[Fic] For Always - 4/24
Mar. 9th, 2009 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coley_merrinTitle: For Always
Author: Coley Merrin
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun and Siwon/Hankyung (with possible additions)
Genre: AU. Drama/Romance/Angst/Fluff/The kitchen sink
Summary: The bookstore called "Soulmate" has been the most important thing in Kyuhyun's life. With it, he has built a fortress of brick and page around himself, one that can only be brought down from the inside -- both with love and with danger.
Hankyung has built a life of meaning, but finds no substance in it and lives in dreams. Dreams that, when they materialize, make him question his ability to reach and hold on when he wants nothing less.
***
Chapter One ** Chapter Two ** Chapter Three ** Chapter Four ** Chapter Five
***
Chapter Four
***
Hankyung leaned his head against the glass. It was nothing more than a futile yet distantly beautiful dream, what he was doing right now. He had concluded that staying away from his windows in the morning was not going to do anything whatsoever for his problem. Siwon would be no more available and no more interested in him, for that matter. Perhaps it made him crazy, that the sight of someone had the potential to make him so happy. He could hear Siwon’s voice, see his smile. He wanted happiness for him more now, not less. Somehow he felt that was the road back to sanity. It was not going to be an easy process. Not a quick one either. No, he was absolutely positive he couldn’t move.
He sharpened at movement, sitting up slightly as his heart clonged loudly in his ears. Instead of watching Siwon and his smooth gait sweep down the sidewalk, the movement he saw was instead a broad chest, the short ties of his hooded sweatshirt bouncing against it with each step. Steps that carried Siwon toward the door, the same door that was not far from the window where he sat like a sighing teenage girl.
He leaped to his feet, sloshing moderately hot tea over his hands. He put the cup down, picked it back up again, and wondered if he had misplaced his brain instead. There was the knock.
Shit. Now what was he supposed to do? He put the cup down again, wiping his damp hands on his pants before opening the thankfully solid door... What level of embarrassment would there have been if Siwon had actually seen him caught in his indecision?
Siwon looked a bit trapped as he opened the door, the momentary widening of his eyes as if he were asking “Oh great, now what?” He knew how that felt rather intimately.
“Good morning,” Hankyung said easily. “You’re out early.”
Siwon grinned. “I have a daughter who likes to be up with the sun, so I don’t really have much choice. Good morning to you, too. Ah, Kyuhyun said you were an early riser... He gave me your address, actually. I wanted to stop by and say hello?”
Was it a question? And what was Kyuhyun doing, without warning, giving his address out to... Well. Siwon.
“I’m glad you did... And I am usually up early. Force of habit, I guess. Do you want to come in for a minute?”
“Oh. Oh, sure. Thank you.”
There was not that much difference between them in height, and not even so much appreciably in build though Siwon was clearly the leader in both departments. Still, the room he was quite familiar with seemed ever so much smaller with the man beside him who was still breathing a little hard.
“Can I get you something to drink? Water? Tea?”
“Water would be wonderful.”
He picked up his own cup as he led the way, taking a glass down to fill it.
Their fingers brushed as Siwon accepted it with thanks, and his stomach jumped far more than was necessary. He drank, deeply. Hankyung tore his eyes away from the glistening throat, and focused back on the chipped china cup in his hands.
“So, how long have you been married?” he asked, trying to keep his thoughts in line.
Siwon blinked at him over his water glass. “Married?”
If Siwon had not repeated the word back to him, Hankyung might have been scared that he had said it wrong, for the confusion that spread over the handsome face.
“Yes?” he confirmed hesitantly. Then a terrible thought struck him. Perhaps he and the child’s mother weren’t married? Perhaps they were merely living together, though Siwon seemed very much the marrying type. Or, perhaps he was married, but separated. Or divorced. Who would divorce a man like Siwon? Hankyung wondered, suddenly angry at this imaginary woman. And a thought more terrifying than the rest, perhaps she was dead. There was that mysterious air of melancholy around Siwon sometimes, when he smiled at the little girl. Oh, he’d really stepped in it now.
“Hankyung?” Siwon said gently, for at least the second time, his brain supplied.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I… I’m sorry?”
“I thought… Kyuhyun said he had told you about me.”
“Uh…” Had he? The day he had met Siwon, Kyuhyun had been telling him something in the midst of Hankyung constructing the perfect fantasy home life for this would-be perfect fantasy man. Not even considering that someone like this would ever have a life less than perfect. Kyuhyun might have told him, but he had no recollection of what might have been said.
“I… must not have been listening,” he admitted, feeling very stupid.
“That’s all right.” Siwon smiled softly, a bit sadly, at him. “She is my sister’s child. She raised Yunjee for the first two years of her life. We never did know who her father was. But one day, she decided that she just couldn’t do it any more. And left her at my parents’ home. I had just moved out onto my own, and my mother begged me to come back to help, because they are both so busy. They would have had to give up a lot to raise another child. They considered a nanny, but... So, I took her in. She came to live with me the next day, and I’ve had her ever since. That’s why I only work part of the week. Even though she’s in school now, it allows me to get things done. I’m the only father she remembers. But I’m not married. There is a good hearted older lady who lives beside us who looks after her sometimes while I work, while I jog.” He turned his head toward the window. “This is the route I jog every day. With your view of the street, you’ve probably see me go by a few times.”
To say the least. Though all those days, and all those thoughts, had never once led him to this outcome.
“I have… though I didn’t know it was you.” Understatement of the century. “I’m really sorry. About your family.”
“I appreciate it. It’s kind of funny, though, you thinking I’m married all this time.”
He pondered drowning himself in his teacup as his face flamed. Siwon said it with such gentle humor, without bite or anger, but the embarrassment won out.
“That’s where assumptions will lead you,” he muttered.
“And you live here alone? No wife? Just wanting to be sure,” Siwon teased, raising an eyebrow.
Hankyung laughed, unable to help himself.
“I live alone, and no wife. So now we know.”
Siwon nodded, and Hankyung looked at his apartment with fresh eyes. It was clear he lived alone, as the boxes from his moving in were still piled beside filled bookcases and there was a general air of “male who lives alone” about the décor. A rhetorical question then.
“I should probably get going, since I dropped in unexpected. I seem to keep on bothering you. Thanks for the water! I hope I’ll see you in the bookstore…?”
“You probably will,” he said, holding back a sigh. There was no escape now.
“I wondered,” Siwon asked, as Hankyung opened the door for him. “Does anyone call you Han Geng?”
He blinked at Siwon. “Um. My family, I guess. Why?”
“I wondered. You introduced yourself that way... Would it be okay if I...did?”
“Of course! That’s great, fine.”
“Great, I’ll... Hope to see you in the store then.”
And stood, dumbly as Siwon started down.
“Siwon!” he called, standing straighter as the other turned. “You’re… You’re welcome to stop by again.”
Siwon’s grin was lightning fast, eyes twinkling. “Thanks! I will.”
Hankyung watched him effortlessly, gracefully, descend to the street, shaking himself out before fluid strides bore him away.
It was not possible, after months of watching this man pass by, not possible that every morning after instead, he would be sitting and waiting, anticipating him bounding up the steep stairs to knock on his door. He had imagined it without hope more times than he could count. But for it to be true?
Raising his sister’s child alone. A young, attractive man, who chose to take on the burden of a child without going out to find a wife to help him. He had no idea what he was supposed to think of that.
***
The animals from Zhou Mi had stopped, thankfully. The pass was getting a little cluttered. For that reason alone, the clay puppy had been confiscated and went upstairs with him. He liked to think it stood as a reminder to him, on his kitchen windowsill, to stand strong. It helped that it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. Dogs could be fiercely loyal, but somehow he didn’t think that was the message Zhou Mi was sending.
Zhou Mi, however, was the last thing on his mind when a man wearing a long, impressive trench coat sped into the store.
“Is Zhou Mi here?” the stranger asked, voice rushed.
“Uh. Yes, he’s in the back, um…!”
The man had passed him, sweeping into the back room before Kyuhyun could finish his statement. He was pretty sure the whole bookstore heard Zhou Mi’s exclamation. It was a purely deliberate action when Kyuhyun leaned back on the far counter, the one angle he was able to see into the back room from without standing in the door. He stood straight with a gasp, the image of the stranger’s mouth fused to Zhou Mi’s now burned into his eyes.
He scanned the store for any distraction. Henry had left for the day. Ryeowook was humming back in the kitchen, but he couldn’t get there without going through That Door. He smiled as the bell jingled and a customer entered. He was about to become the most attentive shop clerk ever.
“Welcome! Can I help you?”
“Hey,” the man said with an easy smile. “We just realized my son might have left his coat here.“
The sinking feeling in Kyuhyun’s stomach was for a reason. He remembered that coat. Remembered distinctly carrying it carefully, and putting it in a safe place. In the back room.
“Oh, it’s just back in the back, if you want to…”
Ryeowook, who always had a bad sense of timing in his opinion, called out, “You know you don’t like anyone else back there but you.”
“Can you get it?” he asked, turning toward Ryeowook urgently.
Ryeowook held up hands coated with flour, and offered a smile that must have seemed innocent to others, but at the time seemed pure evil.
He pasted on a smile. “Blue with red buttons? I’ll get that for you. I’ll be right back.”
He wondered if it would look unnatural if he simply jogged through the room, snatched up the coat, and possibly teleported back.
He did not appreciate his eyes, as he walked casually into the back room (his back room), as they focused on Zhou Mi, on how he leaned casually back against the table, on how his mouth was tilted in a smug smile, nothing but lips and gloating as he looked at his visitor. Kyuhyun completely ignored the other man as he reached the sanctuary of the lost and found, about-facing to hope the distance between him and the door had shrank. And it had not.
“Oh, while you’re here…” Zhou Mi began.
“Just getting a customer’s coat!” he nearly sang. Of the three of them, at least the stranger wouldn’t know that that was the fakest tone that had ever left his mouth.
Of course, the person who stepped deliberately into his way was the same stranger. The man took a two handed grip on Kyuhyun’s upper arm and Kyuhyun blinked, feeling Zhou Mi nearly copy the action on his opposite arm.
“Heechul,” Zhou Mi said with more sternness in one word than he had heard in weeks of hearing the man speak.
“You’re Kyuhyun?” Heechul asked bluntly.
“Yes?”
“Zhou Mi was right, you are delicious.”
Kyuhyun’s eyes deliberately did not dart to Zhou Mi as his heart thudded, though he heard shuffling feet from beside him and wondered vaguely if Zhou Mi had just tried to kick his friend. Whatever it was, it hadn’t worked, as Heechul hadn’t let go, and neither had Zhou Mi.
“We’re trained to observe,” Zhou Mi pointed out tightly.
“Words on a page do not magically transform into gorgeous men. I’m surprised you actually were able to see him for all those books you’ve got piled up around your nose. He’s literally pretty blind without his contacts, you know…”
Kyuhyun felt a bit trapped, hearing an impromptu discussion about Zhou Mi’s myopia as he clutched the coat tighter to himself.
“That’s why I never leave home without them,” Zhou Mi said, his voice a bit bumpy as he tried to gently extract Kyuhyun from Heechul’s grip.
“I try and ask about this book or that book and it inevitably leads back to Kyuhyun this or Kyuhyun that…”
“Well, I think the customer needs his coat…” Zhou Mi said, more firmly this time, succeeding in removing Heechul’s hands.
Kyuhyun halted on his path to freedom, despite Zhou Mi’s insistent tugging.
“He calls me Kyuhyun?” he asked, gawping a little bit as he struggled with Zhou Mi attempting to force him to the door.
“Isn’t that your name?”
“It is, but…”
The door snicked closed in front of his frowning face.
“He just never calls me that,” he finished to himself.
Heechul breezed out 15 minutes later with a smile and a wave, as though he hadn’t accosted Kyuhyun or kissed Zhou Mi, if that was what he had done.
Perhaps both kinds of things were common and frequent occurrences. And that was okay. He really had no reason to mind.
***
Kyuhyun was a good boss, Henry thought. He understood the continually changing schedule of the college student, allowing Henry to switch an hour here or there, or make up a few some empty morning. So long as Kyuhyun knew about when to expect him, and that he was able to be there for Ryeowook on Kyuhyun’s day off, then that seemed to be all that mattered.
It wasn’t like the work was hard... Sure, books were heavy, but hey, he got muscles out of the deal, right? And when the shelves were stocked and everything was tidy, and the kitchen was clean... Then there was interacting with the customers or Ryeowook and Kyuhyun or even Hankyung, and now Zhou Mi. He was around books all day long between school and work, and really couldn’t bring himself to care. You didn’t find jobs that paid pretty good with flexible hours growing on trees. And it wasn’t dangerous either... Except maybe that one time when he’d gotten run over. Kyuhyun had been laughing about that for the whole of the last week. He wondered if that was why he hadn’t put it out of his head.
And, when he walked into his classroom at the start of the new term, why the beaming smile made his brain hiccup in recognition. That guy... That was the guy who had knocked him down! In his History class? He gaped from the doorway for an embarrassingly long second, moving as a girl made some snide remark about him being lost from behind him, and sitting at the first empty desk that he could find.
“Hey,” he heard from beside him, and suddenly he was the focus of that smile as the chair of the neighboring desk was pulled out and occupied. “You’re from the bookstore. Soulmate, right?” He held out his hand. “I’m Donghae.”
***
Secretly he wondered if “Donghae” was another word for “glue.” Because that’s what he ended up being, stuck to Henry’s side as they left class like the two of them were magnetic.
“Hey, you want to go to the library? The professor was talking about our papers... Maybe could find a topic!”
“We don’t have to turn in topics for weeks.”
He was very much a subscriber of the “School work is to be ignored until at least the week it is due” philosophy of life. (And therefore also the “A little stress never hurt anyone” philosophy.) Looking up paper topics on the first day was definitely not worth his time.
However, Donghae was not stumped.
“We could look at today’s reading then? Want to go to the cafeteria and get something to eat?”
It was like shooing away a very hopeful puppy. He probably wouldn’t have looked at the reading until there was a quiz... But Donghae had his arm, and he didn’t have to be to work for an hour anyway...
“Yeah, okay.”
“Great!”
They feasted rather oddly on fruit salad and some spicy noodles that Donghae claimed were the best thing ever. He couldn’t really argue with that as they were pretty good. It unnerved him a little that Donghae had such an intense stare for someone with so bright a smile. When Henry spoke, that sort of hazy humor masked a very direct interest, something that made his voice waver at least once as he tried to determine whether Donghae was about to say something...? Or what.
“Are you taking this class as some of your required classes then?” Donghae asked.
“Yeah...” Did people usually take history classes if they didn’t have to? He wasn’t sure. “What about you?”
“It looked interesting,” Donghae said, grinning around his chopsticks. “What’s your major?”
“I don’t really... I don’t know yet. My parents probably want me to do something like business or something, but I haven’t really decided.” That was sort of true... Mostly anyway.
“What classes are you taking then?”
“Um, music. Violin, actually. I play. And... Well, history. And world geography.”
Donghae’s nose wrinkled. “Geography? Lots of remembering places. Violin is cool, though. You should teach me. Hey, I always wondered... Do you get calluses on your chin?” He reached across the table, running quick fingers under Henry’s jaw. “I guess not, huh?”
“Uh. Yeah, not really?” He ran his thumb over the tips of the fingers of his left hand as if feeling the strings beneath them.
“Do you play the violin for the bookstore? That’d be kind of fun.”
Henry laughed, imagining sitting on the counter with his bow, playing away as Kyuhyun darted around him. “No. My boss sings sometimes though. When we’re cleaning after closing, we turn up the music and...”
He’d come around the corner more than once to find Kyuhyun and Ryeowook clearly attempting to out-boogie each other, which made his young heart cringe in embarrassment for them both. They probably weren’t that bad, to be honest, and it certainly didn’t keep him from joining in. (They laughed equally as hard at him. There was the incident with the mop, and... They had agreed to forget that.)
“So, tell me about your job?” Donghae suggested.
He was most of the way to the store after leaving Donghae before he realized that they’d never actually looked at their books.
***
“You thought he was married?” Kyuhyun hissed at Hankyung. The same sat at the coffee bar with a rather closed expression. “Did you not... I told you! I can’t believe you. You’re amazing. No chance because he’s married...or not...and you’re criminally mentally negligent, Hankyung.”
Kyuhyun put his head down on the counter and tried not to weep with exasperated laughter at the look of consternation on Hankyung’s face.
“What was I supposed to think? Children don’t pop up from nowhere. It was a logical thing to assume he was married.”
“Not if you’d been listening. Too busy writing him out of your life, were you? And then he wouldn’t go. I’m sorry, Hankyung. I am.” He could imagine Hankyung’s misery now. Before he’s assumed he was just being silly... Scared to know someone he’d obsessed over. So when he’d sent Siwon to his house...Well. How could he have known? “It must have been hard to see him trailing after you and you thinking you were totally out of luck. But he’s interested in you, isn’t he?”
“Now that he thinks I’m a complete idiot? Sure. It sounds like he really needs a friend.”
“A friend... Yes.” He leaned forward to whisper fiercely. “And Zhou Mi just wants to take me to dinner as a friend. Are you still going to watch him run? You haven’t given up. You don’t fool me.”
“I’m trying. If he wants to be friends... I can try. I can try.”
Kyuhyun looked up when the door chimed.
“Oh, good. You can try now. Siwon! Come sit.”
Hankyung’s eyes went wide and he froze before he could twist to gawk. Siwon slid onto the stool beside Hankyung, smiling at them both.
“Hey,” Siwon said.
“Hey,” Hankyung echoed.
“Can I get you a drink?” Kyuhyun asked Siwon before the two of them fell into each other.
“Tea? Please.”
“Sure. Is Yunjee in school?”
“She is. I was passing by.”
And had seen someone in the store he had wanted to see, clearly, judging by the subtle glances he was shooting at Hankyung. Hankyung was...fiddling with his teacup. Was that a smile or a grimace on his face? He couldn’t tell. It looked like Siwon couldn’t tell either and the apology for interrupting their conversation was building up like a thunderstorm.
“How are preparations for the recital going?” he asked quickly, heading off disaster.
Hankyung looked up for one second as if he wondered what in the world Kyuhyun spoke of.
“Oh. Very well!” he said, grasping it like a lifeline. “The kids are really excited. I think the parents will be glad when it’s all over, though. Costumes and planning and all the setup. I think I’m dreaming in sequins.”
Both he and Siwon chuckled. Siwon, staring with interest. Probably the longest amount of verbiage that he’d ever heard from Hankyung.
“Did you know Hankyung teaches dance?” Kyuhyun asked.
“I did. It sounds really interesting.”
“Does Yunjee take any dance classes? I know some kids really like that.”
“She doesn’t, but I’ve thought about it... She loves music, so I think she’d really like it if she tried it.”
Kyuhyun tried smoke signals and laser beams to try and get his message to Hankyung. Ask him to come to the recital, you moron, he thought hard. His eyebrows probably looked as though they were seizing, but for nothing if the dispassionate look Hankyung was giving him was any indication.
“Don’t you think, Hankyung?” Kyuhyun said, hoping his threatening tone wasn’t too obvious.
“Absolutely,” Hankyung agreed. “I have to go get ready for classes, so you’ll have to excuse me. Good to see you again, Siwon. See you, Kyu.”
Siwon smiled despite the abrupt departure.
“He must be really excited about the recital. I can’t imagine how stressful that would be.”
This one was too sweet, trying to rationalize away Hankyung’s borderline rudeness.
He made a snap decision.
“Do you think Yunjee would enjoy seeing the recital?”
Siwon blinked. “Probably?”
“You should go then,” Kyuhyun said, laying on the charm. “He is stressed right now, but he really appreciates the support of his friends. I’m going, too. Then you both can see if maybe Yunjee wants to see a lesson.”
“Oh, he might not...”
Picking off an animal in headlights, Kyuhyun thought, was just like this, as he wrote the time and location and fended off worried arguments.
“He’d love to see you there,” he said with a smile.
***
Author: Coley Merrin
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun and Siwon/Hankyung (with possible additions)
Genre: AU. Drama/Romance/Angst/Fluff/The kitchen sink
Summary: The bookstore called "Soulmate" has been the most important thing in Kyuhyun's life. With it, he has built a fortress of brick and page around himself, one that can only be brought down from the inside -- both with love and with danger.
Hankyung has built a life of meaning, but finds no substance in it and lives in dreams. Dreams that, when they materialize, make him question his ability to reach and hold on when he wants nothing less.
***
Chapter One ** Chapter Two ** Chapter Three ** Chapter Four ** Chapter Five
***
Chapter Four
***
Hankyung leaned his head against the glass. It was nothing more than a futile yet distantly beautiful dream, what he was doing right now. He had concluded that staying away from his windows in the morning was not going to do anything whatsoever for his problem. Siwon would be no more available and no more interested in him, for that matter. Perhaps it made him crazy, that the sight of someone had the potential to make him so happy. He could hear Siwon’s voice, see his smile. He wanted happiness for him more now, not less. Somehow he felt that was the road back to sanity. It was not going to be an easy process. Not a quick one either. No, he was absolutely positive he couldn’t move.
He sharpened at movement, sitting up slightly as his heart clonged loudly in his ears. Instead of watching Siwon and his smooth gait sweep down the sidewalk, the movement he saw was instead a broad chest, the short ties of his hooded sweatshirt bouncing against it with each step. Steps that carried Siwon toward the door, the same door that was not far from the window where he sat like a sighing teenage girl.
He leaped to his feet, sloshing moderately hot tea over his hands. He put the cup down, picked it back up again, and wondered if he had misplaced his brain instead. There was the knock.
Shit. Now what was he supposed to do? He put the cup down again, wiping his damp hands on his pants before opening the thankfully solid door... What level of embarrassment would there have been if Siwon had actually seen him caught in his indecision?
Siwon looked a bit trapped as he opened the door, the momentary widening of his eyes as if he were asking “Oh great, now what?” He knew how that felt rather intimately.
“Good morning,” Hankyung said easily. “You’re out early.”
Siwon grinned. “I have a daughter who likes to be up with the sun, so I don’t really have much choice. Good morning to you, too. Ah, Kyuhyun said you were an early riser... He gave me your address, actually. I wanted to stop by and say hello?”
Was it a question? And what was Kyuhyun doing, without warning, giving his address out to... Well. Siwon.
“I’m glad you did... And I am usually up early. Force of habit, I guess. Do you want to come in for a minute?”
“Oh. Oh, sure. Thank you.”
There was not that much difference between them in height, and not even so much appreciably in build though Siwon was clearly the leader in both departments. Still, the room he was quite familiar with seemed ever so much smaller with the man beside him who was still breathing a little hard.
“Can I get you something to drink? Water? Tea?”
“Water would be wonderful.”
He picked up his own cup as he led the way, taking a glass down to fill it.
Their fingers brushed as Siwon accepted it with thanks, and his stomach jumped far more than was necessary. He drank, deeply. Hankyung tore his eyes away from the glistening throat, and focused back on the chipped china cup in his hands.
“So, how long have you been married?” he asked, trying to keep his thoughts in line.
Siwon blinked at him over his water glass. “Married?”
If Siwon had not repeated the word back to him, Hankyung might have been scared that he had said it wrong, for the confusion that spread over the handsome face.
“Yes?” he confirmed hesitantly. Then a terrible thought struck him. Perhaps he and the child’s mother weren’t married? Perhaps they were merely living together, though Siwon seemed very much the marrying type. Or, perhaps he was married, but separated. Or divorced. Who would divorce a man like Siwon? Hankyung wondered, suddenly angry at this imaginary woman. And a thought more terrifying than the rest, perhaps she was dead. There was that mysterious air of melancholy around Siwon sometimes, when he smiled at the little girl. Oh, he’d really stepped in it now.
“Hankyung?” Siwon said gently, for at least the second time, his brain supplied.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I… I’m sorry?”
“I thought… Kyuhyun said he had told you about me.”
“Uh…” Had he? The day he had met Siwon, Kyuhyun had been telling him something in the midst of Hankyung constructing the perfect fantasy home life for this would-be perfect fantasy man. Not even considering that someone like this would ever have a life less than perfect. Kyuhyun might have told him, but he had no recollection of what might have been said.
“I… must not have been listening,” he admitted, feeling very stupid.
“That’s all right.” Siwon smiled softly, a bit sadly, at him. “She is my sister’s child. She raised Yunjee for the first two years of her life. We never did know who her father was. But one day, she decided that she just couldn’t do it any more. And left her at my parents’ home. I had just moved out onto my own, and my mother begged me to come back to help, because they are both so busy. They would have had to give up a lot to raise another child. They considered a nanny, but... So, I took her in. She came to live with me the next day, and I’ve had her ever since. That’s why I only work part of the week. Even though she’s in school now, it allows me to get things done. I’m the only father she remembers. But I’m not married. There is a good hearted older lady who lives beside us who looks after her sometimes while I work, while I jog.” He turned his head toward the window. “This is the route I jog every day. With your view of the street, you’ve probably see me go by a few times.”
To say the least. Though all those days, and all those thoughts, had never once led him to this outcome.
“I have… though I didn’t know it was you.” Understatement of the century. “I’m really sorry. About your family.”
“I appreciate it. It’s kind of funny, though, you thinking I’m married all this time.”
He pondered drowning himself in his teacup as his face flamed. Siwon said it with such gentle humor, without bite or anger, but the embarrassment won out.
“That’s where assumptions will lead you,” he muttered.
“And you live here alone? No wife? Just wanting to be sure,” Siwon teased, raising an eyebrow.
Hankyung laughed, unable to help himself.
“I live alone, and no wife. So now we know.”
Siwon nodded, and Hankyung looked at his apartment with fresh eyes. It was clear he lived alone, as the boxes from his moving in were still piled beside filled bookcases and there was a general air of “male who lives alone” about the décor. A rhetorical question then.
“I should probably get going, since I dropped in unexpected. I seem to keep on bothering you. Thanks for the water! I hope I’ll see you in the bookstore…?”
“You probably will,” he said, holding back a sigh. There was no escape now.
“I wondered,” Siwon asked, as Hankyung opened the door for him. “Does anyone call you Han Geng?”
He blinked at Siwon. “Um. My family, I guess. Why?”
“I wondered. You introduced yourself that way... Would it be okay if I...did?”
“Of course! That’s great, fine.”
“Great, I’ll... Hope to see you in the store then.”
And stood, dumbly as Siwon started down.
“Siwon!” he called, standing straighter as the other turned. “You’re… You’re welcome to stop by again.”
Siwon’s grin was lightning fast, eyes twinkling. “Thanks! I will.”
Hankyung watched him effortlessly, gracefully, descend to the street, shaking himself out before fluid strides bore him away.
It was not possible, after months of watching this man pass by, not possible that every morning after instead, he would be sitting and waiting, anticipating him bounding up the steep stairs to knock on his door. He had imagined it without hope more times than he could count. But for it to be true?
Raising his sister’s child alone. A young, attractive man, who chose to take on the burden of a child without going out to find a wife to help him. He had no idea what he was supposed to think of that.
***
The animals from Zhou Mi had stopped, thankfully. The pass was getting a little cluttered. For that reason alone, the clay puppy had been confiscated and went upstairs with him. He liked to think it stood as a reminder to him, on his kitchen windowsill, to stand strong. It helped that it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. Dogs could be fiercely loyal, but somehow he didn’t think that was the message Zhou Mi was sending.
Zhou Mi, however, was the last thing on his mind when a man wearing a long, impressive trench coat sped into the store.
“Is Zhou Mi here?” the stranger asked, voice rushed.
“Uh. Yes, he’s in the back, um…!”
The man had passed him, sweeping into the back room before Kyuhyun could finish his statement. He was pretty sure the whole bookstore heard Zhou Mi’s exclamation. It was a purely deliberate action when Kyuhyun leaned back on the far counter, the one angle he was able to see into the back room from without standing in the door. He stood straight with a gasp, the image of the stranger’s mouth fused to Zhou Mi’s now burned into his eyes.
He scanned the store for any distraction. Henry had left for the day. Ryeowook was humming back in the kitchen, but he couldn’t get there without going through That Door. He smiled as the bell jingled and a customer entered. He was about to become the most attentive shop clerk ever.
“Welcome! Can I help you?”
“Hey,” the man said with an easy smile. “We just realized my son might have left his coat here.“
The sinking feeling in Kyuhyun’s stomach was for a reason. He remembered that coat. Remembered distinctly carrying it carefully, and putting it in a safe place. In the back room.
“Oh, it’s just back in the back, if you want to…”
Ryeowook, who always had a bad sense of timing in his opinion, called out, “You know you don’t like anyone else back there but you.”
“Can you get it?” he asked, turning toward Ryeowook urgently.
Ryeowook held up hands coated with flour, and offered a smile that must have seemed innocent to others, but at the time seemed pure evil.
He pasted on a smile. “Blue with red buttons? I’ll get that for you. I’ll be right back.”
He wondered if it would look unnatural if he simply jogged through the room, snatched up the coat, and possibly teleported back.
He did not appreciate his eyes, as he walked casually into the back room (his back room), as they focused on Zhou Mi, on how he leaned casually back against the table, on how his mouth was tilted in a smug smile, nothing but lips and gloating as he looked at his visitor. Kyuhyun completely ignored the other man as he reached the sanctuary of the lost and found, about-facing to hope the distance between him and the door had shrank. And it had not.
“Oh, while you’re here…” Zhou Mi began.
“Just getting a customer’s coat!” he nearly sang. Of the three of them, at least the stranger wouldn’t know that that was the fakest tone that had ever left his mouth.
Of course, the person who stepped deliberately into his way was the same stranger. The man took a two handed grip on Kyuhyun’s upper arm and Kyuhyun blinked, feeling Zhou Mi nearly copy the action on his opposite arm.
“Heechul,” Zhou Mi said with more sternness in one word than he had heard in weeks of hearing the man speak.
“You’re Kyuhyun?” Heechul asked bluntly.
“Yes?”
“Zhou Mi was right, you are delicious.”
Kyuhyun’s eyes deliberately did not dart to Zhou Mi as his heart thudded, though he heard shuffling feet from beside him and wondered vaguely if Zhou Mi had just tried to kick his friend. Whatever it was, it hadn’t worked, as Heechul hadn’t let go, and neither had Zhou Mi.
“We’re trained to observe,” Zhou Mi pointed out tightly.
“Words on a page do not magically transform into gorgeous men. I’m surprised you actually were able to see him for all those books you’ve got piled up around your nose. He’s literally pretty blind without his contacts, you know…”
Kyuhyun felt a bit trapped, hearing an impromptu discussion about Zhou Mi’s myopia as he clutched the coat tighter to himself.
“That’s why I never leave home without them,” Zhou Mi said, his voice a bit bumpy as he tried to gently extract Kyuhyun from Heechul’s grip.
“I try and ask about this book or that book and it inevitably leads back to Kyuhyun this or Kyuhyun that…”
“Well, I think the customer needs his coat…” Zhou Mi said, more firmly this time, succeeding in removing Heechul’s hands.
Kyuhyun halted on his path to freedom, despite Zhou Mi’s insistent tugging.
“He calls me Kyuhyun?” he asked, gawping a little bit as he struggled with Zhou Mi attempting to force him to the door.
“Isn’t that your name?”
“It is, but…”
The door snicked closed in front of his frowning face.
“He just never calls me that,” he finished to himself.
Heechul breezed out 15 minutes later with a smile and a wave, as though he hadn’t accosted Kyuhyun or kissed Zhou Mi, if that was what he had done.
Perhaps both kinds of things were common and frequent occurrences. And that was okay. He really had no reason to mind.
***
Kyuhyun was a good boss, Henry thought. He understood the continually changing schedule of the college student, allowing Henry to switch an hour here or there, or make up a few some empty morning. So long as Kyuhyun knew about when to expect him, and that he was able to be there for Ryeowook on Kyuhyun’s day off, then that seemed to be all that mattered.
It wasn’t like the work was hard... Sure, books were heavy, but hey, he got muscles out of the deal, right? And when the shelves were stocked and everything was tidy, and the kitchen was clean... Then there was interacting with the customers or Ryeowook and Kyuhyun or even Hankyung, and now Zhou Mi. He was around books all day long between school and work, and really couldn’t bring himself to care. You didn’t find jobs that paid pretty good with flexible hours growing on trees. And it wasn’t dangerous either... Except maybe that one time when he’d gotten run over. Kyuhyun had been laughing about that for the whole of the last week. He wondered if that was why he hadn’t put it out of his head.
And, when he walked into his classroom at the start of the new term, why the beaming smile made his brain hiccup in recognition. That guy... That was the guy who had knocked him down! In his History class? He gaped from the doorway for an embarrassingly long second, moving as a girl made some snide remark about him being lost from behind him, and sitting at the first empty desk that he could find.
“Hey,” he heard from beside him, and suddenly he was the focus of that smile as the chair of the neighboring desk was pulled out and occupied. “You’re from the bookstore. Soulmate, right?” He held out his hand. “I’m Donghae.”
***
Secretly he wondered if “Donghae” was another word for “glue.” Because that’s what he ended up being, stuck to Henry’s side as they left class like the two of them were magnetic.
“Hey, you want to go to the library? The professor was talking about our papers... Maybe could find a topic!”
“We don’t have to turn in topics for weeks.”
He was very much a subscriber of the “School work is to be ignored until at least the week it is due” philosophy of life. (And therefore also the “A little stress never hurt anyone” philosophy.) Looking up paper topics on the first day was definitely not worth his time.
However, Donghae was not stumped.
“We could look at today’s reading then? Want to go to the cafeteria and get something to eat?”
It was like shooing away a very hopeful puppy. He probably wouldn’t have looked at the reading until there was a quiz... But Donghae had his arm, and he didn’t have to be to work for an hour anyway...
“Yeah, okay.”
“Great!”
They feasted rather oddly on fruit salad and some spicy noodles that Donghae claimed were the best thing ever. He couldn’t really argue with that as they were pretty good. It unnerved him a little that Donghae had such an intense stare for someone with so bright a smile. When Henry spoke, that sort of hazy humor masked a very direct interest, something that made his voice waver at least once as he tried to determine whether Donghae was about to say something...? Or what.
“Are you taking this class as some of your required classes then?” Donghae asked.
“Yeah...” Did people usually take history classes if they didn’t have to? He wasn’t sure. “What about you?”
“It looked interesting,” Donghae said, grinning around his chopsticks. “What’s your major?”
“I don’t really... I don’t know yet. My parents probably want me to do something like business or something, but I haven’t really decided.” That was sort of true... Mostly anyway.
“What classes are you taking then?”
“Um, music. Violin, actually. I play. And... Well, history. And world geography.”
Donghae’s nose wrinkled. “Geography? Lots of remembering places. Violin is cool, though. You should teach me. Hey, I always wondered... Do you get calluses on your chin?” He reached across the table, running quick fingers under Henry’s jaw. “I guess not, huh?”
“Uh. Yeah, not really?” He ran his thumb over the tips of the fingers of his left hand as if feeling the strings beneath them.
“Do you play the violin for the bookstore? That’d be kind of fun.”
Henry laughed, imagining sitting on the counter with his bow, playing away as Kyuhyun darted around him. “No. My boss sings sometimes though. When we’re cleaning after closing, we turn up the music and...”
He’d come around the corner more than once to find Kyuhyun and Ryeowook clearly attempting to out-boogie each other, which made his young heart cringe in embarrassment for them both. They probably weren’t that bad, to be honest, and it certainly didn’t keep him from joining in. (They laughed equally as hard at him. There was the incident with the mop, and... They had agreed to forget that.)
“So, tell me about your job?” Donghae suggested.
He was most of the way to the store after leaving Donghae before he realized that they’d never actually looked at their books.
***
“You thought he was married?” Kyuhyun hissed at Hankyung. The same sat at the coffee bar with a rather closed expression. “Did you not... I told you! I can’t believe you. You’re amazing. No chance because he’s married...or not...and you’re criminally mentally negligent, Hankyung.”
Kyuhyun put his head down on the counter and tried not to weep with exasperated laughter at the look of consternation on Hankyung’s face.
“What was I supposed to think? Children don’t pop up from nowhere. It was a logical thing to assume he was married.”
“Not if you’d been listening. Too busy writing him out of your life, were you? And then he wouldn’t go. I’m sorry, Hankyung. I am.” He could imagine Hankyung’s misery now. Before he’s assumed he was just being silly... Scared to know someone he’d obsessed over. So when he’d sent Siwon to his house...Well. How could he have known? “It must have been hard to see him trailing after you and you thinking you were totally out of luck. But he’s interested in you, isn’t he?”
“Now that he thinks I’m a complete idiot? Sure. It sounds like he really needs a friend.”
“A friend... Yes.” He leaned forward to whisper fiercely. “And Zhou Mi just wants to take me to dinner as a friend. Are you still going to watch him run? You haven’t given up. You don’t fool me.”
“I’m trying. If he wants to be friends... I can try. I can try.”
Kyuhyun looked up when the door chimed.
“Oh, good. You can try now. Siwon! Come sit.”
Hankyung’s eyes went wide and he froze before he could twist to gawk. Siwon slid onto the stool beside Hankyung, smiling at them both.
“Hey,” Siwon said.
“Hey,” Hankyung echoed.
“Can I get you a drink?” Kyuhyun asked Siwon before the two of them fell into each other.
“Tea? Please.”
“Sure. Is Yunjee in school?”
“She is. I was passing by.”
And had seen someone in the store he had wanted to see, clearly, judging by the subtle glances he was shooting at Hankyung. Hankyung was...fiddling with his teacup. Was that a smile or a grimace on his face? He couldn’t tell. It looked like Siwon couldn’t tell either and the apology for interrupting their conversation was building up like a thunderstorm.
“How are preparations for the recital going?” he asked quickly, heading off disaster.
Hankyung looked up for one second as if he wondered what in the world Kyuhyun spoke of.
“Oh. Very well!” he said, grasping it like a lifeline. “The kids are really excited. I think the parents will be glad when it’s all over, though. Costumes and planning and all the setup. I think I’m dreaming in sequins.”
Both he and Siwon chuckled. Siwon, staring with interest. Probably the longest amount of verbiage that he’d ever heard from Hankyung.
“Did you know Hankyung teaches dance?” Kyuhyun asked.
“I did. It sounds really interesting.”
“Does Yunjee take any dance classes? I know some kids really like that.”
“She doesn’t, but I’ve thought about it... She loves music, so I think she’d really like it if she tried it.”
Kyuhyun tried smoke signals and laser beams to try and get his message to Hankyung. Ask him to come to the recital, you moron, he thought hard. His eyebrows probably looked as though they were seizing, but for nothing if the dispassionate look Hankyung was giving him was any indication.
“Don’t you think, Hankyung?” Kyuhyun said, hoping his threatening tone wasn’t too obvious.
“Absolutely,” Hankyung agreed. “I have to go get ready for classes, so you’ll have to excuse me. Good to see you again, Siwon. See you, Kyu.”
Siwon smiled despite the abrupt departure.
“He must be really excited about the recital. I can’t imagine how stressful that would be.”
This one was too sweet, trying to rationalize away Hankyung’s borderline rudeness.
He made a snap decision.
“Do you think Yunjee would enjoy seeing the recital?”
Siwon blinked. “Probably?”
“You should go then,” Kyuhyun said, laying on the charm. “He is stressed right now, but he really appreciates the support of his friends. I’m going, too. Then you both can see if maybe Yunjee wants to see a lesson.”
“Oh, he might not...”
Picking off an animal in headlights, Kyuhyun thought, was just like this, as he wrote the time and location and fended off worried arguments.
“He’d love to see you there,” he said with a smile.
***
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2009-03-10 12:33 am (UTC)Kyuhyun has to give in to his feelings for Zhoumi, though... but what is Heechul to Mi? Mhmmm...
and Haery >_< gheghe...
Can't wait to read about how Hankyung will react to Siwon coming to the recital ...and how Qmi will progress...
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Date: 2009-03-11 05:50 am (UTC)I so couldn't leave Donghae out, lol...
:D Next chapter should be up tomorrow! Thanks so much! <3
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Date: 2009-03-10 01:18 am (UTC)haha, I really like where this story is going.
The SIHAN mostly. SO MARRIED!I love all the couples going on so far :Dwell, the only thing about this chap was the HenHae scene XD i was confused and thought it was Kyu's thoughts, but it was really Henry. After reading it over a couple times though, I got it :]
haha, will eunhyuk show up? and eunhae bff-ery? which will then lead to blohyuk?:D -no bias at ALL-will be watching out for the rest :D
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Date: 2009-03-11 06:02 am (UTC)I added a couple of words to the HenHae, so hopefully it was clearer for everyone else. XD Thanks so much for pointing that out!
Aww, your bias. Sadly, nothing planned at this point. :( The story would go on and on forever... *_*
Next chapter should be up tomorrow! Thanks so much! <3
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 01:35 am (UTC)so excited that Heechul has blown in and is turning everybody upside down!
and Kyuhyun trying to fix poor silly Geng's fail for him is all kinds of adorable.
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Date: 2009-03-11 06:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 04:21 am (UTC)Well, enough of me rambling off like a faux-pas philosopher :P I cannot wait for the next chapter, so please do update =]
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Date: 2009-03-11 06:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 05:42 am (UTC)Heechul's interruption is so adorable! And finally, we understand the reason behind Yunjee's parentage. Oh Han! You can be so densely awkward but I guess that's what makes you even more appealing.
I expect Zhou Mi to lose one of his contacts soon and come disturbing Kyu about it :P "I'm blind~~~ HELP ME!" hahaha.
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Date: 2009-03-11 06:12 am (UTC)Hmm, losing a contact... I'll have to keep that in mind, lol. XD
Next chapter should be up tomorrow! Thanks so much! <3
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Date: 2009-03-10 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 06:15 am (UTC)And Donghae had to sneak in there somehow, hehe. Next chapter should be up tomorrow! Thanks so much! <3
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Date: 2009-03-10 05:55 pm (UTC)really!! god ~ they are both too shy and oblivious xDD
i wonder what heechul wants?
thanks for the update! ^^
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Date: 2009-03-11 06:18 am (UTC)Hmm, Heechul... XD Thank you! <3 Next chapter should be up tomorrow!
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Date: 2009-03-11 08:21 pm (UTC)really? can't wait to read it! i'll wait for it! ^^
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Date: 2009-03-11 01:43 am (UTC)Kyu kept the puppy in his room! Cute!!
Heechul KISSED MiMi WTF?!?!?! And what's he doing there?!?!
Then the HaeRy. Hae's so lively and Henli's so damn cute!! I think I really like their dynamic!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 06:37 am (UTC)Ah, that puppy... Have not seen the last of that~~
XD Heechul... We will see! Good thing Zhou Mi didn't see Kyu's reaction...
Donghae... He was going to get a sidefic and then somehow got written in. *clearly not in charge of my own story*
Should be updating tomorrow though~~ Thanks so much! <3
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Date: 2009-03-11 11:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 05:59 am (UTC)now about the story... honestly it was about time someone wrote a nice KyuMi story :P i think that KyuHyun is a hard to write, but you did so well!~ he's playing matchmaker with Hangeng and Siwon :P that's such a KyuHyun characteristic in my eyes - very observant, knowing what best for you when you don't even know it yourself :) also the fact that he is afraid to open up... ah it just fits him so well!~ :)
i'll read the next chapters now :P can't wait to see what happens :)
p.s. now that they had their comeback i suddenly want to read SuJu fics again :P they impressed me with their new looks and sound :) in the 3rd Super Junior album KyuHyun sings a lot!~ I totally love it; his voice is more mature and it sounds amazing :)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-15 07:57 am (UTC)KyuMi definitely deserves more fics, hehe. XD I definitely <3 them. So glad Kyuhyun works! :) :) That's the best compliment. ^__^ Such good material to work from, hehe...
And the comeback is definitely inspiring! :D :D It's so exciting... Love the new songs, and Kyuhyun's voice is just... guh. Not enough words to describe it!
Thanks so much! <3
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Date: 2009-03-17 02:48 am (UTC)and Donghae!!! >.
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Date: 2009-03-17 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 11:28 pm (UTC)i'd leave a proper comment but again, i'm too squealy and incoherent.
blalaahbhehsionsnshhfffff.
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Date: 2009-05-21 11:34 am (UTC)For that reason alone, the clay puppy had been confiscated and went upstairs with him. He liked to think it stood as a reminder to him, on his kitchen windowsill, to stand strong. Oh hohoho, am I reading correctly? Kyuhyun is keeping a memento of Zhoumi in his house where he can be constantly reminded of him? kukukukuku, Zhoumi, you're making progress!♥ jaiyou!
He’d come around the corner more than once to find Kyuhyun and Ryeowook clearly attempting to out-boogie each other, which made his young heart cringe in embarrassment for them both. OMG, I'd kill to see those two at it! XD
Oh, hello kyuhyun the match-maker! I'm glad he's getting involved because those two are a bit too slow on the uptake. Love really does make one a bit...crazy. ♥ But what was that all about with Heechul?! Why wasn't Kyuhyun more freaked out by the blatant display of...something between Heechul and Zhoumi?! AAAAAARGH, what is going?!
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Date: 2011-06-04 06:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-04 06:27 am (UTC)