fantasylove4ev
For: fantasylove4ev
Title: Advantageous (In Every Way)
Pairing: Hanchul, Kyumin, ninja!Kangteuk and ninja!Hyukhae if you squint really hard.
Category: Coffee shop AU. + others
Summary: Heechul is a big-shot lawyer. Hankyung owns a coffee shop. Trouble is abound.
There's a place on the corner of York and Terrace that Sungmin has been dragging Heechul along to for weeks, more out of his interest for a certain waiter than for the relaxing break from work which he uses as a lousy cover-up excuse. Heechul supposes that he doesn't mind it all that much, since they do make the most mind-blowing (and most expensive) coffee on this side of town.
But what really gets on his nerves sometimes is Sungmin's preening and fucking fluttery lashes once he gets to the counter.
"Hey," Sungmin drawls, as Kyuhyun turns to him with a knowing look on his face.
Heechul watches from their table next to the window, and wonders what the fuck he's doing here. Apart from the fact that Sungmin's already got his eyes on the only decent-looking guy in the place, he's among all the other corporate high-class bitches. Heechul's willing to bet that someone in here will be the next one facing him down in the courtroom.
Not that they'll ever win, so he supposes that's okay.
It takes a whole ten minutes for Sungmin to get back to the table. Heechul is drumming a continuous rhythm out on the table-top and both of them know he's been getting impatient, but he only picks up his coffee and takes a sip.
"So," he says, and Sungmin finally stops looking at Kyuhyun at the counter, "How's the boy toy coming along?"
"Two more meetings away from getting fucked."
Heechul rolls his eyes. He hasn't been best friends with Sungmin for six years not to know that he has a strict timeline of who does what goes where (entirely open to interpretation, of course), but that doesn't mean he can't still scoff at it.
"You might even get him in one," he remarks. "He looks loud. The loud ones are the most useless in bed."
Heechul laughs as loudly and obnoxiously as one person can when Sungmin shoots him a filthy look, and pretends not to notice when Kyuhyun looks over.
--
Things go even better at work (if better meant that your boss was being the impudent bastard he was and was totally seeing things the wrong way). It takes Heechul three hours to get through the man's thick skull that he doesn't care whether he's talking to some bigshot CEO who can't get his head out of his ass. He plays the case whatever way he wants, because he always wins: this going on his last thirty-odd cases with a hundred per cent success rate.
"You aren't getting any more information on the case if you don't sit down and listen to me," says his boss, "Who do you think is paying and hiring you?"
"Who do you think is saving your ass from a lawsuit?" snaps Heechul and leaves the office. It's not like he even has a very nice ass; Heechul isn't exactly doing the world a favour by keeping it out of prison.
Sungmin casually catches up to him on his way out.
"Where are you off to?" He questions, and Heechul can't be bothered looking at him because he knows he'll get annoyed by that innocent thing Sungmin's got going on.
"Lunch," says Heechul tersely.
"It's barely 10AM."
"Fuck you."
He doesn't question it when Sungmin decides he's 'hungry' too, and they end up in the club a few streets down, trying to see who can get more shots down faster.
"He'd fuck me. He'd fuck me not. He'd fuck me--" Sungmin is still kind of tipsy, and picking petals off a flower, and Heechul reaches into his cubicle and hits him across the back of the head.
"Will you cut it out, do you want Siwon to come in and bleat about God?"
Sungmin looks down at his flower, and the shredded petals on the tabletop. "Hey, that was the last one! He'd fuck me, score."
By four in the afternoon Heechul has been through so many files that he's had to relocate to an actual office to sort through everything. There are legal documents practically flying around his head in little halos and he is fucking sick of this case. It's not even close to the first lawsuit he's had to handle for his company and he can already tell that this one might be harder than the others.
Stupid corporate giants, he thinks, with no tact whatsoever, ripping off their consumers and leaving all the shit afterwards for people like him to handle. Even if it does give him quite a nice allowance per week, which he supposes he should be grateful for.
Sungmin comes to look for him at exactly half-past, much too eager to get out of the building.
"Let's go! Kyuhyun is waiting for me," he urges, looking smug in Heechul's doorway.
Heechul’s still flipping through the last few account papers, chewing away at the lid of a pen wedged between his teeth. He ignores Sungmin. Sungmin kicks him. Heechul throws down the document and decides that no shoe, no matter how Prada, should be allowed to touch his Gucci designer shirt.
"Kyuhyun-ah!" Sungmin, the traitor, leaves the door to practically whack Heechul in the face as he heads into the familiar cinnamon smell of Cafe Rosario.
"... Sungmin-sshi."
Heechul catches flimsy bits of their conversation as he walks past, and knows that he will probably be leaving the cafe by himself. Sungmin isn't even bothering to order today, draping himself over the edge of the counter, leaning in close to murmur small talk to Kyuhyun.
Well, it's not like he can't make use of this time to jump on the laptop, investigate a few figures. (Heechul wonders when he became such a work-driven ass, since he'd already sworn ages ago that he wouldn't be one.) He pointedly ignores Sungmin, a few meters to his left, and waits to be served by the other man he can see at the coffee machine.
Said man turns around. Heechul finds his interest perked quite substantially.
"What can I do for you?" The voice is lilted with an accent well-worn by years of living in a foreign country. Heechul grins; there is fun to be had.
"Just a flat white, skim, two sugars."
Heechul sweeps a finger over a counter which is obviously recently wiped, watching the man get to work.
"You okay with working this shift by yourself?" he asks casually, gaze sliding over to Sungmin before wandering to a particular nametag, "Hankyung-sshi?"
Hankyung pauses, nods, and continues working at the coffee machine for a while. "I'll just cut his pay in half, probably."
Heechul snorts, and thinks that he maybe likes this soft sense of humour. He waits as Hankyung places his coffee in front of him, and he picks it up without any intention of moving. "So you're his manager?"
"Yes, I own this establishment."
"Pretty respectable."
"Thank you."
Heechul smirks and thinks that Hankyung has no idea just how great a compliment it is coming from him. Then again, it may just be due to the fact that Heechul really likes his face. He makes a note to himself to call again often, especially when this one is on shift. And if the way Kyuhyun is making eyes at Sungmin is anything to go by, he'll definitely have a way of knowing.
As he watches, Kyuhyun straightens up from his close proximity with Sungmin and calls in their direction.
"Ge! Is it okay if I leave early tonight? It's pretty quiet anyway."
Heechul trades glances with Hankyung, who only has to consider a moment before nodding. "Come in early tomorrow though. Enjoy your night."
Kyuhyun and Sungmin can't seem to be able to get out of the cafe fast enough. Heechul looks after them and shrugs to himself. That's his cue to leave.
--
Sungmin walks into work the day after looking like the cat who's got the cream, and Heechul doesn't even want to know how true that statement is. Not that he has a choice in the matter, because he is shoved into his workroom first thing and sat down at the table.
"He is so good," Sungmin gushes, and Heechul mimes puking noises.
"I totally don't need to know this," he says.
"No, but really? Just as good as he was bragging--"
"He was bragging to you?"
"And afterwards --"
"Let me guess, he wanted you to have his babies."
"Heechul you're supposed to listen to me, not interrupt. God, what kind of a best friend are you?" Sungmin throws up his hands and ploughs on before Heechul can even hope to formulate a comeback. "Anyway, he asked me out. Properly."
"Sex first, boring stuff later?" Heechul muses. "Yah, he's actually starting to sound pretty smart, this Cho Kyuhyun."
Seeing the look on Sungmin's face, Heechul promptly tells him to get the fuck out before he decides to mess up his hair in revenge.
Over the next few weeks Heechul is not able to shut Sungmin up about Kyuhyun any more than he can stop them having sex. Which is pretty unstoppable, if you ask him, and is only a vague indication of all the moaning and groaning he has to listen to.
Visits to the cafe become daily. He starts spending half his afternoons there with Sungmin cooing at Kyuhyun on one side of him, and a cup of coffee and his laptop on the other. He begins to remember the closing hours for every day of the week except Sunday, and that's only because they're closed. On a couple of occasions he even starts showing up in the mornings just because he doesn't feel like he can get his caffeine fix anywhere else at four, after an all-nighter on a case.
Hankyung is there often; Heechul does suppose that it's maybe because he owns the place. Heechul learns that Hankyung makes the best coffee when Kyuhyun's is only good. (Not to mention that because of Kyuhyun's new relationship status, he is now allowed to snark at the boy however much he wants.) He also discovers that he actually really quite likes the way Hankyung has trouble pronouncing some words because he is still distinctly Chinese. But most of all, he is remarkably pleased to notice that every time they hold a conversation, it lasts longer and longer.
And he's not a sap, he's really not.
One afternoon it turns out to be Heechul who is walking into Cafe Rosario by himself and being greeted by a puzzled-looking Hankyung.
"I don't suppose you've seen Kyuhyun?"
Heechul has anticipated this. "Well him and Sungmin, you see, are currently --"
He does not think that he has ever been so glad when Hankyung tells him that it's entirely alright if he does not feel comfortable enough to provide an explanation. Probably because there isn't one, and Sungmin has just decided to hold Kyuhyun up in the bathroom. And as much as Heechul loves being blunt, he doesn't know if Hankyung's other customers would appreciate that "Kyuhyun is busy fucking my best friend in many kinky ways in a public bathroom, sorry he can't be here to serve you today!"
Hankyung sighs when Heechul shrugs at him and checks his watch.
"It'll be a while before I can get a replacement to come in."
"I can help," Heechul says off-handedly, before thinking that it is the worst three words to have ever come out of his mouth.
But Hankyung is brightening and saying "really, will you?", so Heechul looks at him and decides that serving at a cafe for a few hours really cannot be that hard. And anyway, it's not his fault that Hankyung is so convincing while he's biting his lip like that.
Later on, he decides that he hates manual labour, even if it only involves operating a coffee machine. And wiping down tables. And God, his nails, they were going to become disgusting like Kyuhyun's soon.
But he doesn't even remember how much torture he's been putting himself through when Hankyung finally flips the 'open' sign on the front door, and shuts off the light outside. They share a drink at the counter, just like the day they first met, but now leaning in closer with the intimacy of closer friendships.
"Thanks a lot," Hankyung tells him, sounding grateful, "You are having many drinks on the house in the near future."
Heechul cheers inwardly for having secured a caffeine supply.
To Hankyung, he says instead, "No problems. It was easy."
"Really?" he can catch the hint of amusement. "I wouldn't have pegged you as such a person, Heechul-sshi. Your nails were very well manicured before today."
"Let it be known that I'm not someone who is afraid to take on a little hard work. Especially for free caffeine."
A laugh. "At least your motives are honest."
"Yah, don't you worry. I'm a liar through and through in many other matters, if that's what turns you on."
"... Heechul-sshi, are you trying to hit on me?"
"You, drop the formal shit. And so what if I am? You can't stop me."
Heechul turns to look and barely catches Hankyung's sliver of a smile, the one that just makes him want to know more. He catches more of the shrug that comes afterwards, non-committal, casual.
"Should I be trying to stop you?" Hankyung asks.
Heechul realises how close he is standing at that moment, with his body turned secretly smiling towards Hankyung and Hankyung's head tilted at the perfect angle towards his. He smirks to himself (this is where I want you), and prepares to lean in. But suddenly there is a flurry of movement, a faint murmur of goodbye in his ear, and then Heechul is being pushed towards the exit with gentle fingers gripping his shoulder.
"You can answer me later," Hankyung smiles, and then Heechul's out on the street corner, singing symphonies in his mind.
--
It doesn't take a genius to realise that Heechul's boss is getting pissed off. It takes even less of one to realise that Heechul is also getting pissed off, and that really, they're just about to detonate in each other's faces at the next available opportunity. Heechul has spent the better part of the week running around and making sure that he is completely organised for the court proceedings coming up in the next week. Letters of evidence, accounting transactions, stock figures, quotas; whatever he'll need to help him win.
So it is hardly surprisingly that in such moods he has no desire whatsoever to listen to his boss whine about not disclosing this or that statement, and making sure that the public never gets to hear about some shit or other that is completely irrelevant. The whole office knows that things have reached boiling point, and that neither are willing to back down. Because Heechul always gets his way. And so does the boss.
"You know, I don't think worker relationships like these are normal. Or healthy," says Siwon, advisably, sitting in on one of Heechul's sessions where he just chucks papers everywhere in the hopes of finding the right one. "I mean, hyung, you're about to stab him with a pen and he's about to fire you."
"Fire me, really?" Heechul questions, only looking remotely interested. "How exciting. I'm excited. Fucker can bring it, 'cause he'll end up with his ass served to him on a platter in prison."
Siwon looks uneasy at Heechul's language, even though he's relatively used to it by now. Still, he pushes on.
"Hyung, the case is next week... nobody here really wants to see the company go down. Maybe you should go talk to him. Sort something out. There are more people relying on you than you think," he says solemnly.
Heechul waves a hand dismissively and Siwon gives him a one-shouldered hug before he leaves.
"Fire me my ass," Heechul mutters, around the stub of a pencil, "Just let him try."
"Kim Heechul, I'm not going to let this happen anymore."
"Wow, I didn't think Siwonnie was actually serious when he said you were going to fire me," Heechul drawls lazily and sweeps the tip of a pencil across some very important banking statements.
"You are driving a wedge into my company," his boss mutters from between clenched teeth.
Heechul shrugs; "There'd be no fucking 'wedge' if you'd just listened to me, it would have stayed up your arse. Can I say again, who is the legal expert here, exactly?"
"Well it won't be you anymore, because I'm replacing you."
"Oh, I'm scared." Heechul kicks back in the office chair and rests his feet on the edge of the desk in front of him, not-quite-accidentally knocking aside the CEO plaque. "Hey, well since you're firing me, does that mean that I do get to stab you with a pen?"
Heechul's question is ignored at the door swings open.
"Your successors. Kim Youngwoon. Park Jungsu. Welcome."
It takes all of three seconds for Heechul to burst out laughing.
"He replaced you." Sungmin says.
"Yes, I know."
"He replaced you."
Heechul pauses to throw a stray sock at Sungmin's head, wondering what it is doing lying around such a normally immaculate apartment. ("Oh," Sungmin confirms later, a little sheepish, "Kyuhyun's started sleeping over. He's a lot messier than me.")
"With Kangin. And Leeteuk."
"I know that bit too. Why the fuck are you regurgitating everything I just said to you?"
"Well, it's just!" Sungmin makes flaily hand motions, trying to get a seemingly non-existent point across. "Does he want to die?"
"Obviously he won't, if he has those two," Heechul retorts, remembering the pair all too well from law school days. Just thinking about it makes him feel old.
"But the case is next week, they can't possibly get all the groundwork done that you have, or learn everything, or construct their case, and --"
"You, shut up. Let's go get coffee."
Kyuhyun is all too happy to see Sungmin, and Heechul is all too happy to see Hankyung, even if he doesn't really know whether they like each other or if he's just being a dumb idiot. Heechul feels oddly free now that he's jobless, and as lunch time passes the numbers of people in the cafe dwindle until it's almost just the four of them at a table. Kyuhyun and Sungmin are most likely playing footsies under the table; Heechul doesn't even want to know. He is carrying a deep and intelligent conversation with Hankyung which apparently involves garden plants.
"I can't take care of plants for shit," he complains. "Who can be bothered, anyway? I'm a lawyer, not a fucking horny-cult-person."
"Horticulturalist?" Hankyung suggests.
"Horny cults work too, don't you think?"
"I suppose. You sound like you'd go well with our cactus."
Hankyung gestures over to the cactus on the counter which only appeared there about a week ago. Heechul doesn't know where it's from, and Hankyung certainly hasn't told him who bought it, but he supposes that it's not like they're best friends or anything.
"It's red," he deadpans.
"Yeah, they do come in that colour."
"It's fat and prickly."
"That too."
"When you say I'd go well with it, are you calling me red, fat and prickly?"
"No," says Hankyung, and it's so earnest that he wonders who the hell he is and what he has done with Kim Heechul. "Although your hair kind of matches."
"Why thank you, I colour co-ordinate with your cactus, my life is complete."
By the time Sungmin has to leave for work, Heechul is glad they chose this place to spend the day. There's nothing about talking to Hankyung that he doesn't like, and Kyuhyun is too fun to tease, although Heechul has a bit of hope for how much of an asshole he'll be in the future. But inwardly he can still sense that Sungmin is worried about something, and it doesn't take too many guesses to figure out what.
"My case files are in the cupboard on the left, bottom right-hand drawer," he murmurs, just before Sungmin flees out the door -- he's late already. "Accounting records in the one on its left. The next one over is the relevant evidence I've been collecting. I left it all there, thought it was too much paper to burn. Make use of it."
When Sungmin throws him a grateful smile Heechul thinks he could get used to being nice. But then he turns back to Kyuhyun, who has resumed his post at the counter, and figures that it's just not as fun.
The next day, his accounts are frozen. Every single one, amassing to a total value of just under a million. Heechul sits at home and glares at the letter of notification informing him of what has happened, as if it would all reverse if he just burned it. He knows it wouldn't -- he's not as childish as that. But really, this is fucking ridiculous, and fucking stupid, and Heechul has never felt so many years of work go down the drain before but he knows what it feels like now. And he thinks he knows exactly who to blame.
"Calm down," Sungmin tells him, trying to be some semblance of reassurance, "Maybe it's just temporary. I'm sure if you called up the bank and talked it out with them you could find out some more."
Heechul shakes his head. "No, if this is what I think it is, I don't think I'll be seeing of that anytime soon."
"... What do you think it is?"
"Oh, you know, the usual," Heechul shrugs wryly, "Ex-bosses and soon to be ex-CEOs who have chucked their corrupt investments into my accounts as safe holding places, which will now leak away into some place untraceable. Nothing too big to worry about, I'm sure it happens everyday."
In all honesty, he does feel shit about it -- his life savings are exactly that, after all -- but he's not going to act like a girl and have a big cry. What he really needs is a guy. And a guy, he will get.
Or a girl who looks like a guy. Or a guy who looks like a girl. He can't be picky in times like these.
--
Heechul swears it's not his fault that his vision is fuzzy and everything is spinning. He deduces that it must be the world, the world trying to play tricks on him, trying to trip him over. He manages out a very hoarse, 'fuck you', just to let it know that it's not working. Definitely not working.
"Don't you think that's very ungrateful?" says a familiar soft voice, and Heechul manages to crack an eye open long enough to know that he is on Sungmin's couch, and that somehow Hankyung is here too.
"Oh, not you," he returns blithely. "Oh wait. No, yes, I would like to fuck you."
He can hear Hankyung laugh, and feels cool fingers smooth fringe away from his eyes.
"I think you're still drunk. How much did you have last night, I wonder?"
"A lot," Heechul says proudly. "I can hold it well."
"Of course," says Hankyung, "That is why I pretty much found you in the gutter this morning in front of the cafe. Making such a bad impression on our customers, hmm?"
Heechul groans and reaches out for something soft to bury his face in. Obviously he is still not thinking properly, because it happens to be Hankyung's shirt, but he doesn't seem to mind, and he smells like cinnamon. Just like the Rosario. Heechul misses it now and he doesn't even know why.
"I'd love to stay and be your pillow, but I do have to go back. Hyukjae can't hold fort himself very long so early in the morning. Especially with Donghae running around."
Screw that, Heechul wants to say, I'm more important.
But he's not more important, so he just lets Hankyung go and listen to his footsteps muffle as he pulls on his shoes. Hears the click of the door as it opens and shuts, and then there is silence for only a few moments because then Sungmin is pelting at him full force.
"Kim Heechul where the fuck did you go you could have fucking died in an alleyway and you didn't even tell me! I thought you were going to visit your grandma."
"My grandma died like ten years ago, you fucker," Heechul mumbles, nestling into his arm for warmth, "Both of them, actually."
Sungmin pauses for a second and lets out a sound of frustration. "Well there goes one source of financial aid. And you just happen to be estranged from your parents. And you have no friends to speak of because you're such a bastard all the time. See, this is what happens when you don't act cute and pretty!"
"Ugh, because then I'd be you. Now let me sleep."
Heechul swipes away Sungmin's experimental pokes to try and get him off the couch, and curls up closer to the blanket slung over his waist to get warmer. Sungmin eventually gives up.
"By the way," Heechul makes a gruff noise to appease Sungmin and whatever his parting words are, "I thought you might like to know. Um, before he found you in the street last night? You probably don't remember. But uh, Hankyung saw you with a couple of girls. He didn't seem too happy. Especially when he was talking about how you ended up screaming your lust for him with two girls hanging off your waist in front of the cafe. It's a busy street, you know. But good job, at least you know that females are still attracted to you now. It's pretty amazing actually considering what you look like these days --"
"Shut up," Heechul says darkly, and Sungmin looks at him pityingly before going off to find Kyuhyun again.
It takes a few moments to sink in. By the time it does, Heechul is scrabbling for his phone, dialling Hankyung's number, and reaching his voice mail over and over again.
--
The next time Heechul sees Hankyung is three weeks down the track. By that time, he's moved into Sungmin's apartment, and found himself a shitty job at the only fast-food restaurant which will take the ex-defence lawyer to the CEO who recently (and infamously) lost everything. He's even been to the Rosario a couple of times only to be told that Hankyung is 'not in at the moment' or 'not feeling well today'. He buys none of this bullshit. But since it's obvious that Hankyung doesn't want to see him, he figures he'd do well to take a hint.
Heechul wonders a lot if what he did was really that bad. And then he tries to imagine it from Hankyung's point of view, with his delicate little morals and soft-edged humour, and realises that it is. Normally he'd just pick himself and move on -- who cares about one person when there are other hot guys out there? -- but too late he knows that the Rosario has become like a little bubble of safety. Familiar, with friends and coffee. Nothing much else he would ask for except some booze, and even Hankyung used to sometimes slip some into his drinks on a hard day.
"You miss it. You miss him," Sungmin tells him sternly one day.
"Maybe. But probably not."
"Yeah, and you love spooning out greasy fries into containers all day."
"It warms your pores," Heechul says, "It's good if you exfoliate right afterwards."
"Bull. Shit."
And Heechul reckons that Sungmin just likes calling him out on it because usually he really does have the answer to everything. Just not this time. He has no money, he has a fucking terrible job, and he has a strained relationship with the guy he has slowly grown too accustomed to in the last month.
"Well, I think you should see him," Sungmin shrugs.
Heechul is afraid that if he laughs, it will come out maniacally. Or longingly. Or something stupid like that.
"You think I haven't tried?" he says instead, "I'm not a pussy."
"Practically have one," Sungmin mutters under his breath, and Heechul has the good grace to pretend he didn't hear it -- this time. "Anyway. I just think you should try again."
"Why are you so sure?"
Sungmin shrugs, a smile on his face. "Just am."
And that's enough for Heechul, because Sungmin knows something and he wouldn't try and trick him over something like this. Heechul digs through his clothes and pulls on something messy (messily immaculate), grabs his keys and phone. He tells himself that he's not in a rush, because he really isn't, but then again, he really is.
"Bye," Sungmin calls after him as he powerwalks through the doorway. Heechul shrugs and makes his way down the stairs.
He hopes to Siwon's fucking God that Sungmin isn't being particularly deluded or misled today, because it would be really bad time for that to happen. He's looking forward to this too much, being too curious about it. Normally he would've just shrugged and kept going, but this is something he wants to resolve. Hankyung. The foreigner from China who runs one of the best coffee shops in town. Who doesn't really talk that much, all the time, but who doesn't need to because Heechul could just sit and fucking watch him all day.
He is most definitely turning into a sap.
He leaves the apartment block, heading for his -- Sungmin's -- car. Heechul jangles his keys in his pocket and plays with lint on the inside of his jeans.
And walks into Hankyung.
"... Oh, it's you." Heechul says.
"Yeah, it's me." Hankyung agrees, and they exchange glances.
"Kyuhyun sent you?"
"Yeah. Sungmin?"
Heechul nods as he watches Hankyung incline his head, and he thinks that he can wait until later to decide whether to punch Sungmin or take him clubbing. For now, he continues to watch and be watched, the both of the waiting for the other to speak again first.
"So, I'm sorry about the other night--"
"No it's okay, I understand."
"That was kind of stupid I guess, but I was--"
"Oh don't worry, I heard about what happened with you, yeah."
"So do you--"
"I was just wondering--"
"Goddamn, stop interrupting me!" Heechul says exasperatedly. He is not used to it and he does not like it, and it only makes Hankyung smile, which is a bit disturbing.
"You go first."
"Thank you," says Hankyung. "I was wondering, since... all that happened to you. Don't work at MacDonald's, it'll kill you. I have a position open at the cafe. What do you think?"
"What do I think?" Heechul laughs. "Big-shot lawyer with a ruined reputation to a fry server, I think working at a cafe is fucking perfection."
"Well, you could have always entered the public defence system."
Heechul snorts. "I'm classier than that."
"So I see. So now that we have that settled, what were you going to ask me?"
"Forgot," he deadpans.
Hankyung laughs. Heechul likes the sound of it. And he knows that he is going to go home to Sungmin and insist that he isn't totally whipped, and then they will have an argument about who is and who isn't.
"Oh wait," he says after a moment. "I remember now."
Heechul steps up to Hankyung and grabs the back of his neck so that he can kiss him. It's bordering chaste and there's no tongue and Heechul doesn't usually kiss like this, but he figures he's broken all his other rules for Hankyung already, and this is just adding to the notches. Still, it somehow leaves him breathless and even though it wasn't very special, he can see Hankyung grinning.
"Anyway, will you go out with me?" he asks.
Hankyung raises an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're the type to kiss before the first date?"
"What can I say, I'm jumping the gun a little," Heechul shrugs. "Think of it as advantageous."
Hankyung laughs and presses his palms to Heechul's hips. Advantageous; they can live like that.
A/N: My dear Santee, I know this isn't the greatest of fics to ever grace the earth, but I tried for you, I really did! So I hope you enjoy all 5,000+ words and have a wonderful Christmas. ♥
Title: Advantageous (In Every Way)
Pairing: Hanchul, Kyumin, ninja!Kangteuk and ninja!Hyukhae if you squint really hard.
Category: Coffee shop AU. + others
Summary: Heechul is a big-shot lawyer. Hankyung owns a coffee shop. Trouble is abound.
There's a place on the corner of York and Terrace that Sungmin has been dragging Heechul along to for weeks, more out of his interest for a certain waiter than for the relaxing break from work which he uses as a lousy cover-up excuse. Heechul supposes that he doesn't mind it all that much, since they do make the most mind-blowing (and most expensive) coffee on this side of town.
But what really gets on his nerves sometimes is Sungmin's preening and fucking fluttery lashes once he gets to the counter.
"Hey," Sungmin drawls, as Kyuhyun turns to him with a knowing look on his face.
Heechul watches from their table next to the window, and wonders what the fuck he's doing here. Apart from the fact that Sungmin's already got his eyes on the only decent-looking guy in the place, he's among all the other corporate high-class bitches. Heechul's willing to bet that someone in here will be the next one facing him down in the courtroom.
Not that they'll ever win, so he supposes that's okay.
It takes a whole ten minutes for Sungmin to get back to the table. Heechul is drumming a continuous rhythm out on the table-top and both of them know he's been getting impatient, but he only picks up his coffee and takes a sip.
"So," he says, and Sungmin finally stops looking at Kyuhyun at the counter, "How's the boy toy coming along?"
"Two more meetings away from getting fucked."
Heechul rolls his eyes. He hasn't been best friends with Sungmin for six years not to know that he has a strict timeline of who does what goes where (entirely open to interpretation, of course), but that doesn't mean he can't still scoff at it.
"You might even get him in one," he remarks. "He looks loud. The loud ones are the most useless in bed."
Heechul laughs as loudly and obnoxiously as one person can when Sungmin shoots him a filthy look, and pretends not to notice when Kyuhyun looks over.
--
Things go even better at work (if better meant that your boss was being the impudent bastard he was and was totally seeing things the wrong way). It takes Heechul three hours to get through the man's thick skull that he doesn't care whether he's talking to some bigshot CEO who can't get his head out of his ass. He plays the case whatever way he wants, because he always wins: this going on his last thirty-odd cases with a hundred per cent success rate.
"You aren't getting any more information on the case if you don't sit down and listen to me," says his boss, "Who do you think is paying and hiring you?"
"Who do you think is saving your ass from a lawsuit?" snaps Heechul and leaves the office. It's not like he even has a very nice ass; Heechul isn't exactly doing the world a favour by keeping it out of prison.
Sungmin casually catches up to him on his way out.
"Where are you off to?" He questions, and Heechul can't be bothered looking at him because he knows he'll get annoyed by that innocent thing Sungmin's got going on.
"Lunch," says Heechul tersely.
"It's barely 10AM."
"Fuck you."
He doesn't question it when Sungmin decides he's 'hungry' too, and they end up in the club a few streets down, trying to see who can get more shots down faster.
"He'd fuck me. He'd fuck me not. He'd fuck me--" Sungmin is still kind of tipsy, and picking petals off a flower, and Heechul reaches into his cubicle and hits him across the back of the head.
"Will you cut it out, do you want Siwon to come in and bleat about God?"
Sungmin looks down at his flower, and the shredded petals on the tabletop. "Hey, that was the last one! He'd fuck me, score."
By four in the afternoon Heechul has been through so many files that he's had to relocate to an actual office to sort through everything. There are legal documents practically flying around his head in little halos and he is fucking sick of this case. It's not even close to the first lawsuit he's had to handle for his company and he can already tell that this one might be harder than the others.
Stupid corporate giants, he thinks, with no tact whatsoever, ripping off their consumers and leaving all the shit afterwards for people like him to handle. Even if it does give him quite a nice allowance per week, which he supposes he should be grateful for.
Sungmin comes to look for him at exactly half-past, much too eager to get out of the building.
"Let's go! Kyuhyun is waiting for me," he urges, looking smug in Heechul's doorway.
Heechul’s still flipping through the last few account papers, chewing away at the lid of a pen wedged between his teeth. He ignores Sungmin. Sungmin kicks him. Heechul throws down the document and decides that no shoe, no matter how Prada, should be allowed to touch his Gucci designer shirt.
"Kyuhyun-ah!" Sungmin, the traitor, leaves the door to practically whack Heechul in the face as he heads into the familiar cinnamon smell of Cafe Rosario.
"... Sungmin-sshi."
Heechul catches flimsy bits of their conversation as he walks past, and knows that he will probably be leaving the cafe by himself. Sungmin isn't even bothering to order today, draping himself over the edge of the counter, leaning in close to murmur small talk to Kyuhyun.
Well, it's not like he can't make use of this time to jump on the laptop, investigate a few figures. (Heechul wonders when he became such a work-driven ass, since he'd already sworn ages ago that he wouldn't be one.) He pointedly ignores Sungmin, a few meters to his left, and waits to be served by the other man he can see at the coffee machine.
Said man turns around. Heechul finds his interest perked quite substantially.
"What can I do for you?" The voice is lilted with an accent well-worn by years of living in a foreign country. Heechul grins; there is fun to be had.
"Just a flat white, skim, two sugars."
Heechul sweeps a finger over a counter which is obviously recently wiped, watching the man get to work.
"You okay with working this shift by yourself?" he asks casually, gaze sliding over to Sungmin before wandering to a particular nametag, "Hankyung-sshi?"
Hankyung pauses, nods, and continues working at the coffee machine for a while. "I'll just cut his pay in half, probably."
Heechul snorts, and thinks that he maybe likes this soft sense of humour. He waits as Hankyung places his coffee in front of him, and he picks it up without any intention of moving. "So you're his manager?"
"Yes, I own this establishment."
"Pretty respectable."
"Thank you."
Heechul smirks and thinks that Hankyung has no idea just how great a compliment it is coming from him. Then again, it may just be due to the fact that Heechul really likes his face. He makes a note to himself to call again often, especially when this one is on shift. And if the way Kyuhyun is making eyes at Sungmin is anything to go by, he'll definitely have a way of knowing.
As he watches, Kyuhyun straightens up from his close proximity with Sungmin and calls in their direction.
"Ge! Is it okay if I leave early tonight? It's pretty quiet anyway."
Heechul trades glances with Hankyung, who only has to consider a moment before nodding. "Come in early tomorrow though. Enjoy your night."
Kyuhyun and Sungmin can't seem to be able to get out of the cafe fast enough. Heechul looks after them and shrugs to himself. That's his cue to leave.
--
Sungmin walks into work the day after looking like the cat who's got the cream, and Heechul doesn't even want to know how true that statement is. Not that he has a choice in the matter, because he is shoved into his workroom first thing and sat down at the table.
"He is so good," Sungmin gushes, and Heechul mimes puking noises.
"I totally don't need to know this," he says.
"No, but really? Just as good as he was bragging--"
"He was bragging to you?"
"And afterwards --"
"Let me guess, he wanted you to have his babies."
"Heechul you're supposed to listen to me, not interrupt. God, what kind of a best friend are you?" Sungmin throws up his hands and ploughs on before Heechul can even hope to formulate a comeback. "Anyway, he asked me out. Properly."
"Sex first, boring stuff later?" Heechul muses. "Yah, he's actually starting to sound pretty smart, this Cho Kyuhyun."
Seeing the look on Sungmin's face, Heechul promptly tells him to get the fuck out before he decides to mess up his hair in revenge.
Over the next few weeks Heechul is not able to shut Sungmin up about Kyuhyun any more than he can stop them having sex. Which is pretty unstoppable, if you ask him, and is only a vague indication of all the moaning and groaning he has to listen to.
Visits to the cafe become daily. He starts spending half his afternoons there with Sungmin cooing at Kyuhyun on one side of him, and a cup of coffee and his laptop on the other. He begins to remember the closing hours for every day of the week except Sunday, and that's only because they're closed. On a couple of occasions he even starts showing up in the mornings just because he doesn't feel like he can get his caffeine fix anywhere else at four, after an all-nighter on a case.
Hankyung is there often; Heechul does suppose that it's maybe because he owns the place. Heechul learns that Hankyung makes the best coffee when Kyuhyun's is only good. (Not to mention that because of Kyuhyun's new relationship status, he is now allowed to snark at the boy however much he wants.) He also discovers that he actually really quite likes the way Hankyung has trouble pronouncing some words because he is still distinctly Chinese. But most of all, he is remarkably pleased to notice that every time they hold a conversation, it lasts longer and longer.
And he's not a sap, he's really not.
One afternoon it turns out to be Heechul who is walking into Cafe Rosario by himself and being greeted by a puzzled-looking Hankyung.
"I don't suppose you've seen Kyuhyun?"
Heechul has anticipated this. "Well him and Sungmin, you see, are currently --"
He does not think that he has ever been so glad when Hankyung tells him that it's entirely alright if he does not feel comfortable enough to provide an explanation. Probably because there isn't one, and Sungmin has just decided to hold Kyuhyun up in the bathroom. And as much as Heechul loves being blunt, he doesn't know if Hankyung's other customers would appreciate that "Kyuhyun is busy fucking my best friend in many kinky ways in a public bathroom, sorry he can't be here to serve you today!"
Hankyung sighs when Heechul shrugs at him and checks his watch.
"It'll be a while before I can get a replacement to come in."
"I can help," Heechul says off-handedly, before thinking that it is the worst three words to have ever come out of his mouth.
But Hankyung is brightening and saying "really, will you?", so Heechul looks at him and decides that serving at a cafe for a few hours really cannot be that hard. And anyway, it's not his fault that Hankyung is so convincing while he's biting his lip like that.
Later on, he decides that he hates manual labour, even if it only involves operating a coffee machine. And wiping down tables. And God, his nails, they were going to become disgusting like Kyuhyun's soon.
But he doesn't even remember how much torture he's been putting himself through when Hankyung finally flips the 'open' sign on the front door, and shuts off the light outside. They share a drink at the counter, just like the day they first met, but now leaning in closer with the intimacy of closer friendships.
"Thanks a lot," Hankyung tells him, sounding grateful, "You are having many drinks on the house in the near future."
Heechul cheers inwardly for having secured a caffeine supply.
To Hankyung, he says instead, "No problems. It was easy."
"Really?" he can catch the hint of amusement. "I wouldn't have pegged you as such a person, Heechul-sshi. Your nails were very well manicured before today."
"Let it be known that I'm not someone who is afraid to take on a little hard work. Especially for free caffeine."
A laugh. "At least your motives are honest."
"Yah, don't you worry. I'm a liar through and through in many other matters, if that's what turns you on."
"... Heechul-sshi, are you trying to hit on me?"
"You, drop the formal shit. And so what if I am? You can't stop me."
Heechul turns to look and barely catches Hankyung's sliver of a smile, the one that just makes him want to know more. He catches more of the shrug that comes afterwards, non-committal, casual.
"Should I be trying to stop you?" Hankyung asks.
Heechul realises how close he is standing at that moment, with his body turned secretly smiling towards Hankyung and Hankyung's head tilted at the perfect angle towards his. He smirks to himself (this is where I want you), and prepares to lean in. But suddenly there is a flurry of movement, a faint murmur of goodbye in his ear, and then Heechul is being pushed towards the exit with gentle fingers gripping his shoulder.
"You can answer me later," Hankyung smiles, and then Heechul's out on the street corner, singing symphonies in his mind.
--
It doesn't take a genius to realise that Heechul's boss is getting pissed off. It takes even less of one to realise that Heechul is also getting pissed off, and that really, they're just about to detonate in each other's faces at the next available opportunity. Heechul has spent the better part of the week running around and making sure that he is completely organised for the court proceedings coming up in the next week. Letters of evidence, accounting transactions, stock figures, quotas; whatever he'll need to help him win.
So it is hardly surprisingly that in such moods he has no desire whatsoever to listen to his boss whine about not disclosing this or that statement, and making sure that the public never gets to hear about some shit or other that is completely irrelevant. The whole office knows that things have reached boiling point, and that neither are willing to back down. Because Heechul always gets his way. And so does the boss.
"You know, I don't think worker relationships like these are normal. Or healthy," says Siwon, advisably, sitting in on one of Heechul's sessions where he just chucks papers everywhere in the hopes of finding the right one. "I mean, hyung, you're about to stab him with a pen and he's about to fire you."
"Fire me, really?" Heechul questions, only looking remotely interested. "How exciting. I'm excited. Fucker can bring it, 'cause he'll end up with his ass served to him on a platter in prison."
Siwon looks uneasy at Heechul's language, even though he's relatively used to it by now. Still, he pushes on.
"Hyung, the case is next week... nobody here really wants to see the company go down. Maybe you should go talk to him. Sort something out. There are more people relying on you than you think," he says solemnly.
Heechul waves a hand dismissively and Siwon gives him a one-shouldered hug before he leaves.
"Fire me my ass," Heechul mutters, around the stub of a pencil, "Just let him try."
"Kim Heechul, I'm not going to let this happen anymore."
"Wow, I didn't think Siwonnie was actually serious when he said you were going to fire me," Heechul drawls lazily and sweeps the tip of a pencil across some very important banking statements.
"You are driving a wedge into my company," his boss mutters from between clenched teeth.
Heechul shrugs; "There'd be no fucking 'wedge' if you'd just listened to me, it would have stayed up your arse. Can I say again, who is the legal expert here, exactly?"
"Well it won't be you anymore, because I'm replacing you."
"Oh, I'm scared." Heechul kicks back in the office chair and rests his feet on the edge of the desk in front of him, not-quite-accidentally knocking aside the CEO plaque. "Hey, well since you're firing me, does that mean that I do get to stab you with a pen?"
Heechul's question is ignored at the door swings open.
"Your successors. Kim Youngwoon. Park Jungsu. Welcome."
It takes all of three seconds for Heechul to burst out laughing.
"He replaced you." Sungmin says.
"Yes, I know."
"He replaced you."
Heechul pauses to throw a stray sock at Sungmin's head, wondering what it is doing lying around such a normally immaculate apartment. ("Oh," Sungmin confirms later, a little sheepish, "Kyuhyun's started sleeping over. He's a lot messier than me.")
"With Kangin. And Leeteuk."
"I know that bit too. Why the fuck are you regurgitating everything I just said to you?"
"Well, it's just!" Sungmin makes flaily hand motions, trying to get a seemingly non-existent point across. "Does he want to die?"
"Obviously he won't, if he has those two," Heechul retorts, remembering the pair all too well from law school days. Just thinking about it makes him feel old.
"But the case is next week, they can't possibly get all the groundwork done that you have, or learn everything, or construct their case, and --"
"You, shut up. Let's go get coffee."
Kyuhyun is all too happy to see Sungmin, and Heechul is all too happy to see Hankyung, even if he doesn't really know whether they like each other or if he's just being a dumb idiot. Heechul feels oddly free now that he's jobless, and as lunch time passes the numbers of people in the cafe dwindle until it's almost just the four of them at a table. Kyuhyun and Sungmin are most likely playing footsies under the table; Heechul doesn't even want to know. He is carrying a deep and intelligent conversation with Hankyung which apparently involves garden plants.
"I can't take care of plants for shit," he complains. "Who can be bothered, anyway? I'm a lawyer, not a fucking horny-cult-person."
"Horticulturalist?" Hankyung suggests.
"Horny cults work too, don't you think?"
"I suppose. You sound like you'd go well with our cactus."
Hankyung gestures over to the cactus on the counter which only appeared there about a week ago. Heechul doesn't know where it's from, and Hankyung certainly hasn't told him who bought it, but he supposes that it's not like they're best friends or anything.
"It's red," he deadpans.
"Yeah, they do come in that colour."
"It's fat and prickly."
"That too."
"When you say I'd go well with it, are you calling me red, fat and prickly?"
"No," says Hankyung, and it's so earnest that he wonders who the hell he is and what he has done with Kim Heechul. "Although your hair kind of matches."
"Why thank you, I colour co-ordinate with your cactus, my life is complete."
By the time Sungmin has to leave for work, Heechul is glad they chose this place to spend the day. There's nothing about talking to Hankyung that he doesn't like, and Kyuhyun is too fun to tease, although Heechul has a bit of hope for how much of an asshole he'll be in the future. But inwardly he can still sense that Sungmin is worried about something, and it doesn't take too many guesses to figure out what.
"My case files are in the cupboard on the left, bottom right-hand drawer," he murmurs, just before Sungmin flees out the door -- he's late already. "Accounting records in the one on its left. The next one over is the relevant evidence I've been collecting. I left it all there, thought it was too much paper to burn. Make use of it."
When Sungmin throws him a grateful smile Heechul thinks he could get used to being nice. But then he turns back to Kyuhyun, who has resumed his post at the counter, and figures that it's just not as fun.
The next day, his accounts are frozen. Every single one, amassing to a total value of just under a million. Heechul sits at home and glares at the letter of notification informing him of what has happened, as if it would all reverse if he just burned it. He knows it wouldn't -- he's not as childish as that. But really, this is fucking ridiculous, and fucking stupid, and Heechul has never felt so many years of work go down the drain before but he knows what it feels like now. And he thinks he knows exactly who to blame.
"Calm down," Sungmin tells him, trying to be some semblance of reassurance, "Maybe it's just temporary. I'm sure if you called up the bank and talked it out with them you could find out some more."
Heechul shakes his head. "No, if this is what I think it is, I don't think I'll be seeing of that anytime soon."
"... What do you think it is?"
"Oh, you know, the usual," Heechul shrugs wryly, "Ex-bosses and soon to be ex-CEOs who have chucked their corrupt investments into my accounts as safe holding places, which will now leak away into some place untraceable. Nothing too big to worry about, I'm sure it happens everyday."
In all honesty, he does feel shit about it -- his life savings are exactly that, after all -- but he's not going to act like a girl and have a big cry. What he really needs is a guy. And a guy, he will get.
Or a girl who looks like a guy. Or a guy who looks like a girl. He can't be picky in times like these.
--
Heechul swears it's not his fault that his vision is fuzzy and everything is spinning. He deduces that it must be the world, the world trying to play tricks on him, trying to trip him over. He manages out a very hoarse, 'fuck you', just to let it know that it's not working. Definitely not working.
"Don't you think that's very ungrateful?" says a familiar soft voice, and Heechul manages to crack an eye open long enough to know that he is on Sungmin's couch, and that somehow Hankyung is here too.
"Oh, not you," he returns blithely. "Oh wait. No, yes, I would like to fuck you."
He can hear Hankyung laugh, and feels cool fingers smooth fringe away from his eyes.
"I think you're still drunk. How much did you have last night, I wonder?"
"A lot," Heechul says proudly. "I can hold it well."
"Of course," says Hankyung, "That is why I pretty much found you in the gutter this morning in front of the cafe. Making such a bad impression on our customers, hmm?"
Heechul groans and reaches out for something soft to bury his face in. Obviously he is still not thinking properly, because it happens to be Hankyung's shirt, but he doesn't seem to mind, and he smells like cinnamon. Just like the Rosario. Heechul misses it now and he doesn't even know why.
"I'd love to stay and be your pillow, but I do have to go back. Hyukjae can't hold fort himself very long so early in the morning. Especially with Donghae running around."
Screw that, Heechul wants to say, I'm more important.
But he's not more important, so he just lets Hankyung go and listen to his footsteps muffle as he pulls on his shoes. Hears the click of the door as it opens and shuts, and then there is silence for only a few moments because then Sungmin is pelting at him full force.
"Kim Heechul where the fuck did you go you could have fucking died in an alleyway and you didn't even tell me! I thought you were going to visit your grandma."
"My grandma died like ten years ago, you fucker," Heechul mumbles, nestling into his arm for warmth, "Both of them, actually."
Sungmin pauses for a second and lets out a sound of frustration. "Well there goes one source of financial aid. And you just happen to be estranged from your parents. And you have no friends to speak of because you're such a bastard all the time. See, this is what happens when you don't act cute and pretty!"
"Ugh, because then I'd be you. Now let me sleep."
Heechul swipes away Sungmin's experimental pokes to try and get him off the couch, and curls up closer to the blanket slung over his waist to get warmer. Sungmin eventually gives up.
"By the way," Heechul makes a gruff noise to appease Sungmin and whatever his parting words are, "I thought you might like to know. Um, before he found you in the street last night? You probably don't remember. But uh, Hankyung saw you with a couple of girls. He didn't seem too happy. Especially when he was talking about how you ended up screaming your lust for him with two girls hanging off your waist in front of the cafe. It's a busy street, you know. But good job, at least you know that females are still attracted to you now. It's pretty amazing actually considering what you look like these days --"
"Shut up," Heechul says darkly, and Sungmin looks at him pityingly before going off to find Kyuhyun again.
It takes a few moments to sink in. By the time it does, Heechul is scrabbling for his phone, dialling Hankyung's number, and reaching his voice mail over and over again.
--
The next time Heechul sees Hankyung is three weeks down the track. By that time, he's moved into Sungmin's apartment, and found himself a shitty job at the only fast-food restaurant which will take the ex-defence lawyer to the CEO who recently (and infamously) lost everything. He's even been to the Rosario a couple of times only to be told that Hankyung is 'not in at the moment' or 'not feeling well today'. He buys none of this bullshit. But since it's obvious that Hankyung doesn't want to see him, he figures he'd do well to take a hint.
Heechul wonders a lot if what he did was really that bad. And then he tries to imagine it from Hankyung's point of view, with his delicate little morals and soft-edged humour, and realises that it is. Normally he'd just pick himself and move on -- who cares about one person when there are other hot guys out there? -- but too late he knows that the Rosario has become like a little bubble of safety. Familiar, with friends and coffee. Nothing much else he would ask for except some booze, and even Hankyung used to sometimes slip some into his drinks on a hard day.
"You miss it. You miss him," Sungmin tells him sternly one day.
"Maybe. But probably not."
"Yeah, and you love spooning out greasy fries into containers all day."
"It warms your pores," Heechul says, "It's good if you exfoliate right afterwards."
"Bull. Shit."
And Heechul reckons that Sungmin just likes calling him out on it because usually he really does have the answer to everything. Just not this time. He has no money, he has a fucking terrible job, and he has a strained relationship with the guy he has slowly grown too accustomed to in the last month.
"Well, I think you should see him," Sungmin shrugs.
Heechul is afraid that if he laughs, it will come out maniacally. Or longingly. Or something stupid like that.
"You think I haven't tried?" he says instead, "I'm not a pussy."
"Practically have one," Sungmin mutters under his breath, and Heechul has the good grace to pretend he didn't hear it -- this time. "Anyway. I just think you should try again."
"Why are you so sure?"
Sungmin shrugs, a smile on his face. "Just am."
And that's enough for Heechul, because Sungmin knows something and he wouldn't try and trick him over something like this. Heechul digs through his clothes and pulls on something messy (messily immaculate), grabs his keys and phone. He tells himself that he's not in a rush, because he really isn't, but then again, he really is.
"Bye," Sungmin calls after him as he powerwalks through the doorway. Heechul shrugs and makes his way down the stairs.
He hopes to Siwon's fucking God that Sungmin isn't being particularly deluded or misled today, because it would be really bad time for that to happen. He's looking forward to this too much, being too curious about it. Normally he would've just shrugged and kept going, but this is something he wants to resolve. Hankyung. The foreigner from China who runs one of the best coffee shops in town. Who doesn't really talk that much, all the time, but who doesn't need to because Heechul could just sit and fucking watch him all day.
He is most definitely turning into a sap.
He leaves the apartment block, heading for his -- Sungmin's -- car. Heechul jangles his keys in his pocket and plays with lint on the inside of his jeans.
And walks into Hankyung.
"... Oh, it's you." Heechul says.
"Yeah, it's me." Hankyung agrees, and they exchange glances.
"Kyuhyun sent you?"
"Yeah. Sungmin?"
Heechul nods as he watches Hankyung incline his head, and he thinks that he can wait until later to decide whether to punch Sungmin or take him clubbing. For now, he continues to watch and be watched, the both of the waiting for the other to speak again first.
"So, I'm sorry about the other night--"
"No it's okay, I understand."
"That was kind of stupid I guess, but I was--"
"Oh don't worry, I heard about what happened with you, yeah."
"So do you--"
"I was just wondering--"
"Goddamn, stop interrupting me!" Heechul says exasperatedly. He is not used to it and he does not like it, and it only makes Hankyung smile, which is a bit disturbing.
"You go first."
"Thank you," says Hankyung. "I was wondering, since... all that happened to you. Don't work at MacDonald's, it'll kill you. I have a position open at the cafe. What do you think?"
"What do I think?" Heechul laughs. "Big-shot lawyer with a ruined reputation to a fry server, I think working at a cafe is fucking perfection."
"Well, you could have always entered the public defence system."
Heechul snorts. "I'm classier than that."
"So I see. So now that we have that settled, what were you going to ask me?"
"Forgot," he deadpans.
Hankyung laughs. Heechul likes the sound of it. And he knows that he is going to go home to Sungmin and insist that he isn't totally whipped, and then they will have an argument about who is and who isn't.
"Oh wait," he says after a moment. "I remember now."
Heechul steps up to Hankyung and grabs the back of his neck so that he can kiss him. It's bordering chaste and there's no tongue and Heechul doesn't usually kiss like this, but he figures he's broken all his other rules for Hankyung already, and this is just adding to the notches. Still, it somehow leaves him breathless and even though it wasn't very special, he can see Hankyung grinning.
"Anyway, will you go out with me?" he asks.
Hankyung raises an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're the type to kiss before the first date?"
"What can I say, I'm jumping the gun a little," Heechul shrugs. "Think of it as advantageous."
Hankyung laughs and presses his palms to Heechul's hips. Advantageous; they can live like that.
A/N: My dear Santee, I know this isn't the greatest of fics to ever grace the earth, but I tried for you, I really did! So I hope you enjoy all 5,000+ words and have a wonderful Christmas. ♥