Normal Circumstances
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: ChulToria
Genre: AU!Romance
Summary: He escaped the criminal underlying of his father's role, deciding to leave it all behind. Some things from the past simply refused to.
-
Heechul trapped the pen on the bar of his chair. "I thought this would be taken care of."
Donghae smiled apologetically. "They tried, but they need-"
"Me to intervene again. I told you all, twice and more than so," Heechul said as he rose from the chair, hands planted on the table. "I'm done with that life."
"You may be done sir, but the family is hardly through with you." Donghae said matter-of-factly, Heechul breathed out heavily, wishing his messenger wasn't right.
Things would change, he had sworn to himself that the moment he stepped down as his father's son. Thereby stepping away from the role was raised to be, the son of a council member who ran the deep seeded Korean town within the heart of China. Yet, his father held more power than he thought should have been given. He resented the growing criminal enterprises under his father's name, his own name.
It was pure greed, Heechul thought, and chose to escape before its clutches reached around his neck.
-
He adjusted his jacket as he walked down the streets, returning from the outskirts of the city. Heechul stopped briefly and stood beneath the dim light outside a closed shop.
He heard a yell in Mandarin and turned around, he recognized the silhouette of a gun aimed at a distance.
He felt the bullet graze his shoulder, but he held that to nothing as he ran through the nearby alley. He felt the warm blood turning quickly cold, trailing down his arm, dripping onto the wet pavement. The reflection of the water rippled, reflecting the abrupt chase as the gunman followed after the injured man.
Donghae had been right, Heechul realized. He may have left this life, but mere formalities meant nothing.
He turned around, forced into a corner with no escape. The gun gleamed as it aimed higher.
This life would never leave him, not even now.
The ear-splitting sound echoed loudly, the body dropped to the ground, the bullet between his eyes.
Heechul looked up, unfazed by the corpse before him, instead watching as a figure came into the thin light. She lowered her gun by her side, tilting her head as she scanned his body, smiling gallantly.
"And here I thought we'd never meet under normal circumstances."
"If this is your idea of normal, you have a sick mindset." Heechul retorted darkly, his hand not clutching the cut by his shoulder.
Victoria laughed. "If you insult me any further, my sick mindset might think killing you would be fun."
"You won't ever kill me." Heechul uttered calmly, daring to turn his back against the gun.
Victoria smiled. "Confidence is beneath you."
"So is killing a man without prior notice, it's quite rude you're aware?"
"I don't give them much chance to compliment my services."
Heechul flinched at the hand that laid against his bloodied arm. She supported his back and led him away, he found it odd how she treated him, when one would never assume they'd be greeted with kindness by this woman.
There were plenty of assumptions most could make, but none seemed to apply to her whenever he was involved.
-
Heechul winced as he laid against the couch of the cramped room, Victoria reached around and grabbed the bandages and the dark brown liquid that shook in the bottle.
"It's going to hurt."
"More so than being shot?" Heechul asked skeptically, Victoria pressed the liquid on his open wound and he hissed loudly. "I only meant that as a joke."
"I laughed until I couldn't breath." Victoria said coldly, earning a sharp glare as she continued to clean the wound.
"Do you know why they were-" He winced again. "After me?"
"Not particularly, but a reason doesn't matter, does it? It's not like you can do much about it." Victoria rationalized, bandaging the wounds carefully. "Even if you had no reason to come after you, they'll simply make one up on the spot."
Once finished, her gaze raised and met with his focused eyes. She shifted away and cleared up the cleaning materials.
"You knew it'd happened. Why did you come to my rescue?" Heechul called out.
Victoria kept her back to him, standing before the doorway.
"Your father spared my father, have you never heard that a debt repays itself seven times?" Victoria's voice remained expressionless. "I'll always be indebted to you."
There was nothing more as she disappeared from the room, Heechul sighed as he leaned back against the couch. Withstanding the pain as his thoughts cleared, allowed to roam as they pleased until they reached that same conclusion.
He had always hated her.
He hated everything about her, her cold blooded killings, her icy stare, the woman who barely bat an eye as she mercilessly ended a life. She held no greed as his father had, but their backgrounds were the same.
But that hatred ebbed away despite his convictions, Victoria was more than her background, holding her own morals and values separate from the criminal underworld. One he respected her by.
This conflict of emotion when she appeared in his life kept him on a tightrope, wondering which side he'd fall into.
He could assume she cared for him, he could assume she felt more than she let on.
But he had to tread carefully around the very idea. He wished that for once, she'd convince him of what he most wanted to hear, the words he figured he'd never hear her say. He never dared assumed anything and each time he witnessed her cruel nature, he was reminded of why.
-
He was allowed to stay longer in her apartment, allowed to eat and rest as need be, and while she often left on her personal business. She'd return to keep him company, one-sidedly silent.
"If I offer you a rose for every word you say, will you say something then?" Heechul bargained exasperatedly. "I'm tired of feeling like I'm speaking to a wall."
Victoria glowered at the comparison.
"If you're that insulted, speak. I don't see how you're suddenly so shy."
Victoria stood up, dropping the towel on his face as she walked away. Heechul yanked it from his face and grimaced. He parted his lips when she sighed.
"You hate me, don't you?"
Heechul crossed his arms. "Since when do you care about that?"
Victoria cleared her throat, she appeared as stolid, but her own eyes betrayed her.
In her silence, she aimed to turn away when Heechul intertwined his arms around her shoulders, holding her against his chest.
His forehead against the back of the head, sighing contently. "I could never hate you."
"...You don't have to lie."
Heechul narrowed his eyes. "Why must you disbelieve any ounce of affection? When someone bothers to get close to you, you keep them at arm's length. Do you like being alone?"
"Of course n-..." Victoria stopped herself.
They stayed together like that in silence, until finally she posed the question.
"You'd willingly stay with me?"
Heechul smiled, his eyes trailing to the gun by the bedside table, the bandage tightening as he shifted his arm to hold her closer.
Everything about her held a risk.
"Of course." He murmured, low enough for only her to hear.
"Despite my line of work?"
"It's sad to say I've seen worst." Victoria didn't take to that too well, but closed her eyes as Heechul nestled beside her.
A high risk Heechul mused, but like everything else about her, is something he can more than just accept, he can live with.
-
A/N: This is the Chultoria requested by Lien, I'll try better next time ><
Pairing: ChulToria
Genre: AU!Romance
Summary: He escaped the criminal underlying of his father's role, deciding to leave it all behind. Some things from the past simply refused to.
-
Heechul trapped the pen on the bar of his chair. "I thought this would be taken care of."
Donghae smiled apologetically. "They tried, but they need-"
"Me to intervene again. I told you all, twice and more than so," Heechul said as he rose from the chair, hands planted on the table. "I'm done with that life."
"You may be done sir, but the family is hardly through with you." Donghae said matter-of-factly, Heechul breathed out heavily, wishing his messenger wasn't right.
Things would change, he had sworn to himself that the moment he stepped down as his father's son. Thereby stepping away from the role was raised to be, the son of a council member who ran the deep seeded Korean town within the heart of China. Yet, his father held more power than he thought should have been given. He resented the growing criminal enterprises under his father's name, his own name.
It was pure greed, Heechul thought, and chose to escape before its clutches reached around his neck.
-
He adjusted his jacket as he walked down the streets, returning from the outskirts of the city. Heechul stopped briefly and stood beneath the dim light outside a closed shop.
He heard a yell in Mandarin and turned around, he recognized the silhouette of a gun aimed at a distance.
He felt the bullet graze his shoulder, but he held that to nothing as he ran through the nearby alley. He felt the warm blood turning quickly cold, trailing down his arm, dripping onto the wet pavement. The reflection of the water rippled, reflecting the abrupt chase as the gunman followed after the injured man.
Donghae had been right, Heechul realized. He may have left this life, but mere formalities meant nothing.
He turned around, forced into a corner with no escape. The gun gleamed as it aimed higher.
This life would never leave him, not even now.
The ear-splitting sound echoed loudly, the body dropped to the ground, the bullet between his eyes.
Heechul looked up, unfazed by the corpse before him, instead watching as a figure came into the thin light. She lowered her gun by her side, tilting her head as she scanned his body, smiling gallantly.
"And here I thought we'd never meet under normal circumstances."
"If this is your idea of normal, you have a sick mindset." Heechul retorted darkly, his hand not clutching the cut by his shoulder.
Victoria laughed. "If you insult me any further, my sick mindset might think killing you would be fun."
"You won't ever kill me." Heechul uttered calmly, daring to turn his back against the gun.
Victoria smiled. "Confidence is beneath you."
"So is killing a man without prior notice, it's quite rude you're aware?"
"I don't give them much chance to compliment my services."
Heechul flinched at the hand that laid against his bloodied arm. She supported his back and led him away, he found it odd how she treated him, when one would never assume they'd be greeted with kindness by this woman.
There were plenty of assumptions most could make, but none seemed to apply to her whenever he was involved.
-
Heechul winced as he laid against the couch of the cramped room, Victoria reached around and grabbed the bandages and the dark brown liquid that shook in the bottle.
"It's going to hurt."
"More so than being shot?" Heechul asked skeptically, Victoria pressed the liquid on his open wound and he hissed loudly. "I only meant that as a joke."
"I laughed until I couldn't breath." Victoria said coldly, earning a sharp glare as she continued to clean the wound.
"Do you know why they were-" He winced again. "After me?"
"Not particularly, but a reason doesn't matter, does it? It's not like you can do much about it." Victoria rationalized, bandaging the wounds carefully. "Even if you had no reason to come after you, they'll simply make one up on the spot."
Once finished, her gaze raised and met with his focused eyes. She shifted away and cleared up the cleaning materials.
"You knew it'd happened. Why did you come to my rescue?" Heechul called out.
Victoria kept her back to him, standing before the doorway.
"Your father spared my father, have you never heard that a debt repays itself seven times?" Victoria's voice remained expressionless. "I'll always be indebted to you."
There was nothing more as she disappeared from the room, Heechul sighed as he leaned back against the couch. Withstanding the pain as his thoughts cleared, allowed to roam as they pleased until they reached that same conclusion.
He had always hated her.
He hated everything about her, her cold blooded killings, her icy stare, the woman who barely bat an eye as she mercilessly ended a life. She held no greed as his father had, but their backgrounds were the same.
But that hatred ebbed away despite his convictions, Victoria was more than her background, holding her own morals and values separate from the criminal underworld. One he respected her by.
This conflict of emotion when she appeared in his life kept him on a tightrope, wondering which side he'd fall into.
He could assume she cared for him, he could assume she felt more than she let on.
But he had to tread carefully around the very idea. He wished that for once, she'd convince him of what he most wanted to hear, the words he figured he'd never hear her say. He never dared assumed anything and each time he witnessed her cruel nature, he was reminded of why.
-
He was allowed to stay longer in her apartment, allowed to eat and rest as need be, and while she often left on her personal business. She'd return to keep him company, one-sidedly silent.
"If I offer you a rose for every word you say, will you say something then?" Heechul bargained exasperatedly. "I'm tired of feeling like I'm speaking to a wall."
Victoria glowered at the comparison.
"If you're that insulted, speak. I don't see how you're suddenly so shy."
Victoria stood up, dropping the towel on his face as she walked away. Heechul yanked it from his face and grimaced. He parted his lips when she sighed.
"You hate me, don't you?"
Heechul crossed his arms. "Since when do you care about that?"
Victoria cleared her throat, she appeared as stolid, but her own eyes betrayed her.
In her silence, she aimed to turn away when Heechul intertwined his arms around her shoulders, holding her against his chest.
His forehead against the back of the head, sighing contently. "I could never hate you."
"...You don't have to lie."
Heechul narrowed his eyes. "Why must you disbelieve any ounce of affection? When someone bothers to get close to you, you keep them at arm's length. Do you like being alone?"
"Of course n-..." Victoria stopped herself.
They stayed together like that in silence, until finally she posed the question.
"You'd willingly stay with me?"
Heechul smiled, his eyes trailing to the gun by the bedside table, the bandage tightening as he shifted his arm to hold her closer.
Everything about her held a risk.
"Of course." He murmured, low enough for only her to hear.
"Despite my line of work?"
"It's sad to say I've seen worst." Victoria didn't take to that too well, but closed her eyes as Heechul nestled beside her.
A high risk Heechul mused, but like everything else about her, is something he can more than just accept, he can live with.
-
A/N: This is the Chultoria requested by Lien, I'll try better next time ><