Mechanics of Passion
Mechanics of Passion
Heechul/Sungmin, cameo!Donghae, PG-13, 904 words
A/N: Uh, I have no excuse for why this is so boring/aimless. m(._.)m
A trip across the country for a distant cousin's wedding, his parents said. So here he was, 289 miles later, out of gas and no station in sight.
What cousin was worth driving all that way, Sungmin hadn't asked. Didn't question.
Another twenty miles later, he saw salvation in an empty pit stop. Literally. It was like something out of an old Western. Or what he imagined to be a very boring Hell.
A man sat cross-legged in a lawn chair right by the garage and Sungmin tried not to stare as he pulled in.
The pump looked newer than an antique, but it was definitely far from top of the line. More rusted than rustic. Staring at it wasn't going to help him figure it out though.
"Excuse me!" he called, the man not even flinching as he turned a page in his magazine. So he tried again.
"Excuse me! ... Excuse--"
The man snapped his head up, eyes squinting in irritation, judging by the curve of brow and tight lipped scowl.
"The pump... Is it cash only? 'Cause I didn't see a card slot. Or anything. Sir," Sungmin added for good measure, but the scowl only deepened in return.
"Just take what you want and leave. I'm busy."
Absolutely held up, from what Sungmin could tell, reading a tech magazine whose cover contrasted against a neat manicured hand.
"You're saying I don't have to pay," he asked carefully.
"Hyung!" some guy squawked shuffling out from the shadowed depths of the garage. "No no, sorry sorry, don't listen to him. Cash only! And tip, if you please! No self service!"
Sungmin blinked a while at the cheerful face, and the iron-on tag on his coveralls labeling him as Donghae. A dour expression came up from behind, thwacking Donghae's head with a rolled up periodical. "Yah, go back inside. I'll take care of it," the man said, and then walked towards Sungmin's car.
Donghae put forth a great deal of effort, it seemed, into a small smile, his eyes weighed down by a lilt of sadness in his brow.
It was strange, like how a guy sitting at a station in the middle of nowhere had a manicure and stylishly messy done up brown hair. But it wasn't Sungmin's place to analyze people he didn't know, so he just followed the man to the car.
"Your car is smoking."
"It is?"
"Are you blind?"
Wisps of white smoke were coming out the front. "So it is."
"Open it up."
Sungmin did as he was told, and the man with colored hair and prettily feminine hands eyed the parts under the hood like he knew what he was doing.
"You have a bad hose. It's causing a leak over here. Need to replace it."
He walked off without another word and came back out with replacement parts.
"You're better at this than you look."
"I'm your fairy godfather."
"Really. You seem more like a Cinderella." Sungmin didn't know what possessed him to say that.
The man broke out in cackles. "Is that a fact now," he proclaimed loudly, and settled down into solemnity just as abruptly. "Maybe at one time. But every Cinderella needs to repay old kindnesses and become magic for someone else. Don't you think?"
There was a peculiar smirk on his face, Sungmin thought. A knowing.
"All good things have an end, you mean."
He looked up from his tweaking for a moment, a hard, unblinking gaze. "Exactly," he replied, and went back to his business.
"It looks like you need more than a new hose to get your car fully repaired. You can chance another fifty miles tops and strand yourself in coyote country," he quips, "Or, stay a few days and be on your way safe and sound."
He had 200 miles to go. "I... I can't stay that long."
"You don't have much of a choice then, do you? Not like you can bike there," the man nodded at a rusted bike with one wheel leaning against a worn, cracked wooden gate. Or what used to be a gate.
"Isn't there another way out of here? A rental car? A taxi?" Sungmin's voice edged out. "I mean, there's got to be something!"
"Can you calm the fuck down?"
"Are you serious?" Sungmin was on the verge of an aneurysm. "Look, I'm heading to a wedding. I need to reach the airport tonight to chauffeur some family around. I don't have time to sit around and wait for my car to be fixed."
The last sentence he'd said with a little more force than necessary, but he wasn't in any mood to play games or waste time chatting with someone who clearly didn't understand the urgency of his situation.
"Who's getting married?"
Sungmin's anger stopped at the question, but he gritted, "A relative."
"A close relative."
"... Not really." What was he getting at?
"Is it life threatening if you don't go? Will someone die?"
"No!" Sungmin said, not knowing why he felt so affronted. "What the hell are you getting at?"
"I'm just saying, do you even fucking care about whatever you're getting pissy for, asshole."
"I--" He tried to refute it. He tried to deny it all, but nothing came out.
The man regarded him with cutting eyes, and turned, walking out under the sun. It was only then that Sungmin noticed, of all things, that it was orange and not brown that shined brilliant in the light.
Heechul/Sungmin, cameo!Donghae, PG-13, 904 words
A/N: Uh, I have no excuse for why this is so boring/aimless. m(._.)m
A trip across the country for a distant cousin's wedding, his parents said. So here he was, 289 miles later, out of gas and no station in sight.
What cousin was worth driving all that way, Sungmin hadn't asked. Didn't question.
Another twenty miles later, he saw salvation in an empty pit stop. Literally. It was like something out of an old Western. Or what he imagined to be a very boring Hell.
A man sat cross-legged in a lawn chair right by the garage and Sungmin tried not to stare as he pulled in.
The pump looked newer than an antique, but it was definitely far from top of the line. More rusted than rustic. Staring at it wasn't going to help him figure it out though.
"Excuse me!" he called, the man not even flinching as he turned a page in his magazine. So he tried again.
"Excuse me! ... Excuse--"
The man snapped his head up, eyes squinting in irritation, judging by the curve of brow and tight lipped scowl.
"The pump... Is it cash only? 'Cause I didn't see a card slot. Or anything. Sir," Sungmin added for good measure, but the scowl only deepened in return.
"Just take what you want and leave. I'm busy."
Absolutely held up, from what Sungmin could tell, reading a tech magazine whose cover contrasted against a neat manicured hand.
"You're saying I don't have to pay," he asked carefully.
"Hyung!" some guy squawked shuffling out from the shadowed depths of the garage. "No no, sorry sorry, don't listen to him. Cash only! And tip, if you please! No self service!"
Sungmin blinked a while at the cheerful face, and the iron-on tag on his coveralls labeling him as Donghae. A dour expression came up from behind, thwacking Donghae's head with a rolled up periodical. "Yah, go back inside. I'll take care of it," the man said, and then walked towards Sungmin's car.
Donghae put forth a great deal of effort, it seemed, into a small smile, his eyes weighed down by a lilt of sadness in his brow.
It was strange, like how a guy sitting at a station in the middle of nowhere had a manicure and stylishly messy done up brown hair. But it wasn't Sungmin's place to analyze people he didn't know, so he just followed the man to the car.
"Your car is smoking."
"It is?"
"Are you blind?"
Wisps of white smoke were coming out the front. "So it is."
"Open it up."
Sungmin did as he was told, and the man with colored hair and prettily feminine hands eyed the parts under the hood like he knew what he was doing.
"You have a bad hose. It's causing a leak over here. Need to replace it."
He walked off without another word and came back out with replacement parts.
"You're better at this than you look."
"I'm your fairy godfather."
"Really. You seem more like a Cinderella." Sungmin didn't know what possessed him to say that.
The man broke out in cackles. "Is that a fact now," he proclaimed loudly, and settled down into solemnity just as abruptly. "Maybe at one time. But every Cinderella needs to repay old kindnesses and become magic for someone else. Don't you think?"
There was a peculiar smirk on his face, Sungmin thought. A knowing.
"All good things have an end, you mean."
He looked up from his tweaking for a moment, a hard, unblinking gaze. "Exactly," he replied, and went back to his business.
"It looks like you need more than a new hose to get your car fully repaired. You can chance another fifty miles tops and strand yourself in coyote country," he quips, "Or, stay a few days and be on your way safe and sound."
He had 200 miles to go. "I... I can't stay that long."
"You don't have much of a choice then, do you? Not like you can bike there," the man nodded at a rusted bike with one wheel leaning against a worn, cracked wooden gate. Or what used to be a gate.
"Isn't there another way out of here? A rental car? A taxi?" Sungmin's voice edged out. "I mean, there's got to be something!"
"Can you calm the fuck down?"
"Are you serious?" Sungmin was on the verge of an aneurysm. "Look, I'm heading to a wedding. I need to reach the airport tonight to chauffeur some family around. I don't have time to sit around and wait for my car to be fixed."
The last sentence he'd said with a little more force than necessary, but he wasn't in any mood to play games or waste time chatting with someone who clearly didn't understand the urgency of his situation.
"Who's getting married?"
Sungmin's anger stopped at the question, but he gritted, "A relative."
"A close relative."
"... Not really." What was he getting at?
"Is it life threatening if you don't go? Will someone die?"
"No!" Sungmin said, not knowing why he felt so affronted. "What the hell are you getting at?"
"I'm just saying, do you even fucking care about whatever you're getting pissy for, asshole."
"I--" He tried to refute it. He tried to deny it all, but nothing came out.
The man regarded him with cutting eyes, and turned, walking out under the sun. It was only then that Sungmin noticed, of all things, that it was orange and not brown that shined brilliant in the light.