Super Junior AU; Hanchul; The Best Days of Our Lives
Title: The Best Days of Our Lives
Chapter: 15/25
Fandom: Super Junior AU (High School)
Pairing: Hankyung/crossdressing!Heechul (main), Kangin/Eeteuk, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kyuhyun/Sungmin, bestfriends!Eunhae.
Word count: 3,022
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Coming into a strange new world can be strange enough. Unfortunately, someone’s forgotten to tell Hankyung something Very Important.
A/N: Random Chinese girl has a name! And a back story! And I have a shot gun prepared.
Hankyung, you're such an idiot. But don't worry, I love you.
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16
One of the unexpected results of the outing of Kibum and Donghae’s relationship was the split of the fan club; something no one had ever thought would happen. It split into two factions; the third years and some of the second years, including the leader, the ones who firmly believed that the members belonged to them and no one else, not even other members, and those from the first year and the remaining second years, who didn’t much care either way, and only wanted to be able to talk to the boys and wanted them to be happy. The first group contained the senior members; the leader, the treasurer, the secretary, but the second contained the most members, and with the split the club found itself lacking.
The problem had arisen by the senior members treatment of the situation, which seemed to be attempts to get Kibum and Donghae to split up, much like it had been when Hankyung and Heechul had been found out (as Heechul referred to it; Hankyung didn’t say how he referred to it in front of Heechul). The rebel faction, led by the girls that were Ryeowook’s friends, claimed that they didn’t want to be a part of the plots, and merely wanted their idols to be happy, and so they left.
Before long, it was unofficial against official; normal against rabid; sane against not-so-sane.
*
Heechul had stood him up, and this would have been unusual in itself but it had been Heechul who’d insisted on going to the cinema today to see another horror film that no one else would see. Hankyung had reluctantly agreed, because this film promised to be good, and he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of spending his Saturday terrified out of his wits with Heechul laughing at him. He’d arrived early, because there was a suspicious lack of traffic on the roads (or at least, it was suspicious to Hankyung, who thought of gridlock when he thought about city roads), and he’d sat down on a bench near the fountain outside the cinema and waited for over an hour before he decided that Heechul mustn’t have been coming.
The thing was that Heechul had been acting funny with him for most of the previous week. Twice Hankyung had walked into the classroom to find Heechul flicking through a magazine, which was hurriedly pushed away when Hankyung came into the room, and Heechul just snapped at him when he asked what he was looking at. Pieces of paper with scribbled notes on them were quickly hidden from prying eyes, and at lunch he’d sat beside Hankyung and stared into space and didn’t talk. He’d been cold and snappy and Hankyung had been so worried that he’d confided in Siwon.
“Maybe he’s in love with someone else,” said Siwon with a grin, and Hankyung had stared at him in shock and hadn’t realised that he was joking.
Hankyung pulled his hands out of his pockets, and flipped open his phone, tightening his coat around himself as he did so. It had already come to early November and the weather had taken a cold turn, which partly explained his reluctance to wait outside for Heechul in the first place. As he dialled Heechul’s number, he had a dim idea that he should really be angry, and not anxious like he was. It was perhaps telling of Hankyung’s understanding of Heechul that his first thought was not maybe he’s been knocked over but maybe he’s dumping me and just thinks I should be able to tell that.
“What?” Heechul sounded annoyed, which slightly surprised Hankyung, and there were loud noises in the background; it sounded like he was surrounded by large machines, which couldn’t possibly have been true, and Hankyung felt dumb for just thinking it.
“Where are you?” Hankyung asked, watching a young woman run up to what appeared to be her boyfriend and hug him tightly.
“Why?” Heechul sounded guarded now, as if he was up to no good and thought that Hankyung maybe knew that. If he hadn’t known before, he’d know now.
“Because you’re supposed to be out on a date with me,” said Hankyung, and held his phone against his ear with his shoulder and blew on his hands to keep them warm.
“What?”
“You said you wanted to see a film,” said Hankyung, and started moving his feet before they became too numb to walk on.
“Oh god,” said Heechul. “I forgot.”
“You forgot,” repeated Hankyung.
“Yes, I forgot.” Heechul sounded distracted now, as someone shouted in the background. “I’ll be there in a minute,” he said to the voice, and then to Hankyung, “I have to go. I’ll ring you back.”
“Wait,” said Hankyung, and stood up and watched the couple walk away. “Are you going to break up with me?” He felt like it was a legitimate question under the circumstances.
“What? Hankyung, I can’t hear you, I’m at the - listen, I’ll ring you back, okay?” And he hung up.
He didn’t ring back, and Hankyung could say this confidently because he didn’t switch his phone off, just in case. The rising panic wasn’t helped any by Siwon confirming that he’d spoken to Heechul since Hankyung had, and that Heechul had been absolutely fine with him.
“He sounded really weird though,” said Siwon, and smiled at two girls who had waved at them. “Like he was distracted or something.”
“I think he’s going to break up with me,” said Hankyung, and ignored the two girls. “He’s been funny for a while now.”
“Could be,” said Siwon, completely deadpan. “You never know with Heechul.” He laughed as Hankyung groaned.
Heechul wasn’t in the classroom, although the bell was mere minutes away from ringing. Hankyung sat down, put his bag on the floor, put his head on his arms on his desk, and decided to have a sleep before he met his maker or whatever it was that Heechul was. He hadn’t slept much that night. Chances were he was over-reacting, but he didn’t have much experience with this, and Heechul could have met another pretty young thing; like Siwon said, you never did know with Heechul. He liked to surprise, and they weren’t always nice surprises.
He heard the door slide open, and a few of the girls gasped, before excited whispers broke out. Siwon, thought Hankyung, and couldn’t be bothered to lift his head up. Footsteps stopped beside his desk. “Hey,” said a voice, and he tipped his head to the side to glance at whoever it was. He paused, and then sat up slowly.
“Wow,” he said.
Heechul touched the bottom of his hair, which now fell just below his shoulders: it was long enough for him to still pass as a girl, but short enough to give him masculinity if he wished to have it. Evidently he did, because his hands then moved down and pulled at the hem of the grey t-shirt he was wearing under an open white shirt and the red blazer of the boys’ uniform. “Do you like it?” Heechul asked, and flashed him a smile, and leant back against the corner of the desk behind him, crossing his grey trouser clad legs as he did so. Hankyung stood up; ran his fingers through the ends of Heechul’s hair; touched his hand to the collar of Heechul’s blazer.
“I do like it,” said Hankyung as he brushed Heechul’s fringe back. “It seems to suit you still.”
“Good answer,” said Heechul, and smirked at him. “It’s a lot warmer this way.”
Hankyung laughed, and touched his hair again. “So this is what you were doing this weekend?”
“Yeah,” said Heechul casually. “I was at the hairdressers when you called me, and I was worried you’d have guessed where I was, but I needn’t have worried, because you really are stupid.”
Hankyung ignore that, and slipped his hands into his pockets. “I thought you were going to break up with me,” he admitted. “Because you were barely talking to me and you stood me up.”
“I’m sorry if you thought that,” said Heechul vaguely, and Hankyung knew that that was as close to an apology as he was ever going to get, but he didn’t really feel like he needed one. “I wanted it to be a secret.”
“I know,” said Hankyung.
“I still could, though,” warned Heechul, and looked him up and down, his eyes smoky with eyeliner. “I like your belt,” he said, and brushed his fingers over the large skull buckle Hankyung had bought on Saturday, after Heechul had failed to turn up. He looped his fingers through the belt hoops, pulled him forward and kissed him lightly, and Hankyung failed to notice the way that his hand brushed though Heechul’s hair again.
When they pulled away, Heechul pulled at the bottom of his t-shirt again, looking like a close approximation of self-conscious, but this was Heechul, so that was highly unlikely. “You don’t like it, do you?” Hankyung asked.
“I do,” said Heechul. “It just feels a bit weird after wearing a skirt every day for nearly two years.”
“At least you’re warm,” said Hankyung, and Heechul admitted that that was a very good bonus.
Eeteuk spluttered and knocked a glass of lemonade over Kangin; Sungmin shrieked and fell off his chair; Yehsung couldn’t stop staring; Siwon grinned and didn’t look surprised at all, and Hankyung pointed at him with an accusing finger, because he’d realised as soon as he’d seen Heechul’s new look.
“You knew,” he said loudly, glaring at him. “You knew and you didn’t tell me!”
“It was supposed to be a secret,” said Siwon, leaning back and not looking at all remorseful. “And it was a very nice surprise, wasn’t it?”
“I hate you,” said Hankyung, and sat down and handed Heechul the apple he’d bought. Heechul took it, placed it on Hankyung’s tray, and then smoothed down his trousers.
“Wear a skirt tonight,” said Hankyung, as he nudged the apple to get Heechul to eat it.
“Why?” Heechul asked, and took a bite. “What’s happening tonight?”
“You’re coming over mine,” said Hankyung and grinned.
“Oh, fun,” said Heechul dryly. “I get to sit around while you study.”
“Bring a film over,” said Hankyung. “I thought we’d watch one, to make up for the weekend.”
“Oh,” said Heechul. “Oh, okay,” and he grinned back.
Yehsung looked between the two of them. “You two are almost sickening sometimes,” he said, sounding faint.
“What if he needs me?” Heechul said loudly, in a melodramatic tone of voice, clutching at Hankyung’s blazer collar. Yehsung swore at him and ignored the confused look that Ryeowook gave him.
“Whoa,” said Donghae, stopping short and making Eunhyuk run into the back of him. “Why are you wearing trousers?”
“Because my skirt is in the wash,” said Heechul, deadpan.
Kyuhyun didn’t seem to notice when he arrived at the table. He merely threw himself down next to Sungmin with a furiously dark expression on his face, and crossed his arms and didn’t eat anything. Sungmin offered him a crisp, and he didn’t notice that either - he looked straight ahead, and was only drawn out of his thoughts when Sungmin touched him tentatively on the shoulder.
“What?” Kyuhyun snapped, glaring at Sungmin, but Hankyung noticed that it was almost as though he wasn’t seeing him; he was just annoyed at whoever had called him from his reverie.
Sungmin drew back slightly. “You seem annoyed,” he said softly.
“Do I?” Kyuhyun asked sarcastically and harshly, and then he blinked and seemed to notice who he was talking to for the first time, and panic overtook the anger in his eyes. “God,” he said, and held his head in his hands on the table. “I’m so sorry, Sungmin, I - I’m.” He stopped, and Sungmin spread his palm across his back and murmured something into his ear. Kyuhyun was silent for a moment, breathing deeply, and then when he spoke his voice was muffled against his hands.
“My father wants a meeting with the associates tonight,” he said. “And he wants you to be there.”
“Okay,” said Sungmin brightly, as if he did not see what the problem with this was. Hankyung didn’t quite see the major problem either. Kyuhyun apparently did, because he did not look up.
“I think he’s going to do something,” he continued, still slightly muffled. “I think he’s going to do something to you, because I won’t let you go.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Sungmin, and looked slightly worried. “What could he do to me?”
“I don’t know,” said Kyuhyun and he looked up and at Sungmin with an almost haunted look in his eyes. “He’s my own father, and I don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“Maybe he just wants me there because he knows I’ll have something to do with the family when we’re older,” said Sungmin, a falsely cheerful expression on his face, that Kyuhyun saw through in a second.
“I hope you’re right,” he said and refused to speak any further on the subject.
*
Hankyung walked home with Kyuhyun for the first time that night; Kyuhyun lived on the other side of town, in a rich estate that Hankyung had never even been near, and he was usually picked up and dropped off at school. Tonight was different, because he was going to Sungmin’s to help him prepare for that night, although Hankyung wasn’t too sure how he was going to do this, and Sungmin hadn’t seemed too sure either, but he’d accepted it, and Hankyung got the feeling that Kyuhyun simply did not want to go home at that point in time.
“Does your father really hate me that much?” Sungmin asked quietly, as they walked along in silence.
“Yes,” said Kyuhyun evenly and refused to look at him. “There is nothing I can do to make him accept you, just like there is nothing you can do to make him like you.”
“Then maybe I should…” Sungmin trailed off, and instead slipped his hand into Kyuhyun’s, holding tightly, but he didn’t return Kyuhyun’s smile, and he seemed to be holding onto him like he was a lifeline.
A black car pulled up beside them, expensive-looking, with tinted windows, and Kyuhyun blanched and took a step away from the kerb, although he did stop and look at it. The window of the passenger seat rolled down, revealing a middle-aged man wearing dark glasses, who leant out of the window and addressed Kyuhyun.
“Master Cho,” he said, in a business-like voice; clearly a family worker, perhaps one in the actual household. “Your father requests your presence at the house, as he wishes to go over the plans for tonight.”
“I was going to Sungmin’s,” said Kyuhyun. “I wanted to-”
Sungmin interrupted him by pulling his hand free; Kyuhyun looked at him, and Sungmin smiled at him. “Go on then,” he said cheerfully. “I’ll make my own way there tonight.”
“I’ll send my car,” said Kyuhyun, his voice holding a slight note of desperation, and he placed his hand on Sungmin’s shoulder. “I’ll send my car and get you early, so you can get dressed at my place.”
“Okay,” said Sungmin, a slight frown implied in the bridge of his eyebrows.
“Don’t get into any other car that claims to have been sent for you,” said Kyuhyun. “You know my driver, only get into that one.”
“Okay,” said Sungmin again, and smiled faintly. “You’re beginning to scare me now.”
“Just promise me,” said Kyuhyun, as he put his hand on the car door handle. “Be careful.”
”You over-react,” said Sungmin, and waved him off.
“What’s Kyuhyun’s house like?” Hankyung asked, partly to change the subject, because Kyuhyun’s tone of voice had worried him too, and partly because he had been wondering for quite some time.
“It’s huge, apparently,” said Eunhyuk, in a mock-awed tone.
“I’ve been there,” said Yehsung smugly. “It really is huge. Kyuhyun doesn’t just have a bedroom, he’s got his own suite of rooms.”
“How do you know?” Eunhyuk asked, sceptically. “When were you there?”
“In our second year of Junior High,” said Yehsung. “Remember when Ryeowook wrote that song that he wanted me and Kyuhyun to sing with him? We went to Kyuhyun’s to practise.”
“Ryeowook writes songs?” Hankyung asked, with some surprise, and then added, “Kyuhyun sings?”
“They used to,” said Yehsung. “Not so much any more. Ryeowook still writes, but he doesn’t show anyone. They’re songs for him to try now, just to improve his voice. Kyuhyun stopped because his father made him.”
“It was a shame,” said Eunhyuk. “You three were really good.”
“What was the song about?” Hankyung asked, interested in the subject now.
“Love, or something,” said Eunhyuk vaguely.
“It was about a man who causes the one he loves pain,” said Yehsung, giving Eunhyuk a Look.
“Sometimes,” said Sungmin suddenly, and Hankyung jumped because he realised that Sungmin had been silent through the entire conversation and that was unusual, “I wish that Kyuhyun would sing again.”
“Was he really that good?” Hankyung couldn’t really see it; to him, Kyuhyun was who he was, and it felt weird to be coming across yet more sides to him than he’d known before.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Yehsung, who knew what he was talking about more than the other two. “I’m good, but I’m nothing compared to Kyuhyun. He’s got unbelievable talent. Give him any song and he just gets it, immediately, note perfect without even needing to practise.”
“It used to give me shivers,” said Eunhyuk.
“He only sings now when he thinks that no one can hear him,” said Sungmin, staring off into the distance. “He loved it so much, but his father took it away from him. He can’t stand his son having anything that makes him different, or makes him happy.”
Hankyung liked to believe that he heard what was unspoken in what Sungmin had said. I’m included in that, said Sungmin’s eyes. And there’s nothing Kyuhyun’s father can do about that.
I’m not so sure, said the furrowing of Sungmin’s brow.
Chapter: 15/25
Fandom: Super Junior AU (High School)
Pairing: Hankyung/crossdressing!Heechul (main), Kangin/Eeteuk, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kyuhyun/Sungmin, bestfriends!Eunhae.
Word count: 3,022
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Coming into a strange new world can be strange enough. Unfortunately, someone’s forgotten to tell Hankyung something Very Important.
A/N: Random Chinese girl has a name! And a back story! And I have a shot gun prepared.
Hankyung, you're such an idiot. But don't worry, I love you.
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16
One of the unexpected results of the outing of Kibum and Donghae’s relationship was the split of the fan club; something no one had ever thought would happen. It split into two factions; the third years and some of the second years, including the leader, the ones who firmly believed that the members belonged to them and no one else, not even other members, and those from the first year and the remaining second years, who didn’t much care either way, and only wanted to be able to talk to the boys and wanted them to be happy. The first group contained the senior members; the leader, the treasurer, the secretary, but the second contained the most members, and with the split the club found itself lacking.
The problem had arisen by the senior members treatment of the situation, which seemed to be attempts to get Kibum and Donghae to split up, much like it had been when Hankyung and Heechul had been found out (as Heechul referred to it; Hankyung didn’t say how he referred to it in front of Heechul). The rebel faction, led by the girls that were Ryeowook’s friends, claimed that they didn’t want to be a part of the plots, and merely wanted their idols to be happy, and so they left.
Before long, it was unofficial against official; normal against rabid; sane against not-so-sane.
*
Heechul had stood him up, and this would have been unusual in itself but it had been Heechul who’d insisted on going to the cinema today to see another horror film that no one else would see. Hankyung had reluctantly agreed, because this film promised to be good, and he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of spending his Saturday terrified out of his wits with Heechul laughing at him. He’d arrived early, because there was a suspicious lack of traffic on the roads (or at least, it was suspicious to Hankyung, who thought of gridlock when he thought about city roads), and he’d sat down on a bench near the fountain outside the cinema and waited for over an hour before he decided that Heechul mustn’t have been coming.
The thing was that Heechul had been acting funny with him for most of the previous week. Twice Hankyung had walked into the classroom to find Heechul flicking through a magazine, which was hurriedly pushed away when Hankyung came into the room, and Heechul just snapped at him when he asked what he was looking at. Pieces of paper with scribbled notes on them were quickly hidden from prying eyes, and at lunch he’d sat beside Hankyung and stared into space and didn’t talk. He’d been cold and snappy and Hankyung had been so worried that he’d confided in Siwon.
“Maybe he’s in love with someone else,” said Siwon with a grin, and Hankyung had stared at him in shock and hadn’t realised that he was joking.
Hankyung pulled his hands out of his pockets, and flipped open his phone, tightening his coat around himself as he did so. It had already come to early November and the weather had taken a cold turn, which partly explained his reluctance to wait outside for Heechul in the first place. As he dialled Heechul’s number, he had a dim idea that he should really be angry, and not anxious like he was. It was perhaps telling of Hankyung’s understanding of Heechul that his first thought was not maybe he’s been knocked over but maybe he’s dumping me and just thinks I should be able to tell that.
“What?” Heechul sounded annoyed, which slightly surprised Hankyung, and there were loud noises in the background; it sounded like he was surrounded by large machines, which couldn’t possibly have been true, and Hankyung felt dumb for just thinking it.
“Where are you?” Hankyung asked, watching a young woman run up to what appeared to be her boyfriend and hug him tightly.
“Why?” Heechul sounded guarded now, as if he was up to no good and thought that Hankyung maybe knew that. If he hadn’t known before, he’d know now.
“Because you’re supposed to be out on a date with me,” said Hankyung, and held his phone against his ear with his shoulder and blew on his hands to keep them warm.
“What?”
“You said you wanted to see a film,” said Hankyung, and started moving his feet before they became too numb to walk on.
“Oh god,” said Heechul. “I forgot.”
“You forgot,” repeated Hankyung.
“Yes, I forgot.” Heechul sounded distracted now, as someone shouted in the background. “I’ll be there in a minute,” he said to the voice, and then to Hankyung, “I have to go. I’ll ring you back.”
“Wait,” said Hankyung, and stood up and watched the couple walk away. “Are you going to break up with me?” He felt like it was a legitimate question under the circumstances.
“What? Hankyung, I can’t hear you, I’m at the - listen, I’ll ring you back, okay?” And he hung up.
He didn’t ring back, and Hankyung could say this confidently because he didn’t switch his phone off, just in case. The rising panic wasn’t helped any by Siwon confirming that he’d spoken to Heechul since Hankyung had, and that Heechul had been absolutely fine with him.
“He sounded really weird though,” said Siwon, and smiled at two girls who had waved at them. “Like he was distracted or something.”
“I think he’s going to break up with me,” said Hankyung, and ignored the two girls. “He’s been funny for a while now.”
“Could be,” said Siwon, completely deadpan. “You never know with Heechul.” He laughed as Hankyung groaned.
Heechul wasn’t in the classroom, although the bell was mere minutes away from ringing. Hankyung sat down, put his bag on the floor, put his head on his arms on his desk, and decided to have a sleep before he met his maker or whatever it was that Heechul was. He hadn’t slept much that night. Chances were he was over-reacting, but he didn’t have much experience with this, and Heechul could have met another pretty young thing; like Siwon said, you never did know with Heechul. He liked to surprise, and they weren’t always nice surprises.
He heard the door slide open, and a few of the girls gasped, before excited whispers broke out. Siwon, thought Hankyung, and couldn’t be bothered to lift his head up. Footsteps stopped beside his desk. “Hey,” said a voice, and he tipped his head to the side to glance at whoever it was. He paused, and then sat up slowly.
“Wow,” he said.
Heechul touched the bottom of his hair, which now fell just below his shoulders: it was long enough for him to still pass as a girl, but short enough to give him masculinity if he wished to have it. Evidently he did, because his hands then moved down and pulled at the hem of the grey t-shirt he was wearing under an open white shirt and the red blazer of the boys’ uniform. “Do you like it?” Heechul asked, and flashed him a smile, and leant back against the corner of the desk behind him, crossing his grey trouser clad legs as he did so. Hankyung stood up; ran his fingers through the ends of Heechul’s hair; touched his hand to the collar of Heechul’s blazer.
“I do like it,” said Hankyung as he brushed Heechul’s fringe back. “It seems to suit you still.”
“Good answer,” said Heechul, and smirked at him. “It’s a lot warmer this way.”
Hankyung laughed, and touched his hair again. “So this is what you were doing this weekend?”
“Yeah,” said Heechul casually. “I was at the hairdressers when you called me, and I was worried you’d have guessed where I was, but I needn’t have worried, because you really are stupid.”
Hankyung ignore that, and slipped his hands into his pockets. “I thought you were going to break up with me,” he admitted. “Because you were barely talking to me and you stood me up.”
“I’m sorry if you thought that,” said Heechul vaguely, and Hankyung knew that that was as close to an apology as he was ever going to get, but he didn’t really feel like he needed one. “I wanted it to be a secret.”
“I know,” said Hankyung.
“I still could, though,” warned Heechul, and looked him up and down, his eyes smoky with eyeliner. “I like your belt,” he said, and brushed his fingers over the large skull buckle Hankyung had bought on Saturday, after Heechul had failed to turn up. He looped his fingers through the belt hoops, pulled him forward and kissed him lightly, and Hankyung failed to notice the way that his hand brushed though Heechul’s hair again.
When they pulled away, Heechul pulled at the bottom of his t-shirt again, looking like a close approximation of self-conscious, but this was Heechul, so that was highly unlikely. “You don’t like it, do you?” Hankyung asked.
“I do,” said Heechul. “It just feels a bit weird after wearing a skirt every day for nearly two years.”
“At least you’re warm,” said Hankyung, and Heechul admitted that that was a very good bonus.
Eeteuk spluttered and knocked a glass of lemonade over Kangin; Sungmin shrieked and fell off his chair; Yehsung couldn’t stop staring; Siwon grinned and didn’t look surprised at all, and Hankyung pointed at him with an accusing finger, because he’d realised as soon as he’d seen Heechul’s new look.
“You knew,” he said loudly, glaring at him. “You knew and you didn’t tell me!”
“It was supposed to be a secret,” said Siwon, leaning back and not looking at all remorseful. “And it was a very nice surprise, wasn’t it?”
“I hate you,” said Hankyung, and sat down and handed Heechul the apple he’d bought. Heechul took it, placed it on Hankyung’s tray, and then smoothed down his trousers.
“Wear a skirt tonight,” said Hankyung, as he nudged the apple to get Heechul to eat it.
“Why?” Heechul asked, and took a bite. “What’s happening tonight?”
“You’re coming over mine,” said Hankyung and grinned.
“Oh, fun,” said Heechul dryly. “I get to sit around while you study.”
“Bring a film over,” said Hankyung. “I thought we’d watch one, to make up for the weekend.”
“Oh,” said Heechul. “Oh, okay,” and he grinned back.
Yehsung looked between the two of them. “You two are almost sickening sometimes,” he said, sounding faint.
“What if he needs me?” Heechul said loudly, in a melodramatic tone of voice, clutching at Hankyung’s blazer collar. Yehsung swore at him and ignored the confused look that Ryeowook gave him.
“Whoa,” said Donghae, stopping short and making Eunhyuk run into the back of him. “Why are you wearing trousers?”
“Because my skirt is in the wash,” said Heechul, deadpan.
Kyuhyun didn’t seem to notice when he arrived at the table. He merely threw himself down next to Sungmin with a furiously dark expression on his face, and crossed his arms and didn’t eat anything. Sungmin offered him a crisp, and he didn’t notice that either - he looked straight ahead, and was only drawn out of his thoughts when Sungmin touched him tentatively on the shoulder.
“What?” Kyuhyun snapped, glaring at Sungmin, but Hankyung noticed that it was almost as though he wasn’t seeing him; he was just annoyed at whoever had called him from his reverie.
Sungmin drew back slightly. “You seem annoyed,” he said softly.
“Do I?” Kyuhyun asked sarcastically and harshly, and then he blinked and seemed to notice who he was talking to for the first time, and panic overtook the anger in his eyes. “God,” he said, and held his head in his hands on the table. “I’m so sorry, Sungmin, I - I’m.” He stopped, and Sungmin spread his palm across his back and murmured something into his ear. Kyuhyun was silent for a moment, breathing deeply, and then when he spoke his voice was muffled against his hands.
“My father wants a meeting with the associates tonight,” he said. “And he wants you to be there.”
“Okay,” said Sungmin brightly, as if he did not see what the problem with this was. Hankyung didn’t quite see the major problem either. Kyuhyun apparently did, because he did not look up.
“I think he’s going to do something,” he continued, still slightly muffled. “I think he’s going to do something to you, because I won’t let you go.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Sungmin, and looked slightly worried. “What could he do to me?”
“I don’t know,” said Kyuhyun and he looked up and at Sungmin with an almost haunted look in his eyes. “He’s my own father, and I don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“Maybe he just wants me there because he knows I’ll have something to do with the family when we’re older,” said Sungmin, a falsely cheerful expression on his face, that Kyuhyun saw through in a second.
“I hope you’re right,” he said and refused to speak any further on the subject.
*
Hankyung walked home with Kyuhyun for the first time that night; Kyuhyun lived on the other side of town, in a rich estate that Hankyung had never even been near, and he was usually picked up and dropped off at school. Tonight was different, because he was going to Sungmin’s to help him prepare for that night, although Hankyung wasn’t too sure how he was going to do this, and Sungmin hadn’t seemed too sure either, but he’d accepted it, and Hankyung got the feeling that Kyuhyun simply did not want to go home at that point in time.
“Does your father really hate me that much?” Sungmin asked quietly, as they walked along in silence.
“Yes,” said Kyuhyun evenly and refused to look at him. “There is nothing I can do to make him accept you, just like there is nothing you can do to make him like you.”
“Then maybe I should…” Sungmin trailed off, and instead slipped his hand into Kyuhyun’s, holding tightly, but he didn’t return Kyuhyun’s smile, and he seemed to be holding onto him like he was a lifeline.
A black car pulled up beside them, expensive-looking, with tinted windows, and Kyuhyun blanched and took a step away from the kerb, although he did stop and look at it. The window of the passenger seat rolled down, revealing a middle-aged man wearing dark glasses, who leant out of the window and addressed Kyuhyun.
“Master Cho,” he said, in a business-like voice; clearly a family worker, perhaps one in the actual household. “Your father requests your presence at the house, as he wishes to go over the plans for tonight.”
“I was going to Sungmin’s,” said Kyuhyun. “I wanted to-”
Sungmin interrupted him by pulling his hand free; Kyuhyun looked at him, and Sungmin smiled at him. “Go on then,” he said cheerfully. “I’ll make my own way there tonight.”
“I’ll send my car,” said Kyuhyun, his voice holding a slight note of desperation, and he placed his hand on Sungmin’s shoulder. “I’ll send my car and get you early, so you can get dressed at my place.”
“Okay,” said Sungmin, a slight frown implied in the bridge of his eyebrows.
“Don’t get into any other car that claims to have been sent for you,” said Kyuhyun. “You know my driver, only get into that one.”
“Okay,” said Sungmin again, and smiled faintly. “You’re beginning to scare me now.”
“Just promise me,” said Kyuhyun, as he put his hand on the car door handle. “Be careful.”
”You over-react,” said Sungmin, and waved him off.
“What’s Kyuhyun’s house like?” Hankyung asked, partly to change the subject, because Kyuhyun’s tone of voice had worried him too, and partly because he had been wondering for quite some time.
“It’s huge, apparently,” said Eunhyuk, in a mock-awed tone.
“I’ve been there,” said Yehsung smugly. “It really is huge. Kyuhyun doesn’t just have a bedroom, he’s got his own suite of rooms.”
“How do you know?” Eunhyuk asked, sceptically. “When were you there?”
“In our second year of Junior High,” said Yehsung. “Remember when Ryeowook wrote that song that he wanted me and Kyuhyun to sing with him? We went to Kyuhyun’s to practise.”
“Ryeowook writes songs?” Hankyung asked, with some surprise, and then added, “Kyuhyun sings?”
“They used to,” said Yehsung. “Not so much any more. Ryeowook still writes, but he doesn’t show anyone. They’re songs for him to try now, just to improve his voice. Kyuhyun stopped because his father made him.”
“It was a shame,” said Eunhyuk. “You three were really good.”
“What was the song about?” Hankyung asked, interested in the subject now.
“Love, or something,” said Eunhyuk vaguely.
“It was about a man who causes the one he loves pain,” said Yehsung, giving Eunhyuk a Look.
“Sometimes,” said Sungmin suddenly, and Hankyung jumped because he realised that Sungmin had been silent through the entire conversation and that was unusual, “I wish that Kyuhyun would sing again.”
“Was he really that good?” Hankyung couldn’t really see it; to him, Kyuhyun was who he was, and it felt weird to be coming across yet more sides to him than he’d known before.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Yehsung, who knew what he was talking about more than the other two. “I’m good, but I’m nothing compared to Kyuhyun. He’s got unbelievable talent. Give him any song and he just gets it, immediately, note perfect without even needing to practise.”
“It used to give me shivers,” said Eunhyuk.
“He only sings now when he thinks that no one can hear him,” said Sungmin, staring off into the distance. “He loved it so much, but his father took it away from him. He can’t stand his son having anything that makes him different, or makes him happy.”
Hankyung liked to believe that he heard what was unspoken in what Sungmin had said. I’m included in that, said Sungmin’s eyes. And there’s nothing Kyuhyun’s father can do about that.
I’m not so sure, said the furrowing of Sungmin’s brow.