What happens in Vegas...
Title: What happens in Vegas...
Pairing: Yongguk/Himchan
Genre: Angst-ish, Romance
Rating: R
Summary: Yongguk wakes up in a car that isn't his, somewhere he doesn't know, with an interesting person in the backseat.
Yongguk awoke with a weird pouding in his head. He didn't feel like opening his eyes yet, so he let them closed, the sun shining straight through his eyelids. It was hot and he wasn't lying down, as he supposed he was. In fact, he was almost glued to the leather coating of a chair. The only thing he wore was a thin T-shirt and loose pants, but it was still too hot. He finally opened his eyes. The first thing he caught sight of was a car window, with sand on it and a red liquid, of which he now wanted to deny it was blood. Under the car window, on the dashboard, lay some papers, shards of glass and snack wrapping. The sun stood high in the sky, shining straight onto the roof of the car, warming up the metal until the heat melted into the fabric on the roof, into the car. Yongguk rubbed his eyes, trying to rub some sand away. He turned the rear-view window to himself to check on his appearance. His hair was dishevelled, strands sticking out on the sides. There was also sand there. His eyes were now red and droopy, with rather black bags under them. He must've been drunk the night before, judging by the way his eyes looked. When he turned the rear-view window back to its original place, it landed on something in the back of the car. Yongguk narrowed his eyes to see better, there was a person lying on the leather seats, a big satin scarf covering the lower half of his body. He was still fast asleep, so Yongguk could shamelessly examine this person. His hair was dyed blond, he didn't wear anything on his upper body and he had some piercings in his ears. Yongguk also noticed that around his eyes was some smudged eye-liner, on top of a flawless layer of foundation. He didn't know him, that was for sure. Even on the leather seats in the back was sand. Now that he looked out of the window, there wasn't only sand in the car, there was sand everywhere around them. Yongguk had a hard time remembering who he was, but when he opened the glove compartment and took out his heated phone, it all came back. "Fuck." He said quietly, looking at the date displayed on his phone, on a picture of a beautiful woman. "Fuck!" He now yelled, slamming his hand on the steering wheel. "What?" The person asked, sitting up and leaning over to the front seat. "Where are we?" He asked then. And it dawned to Yongguk that this person was Korean, thank Heaven for this little miracle. "What does it look like." He said a little harsher than he intended, but the man didn't seem affected by his harsh tone. "So, who are you?" The man turned his head towards him, awfully close to his face. "Bang Yongguk." He said. If they were stranded in the desert, he might as well tell this man everything about himself, so he would at least die with someone he knew. "Kim Himchan." The man introduced himself, putting a slender hand in front of his face. Yongguk took it.
"So what's all the drama about?" Himchan asked after they'd sat in silence for a while. "You know... Just... I've missed my plane back home... And I'm about to get married in a few hours... And also, we're stranded in the desert." At that, Himchan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Yongguk found it rather offensive that he looked so confused, as if he couldn't get married. "That sucks man, but I don't think I can help you." That had been clear from the moment Yongguk saw him in the rear-view mirror. He looked as if he was more woman than man. "What shall we do?" Himchan asked, leaning back into the back seat folding his arms. "It seems like the tank is empty. We could look for gas in the back." He threw the door open. When he put his foot outside of the car, onto the dry sand, he was met with hot air, even hotter than inside the car. He didn't even know who's car it was, he didn't recognize it, with its filthy white colour and American number plate. The sand immediately whirled into his eyes with a strong gush of wind. The sun burned through his clothes, warming them up within a few seconds. It was unbelievably hot, hotter than in the centre of the city, where he felt like he could melt. Himchan sat still in the back seat, not even making a single move. Yongguk walked around the car to the back, where he clicked the trunk open. The only things there, were some water bottles, a blanket and a spare tyre. He sighed, closing the trunk again, so that the water wouldn't heat up. He turned around, facing the ongoing plain of sand. It seemed to have no end, anywhere at all. It only ended at the horizon, where it melted together with the blue sky. Yongguk walked back over to the back seat and opened the door. Himchan glanced at him, with his arms still folded over each other. "There's no gas." Yongguk said, leaning over the door frame with his arms, barely peaking inside the car. When he received no answer, he took out his phone. The battery had died. He put it back into his pocket, sighing again. How was he ever going to make it back, when the only thing in sight was sand and he was saddled with this man. They were both not completely sober either, both had pounding heads, which were only made worse by the extremely hot weather. Himchan finally unfolded his arms after the silence had stretched out for too long. "This is what we're going to do." He said, holding up a finger in case Yongguk was about to talk. "We look at the sun to find our way back, as you may or may not know, the sun always leads you back to where you want to go. Take whatever we can find in the car and leave this thing behind. It won't help us any more than this." Yongguk nodded, straightening his back again. Himchan went to search for things in the back, while Yongguk took the front for his responsibility. In the glove box lay a first aid kit, with some maps of Las Vegas. On the ground, he could only find food crumbles and liquid that had spilled out of a wine bottle. The only other things left in the car were the crumpled snack wraps in bright colours. Himchan had only found bottles of alcohol and a dead mouse. "How are we going to carry this with us?" Himchan asked then, as if he had never made up this plan and Yongguk had now taken the lead of their travel. "There's a blanket in the back." They both stepped out of the car with the stuff they found and walked to the back. Himchan opened the trunk, took the blanket out and lays it on the ground. He neatly pulls the ends together into knots, to form a bag. Yongguk lays the water bottles, maps and first aid kit. It wasn't much, but hopefully enough to make it back. All though he had heard, that with this kind of circumstances and this intense heat, a person needs at least three litres of water every day, of which they only had two each, for who knows how long.
As Yongguk finishes the bag, Himchan walks to the back seat one final time, to get his satin scarf. It's black, which is rather unhandy, but he puts it over his head to protect himself for the sun. Even now, he pushed his hair back carefully, trying to fix his look in the mirror. Then Yongguk swung the blanket-bag over his shoulder and they both looked at each other. If they were going to make it back, they didn't know, but Yongguk just wanted. He didn't know what to do, if he wouldn't see his fiancée back. Yongguk went to walk next to Himchan, holding onto the bag loosely, putting his other hand into his pocket despite the heat. They walked along the car. "Ew." Himchan exclaimed suddenly, making Yongguk jump. "You scared me, fuck. What is it?" Instead of answering, Himchan pointed to his side. In front of the car, or half under it, was a dead man. His head was covered in blood, his limbs lay in a weird angle. That was probably why there was blood on the car window. "Should we bury him?" Yongguk asked, looking at the man with pity. His expression wasn't pained, it looked happy, even. Just like with Himchan, he had not clue who this person was. Himchan shook his head. "No, we can't help him any more we need to safe ourselves. That's good food for whatever animal lives here." He once again pushed his hair back, motioning Yongguk to go on with him.
He didn't know how long they walked, but the plain really seemed endless. All the things they had seen so far, was sand, just sand, everywhere. The car had gone out of sight, leaving the two in the middle of emptiness. The sun kept burning on their skin, heating up everything they had with them, and themselves, to the cores of their bones. "So, you're getting married?" Himchan asked, panting slightly. He put of the satin scarf, folded it in a different way and put it on his head again, so that his face was a little bit more protected. "Not if I die here." Yongguk swiped the sweat away from his forehead. "You won't." Himchan said. This man was really good at keeping calm. While Yongguk sometimes stomped in despair and sadness, Himchan just made sure there was no sand on him. Yongguk hadn't even known that deserts were really like this in America. He imagined there would be a little bit of vegetation somewhere, or cactuses. Of course there were, but rarely. With every step he took to no where, he started to regret his decision to celebrate his bachelor party in Las Vegas. He could've known that you're not safe in Las Vegas, ever. But this was extreme. Being stranded in a desert with a complete stranger wasn't something that happened to any tourist.
By the time the sun was finally on his way down, they were almost crawling over the sand, grasping onto the fine grains that slipped between their fingers. The heat was unbearable, the thirst too strong. But they didn't give up, nor did they touch the water. They had probably sobered up now, at least he hoped. The sun slowly made its way to the horizon, and all the while Yongguk and Himchan both looked up at it, as if it would go under faster if they kept looking at it. All it did, was make their vision blurry. When the final strand of orange light was visible at the horizon, they fell down onto the sand, exhausted and dried out. It luckily started to cool off a bit, so they had could both let their hot bodies rest. Even though they only had four bottles of water, they both drank one. It wasn't a good idea, Yongguk knew, but he was so thirsty that he might die on the spot. Himchan put his satin scarf off, lay it on the ground and lay down on top of it. "Tell me, Yongguk, more about yourself." Yongguk lay down too, his back immediately responding to the comfortable position. "What do you want to know?" Himchan pursed his lips. "How old you are. What you do for a living. Who your wife is. Why you went to Vegas. That kind of stuff." Yongguk nodded, folding his arms under his head. "I'm twenty-three years old," Himchan inhaled a little louder than necessary, he probably thought it was weird that Yongguk was going to marry at his age "I'm a lawyer, in Seoul. My wife is a beautiful, kind woman named Jieun and I went to Vegas for my bachelor party. Guess that didn't really go as planned." He chuckled to himself. Despite his desire to be home with Jieun, he could still see the humour of it all. "What about you?" He turned his head towards Himchan, who had his eyes closed. "I'm twenty-one, stripper in Vegas and about my wife, I don't have one." Yongguk gasped, inching away from the man. "What?" Himchan asked, with his eyebrows raised. "You're a... stripper? I'm in the desert with a stripper? How did I get here with a stripper!?" Himchan shrugged. "I don't know, man. Don't hate though, at least I do what I like to do." Yongguk, in his turn, raised his eyebrows too. "What do you mean by that?" "I mean, that you are a lawyer because you have a good degree, know the right people, have parents who push you in 'the right way' and it pays well. Am I right?" Yongguk thought about that for a moment. He wanted to disagree and tell him that absolutely wasn't the case, but he couldn't find the words to do so. It was true. His parents got him into a good school, because of some of their connections. He worked really hard in high school and college to be as his parents wanted him to be and then became a lawyer. Just because his parents wanted him too, because it paid well. "So I am right. But look at me. My parents said I should do what I love, and that is dancing in front of public and show my best side, my looks. I get paid for that and I must say that it isn't nothing. So who should be inching away from who?" He had closed his eyes again and didn't see uncomfortable talking about this at all. He wasn't even ashamed of having shown his body to everyone who wanted to see, just for money. But maybe, Yongguk wasn't better than that. Because he was there to keep guilty people out of jail and got paid for that. He didn't know what was better. "You should do what you love." Himchan repeated. Rolling to his side to look at Yongguk. "Making music." Yongguk said. Himchan hadn't asked a question, but he just felt like saying it. Felt like throwing that out, what everyone forbid him to think about. "Then do, when we get out of here, you should start making music." Yongguk nodded, easily convinced by such a little speech. "I'll keep you to that." Himchan said, smiling at him.
Now that it started to cool off, and their tired over-heated bodies got to rest, he felt a lot better. The only thing around them was still sand, but he hadn't yet given up his hope. He would see his fiancée again, no matter what. The thing he was afraid of most, besides dying, was her not wanting to see him ever again. His wedding had already passed, without him being there. So she might be angry or worried, or both. He imagined Jieun standing in front of the isle, where their families had gathered. She would wear a long white dress, with a bouquet of roses, that matched her pinkish lips and the beautiful blush spreading on her cheeks. There would be an orchestra in the back, staring at her from their place behind the altar, their instruments in their hands, waiting for their cue. His mother and father would stand up, along with Jieun's parents. They would run over to her and hug her. No one would know, not even his friends, where he was. The image of his crying fiancée had him tearing up too. Himchan was still looking at him, his scarf falling half over his face. "What does your wife look like?" As if he could read his mind, he asked a question about that particular thing. Yongguk didn't know if he had a picture of her on him, he always had, but if he kept it in his jacket, he wouldn't know where it was now. He searched in his pockets, finding a piece of paper in one of them. When he held it up, it was her picture. A picture of her next to her roses, the flowers she loved most. Her cheeks were pink, like usually, and she wore a pastel blue dress, her hair in a high bun with loose strands. Himchan took the picture, examining it closely. "She's beautiful." He said, if it was earnest, Yongguk didn't know, his voice sounded unmoved by the whole thing. The picture was pushed into his chest, and Himchan turned away from him to face the on stretching landscape, coated in sand.
By the time it was completely dark, it had also become a lot colder, so that they were both shivering. Himchan was huddled inside his scarf, the thin fabric only helping a little bit. Yongguk had his arms folded over each other, his knees raised to his chest. The sand was luckily still a bit warm, but the wind was cold, it blew right through their thin close. "I think we should share body heat, if we don't want to freeze." Yongguk suggested, opening his arms. But Himchan stubbornly kept facing the other side, shivering wildly. Yongguk pulled the scarf off of him, pulling on Himchan's arm to roll him over into his embrace. He put the scarf over the two of them and took the man into his arms, already feeling the heat spread onto his skin. When their skin touched, however, it felt familiar. As if they'd been in this position before.
-
"Gukkie, isn't it a good idea to go to Vegas for your bachelor party?"
"I don't know, Daehyun. You know what they say about Vegas."
"Come on, it'll be fun. I've already got it planned out, we will all go there by plane, party and go back. It's not like anything will happen when we got together."
"Fine, but promise we'll stay together, in a proper restaurant."
"I promise."
-
Yongguk's eyes snapped open. It was still dark around them, the only thing visible was Himchan's blond mop of hair under his chin. The man was snuggled against him, his legs slightly raised and his arms over his chest, clutching the scarf. Yongguk tightened their embrace, shivering slightly when the wind blew against him. He closed his eyes again to keep the sand from coming into them. "I'll be right back." He said, looking up to the sky briefly, where one of the stars twinkled brighter than all the others. That star, would from now on represent his fiancée, always standing out from all the others, but unintentionally. He sighed, while closing his eyes again. Feeling sleep fall over him once again.
-
"Daehyun?"
...
"Daehyun, where are you?"
"Hello there, hottie, want a drink?"
"No, thank you, I'm looking for my friend."
...
"Daehyun?"
"Are you Korean?"
"Yes... I am..."
"Let's have a drink, your friend is over there."
"I guess, that's okay then."
-
"Gukkie!" Yongguk grunted when someone punched him in his side. "Wake up, we got to go, if we don't want to die." He opened his eyes, pushing himself up with his hands. He sat still for a while, with his arms over his knees, his head in his hands. Himchan was standing beside him, his scarf once again over his head, but it was shorter. In his hand, he held another part of the scarf. "You're going to buy me a new scarf when we get out of here, but if you don't put something over your head, you'll burn to death." He pushed the fabric into Yongguk's hands, practically forcing him to put it on. Yongguk folded it the same way as he had seen Himchan do before. He stood up, grabbing the blanket bag on his way. "Let's go." Himchan said, patting him on the back. When Yongguk went to walk behind Himchan, he noticed that his skin was burned. It looked painfully red, at some places the skin already started to moult. It was bad for him to walk around like that, but Yongguk also couldn't just give his own T-shirt to him. So he just stared at the man's back, like that would cure it. His muscles kept tensing and un tensing with every step, his shoulders sometimes lowering. Every now and then, Himchan would touch his shoulders just to take his hand away quickly. Even his back seemed familiar, together with his leather clad legs. It was less hot than yesterday, or he already got used to the heat, it was one of those two.
It was a long walk again, today they both felt even more tired. First they got over-heated, then they almost froze and now it's hot again. Their whole system was completely out of its routine. With every step, their thirst grew bigger. Their tongues were glued to their palate, their lips were dry. They both craved for water, but didn't want to drink yet. The water was sacred now, it could not be touched unless it was absolutely needed. "What's that?" Himchan said, with a small voice, pointing at a thing in the distance. At first, Yongguk thought it would be just another cactus, but it was too dark and rectangular to be one. "I don't know." He answered, he noticed that his voice was quieter too. The thirst and dryness had affected his throat. His voice already was quite low and inaudible, but right now it could barely be heard. Himchan began walking faster, filled with curiosity. If it was rectangular, it must be something placed by humans, so that would mean they were close to a place where people live. Yongguk followed suite, both jogging over the hot sand towards the thing.
"It's a phone!" Himchan exclaimed, running even faster, all cautiousness and tiredness forgotten. But their happiness was soon toned down when they neared it. It wasn't broken or anything, but there was a slot next to the phone, with a dollar sign above it. "Do you have any change on you?" Yongguk asked, searching in his own pockets as well. Himchan started patting his pockets with his hands, realized that he had fake pockets and then did something Yongguk wished he didn't see. He put his hand not only in his pants, but also past the waistband of his underwear. His face was contorted in concentration, until he found a one dollar bill. "Is this enough?" He held it up for Yongguk to take, who took a step back from the piece of paper. Himchan rolled his eyes as he shoved the bill into the payphone. "Who should we call? We should call for help." Yongguk shook his head. "No, my wife first. She must know I'm okay and that I'm not leaving her." Himchan took a step closer to Yongguk, so they were face to face. "What do you want? Die here, because we couldn't call help, or let your fiancée know you're okay, when you can later when we're saved?" Yongguk's eyes narrowed as he stared straight at Himchan, taking a step closer to the man as well. "My fiancée is more important than you or me, so I'm calling her." He picked up the phone and dialled the number, before Himchan had a chance to snatch the phone away from him. The man huffed, his bangs blowing away from his face. A long peep sounded through the speakers as he waited, waited to hear her voice again, to inform her that he still loved her. "Hello?" Jieun's voice said. She sounded tired, a lot of tears resounding in that simple word. "Honey." Yongguk choked out, too overwhelmed by the sound of her voice. "Yongguk? Where were you? Where are you? Daehyun told me he didn't see you at the airport. Are you okay? Are you alone?" A whole load of questions came and while he should've had answers ready, he was completely lost. He took the phone away from his ear, pressing it into his chest to muffle his voice. "What do I tell her?" "The truth maybe?" Himchan said, raising an eyebrows as he cocked his hips to the side. "Yeah sure, I'll tell her that I'm stranded in the desert with a male stripper, good idea." Yongguk sneered, his nose scrunching up with the idea. "Are you implying something there?" Himchan sneered back as he leaned forward a bit, his hair falling into his eyes again. Yongguk took the phone away from his chest and put it to his ear again, hearing soft sobbing. "I'm okay, but I'm somehow stranded in the middle of the desert. I'm not alone, don't worry." Jieun cried louder. "I miss you so much. I thought you had died, or ran away or... or..." Yongguk sniffed too. "Thirty seconds left." The phone alarmed him, putting a stop to his sniffling. "Listen, Jieun, I'm coming home. I will come back. Wait for me." He said hurriedly as he pushed the phone closer to his face. He kept hearing Jieun sob. He kept hearing Himchan huff in the background. "Yongguk, please be safe. I lo-." The line was cut off with a long, high-pitched peep. The phone slipped out of Yongguk's hand. "So, that was it. Let's go." Even though Yongguk made a stupid decision, he knew that himself too, Himchan wasn't angry anymore. After having seen him cry like that, he felt sympathy towards the man. He put his arm around his shaking shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll bring you back to her." He said. But it didn't make Yongguk feel better.
-
"Let me show you something."
"What?"
"Just come with me."
-
He didn't understand the flashes of conversations he suddenly got. He didn't understand what it was supposed to mean, were they fragments of how they came here? But they didn't sound like it. They also didn't sound like voices he knew, they were morphed into deep hisses, as if they were being whispered in his ear by snakes. Himchan kept his arm around him as they continued walking. To cheer him up a bit, he started talking about the fun times he's had with some costumers, which sounded rather wrong to Yongguk and he had the urge to cover his ears every time Himchan mentioned something he didn't want to know. Also because most of Himchan's costumers were apparently male, male whom Himchan had a lot to say about. "Himchan, I'm really sorry, but I'm not interested in your nightly adventures." Yongguk said, pinching the bridge of his nose to get the mental images away. "But Gukkie, they are so much fun." The man whined as he pulled Yongguk closer to his side. He continued talking like Yongguk hadn't said anything. And while he did so, he motioned to the sky with flailing arms, his eyes twinkling as he described the different men. His lips formed syllables and words, but Yongguk didn't quite catch what he was saying. He was just staring at the happy expression on Himchan's face, the crowfeet under his fox like eyes and his vibrating abs as he laughed. Yongguk hadn't seen anyone this happy before, only Jieun, but in such circumstances... It was amazing that a human could be this happy, when his body was craving for water or at least coolness. Yongguk didn't know if he'd ever been this happy. Himchan really did seem to like his job, a lot. While if Yongguk talked about his job, he would just get annoyed and his eyebrows would knit together in frustration. Maybe, just maybe, Himchan was right. He wanted to be just as happy as Himchan was now, so he would be. He was going to make himself happy and Jieun as well.
The sun started to go under again, and Himchan had become silent. His voice had died out a while ago, when his throat was to dry to form words, but he was still smiling, his eyes were still twinkling. And whenever he looked to his side to check if Yongguk was doing okay, his smile grew wider. He was happy, as happy as could be. He had never loved before, never loved anyone as much as Yongguk loved Jieun, it must be wonderful. To do anything to stay with that person, while Himchan didn't really care if he died there. There would be no one to mourn over his death. Maybe some of his regular costumers would be upset for a while, but not for long, and only because of his body, not because of who he was. That was the only negative side of his job, that they only cared for his body. And he was happy that Yongguk didn't, that Yongguk took care of him, but didn't keep him hanging on for his body, but because he wanted to get out together and was a good man. Jieun was lucky.
They settled themselves onto the ground, flopping down into the hot sand. They both uncapped the last water bottle, flicked the caps aside and gulped the substance down. The liquid slipped down their throat in a soothing way, clearing the roughness out. Because they were both too exhausted to do anything else than drink. Himchan soon curled up against Yongguk and Yongguk put his arms around him. Both their stomachs rumbled, but they were too tired to care. A human can live without food for three weeks, they would care about that tomorrow. "I'll be right back." Yongguk whispered above his head. Himchan opened his eyes to see Yongguk look up to the sky, to a particular bright shining star, the midst of dim stars. The man looked down at him and smiled, closing his eyes tiredly.
-
"You're beautiful." Yongguk said, his hands skimming over pale skin.
"No touching." A morphed voice said weakly, pushing his hands away.
"Let me." Yongguk said, his hands sliding up over a bare chest, clamping onto collarbones.
"Didn't you have a fiancée?"
"Sorry, what did you say?" Yongguk looked up, but didn't see anything. His vision was too blurry.
"Nothing." The voice said. The person the voice belonged too, entwined his fingers into Yongguk's hair.
"Let's get out of here." Yongguk said, nipping at the skin below his hips.
...
"Who's car is this?"
"I don't know." He opened the door of the filthy white car and let the person inside.
...
"Where are we going?"
"To nowhere." He moved into his seat to look backwards, smiling to a blurry face.
"Okay." The person smiled, his foxy eyes underlined with crowfeet.
...
"Oh my God, what was that?"
"I don't know, but it's dead now."
"Where are we?"
"I don't know, Himchan. I don't know."
-
Yongguk shot up, Himchan falling out of his arms. "What's wrong?" The man huffed, looking up worriedly as he rubbed his painful shoulder. Big, shocked eyes looked down on him. "Nothing. Just... A bad dream." He couldn't call it a nightmare somehow, it sounded too harsh. It wasn't like he disliked Himchan and calling it a nightmare would be an offense, even if Himchan didn't know the dream was about him. "The sun is already touching the horizon, shall we go?" Himchan said, pulling the scarf off of them and putting it around his head again. Yongguk looked a little 'verstrooid', but that was probably because he was now completely sober. It had taken him a while, he wasn't really a drinker. "Yeah." Yongguk whispered as he pushed himself up. They both carried the bag, one of the handles in their hands. They were tired, dried out and hungry. There was no more water, there was no food, there was no end in sight. Maybe they'd die here after all. Himchan didn't really mind, if he died here, he'd die with Yongguk. In these days, he'd grown fond of the man. Of his bright grin and his broad chest that was perfect to sleep against, of his politeness and niceness, he'd grown fond of Yongguk in general. And he hoped Yongguk had grown fond of him too, because never has someone been this nice to him and he wouldn't let him go, even if Yongguk ignored him after all this. Yongguk wouldn't, because Himchan wouldn't let him. He looked to his side to see Yongguk staring at the ground, his hair falling over his forehead, his shoulder slumped down. "Are you all right?" Yongguk looked up at him. He just stared back, with questioning eyes, as if he was trying to figure something out. "I guess so."
They were both crawling over the ground, thirsty and hungry. Yongguk felt his lungs dry out, so as his throat. So this would be the end? Would be dying in the desert his final chapter. He thought about Jieun again, with her put up in the same way as he'd imagined her at the wedding. But this time, she wasn't wearing a long snow white dress. Instead, she was wearing a short black dress, with 'gaas' covering her eyes. His and her parents sat in the church couches, but they were crying. Tissues against their noses and cheeks as they sniffled while the priste was talking about him. And there was a picture on a chest, a picture of him, the picture that Jieun liked most and kept in her wallet. There were the same red roses as at the wedding, but they were sprawled on a grave, with a tombstone saying his name. Maybe there wouldn't even be a body burried in the ground, maybe just the image of his body. They would never be able to find him here.
He fell forward, coughing as he accidentaly inhaled some sand. Himchan stopped to look at him, but then looked straight ahead. His eyes narrowed, his arms stretched forward, his legs leaned onto the sand. "T-there." He coughed. One of his arms coming up from the sand to stretch out in front of him. "There." He said again, a little louder. Yongguk looked up at him and saw him smiling, pointing, making hand motions towards the horizon. Yongguk turned onto his stomach to look the same way. He too narrowed his eyes. "There." He said, a smile breaking out on his face to. "Himchan-" He started, but stopped as Himchan looked at him. His smile was so bright, his eyes were so lovely and the sun 'wierp' a nice light onto his blonde hair, making it look like he had a halo around his head. "We made it Yongguk," and then after hesitating for a bit "You're going to marry soon." Himchan stood up first, pulling Yongguk up from the ground. Yongguk couldn't move anymore,so Himchan took him in his arms. He could only lay there, his limbs flailing with the unsteady steps of the man carrying him. The end came closer with every step, the horizon pulling up just a bit, revealing that what they'd been waiting for. The sun stood high in the sky, shining onto the road, making it light up, so it stood out from the sand. Himchan began to walk faster as his grip tightened around Yongguk. They neared the road after what seemed like an eternity. Himchan sat down on the ground, taking Yongguk in his lap, his arms around Yongguk's chest to hold him upright. Now they only had to wait for someone to pass by them and hopefully stop. It was just one straight road, with nothing near it. No tank station, no telephone, nothing.
"We're going to be all right." Himchan whispered weakly into Yongguk's neck. "You're going to marry. Everything will be all right." Yongguk didn't answer, his throat was too dry to make a sound. "Maybe I'll marry to one day." Himchan said, laughing a bit as he thought about the idea of marrying a woman. Or he could find someone to love, like Yongguk loved Jieun and marry him here. Gay marriage was legal in America, so maybe. Just maybe.
A little bright thing appeared at the horizon, coming up to where they were sitting quickly. Himchan untied the knot in his scarf and put his hand up, so the scarf waved in the wind. The car slowed down at the sight of the scarf. It stopped right next to them. A young man threw the door of his pick-up truck open. In the passengers seat was a young woman, with wavy brown hair, looking at them through her expensive sunglasses. The man behind the steeringwheel leaned over her to talk to them. "You want a lift to the city?" He said, pointing to the back of the pick-up truck with his thumb. "Yes, please. But my friend can't walk." Himchan answered. The man immediately went out of the car and walked around it. "What happened?" He asked when he saw the condition Yongguk was in. "Stranded in the desert." They picked Yongguk up by his arms and legs and carefully laid him out in the back. Himchan sat down next to him, still sitting in the heat of the sun, but not really caring about it, because they were going home. The young woman also came out of the car, to sit next to Yongguk. She uncapped a bottle of water and brought it to his lips. When the car started and drove away, she stayed to give them both water. "Where are you from, to get stranded in the desert like this." She asked, her hair waving around her face. She took off her sunglasses, giving them to Himchan. "Cover your eyes, it's not good for your health." "We're from Korea, all though I live in Las Vegas. Guess it just kind of happened." She giggled. "Sure, it just kind of happened. But you know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. No one will have to know about this if you don't want them to." Himchan nodded as combed his fingers through Yongguk's hair. He sat back against the hot metal, staring at the road.
When they arrived back at the hotel, Yongguk could walk and talk again. He politely thanked the man and woman and then went into the large building. "Can I book the next flight to Korea please, Incheon?" He said into his phone. They sat in the lobby of the hotel. Yongguk's room was already booked for the next guest, his luggage brought somewhere else. Himchan just sat next to him, keeping him company for if something went wrong again. "Thank you. Yes. Bye." He hung up. "The next flight is in three hours." Himchan nodded. He didn't really want to look at Yongguk. Even though he was happy that Yongguk was okay and could go home, he also felt sad. This was it. "Here is my business card, so you can call me any time you need me." The man handed him his card. It was one of those chique papers, with a smooth layer over it. Yongguk's name was in big, blue letters, his number and address under it. "Thanks." Yongguk leaned on the seat with his hands, looking at Himchan. His eyeliner was almost gone, only grey streeps were left. Then he kissed him, just briefly, before he pulled away and looked to the other side. It felt weird, good, but weird. He felt warm and his cheeks started to heat up. Something that he hadn't really experienced before, it was probably because he had just kissed a man and was now embarrassed, yes that was it. Himchan was smiling now, biting on his lower lip.
-
"Hey, Yongguk?"
"Yes? Who is this? Wait, Himchan?"
"Yeah, it's me. How is it going?"
"I'm finally starting to make music."
"That's great! And how was the wedding?"
"I called it off."
"What?"
"I couldn't do it."
"Why not? It was the only thing you talked about back then."
"I don't really love her. Well, I love her. But, I love her like a sister, you know?"
"Yeah."
"And how are you?"
"Fine, I guess. I quit my job."
"Why?"
"I couldn't do it anymore, it didn't feel right."
"Hm, well I'm actually happy about that. I don't think it's good to do that kind of job for a long time."
"I guess."
"Do you, like, want to come over some time."
"I'm already there actually..."
"Himchan, really? Jezus, did you miss me that much or something?"
"..."
"Himchan, d-"
"Yes, okay, yes."
Pairing: Yongguk/Himchan
Genre: Angst-ish, Romance
Rating: R
Summary: Yongguk wakes up in a car that isn't his, somewhere he doesn't know, with an interesting person in the backseat.
Yongguk awoke with a weird pouding in his head. He didn't feel like opening his eyes yet, so he let them closed, the sun shining straight through his eyelids. It was hot and he wasn't lying down, as he supposed he was. In fact, he was almost glued to the leather coating of a chair. The only thing he wore was a thin T-shirt and loose pants, but it was still too hot. He finally opened his eyes. The first thing he caught sight of was a car window, with sand on it and a red liquid, of which he now wanted to deny it was blood. Under the car window, on the dashboard, lay some papers, shards of glass and snack wrapping. The sun stood high in the sky, shining straight onto the roof of the car, warming up the metal until the heat melted into the fabric on the roof, into the car. Yongguk rubbed his eyes, trying to rub some sand away. He turned the rear-view window to himself to check on his appearance. His hair was dishevelled, strands sticking out on the sides. There was also sand there. His eyes were now red and droopy, with rather black bags under them. He must've been drunk the night before, judging by the way his eyes looked. When he turned the rear-view window back to its original place, it landed on something in the back of the car. Yongguk narrowed his eyes to see better, there was a person lying on the leather seats, a big satin scarf covering the lower half of his body. He was still fast asleep, so Yongguk could shamelessly examine this person. His hair was dyed blond, he didn't wear anything on his upper body and he had some piercings in his ears. Yongguk also noticed that around his eyes was some smudged eye-liner, on top of a flawless layer of foundation. He didn't know him, that was for sure. Even on the leather seats in the back was sand. Now that he looked out of the window, there wasn't only sand in the car, there was sand everywhere around them. Yongguk had a hard time remembering who he was, but when he opened the glove compartment and took out his heated phone, it all came back. "Fuck." He said quietly, looking at the date displayed on his phone, on a picture of a beautiful woman. "Fuck!" He now yelled, slamming his hand on the steering wheel. "What?" The person asked, sitting up and leaning over to the front seat. "Where are we?" He asked then. And it dawned to Yongguk that this person was Korean, thank Heaven for this little miracle. "What does it look like." He said a little harsher than he intended, but the man didn't seem affected by his harsh tone. "So, who are you?" The man turned his head towards him, awfully close to his face. "Bang Yongguk." He said. If they were stranded in the desert, he might as well tell this man everything about himself, so he would at least die with someone he knew. "Kim Himchan." The man introduced himself, putting a slender hand in front of his face. Yongguk took it.
"So what's all the drama about?" Himchan asked after they'd sat in silence for a while. "You know... Just... I've missed my plane back home... And I'm about to get married in a few hours... And also, we're stranded in the desert." At that, Himchan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Yongguk found it rather offensive that he looked so confused, as if he couldn't get married. "That sucks man, but I don't think I can help you." That had been clear from the moment Yongguk saw him in the rear-view mirror. He looked as if he was more woman than man. "What shall we do?" Himchan asked, leaning back into the back seat folding his arms. "It seems like the tank is empty. We could look for gas in the back." He threw the door open. When he put his foot outside of the car, onto the dry sand, he was met with hot air, even hotter than inside the car. He didn't even know who's car it was, he didn't recognize it, with its filthy white colour and American number plate. The sand immediately whirled into his eyes with a strong gush of wind. The sun burned through his clothes, warming them up within a few seconds. It was unbelievably hot, hotter than in the centre of the city, where he felt like he could melt. Himchan sat still in the back seat, not even making a single move. Yongguk walked around the car to the back, where he clicked the trunk open. The only things there, were some water bottles, a blanket and a spare tyre. He sighed, closing the trunk again, so that the water wouldn't heat up. He turned around, facing the ongoing plain of sand. It seemed to have no end, anywhere at all. It only ended at the horizon, where it melted together with the blue sky. Yongguk walked back over to the back seat and opened the door. Himchan glanced at him, with his arms still folded over each other. "There's no gas." Yongguk said, leaning over the door frame with his arms, barely peaking inside the car. When he received no answer, he took out his phone. The battery had died. He put it back into his pocket, sighing again. How was he ever going to make it back, when the only thing in sight was sand and he was saddled with this man. They were both not completely sober either, both had pounding heads, which were only made worse by the extremely hot weather. Himchan finally unfolded his arms after the silence had stretched out for too long. "This is what we're going to do." He said, holding up a finger in case Yongguk was about to talk. "We look at the sun to find our way back, as you may or may not know, the sun always leads you back to where you want to go. Take whatever we can find in the car and leave this thing behind. It won't help us any more than this." Yongguk nodded, straightening his back again. Himchan went to search for things in the back, while Yongguk took the front for his responsibility. In the glove box lay a first aid kit, with some maps of Las Vegas. On the ground, he could only find food crumbles and liquid that had spilled out of a wine bottle. The only other things left in the car were the crumpled snack wraps in bright colours. Himchan had only found bottles of alcohol and a dead mouse. "How are we going to carry this with us?" Himchan asked then, as if he had never made up this plan and Yongguk had now taken the lead of their travel. "There's a blanket in the back." They both stepped out of the car with the stuff they found and walked to the back. Himchan opened the trunk, took the blanket out and lays it on the ground. He neatly pulls the ends together into knots, to form a bag. Yongguk lays the water bottles, maps and first aid kit. It wasn't much, but hopefully enough to make it back. All though he had heard, that with this kind of circumstances and this intense heat, a person needs at least three litres of water every day, of which they only had two each, for who knows how long.
As Yongguk finishes the bag, Himchan walks to the back seat one final time, to get his satin scarf. It's black, which is rather unhandy, but he puts it over his head to protect himself for the sun. Even now, he pushed his hair back carefully, trying to fix his look in the mirror. Then Yongguk swung the blanket-bag over his shoulder and they both looked at each other. If they were going to make it back, they didn't know, but Yongguk just wanted. He didn't know what to do, if he wouldn't see his fiancée back. Yongguk went to walk next to Himchan, holding onto the bag loosely, putting his other hand into his pocket despite the heat. They walked along the car. "Ew." Himchan exclaimed suddenly, making Yongguk jump. "You scared me, fuck. What is it?" Instead of answering, Himchan pointed to his side. In front of the car, or half under it, was a dead man. His head was covered in blood, his limbs lay in a weird angle. That was probably why there was blood on the car window. "Should we bury him?" Yongguk asked, looking at the man with pity. His expression wasn't pained, it looked happy, even. Just like with Himchan, he had not clue who this person was. Himchan shook his head. "No, we can't help him any more we need to safe ourselves. That's good food for whatever animal lives here." He once again pushed his hair back, motioning Yongguk to go on with him.
He didn't know how long they walked, but the plain really seemed endless. All the things they had seen so far, was sand, just sand, everywhere. The car had gone out of sight, leaving the two in the middle of emptiness. The sun kept burning on their skin, heating up everything they had with them, and themselves, to the cores of their bones. "So, you're getting married?" Himchan asked, panting slightly. He put of the satin scarf, folded it in a different way and put it on his head again, so that his face was a little bit more protected. "Not if I die here." Yongguk swiped the sweat away from his forehead. "You won't." Himchan said. This man was really good at keeping calm. While Yongguk sometimes stomped in despair and sadness, Himchan just made sure there was no sand on him. Yongguk hadn't even known that deserts were really like this in America. He imagined there would be a little bit of vegetation somewhere, or cactuses. Of course there were, but rarely. With every step he took to no where, he started to regret his decision to celebrate his bachelor party in Las Vegas. He could've known that you're not safe in Las Vegas, ever. But this was extreme. Being stranded in a desert with a complete stranger wasn't something that happened to any tourist.
By the time the sun was finally on his way down, they were almost crawling over the sand, grasping onto the fine grains that slipped between their fingers. The heat was unbearable, the thirst too strong. But they didn't give up, nor did they touch the water. They had probably sobered up now, at least he hoped. The sun slowly made its way to the horizon, and all the while Yongguk and Himchan both looked up at it, as if it would go under faster if they kept looking at it. All it did, was make their vision blurry. When the final strand of orange light was visible at the horizon, they fell down onto the sand, exhausted and dried out. It luckily started to cool off a bit, so they had could both let their hot bodies rest. Even though they only had four bottles of water, they both drank one. It wasn't a good idea, Yongguk knew, but he was so thirsty that he might die on the spot. Himchan put his satin scarf off, lay it on the ground and lay down on top of it. "Tell me, Yongguk, more about yourself." Yongguk lay down too, his back immediately responding to the comfortable position. "What do you want to know?" Himchan pursed his lips. "How old you are. What you do for a living. Who your wife is. Why you went to Vegas. That kind of stuff." Yongguk nodded, folding his arms under his head. "I'm twenty-three years old," Himchan inhaled a little louder than necessary, he probably thought it was weird that Yongguk was going to marry at his age "I'm a lawyer, in Seoul. My wife is a beautiful, kind woman named Jieun and I went to Vegas for my bachelor party. Guess that didn't really go as planned." He chuckled to himself. Despite his desire to be home with Jieun, he could still see the humour of it all. "What about you?" He turned his head towards Himchan, who had his eyes closed. "I'm twenty-one, stripper in Vegas and about my wife, I don't have one." Yongguk gasped, inching away from the man. "What?" Himchan asked, with his eyebrows raised. "You're a... stripper? I'm in the desert with a stripper? How did I get here with a stripper!?" Himchan shrugged. "I don't know, man. Don't hate though, at least I do what I like to do." Yongguk, in his turn, raised his eyebrows too. "What do you mean by that?" "I mean, that you are a lawyer because you have a good degree, know the right people, have parents who push you in 'the right way' and it pays well. Am I right?" Yongguk thought about that for a moment. He wanted to disagree and tell him that absolutely wasn't the case, but he couldn't find the words to do so. It was true. His parents got him into a good school, because of some of their connections. He worked really hard in high school and college to be as his parents wanted him to be and then became a lawyer. Just because his parents wanted him too, because it paid well. "So I am right. But look at me. My parents said I should do what I love, and that is dancing in front of public and show my best side, my looks. I get paid for that and I must say that it isn't nothing. So who should be inching away from who?" He had closed his eyes again and didn't see uncomfortable talking about this at all. He wasn't even ashamed of having shown his body to everyone who wanted to see, just for money. But maybe, Yongguk wasn't better than that. Because he was there to keep guilty people out of jail and got paid for that. He didn't know what was better. "You should do what you love." Himchan repeated. Rolling to his side to look at Yongguk. "Making music." Yongguk said. Himchan hadn't asked a question, but he just felt like saying it. Felt like throwing that out, what everyone forbid him to think about. "Then do, when we get out of here, you should start making music." Yongguk nodded, easily convinced by such a little speech. "I'll keep you to that." Himchan said, smiling at him.
Now that it started to cool off, and their tired over-heated bodies got to rest, he felt a lot better. The only thing around them was still sand, but he hadn't yet given up his hope. He would see his fiancée again, no matter what. The thing he was afraid of most, besides dying, was her not wanting to see him ever again. His wedding had already passed, without him being there. So she might be angry or worried, or both. He imagined Jieun standing in front of the isle, where their families had gathered. She would wear a long white dress, with a bouquet of roses, that matched her pinkish lips and the beautiful blush spreading on her cheeks. There would be an orchestra in the back, staring at her from their place behind the altar, their instruments in their hands, waiting for their cue. His mother and father would stand up, along with Jieun's parents. They would run over to her and hug her. No one would know, not even his friends, where he was. The image of his crying fiancée had him tearing up too. Himchan was still looking at him, his scarf falling half over his face. "What does your wife look like?" As if he could read his mind, he asked a question about that particular thing. Yongguk didn't know if he had a picture of her on him, he always had, but if he kept it in his jacket, he wouldn't know where it was now. He searched in his pockets, finding a piece of paper in one of them. When he held it up, it was her picture. A picture of her next to her roses, the flowers she loved most. Her cheeks were pink, like usually, and she wore a pastel blue dress, her hair in a high bun with loose strands. Himchan took the picture, examining it closely. "She's beautiful." He said, if it was earnest, Yongguk didn't know, his voice sounded unmoved by the whole thing. The picture was pushed into his chest, and Himchan turned away from him to face the on stretching landscape, coated in sand.
By the time it was completely dark, it had also become a lot colder, so that they were both shivering. Himchan was huddled inside his scarf, the thin fabric only helping a little bit. Yongguk had his arms folded over each other, his knees raised to his chest. The sand was luckily still a bit warm, but the wind was cold, it blew right through their thin close. "I think we should share body heat, if we don't want to freeze." Yongguk suggested, opening his arms. But Himchan stubbornly kept facing the other side, shivering wildly. Yongguk pulled the scarf off of him, pulling on Himchan's arm to roll him over into his embrace. He put the scarf over the two of them and took the man into his arms, already feeling the heat spread onto his skin. When their skin touched, however, it felt familiar. As if they'd been in this position before.
-
"Gukkie, isn't it a good idea to go to Vegas for your bachelor party?"
"I don't know, Daehyun. You know what they say about Vegas."
"Come on, it'll be fun. I've already got it planned out, we will all go there by plane, party and go back. It's not like anything will happen when we got together."
"Fine, but promise we'll stay together, in a proper restaurant."
"I promise."
-
Yongguk's eyes snapped open. It was still dark around them, the only thing visible was Himchan's blond mop of hair under his chin. The man was snuggled against him, his legs slightly raised and his arms over his chest, clutching the scarf. Yongguk tightened their embrace, shivering slightly when the wind blew against him. He closed his eyes again to keep the sand from coming into them. "I'll be right back." He said, looking up to the sky briefly, where one of the stars twinkled brighter than all the others. That star, would from now on represent his fiancée, always standing out from all the others, but unintentionally. He sighed, while closing his eyes again. Feeling sleep fall over him once again.
-
"Daehyun?"
...
"Daehyun, where are you?"
"Hello there, hottie, want a drink?"
"No, thank you, I'm looking for my friend."
...
"Daehyun?"
"Are you Korean?"
"Yes... I am..."
"Let's have a drink, your friend is over there."
"I guess, that's okay then."
-
"Gukkie!" Yongguk grunted when someone punched him in his side. "Wake up, we got to go, if we don't want to die." He opened his eyes, pushing himself up with his hands. He sat still for a while, with his arms over his knees, his head in his hands. Himchan was standing beside him, his scarf once again over his head, but it was shorter. In his hand, he held another part of the scarf. "You're going to buy me a new scarf when we get out of here, but if you don't put something over your head, you'll burn to death." He pushed the fabric into Yongguk's hands, practically forcing him to put it on. Yongguk folded it the same way as he had seen Himchan do before. He stood up, grabbing the blanket bag on his way. "Let's go." Himchan said, patting him on the back. When Yongguk went to walk behind Himchan, he noticed that his skin was burned. It looked painfully red, at some places the skin already started to moult. It was bad for him to walk around like that, but Yongguk also couldn't just give his own T-shirt to him. So he just stared at the man's back, like that would cure it. His muscles kept tensing and un tensing with every step, his shoulders sometimes lowering. Every now and then, Himchan would touch his shoulders just to take his hand away quickly. Even his back seemed familiar, together with his leather clad legs. It was less hot than yesterday, or he already got used to the heat, it was one of those two.
It was a long walk again, today they both felt even more tired. First they got over-heated, then they almost froze and now it's hot again. Their whole system was completely out of its routine. With every step, their thirst grew bigger. Their tongues were glued to their palate, their lips were dry. They both craved for water, but didn't want to drink yet. The water was sacred now, it could not be touched unless it was absolutely needed. "What's that?" Himchan said, with a small voice, pointing at a thing in the distance. At first, Yongguk thought it would be just another cactus, but it was too dark and rectangular to be one. "I don't know." He answered, he noticed that his voice was quieter too. The thirst and dryness had affected his throat. His voice already was quite low and inaudible, but right now it could barely be heard. Himchan began walking faster, filled with curiosity. If it was rectangular, it must be something placed by humans, so that would mean they were close to a place where people live. Yongguk followed suite, both jogging over the hot sand towards the thing.
"It's a phone!" Himchan exclaimed, running even faster, all cautiousness and tiredness forgotten. But their happiness was soon toned down when they neared it. It wasn't broken or anything, but there was a slot next to the phone, with a dollar sign above it. "Do you have any change on you?" Yongguk asked, searching in his own pockets as well. Himchan started patting his pockets with his hands, realized that he had fake pockets and then did something Yongguk wished he didn't see. He put his hand not only in his pants, but also past the waistband of his underwear. His face was contorted in concentration, until he found a one dollar bill. "Is this enough?" He held it up for Yongguk to take, who took a step back from the piece of paper. Himchan rolled his eyes as he shoved the bill into the payphone. "Who should we call? We should call for help." Yongguk shook his head. "No, my wife first. She must know I'm okay and that I'm not leaving her." Himchan took a step closer to Yongguk, so they were face to face. "What do you want? Die here, because we couldn't call help, or let your fiancée know you're okay, when you can later when we're saved?" Yongguk's eyes narrowed as he stared straight at Himchan, taking a step closer to the man as well. "My fiancée is more important than you or me, so I'm calling her." He picked up the phone and dialled the number, before Himchan had a chance to snatch the phone away from him. The man huffed, his bangs blowing away from his face. A long peep sounded through the speakers as he waited, waited to hear her voice again, to inform her that he still loved her. "Hello?" Jieun's voice said. She sounded tired, a lot of tears resounding in that simple word. "Honey." Yongguk choked out, too overwhelmed by the sound of her voice. "Yongguk? Where were you? Where are you? Daehyun told me he didn't see you at the airport. Are you okay? Are you alone?" A whole load of questions came and while he should've had answers ready, he was completely lost. He took the phone away from his ear, pressing it into his chest to muffle his voice. "What do I tell her?" "The truth maybe?" Himchan said, raising an eyebrows as he cocked his hips to the side. "Yeah sure, I'll tell her that I'm stranded in the desert with a male stripper, good idea." Yongguk sneered, his nose scrunching up with the idea. "Are you implying something there?" Himchan sneered back as he leaned forward a bit, his hair falling into his eyes again. Yongguk took the phone away from his chest and put it to his ear again, hearing soft sobbing. "I'm okay, but I'm somehow stranded in the middle of the desert. I'm not alone, don't worry." Jieun cried louder. "I miss you so much. I thought you had died, or ran away or... or..." Yongguk sniffed too. "Thirty seconds left." The phone alarmed him, putting a stop to his sniffling. "Listen, Jieun, I'm coming home. I will come back. Wait for me." He said hurriedly as he pushed the phone closer to his face. He kept hearing Jieun sob. He kept hearing Himchan huff in the background. "Yongguk, please be safe. I lo-." The line was cut off with a long, high-pitched peep. The phone slipped out of Yongguk's hand. "So, that was it. Let's go." Even though Yongguk made a stupid decision, he knew that himself too, Himchan wasn't angry anymore. After having seen him cry like that, he felt sympathy towards the man. He put his arm around his shaking shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll bring you back to her." He said. But it didn't make Yongguk feel better.
-
"Let me show you something."
"What?"
"Just come with me."
-
He didn't understand the flashes of conversations he suddenly got. He didn't understand what it was supposed to mean, were they fragments of how they came here? But they didn't sound like it. They also didn't sound like voices he knew, they were morphed into deep hisses, as if they were being whispered in his ear by snakes. Himchan kept his arm around him as they continued walking. To cheer him up a bit, he started talking about the fun times he's had with some costumers, which sounded rather wrong to Yongguk and he had the urge to cover his ears every time Himchan mentioned something he didn't want to know. Also because most of Himchan's costumers were apparently male, male whom Himchan had a lot to say about. "Himchan, I'm really sorry, but I'm not interested in your nightly adventures." Yongguk said, pinching the bridge of his nose to get the mental images away. "But Gukkie, they are so much fun." The man whined as he pulled Yongguk closer to his side. He continued talking like Yongguk hadn't said anything. And while he did so, he motioned to the sky with flailing arms, his eyes twinkling as he described the different men. His lips formed syllables and words, but Yongguk didn't quite catch what he was saying. He was just staring at the happy expression on Himchan's face, the crowfeet under his fox like eyes and his vibrating abs as he laughed. Yongguk hadn't seen anyone this happy before, only Jieun, but in such circumstances... It was amazing that a human could be this happy, when his body was craving for water or at least coolness. Yongguk didn't know if he'd ever been this happy. Himchan really did seem to like his job, a lot. While if Yongguk talked about his job, he would just get annoyed and his eyebrows would knit together in frustration. Maybe, just maybe, Himchan was right. He wanted to be just as happy as Himchan was now, so he would be. He was going to make himself happy and Jieun as well.
The sun started to go under again, and Himchan had become silent. His voice had died out a while ago, when his throat was to dry to form words, but he was still smiling, his eyes were still twinkling. And whenever he looked to his side to check if Yongguk was doing okay, his smile grew wider. He was happy, as happy as could be. He had never loved before, never loved anyone as much as Yongguk loved Jieun, it must be wonderful. To do anything to stay with that person, while Himchan didn't really care if he died there. There would be no one to mourn over his death. Maybe some of his regular costumers would be upset for a while, but not for long, and only because of his body, not because of who he was. That was the only negative side of his job, that they only cared for his body. And he was happy that Yongguk didn't, that Yongguk took care of him, but didn't keep him hanging on for his body, but because he wanted to get out together and was a good man. Jieun was lucky.
They settled themselves onto the ground, flopping down into the hot sand. They both uncapped the last water bottle, flicked the caps aside and gulped the substance down. The liquid slipped down their throat in a soothing way, clearing the roughness out. Because they were both too exhausted to do anything else than drink. Himchan soon curled up against Yongguk and Yongguk put his arms around him. Both their stomachs rumbled, but they were too tired to care. A human can live without food for three weeks, they would care about that tomorrow. "I'll be right back." Yongguk whispered above his head. Himchan opened his eyes to see Yongguk look up to the sky, to a particular bright shining star, the midst of dim stars. The man looked down at him and smiled, closing his eyes tiredly.
-
"You're beautiful." Yongguk said, his hands skimming over pale skin.
"No touching." A morphed voice said weakly, pushing his hands away.
"Let me." Yongguk said, his hands sliding up over a bare chest, clamping onto collarbones.
"Didn't you have a fiancée?"
"Sorry, what did you say?" Yongguk looked up, but didn't see anything. His vision was too blurry.
"Nothing." The voice said. The person the voice belonged too, entwined his fingers into Yongguk's hair.
"Let's get out of here." Yongguk said, nipping at the skin below his hips.
...
"Who's car is this?"
"I don't know." He opened the door of the filthy white car and let the person inside.
...
"Where are we going?"
"To nowhere." He moved into his seat to look backwards, smiling to a blurry face.
"Okay." The person smiled, his foxy eyes underlined with crowfeet.
...
"Oh my God, what was that?"
"I don't know, but it's dead now."
"Where are we?"
"I don't know, Himchan. I don't know."
-
Yongguk shot up, Himchan falling out of his arms. "What's wrong?" The man huffed, looking up worriedly as he rubbed his painful shoulder. Big, shocked eyes looked down on him. "Nothing. Just... A bad dream." He couldn't call it a nightmare somehow, it sounded too harsh. It wasn't like he disliked Himchan and calling it a nightmare would be an offense, even if Himchan didn't know the dream was about him. "The sun is already touching the horizon, shall we go?" Himchan said, pulling the scarf off of them and putting it around his head again. Yongguk looked a little 'verstrooid', but that was probably because he was now completely sober. It had taken him a while, he wasn't really a drinker. "Yeah." Yongguk whispered as he pushed himself up. They both carried the bag, one of the handles in their hands. They were tired, dried out and hungry. There was no more water, there was no food, there was no end in sight. Maybe they'd die here after all. Himchan didn't really mind, if he died here, he'd die with Yongguk. In these days, he'd grown fond of the man. Of his bright grin and his broad chest that was perfect to sleep against, of his politeness and niceness, he'd grown fond of Yongguk in general. And he hoped Yongguk had grown fond of him too, because never has someone been this nice to him and he wouldn't let him go, even if Yongguk ignored him after all this. Yongguk wouldn't, because Himchan wouldn't let him. He looked to his side to see Yongguk staring at the ground, his hair falling over his forehead, his shoulder slumped down. "Are you all right?" Yongguk looked up at him. He just stared back, with questioning eyes, as if he was trying to figure something out. "I guess so."
They were both crawling over the ground, thirsty and hungry. Yongguk felt his lungs dry out, so as his throat. So this would be the end? Would be dying in the desert his final chapter. He thought about Jieun again, with her put up in the same way as he'd imagined her at the wedding. But this time, she wasn't wearing a long snow white dress. Instead, she was wearing a short black dress, with 'gaas' covering her eyes. His and her parents sat in the church couches, but they were crying. Tissues against their noses and cheeks as they sniffled while the priste was talking about him. And there was a picture on a chest, a picture of him, the picture that Jieun liked most and kept in her wallet. There were the same red roses as at the wedding, but they were sprawled on a grave, with a tombstone saying his name. Maybe there wouldn't even be a body burried in the ground, maybe just the image of his body. They would never be able to find him here.
He fell forward, coughing as he accidentaly inhaled some sand. Himchan stopped to look at him, but then looked straight ahead. His eyes narrowed, his arms stretched forward, his legs leaned onto the sand. "T-there." He coughed. One of his arms coming up from the sand to stretch out in front of him. "There." He said again, a little louder. Yongguk looked up at him and saw him smiling, pointing, making hand motions towards the horizon. Yongguk turned onto his stomach to look the same way. He too narrowed his eyes. "There." He said, a smile breaking out on his face to. "Himchan-" He started, but stopped as Himchan looked at him. His smile was so bright, his eyes were so lovely and the sun 'wierp' a nice light onto his blonde hair, making it look like he had a halo around his head. "We made it Yongguk," and then after hesitating for a bit "You're going to marry soon." Himchan stood up first, pulling Yongguk up from the ground. Yongguk couldn't move anymore,so Himchan took him in his arms. He could only lay there, his limbs flailing with the unsteady steps of the man carrying him. The end came closer with every step, the horizon pulling up just a bit, revealing that what they'd been waiting for. The sun stood high in the sky, shining onto the road, making it light up, so it stood out from the sand. Himchan began to walk faster as his grip tightened around Yongguk. They neared the road after what seemed like an eternity. Himchan sat down on the ground, taking Yongguk in his lap, his arms around Yongguk's chest to hold him upright. Now they only had to wait for someone to pass by them and hopefully stop. It was just one straight road, with nothing near it. No tank station, no telephone, nothing.
"We're going to be all right." Himchan whispered weakly into Yongguk's neck. "You're going to marry. Everything will be all right." Yongguk didn't answer, his throat was too dry to make a sound. "Maybe I'll marry to one day." Himchan said, laughing a bit as he thought about the idea of marrying a woman. Or he could find someone to love, like Yongguk loved Jieun and marry him here. Gay marriage was legal in America, so maybe. Just maybe.
A little bright thing appeared at the horizon, coming up to where they were sitting quickly. Himchan untied the knot in his scarf and put his hand up, so the scarf waved in the wind. The car slowed down at the sight of the scarf. It stopped right next to them. A young man threw the door of his pick-up truck open. In the passengers seat was a young woman, with wavy brown hair, looking at them through her expensive sunglasses. The man behind the steeringwheel leaned over her to talk to them. "You want a lift to the city?" He said, pointing to the back of the pick-up truck with his thumb. "Yes, please. But my friend can't walk." Himchan answered. The man immediately went out of the car and walked around it. "What happened?" He asked when he saw the condition Yongguk was in. "Stranded in the desert." They picked Yongguk up by his arms and legs and carefully laid him out in the back. Himchan sat down next to him, still sitting in the heat of the sun, but not really caring about it, because they were going home. The young woman also came out of the car, to sit next to Yongguk. She uncapped a bottle of water and brought it to his lips. When the car started and drove away, she stayed to give them both water. "Where are you from, to get stranded in the desert like this." She asked, her hair waving around her face. She took off her sunglasses, giving them to Himchan. "Cover your eyes, it's not good for your health." "We're from Korea, all though I live in Las Vegas. Guess it just kind of happened." She giggled. "Sure, it just kind of happened. But you know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. No one will have to know about this if you don't want them to." Himchan nodded as combed his fingers through Yongguk's hair. He sat back against the hot metal, staring at the road.
When they arrived back at the hotel, Yongguk could walk and talk again. He politely thanked the man and woman and then went into the large building. "Can I book the next flight to Korea please, Incheon?" He said into his phone. They sat in the lobby of the hotel. Yongguk's room was already booked for the next guest, his luggage brought somewhere else. Himchan just sat next to him, keeping him company for if something went wrong again. "Thank you. Yes. Bye." He hung up. "The next flight is in three hours." Himchan nodded. He didn't really want to look at Yongguk. Even though he was happy that Yongguk was okay and could go home, he also felt sad. This was it. "Here is my business card, so you can call me any time you need me." The man handed him his card. It was one of those chique papers, with a smooth layer over it. Yongguk's name was in big, blue letters, his number and address under it. "Thanks." Yongguk leaned on the seat with his hands, looking at Himchan. His eyeliner was almost gone, only grey streeps were left. Then he kissed him, just briefly, before he pulled away and looked to the other side. It felt weird, good, but weird. He felt warm and his cheeks started to heat up. Something that he hadn't really experienced before, it was probably because he had just kissed a man and was now embarrassed, yes that was it. Himchan was smiling now, biting on his lower lip.
-
"Hey, Yongguk?"
"Yes? Who is this? Wait, Himchan?"
"Yeah, it's me. How is it going?"
"I'm finally starting to make music."
"That's great! And how was the wedding?"
"I called it off."
"What?"
"I couldn't do it."
"Why not? It was the only thing you talked about back then."
"I don't really love her. Well, I love her. But, I love her like a sister, you know?"
"Yeah."
"And how are you?"
"Fine, I guess. I quit my job."
"Why?"
"I couldn't do it anymore, it didn't feel right."
"Hm, well I'm actually happy about that. I don't think it's good to do that kind of job for a long time."
"I guess."
"Do you, like, want to come over some time."
"I'm already there actually..."
"Himchan, really? Jezus, did you miss me that much or something?"
"..."
"Himchan, d-"
"Yes, okay, yes."