for romantikyu
Title: Stupid is What We Strive For
Pairing: OT4 (Kan/everyone)
Rating: R
Word Count: 4959
Summary: F.Cuz go on a trip to the mountains, chaos ensues.
Notes: Not exactly what was requested and yet somehow I know romantikyu wanted it anyway. ;) ♥
Two days is all they ask for-- well, two days and two nights, but who's counting. All they ask for is one weekend out of the entire year (Seunghyun's words, and very convincing words at that) for themselves. And after all, don't they deserve to celebrate being together for a year? This is the argument they present first to their managers, then to some higher ups, then to Seunghyun's father because it is his cabin.
Unfortunately for the adults, Seunghyun is good at arguing. Very, very good. The managers relent, then the company representatives, and Sul Woondo rolls his eyes as he tosses Seunghyun the keys to the cabin. He even manages to get their managers to cover the down payment on their rental car.
The four of them march into their dorm that night in triumph. Seunghyun whoops and jumps onto the couch, with Yejun following suit. Jinchul shakes his head but Younghak can see the excited smile on his hyung's face. The whole moment is surreal. Yejun is already bolting into their room to pack, since they're leaving first thing in the morning.
Younghak watches Seunghyun bounce on the couch clutching the keys and cheering at no one thing in particular. Tomorrow they're headed for a weekend getaway in the mountains, in Seunghyun's father's cabin, no less.
"It hasn't even been found by paparazzi yet," Seunghyun explains in the car the next morning. Their rental is a bright red, fuel-efficient hybrid, and just small enough that Younghak's legs are cramped behind Yejun's seat and every time Seunghyun goes to lean in between the front seats, Younghak almost gets an elbow to the face.
No big deal, he tells himself. They'll only be using the car to get to the cabin and back.
But then Jinchul is in the driver's seat, boasting about how he just got his license. It'll be good to get the practice, he keeps insisting. Comforting. He envies Yejun's clueless snores and swallows a scream when they lurch out of the parking spot with a squeal of the brakes.
"Oops, practice makes perfect," Jinchul chuckles with such carefree ease, as if he's rehearsing or playing a video game, not speeding off to the highway like they're in some kind of theatrical chase. Younghak looks to Seunghyun in panic, but Seunghyun is focused on playing with the radio settings, breaking into a smile when he finds a trot station playing one of his father's hits. Shooting Younghak a wink, the boy begins positively wailing the song into an invisible microphone.
Any other day-- or rather, with anyone else driving-- Younghak might join in, but today Younghak digs for his huge headphones and sighs in relief as he is dragged into the peaceful realm of noise-cancellation. Seunghyun shoots him a faked hurt look. A small smile creeps onto his lips when a hand squeezes his knee just as he's about to doze off.
The cabin is small and rustic but nestled in the middle of the most beautiful forest Younghak has ever seen. His fingers are already itching for a shutter to press as he scrambles for his camera which for some reason he left buried in his knapsack. The car pulls into the gravel driveway with a delightful crunch and Yejun is out of the car before the rest of them, stretching out his legs and stretching his long, skinny arms into the air. He catches Younghak with the camera trained on him and makes a face. Younghak rolls his eyes and snaps a few pictures of the early afternoon light filtering through the trees.
"And you doubted how great this would be," Yejun chides him, resting his chin on Younghak shoulder. He peaks through the camera lens and smiles approvingly at Younghak's next shot.
Younghak clicks the shutter and lowers the camera. "I never doubted that. I doubted we'd get anyone to agree to it."
Yejun smirks and nudges Younghak with his shoulder. "Never doubt Seunghyun-hyung." He cranes his neck to look at the other two and Younghak's gaze follows. Seunghyun is in top form, yabbering away in Jinchul's ear about such-and-such holiday, when he and his siblings did such-and-such and his father was so pissed, all while locking their leader in place by the arm. Yejun skips behind Younghak and shoves his toward the house with a chuckle, "We'd better save him."
Seunghyun is still going on and on when they catch up, but he stops mid-sentence when Yejun pops up beside him and whips out his camera, and the two of them pose and check out how the picture turned out. Meanwhile Younghak grabs Jinchul by the hand and drags him up the path to the porch. Jinchul gives him a grateful smile and calls to the others to hurry up.
"We should have a barbecue tonight," Seunghyun says breathlessly as he jogs up the steps to the porch.
"With lots and lots of meat!" Yejun cheers as he bounces onto the porch. Younghak snorts and tries in vain to trip Seunghyun as he shoves through to unlock the door.
"Then we'll need to go to the store," Jinchul says thoughfully and Yejun narrows his eyes with a malevolent grin.
Jinchul looks utterly baffled as Yejun links their arms and begins leading him back toward the car. "Thanks for volunteering, hyung," he sings and Jinchul slaps himself on the forehead. Seunghyun calls after them and tosses Yejun the wallet.
The air inside is dusty and stale, the furniture covered with a thin layer of dust and it's so quiet, as if all sound has been sucked out of the place by a giant vacuum. Seunghyun breaks the silence first, dropping his bag and Yejun's onto the floor with a loud thud and kicking off his shoes to shuffle further inside. Younghak takes his time as he takes of his shoes, and straightens Seunghyun's abandoned pair while he's at it. The first room is a crowded, but cozy western-style living room, complete with overstuffed couch and huge television over the fireplace. As he moves down the hallway, the rest of the cabin turns out to be more in the Korean style, but equally sophisticated in its simplicity.
The first floor consists of the living room, a spacious kitchen, a small bathroom and a dining room connected to a back patio. Not finding Seunghyun in any of these, Younghak wanders upstairs to find not one, but two bedrooms. One is decorated in similar style to the living room on the first floor with a huge Western-style bed. He's about to walk in and check it out, but something grabs him by the knapsack and pulls him back.
"Off limits," Seunghyun says, wagging a finger. "That's my parents' room." He leads Younghak down the hallway to the second bedroom, which has a considerable stack of blankets in the corner and not much else. "I had someone come in and take out all the extra furniture so we'd all fit." Younghak drifts over to the huge window on the opposite wall and sucks in his breath. Even devoid of leaves, the trees stand tall, proud, and slightly ominous in their stillness. He takes a few shots, but knows that he's going to need to go outside for anything worth keeping. Far too soon, he's yanked away from the window as Seunghyun shoves him from behind and his devilish grin won't take no for an answer.
He only tolerates the manhandling because he knows it will lead to another surprise, but the perfectly ordinary bathroom he's led into isn't exactly what he had in mind. Seunghyun leans over the sink to check his hair, fixing his bangs and winking at his own reflection. "Want to know something cool?" Seunghyun asks, looking at Younghak in the mirror with an expression that tells Younghak that he really does not want to know. Never one to deny Seunghyun the chance to tell his usually scarring stories, though, Younghak shrugs.
If he notices Younghak's hesitation, it doesn't bother Seunghyun one bit. He turns around and leans against the sink with his arms folded and smug smile on his face. "I bet you think that this is just your average bathroom, am I right?" Interest piqued, Younghak nods despite his more rational reservations. As disgusting and embarrassing as Seunghyun's stories may be, no one can deny that they're always interesting. As if reading Younghak's thoughts, Seunghyun motions him to come closer and refuses to continue until Younghak does so.
A fatal mistake, as it turns out. The second Younghak steps forward, Seunghyun latches onto his lanyard and Younghak has no choice but to stumble forward lest he put his camera at risk, and that is never an option. When he finds himself flipped around and trapped against the sink with Seunghyun's arms like steel keeping him from escaping, he thinks he may need to reevaluate his priorities in life. Seunghyun is grinning that shit-eating grin and then he's breathing directly into Younghak's ear. "The last time I came here was with my girlfriend," he says in a hoarse whisper, "and you wouldn't believe what we did in here."
Younghak swallows; Seunghyun presses closer, hooking his fingers into Younghak's pockets. His lips are against Younghak's ear when he mutters, "Want me to show you?" Like he really has a choice, so he just chuckles as Seunghyun kisses his neck, then kisses his jaw, then very briefly on the lips before getting on his knees and giving Younghak possibly the dirtiest angelic smile he's ever seen.
Scratch that. Of course he's seen it before. It's just been a really, really long time. The downside to having activities and promotions is that they don't have much time to lock themselves in bathrooms, especially not together. His sigh is a mix of lazy pleasure and frustrated relief when Seunghyun kisses the head of his dick with those perfectly full lips.
"No wonder you volunteered to get us a place to stay," he half laughs, half gasps as Seunghyun lets Younghak's length slide into his mouth so far it bumps against the back of his throat. Younghak's fingers pull at Seunghyun's hair and he hums appreciatively, the vibrations against Younghak's hot skin making him grab onto the edge of the sink with his other hand to keep from crumbling to the ground.
It's only a little embarrassing when Jinchul and Yejun return just as Younghak's riding out his orgasm. Somehow they don't buy Younghak's panted 'I stubbed my toe' excuse.
He feels far less embarrassed after he catches Jinchul and Seunghyun in a similar position in the kitchen sometime later. At least he's not the only one Seunghyun's planning on taking advantage of, and come to think of it, what is a vacation for, if not to indulge? He makes a mental note to write Seunghyun's father a very long thank you letter upon their return. It's only polite, after all.
But again, that comes later.
Jinchul and Yejun are unpacking the groceries when Seunghyun and Younghak finally manage to get downstairs. Jinchul is the one to roll his eyes at Younghak's blush and lame excuses; Yejun ignores them all and promptly demands where the grill is. The sun is beginning to set outside the kitchen window in a way fit for a painting, and Younghak practically cheers when Seunghyun shows them all the deck, situated to give them a gorgeous view of the forest and the small lake beyond.
While Jinchul prepares the grill and Yejun and Seunghyun line up the ingredients on the wooden picnic table, Younghak leans against the railing and lets himself get lost in his lens.
He doesn't know how long he's been taking pictures when Yejun's gloved hand lowers the camera and he rests his head on Younghak's shoulder. "Jesus, your hands are freezing," he mumbles. He wraps his arms around Younghak's middle and squeezes. "You'd better come eat before Jinchul-hyung and Seunghyun-hyung get all the meat." Sure enough, Seunghyun is sitting happily with his cheeks stuffed with boneless ribs when they return to the table. Yejun steals a piece of cooked meat from Jinchul's plate and puts on his best innocent face when Jinchul notices. Their leader sighs and drops another piece of meat onto the grill.
"Ah, this is the life," Seunghyun cries and dances in his seat. He cheerfully places a piece of meat on Younghak's plate and then snatches the one from the grill while Jinchul is distracted by Yejun.
"Yah!" the eldest snaps, but the meat's already in Seunghyun's mouth. Seunghyun shrugs and turns to Younghak.
"Isn't this the best?" he asks, his eyes disappearing in his happy, full-cheeked smile. Yejun feeds Jinchul from his plate and that seems to placate him for now.
"Yeah," he replies, shoving the meat into his mouth and admiring the way their breath crystallizes together in the frigid air. "It is."
The cold becomes unbearable the second the food disappears, so they scramble back inside to vegetate in front of the huge television and munch the mountain of snack foods Yejun had made Jinchul buy. Thank goodness for the persistence of youth. Seunghyun rests his head on Younghak's lap and is the first to fall asleep, followed by Jinchul who ends up drooling a trail down the back of Yejun's t-shirt.
"Never again," Yejun grunts as he shoves their leader awake. Younghak pulls Seunghyun to his feet, but ends up half-carrying the boy upstairs. Since Younghak is otherwise occupied, Yejun in his sleepy state volunteers to toss the entire stack of pillows and blankets onto the bedroom floor. Jinchul nose-dives into the sea of blankets and is never seen again. Yejun falls on top of him and gets no protest, so he falls asleep there, too.
"Next time I'm letting Yejun kick you awake," Younghak mumbles to Seunghyun, who doesn't hear him but smiles in his sleep as he's gently set onto the pile of pillows and a blanket is pulled over him.
Younghak is the only one to brush his teeth and wash his face, but that's nothing new. He returns to find Yejun still spooning Jinchul's back, who is still fully dressed and clearly not going to do anything about it. Chuckling as quietly as he can, Younghak with much difficulty manages to get Jinchul's jacket off, but that's all he's able to accomplish. His arms are starting to feel heavy anyway, and he's shocked he outlasted everyone else for once.
There is barely five inches between Yejun's back and Seunghyun's arms, so Younghak squeezes in as best he can and finds the cramped space surprisingly comfortable, especially when Seunghyun wraps his arms around him in his sleep. Someone's stomach growls and Younghak yawns a quiet, exhausted laugh..
It's late that night, when he wanders downstairs for a glass of water at some ungodly hour, that he catches Jinchul and Seunghyun. Far too tired to retain the details, he remembers pants on the floor and Seunghyun bent over the sink, thus making his goal of a drink unobtainable. He shuffles back out of the kitchen as quietly as he came in. Yejun's warm body is waiting for him upstairs, grouchy and sleepy but not unwilling to let Younghak fold himself around him. Tucking his chin into Yejun's neck, he smiles secretly as Seunghyun and Jinchul tiptoe back into the room.
The sun is just peaking through the blinds when Younghak cracks his tired eyes open and forces himself to crawl out from between Yejun, who's hooked a leg around Younghak's knee, and Seunghyun, who has one arm flung over Younghak's side and the other holding Younghak's head like a teddy bear. Once removed, he rolls Seunghyun over toward Yejun with his foot and the two naturally cling to each other instead. He snaps a quick picture to use as blackmail later before pulling on his warmest clothes.
A hand on his arm makes him jump and slap a hand over his own mouth to keep from screaming like a little girl. "Where are you going?" Jinchul slurs, rubbing his eyes like a baby.
"To take pictures," he whispers back, holding up his camera.
The words take some time to process, and Younghak watches Jinchul's mind piecing each bit of meaning together in his eyes. Finally, Jinchul nods slowly and grabs his own coat. "You have an interesting way of spending your vacation."
Younghak blinks and watches his friend pull on his socks. "You don't need to come, hyung. Go back to sleep."
"Nah, I'm awake already," he yawns. "It'll be more fun when it's not just you, right?" A grin on his face, Younghak nods.
It's actually a complete lie, that having Jinchul out there with him would make it more fun. Photography is something Younghak always prefers to do alone, with the exception of goofing off with his friends when taking selcas. Nonetheless, he pretends that Jinchul isn't a distraction while he zooms in on the branches, and pretends that the way Jinchul's teeth are chattering isn't driving him a little insane.
Just as he gets a small bird sitting on a branch perfectly in focus, an explosion of a sneeze sends it, and all other birds in their vicinity, flying away. Younghak tries to hide his annoyance as Jinchul sneezes again and says loudly, "Aish, it's freezing out here!"
"I told you you didn't need to come," Younghak says a little too harshly.
"No, no," Jinchul mumbles, almost apologetic. "It's not that bad." He stamps his feet and begins to jog in place. "See? I'm getting exercise and staying warm at the same time." Younghak shakes his head, smiling, and turns back to find a new target. They probably have an hour of this early morning light left and he wants to make the most of it.
Thirty minutes later, his shaking hands are becoming the nuisance instead. He rubs them together and blows on them, but it's useless at this point and he kicks himself for not bringing gloves. "All done?" Jinchul asks, not hiding his relief, and Younghak grumbles something back bitterly. Warm arms wrap around him and Jinchul rubs Younghak's hands between his own. "You're a big baby sometimes," he scolds with laughter in his voice, the low rumble against Younghak's ear and neck making his skin tingle. Deflating and rolling his eyes, Younghak leans back against Jinchul in a silent thank you as Jinchul's fingers unceremoniously creep into Younghak coat, under his sweater. Thank goodness his hands are warm, Younghak smiles to himself.
And when Jinchul hand sneaks down into Younghak's pants, Younghak decides that Jinchul was right; it's a whole lot more fun with two people.
The cabin is eerily quiet when they return, until a crashing metallic sound echoes from the kitchen. Jinchul takes off running, but Younghak doesn't rush. He enters the kitchen to find Jinchul snatching a large pan out of a very half-asleep Yejun's hand and ushering the boy as far away from the stove as he can. Yejun stumbles out of the room and collapses onto the couch in the adjoining living room.
Seunghyun is seated, similarly dazed, at the breakfast bar and gives Younghak a sleepy grin. Younghak leans over and gives him a long, perhaps a little too enthusiastic kiss, and Seunghyun grips at Younghak's shirt in response and tries to press closer until he realizes where they are. Jinchul gapes at the two of them, then returns to making breakfast with an oddly embarrassed look, considering what he and Younghak had done earlier.
Why be subtle when for once there aren't pesky adults hovering around every corner? Besides, Seunghyun is always so responsive in the morning. Unlike Yejun, who is already snoring on the couch and would probably kick Younghak in the balls if he went anywhere near him.
Breakfast turns out to be scrambled eggs-- simple, but they can eat as much as they want, seeing as Jinchul and Yejun bought four dozen eggs. They roll onto the living room floor, full and happy and content to settle in front of the television and watch whatever is on.
Three hours later the contentment ceases and has been replaced by something else-- boredom. Even after swearing up and down that all he wanted to do on their vacation was sleep and not move, Younghak finds himself fidgeting as he lounges on the couch. Yejun is using his thigh as a pillow and is worrying his lip, a sure sign that he's is thinking something similar. Jinchul's gaze is a thousand miles away, though pointed at the television.
There's no need to ask Seunghyun how he feels, because every two minutes or so he let's out a drawn-out sigh and groans, "This suuuuucks..."
Ultimately, it's Seunghyun who leaps to his feet and decides to do something about it. He grabs Jinchul by the elbow and the two of them leave the house on what Seunghyun calls, "Mission Party Fun Awesome Vacation Night."
Younghak hears the car start up outside and he and Yejun decide to doze off on the couch while they wait.
"Mission Part Fun Awesome Vacation Night" turns out to be synonymous with "Buy As Much Alcohol As We Can," as Jinchul and Seunghyun return toting bulging paper bags filled with a rainbow assortment of alcoholic beverages. Seunghyun sets them up on the floor of the living room with pride and gives his bandmates a rueful grin.
"We're going to play a game," he says dramatically with an ecstatic laugh, and of course he has the whole game planned out. Even after five rounds of explanations, all Younghak understands is that they're going to drink all of this, and whoever can still function enough to do an entire dance routine wins. Seunghyun tries to make it sound more official than that with a bunch of complicated rules which only he'll be able to remember, but it comes down to exactly that: the four of them getting shitfaced and trying to dance to whatever song Seunghyun chooses.
As convoluted the rules are and as dubious as Seunghyun's intensions may be, they all agree and settle around the city of colorful bottles on the floor. Yejun hands Younghak a dark blue bottle with a name he can't read, so just pops it open and ignores the burn in his throat as he chugs half of it.
Three-fourths of the bottles later, Younghak is somehow losing, even with Yejun having passed out half an hour ago. Part of it, he's sure, is because Seunghyun is the one keeping score and from the beginning has been giving himself a substantial lead over the rest, but Younghak can't deny that even when this drunk, Jinchul can pull off a "Magic Girl" routine with professional precision.
Which is probably why Seunghyun has requested him do it seven times in a row now, not that Jinchul has noticed. Every time he pulls himself to his feet, fastens the poorly crafted paper bow (courtesy of Yejun) to his head and starts bouncing while he "sings" along incoherently to the beat. Younghak leans against Seunghyun's shoulder and claps along, off-beat because he can't be bothered to try for anything more, and Seunghyun can't stop laughing.
Before he'd passed out, Yejun had pulled off an impression round of "Yayaya," then did their entire "Jiggy" routine without being asked, which is why Seunghyun now says he has bonus points and so Younghak loses. When he tries to argue, Seunghyun smacks his arm and shakes his head.
"You sucked," he laughs. "We've seen you do 'Rainism' like a thousand times and you totally weren't into it when I made you do 'Madonna.'"
Younghak wants to say that he might have been able to do more if Seunghyun hadn't made Jinchul do those dozen rounds of "Magical Girl," but he giggles and refrains. "So what's my punishment for losing?"
Seunghyun's eyes narrow into tiny, happy crescents. "I'll tell you, but first you need to get naked." And then he gives Younghak a nasty, and yet always oddly beautiful, grin.
The sun has set and it's cold-- really, really fucking cold. Younghak pulls his long coat tighter around him, not appreciating one bit the inconvenient draft up the backs of his legs. Meanwhile Seunghyun is practically beaming with excitement and Jinchul is holding Yejun around the waist to keep the two of them warm. The four of them are standing on the shore of the small lake which no one but Seunghyun knew existed until ten minutes ago, when Seunghyun told Younghak to jump into the lake naked.
"Have you heard of something called hypothermia?" he whines as Seunghyun urges him closer to the water. Seunghyun pulls at Younghak's coat and scoffs.
"All you have to do is run in and run right back out. You'll be fine!" He has his hands on the zipper but Younghak yanks it back.
"What if I get sick?" His voice is edging on embarrassing, getting more and more high-pitched as he comes to realize there's no way he's getting out of this.
Seunghyun rolls his eyes and pulls Younghak close enough to whisper in his ear, "Then I'll nurse you back to health."
A tempting proposition, except that last time Seunghyun "nursed" anyone, Yejun had ended up with a burned mouth from way too-hot soup and Seunghyun had almost killed both of them trying to carry the giant magnae. No, the prospect of being nursed by Seunghyun only made this entire thing all the more terrifying.
"I'll only do it if you promise me that, should I get sick, Jinchul-hyung takes care of me."
Seunghyun slaps him hard on the arm but nods, the smallest of pouts on his lips.
"Hurry the hell up!" Yejun shouts from Jinchul's arms. Younghak sticks his tongue out at both of them and ignores the threatening gesture Yejun gives him. He takes a deep breath and shudders in the frosty air.
"You're going to pay for this," he grumbles to Seunghyun before whipping off his coat and tossing it to the other boy. The next few minutes are a blur, except he's vaguely aware of his own voice screeching, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you all!" as his body is engulfed in icy water.
The next thing he knows, he's bolting back out, dripping from head to toe and Jesus, he can't feel his toes. Seunghyun is crumbling with laughter on the shore and Jinchul and Yejun are only staying vertical by clinging to each other. Younghak grabs his coat, and Seunghyun along with it, and hauls them both back through the woods and into the cabin.
"Where-are-we-going?" Seunghyun cries between bouts of laughter, but not resisting in the least.
"You're going to p-pay for this r-right now," he stutters through his chattering teeth. Seunghyun appears to understand, running his warm, dry hands along Younghak's wet sides as he tries to shove Seunghyun up the stairs. Seunghyun takes off toward the extra bedroom when they reach the top, but Younghak grabs him by the wrist and pushes him into the master bedroom, right onto the huge, ornate bed.
Panic flashes across Seunghyun's face. "Wait, we aren't allowed in--"
"Doesn't that make it even better?" Younghak drawls, crawling on top of Seunghyun and burying his face in Seunghyun's warm neck. He must be right, because Seunghyun grins and pulls Younghak down flush against him, laughing dizzily as Younghak's hair drips in his face.
Yejun and Jinchul walk up the stairs just in time to hear Seunghyun giggle from behind the door, "I don't remember it being this small."
"Shut up, I was in a fucking ice-bath!"
They take one look at each other and march right back downstairs to watch television with the volume turned all the way up.
The next morning is a scramble to get ready. What with Seunghyun and Younghak going straight to sleep in the master bedroom the night before, and Jinchul and Yejun falling asleep sometime later downstairs, they aren't prepared at all for their early morning departure. They rinse out and stack their mess of bottles in the recycling bin, shove the trash from their various meals into bags and Younghak and Seunghyun try their best to make it look like what happened in the master bedroom never happened at all.
"A maid will be by to clean this place up, but she'll tell my father if she suspects anything," Seunghyun grumbles nervously as he straightens the pillows for the tenth time.
"Just tell him I didn't know the rule and accidentally sat on the bed," Jinchul offers from the hallway. Seunghyun nods gratefully, but still looks worried.
An hour later they're cramming back into the car. Everyone wears frowns except Yejun, who is jamming to something on Seunghyun's ipod and thus oblivious to the world. Younghak rests his head on Seunghyun's shoulder while Jinchul starts the engine.
"Do we have to go back?" Seunghyun pouts. He picks up Younghak's camera and plays with the settings while Younghak watches.
The car backs out of the gravel driveway and Younghak sighs. "Of course we do," Jinchul replies glumly. "We have a busy schedule next week."
Younghak groans and buries his face against Seunghyun's shoulder. Seunghyun frowns and digs out his phone, a smile creeping onto his face as he stares at the screen. "Look on the bright side," he says. "At least we have the video of Younghak running naked into the water." Younghak knows he ought to be surprised, but he's not. He punches Seunghyun in the side, but gently. "Oh, and the pictures, too."
"You all suck," he mutters, but grins to himself as the other burst out laughing. But I love you.
Pairing: OT4 (Kan/everyone)
Rating: R
Word Count: 4959
Summary: F.Cuz go on a trip to the mountains, chaos ensues.
Notes: Not exactly what was requested and yet somehow I know romantikyu wanted it anyway. ;) ♥
Two days is all they ask for-- well, two days and two nights, but who's counting. All they ask for is one weekend out of the entire year (Seunghyun's words, and very convincing words at that) for themselves. And after all, don't they deserve to celebrate being together for a year? This is the argument they present first to their managers, then to some higher ups, then to Seunghyun's father because it is his cabin.
Unfortunately for the adults, Seunghyun is good at arguing. Very, very good. The managers relent, then the company representatives, and Sul Woondo rolls his eyes as he tosses Seunghyun the keys to the cabin. He even manages to get their managers to cover the down payment on their rental car.
The four of them march into their dorm that night in triumph. Seunghyun whoops and jumps onto the couch, with Yejun following suit. Jinchul shakes his head but Younghak can see the excited smile on his hyung's face. The whole moment is surreal. Yejun is already bolting into their room to pack, since they're leaving first thing in the morning.
Younghak watches Seunghyun bounce on the couch clutching the keys and cheering at no one thing in particular. Tomorrow they're headed for a weekend getaway in the mountains, in Seunghyun's father's cabin, no less.
"It hasn't even been found by paparazzi yet," Seunghyun explains in the car the next morning. Their rental is a bright red, fuel-efficient hybrid, and just small enough that Younghak's legs are cramped behind Yejun's seat and every time Seunghyun goes to lean in between the front seats, Younghak almost gets an elbow to the face.
No big deal, he tells himself. They'll only be using the car to get to the cabin and back.
But then Jinchul is in the driver's seat, boasting about how he just got his license. It'll be good to get the practice, he keeps insisting. Comforting. He envies Yejun's clueless snores and swallows a scream when they lurch out of the parking spot with a squeal of the brakes.
"Oops, practice makes perfect," Jinchul chuckles with such carefree ease, as if he's rehearsing or playing a video game, not speeding off to the highway like they're in some kind of theatrical chase. Younghak looks to Seunghyun in panic, but Seunghyun is focused on playing with the radio settings, breaking into a smile when he finds a trot station playing one of his father's hits. Shooting Younghak a wink, the boy begins positively wailing the song into an invisible microphone.
Any other day-- or rather, with anyone else driving-- Younghak might join in, but today Younghak digs for his huge headphones and sighs in relief as he is dragged into the peaceful realm of noise-cancellation. Seunghyun shoots him a faked hurt look. A small smile creeps onto his lips when a hand squeezes his knee just as he's about to doze off.
The cabin is small and rustic but nestled in the middle of the most beautiful forest Younghak has ever seen. His fingers are already itching for a shutter to press as he scrambles for his camera which for some reason he left buried in his knapsack. The car pulls into the gravel driveway with a delightful crunch and Yejun is out of the car before the rest of them, stretching out his legs and stretching his long, skinny arms into the air. He catches Younghak with the camera trained on him and makes a face. Younghak rolls his eyes and snaps a few pictures of the early afternoon light filtering through the trees.
"And you doubted how great this would be," Yejun chides him, resting his chin on Younghak shoulder. He peaks through the camera lens and smiles approvingly at Younghak's next shot.
Younghak clicks the shutter and lowers the camera. "I never doubted that. I doubted we'd get anyone to agree to it."
Yejun smirks and nudges Younghak with his shoulder. "Never doubt Seunghyun-hyung." He cranes his neck to look at the other two and Younghak's gaze follows. Seunghyun is in top form, yabbering away in Jinchul's ear about such-and-such holiday, when he and his siblings did such-and-such and his father was so pissed, all while locking their leader in place by the arm. Yejun skips behind Younghak and shoves his toward the house with a chuckle, "We'd better save him."
Seunghyun is still going on and on when they catch up, but he stops mid-sentence when Yejun pops up beside him and whips out his camera, and the two of them pose and check out how the picture turned out. Meanwhile Younghak grabs Jinchul by the hand and drags him up the path to the porch. Jinchul gives him a grateful smile and calls to the others to hurry up.
"We should have a barbecue tonight," Seunghyun says breathlessly as he jogs up the steps to the porch.
"With lots and lots of meat!" Yejun cheers as he bounces onto the porch. Younghak snorts and tries in vain to trip Seunghyun as he shoves through to unlock the door.
"Then we'll need to go to the store," Jinchul says thoughfully and Yejun narrows his eyes with a malevolent grin.
Jinchul looks utterly baffled as Yejun links their arms and begins leading him back toward the car. "Thanks for volunteering, hyung," he sings and Jinchul slaps himself on the forehead. Seunghyun calls after them and tosses Yejun the wallet.
The air inside is dusty and stale, the furniture covered with a thin layer of dust and it's so quiet, as if all sound has been sucked out of the place by a giant vacuum. Seunghyun breaks the silence first, dropping his bag and Yejun's onto the floor with a loud thud and kicking off his shoes to shuffle further inside. Younghak takes his time as he takes of his shoes, and straightens Seunghyun's abandoned pair while he's at it. The first room is a crowded, but cozy western-style living room, complete with overstuffed couch and huge television over the fireplace. As he moves down the hallway, the rest of the cabin turns out to be more in the Korean style, but equally sophisticated in its simplicity.
The first floor consists of the living room, a spacious kitchen, a small bathroom and a dining room connected to a back patio. Not finding Seunghyun in any of these, Younghak wanders upstairs to find not one, but two bedrooms. One is decorated in similar style to the living room on the first floor with a huge Western-style bed. He's about to walk in and check it out, but something grabs him by the knapsack and pulls him back.
"Off limits," Seunghyun says, wagging a finger. "That's my parents' room." He leads Younghak down the hallway to the second bedroom, which has a considerable stack of blankets in the corner and not much else. "I had someone come in and take out all the extra furniture so we'd all fit." Younghak drifts over to the huge window on the opposite wall and sucks in his breath. Even devoid of leaves, the trees stand tall, proud, and slightly ominous in their stillness. He takes a few shots, but knows that he's going to need to go outside for anything worth keeping. Far too soon, he's yanked away from the window as Seunghyun shoves him from behind and his devilish grin won't take no for an answer.
He only tolerates the manhandling because he knows it will lead to another surprise, but the perfectly ordinary bathroom he's led into isn't exactly what he had in mind. Seunghyun leans over the sink to check his hair, fixing his bangs and winking at his own reflection. "Want to know something cool?" Seunghyun asks, looking at Younghak in the mirror with an expression that tells Younghak that he really does not want to know. Never one to deny Seunghyun the chance to tell his usually scarring stories, though, Younghak shrugs.
If he notices Younghak's hesitation, it doesn't bother Seunghyun one bit. He turns around and leans against the sink with his arms folded and smug smile on his face. "I bet you think that this is just your average bathroom, am I right?" Interest piqued, Younghak nods despite his more rational reservations. As disgusting and embarrassing as Seunghyun's stories may be, no one can deny that they're always interesting. As if reading Younghak's thoughts, Seunghyun motions him to come closer and refuses to continue until Younghak does so.
A fatal mistake, as it turns out. The second Younghak steps forward, Seunghyun latches onto his lanyard and Younghak has no choice but to stumble forward lest he put his camera at risk, and that is never an option. When he finds himself flipped around and trapped against the sink with Seunghyun's arms like steel keeping him from escaping, he thinks he may need to reevaluate his priorities in life. Seunghyun is grinning that shit-eating grin and then he's breathing directly into Younghak's ear. "The last time I came here was with my girlfriend," he says in a hoarse whisper, "and you wouldn't believe what we did in here."
Younghak swallows; Seunghyun presses closer, hooking his fingers into Younghak's pockets. His lips are against Younghak's ear when he mutters, "Want me to show you?" Like he really has a choice, so he just chuckles as Seunghyun kisses his neck, then kisses his jaw, then very briefly on the lips before getting on his knees and giving Younghak possibly the dirtiest angelic smile he's ever seen.
Scratch that. Of course he's seen it before. It's just been a really, really long time. The downside to having activities and promotions is that they don't have much time to lock themselves in bathrooms, especially not together. His sigh is a mix of lazy pleasure and frustrated relief when Seunghyun kisses the head of his dick with those perfectly full lips.
"No wonder you volunteered to get us a place to stay," he half laughs, half gasps as Seunghyun lets Younghak's length slide into his mouth so far it bumps against the back of his throat. Younghak's fingers pull at Seunghyun's hair and he hums appreciatively, the vibrations against Younghak's hot skin making him grab onto the edge of the sink with his other hand to keep from crumbling to the ground.
It's only a little embarrassing when Jinchul and Yejun return just as Younghak's riding out his orgasm. Somehow they don't buy Younghak's panted 'I stubbed my toe' excuse.
He feels far less embarrassed after he catches Jinchul and Seunghyun in a similar position in the kitchen sometime later. At least he's not the only one Seunghyun's planning on taking advantage of, and come to think of it, what is a vacation for, if not to indulge? He makes a mental note to write Seunghyun's father a very long thank you letter upon their return. It's only polite, after all.
But again, that comes later.
Jinchul and Yejun are unpacking the groceries when Seunghyun and Younghak finally manage to get downstairs. Jinchul is the one to roll his eyes at Younghak's blush and lame excuses; Yejun ignores them all and promptly demands where the grill is. The sun is beginning to set outside the kitchen window in a way fit for a painting, and Younghak practically cheers when Seunghyun shows them all the deck, situated to give them a gorgeous view of the forest and the small lake beyond.
While Jinchul prepares the grill and Yejun and Seunghyun line up the ingredients on the wooden picnic table, Younghak leans against the railing and lets himself get lost in his lens.
He doesn't know how long he's been taking pictures when Yejun's gloved hand lowers the camera and he rests his head on Younghak's shoulder. "Jesus, your hands are freezing," he mumbles. He wraps his arms around Younghak's middle and squeezes. "You'd better come eat before Jinchul-hyung and Seunghyun-hyung get all the meat." Sure enough, Seunghyun is sitting happily with his cheeks stuffed with boneless ribs when they return to the table. Yejun steals a piece of cooked meat from Jinchul's plate and puts on his best innocent face when Jinchul notices. Their leader sighs and drops another piece of meat onto the grill.
"Ah, this is the life," Seunghyun cries and dances in his seat. He cheerfully places a piece of meat on Younghak's plate and then snatches the one from the grill while Jinchul is distracted by Yejun.
"Yah!" the eldest snaps, but the meat's already in Seunghyun's mouth. Seunghyun shrugs and turns to Younghak.
"Isn't this the best?" he asks, his eyes disappearing in his happy, full-cheeked smile. Yejun feeds Jinchul from his plate and that seems to placate him for now.
"Yeah," he replies, shoving the meat into his mouth and admiring the way their breath crystallizes together in the frigid air. "It is."
The cold becomes unbearable the second the food disappears, so they scramble back inside to vegetate in front of the huge television and munch the mountain of snack foods Yejun had made Jinchul buy. Thank goodness for the persistence of youth. Seunghyun rests his head on Younghak's lap and is the first to fall asleep, followed by Jinchul who ends up drooling a trail down the back of Yejun's t-shirt.
"Never again," Yejun grunts as he shoves their leader awake. Younghak pulls Seunghyun to his feet, but ends up half-carrying the boy upstairs. Since Younghak is otherwise occupied, Yejun in his sleepy state volunteers to toss the entire stack of pillows and blankets onto the bedroom floor. Jinchul nose-dives into the sea of blankets and is never seen again. Yejun falls on top of him and gets no protest, so he falls asleep there, too.
"Next time I'm letting Yejun kick you awake," Younghak mumbles to Seunghyun, who doesn't hear him but smiles in his sleep as he's gently set onto the pile of pillows and a blanket is pulled over him.
Younghak is the only one to brush his teeth and wash his face, but that's nothing new. He returns to find Yejun still spooning Jinchul's back, who is still fully dressed and clearly not going to do anything about it. Chuckling as quietly as he can, Younghak with much difficulty manages to get Jinchul's jacket off, but that's all he's able to accomplish. His arms are starting to feel heavy anyway, and he's shocked he outlasted everyone else for once.
There is barely five inches between Yejun's back and Seunghyun's arms, so Younghak squeezes in as best he can and finds the cramped space surprisingly comfortable, especially when Seunghyun wraps his arms around him in his sleep. Someone's stomach growls and Younghak yawns a quiet, exhausted laugh..
It's late that night, when he wanders downstairs for a glass of water at some ungodly hour, that he catches Jinchul and Seunghyun. Far too tired to retain the details, he remembers pants on the floor and Seunghyun bent over the sink, thus making his goal of a drink unobtainable. He shuffles back out of the kitchen as quietly as he came in. Yejun's warm body is waiting for him upstairs, grouchy and sleepy but not unwilling to let Younghak fold himself around him. Tucking his chin into Yejun's neck, he smiles secretly as Seunghyun and Jinchul tiptoe back into the room.
The sun is just peaking through the blinds when Younghak cracks his tired eyes open and forces himself to crawl out from between Yejun, who's hooked a leg around Younghak's knee, and Seunghyun, who has one arm flung over Younghak's side and the other holding Younghak's head like a teddy bear. Once removed, he rolls Seunghyun over toward Yejun with his foot and the two naturally cling to each other instead. He snaps a quick picture to use as blackmail later before pulling on his warmest clothes.
A hand on his arm makes him jump and slap a hand over his own mouth to keep from screaming like a little girl. "Where are you going?" Jinchul slurs, rubbing his eyes like a baby.
"To take pictures," he whispers back, holding up his camera.
The words take some time to process, and Younghak watches Jinchul's mind piecing each bit of meaning together in his eyes. Finally, Jinchul nods slowly and grabs his own coat. "You have an interesting way of spending your vacation."
Younghak blinks and watches his friend pull on his socks. "You don't need to come, hyung. Go back to sleep."
"Nah, I'm awake already," he yawns. "It'll be more fun when it's not just you, right?" A grin on his face, Younghak nods.
It's actually a complete lie, that having Jinchul out there with him would make it more fun. Photography is something Younghak always prefers to do alone, with the exception of goofing off with his friends when taking selcas. Nonetheless, he pretends that Jinchul isn't a distraction while he zooms in on the branches, and pretends that the way Jinchul's teeth are chattering isn't driving him a little insane.
Just as he gets a small bird sitting on a branch perfectly in focus, an explosion of a sneeze sends it, and all other birds in their vicinity, flying away. Younghak tries to hide his annoyance as Jinchul sneezes again and says loudly, "Aish, it's freezing out here!"
"I told you you didn't need to come," Younghak says a little too harshly.
"No, no," Jinchul mumbles, almost apologetic. "It's not that bad." He stamps his feet and begins to jog in place. "See? I'm getting exercise and staying warm at the same time." Younghak shakes his head, smiling, and turns back to find a new target. They probably have an hour of this early morning light left and he wants to make the most of it.
Thirty minutes later, his shaking hands are becoming the nuisance instead. He rubs them together and blows on them, but it's useless at this point and he kicks himself for not bringing gloves. "All done?" Jinchul asks, not hiding his relief, and Younghak grumbles something back bitterly. Warm arms wrap around him and Jinchul rubs Younghak's hands between his own. "You're a big baby sometimes," he scolds with laughter in his voice, the low rumble against Younghak's ear and neck making his skin tingle. Deflating and rolling his eyes, Younghak leans back against Jinchul in a silent thank you as Jinchul's fingers unceremoniously creep into Younghak coat, under his sweater. Thank goodness his hands are warm, Younghak smiles to himself.
And when Jinchul hand sneaks down into Younghak's pants, Younghak decides that Jinchul was right; it's a whole lot more fun with two people.
The cabin is eerily quiet when they return, until a crashing metallic sound echoes from the kitchen. Jinchul takes off running, but Younghak doesn't rush. He enters the kitchen to find Jinchul snatching a large pan out of a very half-asleep Yejun's hand and ushering the boy as far away from the stove as he can. Yejun stumbles out of the room and collapses onto the couch in the adjoining living room.
Seunghyun is seated, similarly dazed, at the breakfast bar and gives Younghak a sleepy grin. Younghak leans over and gives him a long, perhaps a little too enthusiastic kiss, and Seunghyun grips at Younghak's shirt in response and tries to press closer until he realizes where they are. Jinchul gapes at the two of them, then returns to making breakfast with an oddly embarrassed look, considering what he and Younghak had done earlier.
Why be subtle when for once there aren't pesky adults hovering around every corner? Besides, Seunghyun is always so responsive in the morning. Unlike Yejun, who is already snoring on the couch and would probably kick Younghak in the balls if he went anywhere near him.
Breakfast turns out to be scrambled eggs-- simple, but they can eat as much as they want, seeing as Jinchul and Yejun bought four dozen eggs. They roll onto the living room floor, full and happy and content to settle in front of the television and watch whatever is on.
Three hours later the contentment ceases and has been replaced by something else-- boredom. Even after swearing up and down that all he wanted to do on their vacation was sleep and not move, Younghak finds himself fidgeting as he lounges on the couch. Yejun is using his thigh as a pillow and is worrying his lip, a sure sign that he's is thinking something similar. Jinchul's gaze is a thousand miles away, though pointed at the television.
There's no need to ask Seunghyun how he feels, because every two minutes or so he let's out a drawn-out sigh and groans, "This suuuuucks..."
Ultimately, it's Seunghyun who leaps to his feet and decides to do something about it. He grabs Jinchul by the elbow and the two of them leave the house on what Seunghyun calls, "Mission Party Fun Awesome Vacation Night."
Younghak hears the car start up outside and he and Yejun decide to doze off on the couch while they wait.
"Mission Part Fun Awesome Vacation Night" turns out to be synonymous with "Buy As Much Alcohol As We Can," as Jinchul and Seunghyun return toting bulging paper bags filled with a rainbow assortment of alcoholic beverages. Seunghyun sets them up on the floor of the living room with pride and gives his bandmates a rueful grin.
"We're going to play a game," he says dramatically with an ecstatic laugh, and of course he has the whole game planned out. Even after five rounds of explanations, all Younghak understands is that they're going to drink all of this, and whoever can still function enough to do an entire dance routine wins. Seunghyun tries to make it sound more official than that with a bunch of complicated rules which only he'll be able to remember, but it comes down to exactly that: the four of them getting shitfaced and trying to dance to whatever song Seunghyun chooses.
As convoluted the rules are and as dubious as Seunghyun's intensions may be, they all agree and settle around the city of colorful bottles on the floor. Yejun hands Younghak a dark blue bottle with a name he can't read, so just pops it open and ignores the burn in his throat as he chugs half of it.
Three-fourths of the bottles later, Younghak is somehow losing, even with Yejun having passed out half an hour ago. Part of it, he's sure, is because Seunghyun is the one keeping score and from the beginning has been giving himself a substantial lead over the rest, but Younghak can't deny that even when this drunk, Jinchul can pull off a "Magic Girl" routine with professional precision.
Which is probably why Seunghyun has requested him do it seven times in a row now, not that Jinchul has noticed. Every time he pulls himself to his feet, fastens the poorly crafted paper bow (courtesy of Yejun) to his head and starts bouncing while he "sings" along incoherently to the beat. Younghak leans against Seunghyun's shoulder and claps along, off-beat because he can't be bothered to try for anything more, and Seunghyun can't stop laughing.
Before he'd passed out, Yejun had pulled off an impression round of "Yayaya," then did their entire "Jiggy" routine without being asked, which is why Seunghyun now says he has bonus points and so Younghak loses. When he tries to argue, Seunghyun smacks his arm and shakes his head.
"You sucked," he laughs. "We've seen you do 'Rainism' like a thousand times and you totally weren't into it when I made you do 'Madonna.'"
Younghak wants to say that he might have been able to do more if Seunghyun hadn't made Jinchul do those dozen rounds of "Magical Girl," but he giggles and refrains. "So what's my punishment for losing?"
Seunghyun's eyes narrow into tiny, happy crescents. "I'll tell you, but first you need to get naked." And then he gives Younghak a nasty, and yet always oddly beautiful, grin.
The sun has set and it's cold-- really, really fucking cold. Younghak pulls his long coat tighter around him, not appreciating one bit the inconvenient draft up the backs of his legs. Meanwhile Seunghyun is practically beaming with excitement and Jinchul is holding Yejun around the waist to keep the two of them warm. The four of them are standing on the shore of the small lake which no one but Seunghyun knew existed until ten minutes ago, when Seunghyun told Younghak to jump into the lake naked.
"Have you heard of something called hypothermia?" he whines as Seunghyun urges him closer to the water. Seunghyun pulls at Younghak's coat and scoffs.
"All you have to do is run in and run right back out. You'll be fine!" He has his hands on the zipper but Younghak yanks it back.
"What if I get sick?" His voice is edging on embarrassing, getting more and more high-pitched as he comes to realize there's no way he's getting out of this.
Seunghyun rolls his eyes and pulls Younghak close enough to whisper in his ear, "Then I'll nurse you back to health."
A tempting proposition, except that last time Seunghyun "nursed" anyone, Yejun had ended up with a burned mouth from way too-hot soup and Seunghyun had almost killed both of them trying to carry the giant magnae. No, the prospect of being nursed by Seunghyun only made this entire thing all the more terrifying.
"I'll only do it if you promise me that, should I get sick, Jinchul-hyung takes care of me."
Seunghyun slaps him hard on the arm but nods, the smallest of pouts on his lips.
"Hurry the hell up!" Yejun shouts from Jinchul's arms. Younghak sticks his tongue out at both of them and ignores the threatening gesture Yejun gives him. He takes a deep breath and shudders in the frosty air.
"You're going to pay for this," he grumbles to Seunghyun before whipping off his coat and tossing it to the other boy. The next few minutes are a blur, except he's vaguely aware of his own voice screeching, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you all!" as his body is engulfed in icy water.
The next thing he knows, he's bolting back out, dripping from head to toe and Jesus, he can't feel his toes. Seunghyun is crumbling with laughter on the shore and Jinchul and Yejun are only staying vertical by clinging to each other. Younghak grabs his coat, and Seunghyun along with it, and hauls them both back through the woods and into the cabin.
"Where-are-we-going?" Seunghyun cries between bouts of laughter, but not resisting in the least.
"You're going to p-pay for this r-right now," he stutters through his chattering teeth. Seunghyun appears to understand, running his warm, dry hands along Younghak's wet sides as he tries to shove Seunghyun up the stairs. Seunghyun takes off toward the extra bedroom when they reach the top, but Younghak grabs him by the wrist and pushes him into the master bedroom, right onto the huge, ornate bed.
Panic flashes across Seunghyun's face. "Wait, we aren't allowed in--"
"Doesn't that make it even better?" Younghak drawls, crawling on top of Seunghyun and burying his face in Seunghyun's warm neck. He must be right, because Seunghyun grins and pulls Younghak down flush against him, laughing dizzily as Younghak's hair drips in his face.
Yejun and Jinchul walk up the stairs just in time to hear Seunghyun giggle from behind the door, "I don't remember it being this small."
"Shut up, I was in a fucking ice-bath!"
They take one look at each other and march right back downstairs to watch television with the volume turned all the way up.
The next morning is a scramble to get ready. What with Seunghyun and Younghak going straight to sleep in the master bedroom the night before, and Jinchul and Yejun falling asleep sometime later downstairs, they aren't prepared at all for their early morning departure. They rinse out and stack their mess of bottles in the recycling bin, shove the trash from their various meals into bags and Younghak and Seunghyun try their best to make it look like what happened in the master bedroom never happened at all.
"A maid will be by to clean this place up, but she'll tell my father if she suspects anything," Seunghyun grumbles nervously as he straightens the pillows for the tenth time.
"Just tell him I didn't know the rule and accidentally sat on the bed," Jinchul offers from the hallway. Seunghyun nods gratefully, but still looks worried.
An hour later they're cramming back into the car. Everyone wears frowns except Yejun, who is jamming to something on Seunghyun's ipod and thus oblivious to the world. Younghak rests his head on Seunghyun's shoulder while Jinchul starts the engine.
"Do we have to go back?" Seunghyun pouts. He picks up Younghak's camera and plays with the settings while Younghak watches.
The car backs out of the gravel driveway and Younghak sighs. "Of course we do," Jinchul replies glumly. "We have a busy schedule next week."
Younghak groans and buries his face against Seunghyun's shoulder. Seunghyun frowns and digs out his phone, a smile creeping onto his face as he stares at the screen. "Look on the bright side," he says. "At least we have the video of Younghak running naked into the water." Younghak knows he ought to be surprised, but he's not. He punches Seunghyun in the side, but gently. "Oh, and the pictures, too."
"You all suck," he mutters, but grins to himself as the other burst out laughing. But I love you.