[Dividend 2/3]
Dividend [2/3]
Donghae/Sungmin | Aristocratic!AU / Friendship | PG
1214 words
the first meeting was out of luck, a second time around and things seems completely different
The walk back to the den seemed longer than ever, the usual paths seemingly more crowded than usual. Donghae held the pouch close, trying everything he could to not attract attention, the bulging bag of coins pressed firmly against his chest would make normal citizens hound upon, let alone other thieves. He needed to get back to Heechul and them and stow the money away in a safe place.
He looked down, eyes paying attention solely on each dirtied brick, the broken sole of his shoes flapping helplessly as each step bounced against the cement.
“How did you, there’s enough here to last us for months...” Jungsu whimpered as he grabbed another small handful of coins. He began organizing them into small stacks, muttering to himself about how long they could survive on this, maybe even buy a small stand and run a tiny business.
“Man, Donghae, I never thought you had in it you,” Youngwoon wringed him by the neck, rubbing his head playfully. Heechul came over and patted his back. Heechul was the one that taught him his skills, the art of pick pocketing and swiping, Heechul was the one that took him under his wing and thought of him as family.
“Yeah, I didn’t think I could pull it off either...” Donghae replied, hands flailing until Heechul nudged Youngwoon off of him. “At least we’ll be good for the next while, you guys don’t have to worry so much.”
The next few days, Donghae lingered around the marketplace, actually observing the daily activities of the townspeople, instead of being on the lookout for potential victims. People came and went, buying fresh produce from the street vendors, maybe that’s what Jungsu meant, they could run a small stall together and make a small business, have a start at something in their lives instead of merely floating from one place to another.
A woman in her late fifties suddenly stumbled on the steps and Donghae offered to help her with the heavy bags. She eyed him suspiciously, her eyes scanning him thoroughly, as if he was going to threaten or steal from her, until she gave in and handed over her bags. Donghae took them diligently, the smell of fresh bread tempting as the loaves poked out of the paper bags. He reminded himself to stop by the bakery later.
Donghae wandered off further, there was nothing to do in the market except watch people come and go. Eventually, the feelings caught up to him as he recognized certain individuals from whom he had stolen from, and while it still looked like they could manage, except that one man, the guilt still struck through. Youngwoon warned him about that, recognizing their casualties was definitely not something they needed to keep in mind.
He sighed as he wandered through the nook and crannies of the city until he managed to find his way to the sea. He was greeted by the sound of crashing waves and wailing birds, the air thick with the stench of salt. It’d been a while since he went back to the port.
He barely stepped aside when a worker pushing a heavy wagon of barrels hollered at him to get out of the way. He followed the man, since the wagon cleared a path for him and he’d feel less awkward, until he reached the dock. The port was equally busy, the dock bustling with people loading and unloading cargo, there were vendors as well, people buying and trading seafood and other delicacies.
“Hyukjae, wait, oh god you’re going to run into someone!” A voice hollered from behind them, a brightly dressed boy making their way to the port, followed by two older looking guards trailing after him.
Donghae stared as the three made their way towards the dock, the boy’s colorful robes an indication of his status. Donghae looked closely, his jaw dropping when he realized it had been the same boy from before. People seemed afraid of them, most of them stepping aside to make room for them.
A boy stopped mere steps away from Donghae as he turned around, waving to the distant, “I want to go to the beach, come on, let’s go.” The other one, the familiar looking one, Min, finally caught up but the other boy took off immediately, a trail of kids seemingly to follow his lead. Donghae stared at the kids, all of them dressed plainly and nothing out of the ordinary.
“You know, next time, I’m not going to agree on keeping an eye on you,” the older boy muttered to himself. He stood there, sighing and Donghae wanted to run away, or hide somewhere because if he wanted his money back, there was no way that’d be possible. His guardians looked worried, one of them fidgeting with his robe and the other looking strangely concerned.
Donghae took a few steps back, unknowingly walking into a fish stand and toppled over the stacked crates. Brilliant, just when he wanted to not create commotion and maybe slink away without attracting, just blend into the rest of his fellow commoners and slide into the shadows, he goes around creating a huge ruckus. Naturally, the boy turned and looked at him, and Donghae shied away, immediately getting up and trying to busy himself so he wouldn’t be in such an awkward position.
“It’s you again.” the boy huffed up his sleeves, looking behind him to make sure his robes weren’t dragging along the planks. Donghae still found it hard to believe that the boy hadn’t turned eighteen yet.
“Yeah.” Donghae finished helping the man stack his crates back up, shrugging awkwardly as he felt the boy’s eyes on him. “T-Thank you, for last time.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the boy smiled, for the very first time, his usual stoic expression gone as he sifted a hand through his hair, “I mean, it wasn’t much, and I don’t have much on me today either."
“No no, it was plentiful.” Donghae whispered, trying not to be too loud because people were nearby, the talk of money always brought forth extra ears. With everyone finding it difficult to survive, money brought forth the worse side of people, and Donghae was no different. “It was more than enough.”
The boy looked thoughtful, his eyes sparkling again, like the distant waves shimmering against the sky.
“Can, can I know your name?” Donghae spoke timidly, simply because people like him, thieves, weren’t suppose to associate with the aristocracy. They were looked down upon, shunned away for their way of survival, “At least so that, I’d know the name to thank whenever I have food to eat now.”
“Sungmin,” he said softly, “my name is Sungmin, and please, you don’t have to thank me or anything, it was nothing.”
“To you, it was probably loose change,” Donghae whimpered, “but that meant the world to me, and my friends, so I have to thank you regardless.”
“No, no, you seem like a good person and I like you,” Sungmin smiled again and Donghae bookmarked that smile because it was so genuine. “I need to go find Hyukjae now, so I got to go.”
Donghae nodded and Sungmin wandered off to the beach, his guardians trailing after him.
Donghae/Sungmin | Aristocratic!AU / Friendship | PG
1214 words
the first meeting was out of luck, a second time around and things seems completely different
The walk back to the den seemed longer than ever, the usual paths seemingly more crowded than usual. Donghae held the pouch close, trying everything he could to not attract attention, the bulging bag of coins pressed firmly against his chest would make normal citizens hound upon, let alone other thieves. He needed to get back to Heechul and them and stow the money away in a safe place.
He looked down, eyes paying attention solely on each dirtied brick, the broken sole of his shoes flapping helplessly as each step bounced against the cement.
“How did you, there’s enough here to last us for months...” Jungsu whimpered as he grabbed another small handful of coins. He began organizing them into small stacks, muttering to himself about how long they could survive on this, maybe even buy a small stand and run a tiny business.
“Man, Donghae, I never thought you had in it you,” Youngwoon wringed him by the neck, rubbing his head playfully. Heechul came over and patted his back. Heechul was the one that taught him his skills, the art of pick pocketing and swiping, Heechul was the one that took him under his wing and thought of him as family.
“Yeah, I didn’t think I could pull it off either...” Donghae replied, hands flailing until Heechul nudged Youngwoon off of him. “At least we’ll be good for the next while, you guys don’t have to worry so much.”
The next few days, Donghae lingered around the marketplace, actually observing the daily activities of the townspeople, instead of being on the lookout for potential victims. People came and went, buying fresh produce from the street vendors, maybe that’s what Jungsu meant, they could run a small stall together and make a small business, have a start at something in their lives instead of merely floating from one place to another.
A woman in her late fifties suddenly stumbled on the steps and Donghae offered to help her with the heavy bags. She eyed him suspiciously, her eyes scanning him thoroughly, as if he was going to threaten or steal from her, until she gave in and handed over her bags. Donghae took them diligently, the smell of fresh bread tempting as the loaves poked out of the paper bags. He reminded himself to stop by the bakery later.
Donghae wandered off further, there was nothing to do in the market except watch people come and go. Eventually, the feelings caught up to him as he recognized certain individuals from whom he had stolen from, and while it still looked like they could manage, except that one man, the guilt still struck through. Youngwoon warned him about that, recognizing their casualties was definitely not something they needed to keep in mind.
He sighed as he wandered through the nook and crannies of the city until he managed to find his way to the sea. He was greeted by the sound of crashing waves and wailing birds, the air thick with the stench of salt. It’d been a while since he went back to the port.
He barely stepped aside when a worker pushing a heavy wagon of barrels hollered at him to get out of the way. He followed the man, since the wagon cleared a path for him and he’d feel less awkward, until he reached the dock. The port was equally busy, the dock bustling with people loading and unloading cargo, there were vendors as well, people buying and trading seafood and other delicacies.
“Hyukjae, wait, oh god you’re going to run into someone!” A voice hollered from behind them, a brightly dressed boy making their way to the port, followed by two older looking guards trailing after him.
Donghae stared as the three made their way towards the dock, the boy’s colorful robes an indication of his status. Donghae looked closely, his jaw dropping when he realized it had been the same boy from before. People seemed afraid of them, most of them stepping aside to make room for them.
A boy stopped mere steps away from Donghae as he turned around, waving to the distant, “I want to go to the beach, come on, let’s go.” The other one, the familiar looking one, Min, finally caught up but the other boy took off immediately, a trail of kids seemingly to follow his lead. Donghae stared at the kids, all of them dressed plainly and nothing out of the ordinary.
“You know, next time, I’m not going to agree on keeping an eye on you,” the older boy muttered to himself. He stood there, sighing and Donghae wanted to run away, or hide somewhere because if he wanted his money back, there was no way that’d be possible. His guardians looked worried, one of them fidgeting with his robe and the other looking strangely concerned.
Donghae took a few steps back, unknowingly walking into a fish stand and toppled over the stacked crates. Brilliant, just when he wanted to not create commotion and maybe slink away without attracting, just blend into the rest of his fellow commoners and slide into the shadows, he goes around creating a huge ruckus. Naturally, the boy turned and looked at him, and Donghae shied away, immediately getting up and trying to busy himself so he wouldn’t be in such an awkward position.
“It’s you again.” the boy huffed up his sleeves, looking behind him to make sure his robes weren’t dragging along the planks. Donghae still found it hard to believe that the boy hadn’t turned eighteen yet.
“Yeah.” Donghae finished helping the man stack his crates back up, shrugging awkwardly as he felt the boy’s eyes on him. “T-Thank you, for last time.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the boy smiled, for the very first time, his usual stoic expression gone as he sifted a hand through his hair, “I mean, it wasn’t much, and I don’t have much on me today either."
“No no, it was plentiful.” Donghae whispered, trying not to be too loud because people were nearby, the talk of money always brought forth extra ears. With everyone finding it difficult to survive, money brought forth the worse side of people, and Donghae was no different. “It was more than enough.”
The boy looked thoughtful, his eyes sparkling again, like the distant waves shimmering against the sky.
“Can, can I know your name?” Donghae spoke timidly, simply because people like him, thieves, weren’t suppose to associate with the aristocracy. They were looked down upon, shunned away for their way of survival, “At least so that, I’d know the name to thank whenever I have food to eat now.”
“Sungmin,” he said softly, “my name is Sungmin, and please, you don’t have to thank me or anything, it was nothing.”
“To you, it was probably loose change,” Donghae whimpered, “but that meant the world to me, and my friends, so I have to thank you regardless.”
“No, no, you seem like a good person and I like you,” Sungmin smiled again and Donghae bookmarked that smile because it was so genuine. “I need to go find Hyukjae now, so I got to go.”
Donghae nodded and Sungmin wandered off to the beach, his guardians trailing after him.