants, trying to jerk himself off as he watched the two.

“I think our Wookie needs help Kyu…” He whispered on Kyuhyun’s ear as they broke their kiss.

“You enjoyed seeing us make out hyung?” Kyuhyun side-glanced at Wookie. Ryeowook just nodded as he continued to touch himself, his pace a little faster. The other two disentangled from each other and they moved towards Ryeowook. Kyuhyun kissed the eternal magnae again and Ryeowook instinctively put his hands around his neck. He can feel Kyu’s fingers play around his nipples. He suddenly felt Yesung’s mouth on his hip bone and he felt his fingers pulling down his pajamas and boxers.

--------------------

“Hyung….” Wookie moaned when Yesung’s breath grazed his exposed cock. Yesung continued to tease by licking. Kyuhyun heard it and he wanted Ryeowook to moan for him too. He crawled down, grazing his teeth on the Ryeowook’s inner thighs. He gripped Yesung’s hair to kiss him again, he pulled out of the kiss and he grinned.

Ryeowook;s nails scraped the carpeted floor, when he felt two tongues simultaneously licking his member. One was licking the shaft and the other one was swirling around the slit. He can feel the two boys kissing while giving him a blow job. Ryeowook tried to grab Kyuhyun’s hair between his fingers.

“Oh God…please don’t stop that. I’m close…Oh fuck…so close…please…” Ryeowook muttered wantonly. Kyuhyun swallowed his dick whole inside his mouth and Yesung was licking the patch of skin under his balls. His mind was racing fast and he was thrusting inside Kyuhyun’s mouth. Kyuhyun reached for Yesung’s cock and he wrapped his long fingers around it and the Yesung did the same for him. They were giving each other hand jobs in sync with their tongues on Ryeowook’s dick.

Ryeowook’s body became rigid when he came, his back was arched beautifully above the carpeted floor. He saw Yesung kiss the other right after he came inside Kyuhyun’s mouth eager to taste him too. Ryeowook breathing heavily when he looked down and he saw Yesung and Kyuhyun touching and groping each other’s cocks, kissing and grinding at each other’s body while kneeling in front of him. They both came in each other’s hand. Kyuhyun’s head thrown back and Yesung held on Kyuhyun’s waist for support for his body weakened right after he let out a guttural moan. They slumped on the floor beside Ryeowook.

The air was thick and the smell of musk was all over the room. Ryeowook was starting to come down from his high when he felt the two on each of his side, hugging him.

“I don’t think we’re done yet Hyung…” Kyuhyun whispered on his ear while biting on it gently. Yesung put his arms around Ryeowook’s waist as he threw small kisses on his shoulder blades.

Ryeowook didn’t say anything, instead he turned to Kyuhyun to look at his face. He kissed his lips hungrily.

“Whatever you want to do…” Ryeowook spoke silently when he broke the kiss, looking at Kyuhyun under his eyelashes. He turned to Yesung to kiss him too.

Kyuhyun’s fingers searched for Ryeowook’s entrance. He massaged the other’s thighs, kneading circles languidly. He found his hole and he inserted his index fingers gently, careful not to hurt Ryeowook too much. The smaller let out a gasp, breaking his kiss with Yesung.

“You’re so tight hyung…” Kyuhyun flicked his finger inside, trying to prepare Ryeowook for something more.

“Please…uh,,,please use something…” Ryeowook pleaded as he continued to moan against Yesung’s neck. Kyuhyun released him to look around the room, but he didn’t find any lube.

“Use that..” Yesung pointed at the shower gel they used in the game. Kyuhyun took some and he coated his two fingers with it. The sweet scent of apples and cinnamon filled the air. He inserted the two fingers inside Wookie’s ass and he curled it inside. It made the smaller boy flex his knees to make his hole tighter when he felt Kyuhyun’s fingers reach his prostate.

“Oh shit…there…oh fuck Kyuhyun..fuck me…” Ryeowook said in between ragged breaths.

“How about me?” Yesung whined as he captured Ryeowook’s lips again.

“Stand up in front of me..” Ryeowook hushed.

Yesung did and Kyuhyun flipped Wookie over, removing his fingers from his crack. Ryeowook started to kiss and suck Yesung’s hardened cock, on his fours on the floor. He let his whole tongue graze it’s length, and he took it all in till he choked a bit.

Yesung moaned and he started thrusting inside Ryeowook’s mouth, his hand on his hair, pushing his head gently towards his cock more. Kyuhyun kneeled beside Ryeowook and he traced his spine, sticking out from his thin frame, with his tongue. Ryeowook started to grind towards Kyuhyun’s hips and he knew it was the signal that Wookie was ready for him. He reached for the shower gel bottle and he coated his dick with it. He positioned himself in front of Ryeowook’s entrance and he held on his hips to steady him.

“Are you ready Hyung?” Kyuhyun said in his low baritone voice. Ryeowook momentarily released Yesung’s cock to nod. Kyuhyun entered slowly, inch by inch, he was halfway in when Ryeowook suddenly blurted out something.

“Damn it Kyuhyun, do it faster…take me now..please” Ryeowook whined but Yesung guided his head so that his mouth will be on his cock. Drops of precum already on Ryeowook’s lips.

Kyuhyun went all in and he opened his mouth in sheer pleasure when he felt the warmth and tightness that Ryeowook’s virgin ass offered. He started to push deeper slowly at first, making sure that he hit the smaller man’s prostate everytime. He grabbed his plump butt cheeks, doing circular motions to relax Ryeowook a bit. Ryeowook’s tears started to fall when he felt his insides being stretched in full scale. Yesung tilted his head a bit to look at his face, his cock still inside his mouth.

“Don’t cry Wookie…you wanted this too..” Yesung smirked and he wiped Ryeowook’s tears with his thumb. His cock twitched more at the site of Ryeowook, all sweaty, his hair sticking on his cute face. Ryeowook felt his knees already buckling from too much pleasure and pain. His mouth was stretched and it’s starting to hurt too. He gripped on to Yesung’s waist as Kyuhyun made his thrusts harder and forceful, each thrust making Yesung’s cock inside Wookie’s mouth to reach the back of his throat.

“Wookie…more…” Yesung groaned. He was close…he bit his lip as he waited for that knot of pleasure in his abdomen be released. Kyuhyun gripped Wookie’s hips tighter, burying his fingers on soft flesh bruising it. He reached out for Ryeowook’s cock and he started to pump it fast, grazing it’s head from time.

Ryeowook wanted to scream because of the pleasure being filled up in all the right places. Damn that fucking Tequila, he never thought he can be this slutty.

Yesung’s body jerked and he came inside Ryeowook’s mouth. He gripped his hair tighter when he felt Ryeowook swallowing all his cum into his throat.

“Fuck Wookie…” Yesung fell weak and messy on the floor. Ryeowook’s hands were on the floor to support himself as Kyuhyun rammed into him in a fast pace, rocking his body so much, his bones felt like giving up.

“Oh God…Kyu…I’m coming…” Ryeowook whined as Yesung’s taste lingered in his mouth.

Kyuhyun continued pumping, his own body tensed as he felt his own orgasm lingering in his own cock. He thrusted once…twice…thigh slapping against thigh was the dominant sound inside the room until he shouted Ryeowook’s name as he released inside him. Ryeowook’s dick twitched on his palm and he knew Ryeowook was close too.

Ryeowook let out a raspy shriek, his throat dry and painful from too much alcohol and swallowing everything from Yesung. He came and his arms and knees buckled and he fell on his belly on the floor, still trembling. Kyuhyun fell on his back, kissing his nape gently and stroking his sides as both of them tried to catch their breaths.

“Are you okay Wookie?” Yesung positioned himself on Ryeowook’s side, cupping his face with his hands, showering him with kisses on his face. Ryeowook nodded quietly. Kyuhyun shifted on his side and he enveloped Ryeowook in his arms. Ryeowook turned to him to kiss his mouth lazily.

“I lost count how many times I came today.” Ryeowook’s breathing haven’t steadied yet.

“You’re amazing Wookie” Kyuhyun whispered as their noses touched when they ended the kiss.

“Yes I agree..Tequila too…whoever invented that fucking drink” Yesung muttered as he snuggled on Ryeowook’s neck.

They laid there together, naked and slick with sweat. The room smelled like sex, apples, cinnamon and something called Tequila that they will sure be drinking again one of these days.

But next time, Ryeowook will remember not to believe Kyuhyun when he says that one kind of liquor is not toxic.

fabriclies

2009-12-21T03:40:42Z

For: fabriclies
Title: 2191 Rotations Past
Pairing: Heechul/Eunhyuk, hinted YeWook and Shimin
Category: Post!suju AU, Angst, light Romance
Summary: Six years after their disbanding, some things change, while others are forced not to.

Young faces look up at him while he tries to keep a firm face showing. It had only been less than three minutes ago when they were all enjoying themselves at the practice while they had danced along to American hip hop and the occasional dance mix. It's a warm up, to get them up and going. Hyukjae himself remembers waking himself up in a similar fashion, the loud bumps of a bass making their course up the insoles of his shoes and driving the need for movement in him. But this song, this song he hadn’t even finished learning the steps to.

"Quick, change the track."

The track changes suddenly and six pairs of eyes look at him silently, none of them sure what to say to him. "Sonbaenim, are you okay," the youngest asks while the others look at Hyukjae hoping for a response.

Finally, he snaps out of his trance and looks around at the disturbed faces. Well, they're more hurt and apologetic than disturbed though. "I'm fine. Sorry. Let's get back to warming up. Wanna try track six again?"

The trainees choose to ignore the past minute and a half just as he had and begin to complain about the hardest choreography on the mixed disk. It's only a memory, track nine on the unnamed blue cd.

The coffee spill had already begun to drip down onto the carpet, this Heechul realizes from his location in front of the kitchen sink. It had soaked through the worn out copy of his new lines for the upcoming B-rated movie. "Can't I get a break," he asks no one in particular as he looks down at the reddening of his hand. Shutting off the faucet and bringing his hand up to his chest, Heechul sighs as he looks over the severity of the burn. It's nothing in reality; he's had much worse happen.

He’s dabbing some toothpaste onto the injury when he hears his phone go off. Heechul ignores it, the sound of his last drama’s opening track repeating itself as it ends several times because the person on the line refuses to hang up.

Heechul wishes he could say it was most likely an urgent call, someone telling him to hurry up because the make up noonas had to leave soon, someone telling him to quickly find a television or a computer to see a Super Junior M interview, someone telling him to stop being a pain and to bring the rice if he wanted to have breakfast that day, but it’s nothing of the sort.

The toothpaste on his hand does nothing, but it puts his mind at ease. He’s done something similar to taking care of himself he supposes. Another distinct ringtone goes off; one from their fourth and last album to show that he now has a voice message.

‘Would it kill you to pick up the phone? Hankyung is coming back to Korea for the week; we were thinking of maybe getting everyone together and going out for a few drinks. Call me back if you’re going to go.’

The very voice he remembers bossing him around for a good half decade of his life is still adding things to his to-do-list. Heechul quickly messages Jungsu that he’ll make it. It’s barely enough time for Heechul to get some napkins to clean the spilled coffee when his phone alerts him that ‘Eeteuk’ has written back confirming.

He should really change some names on his phone directory. He will, one day.

“Is it just me, or can we afford to eat more now that we’re not actually stars?”

The large group of men breaks off into laughter, each individual sound a type of noise that for some reason seems to blend extremely well despite the odd number. Hyukjae has heard it plenty times before, it’s a soundtrack that he’s kept hidden away in his collection. It’s not yet considered a classic like the actual music they made, the songs that would make grown women smile as they remembered a few years ago when they were young and impressionable and stayed up all night making posters for upcoming concerts; but it’s one that keeps going in and out of his playlist he supposes.

“Well of course we make more money; you’re not sharing your crap pay with a dozen other guys this time are you? Not that the meager salary you’re getting now would be anything divided with anyone,” Kangin (Youngwoon, it’s Youngwoon now) bites back

Over a dozen men litter a long table, an obscene amount of soju bottles spread across the table with more meat than they had ever been able to afford before. There’s talk of Hankyung’s new drama and the host job he’s doing with a pretty Taiwanese girl; they mention Siwon’s son and how his third birthday is coming up (Hyukjae tells Sungmin to remind him about that, he might forget like he did Jungsu hyung’s daughter’s second birthday party). Donghee asks about the new boy band he’s doing some choreography for back at SM and he complains about the lack of talent nowadays because back in their day you had to have someone who could dance in each group.

Hyukjae can’t even remember the names of these trainees. They’ve yet to make an impression on him and at this rate they’ll be pushed aside by other groups debuting. Donghee though, can boast about the two groups he’s managed to help debut in a new company.

“Don’t worry Hyukkie ah, I’m sure Yongsoo will pick up and be the lead dancer he claims he is.” Sungmin smiles as he holds his empty glass and implies he refill it for him. Sungmin is the only person he still keeps informed about his SM dealings. He had been the only one apart from the members of KRY and Henry that had stuck around to renew new contracts even after the first break up.

KRY had dropped the Super Junior from their name and went on to record a successful album. Henry had done many violin accompaniments to other songs just as Sungmin had sang alongside the new solo artists in the company. Very few members had wanted to keep the life of an idol; age was forever hanging over them and dropping weights every so often. It was too much pressure and another few years of it was impossible to even consider.

“Where’s Heechul hyung,” Donghae asks as he chases the words with soju. Some members look around as if they had seen him not too long ago while the still semi-sober ones shrug. Heechul will show up, he said he would anyway.

Conversation stays light for about another hour and a half and while it’s nearing midnight, no one makes move to leave; wives, kids, and tomorrow’s plans long forgotten as they reminisce lives that they almost can’t believe where their own.

“I can’t believe you all waited just to see me.”

Heechul’s entrance is his own as he drops his red leather entire coat and immediately makes hand gestures that have half a dozen men shuffling to the left to make space for him. In between Hankyung and Sungmin is safe Hyukjae supposes, he doesn’t have to stretch himself too thin in avoiding him.

“Did you hear about Yunho’s engagement…?”

Heechul begins to liven up the party despite the room having been all smiles even before his arrival. The mood elevates until Jungsu’s odd laughter almost never ends, until Kibum and Donghae just keep smiling and smiling, until Youngwoon says his face hurts from laughing. And it keeps going on until Hyukjae feels himself falling deeper and deeper into his drink, a drink tossed back for every punch Heechul takes at him, his being happy hurts him at this point.

Heechul finds himself being carried by Youngwoon and gently eased into a cab. It’s something he wishes he could call a beautiful act of friendship, but he hasn’t really kept touch in way to still consider him his good friend. While he can usually hold his liquor well and is usually the one helping another drunk into a taxi after these reunions, this time he was just so tired he ignored his limits entirely.

He needed to be drunk so that he had a reason to let it hurt.

“Jungsu hyung is taking Donghae to his place, Kibum and Youngwoon are going with Siwon, and Sungmin is gonna be dropped off with Hyukjae?”

Ryeowook nods his head as he mentally makes sure that everyone is safe and accounted for. Heechul hears him softly mumble that he and Jongwoon should get back, they have to go work with a few trainees tomorrow. Jongwoon smiles back at him, Heechul can see perfectly through the window of the cab. How come they still seemed perfectly fine after their-

“I’m going home with Donghee actually,” Sungmin pipes out of nowhere. The sober members turn to look at him not entirely sure whether they should let the tipsy man decide for himself. But Donghee agrees, naturally he would, and he half carries Sungmin to his car. They are all paired off and barely aware of it, Heechul dozes off in the still parked cab.

The gradual stop wakes him up. He could have sworn he was already in his bed. “Wake up and let’s go.”

It’s a familiar voice, but the stupor his mind is troubled with can’t reproduce a name or a face. So he lets himself be pulled out of the car and together they walk a rounded line towards the elevator. He’s manhandled for a minute or so before he feels his breathing is labored.

“Roll over. You’re so drunk you could die just because you were too lazy to even do that.”

“Eunhyuk?”

That name hadn’t left his mouth in months. It was the name that only he had kept to himself after so many years. “Eunhyuk?”

“Yes, it’s me hyung.”

Heechul was helped to roll onto his back and then he felt such familiar hands undressing him. With his eyes closed and his mind gone, he can pretend he’s a few years younger and this is all a night he’ll cherish one day when the band is over, his dreams are still intact and he hasn’t even though of love.

But the recollection stops short when he doesn’t feel Eunhyuk lay in his bed and press to his side. Instead, he opens his eyes and there’s Hyukjae, sitting with his back to him, the bed oddly still despite the trembling of his body. Leveling his balance he sits up and pulls the thin arm back forcing him to recline and lay his head on the pillows.

“Hyung, I’m sorry. Even though it’s been so long I can’t-”

He can’t finish. Heechul presses a finger to the edge of Hyukjae’s mouth, motor skills shot to hell and nearly missing his lips completely. His eyes round over the no longer boyish smile, his fingers sense stubble and his eyes finally see the crow’s feet at the edge of his eyes.

His hand return to his own face and he skims his cheeks and eyes, has he changed as well?

“Hyung.”

“Be quiet. Just sleep.”

His all of a sudden weak grip allows him to hold onto Hyukjae while he settles closer and closer to him. Not giving it a second thought, he presses a quick kiss to the other’s lips and settles his head back on his pillows.

“Sleep, Jungsu will wake us up early tomorrow for schedules.”

Eunhyuk smiles though his wet eyes show another feeling altogether. In Heechul’s mind things haven’t changed or gotten complicated. He loves Eunhyuk because they’re both in the prime of their careers and they’ve got years ahead of them to really take their relationship seriously. It’s only for fun now anyways.

“Stop fidgeting. Don’t make me kick you over to the other dorm.”

Eunhyuk falls into a deep sleep; a deep sleep with Heechul’s hand in his own and dreams of choreographies that he has yet to learn for songs that have yet to be produced for their fourth album. He doesn’t have to worry about oversleeping, Teukie hyung will wake up him soon enough.

urei_sachi

2009-12-21T03:38:40Z

For: urei_sachi
Title: Drunk as Drunk
Pairing: Yehsung/Ryeowook
Category: Romance/Fluff
Summary: Kissing! Inspired by Pablo Neruda's poem, 'Drunk as Drunk'.

The two of them were laying on Ryeowook's bed, arms and legs tangled together, the both of them in their pajamas. Yehsung ran his fingers in Ryeowook's hair, and Ryeowook placed kisses to Yehsung's neck, jaw, and cheeks. Yehsung smirked and stole quite a few of those kisses, and they left him feeling a little dizzy and light-headed- but in a very, very good way. It's been a while since they've been able to look at each other, touch each other, and God, how Yehsung has missed this.

Yehsung gently grabbed Ryeowook's chin to keep Ryeowook's head from tilting any-which-way, and pressed his lips against the younger singer's lips, coaxing him into a lazy, loving the way their lips felt when they moved against each other. He then pressed his hand onto Ryeowook's shoulder and lightly pushed on it to get him to roll onto his back. Ryeowook complied, and Yehsung moved to straddle Ryeowook's thighs, never breaking the kiss. He felt Ryeowook grin as he loosely wrapped his arms around his neck.

They broke apart, and Yehsung let his face hover over Ryeowook's, and studied his features, as if he's never done so before.

"Mm... Jongoon?"

"Hm?"

"You're heavy," Ryeowook smirked.

Yehsung rolled his eyes and chuckled softly. "Oh shut up. Do you want me to get off?"

Ryeowook shook his head and pulled Yehsung down and began to plant butterfly-soft kisses onto Yehsung's lips. Yehsung felt Ryeowook's hands move into into his hair, and long fingers grasping onto his hair shortly after.

"You're hair's wet," Ryeowook murmured.

"It tends to happen when people take showers," Yehsung softly replied, then gently captured Ryeowook's bottom lip with his teeth, and began to suck on it, causing the younger of the two to let out a soft sound of appreciation.

"I should start packing myself in your suitcase whenever you leave to China," Yehsung started softly as he released Ryeowook's lips, "I miss you too much when you're gone."

He heard Ryeowook's soft laugh. "I don't think airlines like having people traveling country to country in suitcases, hyung," he said, his voice teasing. "Nor do I think I could even carry my suitcase if you were in it."

"Well, you should work out more, that way you can," Yehsung teased.

"Maybe."

Yehsung grinned and began to explore Ryeowook's face with his lips, re-discovering how his skin felt and tasted. "Love you," he murmured.

"I love you, too," he heard Ryeowook whisper back, and then his lips were back on Ryeowook's lips, pulling him into another kiss, and ran his tongue across his bottom lip, as if asking for permission. Ryeowook's tongue darted out to meet Yehsung's, as it usually does, and they rubbed against each other.

Yehsung felt Ryeowook's fingers tighten their hold on the locks of hair they were grabbing onto, eliciting a small moan from the older of the two. He pulled away a while later, mostly for air, then nuzzled his face into Ryeowook's neck. "I missed you," he mumbled, his words a little muffled.

"I missed you, too," Ryeowook replied. Then they stayed there for a while, before Ryeowook started to wiggle a little. "Okay, off. I think my legs are getting numb."

Yehsung snickered and rolled off of Ryeowook. "Oh, you don't need those," he joked.

"Oh, of course not," Ryeowook said sarcastically as he rolled onto his side and curled hi,self into Yehsung's side. Yehsung lolled his head and pressed a soft kiss into Ryeowook's hair.

"Going to fall asleep on me?"

Ryeowook nodded, and Yehsung rolled onto his side, gathering the smaller man into his arms, burying his face into hair.

"Goodnight then."

"'Night."

einji

2009-12-21T03:38:11Z

For: einji
Title: caritas et amor
Pairing: haehyuk (hae-centric)
Category: pg15; angst au romance
Summary: in which donghae explains his desire to escape. 2000+words

Warning: child abuse

a/n: series of vignettes, not in order, and their ages will be different with each of them, all set during winter and Christmas time. prompt was present time, and sorry if it’s a bit future!au style… I got distracted from a friend of mine and had it change into something like this D; also sorry if it‘s fail and rushed =(

Donghae remembers when he first set foot in the Center, vaguely, but still. (He wasn’t crying really, but extremely sad. He and his family were supposed to go out and celebrate on snow, but due to his excessively loud whining, the Society had summoned them to court, resulting his confinement to the Center.)

Identical heads turn his way, the same black orbs landing on his frame, and Donghae’s train of thought is disrupted when he figures that other children are brought there as well. There is a kid with chubby cheeks, running towards him in full speed and embracing him, and Donghae feels his shirt stick to his skin, damp and cold. He doesn’t think it’s a welcoming hug, even if the other children come and join them.

He couldn’t believe that the Society had the power to separate these children from their parents due to a one child per family rule. Didn’t they have feelings? Didn’t they get tired of the wailing whenever they separated the entwined hands of a mother and a child?

“Welcome.”

Donghae is about to yell at the speaker, to state that there isn’t anything humble about the place, unworthy of welcomes, but the womanish features of the boy (other than the matching white suits they wear, it’s the blue collar indicating their gender tells him he’s a boy) makes him pause immediately, letting his cheeks flush a bit, “T-thanks?”

“You’re welcome,” the boy shows Donghae his tag, “I'm Hyukjae, and you?”

“Donghae… it’s Donghae.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Hyukjae says and looks at the Workers, leaning towards Donghae in an attempt to whisper, “but those guys will never be nice to you… never to anyone in this room.”

Donghae gasps when Hyukjae is suddenly pushed against the wall, mouthing ‘you see?’ and Donghae knows already his days in the cell will never be ‘nice’.

+++

Children.

They are just children, but the Society calls them something else, something that irritates Donghae a lot because he isn’t a ‘Center Specie’, he is a child, a child that knows nothing of the world that the Society controls and shapes, but only stories of what’s outside the Society. And he does wonder. And wonder, and wonder.

Or rather, he wishes that he can see the outside world, and not the Society.

Will there be prancing deer and canopy-like trees? How about flowers that bloom in the spring and die in the winter (unlike the ones in the Society, where the flowers always exist, of course; it’s because the weather is controlled by the Leader, like everything else in the Society)? The green, vast grasslands, tickling their bare feet?

Donghae giggles, covering his mouth with his dirty hands to make sure that it won‘t attract a Worker to their cell, and Hyukjae asks, “What’s up, Hae?”

But he just continues to giggle, scrunching his eyes and nose together, tears forming in the corner of his eyes as he remembers— actually, he knows that he will always be a ‘Center Specie’, one of the useless children brought to the Center, and raised as nothing more than a servant, or perhaps they would live up to the word ‘useless‘ as they suffer under the cruel hands of the Workers.

He weeps for the children surrounding him, asking why he is crying, absolutely clueless to reality, and he cries more. He cries and cries, especially for Hyukjae, his best friend who has been wanting freedom.

Donghae’s tears pour like rain that night, sobs echoing about the tiny room they’re confined in because Hyukjae won’t cry for something as simple as no freedom. And that’s why he doesn’t tell him the reason. Donghae wouldn’t risk Hyukjae’s smile, even if it means lying.

But Donghae is definitely risking their friendship because Hyukjae hates lies. He has no choice though, and if it means Hyukjae will probably turn his back on him, then so be it. As long as they’re together at the moment, dreaming childish dreams of seeing the outside world, then Donghae is alright.

After all, they’re just dreaming.

They’re children.

+++

“Look, Mommy, it’s one of those dumb kids!”

He continues walking, keeping his pace normal, careful not to speed up as it may arouse any suspicion.

“Honey, that’s a ‘Center Specie’. They’re not dumb, they’re just not like you.”

Donghae drags his feet down the street, turning a corner but curses as he can still hear the voices.

“Alright, Mommy.”

And Donghae finally turns around, whispering to himself, ‘Mommy’.

+++

The Society is a place built by a man long, long ago, a psycho, as Donghae was told; it’s a paradise where nothing goes wrong. In his opinion, the Society is no paradise, maybe for the Only Children, but for Center Species like him. Not even the perfection of the city, world—whatever— could bring out its descriptive haven.

Hell, not even his own I.Q. proves his worth (even if it’s quite high), because as long as he wears the tag indicating he is in fact a Center Specie, then he is like a bubble, known but will eventually dissipate, as quick as a second, as silent as an ant’s step.

Not enough baths could rub off the invisible dirt covering his ivory-like body -- a barrier, he soon describes his status as, a barrier keeping him from his happiness, his and Hyukjae’s dream of freedom.

Apparently, it’s not only them who wants to leave -- well, who wouldn’t? Who wouldn’t want an actual bed to sleep on at night instead of the cold floor which is getting colder as the season passes and winter approaches (not that Donghae counts the months, because to them, it’s just one season, a season of despair and desperate hopes). He bets that each and every person in the cell wants a present under a tree, a star to pray to, and a mother to cuddle with while waiting for Saint Nicholas.

Hyukjae isn’t any different, in a non-weird way as he was smiling while kneeling on salt as punishment for running around, and Donghae wants to grant him his desire.

The question is, Donghae ponders while he tends to the bleeding knees of his best friend, how?

Can he do it?

“Hae, what are you thinking about?” Hyukjae hisses, smacking Donghae lightly on the shoulder, “w-were you on Mars again?”

And that smile of his is enough to startle him from his trance and lighten up his hopes (even if he knows there is a big possibility that it will die away, like always) like the strips of morning sun from the window hovering their bodies, tickling their peer’s eyes into awakening.

“Hyuk, do you know about Christmas?” Donghae stands up to get bandages from one corner, beside their food and other supplies, “Santa Claus gives good children gifts every year, did you not know?”

Hyukjae looks at him before smiling, then laughing. “Lee Donghae, have you been reading those books again?” he stops when his friend looks at him wearily, eyes glistening with tears.

“I want to get out of here, Hyuk,” he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand, “and I know you want to too. Everyone does.”

Donghae gasps when Hyukjae wraps his skinny arms around his torso, tucking his head under his chin, “I can’t believe you’re turning into a cry baby when it’s only a year when I first got here when you told me I shouldn’t be one!”

Donghae feels blood dance and twirl in his head, causing a deep shade of red to color his cheeks.

“I want to leave, but Hae, we’ll die of starvation, and our current health right now isn’t good either, so how will we survive the outside world?”

And Donghae stares at him, his lips curving into a genuine smile, and Hyukjae’s breath hitches, watching light illuminate Donghae like a spotlight, “There’s you and me. There’s Teuk-umma, Ryeowookie, and nature. We can live. We all can. I think the outside world is far more resourceful than this place.” Donghae takes Hyukjae’s hand and gently presses his chapped lips on them, sending chills down his spine.

“There’s you and me” he repeats, and pulls Hyukjae closer to him, hands caressing his collar and the skin underneath, all smooth and untouched.

Donghae is taken aback when Hyukjae presses his lips onto his own, and gradually melts, forgetting that in any second their friends will see them; he’s far too deep in want and desire. He realizes, that if there is such a thing as Christmas, Santa Claus, and presents, for how many years will it last? He doesn’t know, but he can be greedy and have Hyukjae as well, because the way his tongue explores his mouth explains that he feels the same.

+++

Maybe it’s their noisy steps, or Heechul’s shriek, whatever it is, it’s sent the bullet to Donghae’s shoulder, causing him to fall and bleed on the ground while Hyukjae continues to lead the other Center Species to the outside world even if he has no clue where he‘s going, all but a faith in what Donghae has told him. Kangin knew something like this will happen and fortunately he was behind, but caught up soon enough to gather the aching Donghae into his strong arms, running in a throttle to follow Hyukjae. He doesn’t know where they’re going but Donghae’s slurred ‘hurry, hyung’ erases his apprehension and locks the bulging gates of the Center, avoiding the bullets miraculously.

The pathway is dark and scary, and it’s everything like how Donghae remembers it. Every time his family goes out secretly, they go through obstacles, and even if they’re scarred, a beautiful scenery will welcome them, as beautiful and warm as when Donghae first met Hyukjae.

One branch slaps Kangin’s cheek and he hisses, but his grip on Donghae doesn’t falter, his feet fastening as excitement grows. There is also a big possibility that the noise coming from the Workers behind them can turn into darkness sucking them into a nightmare consisting of more torture.

“H-Hyuk” he whispers and Kangin nods, accelerating more until he reaches Hyukjae, whose eyes widen at the red patch on Donghae’s suit and tag.

Hyukjae taps Ryeowook’s arm, and the boy searches his duffle bag for his first-aid kit. Donghae smiles at him to ease the tension Hyukjae feels build up within him and takes his hand, entwining it and placing each of his shaky fingers between the gaps of his own, fitting perfectly like how they are supposed to be.

“We’ll be there soon. We’ll be at the real paradise real soon.” he assures him.

Hyukjae nods vigorously and closes his eyes. He repeats to himself that everything will be alright and starts to walk again because those Workers might catch up on them anytime, but a cold peck on his head frightens him, sending him back to reality and to Donghae’s smile. His unoccupied hand reaches up but finds nothing but cold wet hair, and there goes another one, and another one. He returns his gaze on Donghae, transmitting a question with an expression that Donghae thinks is just adorable.

“Snow, Hyuk. It’s called snow” he explains, “I told you, there was no snow in the Society, right? It means we’re that close, now hurry, Hyuk, lead away.”

“B-but… I don’t know…” Hyukjae stammers, “you do…”

Donghae laughs and tightens his grip, asking Kangin to put him down. Hyukjae is ready to tell him to stop, but Donghae was already beside him, grinning and looking handsome as always.

“Let’s go.”

And they do, walking together with everyone else, side by side, showered with grace that the snow places on them, leaving trails of their past with each step.

+++

a/npart2: AH sorry sorry if this isn’t a very good fic D; I promise to write one in hyuk’s pov asap… I just didn’t have enough time to polish this ;(

cutepear

2009-12-21T03:37:37Z

For: cutepear
Title: When In Europe
Pairing: Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi (implied), hints of others
Category: vacation in Europe and crack-ish.
Summary: Donghae wonders how they managed to get permission to go on a vacation in the middle of the year.

A/N: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I hope you like it!! XD Umm.. I kinda did a slight crossover but it's not the one you asked for.. I'm sorry. >_<

Title: When In Europe

Summary: In which they go to Europe.

When they step out of the cab along with their belongings, Kibum wonders if it’s still too late to go back to the dorms and crawl into his bed making this all seem like a badly thought-up dream. Kyuhyun immediately destroys that small ray of hope when he grabs his hand and pulls him into the airport with Donghae and Zhou Mi behind them chatting excitedly at the prospect of going to France.

As they check-in at the counter, Donghae wonders how they managed to get permission to go on a vacation in the middle of the year. Kyuhyun smirks and tells Donghae to just thank Kibum for that. Kibum wonders what on earth he did. Zhou Mi adjusts his hat over his face when a small girl points at them and goes, ‘Umma, look! Aren’t those the men that unni likes to watch on tv’?

The girl’s mother quickly shushes her and tells her that it’s rude to point at people. Luckily, she doesn’t bother to look at them. As they pair walks away, the child continues to stare at them giving them a small wave. Zhou Mi and Donghae wave back. So do Kyuhyun and Kibum when the other two make them.

------

They board the plane without much hassle.

The seats they get are for economy. When they sit down, Zhou Mi complains how uncomfortable his legs feel. Kyuhyun tells him that it’s his fault for growing. Donghae can’t help but join in and console the Chinese man by saying that, ‘at least you have longer legs than Hangeng-hyung!’

After five minutes of sitting down Zhou Mi complains once more but quickly quiets down when the younger male beside him shoots him a look. Kibum tries to ignore everyone else by putting on his headphones and listening to the in-flight radio. Ten minutes later, the tall man squirms. A few more minutes pass by and Zhou Mi squirms some more.

Kibum feels a tug from his side and he turns, coming face to face with a pouting Donghae who goes, “Kibummie~ can you go get better seats? Mimi’s having a hard time...” He looks at his other two companions who give him a look of pleading especially Zhou Mi who looks as if he might start begging any moment. Kibum sighs before he presses a button at the side of his seat calling for the stewardess.

A few moments pass by and a pretty lady in uniform walks along the aisle in heels with a smile. She asks them politely what they need. Kibum gives her his most charming smile and wonders, orders more like it, if they could switch to business instead. The stewardess looks uncertain for a moment until all four of them are smiling at her like there’s no tomorrow. She straightens up and with a smile tells them that she’ll do her best.

Five minutes later, there they are in the business class area sitting in comfortable plush seats with complimentary drinks.

Not much happens except that Kyuhyun manages to find the music menu in the entertainment system. He finds out that there’s Korean music in it. He also finds the Genie and Gee album of SNSD and whatever else the latest in the industry is. Kyuhyun wonders why they aren’t there.

------

Arriving at Paris Charles de Gaulle was uneventful.

They make their way to the luggage carousel waiting for their luggage to appear. In five minutes, it comes out. They take their bags and get out of the airport, outside where they line up by the taxi stand. Waiting in line takes such a long time that Donghae announces he has to go to the toilet just when it’s finally their turn to take the next cab.

Kibum looks at his hyung ruefully and is about to answer until Kyuhyun interjects with a cool look. “Do it when we get to the hotel, hyung.” And with that, the dark-haired boy throws his bag into the cab’s luggage compartment in the back and enters the cab, Zhou Mi doing the same except that he gives the poor man a small, apologetic smile before getting in. Kibum pats Donghae on the shoulder and tells him to get going lest he do anything rash.

Donghae gives them all a look similar to a kicked puppy’s before he follows the suit. Kyuhyun feels a slight tinge of guilt that easily disappears as the older man accidentally elbows him in the chest as he gets in the vehicle.

The taxi drives them to their hotel except that they get stuck in traffic for about half an hour. Donghae steps out of the car and nearly pees on the sidewalk but the others stop him in time. The driver scowls at them.

------

Upon arriving at the hotel, Donghae makes a mad dash through the doors leaving in his trail his band mates (left to deal with the fare), a few disgruntled guests, an irritated doorman and a startled bellboy.

The remaining three got out all their belongings and carried all of it with them to the front desk where they were met with a snooty looking man in a black suit. He greets them with a scrutinizing look and a wide smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. Kyuhyun decides he’s not fond of this guy as Zhou Mi waves Donghae over to them. The delighted boy bounces over them, adding to the clerk’s disdain.

When the man asks them how he can help them in French-accented English, Kibum tells the man that they need a room for four, he tuts. Kibum frowns but asks again patiently. The man just tuts again typing slowly on the computer. Kyuhyun feeling vaguely irritated at the figure in front of them suddenly speaks in fluent French to give them a room for four before he calls for the manager and complains about the atrocious service this place has to offer.

The man looks shocked enough before he apologizes and starts typing faster into the computer. Donghae and Kibum give him looks of surprise and ask him where he learned to speak the language.

“Starcraft, hyung.” He says smugly smirking as Zhou Mi wraps him in his arms giving him a hug. “Oh Kui Xian~ I’m so proud of you!”

The clerk gives them their keys and says that he upgraded them to a suite in apology. Kyuhyun thanks the man then pulling Zhou Mi along to the elevators. The other two follow in silence.

------

“I call for the bed near the window.”

“Hey! That’s not fair! You should let your hyungs pick first!”

“Fine. Zhou Mi ge, which bed do you want?”

“Um… the one near the window?”

“That’s settled. Come on, ge.”

“Wait! That’s not fair! I want to see the lights outside!”

-----

In the end, Kyuhyun shares the bed nearer the bathroom with Kibum while Zhou Mi and Donghae share the one beside the window.

“Goodnight, hyung.”

“…Goodnight.”

------

The first thing they do when they wake up is go over to the Eiffel Tower, grabbing breakfast along the way. The four nearly get lost thanks to Zhou Mi’s sudden urge to visit the numerous shops they pass along the way. Kyuhyun with the help of Kibum pulled the tall man away from Chanel.

“But Kui Xian-!!”

“No.”

“B-but it’s Chanel!!”

“No.”

They manage to reach the tower before lunch.

------

“Wow….”

“……”

“China has nothing like this….”

“I wonder if it’s true that you can kill someone by dropping a coin…”

“….”

“….”

“….”

“DON’T DO IT, KYUHYUNNIE!!!”

“KUI XIIIIIAAAAAANNN!!!”

------

In the end, Kyuhyun doesn’t kill anyone much to the relief of Donghae and Zhou Mi. However security comes by and tells them to please refrain from disturbing the other visitors.

Kibum keeps them quiet with the occasional glares.

Kyuhyun amuses himself by playing with his coin.

------

They have dinner in a one of the restaurants along the street. A tall hostess in a simple black dress leads them to a table near the window. When they get their menus, no one really knows what to get. Kibum prods Kyuhyun and whispers, “What’s this?” pointing to something on the menu. Kyuhyun shrugs and turns back to his own menu.

“I thought you knew French!”

“Speaking not eating, hyung.”

“Then tell me what the description says!”

“It um… says… ‘Crette de Coq’!”

“…Yeah. What’s that?”

“Some kinda poultry dish. Try it, hyung.”

The waiter comes and takes their orders.

------

When they went back to Korea and told the others about their trip, Kibum doesn’t understand why Henry keeps laughing whenever he mentions what he ate during his first dinner in France. Kyuhyun just pats his hyung in the back and asks him to describe how it tasted. Henry laughs harder, falling to the ground. The older man just looks confused while the dark-haired boy smirks to himself.

------

The next day of their trip, they check out of their hotel and make their way to the train station in a cab arranged by the snooty clerk who bids them a teary ‘Adieu!’ with a wave as they ride the car. Zhou Mi and Donghae waves back.

“Ne Kui Xian,” says Zhou Mi as he leans against the seat.

“What?”

“We should stay in that hotel again next time we come.” He says with a wide smile, “The service is nice.”

Kibum suddenly finds himself pitying the poor man. Donghae nods in agreement with the smiley Chinese man. They just manage smiles before turning their heads to the side as they watch the Parisian scenery pass by.

------

They arrive at the station and buy tickets to Belgium. “Why in the world Belgium, hyung?” asks Kyuhyun with a raise of an eyebrow.

“Chocolates!” responds Donghae cheerfully as he waves his ticket in the air.

“I thought Switzerland was more known for its chocolates?” questions Zhou Mi with a thoughtful look on his face. The alien-obsessed boy shakes his head vehemently in disagreement. “Belgium has better ones!”

This leads to a serious debate of which country has the better chocolates. Kyuhyun just shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly and turns to his other more silent hyung who mutters something about Belgium being one of the most common destinations for human trafficking.

Kyuhyun raises his eyebrows once more before approaching a young French woman for directions to the nearest restroom.

------

“Which way is it anyways?!”

“How should I know!?”

“Kui Xian… I think it’s the right…”

“Maybe we should go ask for directions, Kibummie?”

“….Let’s go left.”

“Eh? But why, Kui Xian?”

“Are you even sure it’s the right direction, Kyuhyun?”

“Because Zhou Mi said right.”

“…..”

“…..”

“Are you sure you don’t want to ask for directions, Kyuhyunnie?”

------

In the end, they take the left side and board the train without asking for directions. Two hours into the ride, they all fall asleep except for Donghae who wakes up Zhou Mi to accompany him on his train exploration.

Kibum wakes up around dinner time followed by Kyuhyun who flails around for a few moments before falling to the ground when the train stops abruptly before moving again. Both of them don’t bother looking for their other companions as they head straight to the dining car thinking that they’ll just come by later on when they get hungry.

Later on, said companions arrive at their table along with the train conductor who gives them a stern look and a warning. Zhou Mi and Donghae don’t eat anything as punishment. This doesn’t stop either Kyuhyun or Kibum from giving them a snack later that evening.

------

When they arrive at the station, they are greeted with an onslaught of German words.

“Don’t they speak French here?” says Donghae with an inquisitive look. Kibum and Zhou Mi nod their heads in agreement. Kyuhyun offers them a small smile. “Their official languages are French, Dutch and German.”

They all just take it in and think no more of it even when they grab a cab and the driver barks at them in German asking them where they want to go or that’s what they think he’s saying at least.

------

When they get to an inn, thank God the owner, a large lady, knows English says Kibum exasperatedly, they find out that they are, in fact, in Germany. Donghae’s eyes grow wide as he lets out a loud, ‘What the fuck?’ in Korean. No one understands what he said except the three of them and an old lady in the corner who lets out a small noise of disapproval.

Zhou Mi gives them an uncertain smile before saying, “Can we at least attend the Oktoberfest?”

Kyuhyun has this urge to tell him that it’s the middle of the year and October is still three months away except he doesn’t since Kibum is glaring at him as if the older man is trying to see if he can kill his dongsaeng with a look.

They end up staying in that inn for the duration of the time.

------

They all decide to make the best of their situation by exploring the country. They try all kinds of sausages and see all sorts of castles. When they walk along a lake district supposedly famous for its crystal clear lakes and evergreen forests, they get the shock of their life when Zhou Mi points out a nudist camp.

A man from the camp waves at them, a woman comes by and waves at them too. Both of them are stark naked. The three Korean pop idols plus one Chinese idol can only wave back to the couple in shock.

When they leave, Donghae wonders aloud if Eunhyuk would like to visit Germany one day.

------

They go out bar-hopping the next evening. None of them get drunk just tipsy but not smashed. The beer, Kibum says before downing a mug of it, is fucking awesome. Zhou Mi and Donghae agree raising their glasses in the air in agreement and then swallowing the contents of their mugs as well. They order some more until they are somewhat close to what people define as ‘drunk’.

When Zhou Mi asks in jumbled Korean where Kui Xian is, Kibum looks around frantically for the youngest of their group who is nowhere to be found. The three of them panic in a drunken sort of way.

So when a stern-looking blonde guy accompanied by a bubbly, cheerful Italian guy tell them that he saw their companion go up with a silver-haired guy, they thank the pair in a mixture of Chinese, Korean, English and German before rushing up the stairs all the while tripping and stumbling up the steps and corridor.

They barge into all of the rooms along the corridor causing people to scream in shock and surprise. Thankfully no one was harmed, at least in their case. Though one did threaten to sue them except Kibum couldn’t care any less especially as his mind races through the various scenarios that could happen to them if Leeteuk finds out that one of his children lost his virginity to a fucking foreigner in a foreign country.

They reach the last room of the hallway. All they do is stare at the door for three long seconds until they hear a load groan and a thump from inside the room. This snaps them out of their daze.

Kibum, followed by a very aggressive-looking Zhou Mi and eerily silent Donghae, kicked the door hard nearly causing the large piece of wood to break off from its hinges. The three look as if they’re ready to kill whoever is with their magnae and probably Kyuhyun as well.

“KYUHYUN!!”

“KUI XIAN!!!!”

“KYUHYUNNIEEEEEEEE!!!”

“HYUNG?!?!”

“WHO THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU GUYS!?”

All five of them including the albino Germany guy, who ‘took’ their not-so sweet magnae, look at each other with wide eyes and in the case of the three, a drunk, leering sort of way. It takes a minute for them to realize that nothing happened since Kyuhyun and the guy were just on the bed, each with a laptop with all their clothes on.

Later on, when they leave the damn place and head back to the inn, Kyuhyun explains that the guy was a fellow gamer. None of them bother to comment that who the hell in their right mind would go play videogames in rooms where people do things.

------

Zhou Mi sleeps beside Kyuhyun that night, clinging onto the lanky male as if he might just disappear again.

------

When they wake up the next morning, Kyuhyun ends up taking care of his hyungs who are nursing severe hangovers. The three of them agree that beer is awful.

Zhou Mi has mixed feelings of whether he is happy that Kyuhyun is taking care of him or pissed that he spends most of the day hugging the toilet as if it’s his lover and lifeline.

Kibum makes a comment about how they’re practically dating the damn toilet before he pushes the Chinese man to the side and retches into the bowl. Donghae says the toilet is cheating on him with the other two before he does the same thing Kibum did to Zhou Mi to Kibum. Kyuhyun just smirks as he watches the three push each other out of the way to puke into the poor, poor, vomit-filled toilet.

------

After a few more days in Germany, they finally leave. Kibum somehow can now relate to Leeteuk about taking care of boys. It’s not fair, he thinks, how come it seemed like he’s been taking care of everyone else when it’s Zhou Mi who should do it or even at least Donghae.

When they ride the plane, Zhou Mi tells Kyuhyun that they should go to England next time. Donghae agrees. Kibum doesn’t want to come anymore.

------

In the dorms…

“YAH! WHERE ARE MY SOUVENIRS?!”

“….Shit. We forgot! Zhou Mi, grab your bag, we’re leaving!”

“Eh? But we just got here, Kui Xian…”

“Run, Mimi! We forgot to get Heechul-hyung stuff!! Kibummie! Let’s go!!”

Kibum just sighs as he runs after them with his bag as their fiery hyung runs after them. Pity no one was there to stop Heechul from killing them. All he really wanted was to stay home, Kibum thought as he got into the taxi. He heard the other three discussing about going to stay in Japan. Maybe he could stay with DBSK there. Maybe.

yeonah

2009-12-21T03:37:00Z

For: yeonah
Title: Just One Bit
Pairing: Ryeowook/Donghae
Category: Fantasy
Summary: I’m one bit out of all of the bits of cyberspace. But must you really leave here?

“Don’t you ever wonder if there is anything outside of this world?”

“You think something exists outside of here?”

“Our cyberspace…is our world really the limit?”

DongHae was always a strange bit (1). He believes that there is something outside of this world we live in (2). Our cyberspace as I know of it consists of this huge database. The database is basically the core of our existence. But who controls our database, you might say?

Well, the simplest way I can answer that question for you is that we call these controllers of our database gods. Some of the gods’ names include U.S., South Korean, China, France, Italy, and Australia. Of course, if I were to list all of the names of these gods, I will only forget them. After all, there are about 195 gods out there. But, that doesn't concern me; you would only need to remember a few with the type of job I have.

I work in the transactions department of the database where we deliver e-mails. My job division is delivering these e-mails between South Korea and U.S. Of course, because there are many transactions being made through the 195 gods, it provides what seems to be a never ending workload for our cyberspace. DongHae, for example, is another worker of the transactions department, but he is in the division of delivering e-mails between China and South Korea. This is the typical job of a bit our age (granted that DongHae is only a couple years older). I remember DongHae once told me a strange comparison that he had read somewhere in a god’s blog about the way our cyberspace operates; we are like ants, and our database is the anthill. I don’t really understand that concept since I don’t know what an ant or an anthill is. DongHae doesn’t really know what it means either, but it only makes him want to understand the things we bits do not know about.

Of course, the idea of our cyberspace being harmonious is very difficult to achieve. It might as well be impossible. Despite that our rules are very strict and are heavily reinforced by the authorities appointed by the gods; there are those who decide to stray from the typical lifestyle every bit goes through. Those who stray off the path and defy the gods become viruses. Viruses try to mess with the gods, thus creating chaos in cyberspace before getting caught and being brought to justice by anti-virus bits.

But because cyberspace is the world we live in, I feel quite troubled. After meeting up with DongHae at our secret hideout earlier, he told me that he found a way to get outside of cyberspace. Not only was getting outside of cyberspace forbidden to cross he said, but getting there is awfully dangerous, especially when there are many monitors and security bits guarding the path. He told me that he has some tricks up his sleeves in getting past the monitors and guard bits. I really tried my best to talk him out of it, but there was no stopping him. DongHae was always a stubborn bit and probably will be one of the most stubborn ones I will ever meet. He even offered me to join him on the adventure.

I just can’t leave here though. I fear leaving the familiarity. But at the same time, I do not want him to leave on his own. What if I never get to see my closest friend after he leaves? I do not want him to die even if he would become a part of the database. But what if he manages to get outside of cyberspace? There would be no one to help him. I don’t think I have the courage to leave with my best friend though. What would I tell my family if I left them behind to pursue something that we can be executed from?

Here I stand at the moment, looking at him and wishing that he didn’t have this interest beyond cyberspace. But I realized, if DongHae wasn’t the bit that I have been friends with since what-seems-like-forever, I would have never experience this strange feeling inside of myself. I would have to be happy for him, right? But really…I don’t know what being happy is. It was just something that DongHae had always told me about for a long while since he was first interested in it.

With something he calls a hug, he told me not to worry about him and that he will be back someday to tell me all about his expeditions. He promised me. I couldn’t help but feel…empty. Perhaps he would call this feeling “sadness.” Yes, I think I would be deeply saddened that I won’t have anyone else to run to in his absence. I won’t have anyone else to share my life with when he leaves. He was just irreplaceable, and there was definitely no other bit like him. With one final glance, staring at each other, he turned around to walk that path while I stood there. I wanted so much to tell him, “No, don’t do this to me.”

But I didn’t stop him. I know that someday and in some way, I’ll see him again in cyberspace. DongHae never breaks his promises.

Footnotes:

(1) – Bit is a binary digit only capable of providing yes or no answers but still manages to convey emotion and other levels of complexity. Source

(2) – Think of this as DongHae’s interest in aliens but in a cyberspace way.

black_goose

2009-12-21T03:34:48Z

For: black_goose
Title: the balance in falling
Pairing: Hankyung/Heechul, Siwon/Sungmin
Category: dystopia!AU
Summary: There are too many rules in his life, and Heechul wants to break them all.

No one is allowed to love.

No one is allowed to love, and yet still so many people do, hidden in corners, whispering in made-up, indecipherable languages that only they can understand. Afraid they will be caught, separated, forced to the front lines of the never-ending war with the Enemy. Killed.

Heechul remembers being told by his mother, before he turned Of Age and was sent to the Dormitories, that pretty soon, no one would even remember what love was. He remembers very clearly the fear in her eyes as she spoke.

On days like today, when the sky hangs low with mist and smog and the sounds of bombs past the city walls are just a little too close, he wonders if his mother is still alive. He wonders if he is supposed to care.

He was told not to, when he cried for her at night in the Dormitories. Every slap to the face he received, he was assured by the Teachers, would help to drive her from his memory. She didn’t exist anymore, they told him. His parents are the High Council now. All of his thoughts should be for them. All of his everything should be for them.

He is no where near stupid enough to believe that now, of course. The High Council can control a lot of things, but it can never control his mind, although so many of the people around him seem slaves to it. Maybe all of them are just as good at acting as he is. Heechul hopes so, for the sake of humanity. What is left of it, anyway.

If he’s not supposed to care about this mother, then he knows that he wants to, just to spite the High Council. His only problem is that he doesn’t know how. She was right, he thinks, about people forgetting love. He can’t even begin to fathom what it feels like.

But he wants it. Oh, does he want it.

He wants it because it is illegal. He wants it because breaking the law and getting away with it sends him into such a high that he can’t resist the thought. He wants it because the rush that comes with knowing that he is in fact Kim Heechul, and he is not the High Council’s puppet, is worth the risk. But most importantly, he wants it so that someday he can find his mother and tell her that he knows what it feels like.

He says none of this aloud, and when the bell rings for him to go back to work, to his boring, menial office work, he is just another employee behind a desk crunching numbers for the betterment of his country. If he has a little more spark of knowledge in his eyes than anyone else, no one says anything. It’s safer that way.

---

These fading thoughts of his mother are what spur him into going to the Underclass for the first time.

The entrance is easy to find; large black gates, that always seem open but too guarded for anyone to make as escape. The Underclass have tried, of course. Heechul has even been witness to it before. He vaguely recalls, back when he was still a student in the Dormitories, telling jokes about all of the times he had watched some rotten, teenage Underclass make a break for it out of the gates only to wind up with their head splattered on the concrete.

Serves them right, he had thought at the time. Now, he is almost envious.

The Underclass exists to break the rules, because the Normalclass can’t, or so he learned in school. The Underclass was put into place to maintain some type of harmony with the ways of the world—the Normalclass is perfection, so the Underclass has to be the opposite: dirty, filthy, liars and scoundrels, who care nothing for the High Council and only about themselves. The High Council lets them do as they please, to keep the balance of the society they worked to build.

Heechul doesn’t see the logic behind it, but he often doesn’t understand the High Council. To him, the real punishment is being of the Normalclass—to be so controlled, forced to be flawless, while the Underclass are allowed to roam free in their thoughts and actions.

He doesn’t decide to go to the Underclass just to find love. If he does find it there, it’ll be killing two birds with one stone. But he’s not counting on it. He just decides to go for the thrill.

The trick is getting in, he knows, but careful footwork, the right ragged sheet of a disguise, and quick movements get him past the gate, descending into the stench faster than he could have hoped. When he is beyond the watching eyes of the High Council, he lets out a proud laugh, relishing at the thought of even being allowed to.

The darkness is the first thing he notices; the Underclass is completely closed off, constructed underneath the city, the dim lights shining in sundry colours giving it the faint air of eternal night.

To Heechul, it’s the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.

He sees the people next. People everywhere dressed in clothes that aren’t drab grays, so strikingly different than the uniform of the Normalclass. And there are words flying through the air, whole conversations that consist of so much more than “How have you been?” and “Thanks to the High Council, I am alive.” Through all of the dirt and grime, wear and tear, on the peoples’ faces there are smiles. Genuine smiles. Friendships.

Mostly, he wanders. The muck in the streets and foul smell in the air are something he can get used to quickly; the images of children clumping together in rags on street corners, hungry and lost, are something he can’t.

There is a noise in the air, something flowing that changes pitches too quickly, and it catches Heechul’s attention, pulling him into a rundown building filled with people, and this noise. It’s everywhere around him, running up and down in beautiful scales, tones he never knew could be combined to make something that sends a chill of admiration down Heechul’s spine.

He has to know what this is, and he grabs the first person that walks past him, a tall, lanky man with an awkward nose and a grin that betrays any hardship of the Underclass. Heechul is too obvious as he asks “What is this?” in a near reverent whisper, and the man smiles back at him, knowing, “It’s called music.”

The next thing he does is run. He runs as fast as he can back to the Normalclass, dodging a Patrol through sheer luck rather than planning. He runs all the way back to his apartment, garnering stares along the way because he’s so out of the ordinary as the tears stream down his face.

He runs because he is terrified. He went to the Underclass to take pleasure in breaking the rules, and comes out of it feeling a hole in him that he never knew he had, begging to be filled again with music. It’s a pain he has never felt in his life, a longing to be one with this sound.

Is this love?

---

The next few days are the hardest he has ever lived through. To know that there is another world right below him, a world that is perfect for him, that he cannot be a part of, rips at him, and he wants to throw away his Normalclass status for a life of starvation, sex and lawlessness. And love.

Every night he dreams of the melody from the bar, playing every note over and over in his head. He detangles them, rearranges them, creates his own sounds. It drives him crazy.

It’s no surprise to him when his feet bring him back to the gate of the Underclass after the bell rings for work to end and he is sent back on his way to his apartment. Each day he’s assigned to a ‘free time’ task—working out at the gym, reading the assigned propaganda handed out, doing some type of busy work to pass the time, so that he doesn’t have the free space to think. He risks skipping out on it every now and then; through luck, he has never been caught.

He takes a deep, inconspicuous breath as he assures himself that if he goes in this time, he’ll still be able to drag himself back out. Law breaking is fun and all, but staying too long, staying forever like he knows he wants to, and he’s bound to get caught. The government can’t control him, but they can find him. He doesn’t doubt that. He has never once heard tale of someone running away into the Underclass, but his vivid imagination assures him that the punishment would involve the front lines of the war.

He gets in again, slipping through one of the gates that is half closed, and not so guarded. He cuts it close, but somehow he manages, even with his emotions pumping in his mind.

He nearly sprints the way to the bar, choking on the smoke and the smell of people as he squeezes his way in, the music filling his soul. He nearly collapses for it all, and an arm catches him guiding him into a chair. He looks up to see the man from before, the one who had told him of music.

The smile is still on his face. “Buy you a drink?” the man asks, a hint of his accent to his voice.

Heechul frowns, his head still spinning with the joy of hearing the music around him. “’Buy?’” he asks, as if he misheard. ‘Buy.’ What a different word. So Underclass.

There is a laugh from the other man, and Heechul glares. No one has ever laughed at him before, and he doesn’t like the feeling. “You really are from the Normalclass, then, aren’t you?”

Is it that obvious? His eyes flash panic as he wonders if this person will turn him in to the guards at the gate.

“Relax, relax,” he’s told with a laugh. “We get more of you than you think, you know.”

“Really?” Somehow he’s put out that he isn’t the only person from the Normalclass to have discovered the beauty of this world.

“Really.” The man raises a long arm to point at someone standing behind the bar, pouring drinks. “See that person over there? He Fell from the Normalclass maybe a month ago. Hasn’t been back up there since.”

Heechul looks over, and suddenly he feels attraction for the first time in his life, a spark somewhere in the pit of his stomach as his eyes grace across handsome features, all dimples and smiles, tall and dark. “He hasn’t been caught yet?”

The man he is talking to shakes his head. “Not so far. Some people are lucky…” He looks almost wistful as he speaks. “What’s your name?”

“Heechul.” He keeps his eyes on the bartender. “Yours?”

“Zhou Mi. So, are you here to stay, or are you just going to run away again?”

Heechul’s head snaps back around fast, and Zhou Mi almost falls out of his seat in surprise. “I do not run away from things. I just had things to do. Normalclass things.”

Zhou Mi’s laugh is bright as he waves over the bartender. Good. Heechul had wanted a closer look at him. “And what Normalclass things bring you down here, then?”

He doesn’t get to answer—which is good because he doesn’t have one prepared—before they are interrupted by a deeper voice. The bartender. “You two wanted drinks?”

“Ah, Siwon,” Zhou Mi says with a grin, reaching into his pocket, and laying out two worn, silver pieces of metal. “Soju. For me and this new kid.”

“Kid?” Heechul said with a snort, but his eyes follows every movement Siwon makes as he reach under the bar to pull out two green bottles, popping the caps off for them. “How old do you think I am?”

“For a Normalclass, you sure are mouthy, you know,” pipes up a voice from next to him, and Heechul turns to see a man with pink hair. Pink hair. Heechul’s eyes boggle as he takes in the face of a man too cute for his own good. He’s incredibly jealous for the briefest moment until he can assure himself that he is still much better looking than some Underclass person, even if his hair is boring and black.

“Sungmin…Be nice. He’s just new. I was, too, once, remember?” the bartender says to the pink-haired boy, and Heechul doesn’t miss the pout on Sungmin’s lips. Or the way Siwon leans in to press their lips together in a way that makes Heechul’s cheeks burn, because he doesn’t understand it, whatever that closeness is. He has never seen two people commit such an act, but he knows that he wants in on it.

A change in music, something quicker, more fast-paced draws his attention away, and suddenly Zhou Mi is whispering excitedly in his ear. “Heechul… have you ever seen anyone dance before?”

There is a stage at the back of the room, and through the dim lighting, he sees a figure moving like water in the waves of the sound crashing around him, every inch of him soaked into the song, cresting with the music. The dancer’s body is lithe as it slides up and down the scales of the melody, and if what Heechul felt for Siwon before was attraction, then he can’t even begin to understand the desire the rushes through him as he watches the movements on the stage.

He doesn’t even realize he is holding his breath in awe until the final pose is struck, and the building erupts into cheers.

Heechul wants to be up there at that moment, at the center of everyone’s attention. He wants everyone’s cheers to be for him, to shed the anonymity he faces in the Normalclass, where he is seen as just the same as everyone else, despite the fact that he knows he is much better than the rest of the mindless drones.

But mostly, he wants to be up there so that he can meet that man with the body like liquid. He wants to immerse himself in his presence and soak up everything. The dance now finished, Heechul watches the dancer as his face lights up with a grin that echoes through his whole body, and carries into his eyes, bowing to the audience, and taking his leave from the stage, disappearing into the audience until Heechul can’t find him anymore.

He turns back to the bar with a scowl, as Zhou Mi asks him, “What did you think?”

“It was alright,” he replies nonchalantly. Compliments do not come easy from Heechul.

The pink haired one—Sungmin—rolls his eyes. “Oh, please. Your eyes were about to fall out of their sockets, you were so into it.”

“I’ll show you eyes falling out of sockets,” Heechul replies immediately, loving the thought of being able to speak so freely. He makes no movement, however, even though Siwon looks momentarily alarmed, reaching out a protective arm across the bar in front of Sungmin. When he realizes that Heechul is just joking, he pulls away, looking embarrassed. Sungmin looks rather proud at the reaction.

“I think Han Geng ge’s dancing has that kind of effect on anybody, though,” admits Siwon, trying to clear the awkward air.

He only succeeds in making Sungmin’s face fall. “It shouldn’t have that effect on you anymore,” the pink haired boy says with a scowl. “You’ve got me now, remember?”

“Of course, baby,” Siwon replies with a practiced ease, and Sungmin’s expression slides back into a grin. They press their lips together again, and Heechul wrinkles his nose in disgust this time. He decides he would much rather be doing that with someone himself than to have to watch others do it.

Heechul turns away from them, only to find Zhou Mi speaking to someone in a language that is definitely not Normalspeak—his eyes widen when he sees the person is the dancer from before.

He pokes at Zhou Mi to get his attention, and successfully wins the attention of the dancer as well. “Who’s that?”

“Ah, Heechul, sorry, I was going to introduce you, since you seemed so interested in him,” Zhou Mi grins. “This is Han Geng.”

That is an even more foreign name to Heechul than ‘Zhou Mi’ had been, and he rolls it carefully on his tongue. “Han... Kyung.”

“Han Geng,” corrects the dancer.

“Han… Kyung,” Heechul tries again, with more finality, his own way of saying ‘If I don’t get it right this time, it’s never going to happen, so just deal with it.’

Hankyung accepts it with a sigh. “Normalclass?”

Heechul nods, casually taking a sip from the green bottle he had been given before—and choking as the strength of it hits his throat.

Hankyung reaches forward to pat him on the back, laughing. “Definitely Normalclass.” The accent in his voice is much stronger than Zhou Mi’s, Heechul notes, in between trying not to die at the hands of the liquid.

“What is that stuff?” he asks, when he can breath again.

“That would be Soju,” replies Zhou Mi, sipping from his own bottle with the hint of an evil grin on his face. He makes a quick get-away before Heechul can raise a hand up against him. Hankyung takes over Zhou Mi’s seat at the bar. Up close, Heechul can see the light sheen of sweat from the dance performance still coating his skin, reflecting gentle features in the light hanging above him. He’s handsome—but a different kind of handsome than Siwon was, more soft, and subtle in beauty.

It’s then, looking at the beauty of the man in front of him, and feeling the want build up within himself, that Heechul decides he wants to try what Sungmin and Siwon had proudly displayed earlier. With no regard to the crowd of people around him, he leans forward until his lips meet Hankyung’s and his mind erupts into a blaze of never being able to have enough of this. Maybe if he continues, Heechul thinks, he can find love.

It lasts all of three seconds before Hankyung pushes him back, covering his lips as his face creeps red.

Sungmin is behind Heechul, laughing. “You’ve only had a sip of the Soju, and you’re already going around kissing everyone?” Kissing. That’s what it is called. Heechul decides he likes kissing a lot. He leans in to do it again, but strong hands grab his shoulder and pull him back.

He turns to see Siwon holding him back with a very protective look in his eyes that softens when he sees the confusion on Heechul’s face. “You can’t just keep doing that, okay?”

“I know kissing is fun, but if you keep that up, everyone’ll say you’re a slut,” sing songs Sungmin from behind him. Heechul has no idea what a slut is, and could care less if people call him one.

Hankyung remains quiet, reaching for his own drink. Heechul wonders if it is to rid the taste of him from his lips. “Was it that bad?” he asks, with a hint of indignation.

“What? No, it was—it wasn’t bad-- but, it--” Hankyung sputters until it shifts into a language Heechul can’t understand anymore. It only results in making Heechul want to kiss him more.

“Shouldn’t you be heading back to the Normalclass by now?” says Siwon with a frown, remembering something. “Even disappearing for a few hours is sure to go noticed. And if you missed out on your Assignments…”

“I’m not going to get caught,” Heechul shoots back almost automatically before taking the time to think about the situation. “It’s safer to go back later, anyway, right? Less Patrol out on the streets.”

“Heechul,” Sungmin says with a certain suddenness. “You do know that the gates close at night, don’t you?”

He is up in a flash, choking down one more sip of Soju, and not wanting to leave anything in this place behind, but knowing that he has to. He isn’t even two feet out of the door when he notices that Hankyung is following him. “If you want to do that ‘kissing’ thing again, it’ll have to wait until the next time I can make it down here, okay?” he says, and he is both teasing and meaning it, because he wants desperately to come back.

“Heechul, that’s not—I just want to make sure you get back alright, okay?”

This irks at Heechul, who is busy trying to remember which corner to turn at; he’s always let his feet carry him here before, but remember how to get back on his own when he doesn’t want to is difficult. Hankyung comes back beside him, resting an arm on his back as he guides him quickly in the right direction.

The action reminds Heechul of his mother, and how she held his hand to guide him when they would walk down the street. His mother. Love.

He stares at Hankyung as he is pushed down the streets, the other oblivious as he keeps an arm around him to move him forward. He stops abruptly as they reach the area closest to the gates, and Heechul hears Hankyung murmur something in his own language to himself before he lets go of Heechul. “Damn it. The gates are closed already… Heechul, what are you—”

But Heechul is already breaking out into a run, and it’s Hankyung who has to grab him from behind, stopping him. “Are you an idiot? You’ll get killed if you try to open those things.” He hears the anger in Hankyung’s voice so clearly.

“I’ll get killed if I don’t go back, too,” Heechul replies with a fierceness laced with his fear.

But Hankyung doesn’t let him go, holding him tight as he brings him away from the gate. Hankyung is quiet for a moment as they walk, and when he speaks there is a nervousness behind it. “Why don’t you just stay here in the Underclass?”

Heechul rakes a hand through his hair, glaring his heart out at Hankyung. “And get caught? I’m not an idiot, Hankyung, I know which laws I can get away with breaking, and which ones I can’t.” He moves to rest against a wall, sliding down it until he is sitting. He buries his face in his hand. “I’m so dead.”

“But Siwon is from the Normalclass, and he hasn’t been caught yet,” reasons Hankyung, kneeling down until he is at Heechul’s level.

“Maybe Siwon isn’t pretty enough for people to notice that he’s missing but me—” Heechul lets out a light laugh. “Who am I kidding. There are plenty of other people there that can take my place, aren’t there?”

Even if Hankyung doesn’t actually know if there are, he nods a yes anyway, and gives Heechul a hand to help him stand up. “People Fall into the Underclass more often than you would think,” Hankyung says. “Sometimes they do get caught, but… the Patrol don’t like coming down here. It’s rare for them to do it.”

Heechul finds himself breathing a sigh of relief as he stands and dusts the grime from the wall off of his back. “Why do they even have that stupid gate in the first place, anyway?” He means it rhetorically, but he still gets an answer from Hankyung.

“I think… balance. Normalclass will Fall into the Underclass… but it’s a terrible place here. So people from the Underclass will try to escape, to make it to higher ground. The gates help that to happen.”

Balance. That was the whole reason the Underclass exists in the first place, wasn’t it? To balance out the Normalclass. “That’s stupid,” he replied decisively, and he almost smiles as the words come out of his mouth. He’s never dared to insult the High Council out loud before—just being able to gives him a wonderful feeling.

“A lot of things are stupid,” agrees Hankyung. They’ve been walking, Heechul realizes. He thinks they are heading back to the bar. “So do you think you’ll stay? Here in the Underclass.”

“It’s not like I have a choice.”

“No, I meant… past tomorrow morning. For good. Do you think you’ll Fall?”

Heechul is quiet as he contemplates. He knows just hours ago how upset he was, that he felt like he belonged down in the Underclass with music, and dancing, attention and kissing. He’s afraid of being caught, of being taken to the war and being killed, but if it’s possible to stay here, to forever be breaking the rules of his Normalclass, he thinks it is something he can agree to. “It could be fun.”

He doesn’t miss the smile the spreads across Hankyung’s kind features, either. “You don’t have a place to stay down here… My room is small, but it should work until things get to be more permanent.”

Heechul stops in his tracks and stares. “Why are you doing this?”

Hankyung frowns. “Doing what?”

“Helping me.” It’s so strange to him. The Normalclass always gets what they need from the High Council—the idea of his fellow citizens helping each other out nearly breaks his brain. An idea comes to him. “You don’t even know me.”

“You don’t really know anyone here. And you can’t stay alone, on the streets, it’s too dangerous. I can ask Zhou Mi, maybe he knows a place…”

An idea dawns on Heechul. “Did you want to do more kissing, is that why? Because actually, I wouldn’t really mind—”

“What? No! Well, I mean, maybe, but—” Hankyung growls in frustration.

“Will you teach me to dance?” Heechul interrupts, eyes honest for once in eagerness.

Hankyung looks at him softly, considering him. “Do they really not have music and dancing in the Normalclass?”

Heechul just shakes his head.

“Yeah, I’ll teach you how to dance.”

---

Dancing is more difficult than Heechul thought it would be, but so is life in the Underclass. Heechul knows hunger, somewhat—when the war is too close, and deliveries from the Outerland can’t make it to the city, everything is rationed. But the hunger here is different. The High Council gives them nothing except Soju, Hankyung tells him, to encourage debauchery. Everything else is scrounged from the Normalclass, scraps that fall with the trash from above. It’s hard to come by—and lords have set themselves up at to take it all, ‘selling’ it to the inhabitants for the worn silver pieces of metal, ‘money.’ Not everyone in the Underclass is nice.

It’s harder now for Hankyung, because he has to get enough money dancing to feed Heechul, too, and Heechul contemplates getting job to help out, until he is told that there really isn’t any left.

So he concentrates on learning to dance, thinking maybe he can become a dancer, too. He pushes himself forward with hopes of being the center of everyone’s cheers like Hankyung is whenever he dances at the bars around them.

He can never seem to get the count right, though, and dancing without anyone playing music to back him up is too hard.

After one too many falls, Hankyung pulls him up, shaking his head. “No, Heechul… Here, you have to balance yourself.” Balance again, thinks Heechul wryly. Hankyung’s hands are on his waist guiding him as he turns. Heechul’s face is flushed with more than just exercise, but he doesn’t try anything. In the days since he’s come to live in the Underclass, sharing a blanket with Hankyung on the dirty floor of a tiny one room apartment the size of Heechul’s old closet, he’s tried. He’s tried to kiss Hankyung—and a few others—but it’s always Hankyung who stops him.

When Heechul just can’t seem to get the moves down, Hankyung sighs with exasperation and tells him that maybe he should try something other than dancing. He loves music, so why not try singing, suggests Hankyung.

But the vocal lessons with Zhou Mi don’t work out, and neither do the guitar lessons with Sungmin. His fingers bleed from the effort of playing on the old, battered and strange instrument, with homemade strings of metal that Sungmin can twist into notes of beauty that Heechul can just never seem to find.

It frustrates him more than he should, but he refuses to give up on anything, begging the owner of the bar that Siwon works at to give him a job. Eventually the owner says yes, but “only because you’re pretty.” Heechul takes what he’s given.

At least so far, no one from the Patrol has come looking for him.

---

He’s lived with Hankyung for almost a week and a half before he can finally get the dancer to kiss him again. It’s short and sweet, and Heechul is pretty sure that Hankyung is still asleep when he does it, cuddled up against him for warmth in the cold of the night under the one blanket that Hankyung owns.

Hankyung’s eyes open immediately, and Heechul worries he’ll be pushed away again, but Hankyung makes no move. There is silence in the aftermath, but it isn’t awkward. Finally, Hankyung speaks up.

“Heechul, why did you decide to come into the Underclass?”

“Because it was against the rules,” he answers honestly. “Breaking the law, doing what I’m not supposed to, I get high off of things like that.”

“Do you think you’ll get bored here after a while? There are no such things as laws in the Underclass.”

Heechul considers this for a moment. “No… because I’m still Normalclass. Rules are rules. Just staying down here, getting away with it. I think that I’m… happy,” he says, the last word coming uneasy from him, so seldom has he used it. “Besides, I’ve got something else to work for down here, now.”

Hankyung blinks at him. “Music? Or…”

“That too,” he says, pressing forward for another kiss. Hankyung hums against his lips, and Heechul knows that he has been understood.

---

Kisses turn into touching, which turns eventually into sex, something so glorious that once Heechul has a taste for it, he can’t seem to let it go. Hankyung has no problems with giving him what he wants.

In this way, the weeks pass, and a month goes by. It is a month of difficulty, of hunger and dirt, and no water on most days. A month of violence on the streets caused by too much alcohol, and a month of fear that one day, the Patrol will find him.

But it is a month Heechul wouldn’t give up for the world. He makes friends, past Siwon, Sungmin, and Zhou Mi, like another dancer named Donghae, and a somewhat burly man that works security at the bar named Kangin. He learns more about Hankyung, and in doing so, more about life in the Underclass.

He learns why Hankyung and Zhou Mi speak with an accent and have strange names—they are descendants of the original Underclass, the first people to have been taken by the government and thrown into the pit. Everyone else descends from someone who is Fallen—or they are Fallen themselves. It gives Heechul hope that the Patrol won’t find him.

Hope that lasts until early one morning, when he and Hankyung both wake to the sound of banging on the door.

Hankyung groans at being woken so early, pulling on pants as he opens the door to a panic-stricken Zhou Mi.

“Patrol. Doing sweeps—I don’t know if they are looking for Heechul, or Siwon, or someone else, but—and I don’t know what you should do, just—stay safe. Hide Heechul. Something.”

Hankyung swears in that language of his. “Have you told Siwon and Sungmin yet?”

“Not yet. I came to you… I’m going over there right now.”

Hankyung nods, wishing Zhou Mi luck as he leaves.

Heechul can’t breathe for the fear in him, fear of death at the front lines of the war. It is Hankyung that rushes to get him in clothes, wrapping up their few possessions and little food into his blanket, and trying to get Heechul out of the door.

“Come on, Heechul, pull yourself together, dammit, we have to run.”

But Heechul can’t do this, he can’t run. He can’t see past getting caught—he can’t see much of anything until a light slap stings at his face, and Hankyung’s eyes are right in front of him. “What are you panicking for? You aren’t going to get caught, okay? You’re Heechul. Getting away with this should be easy for you. You just have to try,” Hankyung pleads with him.

And Hankyung is right. He’s Kim Heechul. The Kim Heechul who thrives in breaking the law and not being found out.

He pulls himself together with a laugh, and laces his fingers through Hankyung’s as they race out of the door.

Even as they run to a destination unknown, far, far away from the black gates to the Normalclass, and the sounds of the Patrols, there is fear and worry and Hankyung’s eyes, and it reminds Heechul of his mother.

“I love you,” his whispers, and he knows what it means.

“Love you, too,” Hankyung whispers back, and Heechul knows what it feels like to really break the rules.

hakkais_shadow

2009-12-21T03:34:09Z

For: hakkais_shadow
Title: The Woes of Jealousy
Pairing: Zhoumi/Yesung
Category: Fluff (I guess? :[)
Summary: Yesung is definitely not jealous of KRZ. Really.

Yesung has always been one to keep a level head. He rarely gets angry, and when he does, it’s only for a moment. He likes to work things out rather than stay angry for a long time. He rarely gets jealous, which he considers a blessing, because he definitely doesn’t want to end up like a couple of people he knows. Another part of his personality though, he knows, is that he can always admit when he has a problem.

That’s why it feels funny to him whenever his stomach churns when he sees Zhoumi. Of course he likes the younger boy. He is very friendly and though his Korean isn’t perfect, it’s easy to understand for the most part. They don’t talk much, but when they do, it’s pleasant.

Super Junior M is one of the most popular bands in China, or so he hears. He doesn’t doubt it, because the members are funny, and their songs are catchy. It bugs him a little because he has to sit at home, watching clips on the internet, while his boring turtle looks at him with a sad face, wanting more food.

He can do that, he thinks. Sure, his moves aren’t the best, but neither are Kyuhyun’s nor Ryeowook’s. His singing is good, although his Chinese isn’t. But, there is always a translator on set for a reason. He doesn’t understand why he isn’t chosen for the job, but he won’t complain because he gets to catch up on all of his sleep.

The only thing that really bugs him about most of the time is that the Super Junior members he considers himself closest with barely have time to call. They are so busy, on a nonstop tour of TV shows and interviews, and they barely have time to sleep and eat. It makes him a little sad, but it makes it all the better when they actually do call. (But when they do call, Kyuhyun complains, Ryeowook asks about his health, and Yesung rolls his eyes.)

When they come back to Korea, it is like a family visit. There are lots of hugs, and lots of smiles. Yesung immediately goes for Ryeowook and Kyuhyun, because they are his closest friends, especially after all the time they spent together with KRY promotions and recordings. They greet him back with hugs, and Ryeowook gives him a kiss on the cheek, just like usual.

Unusually, Zhoumi is there. It’s not a problem, because there was more than enough room, but he usually stays elsewhere. Kyuhyun’s offered room is quickly accepted, Sungmin ushering both of their things back in the bedroom.

Even with the Super Junior M members home for the little time they’re allowed, it’s not the same. There are hushed laughs and talking coming from Kyuhyun and Sungmin’s room, and Ryeowook isn’t in their shared bedroom, making fun of his weirdness with that soft voice of his. It’s different, and it’s worrisome at the same time. Yesung pretends he doesn’t hear it through the walls.

He is the first to awaken the next day, and when he looks over, Ryeowook is missing. He chooses not to comment or worry, and instead goes for his morning cup of coffee, with two sugars and some cream. Zhoumi is the next awake, and he sits down at the table across from Yesung, not really saying anything. Glasses adorn his face, and his face shows signs of sleepiness still.

“Good morning.” Yesung is courteous, and Zhoumi gives a large smile that makes his heart jump. He settles for looking down at his coffee mug as the other whispers a quiet ‘good morning’ and goes about to do things in the kitchen. When he comes back with his own cup of coffee, they make idol chat. How’s China? Is it getting colder? Aren’t you tired? It’s fine. It’s not too cold, but it’s not summer anymore. I’m really tired, but I can’t sleep anymore.

Yesung doesn’t know what to say after that. Zhoumi is still talking though, and he can see why Kyuhyun is always complaining about it.

(“He just doesn’t stop talking sometimes, hyung. I swear, he just goes on and on, sometimes about the stupidest things. I don’t care about his dog, and I certainly don’t care about-“)

He must have zoned out, because Zhoumi isn’t talking anymore. He’s quietly sipping his coffee, eyes skimming over a notebook full of Chinese characters. Yesung feels bad, because Zhoumi is nice and sometimes, his conversations aren’t too bad, but he’s tired and can’t focus this early in the morning.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to zone out. What were you saying?” He tries to stay polite, even as Zhoumi perks up and starts talking about Kyuhyun and Ryeowook, and how talented they are, and how happy he is to be in a group with them.

Yesung says nothing, because he’s already felt like that. In fact, he’s always felt like that. Yesung has never felt this close to any friends in his life, and he is grateful for everything. He supposes if he’s not selfish, he should let someone else have that chance too.

“-duet. His Chinese has really improved. Ryeowook’s too. I help him a lot, sometimes just to hear him sing-“

He’s too selfish for that.

---

Yesung comes to find out that Super Junior M is his most loved and most hated subgroup of Super Junior. Zhoumi hangs off of Kyuhyun like a leech, and lately, he can’t seem to have a proper phone call with his friend before Kyuhyun is dragged off somewhere else with Zhoumi. Ryeowook is somehow included in all of it, his dainty laugh floating in Yesung’s ears as he hangs up the phone. Yesung has never hung up on anyone as much as he has lately.

He doesn’t know when KRY switched to KRZ, but he doesn’t like it. It’s after another Super Show performance that he notices. The after party is in the Super Junior dorms, and it goes on for hours. But when the party finally dies down, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Zhoumi disappear into another room.

Yesung makes a mental note to smack both Kyuhyun and Ryeowook’s head later, but he’s too tipsy at the moment. He’s sprawled out on the couch, watching some drama that he doesn’t care to remember the name of. A half-empty soju bottle is in his hand as he waves it around the screen like a magic wand.

“This drama is such bullshit, I swear. She’s ugly, and he’s gay. It doesn’t make sense.”

“It would make more sense if you were sober.”

That’s Zhoumi’s face in his ears, and Zhoumi’s face in his face. It makes Yesung jump, spilling a bit of soju on the floor, not that he cares. The other takes a seat next to him and all of a sudden, there’s a jumble of arms and legs and soju bottles everywhere.

“You- you can’t comment on me being drunk. You’re drunk. Your cheeks are red, and you have that stupid smile of yours again.”

“Kyuhyun and Ryeowook kicked me out, they said they wanted to sleep and I want to keep drinking.” Zhoumi takes a swig from his bottle, and the whole night goes blurry.

It isn’t until it’s 5 in the morning (or maybe 6, Yesung can’t tell very well), and everyone is already asleep aside from him and Zhoumi. Zhoumi is giggling, and pointing at the television, but Yesung can’t bring himself to care. He’s falling asleep, and Zhoumi won’t stop talking, although that’s usual.

“And I can tell that you’re jealous, so I’m sorry. I don’t mean it, but can’t we share? They’re not only yours and-“

“Huh?” Yesung looks up at him with a surprised look. Well, he thinks it’s a surprised look, but he can’t really tell. Zhoumi just blinks at him, making Yesung’s stomach churn uneasily. He doesn’t care about the rest, just the word jealous. He’s not, he swears on his life.

“You’re jealous of our relationship… Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and I? We’re close friends… maybe even more than you and them! Isn’t that weird… so weird.” Zhoumi laughs and takes another drink of his drink. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but Yesung frowns and decides it’s a good idea to swat the bottle out of his hands. It clinks on the floor and spills everywhere, and Zhoumi can only stare at Yesung with a disbelieving look.

“I was drinking that , how-“

“I’m not jealous.”

“-rude, really. I can’t believe you did that. Now how will I drink-“

“Why are you talking so much?”

“-more? I don’t think there’s much left. I think you drank it-”

Yesung takes a drink before trying to speak. “Oh my god, shut up.”

Yesung leans over and grabs Zhoumi’s chin, forcing their lips together. It surprises both Zhoumi and Yesung, and it’s happening, whether Yesung means it or not. Yesung will blame it on the alcohol later, and Zhoumi might too, but they’re both kissing each other, Zhoumi’s long fingers grabbing onto Yesung’s t-shirt in a death grip. He parts Zhoumi’s lips with his tongue and Zhoumi feels the alcohol spill into his throat, letting out a moan as he feels it. Yesung doesn’t mind, which both scares him and doesn’t at the same time.

They pull back not long later, and Zhoumi is breathing so hard that Yesung thinks he might be dying. They don’t speak for a while, and Yesung takes another sip of his soju, eyes focused on the boring drama that doesn’t make sense anymore.]

When Yesung looks back over, Zhoumi is still looking at him, though his expression has changed from disbelief to a bit of a smirk.

“Wha?” Yesung asks, though it’s muffled because the top of the bottle is in his mouth.

“I think I might need more alcohol to do that.”

Yesung decides it’s time to wipe that smirk off Zhoumi’s lips. So he does, with another soju-induced kiss.

---

When Yesung wakes up tomorrow morning, he notices two things. One, he has a major hangover. Two, Zhoumi’s head is on his thigh, and he’s drooling on his pants. Yesung smacks him awake, but Zhoumi has decided that he’s more comfortable there.

“My pants are getting dirty. Wake up.”

After a change of pants and another smack to Zhoumi’s arm, Yesung sits on his bed, laying back. His head is throbbing from the pain, and Ryeowook is too busy sleeping himself to take care of him. Zhoumi walks in a little later and collapses on the floor next to Yesung’s bed with a groan.

“How much did I have to drink last night?”

Yesung tries to remember, and if his head didn’t hurt so bad, this would probably be a lot easier. He doesn’t answer, so they say nothing. Then, Zhoumi’s sitting up, rubbing his head.

“I remember us kissing a lot.”

“Yeah…” Yesung doesn’t know what to say after that. He didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did and he can’t take it back. His head is hurting too much to actually think about anything else.

“It was nice.”

“Yeah…”

There’s another pause, then, “Want to do it again?”

“Yeah… wait, wha-“ But it’s too late. Zhoumi’s lips are already on his. It’s quite pleasant actually, so he doesn’t mind, and the warm feeling in his stomach is back again. He knows that he should care more, because Ryeowook is sleeping right there. He moves to pull away, but Zhoumi’s hand finds a place on his chin and he’s lost again. And this time, he can’t blame it on the alcohol.

When he watches Super Junior M on stage more and more nowadays, he doesn't mind how clingy Zhoumi is. Ryeowook is off with Donghae or Henry, and Zhoumi and Kyuhyun whisper and smile to each other, like a secret code. But the difference is, Yesung is included in this code now, because when they have the time, all four men will talk to each other. (Kyuhyun still complains, Ryeowook still asks about his health, and Yesung still rolls his eyes.) The only difference is Zhoumi.

"Are we going to drink next time you come back?" Yesung asks, the turtle in his palm sitting quietly. Zhoumi laughs and doesn't say anything, only humming a Super Junior M song like that's an answer. When Yesung doesn't speak, only making soft clicking noise with his tongue, Zhoumi finally answers.

"If depends if you're jealous enough."

"I'm not jeal-" Yesung tries to huff, but Zhoumi is laughing so hard that he doesn't have to chance to speak. Yesung decides to hang up the phone then, a scowl on his face. He looks at his turtle, a finger stroking over its back slowly.

"I'm not jealous, right? I'm really not. Tell me I'm not."

The turtle looks at him, but doesn't say anything. Yesung smiles and pats its little head with a nod.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm definitely not."

Yesung sends his response to Zhoumi in a text, a simple message of "I'm really not." written, and decides to ignore Zhoumi's reply of only a laugh. He would show Zhoumi next time he comes back to Korea how not jealous he really is.

Really.

lemonadelemons

2009-12-21T00:10:59Z

For: lemonadelemons
Title: Still Pretending
Pairing: female!Henry/female!Ryeowook
Category: Romance, Angst, Vampire!AU, Gender Bender
Summary: Henry knows that nothing lasts forever, but she can pretend.

The thing about time is, it doesn't really exist.

At least it doesn't to Henry. The clock sounds and seasons pass, but she finds the same planes of her face in dark windows and puddles lining the streets of Seoul, same childish features, the same blood that runs frozen through her veins. It's the same thing, again and again, slanted eyes and sunless skin, so she finds herself breaking mirrors before they can show her the things she already knows.

Seven years of bad luck, a thousand years, it doesn't matter. She already walks the path of the cursed, what more can they do to her?

When you don't age, you find the line between the years blurring, fading, gone. There are people with no faces and voices with no bodies, memories that don't live as long as you do, so it's easier to just let them all go.

She thinks she might have had a sister, once. And a mother, and a father, and a house somewhere where she spoke a language she's not quite sure of now. They were lost when she woke up with the thrum of red poison under her pulse and the old blood of an old life drying on her shaking hands.

It's the thirst that's the hardest part. That ache that made her fingers twitch even as she tasted bile in her throat, and it's the first drop that always tastes the best.

She usually only feeds once a month, and it's easier to find someone than one would think. She has the same face as the eighteen-year-old girl she can vaguely recall being, same little girl's cheeks and innocent, trusting face. Pretty in the way some people simply can't resist, someone helpless, someone lost.

She doesn't kill them, just brings them to the edge.

--

Henry has traveled the world and found nothing worth her time, nothing to keep her interest, nothing binding her to one place. And then one day, she meets an angel.

The angel has hollow cheeks and a thin, straight nose. Her hair is long and her wrists are thin, and when she sings, she brings the heavens to their knees.

Her name is Ryeowook, and Henry's name sounds perfect on her flower-petal lips, high and clear and beautiful. She's gorgeous, and Henry thinks she's never wanted anyone more than this small girl who stands before her now, with her sharp nose and soft skin driving Henry insane with hunger and lust.

Henry takes her to a coffee shop and watches the way her hands wrap around her cup, the way her hair curls slightly around her shoulder. She listens to the way she speaks, softly and like a slow song, the way her eyes light up and her cheeks flush when she talks about the things she loves (singing and music and life), finds herself wishing to hear her own name bring that tinge of pink to her cheeks, that gleam to her eye.

It's ten o'clock at night when Ryeowook needs to go home, eleven by the time Henry's walked her to her apartment and back to her own, midnight when she lays in bed staring at the ceiling and realizes she'd never brought her lips or even her eyes anywhere near the slope of Ryeowook's neck.

--

They have a routine.

Ryeowook meets Henry at the coffee shop everyday for lunch, and they talk and talk and talk until Ryeowook has to go back to work at the public library. Henry meets Ryeowook at the library when it closes and takes her around Seoul, shows her the things she's never known before (the view of the streets from the roof, the way a song sounds when it echoes in the alleyways), and Ryeowook never asks why Henry doesn't show up for their dates once a month.

It takes a year for her to realize it, but Henry thinks she's loved Ryeowook since she heard her voice.

--

Ryeowook never asks, but Henry can see the questions that glitter like stars in her eyes, the wonder she traces with her fingers across Henry's perpetually unlined face. She pretends not to notice the lines that start to make their way across Ryeowook's always-lovely face. She pretends not to notice the gray that weaves through the black of her long, long hair. She pretends and pretends, but she can't ignore the way the things she loves always disappear.

--

“People think I'm your mother now,” Ryeowook laughs quietly, prettily, and Henry keeps on pretending.

--

“Henry, Henry, you don't need to keep things from me,” Ryeowook whispers, holding Henry's (young, ageless) hand in her own (weathered, wrinkled), and Henry keeps on pretending.

--

“Henry, do you want to hear a song?” Henry listens to an angel's last melody, aches a little, breaks a little, keeps on pretending.

--

Henry goes to her funeral but doesn't speak, stays a shadow in the background, and just before they lower the casket, burns the image of thin wrists and hollow cheeks and a pale, unmarked neck in her mind.

Wears that close to her heart the way she never did anything else, keeps an angel's song where only she hears.

Her hands are young, ageless, her face is unlined, but she never, never forgets.

redbird_13

2009-12-20T23:59:18Z

For: redbird_13
Title: Cunning ideas
Pairing: Qmi & ninja!hanchul
Category: fluff, romance
Summary: A mysterious man. A stolen heart. Cunning deeds.

A/N: I hope you like this >.< Tad bit of a fail sorry! But I'm willing to write you another fic if you wish after xmas =.= work is killing me sorry! But I do hope this is able to make you smile a bit at least ^^;

Rapid heartbeat, bated breath.

Control. Steady. Relax. Breathe.

How a single person was able to turn the steady, calm, collected Kyuhyun into a pile of goo, he would never know.

Breathe, Kyuhyun, breathe.

Deep breath. In and out. In and out.

Come on, lady! Move, move, move! You have your purchases now go, woman! This thought and much more tumbled through his mind as the woman he was currently serving, no, wait, had served, took her sweet time moving her ample ass out of the queue in front of his register.

Damn it! Too late.

He tried not to let his sigh sound too audible but even as much as he tried, the young man at the register next to him looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

That eyebrow met a piercing glare only to receive a smirk in return.

He could only stare mournfully at the register next to his before his attention was demanded by yet another ample-assed woman.

What he hadn’t noticed were the smirks the man he had wanted to serve and the man that was serving him now exchanged.

A week passed before the man came again. He made an instant beeline for the same man that served him last week. Both earning a scowl from Kyuhyun.

He turned back to his customer. Yet another ample-assed woman. What is up with that? He wondered.

He turned his attention slightly to his left, only to scowl even more. Both men were giggling to each other like they were the best of friends… if not lovers. The very thought made him scowl even more, if that was even possible.

The same thing repeated for the next few weeks.

Man comes in, makes a beeline to Heechul’s register and they’d giggle over the newest product or gossip.

Kyuhyun had finally learnt Heechul’s name in his attempt to get some information about the guy out of him. Not only was he not able to get a single piece of information, his queries were met with a smirk and a knowing glint in Heechul’s eyes he pretended wasn't really there.

Rapid heartbeat, bated breath.

That’s what he remembered of his reaction when he first encountered that guy. He was tall, all limbs with that smile always on his lips. No matter how many other customers bumped into him, he’d smile at them, even apologising. He wasn’t even sure how a person could smile so much. Wouldn’t their face hurt?

It was his first month working there. He wasn’t sure what his manager was doing, putting him in the cosmetic department. Surely he would have been better suited to the technology department. At least then he’d be able to explain all the different components of a computer to people and perhaps have intelligent conversation once in a while.

He wasn’t sure what had happened. How that simple encounter made him fluster and blow the powder that he was demonstrating the use of all over one of the women in front of him. But he just suddenly swept in and Kyuhyun’s mind went blank. His pulse increased and he felt like he was going to faint.

What was this feeling? Was he ill? He remembered wondering that at the time. But now… now he knew better. Or perhaps worse, he wasn’t sure. He was in love. In love with a complete stranger he had only seen once in his life.

He wasn’t even sure when he had turned gay in his life. But somehow, because it was him, that always smiling guy, he didn’t question it.

“Earth to Game-Kyu! Off battling more monsters in your world?”

Kyuhyun’s mind snapped back to reality. He turned to his left to see Heechul smirking at him yet again.

“Sure you don’t need to grab some tissues to wipe that drool off your face?”

Kyuhyun flushed and quickly turned to one of the mirrors in front of his table. He wasn’t drooling. He turned around to inform Heechul that he wasn’t drooling only to actually start doing so because that guy was right there once again.

He quickly closed his mouth as said guy turned around to smile at him before turning back to Heechul.

Rapid pulse, bated breath.

He tried to remember how to breathe but somewhat succeeding in a coughing fit.

Somehow waking up today felt like a good day. He wasn’t sure why he had woken up with a smile on his lips. Perhaps it was the dream he had.

He wasn’t entirely sure that dream was something he should be too pleased about seeing as it was never going to happen, but nevertheless it made him very happy.

“Hi, may I help you?”

“Hi!”

Kyuhyun jerked his hand in response, pouring moisturiser all over his table top. Instead of the usual annoying female voices that responded with some demand, he heard a slightly lilting male voice.

Rapid heartbeat, bated breath.

He prayed it was him. It had to be. There were hardly any other males who sought their advice in this department. Please let it be him.

He quickly scrambled for paper towels to clean it up only to make an even bigger mess knocking over more bottles of some lotion or other.

“Here. Let me help you.”

Kyuhyun looked down at the warm hands upon his own. He then glanced up at the twinkling liquid brown eyes staring back into his.

It took him a few minutes to realise he was staring and possibly even drooling. He quickly removed his hands and immediately resumed his cleaning, trying to get his voice to work.

Even though he was widely known for his quick wit, it somehow failed him in this situation. He couldn’t formulate a quick or even a simple response without sounding stupid.

A seemingly long silence continued to spread and still nothing would form in his mind. He was about to give up when that lilting voice spoke up again.

“So… your shift ends now, doesn’t it? Want to grab a coffee with me?”

His hands jerked again but before he was able to even react, one of those warm hands grabbed onto his and the other took hold of the bottle he was setting straight.

“Um… how did you know my shift ends now?”

“Heechul hyung told me, why, of course!”

“Heechul?”

Kyuhyun turned to his left to see said man wink at him before turning back to his customer. At least he thought it was his customer, until Heechul planted a firm kiss on the other man’s lips, tongue and all.

He turned back to the man in front of him, smiling. That smile. He could drown himself in it, he swore.

“Oh by the way, I’m Zhou Mi. Nice to meet you… Kyuhyun-sshi. And that would be Heechul's boyfriend, Hangeng.”

Kyuhyun just stared at him.

Still smiling, Zhou Mi, grabbed his hands and began to drag him away from his counter.

“What are you doing?”

“Surely you need to go grab your bags, right? Although I don’t really mind driving you back. Just means I get to spend more time with you.”

Zhou Mi winked at him before pushing him towards the staff door.

He quickly grabbed his bag and coat and hurried out, wondering if Zhou Mi was still there.

As he swiftly approached the door, he noticed that Zhou Mi was indeed still there. He tried to slow his pace to appear as though he wasn’t eager to rush to his side but somehow his legs wouldn’t respond.

“So… how about the coffee shop you usually go to? It seems to be your favourite.”

Kyuhyun stared at him in wonderment. Just how did he know that?!

Zhou Mi winked at him again. “We have all the time in the world for your questions.”

He lightly tapped Kyuhyun on the tip of his nose before taking one of his hands and holding it in his before dragging him out.

Kyuhyun couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his lips as he thought about it. All the time in the world.

Somehow working in the cosmetic section in the department store didn’t seem so bad after all.

And it seems he had received an early Christmas present this year too.